Things I Learned in Tucson

We arrived in Tucson on Monday afternoon, the weather was sparkling, sunny and warm, just perfect! This was our first stay at a KOA park and WOW have we been missing out! This park is just beautiful. The staff welcomed us warmly and I had a feeling this place was going to be fun! Every park has a vibe, good or bad and you feel it right away... Friendly staff, an upscale check in area with a store, recreation area and best of all a bar and restaurant, a sign said Happy Hour 4-6pm.  What time is it?!

The check in and outside patio.

We settled in to our space and lo and behold it's right across from this mecca of food and drink!

Home sweet home

Look at this grass, In Arizona!

My research serves me well and this place is even better than it looks on-line. We couldn't get settled in fast enough, we were ready for a nice dinner and a Happy Hour libation! I wasn't disappointed, the food was good and my Martini was only $3.75... Impressive!

This park was also full of fruit trees, lemons, oranges and grapefruit and it's free for the picking!

Help yourself, I did!

I noticed there was a Lazy Days RV dealership right next door to this park.

More than just RV Sales

I found out they offer RV driving confidence courses to all their customers after the sale. They also put them up in this park in their new RV's so they can get familiar with their new coach, that way if they need any help or support the new owner can pick up the phone and get help immediately. They come right over in a golf cart! When we bought our coach from another dealer we were given the keys and sent on our way, end of story. We figured it out, but I can tell this, when we trade up we won't return to that dealership. Good Customer service creates loyalty, referrals and return business, I am a big stickler on that and when we do move up to another coach we are going to LazyDays and here's why... We walked over to this dealer because I wanted to find out if I could take the RV driving confidence course even though we hadn't bought our coach there. The receptionist was so nice and said "of course you can"! There was a small fee and I was more than willing to pay this because I feel I need to learn to drive in case there was an emergency, sometimes I've even been a pensive co-pilot because I don't have this skill! Helpless does not look good on me!

I'm in the drivers seat!

Thursday I went to the class that was divided into two parts, morning in the classroom and afternoon in a coach! The instructor Jon Gold was just phenomenal, he shared that he was a former Army Colonial and within his course curriculum he had some colorful stories the kept the class thoroughly entertained! I learned so much about class A coaches, safety and common sense, how to keep your tires maintained, fire safety, braking, parking, tail swing, it was a lot of great information!

I think I'm ready to drive! The idea of driving this 45 foot motor coach had me a bit spooked! I kept reminding myself how many women I've met in our travels who drive these buses, I can do this!

This was what we drove.

After lunch we met outside where Jon spent significant time explaining the instrument panel, the braking options and anything else we needed to know. I was like a sponge taking this all in.
Jon drove over to an empty lot where he showed us the amazing turning radius of this 45 foot coach, he made it look so simple. Next, he drove back over to the RV park where we were staying and said "this will be our driving course"! Again I said to myself, I can do this.... There were 5 other women  including a new LazyDays employee Laura taking the course and we were each going to drive! I was the third to drive, I settled in to the drivers seat, buckled up and took my orders from the Colonial!

Jon was a great instructor.

 He was very specific in his instructions and feedback, just what I needed to feel comfortable. Turn left, turn right, slow down, brake, check your mirrors and stay in the middle of the road! The last thing I wanted to do was hit anything in this impressive coach!  I finally drove this rig and it was amazing! This old gal can learn something new! It turned out to be so much easier than I thought it would be, you do need instruction from a professional and I was so happy I took this course! Of course, a skilled instructor is key and Jon Gold delivered! I even received a certification for insurance purposes. 

LazyDays offers many types of courses for new RV'ers.  Jon told us he was teaching a Convection Oven cooking course the following day and invited the class to attend. I am fairly proficient with our convection oven but, I thought why not, Jon promised us brownies!
The course was so much fun and Jon de-mystified convection cooking for the class, many in the class hadn't attempted to use the oven in their coach yet. He prepared Baileys Irish brownies and Chocolate Lava cakes, both were delicious and easy recipes, mystery solved!

 My overall observation of LazyDays was this... They have happy engaged employees and this was a great place to do business, they really have it figured out and we'll be back!

what a great stop!

Next stop Las Cruces.

 

Your Heart Doesn't Beat Just For You.

