Our Resort - Canyon Vistas

We are surrounded by park models, but that gives us a little
more room than many other sites.

With Teresa still spending most of the day scrubbing, cleaning, polishing, waxing, and nesting, I managed to get over to the fitness centre for a look-see.

Six pickle ball courts in excellent condition

Not bad, three treadmills, four ellipticals, a couple of steppers, and about a dozen strength building machines.

Oh ya, the best part ... two TV's to watch !!

Baseball diamond with visiting parks getting their butts kicked !!

I tried a few of the different machines, and am happy to report that I have already lost 10 pounds .... ya, right !!

The Superstition Mountains watching over us

Every Thursday, our park holds a happy hour with free entertainment, and free beer and popcorn.

I asked Teresa to come along, but she was not in the mood to party after a couple of days of cleaning, so off I went by myself.

This racetrack is for remote controlled cars ....
Boys and their Toys !!

The patio was packed.  People were hugging and shaking hands with friends they had not seen since last season.

The band was pretty good, and they had people out of their chairs, and dancing around the patio.

This pool is small in comparison to the brand new one just opened

Hope I can jive like that when I am their age.  Shoot, I would be lucky to jive like that at my age !!

I will have to show you the brand new tennis courts, bocce ball lanes, new pool and clubhouse on another post.

And in other news, we made a decision regarding coming home for Christmas.

On one hand, we talked about flying home, but then we would be without a car unless we rented one back home.

Well, what about driving home.  Hmmm, let's see, three long days of driving in winter weather over some pretty high passes.

Then another three day drive back south.  Heck, we are losing six days here.

So last night I checked into airfare again, and Westjet had a seat sale on that clinched the deal.  A thousand dollars for both of us, return flight included.

So, we are flying back to Regina, and will rent a car when we need one.

I think we both gave a slight sigh of relief that we will not have to make that long drive so soon again !!

Cleaning up our act

We had a great weather day today.

It hit 74 degrees, no wind, and blue skies.

Teresa and I woke up with a little bit of energy, and decided to put it to good use.

Teresa tackled the inside and managed to reorganize the whole motorhome, since everything was just thrown in when we left.

She spent about four hours doing that, and what a difference !!

I got the heck out of her way, and did the outside chores.

I washed the entire outside of the motorhome and car, and reorganized the outside storage bays.

We were glad to see happy hour roll around, when we could stop and relax with a glass of wine.

Not very exciting, but very fulfilling, for sure !!



 

Lunch with friends at Tortilla Flat

 

It was so nice to wake up to blue sunny skies this morning.

We enjoyed our coffee time together, then quickly got ready to head out to the nearby tourist town known as Tortilla Flat.

Jesse and Ginger were kind enough to let us drive with them, while Bob and Janet rode with Ed and Marilyn.

The drive is on a twisty, windy road with tight hair pins, but the view is impressive.

It didn't take long for the gang to arrive and start checking things out.

We forgot our camera ... gasp .... so the next set of photos were stolen borrowed from  Ed and Marilyn's Blog.

It didn't take long until the conversation turned to food, so we gathered at the saloon for a bite to eat.

The saloon has saddles for seats around the bar, and Ed and Marilyn looked quite at ease in the saddles.

Jesse, on the other hand, had a heck of a time sitting still !!

We had a great meal and a great time.

Ginger, Teresa, Janet and Marilyn

Ed, Bob, Trent and Jesse

 

After lunch and a quick ride home, the group split up for a few hours, promising to reconvene for 4 PM happy hour.

 

Teresa and I took this time to buy new running shoes for each of us.

 

We barely finished our shopping when it was time for our get together.

 

Bob and Janet were hosting today, and we all enjoyed some snacks and drinks.

 

 

Teresa and I brought our own beer and wine, but when Janet offered us a glass of Amarula, we could not resist.

 

 

We used to buy a bottle of this great drink on our day trips to Mexico, and they still had some.  What a treat !!

 

 

Once the sun went down, it started getting chilly, so we all headed for home.

 

Just another great day !!



Remembrance Day

Today all citizens need to stop and remember the brave men and women who fought for our freedom.

In fact, they are still serving today.

Our park held their service yesterday while we were still en route.

Teresa and I just kicked back and relaxed today.  While Teresa was inside reading, I spent a little time outside.

Our resort is a combination of RV sites, and park model homes.

Our site used to have a park model on it, however, it was sold and removed.  As a result, we have a lot with a huge cement pad where the home rested.

Everyone else has to park their car on gravel, but our princess gets cement.

Our rig is in desperate need of a wash and wax, which our park will allow, but that will have to wait for another day or two.

