Saturday in Tucson

Since I finally got my letters for our plaque yesterday I decided to get busy at it this morning. I painted the outside border dark green and then sponged the face of the plaque with the same dark green, white and a lighter green. By then it had warmed up enough that I could sit at the picnic table outside to trace the letters onto the plaque and paint them. The photo shows what I’ve done so far. It was very difficult painting as it’s so dry here. Every time you pick up paint you have to pick up water too so I guess I won’t be doing my one stroke flowers until we get to somewhere with some humidity as you don’t use water when doing one stroke. By the time I finished the plaque it was nearly 2:00 p.m. so I tried sitting outside to read for a while but the breeze was pretty strong so I went inside and lay on the couch to read.

Gordon then asked if I was coming with him to take some late day shots so we wound up going to the St. Xavier Mission south of Tucson and then into Saguaro National Park. I didn’t take many photos today, wasn’t in the mood. When we got home, I prepared my hamburger stew as we’re going into a cooler climate tomorrow.

Now we’re watching Panic Room with Jodie Foster.

Choices

Sample plaque

Today, Bib didn’t want to go out at all. I managed to drag him out but he wouldn’t go to the doggie park. Every morning when we go out there are trains blowing whistles and he’s decided he’s scared of that. What a phobic dog!

I then called the campground in Benson as I hadn’t heard anything from my online reservation. She said the online system was new and it was good that I had called. So we’re booked in to the Cochise Terrace RV Resort for one week starting this Sunday. Here’s the link to their website: http://www.cochiseterrace.com/index.html

So, we got showered early and then I headed to Marana to WalMart to get groceries since we’re going to be in Benson and I know there’s no WalMart there let alone a SuperWalMart. I’ve known other RVers that have come back to Tucson to shop for groceries. While there I had a nice leisurely Cobb salad at McDonalds.

I have been trying to get Gordon to do my letters for me for our outside plaque. While I was at WalMart I was looking at stencil lettering so I phoned him and asked him if it would be easier if I just bought a stencil for my lettering and he said, yes. So, when I got home I traced out my letters and found that they were too big so I tried doing some in PowerPoint but they were too small. In the end, Gordon did the letters so now I have to get busy. When we were at Camp Verde there was a plaque outside one of the RVs that I photographed. Mine is a different shape and size but I liked this one and photographed it as a reference. I’m using it as my photo for today.

When I got back from WalMart it was still before 2:00 p.m. so I sat outside and read for a while. The wind came up a bit. It was warm when I got home – 80F so I had put on shorts but sitting outside was cool so I took my blanket out with me.

While I was outside, an RVer came in from Alberta. He was over looking at our DirecWay dish and said that he saw a Canadian in Mexico with a DirecWay dish and they had internet & TV through Star Choice. I emailed our installer in Lindsay and he says that he can provide us with the equipment for Star Choice so I checked out their programming and it really sucks so now I need to find out if we can get US programming through Direct TV. It would be so much easier choosing campgrounds (and cheaper) if we didn't have to rely on the campground having cable. The campgrounds in Canada (except for Vancouver) don't have cable so we have to rely on local programming all summer. It can be very boring!

Another night of local TV and computing! No cable at this campground!

Lazy Thursday

Today was another slow day, just reading and napping.

Gordon left around noon to go to Tucson Studios. I have no interest in seeing this so saved the $15 entry fee for me anyway. He had planned to stay for sunset but arrived home about 4:30 p.m.

While he was gone I sat outside and read for a while, came in and vacuumed and cleaned a bit back outside to read and then came in and had a nap.

It was a beautiful sunny day although cooler when I got up this morning at 47F. It did get to 77F during the day.

Tonight we’re watching TV again and I’m updating my blog.

The photo is one I took at sunset last night.

Rainy Wednesday

Today when I got up it was 57F. It was quite warm all last night and I kept waking up putting covers on and taking them off. For some reason we never sleep with the windows open. We have to try that. I was able to go out to walk with just sweats this morning.