It's Presidents Day and we are heading through the Arizona desert to our next destination. We thoroughly enjoyed our two week stay in Yuma Arizona at the Shangri-la RV Park. First a bit of history about Yuma. It was incorporated in 1914 and has a full time population of 93 thousand. Yuma is also considered to be the winter vegetable capital of the world, 350 days of sunshine and amazing irrigation from the Colorado River.

Miles of Lettuce crops

 The winter population increases by an additional 83 thousand because the entire senior population of Canada arrives in November and stays until April. We really liked the cloudless skies the warm and sunny weather every single day we were in Yuma. When everyone was getting snow back east and even chilly temperatures back home in Florida we were basking in 85 degree temperatures by the pool!

What makes Yuma so interesting from my point of view is the HUGE number of snowbirds in RVs!  I really think there are more RVs than homes in Yuma and there are at least 100 RV parks!
The park we stayed in was about as charming as it gets. Our neighbors on the right were a sweet couple that were both over 90 and were from Alberta and had been coming to this park and staying in a small trailer every winter for 28 years.

Izzie and Heinz's little slice of heaven for the past 28 years

Izzie and Heinz were both ballroom dancers and delivered a splendid show of their talents at the Valentines Day dance last Friday night. It was one of the best Valentine's Days I've had, dinner and dancing, for a mere $15.00 per person, BYOB!

 This park was full of happy retired people playing shuffleboard, golf and riding around in their golf carts visiting friends for the daily Happy Hour.
The people here were friendly and warm and we really enjoyed making some new friends here.They wanted us to stay longer and hated to see us go! They made us promise to come back again, Ya never know!
We went to a Mega open air flea market where you could buy anything and everything! On Sunday we ventured out towards the Yuma proving ground, never did figure out what they were trying to "prove" I may have to get back to you with more information on that! During our visit we also ventured over to the Yuma Territorial Prison Historic Park, a big deal in Yuma. It opened in 1875 and housed over 3069 prisoners including 33 women. In it's 34 years of operation the prison was considered to be a model institution for it's time.

Do we go in?

That's what they all say....

 We stopped at a farm stand that not only sold jams, salsa and fresh produce, but they served a mean Carne Asado Taco for $2.75, it was delicious!
The highlight of the trip,was this tiny church right in the middle of a field surrounded by lettuce crops, It was open and the sign said  The sign said "Pause Rest and Worship".... 4 tiny pews, a Bible and a guest resgister, it was truly special.

 "Pause Rest and Worship"

Small and gracious

Down the road there was also a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge it was built back in 1929 over the Gila River. It was a practice run for the real one. It was named The McPhaul Bridge in honor of Henry Harrison McPhaul the first Yuma resident to become an Arizona Ranger. These days it is considered to be the bridge to nowhere since it was deemed too flimsy for modern traffic and the river was diverted upstream in 1968.

The Bridge to Nowhere

We never did find any good restaurants except our standby favorite In and Out Burger, it's always good for a leisurely lunch but you can't eat there too often, but when we do, it's a treat!
We are headed to Tucson for a few days and then Las Cruses New Mexico and finally to Albuquerque where we will leave our home on wheels for service and drive the Jeep back to Florida!

Heading East

While I loved this 8 month adventure on the road I'm ready to go home to my loft on Clematis Street. I miss my Mom, my siblings and daughter. I saw a sign on the road that said,  "Your heart doesn't beat just for you".....Time to see family and take care of business for a few weeks before we head to Vancouver this summer. In the meantime, we will have some adventures to report on between Arizona and Florida, stay tuned.

More amazing sunsets

Coasting South to San Diego

We "coasted" south down the highway, "The 5" as they call it in California, maybe because you need at least 5 drinks after you spend time on it!  Our first stop was to get some fuel and this can be a tedious chore, especially when you are on a Los Angeles city street and you are towing a car. I have pictures to prove it can be done!

Will we fit?

Yes we did!

We arrived in Mission Bay San Diego 45 minutes ahead of our scheduled 2 pm check in. I always read reviews of the places we plan to stay so I know what to expect and one reviewer indicated, don't arrive even one minute before check in because you will be scolded by the check in staff..so, we waited in a State Park parking lot on the bay and I made some sandwiches as we watched the minutes tick by. There was a view of the Bay so we didn't mind the wait!

