Love me some Tucson, AZ!

We have fallen in love with Tucson.  It is a town large enough to have three (count 'em, three) Costco stores, but it feels like a small town.  The weather has been perfect while we have been here, although we are told it will heat up soon.

We are staying at the Tucson Lazydays KOA RV park. I have long been skeptical of KOA parks, because they tend to be heavy on amenities we don't use (but are great for families) and priced accordingly.  This one, however, is very reasonably priced at $30/night, after they allowed me a 15% discount for being a veteran. The staff has been very helpful and cheerfully attended to our every request.  The park is very quiet: no traffic noise; no airport noise, even though we are close to Tucson International.  The garbage is picked up daily at the curb...no trekking off to find a dumpster.  All and all, it has been a wonderful place to stay.

We needed to do some shopping and quickly found a Costco and a Walmart Super Store, which covered all our shopping needs. That was in part thanks to the nice, cheerful lady who checked us in and then gave us maps and brochures and personal recommendations for places to go and things to see.

On top of all of that, we are here just at the time the desert is beginning to burst into bloom.  Today, we visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is a wonderful place that is a bit like a cross between a desert arboretum and a zoo. There are plants and animals on display that are indigenous to the Sonora desert of northern Mexico and southern Arizona. It was a wonderful display, and we were glad to see all these things that we might not have seen in years of exploring the desert on our own.

The museum is located within the Saguaro (pronounced Sa-WA-ro) National Monument, which celebrates the iconic Saguaro cactus that is virtually a symbol of Arizona. Here are some pictures that in no way do justice to what we saw:

A view of the desert from the museum gate area. that spire is a Saguaro, probably 80 or 90 years old.

The Prickly Pear cactus in bloom. All of the cacti are on the verge of blooming 

and probably will provide a riot of color next week, when we are gone.

The prickly pear flower up close. I once had a sample of the fruit 

of this plant, which is delicious and tastes a little like a peach.

A panorama of the desert. Click on the picture to expand it.

 Most of the animals were uncooperative today, except this little prairie dog, who posed like a model.

 

 A variety of plant life growing together. Textures and colors are beyond capturing in a snapshot.

 

This was the prettiest flower I saw all day!

No greenery in the desert? Really?

Another gorgeous flowering shrub.

Here is a close up of the flower clusters. 

Don't know who this guy is, but stunningly beautiful in person.

The desert aviary is home to lots of birds, including this quail (?). 

This dove was literally right above my head, but of course, 

when I tried to photograph him, he turned his head.

And this hummingbird was literally within my reach, when he landed on a twig.

A Saguaro cactus beginning to bloom.  The flowers are very tough and can be handled without damage. Each flower produces a fruit that contains about 1,000 seeds. 

 

 This fellow was hanging across the trail back to the museum building. 

I think it is the flower of a variety of agave.

 

After our visit to the museum, we returned to town and had lunch at In-n-Out Burgers, always a treat. The rest of the day was spent walking the dogs and relaxing. Tomorrow, we are off to Las Cruces, NM, so don't go away!

Leaving the ghost town behind

Yesterday, we awoke, having slept soundly. The dogs were in need of exercise, which means we were in need of same.  We took them for a romp in the off leash dog park, which we had all to ourselves. They both played hard and had a splendid time running and chasing each other. We followed that with a long walk around the park, which is quite large. 

The wind was insistent and blew about 20 mph most of the day. That made it uncomfortable to be outside much, so we carried the laundry over to the clubhouse and then came back and mainly stayed in.  It was nice to have a "day of rest."

I did get a couple of pix of the facilities.  This park is set up so that you can rent or buy a space and do with it what you want, within limits, of course.  Many of the lots are gravel with a concrete pad for a patio beside an RV.  Others have been fitted with small storage sheds, custom tile driveways and landscaping, whereas some folks have built homes on their plots. The homes range from the humble (mainly double wide manufactured homes) to the (relatively) palatial, given that the lots are not large.

 

The facilities are pretty impressive. Here is what they advertise as a "world class" shuffleboard court.

And here are the pools I mentioned in another post.  One is a lap pool. 

There is a wading pool, as well,  and a hot tub and a pool for just cooling off. 

These facilities are surrounded by buildings that house a pottery studio, a jewelry studio and other spaces for specific activities.  The laundry is large and clean, and the grounds are immaculate. 

Right now, the season has ended. In fact, next week, most of the street lights and wi-fi repeaters will be shut down for the summer.  Consequently, the place is rather like a ghost town. There are very few people here. Many of the houses are obviously closed up for the summer, and the residents have gone back to Canada and Michigan and other places that they left to escape the cold winter weather. Now they have gone home to escape the hot summer weather in Yuma.

