“Q” (01-24-15)

  

Q is for Quartzsite, a small town in the middle of a desert.  So, why were we parked in the middle of the desert, with no hook-up and only the electricity we could generate for ourselves?  I mean, what do you do for 12 days, out in the middle of nowhere?  Whew!  Where do I begin?






Well, first of all, to say we are by ourselves is not quite correct.  We “circle the wagons” with a bunch of our friends, most of whom are full timers like us and most of whom are members of Escapees, a club for RVers.









When we arrived, we were one of a few, and by the time we left, we were one of many.  In fact we had over 40 people in our group this year- many of them new- so we have a lot of new friends now!














 

Sometimes people arrive after dark and someone feels we have to go on the roof with a flashlight to guide them in.

We call our group the class-less class.  If someone starts full timing in 2014, they are considered to be part of the class of 2014, but our group spans many years, from 2008-2014 and we are always welcoming new members. We also, as you can see from the quality of this picture, have a professional photographer (Carol Dwyer) in our group.  Every year she lines us up for a group photo.

Rather than your standard potlucks, this year we opted for themed evenings.  Paul and I were two of the hosts for Margarita/Quesadilla night.

 

We started the evening with a toast, followed by the bursting of a custom made piñata, which was a house, sitting in a wagon- the logo for the Escapees Club. Once the candy was on the ground, people picked through it, looking for their favorites.

  Other group dinners included a hot dog night and an Italian night, complete with wine and Sangria.

We had so many activities, we had to post everything on a white board to keep everyone in the loop.

One of the reasons for coming here in January is the big RV show.

Although we don’t really buy much, heading to the Big Tent RV Show gives us an excuse to stop at two of our favorite places- Beer Belly’s Adult Day Care, where you can get a burger and beer while listening to live music- and Thrifty Ice cream- $4 and they don’t do single scoops- yum!!

Other activities included Mimosas in the Morning and a Take it or Leave it table- people dropped off things they don’t want anymore and other people shopped.  Anything that was left was donated to a thrift store.

Some of our activities are mundane.  This is what the bed of your truck looks like when you announce that you are making a trash run.

One of our favorite pastimes that isn't very plentiful in Quartzsite is hiking.   We did hike several times but the trails aren’t very interesting and there aren't very many of them.

And finally, no trip to Quartzsite would be complete without a trip to the Desert Bar.  Located 5 miles down a dirt road, the bar is only open noon-6 pm, on the weekends, so at 11:30 am, the road to the bar holds a steady stream of cars and trucks, all trying to get there before the parking lot fills up.

The Desert Bar is completely dependent on solar energy and is a unique place to listen to live music while enjoying a beer and a burger.  It is best enjoyed when you are with
 someone who has never been there.








Over the last few days, many people have moved on to new locations, as we will do tomorrow….

“P” (01-16-15)

  P is for Phoenix, although technically we stayed at a resort in Mesa.  We spent almost a week here, relaxing in the pool and hot tubs…..











… listening to music at happy hour by the pool and watching football games.










While here, we got the rest of our doctor’s appointments taken care of for the year, and did a boat load (or RV load) of laundry in preparation for our sojourn into the desert. 



We also managed to squeeze in one hike- the 7.4 mile Pass Mountain Trail- before we left town.

Tucson’s 2nd Part (01-11-15)

After taking leave of our friends, we headed all the way over to the northern side of Tucson.  We had booked this week at Catalina State Park a long time ago because we knew we’d be in Tucson for doctor appointments. We’ve never stayed here and wanted to check it out.



 
The colors of the sunset lit up the surrounding mountains. And yes, that is snow on the hills.








 

Although there aren't that many hiking trails inside the park, several of the trails were accessible from the campground, which made them very appealing.

Talk about a healthy saguaro cactus!  We've never seen so many with so many arms.

 
Still keeping our focus on hiking, we hiked the Canyon Loop trail twice.  Round trip from the campground it’s a 5 mile hike.

In between all that exhausting hiking, we still managed to find some time to spend with Mike and Julie.  One night they came over for dinner, and another, we met them for drinks at a Tequila bar in the Marriott Resort overlooking the city.

They have a neat tradition, every day at 5:30 they have a toast, and they provide the tequila! 


We also took an afternoon and headed up to……

Biosphere 2

I remember way back when the Biosphere 2 “experiment” originated.  Building of the complex began in 1987 and was finished by 1991. 
Biosphere 2 is modeled after Biosphere 1- the earth.

