Friday March 24th 2017

Today was a beautiful sunny day. The temperature topped out a little below the seasonal average at 75 degrees. It was a perfect day to rest up after the Escapade. It was great not having to drive one hundred and forty plus miles.

I really didn’t accomplish much other than rest. I intended to get the laundry done, but when I checked the laundry all 8 washers were in use with a backlog of dirty laundry to be loaded. I’ll try again over the next couple of days. I’m long way from running out of clean clothes.

Train heading northwest toward where my RV home is located.  I think there are two or three an hour going by.   (Picture taken through dirty car window.)

Another intended activity was making reservations for when I leave here in a weeks time. Last week I decided to head north toward the Verde Valley, Sedona and the Grand Canyon area, but I didn’t select the campgrounds. Today I prioritized my choices and started calling for reservations. One, two, three strikes and your out of the travel planning game. I could only find a couple of nights here and there. I don’t want to have to move more than tour. I’m now considering other options for the next couple of weeks. Las Vegas toward the end of April is still viable, but I don’t want to make the reservations until I get the beginning of the month booked.

I also did more research on the significant dates during the rest of the summer touring season. In particular the Memorial Day holiday, Fourth of July and late July when I want to be near an airport. The real problem continues to be the conflict between my desire to just go where I want when I want and the need to make reservations. The obvious solution is to book the major elements way in advance then fill in the gaps as the time approaches. I did that when I booked my current site last November. The downside comes when I extend my stay in one area and have to make a speed run to the new location. I didn’t enjoy my rapid cross country trip from Florida to Arizona. It would have been fine if I’d used the entire month of February as originally planned, but I delayed leaving Florida. Knowing my tendencies, It will happen more often than not when I book way in advance.

Today was one day that having the TV on for background noise was a distraction. The networks interrupted the regular broadcast at least four times to talk about the health care bill. First it was speculation, then fact, then the speaker of the house’s statement and finally the president’s statement. Each interruption got my attention and my frustration. The politicians and the reporters are equally annoying. I would have been happier if they had just interrupted once to say the bill had been withdrawn from consideration. I could then decide if I wanted to here the details or not. I watch the evening news or a news channel for the details.

I took at least three walks around the campground today. Over the last week it has continued to empty out. I’d guess that it is less than half full now. One of my neighbors started his diesel motorhome around seven thirty this morning. The low rumble woke me up and lasted for about a half an hour until he pulled out. Several of my immediate neighbors are from Canada and don’t plan to head north until late next month. I don’t anticipate any other noisy nearby departures until I leave at the end of the month.

Thursday March 23rd 2017

The wind blew and the rain fell over night. This may be a desert, but there was water on the road in front of my RV this morning. It struggled to clear off and break 70 today.

I started slow this morning. There were not any interesting seminars at the Escapade this morning. I spent the morning slowly drinking my coffee while watching the morning TV shows. I had a hard time convincing myself that it was only Thursday morning. All of the activity with the Escapade had me thinking it was Friday or even Saturday morning. Around 1PM I left for Tucson and the closing ceremony of the 57th Escapade.

Picacho Peak. One of the sights on my commute topped with fluffy clouds.   

View out the side window near Picacho Peak.

I got there early for the 3PM event. Walking around the fairgrounds it was evident that many attendees had already hit the road for home or their next destination. The long rows of RVs now had large gaps where people had departed. Other people were working on readying their rigs for an early departure tomorrow. Some may have paid for an additional night or two to avoid the rush to the dumping station.

The other big difference today was the temperature. It was very windy and the thermometer was reading in the sixties. Jackets and long pants replaced short sleeve shirts and shorts. In the sun, sheltered from the wind, it was fine, but out in the open the wind chill was uncomfortable.

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More fluffy clouds over the fairgrounds. 

The closing ceremony got started on time at three. The attendance was announced as somewhere in the excess of 900 RVs and over 2500 people when weekly walk-ins like me and daily walk-ins were included. I didn’t take notes so the generalization will have to do. I didn’t win either of the big door prizes so my travel plans for the year don’t have to change. The prizes were attendance at an Adventure Caravans Mega rally and the Escapee’s Rose Parade HOP. The winners seem to be very happy.

The next Escapade was announced for May of 2018 in Missouri. The idea of a rally at a fairgrounds in the middle of Tornado Alley during the peak of the tornado season seems scary. I would like to fully attend an Escapade, but I’m not sure about the next one.

Commuting back and forth to the Escapade had its drawbacks. It wasn’t easy to get to the early morning events. I would have had to leave my camp at 7AM. When I stayed for the nighttime events I didn’t get home until almost 10 and that’s leaving early. The other issue is the downtime between events. Those staying on site could go back to their rigs for and hour or more. I had to find other ways to kill time. You can only walk around the grounds so many times. I also drove around the area east of Tucson a couple of days, but the desert is the desert.