In the mean time, I opened the awning to let it dry out, and brought out a few patio items.

Other than that, not a whole lot was accomplished, but it sure felt great to just catch our breath and soak in the sunshine !!

Gold Canyon, AZ

Well, we did it !!   We made it to the valley before the freezing weather caught up to us.

We left Camp Verde around 10:30 and arrived here around 1 pm.

The traffic in the Phoenix area was a little congested, and once or twice was a little dicey when I had to make some lane changes, but it was not nearly as stressful as our first time navigating the busy freeways last year.

When we were checking in at Canyon Vistas, we felt like we were in familiar territory, because we were here last year for two weeks.

That is when we realized that this is the first time we have been to the same park in our two years of travel.

For the first time we knew where the office was, and the general layout of the resort. 

No sooner had we dropped the jacks, than Teresa was setting up the laptop to let our friends know we were here.

Excitedly, she exclaimed that we were invited to a happy hour at our friends resort, complete with homemade soup and sandwiches.

They wanted to provide us with a supper, because they knew it was our travelling day, and they did not want us to have to worry about supper with everything else that needs to be done when setting up.

That just made our day, and we quickly finished our set-up chores to head over to their neighboring resort.

As we were pulling up to their side by side sites, Teresa was grabbing at the door handle, telling me to let her out ... LOL.

With hugs, we were welcomed by Ed and Marilyn, and Bob and Janet, then we met new friends Jesse and Ginger.

It really felt good to see these wonderful folks after nearly a year.

Ed and Marilyn made an amazing pot of meat and veggie soup, Bob and Janet brought the fixings for sandwiches, and Ginger and Jesse made a tasty upside down pineapple cake. 

Wouldn't you know that we brought the cold weather with us, so we moved from the patio to inside Ed and Marilyn's rig for dessert.

We enjoyed many laughs together, and made some plans for future fun in the sun.

By this time, it was black dark outside and the party disbanded to head for home for a little relaxation before bed.

It sure is a wonderful feeling to be back together with friends, new and old !!

Camp Verde, AZ

Last night we set the alarm for 6 AM.   We had a lot of distance to cover, and with the rain and snow predicted our way, we wanted to leave extra time for delays.

We were on the road from Moab, by 8 and I knew it was going to be a long day.  The wind was relentless, and I can't remember a more tiring drive than today.

At times, you could not even see the horizon due to the blowing sand.

Then when the winds turned head on, our max speed was 50 mph, with our V10 engine screaming in protest !!

To top it off, our GPS took us on a short cut, that included some steep inclines, that were not suitable for an RV.  In fact, on some of the climbs I was down to 30 mph, in second gear, with my flashers on to warn others there was a tortoise in front of them.

We are so disappointed that the weather turned on us, because Flagstaff looked so inviting.  However, there was snow and rain falling on us, so we barreled right on through.

We kept checking the weather reports, to see where we could stay above the freezing point.

Camp Verde was the winner, with an overnight forecast for 34 degrees.

So, after 8 hours of white knuckle driving, here we are !!

This also puts us only a couple of hours away from Gold Canyon ( Phoenix ) where we will stay put for a few months.

Oh, and on a more positive note, I can finally use my thumb again from when I slammed it in the car door ... LOL.

Dead Horse State Park and Canyonlands Nat'l Park

It is easy to see why Moab is such an attractive city to travellers.

There are numerous parks to visit, and every kind of outdoor activity to satisfy young and old alike.

Today we headed out to another two parks, and came back with a memory card full of photos.

First, we visited Dead Horse State Park.

An added benefit of visiting the parks at this time of year is that you have the parks to yourself, and the rangers have time to offer their advice on sites to see.

Teresa and I were amazed at what we were seeing.  Remember, we are from the flat ol' prairies of Saskatchewan !!

It was windy today, and the fine red sand was blowing, making the photos look a little hazy.

Teresa would get pretty nervous if I got too close to any edge ... I guess that means she still loves me !!

From here, it was only a few minutes drive to Canyonlands.

Wow, we sure wish our photos would do the landscape justice.

Most of Canyonlands is viewed by driving from one observation point to the next, because it is so vast.

Even so, there are some good opportunities for hiking, and we were working up a sweat a couple of times !!

 Once again, it was another full day, and we arrived back to our RV Resort in the dark.

Watching the news lately, there is a real winter storm headed our way, that is forcing us to change our itinerary.

We were hoping to spend a few days at the Grand Canyon, but they are predicting very cold nights, with the occasional snow fall.

As a result, we are going to pack up tomorrow morning, and make a run for warmer weather !!

Sure hope this cumbersome rig is nimble enough to out run the storm !!