Weekend with Friends

Friday (11th) found us enjoying the day at Wayne and Laurie’s AZ home. We swam, biked, walked, ate and played some cards. It was a fun day in their new and beautiful community of Verrado.

Ride around Wayne and Laurie's community

We arrived at the park by 10 a.m. Saturday which allowed us to park near the stadium and ride our bikes to the nearby practice fields. Wayne, Laurie, Gordon and Carol joined us as we watched the “big name” players honing their skills (there is a 60 man roster but there must be 200 players filling the variety of farm team rosters). I felt like a little kid, leaning up against the mesh fence, watching the big kids taking BP and competing in fielding drills. As the players took their noon break, we tailgated in the parking lot for lunch. Friend/distant relative Camile Eliason, who winters in nearby Sun City and volunteers as a usher at several games, spotted us and joined us to give me a bad time. She threatened but did not evict us for “rowdy behavior”. Fun. We had front row seats near first and the M’s won handily with most starters playing 3 – 4 innings.

Batting Practice

Camile

tailgate at stadium

That eve we celebrated my birthday (16th) and Gordon’s (8th) with a dinner at the RV.

Birthday present -  glass holder

On Sunday, we met midmorning at White Tank Mountains Park. The 5 hiked to a waterfall while I biked nearby roads. The desert is beautiful this time of year and relatively green. Loki appeared to be the one most fatigued as he found some puddles and laid down in the wet sand. The temps continue to be in the mid 80’s. The afternoon found us back at Wayne and Laurie’s pool.

Spring in the desert

Dog tired on the trail.

End of trail

Friends Fly In

Our friends, Laurie and Wayne, bought a home outside Phoenix a year ago.  Still living and working in the Puyallup area, they fly down occasionally to enjoy their new home with a pool.  They arrived yesterday, with fellow friends Carol and Gordon in tow.  We met them mid afternoon and enjoyed, for the most part, a wonderful afternoon in the sun and in the pool. 

The only downer was that Laurie, on putting on her swimsuit, was bitten by a small scorpion.  The scorpion had crawled into her suit as it was stored in her dresser drawer.  The bite hurt but no other complications were evident as Laurie continued to be her celebratory self.

the smashed scorpion

Mariners and Friends

We woke to a cool morning and had breakfast inside the RV with Bruce and Luann, friends from Puyallup.  We had no idea each other were on the road.  In 07 we had rendezvoused in Maine and spent a week exploring Acadia NP together.

We arrived at the Peoria stadium by 11 and spent some time watching minor leaguers out on the several fields in the complex.  The game with the Giants was a win, 1-0, with many of the starters not playing.  We met up with Kathy and Jason, friends from Puyallup and sat in the mid 70's sun.

The evening found us in nearby Sun City West at the home of Brian and Kay.  We gather together each time we come down as Brian, who grew up in Ephrata, is a Coug, and a principal colleague at PSD.  We retired the same year.

Fun day with the rig not moving.  It is much more relaxing planning for events with friends and pursuing avid interests, rather than planning the next move.  It will be an enjoyable and busy 11 days here.

Casa Grande to Spring Training

The campground at Casa Grande was unique. It was not large (400 residents), it did not offer many amenities, but I don’t ever remember being in a happier community. We arrived Friday eve. On walking into the clubhouse we were greeted warmly. “Come to breakfast tomorrow morning, $3 each, everyone will be there.” The next morning we got in line for biscuits and gravy and sat with older folk from our home state, Wisconsin, and many other northern states and Canadians. That eve, after Barb and I had investigated other camp grounds in the area for future long term residence, we came back to observe the campground  members involved in a dance. Most were there, the polka, the fox trot, the line dance. This RV community stresses fun and involvement.




Sunday morning found us at Central Lutheran in Arizona City. Again, in this very multicultural community, the 70 congregants looked like us, most were older, and only 3 children were in attendance. The pastor, a robust graduate of UPS, his wife from PLU, skillfully applied the essence of “Transfiguration” as we lead into Lent. It was a potent message that we hope to skillfully apply.

We left church and drove south to visit Barb’s cousin in Tucson. We stopped for lunch at Waffle House (Arizona has the closest Waffle House to Puyallup). Barb had some of Bert’s chili (Bert was at Ben and Penny’s wedding) and I had some southern pork shops topped with gravy. Barb found my selection “disgusting”. “I am in the South," I responded. "I’ll have a salad tomorrow.” Just a few miles down the road we passed the Starbucks that Kari opened, at 4 a.m. for those many months, to serve the commuters of Tucson, on their way to work.



We spent the afternoon with Janet, Wayne and Keri, Barb’s cousin, husband and daughter. The last time we visited their home was on the last leg of our 07-08 trip around the U.S. We stopped here to visit Barb’s aunt LaVan, who lived in the “mother in law building” in the back yard now occupied by Keri. In 08 we “hooked up” to Aunt LaVan’s house and spent a few days exploring family history. Now, 3 years later, Aunt LaVan has passed and we, as cousins, had much catching up to do in the sharing of more family history.

