Cave Creek, family and friends

Our site for the first week.


I haven’t done as well writing this week. We have been on the go ever since we arrived here in Cave Creek AZ. We are in the Cave Creek Regional Park just north of Phoenix.

Our site week 2
This is a beautiful Maricopa County Park. It was recommended to us by a couple we met at Roper Lake and they we right. The sites are large and you have plenty of room between you and your neighbor. It is clean and well kept and the shower houses are very nice. The sites have water and electric. The first week we had a site that was great for watching the sun set but had little shade, even the awning didn’t help us. Of course it was 90 degrees during the day time all week, so we didn’t pick very well in that aspect so after a week we decided to move to give us a little relief from the sun. However this week the highs are only suppose to be in the 70’s. Wouldn’t you know. We needed to dump our tanks anyway so we chose a site that is a pull thru or more correctly pull off but it gives you plenty of room and I like the view.  We decided to stay another week as we were so busy we didn’t get to discover much of the park or surrounding area.
John, Jean, Gail and Alan
 So what were we doing? Visiting lots of people and getting some new things on the truck (I’ll let John tell you about that- he love’s his truck). John’s step-mom, Jean, lives in Scottsdale along with his step-sister Gail and husband Alan, step-brother Tom and step-brother John. Jean has had a rough couple years undergoing treatment for melanoma and considering all she has been through she looks great and we are so glad to get to spend some time with her. We had lunch with her and Tom as well as dinner at Gail’s house. They have been incredible hosts.
Toni, Janie, & Dan
As well as family we have a couple friends here. Toni and Dan are a couple that I have know since high school but haven’t seen in maybe 30 years.  Toni noticed on Facebook that we were in the area so invited us to have lunch with them, they are in Chandler. It was a treat connecting with them again and had lots of fun catching up on all the people we know from high school days. Also in Chandler is a fella that worked with John but moved to this area about 15 years ago so we emailed Dean to see if we could get together. He invited us to dinner. We got to meet his son and daughter - Dean was a single guy when he left CR. It was fun to see him as a dad and it was evident that he is a very good dad who loves to spend time with his children. Dean is also great on the grill. Dean, that steak was amazing!
Tatiana, Dean and Dean jr.
Today after moving we went to do laundry. We were actually running out of clean clothes. It is just one of those jobs that has to be done. There is a couple in the park that also have an Excel and we have talked with them several times. They have been camping in this park during the winter for several years so they have been a good source of info and helped us find the laundromat. It isn’t exactly close but it was clean and very reasonably priced. Now it is just kick back time. The skies have clouded up and it is actually cool and breezy so I think we will veg our inside this evening. Tomorrow our plan is to do some hiking here in the park.
Happy Trails..............................

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Urban Life

Image
The view from our balcony I have been thinking about this post for awhile. When we are not traveling I find it hard to sit down and write but I have wanted to tell you about our new digs and what living downtown has been like for us. Another balcony view We moved into a one bedroom apartment on the west side of the river in the downtown Cedar Rapids area. This is a brand new building that actually they are still working on. The first floor is businesses, floors 2 and 3 are apartments and floors 4, 5, & 6 are condos. We love the building. Every apartment and condo has a balcony that looks out over the river and the McGrath Amphitheatre. Our little apartment in this building is 767 sq. which, after living in our 5th Wheel for 7 years, seems huge. We feel these apartments were well thought out. The kitchen is wonderful. It has a large island (all  solid countertops - quartz I think) with a large sink and plenty of seating room . We started by buying 3 barstools but found
Read more

Time for me to learn to drive this rig.

Image
Trail at Squaw Creek park Yesterday we moved back to Morgan Creek park (about a 15 mile drive) and I drove the rig! We have always said that I needed to start doing this but I never seem to do it. The first year I think John just felt he needed to get proficient at all the driving & parking things before he had me do it and then we just got lazy. It was just easier for him to do it. Recently friends of our that we met in Tucson, John and Terri had a very harrowing experience that reminded us why we both need to be able to drive this rig. John they think had a seizure while driving, luckily not towing but still it is amazing that they survived it. What this meant is that now Terri had to do the driving back to their former home town Sacramento and like me she had not done much driving. She did great and they are now coming off the road and starting a new phase of life. All of John's test look good so far and we wish him the best and hope that it was just a one time isolated
Read more

Three plus years of full timing....what have we learned

Image
Zion National Park,  Utah, December 2010 Harris Hawk at Sonoran Desert Museum, Tuscon Feb. 2011 When we left Cedar Rapids it began our 4th year of living and traveling in our RV. The last three years have flown by and we are still not ready to go back to a sticks and bricks life. We have traveled a lot of the western US but even with time out there all three years there are so many places we have yet to discover. This year will be our first going south and east, all new places for me and many new ones for John. I think one of the things that I learn every time we find somewhere new is how beautiful this country is. If you slow down and take the time you will find amazing things everywhere. I think the thing I appreciate the most about this lifestyle is that freedom to take it slow. BLM land near Quartzite, AZ in January 2011 Putah Creek, Winters CA in Jan.2013 Crater Lake, Oregon, fall 2012 Diamond Lake, Oregon, fall 2012 When we first took off we were
Read more