Tucson, AZ

Where does the time go?  Retirement makes all days seem like Saturday!  I have been settled into Cactus Country RV Resort on the east side of Tucson, Arizona, since mid December. Next week I will again hook-up and head west to Palm Springs, CA for the rest of winter (February, March and mid-April).

Tucson has been nice to be planted in one place for more than a month, after the marathon drive from Long Island to North Carolina to Austin to Tucson.   Cactus Country Resort, “Resort” is synonymous with RV parking lot, while the park is surrounded by desert filled with cactus, cows, rabbits and coyotes, the spaces are too close together.  

I stayed at Cactus Country two years ago and met my golf pals Phyllis, Chris, and their adorable Scotty Terrier Molly from Michigan.  Phyllis plays three times a week and is addicted to golf like me.  We have a great time walking Molly and Maggie around the park together 3 times a day, and playing golf.

The resort is composed of snow birds and full-time residents.  It is a retirement community, mostly.  I enjoy the group golfing event on Mondays, and the ability to walk daily in the desert with Phyllis and Maggie.  Maggie loves to disappear into the desert brush and come back with Cholla in her fur, and especially embedded in her nose.  I carry needle-nose pliers to pull the horrible Cholla needles out of her nose and feet.   Cholla’s scientific name is Cylindropuntia, and is the most inhospitable cactus. Beware this stuff is seriously nasty.  

Tucson is full of old and new friends.  Former work colleague Madeleine and husband Norman purchased a winter home here.  My Alaska golf pals Bruce, Marylou and Kim also have winter homes here.  Takoma pals Bruce and Lydia are here for a few days.  Liz and Tim were here from D.C. for a family weekend event in early January, and Sylvia was here for a spa week between Christmas and New Year.  The month has been full of visits and golf.

Upon arrival the temperatures were not particularly warm.  In fact, there was snow!  As January comes to a close the temperatures are moving into the 70s, thankfully.  Better golfing and hiking weather.  

I prefer Palm Springs because that area does not seem to have as much cactus.

As for travel surprises, I arrived in Tucson missing one of the two bars on my trailer.  Don’t ask me how that happened?  Especially since I drove through 50 mile an hour winds in west Texas.  There is a reason why Airstreams are called “Airstreams”, Scout is aerodynamic making towing so much safer with far less swaying side-to-side.  I proved that by driving over 800 miles with only one tow bar attached.  Yikes!  I was afraid I would have to replace the entire hitch assembly, but Amazon had a replacement single Reese 22225 High Performance Spring Bar.  With Prime no shipping costs it was a bargain because the bar weighs over 10 lbs.  I know Amazon is the evil empire, but they sure are great for RV parts, and shopping on-line for those of us who hate shopping malls.  Amazon is building a huge distribution facility here, they know Tucson is full of retirees who might want to work for short durations for extra cash.

As for other repairs, both the 30 lb propane tank gauges gave out.  There is always seems to be something, but thankfully, nothing serious.  Like the tow bar, ordering 30 lb replacement tanks on Amazon was easy, and arrived at the door in 2 days.

Finally, the other night there was a beautiful eclipse of the moon, which resulted in a “red moon”.  My photography skills are awful, I wish I could share a picture.  It has been a wonderful month, and looking forward to Palm Springs, CA.  Stay tuned.