Sunset Sunday eve

Monday morning we awoke to wind. The prognosticators had predicted it. And, Ben, I may have broken a promise I made to you so long ago, I did not “hunker down”. We set out the 70 miles in 40 mile side wind to our destination. After driving through the center of Phoenix, often on 6 lane interstate where every driver feels territorial, we landed in a destination RV park, just down the road from spring training. This is the area where, at this time of year, Barb wants to see, “my Boys”, the Mariners.



We settled into our site and within a few hours we were at the Mariner ticket booth purchasing tickets for a few games during our stay.



Later, as I biked around our RV resort (900 sites), I ran into two friends from Puyallup, their RV’s just a few hundred yards from ours.

Our present site in El Mirage outside of Phoenix

Casa Grande

We drove east 180 miles to a RV park in Casa Grande.  On the way we drove by several comparable parks which are numerous in this area.  We are approximately half way between Tucson and Phoenix.  We will be here 3 nights visiting other parks and visiting Barb's relatives in Tucson.  It is 80 degrees and quite comfortable.  Once again we are in a community of around 300 seniors (park models and RV's) who spend most of their day playing games, exercising and partying.

Yuma

The tourist information volunteer at the CA/AZ border stated that more than 40,000 snowbirds flock to Yuma each year. Some are in RV’s. Some have homes or park models. Barb and I have always wondered why people migrate here. After 2 days here, we have not found the answer. As we arrived on Wednesday, we checked in to a park affiliated with our Thousand Trails membership. Our site is not much larger than our RV. “Stacked in like cordwood” may be an accurate description. Yet this park, within throwing distance (well, in my youth) of I 8, it is the home of 400 snowbirds, most November thru April. There is a small pool, a clubhouse, and the elements of a Seinfield episode. Apparently, the site owners association is in turmoil and the election of officers is tomorrow. Homemade campaign signs are frequent as I bike the 600 yards of streets. We leave tomorrow and it may be just in time to avoid armed rebellion of the losing interests. It may be Egypt and Libya in micro scale.

We did visit friends/former neighbors last night. The Holmdales have been motor homing to Yuma for several years. Their site was much more generous than ours and, as Puyallup/Fife natives; they interact with many of friends who migrate here as well. They barbecued scrumptious steaks and we enjoyed the evening outside their RV, in the desert air.



Thursday morning found us at the Arizona Marketplace, a gathering point for the snowbirds. Puyallup Fair - like, I estimate it at 20 acres of booths selling everything from mink oil to transmissions (hope I didn’t miss an opportunity… my transmission is still the original???) We found plastic clips for our sliding closet doors (they keep breaking) and a convenient dog waterer. I steered Barb toward some turquoise jewelry but she refused. Yes, I thought it cheap looking and she agreed.

Arizona Marketplace

Historically, Yuma was once accessible by sea (Sea of Cortez) via paddle wheeler, up the Colorado River, and beyond all the way to present Nevada. The Colorado River crossing here was a strategic point and later, a nearby site was selected as the Territorial Prison (1863). Both are in proximity to each other and accessible by bike trails along the Colorado River. We spent the afternoon biking the area and enjoyed the historical depictions of life here in the 19th century.

bike trail along Colorado River near historical crossing

Inside Territorial Prison

Barb let me out.

As we left the historical park we again greeted the volunteer. In his heavy British accent, he stated that he and his wife have been traveling from eastern B. C. to Yuma for 14 years. “Why do you come?” I asked. “The sun,” he stated. “And unlike other destinations, it is cheap here.” Out in the middle of the desert, there is one retirement community after another. There may be friends here, other than that, it must be cheap.


By the way, when Barb and I traveled the US 07-08, we invested in a broadband card at $60 a month.  It was nice but too expensive for us now.  We have been trying to rely on local wifi but we found again and again that they often charge or public sites are insecure.  But we have found that local libraries have safe and secure internet access.  Beautiful spaces, state of the art access, paid by tax dollars.  Ben Franklin, the father of public libraries, would have been proud.

Off to Yuma

On Wednesday we rose early and met our new found friends, Mike and Cathie for breakfast in the Pio Pico clubhouse. We had spent much time together the last 5 days - a trip to a local restaurant, playing cards, drinking fine wine, and dissecting and offering solutions to the many problems of the world. Fun. They are such a lively couple who, for the most part, reside in Welches, Oregon, just 24 miles from Thompson Farms (Barb’s family). We look forward to many rendezvous in the future.


We were on the road by 9:30 after Mike helped me “dump”. The campground had a weird sized sewer port and Mike had a sewer adapter that fit. A person who helps you dump your sewage is a sign of a true friend!!!

The road east out of Pio Pico was narrow and steep for about 20 miles. Finally we reached I 8 and climbed more until we reached 4,600 feet. Snow was on the side of the road. Then we dropped precipitately down through some very stark and void landscape. The Badlands may have been more dead, and east Texas is void, but the area we drove through rivaled both.

road out of Pio Pico

the wall to our south

border check

sand buggies frolicking near the wall

Soon the ominous border fence was on our right and the landscape turned to sand dunes. The elevation marker indicated sea level and we dropped a bit more. The rest of the trip was relatively flat all the way to Yuma. The day’s mileage – 180 miles.