Let's Get Caught Up!

We have been kid sitting every Tuesday and Thursday at Jill's, and for the most part on weekends, follow the middle granddaughter, Emi, to where ever her soccer team is playing. We have also made it back to Mount Lemmon which we see to the south. It is snow covered still and last Sunday when we went there, it was their last day of skiing - the snow is melting too fast. Something else that has occupied our time 24/7 - Chip has gotten very ill - almost lost him about three weeks ago. You have to understand - he has been with us for 14 years, has to be one of the most intelligent cats we have owned, and is our baby. We found a great female vet in Tucson and with encouragement and alot of contact with her over the last couple of weeks, we have gotten him back. I give him laxatives two times a day and he's on food that doesn't produce any solid waste - he has a mass that is obstructing his bowel and therefore can't poop. But - he's not in pain, gotten his appetite back after loosing a number of pounds, is quite playful at times, and can't say that he is fine - he's holding his own and is better than he was a month ago. Our poor Chip. Needless to say, we both watch him closely - his every move. Just like an elderly person -we are so happy when there is a 'BM' out of him, we praise him and pet him - but we see it also takes it toll on him. We are not ready to say goodbye to him - will do everything to keep him going as long as there is no pain. On a lighter note - our new 'RV' has arrived at Picacho Peak and we hope by the end of the week we will have the keys and ownership to it. We have purchased very little furniture, have been looking and talking about what would fit, but will wait until we are in it to do any more big purchases. We plan to stay here this spring until we feel that when we come back late fall, we will be comfortable and can move right in. Once we get in this week or so, we have to make arrangements to get the 5th wheel in for service, then the truck in and get new tires on the truck. Cha-ching. Very expensive winter here, but exciting! Today the window treatment guy is coming to give us an estimate on solar outside coverings, then the concrete work begins and the awning to be installed, the HVAC hooked up, the water done, alot to do in a couple short days! But can't wait!!!

Quick Trip to Ohio

I decided to make a quick visit to Ohio to visit my family and friends, Dave said he didn't want to see snow - so have a good time! I also wanted to see snow. I do miss seeing snow, seeing the seasons change, grass, hardwood trees, seeing Lake Erie, wasn't happy with experiencing chuck holes in the road or seeing how I forgot to drive in ice and snow - had to relearn this. And was I lucky or what? Saturday night we had 12 inches of snow and I caught this picture of my brother-in-law Danny using the snowblower. This was taken at my sister's house and she and I were standing in the computer room staring at Danny and making fun of him when he would come back for another swipe at the snow. Was good to see my family and to get caught back up on all their lives. Was especially great to see my niece Christine who had a preemie baby last January - born 3 months early, weighing in at 1 lb 17 oz - and seeing how Little Erich is doing now. He's just a beautiful, happy little boy who just loves musical toys. I saw my father in him - red curly hair, clear blue eyes, and a sunny disposition. No problems from his early birth and the doctors are quite pleased with him. He's below average for height and weight but mentally his progress is exactly where he should be for a 1 year old. Doctors told Christine that he should be at the 'normal' range by the time he's two. Was able to get back to the condo to get some things out and have shipped back to Arizona, lots of my sewing things, some clothes left behind. Stared out at Lake Erie for a very long time, taking in the views and the sounds and the sights. Weird to be back in the condo and knew that this place was not ours anymore. We are having too much fun RVing all over the country that we know we would not go back to the condo. Dennis and Peggy are loving living there and Dave and I are so happy for them. All in all great trip. Spent a day with my sister Loretta shopping and hanging out. When I flew out of Cleveland yesterday, the sky was bright blue, a warm 38 (warm for Ohio's winter) and was a nice send off. Forecast for Cleveland for today was another 3 to 5 inches of snow. However, when I landed in Phoenix last night it was a balmy 68. Today - rain, blessed rain! We last saw rain on the 12th of December and that rain was light but constant. Today's rain is hard, pounding, and things are flooding. We will get an awesome spring with flowers now. Good to be home to start planning our next adventure.

Catalina State Park, Arizona

One of the hikes we did a day before I left for Ohio was to go to Catalina State Park which is about a twenty minute drive from Picacho. We both agreed that we need to make this park one that we go to alot. Biking, hiking trails, camping if we wanted to move the RV there, historical ruins are there. One trail we saw goes up to Mount Lemmon where we went to the previous week. However, the trail is rated extreme - don't think we will do that one. One of the trails is a birding trail and was told that March and April are the best times to go along this trail for watching birds and to take pictures of flowers. Since we are in winter mode now, everything is kinda dull and not much life. However, we could hear birds all around us, even caught a lizard sleeping on a rock. If you zoom in on the picture above, you will see the lizard with it's eyes closed. The ruins we walked reminded us of the hike we did to the Presidio near Tombstone. Informative, but had to use your imagination as to what you were looking at. Definitely will go back there soon.