We, ourselves, will be moving on today to Tucson. I'm not sure what we will see there, so stay tuned for further developments.

Playing catch-up

The trouble with blogging is that it is an unforgiving mistress.  Miss a day and you feel you are way behind.  I on the other hand have missed nearly a week. A lot has happened in the interim.

We arrived in San Diego on Thursday, April 21st, and checked in at Campland on the Bay. This is a resort on the shores of Mission Bay. What a great place for families.  Although the "camp" spaces are like the stalls of a parking lot, ours was about 50 yards from the beach, which made up for some of the less camping like feel of Campland on the Bay. 

About the time I finished setting up the trailer for a four day stay, middle daughter Laura and her husband Tim and their three boys arrived.  Grandma Jill had her reunion with baby Malachi, which filled a big hole in her heart.  We had Judah and Josiah with us at home for their spring break about three weeks before, but we hadn't seen Malachi since early February, and oh, how he has grown!

Hanging out with the family at Campland on the Bay

Grandma and Laura had a go at table tennis 

Most important of all, Grandma was reunited with her Malachi. 

We explored the campground, and the older boys got very excited about the ice cream shop, and the swimming pools, and the beach, and the ice cream shop, and the arcade, and the ice cream shop...did I mention they got excited about the ice cream shop?

The next day was a school day, so the boys stayed at home with mom and dad.  They had a birthday party to attend after school, so we met Tim and Laura for a light supper and then picked the boys up from the party.  We took them back to the park with us, and they spent the night, after a rousing game night, including UNO and Sorry!

Saturday, Tim and Laura and the baby came over and brought us breakfast burritos from their favorite Mexican restaurant in Ocean Beach. We spent some time on the beach, and then the rest of the family left and took the boys to a Nerf gun shoot out at their Karate Dojo.  Meanwhile, Jill and I did some shopping, including picking up some steaks, which Tim grilled for dinner. They were to die for.

Beach fun with the family.

Even in April, the boys went swimming in Mission Bay. 

I don't think anything on the rest of our trip can top this visit for Jill. Doesn't she look happy?

This shot was taken on the beach about 50 yards form our campsite. 

Judah was savoring his hot dog and French fries. He didn't want to eat them all at once. 

A selfie with Grandpa and Malachi and Grandma. Malachi was having a good time...really he was. 

Although the original plan had been for the boys to stay with us again, mom and dad thought they were too tired and kept them home for some much needed rest. That gave Grandma and Grandpa time to catch our breath. 

Next morning, we met the family at church and had a chance to worship as a family. What a thrill.  We always enjoy the worship service at First Church of the Nazarene.  Pastor Dee gave a very inspiring sermon from Revelation chapter 21. 

Following the church service, we all ended up back at the park, and the boys and Tim had a nice time in the pool.  The boys got ice cream...again...and then we headed back to town for Judah's baseball game.  Later, Tim grilled chicken thighs.  We left the boys dragging themselves off to bed. 

Tim and his boys enjoying the pool. Josiah is particularly fond of 

Malachi and loves to hold him and play with him. What a great "big brother."

Monday was due to be our departure day, but the forecast was for 35 mph winds on our route to Yuma.  We decided to stay an extra day, which seems simple enough, but our space was reserved by someone else for the next four days. Consequently, we had to move two spaces over and reestablish a beachhead, so to speak. 

The change in plans allowed us to catch up on some housekeeping chores and walk the dogs. It also gave us a chance to see the family again. In the afternoon, we drove over to Laura's house and then walked up to Judah's school to bring him home.  Then the race began.  Judah had another ball game to play, and Josiah a karate lesson. We got the boys some frozen yogurt and then walked to the ball park. 

During the game, we grabbed dinner at the snack shack, which served a very impressive lasagna dinner for $6.  We bid the boys a tearful farewell around 8:30 pm and headed back to the park.

Tuesday morning, while I was preparing the trailer for departure, several people stopped by to admire the Retro trailer. One of them was from Vancouver, WA.  He happened to be a friend of a friend of mine. We had quite a rag chew about our friend who built a sailboat in the 1970s and then sailed it around the world. What a small world we live in.


At last, we pulled out and headed for Yuma. As is her wont, Jill became the chief photographer on the trip. We had expected the drive to be primarily through desert, but we learned that along I8 there are some impressive mountains and an amazing amount of vegetation.

As you can see, there were also some amazing rock formations along the way.

The In-Ko-Pah mountains rise to impressive heights.  The highest

 pass we crossed was about 5,100 feet elevation.

More boulders haphazardly piled up.  

