Busy, Busy, Busy (Tucson, AZ)

 

Let me play catch up since I have not posted in a while.

We stayed in Casa Grande for month.  My brother Vic came to visit for a few days.

On the first day we visited the Casa Grande Ruins. The second day we drove to see the Biosphere 2. 

We took a tour of one of the pumping stations in the CAP system.  CAP stands for Central Arizona Project.  It was completed in 1973 to divert water from the Colorado River to the farms in southern Arizona.  We were allowed to take pictures but not publish them on the Web.  So there is a link above to their web site.

After a month we moved 20 miles down the road to the Escapees RV Park to visit with a number of our friends  While there we went to Eloy Airport which is the skydiving capital of the world.  No. I did not Jump.  We watched other people jump.  

While staying at the Escapees RV Park (aka Roovers Roost),  One of the fun things Ann did was play in a Golf  Tournament.  It was golf as you have never played before.

Next we moved to south 80 miles to Tucson we will stay at the Mission RV park for a week and then move to the Pima County Fairgrounds for another week.

We visited the Pima Air & Space Museum.  There are hundreds of planes of all sizes, shapes, military and civilian. 

Then on to the Titan Missile Museum.  All of the Titan missiles have been removed.  This missile silo is now a museum.

Finally, for now, we took a ride to Tombstone.  It was one of the most typical tourist attractions we have ever seen.  To see a reenactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral you had to pay $10 a person.  We passed on that.  It is one of those things you need to go to and am sorry when you did, but will regret if you never went. 

And finally we went to the Kitt Peak Observatory .  More to come in the next blog.

Life is super on the Roan Road…

Dealing with the Winter Weather (Casa Grande, AZ)

 

Just wanted to give you guys the heads up.  I know you are dealing with cold, rainy weather.  Also, not to mention the SNOW.  We also are dealing with winter weather.  It is clear sunny 88 degrees and we will have to walk all the way over to the pool/hot tub to cool off.  

It is hot, but it is a dry heat.  I know every one will wish us well as we deal with this winter weather here in Arizona. 

Now for a happier note, here is what we have been doing.   Our good friends Jan and Jim Leigh stopped by the RV park we are staying at for a few days. 

We met Jan and Jim at a New Horizons Rally a few years ago in Florida.  Unfortunately, they went over to the dark side of RVing. they sold their New Horizons 5th and  bought a motorhome.   But we will forgive their transgressions and remain friends forever. 

We visited the Casa Grande Ruins that was built by the “ The Ancient Sonoran Desert People”  and lived there for thousands of years.  They farmed the land by building a vast  network of canals to irrigate the land.  Then around 1450 C.E.  they abandoned the land and disappeared.   No one can explain why.

The next day we took a trip to Florence, AZ.  Florence was having a “29th Annual Celebration of Historic Florence Arizona” day.  This happens the second Saturday in February each year.  The private homes and businesses that are in historic buildings open their doors so the people can see the many buildings. 

They also had a Gunfight in the street.

Life is Sweet on the Roan Road…

Busy, Busy, Busy (Casa Grande, AZ)

 

Right now we are in Casa Grande, AZ for the month of February.  Verizon Cell service is good but Internet is slow.  I am trying out the local WiFi, which we have to pay for. 

Let me recap:

We arrived back in the Las Vegas area, got our home out of storage, and returned to Bolder City for a week to restock the camper with food. Also to recover from the 11 inches of show and 8 degree NY weather.

Before we left Las Vegas, Brad, Vic’s neighbor, made me a birthday cake.

That is one Yummy cake !!!  Thanks Brad. BTW we just finished the last piece.

We took of for Quartzsite, AZ and the Quartzsite RV show.  About 150 mile away.  There we met up with old friends and made lots of new ones.  The big attraction is the free boondocking and all things RV.  The whole town is goes from about 300 in the summer to 1,000,000 in the winter.  There is one huge tent with hundreds of vendors, thousands of people and all kinds of cars, ATVs and RVs.  What a mess.  Been there, done that, once.  The only way we will go back is to see all of our friends.

From Quartzsite we traveled to Mesa, AZ  We stayed in the same RV resort as our friends Sandy and Warren.  We had a great time seeing the sights around Phoenix.

We always thought the desert was nothing but rocks.  We pleasantly surprised when we went to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. They have an exhibit “ Chihuly in the Garden”. 

