March 2, 2005

March 2, 2005

Tucson to Casa Grande, Arizona

DAY 257

 

Today was sunny and very warm.

We left El Molino RV Park in Tucson this morning. What a dump. One of those places that gives meaning to the term "trailer trash". A muddy park full of old mobile homes, parked close together, with a few empty spots used for RV's. Each mobile home seemed to be inhabited by at least 3 generations of Hispanics / Mexicans, each trailer with at least 2 pre-school children.

We headed northwest on I-10. Every mountain we passed was covered in Saguaro Cacti, but only the mountain slopes. Either Saguaro don't grow on the plains, or the flat lands have all been cleared. Shortly out of Tucson we passed the Pinal Air Park, where airlines from all over the world store their surplus airplanes in the warm and dry desert. WOW ! What a lot of huge airplanes just sitting out there in the desert. We stopped at flying J in Eloy for diesel. Flying J was selling diesel for 10¢ a gallon less than the other stations, and the line up at each of the many diesel pumps was 3 deep with RV's and commercial trucks. A long wait for fuel ! After filling up, we continued on I-10 to I-8, then a few miles on I-8 to exit 167. A mile on Montgomery Road, and here we are at RoVers Roost SKP Co-op RV Park. This was the first SKP Co-op. We checked in, set up, had lunch, and then while I napped for a while, Joanne picked up the mail that was waiting for us here. We had our January mail sent here for us by my sister in Lorette and my cousin in Thunder Bay. The mail office here phoned us a couple of days ago to chastise us for having mail sent here without advising them in advance. I had advised them by e-mail, but apparently they recently changed Internet Service Providers and did not receive my e-mail.

At 3:30 I went to social hour. One of the new arrivals today, in addition to us, was a couple we had met at C.A.R.E. while the woman was there as a participant, recuperating from having both knees replaced. After social hour I puttered around with some cleaning and maintenance projects. I fabricated and installed a heat shield that I designed for our portable propane heater using a roof vent insulated solar shield I bought at Camping World the other day. Then I made a new "bowl within a bowl" water dish for Teddy and Bo. Joanne had made one shortly after we began travelling, using a small pet dish and a Frisbee. I made a larger version today. We need a larger water dish, and larger "spill pan" to accommodate Bo and his sloppy drinking. What a dog !

This evening, I read for awhile, and worked on the photos I took yesterday in Saguaro National Park. I think they're stunning. Late in the evening I went to the club house to get online and update my blog, but apparently this is one of those retirement communities that rolls up the sidewalks at 8:00 P.M..

DSK