Wednesday March 22nd 2017

The long run of ninety plus degree days ended today. It only got into the mid 80s with some clouds and lots of wind. Tonight the wind is picking up and there is a possibility of rain. Tomorrow is forecast to be cooler than normal with a high just over seventy.

I drove back down to the Escapade in Tucson this morning. I arrived in time for the 10am set of seminars. My first seminar was on using custom Google maps to document my travels. This was another very good presentation by the Geeks on Tour. When I get some dedicated time in front of the computer, I’ll try to add some custom Google maps to this blog.

My second seminar of the day was on working as a Gate Guard at Texas oil drilling sites. I don’t anticipate ever doing this, but the presentation was by Greg and Jan White. I’ve been reading Greg’s daily blog on their life full time in a motorhome. Their Our RV Adventures blog was one of the blogs that influenced my decision to live and travel full time in my RV. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by people asking questions after the presentation so I didn’t get to introduce myself.

I have seen other people that I know from reading blogs. It is a very strange thing to know things about people I’ve never met. I’ve yet to walk up to any of them introduce myself. I’m sure for some of them it’s a common occurrence, but it sure seems strange to me. I would fear a dialog something like: “Hi Joe. How’s your recovery from that major operation you wrote about last month? Who am I? Oh just a reader of your blog.” Obviously I wouldn’t do that, but as more people start reading this blog … who knows?  I try to remember not to say things I don’t want others to remember.

The last presentation I went to today was a panel discussion on full timing. I’m happy to say I didn’t hear anything new. I take that to mean that I’ve learned or experienced the basics of this lifestyle. That is not to imply I won’t have something new come up tomorrow or surprise me the next day. I’m sure it will. It is part of the adventure.

It was a cloudier day today with much stronger winds.

Tonight’s entertainment was a talent show. Some of the acts were very good. I only stayed for the first half. I fought the wind on the last half of the trip home. There was also a lot of dust in the air from the wind passing over the desert. The wind has been blowing hard against the side of the RV as I write this blog entry.

Tuesday March 21st 2017

I got a slower start than planned this morning. After a long day yesterday I resisted the urge to get out of bed this morning. By the time I left my campsite, I didn’t have a chance of making the first session at 8:30. I made it in plenty of time for the second session of the morning, but that was questionable for awhile. On the interstate I had to pass 3 independent wide loads. Each flatbed had unidentifiable items that were wider than a single travel lane. Each load had a pair of security cars and one even had a police escort. The problem wasn’t me getting by, but all of the trucks on the road getting by the wide loads. Each load caused a slow down from the seventy five mile an hour speed limit to around 40 as the trucks waited their turn to squeeze by. A few miles after I got by the first one, the same problem was repeated for the second and again for the third wide load. It appeared to be a coincidence that 3 wide loads were on the road this morning.

I attended four seminars today. Two were very good, but the other two had issues. One way to draw business to your booth in the vendor area of the rally is to present a seminar. That means you should prepare something to go with the topic area you signed up to present. I’m pretty sure one of the vendor’s didn’t. He asked the audience what they were present to learn, then proceeded to ask and answer questions from the audience for an hour. The discussion wandered away from the topic of Smart TVs very quickly. He provided some good information, but he often didn’t answer the question that was asked.

The other seminar was a show and tell style presentation. I had the impression the presenter had memorized some facts about his solar products, but didn’t really have any idea what he was talking about. When I passed by his booth in the vendor area later I noticed he was also selling cleaning rags and grill mats.

Mountains behind the fairgrounds

I left after the seminars were over for the day. The evening start gazing event was scheduled for 7:30. It was a wait of more than three hours from the end of the seminars. Considering that last night when I left at around 8:30 only a few celestial bodies were visible in the clear night sky, I didn’t hold much hope for a fun session.

Monday March 20th 2017

I went back to Tucson for the second day of the Escapee’s Escapade. I got there around nine. This was right in the middle of the first round of seminars of the day. From a review of the schedule, I knew I wasn’t missing anything vital. By arriving at nine, I avoided most of the traffic coming through Tucson.

Sun reflecting off the mountains behind some of the RVs at the Fairgrounds 

The second round of Seminars for the day started at ten. I went to a presentation on RV Caravans to Alaska. Unfortunately, it was extremely sales focused. Like many of the seminar sessions, it was presented by one of the vendors that are there to sell product. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as they also convey some basic information about the overall topic. In this case the presentation was ninety percent marketing and 10 percent something else.