Mount Lemmon

Since last post we have been to Chandler (where Jill and family are) more than we thought we would. One of the girls had strep throat, another wasn't doing good either, and so had to stay home from school - which meant could we help out? Spent a couple of days there keeping the kiddos comfortable and doing what comes naturally in a home - laundry, straightening up house, errands, cooking, dishes, etc. Was fun - but we both felt once we left that we like our little RV - not as much to do or pick up. We were still looking around and seeing best fit for next winter and have found that Picacho Peak RV Resort is our best of the best, we will be back here next winter for sure - have already talked to the folks about it. And an exciting thing will happen in about 5 weeks - a Civil War reenactment will take place and we plan to be there to watch the activities. We witnessed a reenactment at East Harbor State Park in Ohio and that was really cool. We hope this one coming up will be just as interesting and educational. Did we tell you that this is Arizona's 100th year anniversary? So - not only will there be things going on at the Peak but also celebrations for the statehood. Yesterday after running some errands in Tucson we drove up to Mount Lemmon, over 9,127 feet tall and the neatest thing - we can see this mountain from our campsite. And it's snow covered to boot and we can also see the snow from our campground. We went too late in the day and didn't make it to the top but knew that when we go back, there will be an entire day looking around, hiking, seeing the town. We found out that the ski resort at the top is the southern most ski destination in the continental US. Amazing! We saw a rapeller on one of the hoodoos (look closely - you can see him on top of that hoodoo) and were amazed that he could get up there. As he laid down to rest after climbing up, we saw 2 turkey vultures flying over him and I think he got a bit miffed and decided to then repel down. No lunch for those vultures! This mountain will definitely be on our list of things to do when guests come in. There are two towns at the top of the mountain and they say there are ski lifts and some restaurants and stores - looking forward to going up there again. Very pretty, waterfalls, lots of hiking and camping, although I don't think we would ever take the RV up there - too scary and steep. In one of the pictures above you can make out the road which snakes back and forth at very steep inclines. We did see at one of the campgrounds a number of RVs - bet it gets pretty cold at night! But to hear the coyotes again - would be worth it in the spring/early fall.

Lazy Days in AZ

I survived the bachlorette week in Picacho last week, Dave was in Oshkosh, Wisconsin conducting training for a company. I felt sorry for him because he was not used to working long hours and the snow and cold really got him. He said he thought he was retired, and now he says - he really is done this time. Enough. When you spend the last 6 months dodging snow and cold and then you spend a rough week in it, you will get your butt kicked big time. He's still recouping today, will take at least a week to get warmed up and caught up with his sleep. While he was gone I made good use of the time to do some quilting, reading, sitting in the sunshine, and visiting with the girls in Chandler. It is fun being this close to the girls. I spent this past weekend living at Jill's house with the oldest, Lia, while the rest were in Tucson for a soccer tournament. Lia and I had fun, even took in a cute movie. Good times.

Last Thursday I wanted to do some grocery shopping and decided to head in the other direction (east on I 10) towards Tucson to find a different store. I got off on the wrong exit and decided to just kept driving, keeping Picacho Peak always in view, knowing I wouldn't get lost as long as I could see it. I found some interesting campgrounds and lots of hiking and biking trails just east of here. And I got closer to Mount Lemon which we can see to the east of us. That day was 69 degrees and there was lots of snow on that mountain. We had rain two days ago and there is even more snow on it. We have been told there are ski lifts/trails on the mountain and also a restaurant there - will have to look into that further. So - yes, we can get to snow if we want - but right now - NO!

We are really enjoying our time here in Picacho, lots of sun, and no given time frame to get going again. Our tentative plans are to leave sometime the beginning of April heading towards Montana for the summer. I don't have the hitch-itch yet even tho we have been here now 6 weeks and in Arizona 9 weeks total. As we looked back at this time last year we were just heading to McAllen Texas from Sinton, near Corpus Christie. Ah, what memories!