On the opposite side of the road, the rocks seemed to be sharp and jagged 

as compared with the relatively rounded rocks on the other side. 

Eventually, we did find the desert terrain we expected.  And there were lots of wind turbines along the way.

We arrived in Yuma around 3:45 and stopped for gas.  While we were at the gas stop, I checked my "RVParky" app, which finds RV parks in any given area and gives details about facilities and prices, reviews and a link to the park website, as well as directions that link with the map program on my phone. We decided to try "The Palms RV Resort."  Now, I want to tell you, this is a joint!  We stopped at the iron gate and called on the intercom to talk to the security officer about being admitted to spend a few days.  He opened the gate and we drove in and parked where directed. 

We went to the nearest building to check in, and of course, we went into the wrong office and talked to the park administrator. She directed us next door, just ahead of another couple. As we were checking in with our little half ton pickup and 25 foot trailer, they checked in with their million dollar, 45 foot long Prevost motor home. They are parked across the street from us now. 

The first question we had to field was, "What year was that trailer made?" I'm not sure, but I thought I detected a bit of skepticism on the face of the woman dressed in business finery who checked us in, when I told her, "2016." The check in process was quite comprehensive and we came away with a sheaf of papers that reminded me of the stack we signed when we bought our home. All of them were neatly tucked into a cloth tote bag, complements of the establishment.  Included were two card passes that admit us through the front gate and to the pool and billiard room and the laundry facilities.

To be fair, the two ladies behind the desk were quite helpful and friendly. I guess I felt a little under-dressed in my cargo shorts and tee shirt and sandals. We settled in to our assigned space, and then we made a run to Walmart, down the road a couple of miles, for some needed supplies. 

It turns out that the season in Yuma is over for RVers, so the 485 spaces in the park are mostly deserted.  Next week they will turn off most of the wi-fi nodes (that won't be any loss) and most of the street lights. 

After dinner we took the doggies for a walk around the whole perimeter of the park in a balmy desert evening. This morning we repeated the walk in the daylight, before it got hot. Here's what we saw:

This is the area around the club house, which boasts two pools, 

a "world class" shuffleboard area and a "world class" billiard room.

 The whole complex is planted with beautiful flowering plants.

After we walked the dogs and had breakfast, we decided to visit the Arizona Territorial Prison Museum.  The prison was opened in 1879 and was a model prison at the time. Quite a number of evil and nefarious characters were incarcerated there over the 33 years it was in operation. Among them were members of both sides that participated in the notorious "Gunfight at the OK Corral." Another famous prisoner was Jack "three fingered Jack" Laustenneau. He led an uprising and several prison break attempts.

Here are some photos of what remains of the prison, which is now a state park:

This is the guard tower outside the prison wall. It was built over the water reservoir to reduce evaporation.  The water was pumped into the reservoir from the Colorado river, which flows right beside the prison.

The "Sally Gate" was the main entrance to the prison yard.

 This is the museum building which was built on the foundation of the original mess hall.

Jill is standing in one of the yards around the cell block. Inside the wooden doors was a library that was founded by the wife of one of the prison administrators and was highly prized by the prisoners.

The archway on the right was the exit from the cell block into the yard.

This area is the "New Yard" which was built to accommodate a burgeoning prison population. The doorways are cell doors

The old blogger standing in the corner of the 18' walls of the New Yard.

One of the cells off the New Yard.

This cell was quite tall, with a wooden ceiling.

The entrance to the cell.

The Dark Cell was used as a punishment for unruly prisoners. It was carved into the granite hillside, and the only light that entered came through a 10" diameter vent in the ceiling.

The passageway into the Dark Cell.

Told you it was dark!

Another yard, with the Museum/Mess Hall in the background.

This is the gate into the main cell block. Originally the cell block was covered, and the hospital/infirmary was located above it. 

 

The cell block "hallway." 

Six men shared a 9'X9' cell. The bucket is their toilet.  Several of the prisoners were sent to the Dark Cell for failing to empty the bucket at the assigned time. 

Visiting the Arizona Territorial Prison Museum was interesting and a little sobering. The prison housed over 3,000 prisoners in its 33 years of operation, including 29 women, one of whom gave birth and raised a son to the age of 2 years, before she was pardoned.

Eventually, the prison became too small and was replaced by a larger one nearby.  After the prison closed, the Yuma High School burned down and the prison was used as a high school from 1910-1914.  To this day the Yuma High School students are known as the "Crims," short for criminals; a name that was given to them when they defeated another high school in a basketball game.

During the Great Depression, the prison was used by a number of desperate families for housing. In 1940, it became a museum, and in 1960 it became a state park.