“Under the Dome” there are 5 miniature ecosystems that mirror ecosystems here on earth.  There is a mini ocean and a mini rainforest, among others.

The biosphere was a fully enclosed and sealed system. The roof has several “lungs”  that regulated air pressure.













In 1991 8 people were sealed inside the Biosphere, with their only access to the outside world being a window with a phone.

For the next two years they ate only the food provided at the start of the experiment (goats, chickens etc) and what they could grow.

  
Each one had their own private space, but they shared one kitchen, where they took turns cooking meals.

There were many challenges along the way. One of the biggest was that although they had enough nutrition from their food, they struggled to consume enough calories, and were hungry all the time.



Also, it took about 2 weeks to grow enough harvest-able coffee beans to make enough coffee for all 8 people, and several participants were frustrated by the lack of caffeine.


Years later the entrepreneur funding the experiments sold out and the biosphere sat idle.  Eventually Columbia University purchased it and used it for experiments, and they eventually sold it to the University of Arizona.



The Biosphere is no longer a closed system but has numerous doors and windows and is open to the outdoors.  Nowadays it is being used by scientists from all over the world to research carbon.

Specifically, they are studying carbon, water and air cycles, how they interact, and what that tells us about climate change.

I enjoyed the tour, but I was hoping to hear more about the original mission of Biosphere 2, and the tour concentrated on the current research being conducted.

And then we moved on to Phoenix………

Two Spots in Tucson (01-09-15)

We spent two weeks in Tucson-the first of which was spent at Justin’s RV park with Mike, Julie, Dave and Nancy.  It was a very relaxing week just hanging with everyone.

  Of course we got together for New Years Eve, and immediately decided that as soon the ball dropped in Times Square, that was close enough to midnight for us (10 pm).  It worked out quite well!


I haven’t been taking many pictures but I did get a few shots of the snow we got on New Years Eve.  Yup, it’s been that cold here in Tucson.

  Our main focus has been on hiking and walking whenever possible.

You may be thinking, looking at this picture, that apparently we had to drive all the way to Canada to get to a decent hiking trail, but no.

Back in the 1970s, when the US was making the attempt to switch to the metric system, this section of Rte 19 was the testing ground for kilometer highway markings.

Well, we all know how well the metric system worked out for us- but the highway signs here are still in kilometers.  In fact, its the only stretch of highway in the U.S. that is only marked in kilometers. A few years ago a move was made to switch the signs back to miles, but the businesses in the area lobbied to keep the metric.  Apparently its good for business because it makes the area unique.

This particular trail in the Santa Rita Mountains was one we were looking forward to hiking, but after driving an hour to get there, we were thwarted by the ice on the trail.  We did attempt it, but after passing over a dozen people coming back down who said they had only made it as far as the next corner, we gave it up and headed home.

One of the perks to Justin’s RV is that our site literally backs up to a wilderness with miles and miles of hiking trails- so if we didn't feel like driving to a trail, all we had to do is walk out our back door- which we did-on many occasions.  We got into an easy rhythm of texting the group when we were headed out back to hike, in case anyone wanted to come along.

When we did drive, we didn't usually have to go too far to find some decent trails. Brown Mountain Loop was just a 10 minute drive down the street and was a nice hike.

Whenever we hang out with our friends, we exchange ideas about everything from modifications to our rigs, to solutions we have discovered for XXX problem, etc. And of course, we show off things we have bought (since none of us buy much). 


Mike and Julie have a hummingbird feeder and Mike rigged it so it is attached to their large rear window.












   After watching all the hummingbirds, I decided we needed to keep up with the Joneses, so off to Home Depot we went.
















So we are now the proud owners of a hummingbird feeder.

We have already discovered that hummingbirds are not the only creatures interested in the feeder. It took this guy a few tries, but he did manage to hang on long enough to drink the nectar.

This particular creature has been trying to launch himself through the glass to get to his buddies, the birds.  He even calls to them in his version of “bird talk”.

Eventually he gave up, exhausted, and needed quite a long nap to recover from his attempts.

I have been practicing taking pictures of the birds and I have gotten a little better, but still have a long way to go…











And, now that I have managed to ramble on and on, about pretty much nothing, the rest of Tucson will have to wait until the next post.