April 2024 Update

We're fine.  After a week's visit in Las Vegas we traveled up to near Hurricane, UT for a month.  We've been here a week, and we're here getting our semi-annual dental check ups plus visits to Zion and Bryce Natl Parks.  The picture above is from our RV site, and we're looking across I-15 into the Red Cliffs Recreation Area.

Kolob Canyon, Zion Natl Park

First up was an afternoon visit to Kolob Canyon (Zion) where we began to gather info for our visit to Zion.  This section of Zion is about 20 minutes north of us.

Red Cliffs Recreation Area

Next up were two hikes into the Red Cliffs Recreation Area - convenient for us as we can walk to it from the RV park. This works well for us as were working these hikes in between what seems to be almost daily dental appointments.  Afternoon dental appointment - walk Red Cliffs in the morning.  Morning dental appointment - afternoon hike into Red Cliffs. Area is great for walking, mountain biking and horseback riding. There's a campground, old movie set, archeological dig, and dinosaur tracks. The valley that Red Cliffs sits in (and I-15 follows) is a fault area where the area appears to be pulling apart. Red Cliffs is on the western side of the fault, Kolob Canyon (Zion) is in the eastern side.

Zion Canyon, Zion Natl Park

We made to the Zion Canyon area of Zion Natl Park once so far. We're here at a busy time for Zion, but while hiking Red Cliffs we met some volunteers for Zion that gave us invaluable info. We were told to arrive before 8 AM (preferably 7 AM) for max potential parking and ride the shuttle through the Zion Canyon section.  We got there last Monday right at 7 AM, and it worked like a charm. Plenty of parking and the shuttles weren't crowded. 

Zion Lodge area

While not knowing what we were doing, we hopped a shuttle thinking we'd ride it to the Riverwalk shuttle stop and walk some there. Instead we got off at the lodge, ate breakfast at the lodges' breakfast buffet, got back on the shuttle and continued to Riverwalk. That got us to the trail to the Narrows area (Narrows currently closed due to high & fast water). We walked Riverwalk and rode the shuttle back to the visitor center where we ate lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around there.

Entrance to the Narrows, Zion Natl Park

Consequently, we're having a great time - as long as we're out of the dentist chair!  We still plan to visit Bryce Canyon as well as do more hikes in the Zolob & Zion Canyons of Zion Natl Park.  We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for dropping by! David

March 2024 Update

Catalina State Park, Oro Valley, AZ

A little late with this update, but not too late.  We're fine.  We're near Picacho, AZ (Casa Grande, AZ) for a few weeks.  We moved over from Yuma, AZ on March 7th.  We traveled to & set up in the rain - as usual (not "always", just "usual").  Lost the water heater door on the way over - always something.  When we set off on this "Great Adventure" this is not what I had in mind.  Over time I've had to accept that "adventure" does not include "enjoyable" as a descriptive characteristic.

Anyway, Doug & Stephanie made it out here arriving on the 9th. We got in some great visiting time and saw a few sights.  We made it to Picacho Peak State Park, Saguaro NP West Unit, Sabino Canyon (we're addicted), Casa Grande Ruins Nat'l Monument, and Catalina State Park while they were here. They left on the 15th and made it home just fine.

Still a week or so to go here in Picacho before we move up to Lake Mead Nat'l Recreation Area for a week.  We plan to be in Hurricane, UT (near Zion & Bryce Canyon NPs) for the month of April.  Date to arrive at Grand Tetons is May 17th if we can get the security background website (NBIS) to cooperate. So far I've been locked out using the ID and temporary password that NBIS gave me, and Donna just gets the current version of the ol' Microsoft Windows hourglass spinning around after entering her NBIS ID.  (Folks, the "fun" just never stops!)  I think I now know why immigrants just break through the border wall and enter undocumented.  IT'S EASIER!  I'll bet that entering legally is a paperwork/IT nightmare that never ends! No wonder these people just walk through a hole in the wall... Yep, the "adventure" continues.

Ok, venting over.  Below are some of the pictures we've taken since arriving.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us. David

Saguaro Natl Park - West, Tucson, AZ

Picacho Peak State Park, Picacho, AZ

Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, Tucson, AZ

Casa Grande Ruins Natl Monument, Coolidge, AZ

Catalina State Park, Oro Valley, AZ

Catalina State Park, Oro Valley, AZ

February 2024 Update

Colorado River near the West Wetlands Park boat ramp

We're still in Yuma, AZ.  Plan to leave March 7th and go back toward Tucson to the Picacho, AZ (near Casa Grande, AZ) area for a few weeks.  We were hoping to stay in Apache Junction, AZ (east of Phoenix, AZ) to be near the Superstition Mountain area, but everything was full. We now know why people stay in the Casa Grande area - no room near Phoenix!

We've locked into walking along the Colorado River as the best place to walk and sightsee in Yuma.  This is in addition to the Telegraph Pass Trail east of Yuma.  Both can be busy.  Telegraph Trail is more mountainous while walking the river trail between the East & West Wetlands Parks is a more level, less strenuous walk.

We've made one trip to El Centro, CA for a doc appointment and have a following up appointment in a couple of weeks.

