Valley Vista in the Land of Wyatt Earp

We arrived at the Valley Vista RV Resort in Benson Arizona on March 8th and met up with Moe and Lori Palahicky. Benson is close to Tombstone and Bisbee Arizona, the centre of the old west and American western history.






On Monday we have visited Bisbee and the Queen Mine where we took a very interesting underground tour of the old mine works. Judy and Lori also did some shopping and Judy got 2 necklaces.













Wednesday we drove down to Nogales AZ (on the border with Mexico) to check out the town and border crossing. After a very good and inexpensive lunch in one of the local Mexican restaurants, we headed north to Tubac where Judy and Lori spent several hours shopping while Moe and Gary waited in a nearby saloon. After Tubac we headed to Green Valley and the Titan Museum.

The Titan Museum tour proved to be a very educational and interesting experience. This one hour tour showed the destructive power that could have been unleashed on the world during the cold war.






After that hectic day all of us were beat and have been taking it easy in using the pool and relaxing around the resort and in Benson.

Today we spent cleaning up and preparing to leave for Casa Grande tomorrow. We also had an excellent lunch at a local pizza joint, Railroad Pizza and then an even better BBQ rib dinner here at the resort. Now that we have ruined our diets, it is time to move on.

We will be spending the next two weeks in Casa Grande and then we will move on to Camp Verde, Arizona and I expect to update this blog within the next week. Until then TTFN
Gary & Judy

In Casa Grande

We got the slide topper replaced in Quartzsite. The job took about 1/2 hour. Since we were finished before noon(or so we thought) we decided to have a leisurely lunch, do some shopping and continue on to Casa Grande, confident that we could get there before the WHR resort closed at 5 pm. The only glitch in our plans was that we forgot that we had changed time zones. Fortunately Judy discovered our error at 10 to 5 and was able to get the gate code by phone, before they closed.

We are here for the night and have requested an additional day from valley Vista. We should know tomorrow AM if we can get in there early or if we will be staying here in Casa Grande an additional day.

We will be back in Casa Grande on the 15th though for 14 days.

TTFN
Gary & Judy

Last Day At Indian Waters

Today is our last day here at Indian Waters in Indio. Tomorrow we head to Quartzsite to have the Topper on our Bedroom slide replaced.

We have enjoyed Indian Waters and have been very active. On Monday we went out to the Outdoor Resorts Complex in Palm Springs to meet up with friends from Victoria, John & Diane Carter and Dan & Claire Kelly. We had a great time there using one of the eight pools and enjoying Lunch and Dinner with the Carters and appys with the Kellys.

On Tuesday we went on a four hour group hike through the Painted Canyon near Mecca CA. As the attached pictures show, it was awesome. We really appreciated the narration provided by our guide Danny from Indian Waters.

After the Hike our guide rewarded us with date hakes at a local Date farm. Nothing like finishing of an excercise program with some hi calorie nutritian.

Late tuesday afternoon, Judy & I went out to the Palm Springs Aerial Tram and took the 2 1/2 mile 6000 foot cable car trip up to the state park up there at 8300ft. Great views and much cooler (there was even snow up there). We enjoyed the views, had supper at the top and then took the return trip down and headed back to the rig, totally exhausted but happy with a great day.

Wednesday was yard sale day in Indian Waters and Gary spent 2 hours out looking for bargains. His best buy was 3 gratefruit for free. Judy meanwhile spent the morning vacuming and preparing appys and supper for the afternoon.

In the afternoon, John and Diane Carter came by and after a cool drink we all adjorned to the pool for a cool dip, After the pool we came back for happy hour and supper. We had a great visit with John and Diane and wished them both happy birthday as we will miss both of their birthdays.

Today(Thursday) is a putter, cleanup and prepare to travel day and hopefully we will get lots done.

TTFN
Gary & Judy

Day 2 at Indian Waters

Had a good day today cleaning up and doing a bunch of small jobs. We hired a local RV detailing company to wash and wax the rig - Good Deal at $150.00. Got us clean and the hand waxing makes our Tequila Sunrise look better than new. While I supervised the washing Judy caught up our laundry.

Weather was hot and sunny this morning however wind came up at about 3 pm and some cloud moved in just as Judy and I were heading to the pool.

The wind picked up some more this evening and is forecast to continue for the next two days. Temperatures though are still in the high 70's to low 80's and no rain etc is forecast. I guess we will just have to grin and bear it and go exploring or shopping.

Internet here at Indian Waters is excellent and tomorrow we will start to answer emails.

TTFN
Gary

Palm Springs At last

We are now established in spot 222 at the Indian Waters RV Resort in Indio CA.(Palm Springs area).

We left Talent Oregon early on the 27th and after 800 kms arrived at Harris Ranch near Fresno CA. We dry camped in their very large parking lot and had a decent but expensive meal in their restaurant. We also sampled their Margaritas which were superb.

The next day we drove about 600km to Desert Pools resort just north and west of Palm Springs where we enjoyed their hot pools and had a quiet night.

Today we set off at 10am for the 45 km drive to our home for the next week - Indian Waters. Indian Waters is a very nicely laid out and comfortable resort in a residential area of Indio.

After arriving and setting up we then did what all good Canadian consumers do - we went shopping at Costco for food and alcohol as well as other consumer tempting items.

And so begins our holiday in the southern USA..

26 February-Gary & Judy are on their way

We have finally gotten on our way south to Palm Springs and other points in
Arizona and California.
On the 25th we left Vancouver and after a 1 hour wait to cross the border were
waved right through. That night we stayed at the Lucky Eagle Casino in
Rochester Washington ( just south of Olympia) We arrived in time for Seniors
night and enjoyed a very good Seafood Buffet for only $6.95 each.

Tonight we are in Talent Oregon and tomorrow we head towards Stockton Ca. The
weather has been great and we hope it stays that way.

Will update again once we get to Indio and Palm Springs ( scheduled for 29 Feb)

Gary & Judy

FEB 19 -GARY IS 62 AND WE ARE READY TO HEAD OUT

Yesterday was Judy's Birthday and today is Gary's birthday. We did nothing special except load the RV. Tomorrow we head to Vancouver and then on Monday Feb 25 we head south to Palm Springs and then Arizona.

Its been quite a week getting ready. A one year old clamp on the RV Rad hose broke and the Ford dealer is giving us the run around saying there is no proof the clamp is only one year old even tho Ford replaced all the Rad hoses last year in Bullhead City. We have to try and get the Bullhead City dealer to cover the cost. Typical Ford Warranty service. NONE.

But enough of the woes. We have had great weather to get the RV ready in and are looking forward to a great trip.