Tarantulas and Such

Since we are sitting tight here in Picacho Peak for a couple of months, we haven't done alot of sightseeing. However, I realized yesterday that between Dave and myself, we have put over 2000 miles on the vehicle! Yikes, so what have we been doing? Besides visiting with the grandgirls at least 3 times a week, we are still looking at other campgrounds to make sure that Arizona is the best fit for us in the winter. We have been up to Flagstaff area and down to Tombstone area and west to Tonopah (about 90 miles from Yuma) and east as far as Apache Junction. Florida? Don't want to go back there for many reasons: too expensive, too many old people, too congested, too many Quebecians, way way too many people from New York , and of all the campgrounds only 2 were acceptable enough to go back to. Texas -wonderful. But, only if you can get to way south near South Padre Island (Brownsville) and McAllen/Mission areas. The downside is that Texas is huge and you drive and drive and drive to get going again on your journey after your stay. We loved Texas and will go back there in the spring or fall, not summer when it's too hot, to see the rest of the western state, someday.

Lots of observations about where we are. Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington are the typical license plates of most of the cars and trucks here. Which makes sense - it's a straight shot down the interstate to here. Weather - beautiful! Day temps about 70 to 75, nights down to 40. Sunny, light breeze if any, clear skies. Nice. But have to say I am missing some things. Like: green grass, maple/elm/oak/hickory - for that matter - any hardwood trees would be nice to see, my family in Cleveland although I will get to see my sister and husband when they come to Lost Wages (Las Vegas) late February but miss the rest of the nutty group of family and friends. I miss seeing the birds and waterfowl of Lake Erie, miss my church family in Lorain Ohio.

Now - here's what you miss by not being here. Tarantulas. I saw a baby the other day - baby size was 2 inch body with the hairiest legs. One acquaintance here said that she saw an adult - body size of 6 inches, walking down the roadway, just loping along. She said - common sight. However, by having these spiders around, the scorpions stay away. And get this - at night we are invited to scorpion hunts here in the park - they take a special blue light and go looking for these boogers and kill them. I don't think so! Also found out that you will not die from a tarantula bite, just get pretty sick. And scorpion bite? Well, if you are elderly or sick to start - not a good thing - your days are numbered. Rattlesnakes - they have killed 3 in the park in the last year - but usually they come out when there has been alot of rain. Note to self - stay inside after a rain! I used to wear flip flops ALOT and now I wear my tennies everytime I go outside the RV. We are supposed to stomp our feet at night if we are walking around. And javalinas - wild pig like animal. The manager said that at night they tend to roam through the park. But like pecking order - they hunt the snakes and tarantulas, and of course any other small animal. I have heard coyotes singing a couple of nights ago - a lovely, lonely sound. Birds? Lots and lots of hummingbirds, saguaro loving woodpeckers (flickers), roadrunners, small cactus birds. These guys make pretty sounds. All in all - I like this area we are in. And if I need snow - Flagstaff.

Shootout!

Tuesday we drove down to Tombstone to see the shootout at the OK Corral and any other cowboy stuff there was to see. Cutesy town, thriving on us tourists, lots of places to buy trinkets or jewelry or junk, or nice stuff, lots of eating places, hotels, historical sites. We spent about 5 hours there, could have spent more but the sun was getting low and we had to drive the 2 hours back. We did see the reenactment of the shootout at the OK Corral which depicted the story of how 3 ranchers were gunned down by Wyatt Earp, his brother, and Doc Holiday. I am not sure how the entire story goes so I will have to rent the movie to get more in depth information.

We started off our visit to Tombstone - by the way, it is known as the town too tough to die because it has survived 2 fires, copper mining and bust where the town's population at one time was over 12,000 people!, the movement of the county seat to another town, etc. - by visiting Boothill Graveyard where 250 graves of outlaws, criminals, victims, hangings, Indian attacks, sickness, prostitutes, upstanding citizens, and a sundry of others lay. Some of the headstones were quite explicit - like, Lester Moore - "Here lies Lester Moore, Four Slugs from a .44, No Less, No more." Cute! After this visit we then went into the town and parked and started our visit. We went to the Helldorago Shootout which is a comical look at cowboy shootouts.

At 3:30 the arguments and fighting started down the main street, prepping the tourists to follow along and by 4pm you were brought along to the actual place where the shootout took place at the OK Corral. After this show we then watched a movie on the history of Tombstone and some of the confusion of the shootout was explained. On our drive back to Picacho we were treated to a fabulous sunset - the sky looked like it was on fire, the peach and melon colors were amazing - reminded us alot of the sunsets while we were in Santa Fe. Fun day and we know our guests really enjoyed themselves.