We did meet up with Jonathan and Alice (summer volunteers at the hatchery last year) and were able to visit & tour Martha's Gardens Date Farm with them. Learned a lot and found it easy to become addicted to date milkshakes!

Since we last posted, we've learned we'll be spending the summer volunteering at Grand Teton Nat'l Park's Larry S Rockefeller Preserve. The Preserve is on the quiet side of Grand Teton and located along the Wilson to Moose road. The preserve comes with limited parking and access to Phelps Lake - another gorgeous glacial lake - just like all the others in the Grand Tetons. The trailer will be parked on volunteer pads in the Gros Ventre Campground.  

To fill the gap between leaving Yuma & arriving Grand Teton, our first stop will be near Casa Grande, AZ (mentioned earlier).  After that we plan a week in the Lake Mead Recreation area, then three weeks near Zion and Bryce Canyon Natl Parks. There's roughly three more weeks to plan before we're expected at Grand Teton. We'd hoped to visit Capitol Reef National Park, but they've chosen this year to redo the scenic drive (I'm sure it's needed) and some parking lots.  Looks like a good year to skip Capitol Reef!

That gets you up to date with us, and we'll update things as we go along.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us!  David

Bighorn sheep along Telegraph Pass Trail

Colorado River, East Wetlands, Yuma, AZ

January Update

Yuma, AZ - Lettuce Capital of the USA

Time to update.  We're fine & in Yuma, AZ until early March. We moved a day early to Yuma from Tucson due to some winter weather predicted for our planned Jan 7th move.  We came here to check the place out since Donna's cousins winter here.  We've been here just over two weeks.  We've gotten a couple of rain days since arriving with today being one of them.  Temperatures are more moderate here than in Tucson, and the area is covered with snowbirds. We haven't seen this many Canadians in one place in the US since we spent a few weeks in Saratoga, FL in 2010.

We're located in Del Pueblo 55+ Community Park. It's an excellent place to be.  We've got way more room here than in Tucson. Overall, the area is agriculture based along with the MCAS. 

We haven't gotten out a whole lot.  We found Chick-Fil-A, ice cream, one Mexican Restaurant that Thom & Mary took us to, and several grocery stores. We've located several places to hike. Yuma's not all that big, but it's busy.

We've taken a few pictures of the area and posted below.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us. Until next time, David

Yuma Army Depot (Indian Wars Supply Depot)

Display set up to give you an idea how the old plank road would look
 

Telegraph Pass Trail

Telegraph Pass Trail

Muggins Mtn Wilderness

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

We're fine.  This is our last week here in Tucson.  We travel to Yuma on Sunday for a couple of months. Donna's cousins Thom & Mary spend their winters in Yuma, so we thought we'd check that area out.

Last week we got out to Tumacacori, AZ to see the Tumacacori National Historical Park - an old Spanish Mission built in 1757.  We enjoyed walking around it and park of the Anza Trail that commemorates the old Spanish trail the mission priests used from down in Mexico to San Francisco, CA. There's some pictures below of the mission area.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year's celebrations.  Thanks for dropping by and checking on us.  David

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Just a short update.  We did get out to visit Calvin and Stan & Sam (they're all doing fine.) We also completed a couple of hikes in Sabino Canyon. Also got a couple of bike rides in. We're just doing the snowbird thing.

Here's a few picks of Sabino Canyon.  Have a safe holiday!  David

Mesquite Trees

December Update

It's December here in Tucson.  Thanksgiving leftovers gone and everyone is decorating for Christmas.  This weekend we're told we're experiencing a Tucson winter.  Yesterday was a high in the mid 50s and rainy.  We see pictures where it snowed on Mt Lemmon, but we can't see it from the park.  Today it's sunny and low 60s for a high.  Out low tonight is supposedly below 40.  Back to 70s for highs and 40s for lows beginning Monday.

Donna and I continue to sit in dentist's chairs a lot. I'm almost done. Donna's got a couple of more visits.  We've gotten out to Lemmon Mountain & Tombstone plus the west unit of Saguaro NP.  We're having work done on our bicycles.  New tubes, tires, and tube protectors to help out with "goat heads" (overgrown sand spurs that go through bicycle tires and tubes with ease.) Those "goat heads" go through walking shoes, too!

Local Ford dealer was able to fix two recalls.  We now have a new driveshaft and a new backup camera (both on recall for over a year with no parts available).  Nice to be able see out of the backup camera, again.  The local Ford dealer rented us a F150 hybrid. Nice truck and the hybrid worked pretty much seamlessly.  It was also nice to run down an interstate at 75 mph and get 23 miles to the gallon.

We've got plans to get out and visit Stan & Sam and Calvin (all volunteers who we worked with in the past).  Donna will sign us up this week for the Christmas luncheon.  Suppose to be a brass ensemble here Tuesday, so we'll probably go to that. Otherwise, we're in our winter routine.

That pretty much gets everyone up to date with us.  Thanks for dropping by.  Pictures follow, David

On the Way to Mt Lemmon

On the way to Mt Lemmon

What's left of the Clanton gang, Boothill, Tombstone, AZ

Bicycle path along a wash, Tucson, AZ

Petroglyphs at Saguaro NP - west unit
 

Petroglyphs at Saguaro NP, west unit

Petroglyphs, Saguaro NP - west unit