My flowering cactuses in the HHR

I don't know how long these will bloom in the car so I thought I would show you what they looked like.
Aren't they beautiful?  There are some on the floor as well  - they are not blooming.......yet.

The Marina at Lake Pleasant

About 1 block north of the RV Park was the marina that allowed camping w/or w/o elec.  It was always busy with folks who either were in fishing tournaments, 4 wheeling or there with their boats.  We walked there and around every day - there was always something going on.

This is the south ramp - for the peons who don't rent a baot slip.  There were huge house boats docked there.   This lake is huge - this is the southern tip.  There is a county campground that does not have services or take reservations just across this point. 

Pleasant Harbor RV Park and Marina

We took some photo's to show you this oasis in the desert, NW of Phoenix.  It is quite lovely and wouldn't hesitate to come back again.  It was $194. a week which was reasonable in comparison to some of the other parks.  We used this place as home base.  Each RV site was seperated by a chain link fence and note the back side was woven for privacy.   Very nice. 

These are photo's of permanents at this park.  Since they live here year round and the park does not allow any permanent structures they put up these car ports with walls and they called them Arizona Rooms.  They had family room furniture, TV's, portable bars, fans and ceiling lights in them.  Notice most of them have boats to use on the lake.  And they said in the summer they don't go outside-they stay in.

And some nice green spaces like this.  This is the scene of the crime where I fell, right next to this cactus.

Beautiful Sedona in the HHR

We traveled to Sedona in the HHR.  There is an RV resort just out of town we wanted to research.  As it turns out they are full for Easter week.  Many families return annually for this week to celebrate.  What a lovely location.  Many of you have been here ... but do you ever tire of these georgous sites? So we shall move closer up the freeway to north of Camp Verde, AZ and see the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Cottonwood and Jerome sights from there. We could RV to Flagstaff and stay there but it's only 40 degrees there today and they still have lots of snow.  This year they had 102 inches on snow.  A very peculiar year weather wise for them too !!!!   It is quite a ways to drive from Peoria, AZ.  So here we are entering Sedona.  It is very crowded and as you can see they just redid this highway.  And they aren't finished. !!!   It took us about an hour to get thru town and park.  We were very happy we didn't have the RV!!!

I did some shopping here :):) NICE PLACE !!!

Denis shopped in Sedona at the Grand Canyon Harley Shop !!

Cactus Farm Visit

I love cactus !!!!  (So did my mother).

In AZ there are Cactus farms and ranches.  I had never seen one and even Denis enjoyed it.  Here's some photo's.  Our HHR is now plump full.  We have cactuses - oh do we have cactuses!!!

This is a cool metal horse.  Classy setting!

There are cactuses as far as you can see.  And huge cactus for landscaping and expensive.  At least expensive to my way of thinking.  $50-75 for the sizes pictures above.  

We spent about 2 hours strolling this farm.  It was a treat. 

A week in review..........

The past week has been adventurous.

Monday nite:  I fell coming back from the club house about 10 PM.  All I could think about was my laptop in my arms and it crashing again.  Remember  - we broke our laptop screen in October. Well I was gripping it so hard to my chest that it slammed into my chest, ah hem and oh boy, my whole upper chest and arm is sore.  Road rash on my feet and arms - and Denis was in the motor home.  He thought he heard someone hollering...... it was me.  I made it to the mhome and he patched me up.  Tuesday I laid in the recliner outside all day and licked my wounds   :(:(:(:(     I am much better. 

Friday at the ball game I got pooped on by the birds .............. not once but twice! Our seats were behind home plate and the birds sat on the top of the net - a foul ball scattered them and it literally scared the POOP out of them.............. onto me. 

Saturday PM I was headed to mass and stopped at the site where the 4 motorcyclists were killed in Carefree AZ.  The crash site was loaded with flowers and bikers paying their respect.  What a sad site.

Baseball Spring Training in Surprise AZ

We discovered that spring training Cactus League games are in Arizona.  What a treat.

We attended a game at the Surprise Stadium, just west of Sun City.  The stadium is about 25 miles south of our campground and is home to the Kansas Royals and the Texas Rangers.  We watched the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4.  We also have tickets for Friday to see the Rangers vs the Oakland A's this Friday.