After walking, we headed over to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. This is the last complete breakfast that we’ll be able to have on the gift certificates that I got from my co-workers at BreconRidge when I left in August 2004. That was such a great gift!

We then went to WalMart as Gordon needed to buy more DVDs to back up the photos that we’ve been taking. He also bought some headphones to block out the noise of the TV when I’m watching and he doesn’t want to hear it (or me). I also picked up some groceries while there and I managed to get out of there under $50. A first for this trip I think!

When we returned to the RV, our neighbour was gone (he of the sewer connection with no donut) however later this afternoon another huge motorhome from Texas has arrived. It started to rain a bit, just a sprinkle really so I lay on the couch and read for a bit. Then tried to think of what to have for dinner and figure out if I have everything I need. A little late since we just got back from the grocery store. So I wound up making Tamale Pie. It’s the first time I’ve made it. Someone made it at one of the potlucks we were at, I think at Catalina Spa at Desert Springs and Gordon thought it was really good. It’s made with a cornbread crust so he can eat it.

I also prepared our monthly expenses for February and I’m including a chart of our end of month expenses as some people are interested in that sort of thing. Unfortunately blogspot does not support tables so I’ve converted my table to text. It didn't turn out very well but I think you can figure it out.

February /Per Day
Campground Fees $583.35/$20.83
Groceries $439.88/$15.71
Laundry $14.25/$0.51
Wine/Spirits $0.00 /$0.00
Entertainment $2.25 /$0.08
Snacks $8.83/$0.32
Eating out $108.46 /$3.87
Fuel Truck $410.21/ $14.65
Propane $16.84 /$0.60
Dog Food/Vet etc $35.00 /$1.25
Repairs RV/Truck $38.37/ $1.37
Misc $82.51 /$2.95
Insurance $140.58/ $5.02
Internet $99.85 /$3.57
Cell Phones $97.55 /$3.48
Medical/Dental $0.00 /$0.00
Gifts $59.27/$2.12
Totals $2,137.20 /$76.33



The temperature today only got to about 66F but it’s supposed to clear up later today and be nice and sunny tomorrow and about 79F.

We’ve decided that we’ve seen enough of Tucson this week or will have by Sunday and our plans are to head east to Benson. It will be cooler there as the elevation is higher but the campground is less expensive and it has cable, that is, if they have room. I’ve sent an email reservation to them. The campground is called Cochise Terrace RV Resort. If I haven’t heard from them by late tomorrow, I’ll call.

Since it’s been cloudy and raining most of the day, I’ve borrowed a photo that Gordon took a few days ago at Saguaro National Park of the skeleton of a saguaro cactus. I thought it was very interesting.

A Quiet Fat Tuesday

As it turns out the neighbour’s door facing us would have been better. The guy next to us put his sewer hose out as soon as he was parked and just put it in the sewer without a donut (a ring that blocks the sewer gas from coming out) consequently all we got all day was an odour of sewer gas wafting through our windows. We have been keeping the windows open when we’re here instead of using the air conditioning as even though it has gotten up to 89F in the RV, it’s not humid so it’s just warm. The fans circulate the air and it’s great. Anyway, this guy next to us needs a slap upside the head. I had hoped he would leave today but he’s still here.

Anyway, this morning it was 54F when I got up. Yeah! All I needed was a sweater to walk the dog rather than splash pants, two sweaters and a coat. It’s also warmed up to a respectable 83F with a gentle breeze but it’s clouding over and the weather forecast is calling for a 30% chance of rain. It hasn’t rained in 78 days here.

I managed to get the laundry done this morning and this afternoon sat outside and read my book for a while till it clouded over.

