To backtrack a couple of days, on Sunday I went back to the book festival and heard an excellent session with Dan White, author of Under the Stars, a history of camping in the United States. Mr. White is very humorous and shared several funny selections, illustrating his point that it is the occasional miseries in camping that make the great stories. Meanwhile, Butch caught up the laundry, and we spent a quiet evening. Three nights of socializing in a row is almost too much for us oldies.
Monday morning, we took a drive out to Saguaro National Park, a short distance from our campground. The drive through Gates Pass is impressive--and a little scary for those of us with a fear of heights. The desert landscape is spectacular and we enjoyed the visitor's center.
Our next stop was only about an hour away to visit with one of my classmates and long-time friends. Betty and her husband have a motorhome, so generously shared their parking pad and hookup for the night. The different configuration of our slide setup made parking a bit of a challenge, but between Butch and Ken, was accomplished expertly. Betty has spent most of her adult life in Brazil, Germany, Alaska, and Arizona, so our paths have not often crossed and it was great to catch up.
It was only about an hour yesterday morning to Mesa where we will spend almost a week sightseeing and visiting friends and relatives. It's always a risk choosing campgrounds on line, and we drove through Mesa to the address with trepidation as the city appeared rougher and rougher. This campground--as most city ones are--is pretty close quarters, and most of the park is permanent mobile homes and long term campers. But one section is for transients like us, and Ivan, the young man who does maintenance, couldn't have been more helpful in getting us parked, leveled, hooked up and set up. And we had a nice visit with him afterwards. Later we met a neighbor, a woman from Omaha fulltiming it on her own with a delightful chocolate Lab/Doberman mix named Snickers, and enjoyed a chat with her. There's even a tangelo tree back of our site. So all is well and one should not be too quick to make judgements.
I would appreciate it if Mother Nature would back off a bit. As I have said before, I am not a hot weather person, and the forecasted 90s for the next week when the average is supposed to be 76 is a bit over the top.
It was only about an hour yesterday morning to Mesa where we will spend almost a week sightseeing and visiting friends and relatives. It's always a risk choosing campgrounds on line, and we drove through Mesa to the address with trepidation as the city appeared rougher and rougher. This campground--as most city ones are--is pretty close quarters, and most of the park is permanent mobile homes and long term campers. But one section is for transients like us, and Ivan, the young man who does maintenance, couldn't have been more helpful in getting us parked, leveled, hooked up and set up. And we had a nice visit with him afterwards. Later we met a neighbor, a woman from Omaha fulltiming it on her own with a delightful chocolate Lab/Doberman mix named Snickers, and enjoyed a chat with her. There's even a tangelo tree back of our site. So all is well and one should not be too quick to make judgements.
I would appreciate it if Mother Nature would back off a bit. As I have said before, I am not a hot weather person, and the forecasted 90s for the next week when the average is supposed to be 76 is a bit over the top.
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