We had great seats and got some fun pictures.  Balls were flying all over.  The teams made sure all kids in the grandstands got game balls and autographs. 

We had very close seats and could see Rodriguez

                                                                                signal the runners .  3rd base front row seats.

Seeing our family in Sun City, AZ

We reached our new digs on Saturday, March 20.  Pleasant Harbor RV Park, Lake Pleasant, Peoria, AZ.  It is a beautiful place. I'll post pictures later this week.   My aunt Janet Wesselman and her fiancee Bernie Sauggo visited with us here late Saturday for dinner.  We grilled and watched the Huskies lose to the Souix in hockey. So sad :(:(:(. 
We were also in contact with Tim, Scott and Louie as they picked up a golf cart we bought over Craigslist.
They went to Cottage Grove, MN to check it out and purchased it for us.  Now we will have rides for 4 at Carefree in Big Lake, MN.  YAH !!!

On Sunday we attended a Hand Bell Choir Concert in Sun City with Janet and Bernie and another visiting couple, friends of theirs.  Aunt Janet plays the bells and was featured as a singer in this program.  She and the commentator sang a song from Feidler on Roof.  She did a fabulous job.  The program and music were beautiful.  I had no idea there was so much depth to hand bells.  After the concert we had "a bite" as Aunt Janet says at her house.  Bernie makes great margarita's and Aunt Janet makes great wild rice soup.  It was a delightful day. 

Truckstop Mama Road Running

I tell everyone that I am a truck stop mama !!!   These pictures prove it.  Yikes - all you hear are diesel engines running.  Seriously - they are convenient for fueling and always have plenty of space.  Here we are in Tucson ............  Flying J ............ here we are.

Hiking in AZ

Denis and I enjoyed hiking almost every day.  It was always sunny and a gentle cool breeze.  The rangers advised staying on the trails as the rattlesnakes had begun to move about in the tall grass.  I kept Miss Luna at my side at all times.  Here's some fun photo's - don't you just love our hats?    

I'll post some more when  I get a faster internet connection.
We're in Peoria, AZ and staying at a great place.
See you again real soon. 

A few facts about AZ and Casa Grande

In 8 years the population of Arizona has increased 30% to 6.7 million.  The Casa Grande area has grown 79% in that same time. 

Pinal County ( includes Casa Grande) is 60% Anglo and 30% Hispanic and unemployment is 11%. 

Sales tax in AZ is only 5.6% but each county and city tacks on another 2-3 %. 

We were very impressed with the Chamber and Tourist centers. 

This and that ............from Tucson, AZ

We have truly enjoyed this part of the country.  No humidity and sunshine every day.  We understand now how the sun can damage so many physical things but brighten our spirits. 

The economy in Tucson is encouraging.  New home builders are cautiously working on developments all around the city.  The signs are that most of the survived developers are feeling optimistic because loans are still so hard to secure.  Most of the purchases are cash - either boomers or financially secure families looking to move up and out of the core city.  New shopping meccas are being built - altho they appear to be empty except for an anhor store or 2.  This area has a new plaza with a Walmart that is unbelievably beautiful.  I will get a picture to attach.

The Casa Grande, AZ  area is growing by leaps and bounds.  Again the same situation with a population of 45,000 people and everything brand new.  We toured a new resort, Palm Creek Golf and RV resort. Unbelievable - check it , http://www.palmcreekgolf.com/.  It will be on our list to stay at the next time we are in Casa Grande, AZ.  There are over 1000 spots with just 350 park models and the rest RV's.  What a beauty !  This place is giving Voyageurs Resort, Tucson, AZ  some real competition.   They are only about 45 miles apart.  Check it out; http://voyagerrv.com/

We're on our final days at Catalina State Park so we want to tour in this area these last couple days and of course we will continue to hike.  We must be careful however as the rattle snakes are now moving around. 

Friday at Catalina State Park, Tucson AZ

Friday we traveled from Benson, AZ to 10 miles North of Tucson to Catalina State Park.  What a teasure. 

This is the nicest state park we have ever camped in.  Here's some photo's to validate our opinion.  And better yet - there is a big, new, beautiful  shopping center with a movie theater just outside the entrance to the park.  Notice the saguaro cactuses - they are majestic. 

Here's the office and the check in station. And the drive into the campground.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the actual campground. 