Both of us felt kind of icky today, don’t know if its from the smell of sewer gas or not so we just lounged around until after 5:00 p.m. then drove to downtown Tucson and Gordon took some photos of the architecture, mainly doors, I think as I haven’t seen the photos yet. I didn’t take any that are good enough to post so my photo tonight is of Gordon barbequing the night of our arrival with the pink sky from the sunset.

We wound up our drive trying to find a Taco Bell. We eventually found one but there was lots of traffic!

Back home to watch TV which isn’t great since we don’t have cable here!

By the way for those of you that don't know, today is Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) in New Orleans. We call it Shrove Tuesday. Instead of pigging out on pancakes, we pigged out on Taco Bell since Gordon can't eat pancakes unless they are made with gluten free pancake mix.

Sightseeing

Two of our neighbours left yesterday afternoon after I posted my blog so we didn’t have anyone right outside our door until we got home tonight. These people parked the other way so we can only see their sewer hose. Not sure which is worse! Also yesterday after they left, we moved one of their picnic tables onto our site as we didn’t have one. It’s been so long since we’ve had a picnic table, I can’t remember. Most campgrounds in the west don’t supply them so we have a fold up table that we carry for the barbecue but I was hoping to get my plaque started with our names on it and our camp chairs are too low to work with our table.

Today dawned bright and sunny again. This morning it was 45F when I got up and reached 81F this afternoon.

Gordon had gone to see Saguaro National Park West yesterday afternoon so today we headed through the city to see Saguaro National Park East. They have a one way eight mile drive through the park that we took and stopped in a picnic area to eat our lunch. The photo is of Bib and I after our picnic. We took several photos and then took a different route through the city and continued on the the Western park where we took more photos which you can see on my Yahoo photo site at: http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/smerrikin/album?.dir=9ae2

On the way back we stopped to pick up some water. We got spoiled when we were in Mesa. They had two water machines at the resort and you could buy water from the machine for 25¢ per gallon. It was convenient and cheap! I still don’t like drinking campground water and we’ve heard on the news how terrible water is in Arizona. It’s amazing how here in the desert they can sell you water so cheaply and at home in Ontario, it’s so expensive!

Something else I’ve noticed in Arizona is they don’t have motorcycle helmet laws. Consequently very few motorcyclists don’t wear helmets. I guess no one down here values their brain! After 26 years working for State Farm Auto Claims handling injuries, I can’t imagine anyone riding a motorcycle without one. On the other hand, most bicyclists do wear helmets. Go figure!

To check out Gordon's web page click here:
http://web.newsguy.com/gordonw/News/News.html

We've Moved to Tucson!

When I arose this morning we were in Camp Verde, AZ, temperature 31F at 7:00 a.m. and mostly cloudy. We packed up and hit the road by 8:45 a.m. with Tucson as our destination. Thankfully we had an uneventful trip and got through Phoenix okay. There was still a lot of traffic. I guess it’s getting to be like Los Angeles there, there’s really no good time other than the middle of the night to get through the city.

We made one rest room stop near Casa Grande and arrived at our park, Prince of Tucson RV Park at about 12:15 p.m. I had called at around 9:00 a.m. when we got on the road and they told me that if they didn’t have a full hook-up site for us today they could put us in overflow with water and electric and we could move to our full hook-up site tomorrow. Luckily by the time we arrived, the other people had vacated so we were able to get into our full hook-up site and get set up. We’ll be here for a week. Prince of Tucson RV Park is an older resort and the sites are much smaller. They are also all gravel, no concrete pads. We are actually in two sites. We’ve done a tour of the grounds, the washrooms and showers are very clean and they have a nice pool, spa and clubhouse. We’re also very close to Saguaro National Park. Gordon has gone to check it out but Bib and I decided to stay home and relax.

As of 3:10 p.m. it’s 84F. Quite a change! It’s mostly sunny here but we had a lot of cloud on our trip south.

As you can see from the photos the sites are small and our front door faces our neighbour’s which I don’t like but what the heck! I’ll just sit at the front under the overhang of the trailer.