A beautiful day in Mission Bay, San Diego

We checked in right at 2pm and made our way to the site, the reviewer wasn't to far off the mark because the ladies at the check-in were brusque to say the least, not sure why that is, maybe it's a qualification of the job. We often encounter these type of winning personalities on the road, but that's a subject for another day.
I've concluded after more than 7 months on the road, my favorite part of the journey is when we are settling in to a new site for a few days, maybe it's the anticipation of enjoying new adventures and meeting new people, I love soaking in the local culture. My initial observations of this area had me excited!

Let's start with the RV park, it was basically a huge paved parking lot next to the Bay, some foliage, nice trees between the sites, old, you an always tell the age of the park by the restroom/shower facilities. We don't need to avail ourselves of these amenities because we have 2 spiffy bathrooms and our shower is just like home, but some folks aren't as lucky and need to utilize them.

Nice trees in the parking lot!

park between the lines, or else!

 I made an exception in Las Vegas at the park because the showers were big and luxurious, like going to a spa and they were right next to us. Speaking of Las Vegas for a minute, this next story, (even though I'm getting off track for a bit) was the "material" bloggers like myself dream of! When we were in LV, Jay would run over to Dunkin Donuts near us to get bags of coffee by the pound, he loves his Dunkin donuts coffee and I think he also enjoys an occasional donut, not that he admits to that! OK, back to San Diego, the second day Jay said we need coffee and we have to find a Dunkin Donuts! The western US is Starbucks territory, one literally on every corner! Of course Jay has an app. for that on his phone, so, he said, let's go! We headed down the highway a few miles and the official Dunkin donuts GPS on his phone led the way.... off the highway, make a left and you have arrived... only one problem, we are pulling into a secured Naval hospital facility and now we are at the check point. Jay says to the 20ish armed soldier, "you're not gonna believe why we are here!" the solider wanted his license and said he wasn't even sure if there was a Dunkin Donuts on the base, no matter, we aren't going to see it! The very serious soldier held his license, stopped the traffic and we made a big U-turn off the base, he wouldn't relinquish the captain's license until we were pointed out, just in case we tried to make a break for it into the base for a coffee break!  Thanks have a nice day, we're outta here! We laughed all the way back to the coach, I bought coffee at the grocery store and we survived!
Jay has a step sister JoAnne who lives in San Diego and we met her for lunch, she actually lives on a 40 foot cabin cruiser in the harbor and collects antique VW buses! We had lunch at a terrific Mexican restaurant and they hadn't seen each other for 20 years, that's a lot of catching up to do! So much catching up we had a $42.50 parking ticket on our car after lunch, two hour parking MEANS two hours! Ok?! Well worth it, we invited her and her friend Joe over to our home on wheels for dinner and we all had a great time!

Jay and JoAnne

We enjoyed many of the sights in San Diego, the beach and Old Town and ate a lot of fish Tacos in the process

A very old cemetery

amazing fish tacos!

! 

a beautiful Sunday in Old Town

 

We enjoyed the views of the bay at Mission Bay RV park but were mystified as to why with such a beautiful location was tired and not updated, we noticed many abandoned mobile homes and even quite a few empty homes right on the water. The mystery was solved when we found out the property was now owned by the City of San Diego and will soon be cleared and sold to a developer to build waterfront resort/condos. The home owners were paid huge sums of money to move...too bad, another great RV park will soon be history. All in all, the locals we encountered were friendly and laid back, every area of California has a completely different culture and San Diego was no different, beautiful beaches and lots of surfers!

We enjoyed our time in San Diego and we departed for the Arizona desert town of Yuma which is about 170 miles due east along the border of Mexico.

310 to Yuma!

We also crossed a huge mountain range on Interstate 8 East, I held my breath and the Captain maneuvered the coach flawlessly all the way to Yuma. These mountains are so steep that they also have runaway ramps in case your brakes fail.  I was anxious to arrive in Yuma because it was my birthday and I wanted to have a nice birthday dinner...that proved to be a dining challenge in this small town of traveling snowbirds. We ended up at a roadside diner feasting on fried chicken and had Red Velvet cake from the grocery store! Not quite what I had in mind but it was fun!

Our new home for two weeks is a family owned RV park full of Canadian snowbirds so I better brush up on my French, I'm told they have some jamming Happy Hours!

will it be Shangri-La?