We made a special trip back to see the display lighted at dusk.

While in Mesa Ann, Sandy, Warren and myself went to the Heard Museum of American Indian History and Art.

The Salt River was dammed up to form the Saguaro Lake.  We took a boat ride on the lake and up the Salt River.

Last we drove a narrow winding road through the desert to an old mining,  town, Tortilla Flats, turned tourist attraction. It was one block long with a restaurant/saloon, gift shop selling the usual stuff, burger shop and a very small museum.

With many regrets and a heavy heart we left Mesa and traveled to Casa Grande.

More to come, so stay glued to your computer for the next installment.

Life is Super on the Roan Road….

We are Outta here (Boulder City, NV)

 

After 3 weeks of cold and snow in New York City, we are outta here. 

It was first see this doctor, then that doctor, then the dentist.  ENOUGH!!  We both got clean bills of health.  We did have a great time seeing Ann’s sister Bev, our children, all of our nieces and nephews and our friends. 

Top: Heidi & Jay, Middle: Ann & Roy, Bottom: Caroline & Andrew

To

Emma and Olivia

We are now in Boulder City were there is no snow and it is now 60 degrees. 

The Cousins  Top: Jay & Mike, Next Row: Heidi & Alyssa, Next: Jenn & Jon, Bottom: Caroline & Andrew

Yes, Life is great on the Roan Road…

Happy, Happy ( Boulder City, NV)

 

We are still here in the Boulder City Elks.  We will be here until December 17th when we will put our RV in storage and fly to NYC.   Hoping for warm weather but not to hopeful.

Happy Holidays to all.

From the two of us.

Life is Great on the Roan Road…

Nothing to report (Boulder City, NV)

 

As the  title says, nothing new to report.  We are still in the Elks Lodge RV parking in Bolder City.  We will be here for at least another month.  So far the weather has been good.  Daytime temp in the 70s night time in the 50s.  We will be spending Thanksgiving-Chanukah at Vic’s house with Robin, Tim and Vic’s neighbors,  Brad and Jane.  It should be fun.

Since I had extra time on my hands I decided to study for my Ham Radio license.  After about a week of studying,  I took the Technician and General tests.  Passed both.  So now I am waiting for my call letters from the FCC so I can spend some money and buy the equipment.

The plan now is, on December 17th, put the camper in storage in Henderson and fly to New York.  We are planning to see all the doctors, friends and family.  Then fly back to Las Vegas on January 8th.  After returning to Las Vegas we will go to Quartszite, AZ for a couple of weeks.   Then on to Casa Grande for the month of February.  The rest is still undecided.

Since we will not be doing any sightseeing for the next few months, I will be posting updates on my Facebook page.  If you want to keep up and have a Facebook page, you can send me a Friends link.

Life is Great on the Roan Road…

Back to Bolder City (Bolder City, NV)

 

We left Boise headed for Albuquerque and the Balloon Festival.   We had reservations to dry camp (no hookups) for 12 days at the balloon festival. It took 3 days to make the trip.  The fist night we stayed in a campground outside of Canyon Lands and Arches NP.  It was hard not to stop and see these NPs.  These NPs are on our bucket list, but time did not permit us to linger.  The next night we stayed in an Elks Lodge Farmington, NM.  The next day we pushed on to Albuquerque.  We arrived early for the Balloon Festival so we stayed at a great campground in Albuquerque, American RV Park   We met up with Judy & Bob and Pete & Diane, members of the New Horizons group, where we had a great time.

Then it was time to go to the Balloon Festival and meet up with the Escapees Boomers group.  After setting up it was time for Happy Hour where we got acquainted with the other Boomers. The next morning we went over to the main launch area to get training as ground crew members.  After the training we received our ground crew assignments. 

When we retuned to the camper we received a call from my brother, Vic, that Judi, who was being treated for cancer, took a turn for the worse.  We immediately made plans to leave the balloon festival and head for Las Vegas.  It was a two day trip the first night we stopped in a campground south of the Grand Canyon that looked like a ghost town.  The people that work their were not happy campers.

We arrived at Vic’s house Saturday afternoon.  Judi passed away 3 AM in her  home Thursday (10/10/2013)  morning.  We will miss you Judi.  You will be in our thoughts forever. There will be a celebration of Judi’s life on Sunday, Oct. 20, at Vic’s house. 

Ann & Roy