Spring Training

On Thursday the 11th of March we saw a spring training baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Texas Rangers at Hi Corbett Field in South Tucson.  The Ranger won quite handily 16-4.  It is a great older field that has moon shaped seating and everything is in the sun.  And it was shining - it was great.   http://phoenix.about.com/od/arizonapicturesandphotos/ig/Spring-Training-Pictures/Hi-Corbett-Field-01.htm

Texas Canyon and Chirichua Monument

On Wednesday we visited Texas Canyon, on the New Mexico, Arizona border.  This canyon resulted from the water eroding the sand and forming these geographic anamoly. There's a ranch that began in the 1920's  that still functions today as a retreat lodge, saloon restaurant and RV center.  It would be a fabulous location for a family reunion.  It even has an outside heated pool.  See for yourself...................

See the rock behind the bar ...........

         they serve drinks on the rocks !!

Road Running .............. on Wednesday the 10th

Here's a photo of a real road runner.

Doesn't look at all like us does it?

Tombstone AZ on Tuesday the 9th of March

We visited the town of Tombstone, AZ about 15 miles south of the RV Park we are staying in, Western Horizons RV Park. Our friends the McKierans, belong to Resorts of Distinction Group, so they were able to invite us as guests in this private resort. 

Tombstone is a quaint western looking town that has shows hourly depicting the gun fights of old in the West.   They also have the Boot Hill Graveyard.  It is truly a cemetery that they've added some humor to.  Here's some fun photo's from there.

This and That ...........................Sunday and Monday

Beep Beep - we're coming thru ..............................................

Traveled 351 miles on Sunday from Marathon Texas to Deming, New Mexico.  We are on Interstate #10 and went thru some very interesting scenarios.

The buzzards in Texas are scarrrrrrrrrrrrry.  They were everywhere along the road having a snack ont he road kill.  They have big red heads and curved black beaks - they are the size of turkeys.  ISH !!

El Paso, Texas is much larger than we thought. And you can see the poverty in Juarez, Mexico from the freeway.  What a site - reminded me of Progresso, Mexico except the Rio Grande is only feet wide.  10 lanes of traffic and lots of it.  Trucks, RV's and lots of rigs moving.

Las Cruces is full of feed lots and pecan groves - miles of them.  And miles and miles.  Thankfully we didn't have the windows open as I understand the stench from the feed lots is quite aromatic.  Didn't smell in Cracker Barrel tho where we had an early dinner.  My favorite stop  -  no truck stops today - thank goodness !!

But we made it to the Walmart in Deming, New Mexico.  I asked Denny how he could take his bride to such a posh resort. !!!    There was another motor home exactly like ours staying there also.  They were from Florida and were spending the winter in Texas.  Not warm in either location.  We had a great conversation on blogging for $$ and I got some tips from her.  Will investigate those ideas and you may see some of them. 

We are about 100 miles from Tuscon and there are miles and miles of pecan and walnut groves lining the freeway.  Actually, we decided to stay west of Tuscon in Benson or St David for a few days.   It's pouring rain but 50 degrees - thank goodness. 
  

Saturday, March 6, Big Bend National Park

Big Bend is 75 Years Old

I'm glad we're not that old ............yet !!!!

Hey - they have road runners in this park.  This park is a fabulous piece of savage beauty.  And it is HUGE!

We only saw a small part of this park and want to come back to camp in the park.  Most of the park is generally closed in the summer because it's too hot.  Winter is their prime busy season.  The Rio Grande River seperates the park from Mexico so smuggling alien Mexicans and drugs is a big border issue in the park too.  Our vehicle was dog inspected on our way out of the park.  There are Border Patrol stations all thru Texas.  I asked to take a photo of them but they said it was illegal.  There are many open Border Patrol jobs down here if anyone is interested. 

The mountains and desert are a very desolate beautiful land.  It was 70 degrees, cloudy and quite comfortable.  We had a picnic lunch at Chisos Basin and we even did a hike.  Here's some more photo's. 

I didn't know there were mountains in Texas - did you?

It was a very long drive from Marathon - 70 miles but slow going with switch backs and narrow roads.  It made my "winky wiggle" to look over the edges.  But our decision to visit this park was a very good one.  IT IS A TREASURE FOR ALL TO SEE !!!!