Two presentations I attended were presented by the Geeks on Tour. They sell training, information and support for various technical necessities of the RV life style. Specifically, I attended a presentation on using Google Photos to store and manipulate all of the pictures I take and a presentation on what some of the many pieces of technology available to make life on the road simpler. The Geeks are a husband and wife that travel most of the year in their motorhome. Their presentations were ninety five present informative and only about five percent marketing.

The other presentation I attended was on tire pressure monitors. It was about fifty fifty informative vs. marketing. A strong case was made for having a tire pressure monitoring system along with the features it should contain. The presenter’s product obviously had all those features, but he acknowledged that other products had many of the features as well. It was presented more as; these are good things to consider, once you do your homework, you’ll buy my system. I liked the approach.

Woodie and the Long Boards.  (Low light out of focus picture.)

I took a break after the last seminar and drove back into Tucson for dinner. The evening entertainment started at 7PM. A Beach Boys tribute band called Woodie and the Long Boards performed. I really enjoyed all of the Beach Boys music and watching some of my fellow attendees dance in the aisles. After a break they returned as an Eagles tribute band. Not being a real Eagles fan, I headed for home. It was almost ten when I got back to my RV home. Not really late, but a long day. Tomorrow I need to try and make the 8:30 seminar, but I don’t plan to stay for the night session of star gazing. So, it should be a shorter day.

Sunday March 19th 2017

Today was the first official day of the 57th Escapade at the Pima County Fair grounds in Tucson. This is a major rally of the Escapees RV Club. Most people attending the event stay on site. I am commuting from my site 70 miles away.

Opening ceremony of the 57th Escapade on the big screen. 

The Escapees RV club is a social, education and advocacy organization for RVers. It has been around since the late 70s. I have been a member for about 3 years, but this is the first Escapade I’ve been able to attend.

About 11:30 this morning I converted my emailed registration confirmation for a name badge and a bag of brochures. I toured the vendor booths to identify anything I might want to buy this week and generally killed time until the first time attendee seminar at two and the opening ceremony at three. I had done enough research and reading about peoples past experiences so there wasn’t anything informational at the new attendee seminar that I wasn’t aware of. What was remarkable was the number of first time attendees in the room. It will be interesting to see if they have any statistics.

The opening ceremonies started kind of formal with the Pledge of Allegiance, and National Anthems of the US and Canada. The Escapade directors handled the first group of door prizes and the organizations leadership spoke, but the highlight was the words and story told by the 90 year old co-founder of the club Kay Peterson. It is inspirational, but drives home the point that the club is the family business.

Strings of Balloons over the RV sales area behind the Escapade staff parking area. 

At the conclusion of the opening ceremony everyone got an ice cream on a stick. They called it an ice cream social. I found the beer and wine being given out by the RV dealership showing new and used rigs at the Escapade a much better social. They also had snacks to go with the drinks. It was only about 4:30 so I could have made supper out of the cocktail hour. That’s where the real issue with being a commuter or “weekly walk in” as they call commuters. The next real event was at 7pm. Finding something to do until that then was going to be a challenge. Those staying on the grounds could go to some of the other social gatherings or back to their RVs until the evening entertainment.

Today, I chose to end my day a little after 4:30. Tomorrow I will probably hang around until the entertainment starts. I’m just going to have to play it by ear.

Saturday March 18th 2017

Phoenix tied a temperature record at 94 degrees today. That’s almost 20 degrees above the seasonal normal. Since I didn’t have a plan for the day, I ended up staying in air conditioned comfort most of the time.

Sunset after a hot day

The RV got a good vacuuming this morning. The dirt and dust from the desert winds had begun to accumulate in the rig. Along with that, I’m parked on pea size gravel. It gets tracked in on the soles of my shoes. After I take off me shoes stepping on the gravel is a dance inducing pain avoidance activity.

Today’s big outing was to fill the gas tank and buy groceries. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the price of gas in this area. The station I bought at was $2.25 per gallon. A few hundred yards down the street it was listed at $2.05. Then I saw $2.15 cash or $2.18 credit. These are all in the same community so tax shouldn’t be the cost driver. Another time, in the same area, I’ll know where to buy gas.

The Super Walmart I bought groceries at was about 10 miles away in Casa Grande. There continues to be comfort in the similarities of all Walmarts. They seem to have pretty good consistency in layout. Aisles may be in different order, but once you find the can goods, you find what you want. Similarly, once you find the bakery, you know what you are looking for. Prices on the other hand are a mystery. I’ve seen some products vary greatly. For example, an eight ounce can of Del Monte vegetables was sixty sevens cents today. The last time I bought the same product, probably in Florida or Georgia, they were eighty nine cents a can. Other things are cheaper here. My guess is it all evens out in the long run.

Friday March 17th 2017

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. My activities for the day had nothing to do with Ireland, Leprechauns or Saints. On a day that set the daily record for temperature in Phoenix, I went for a hike in the desert.

Saguaro Cactus near the entrance of the arboretum.

It’s not as strange as the written statement. I visited the Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park. It is located in the Tonto National Forest about an hour east of Phoenix. The arboretum contains carefully cultivated desert plans mixed with a variety of native plants and terrain. The park contains a small body of water called a lake, a creek and some steep terrain. The main trail goes around and partially over a large Magma Ridge.

Consistent with the time of year, many of the desert plants were in bloom. Most of the year the desert is brown and dark green. This time of year yellows, violets, and shades of red join the color spectrum. It is a very pretty display. This blog entry contains some of the pictures I took on the walk around the main trail.

Ayer Lake

Looking back at the Lake from higher up the trail.

Picket Post house

Steep decent

Drop off on side of trail.

Narrow path along the creek.

Thursday March 16th 2017

I went to another spring training baseball game today. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim played the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale Arizona. (How’s that for a mouth full of places in one sentence?) This is the same complex I have attended Arizona Diamondback games at. The Rockies share the facility with the Diamondbacks.

It is interesting to see the similarities and differences between Diamondback games and Rockies games. The most obvious difference is the home team dugout. The Diamondbacks use the third base line which is nearest there side of the overall complex. The Rockies use the first base side. Other differences are more subtle. All of the stadium staff are the same. You see the same ushers, vendors and security personnel. The women who serves as a roaming reporter in the stands is the same. Today she was saying “for your Colorado Rockies” instead of “your Arizona Diamondbacks”.

Dinger the Rockies mascot.

Another difference was the team mascot. The Diamondbacks mascot makes a brief appearance during the pregames. The Rockies mascot is in the stands through-out the game and is used between innings for promotions and publicity. In general, there is more things going on to keep the fans entertained during the Rockies game.

Another weird observation, doesn’t relate to the difference between the two teams, but rather the rules the teams are using. Today for the first time I saw the pitchers hit. The National League Rockies had their pitchers hit and the American League Angels used a Designated Hitter. The National League Diamondbacks always used a Designated Hitter even when their opponent was a National League team. Apparently the team can choose which rules they want to follow.

Final score Angels 8 Rockies 7

It was a long day at the ballpark. I got there an hour and a half before game time. My stop on the way to get a haircut was much quicker than I allowed. Even an hour and a half early many other people were already at the ball park. I expected to catch some pregame batting practice, but the batting cage was not on the field and the grounds crew was already laying down the lines. The game lasted just about 3 hours. It might have ended sooner, but the Angels tied and went ahead by three runs in the top of the 9th inning. The final score was Angels 8, Rockies 7.

I was at the ballpark for four and a half hours but with travel time and the haircut, I was on the go for about 8 hours. My RV home was hot when I got home. The inside thermostat read 99 degrees when I turned on the AC. It took a good two hours before the AC got the temperature into the 70s.

Sunset at the RV Park

Wednesday March 15th 2017

It was partly cloudy with a good breeze out of the north today. This helped keep the temperature down to the low 90s. If you were out of the sun, the breeze kept it comfortable.

Last week I explored the area to the northeast, today I drove to the southwest. I continue to be amazed by the width of this valley. I start out with the assumption that the distant mountains are four or five miles away. After ten or fifteen miles, they still look the same distance away.

This valley is dedicated to farming. The ways they have irrigated the desert is amazing. There are big cement lined canals that bring water to smaller canals and irrigation ditches. There are also valves sticking out of the ground indicating underground water sources as well. I’ve known at an academic level that irrigation is used to farm the desert, but this is the first time I’ve come face to face with it in volume.

It is next to impossible for me to tell what is growing. Most of the fields don’t have anything planted right now. Some fields show the remnants of cotton around the edges, but just dirt in the body of the field. Other planted fields have a low green ground cover type of plant that I can’t begin to guess.

Cactus garden at the RV park office.

After a few slow days getting acclimated to the heat, I’m ready to get back into tourist mode. The heat is forecast to peak on Saturday with the high in the upper 90s. Tomorrow, I’m going to another Spring Training Game. My seat is under the overhang on the shady side of the ballpark. Staying hydrated will probably require buying one of the four dollar bottles of water or an eight dollar bottle of beer. The Salt River Fields at Talking Stick stadium has cheaper seats but more expensive concessions. You can’t bring much into the stadium. Everything is searched and then you get wanded.