Apr 3 Out to Roper Lake State Park

... the last state park in S.Arizona that we have not visited
  Written up as a lovey lake recreational area with a natural spring hot tub, we head off to near the New Mexico border to add this park to our collection. It's nestled under the foothills of Mt. Which is 11,000 ft high and still has snow on top. The campsite is at 3200 ft.
  It's been beautifully (over) developed with amazing facilities, each campsite has an armada with table and there's a lake and hot tub, but all oh so small! As Ted said, 3 kids in the hot tub filled it. We do some strolls around the camp, to the 'island'. But the wind is blowing a gale and there are whitecaps at the little swimming beach. Nobody in their right mind is going in there any time soon. Even the palm trees are blowing horizontally!
  Having run into all sorts of vacancy problems, we booked a site. We could have gone anywhere, it's pretty quiet here now.
  Its another good place for birders and waterfowl. I guess out here in the middle of nowhere, its important as a flyway. We do see flocks of yellow-headed blackbirds which are stunning, especially in large numbers. A great white egret strolls the shore and lovesick frogs and waterfowl chatter away behind our campsite in the slough which runs into the lake. Lots of quail - not close enough to make it to the frying pan.
  We've encountered mosquitos for the first time this trip. A few nailed us but we got them before we went to sleep last night. Yeah. We'll shut the doors earlier tonight.
  There are 5 miles of trails here but it's unexciting hiking compared to around Tucson so 2 nights will be quite enough. It is still cold overnight so we will forego trips into the Chiricahua Mountains or Cochise stronghold campsites as there is no power there to keep our little overnight heater going. Getting soft in my old age.

Apr 2 - Sun is back

  The cold spell is over, but we are not back to 30s so its quite comfortable. OUr last day at /far Horizons, I take in the pool, get more gossip. Last night at our super-safe park - a car, a truck and two bikes were stolen. It is big news in the pool. We find next day that they caught the car thief, he was stopped for some reason and they discovered it then! Duh.
  We chat to the young couple along the row from us in a smaller van - they are from Calgary? Taking 2 weeks of spring break to come here! What a lot of driving in 2 weeks. But I guess we did that too when we were working. Ted tries out their big heavy e-bikes but isn't keen to swap his lightweight touring bike for one of those yet. I must admit, I would like to give it a try.
  WE've arranged to maybe meet a pal of Bob & Pat Allen but he's out of town and can't join us. We finally get to Downtown Kitchen, run by a local celeb chef. I bought his book on Chiles Rellenos at the national park store and am determined to try any of these super recipes. It's Sunday, so parking downtown with a 22ft RV isn't a problem. We are first in for happy hour so pick nice seats to watch the action.
  Aaron the barman reminds us of nephew James. He looks after us really well and insists on taking our photo too. Ted finds his fav local beer (Dragoon IPA) and I try the Victory Garden cocktail, a green affair of muddled cucumber and mint, gin and stuff....loverly.
  We take our time munching on the catfish tacos (Ted declares them the best we've had) with their own salsa, calamari (with mango, ginger, watercress and green chile vinaigrette), mole fries (not a repeat experience) and the delectable chile relleno stuffed with mushroom duxelles and lovely sauces. After we stroll the downtown treed avenues and enjoy the city ambience on a Sunday afternoon. By the time we leave, the restaurant is jumping, an inplace for the locals and the see and be seen people.
  We can't find the ice cream place so pop by Fry's to stock up on Magnum bars instead.

April 1 - rain - is this a joke/?

  Next day we get clouds and see rain elsewhere but none falls on us. WE are off early to meet up in the Catalina foothills with Vollie & Bill from Colorado, who have a house on 2 acres up there now. they have a lovely hike up to a waterfall planned and blankets of flowers all the way up. Not strenuous and very rewarding with yellow and orange California poppies everywhere. WE stop at a nice Mexican place for lunch then have tea and watch the birds and wildlife at their place for a while. It's cold when we get back to I make hot cocoa for me and green chile beans on toast for Ted.
  It's now time to make some serious bookings for the way north as e are running into booking problems all over the place. The camping in Page on the Colorado river is full, as is the camping in Sedona where we plan to stop off this time too. I cover my ass with hotel bookings and keep calling campsites til I get a booking. People cancel out all the time. You just have to keep on it. Bad news when we don't have wifi, I have a phone here but no data.

March 29. Back to the big city

Our 3 days in the desert are up so it's back to town for showers, the pool, Also to contact people we want to see and set up some times to do that.
  It's a day to wander down to the 4th Street shops, restaurants, etc. There is a great bookstore and I find lots of neat things in there. Also some nice gifty souvenir thins too. We stop off on the way home to Poco & Mom's Cantina, where the garden patio in back with a fountain is a welcome sit. I order the best chiles rellenos with Mom's green Chile verde sauce its sour cream, a match made in heaven. Ted tries the pork stew and it's good too.
  Back to the resort, it's pool time with a book and listen to the gossip at the pool!
  There's a shower overnight and it cools things down, 8 overnight and 19 by day. It's a miserable windy start to the day so Ted cooks up eggs, beans/green chile for my version of huevos rancheros, but the tortillas are dry and chewy so we ditch them in favor of the lovely bread.
    Movie night has come around again and for $1 we get p popcorn and "Lion" with the great Dev Patel. But it's long and slow and although a true story, not that exciting really. I can see why it didn't get Oscars...

March 26 Back to the national park and stately saguaros

  It's sunny with a few clouds, a bit of wind and 25 so we are off to the desert with power but no showers so limit: 3 days. We climb up over Grants Pass and the national park is spread before us.
  I bought a small hummer feeder at a bird store in Tubac last week so I am keen to see if I can attract some. Unfortunately it's a bit windy and maybe not enough shade around our rig as none have come so far! Ted saw a little yellow bird at it.
  Next morning we are up early and out to catch the raptor display at the wonderful Desert Museum out here. It's amazing how the birds come out to show us their stuff but the show is being cancelled as more and more of them don't come back, some for 3 days or so, so it's hard to time a show twice a day. Yeah the birds. It's a lovely useful with all the indigenous flora, fauna and wildlife from this part of the world. The cougar is out pacing, we see a baby hummer sitting just out of its nest but not yet ready to fly. Cute. The mama is flying around us picking off the bugs that like humans apparently. We learn a lot about the flora and fauna here and the cacti and flowers are at their prime now.
  The national park runs many many interesting programs but we are happy to do our own hiking trips on our own time. Their gift shop also has lovely things and Ted finds another great T shirt there.
  I am practicing my flute some evenings, getting better, neighbors love it and come by to tell me so. That's inspiring that it's not hard to listen to even when I am learning new tunes.
  We do several hikes in the mountain parks. No Saguaro have bloomed yet but signs are that it will be soon. ?The hedgehog cacti close to the ground and some of the others are already blooming. The star gazing program is on that evening but its too cold for me once the sun has gone down. I am getting settled  in our cosy wee nest.

March 25 Mountains and Mozart

 It's great to be back at Far Horizons  RV resort and Ted can do the morning bakery run. It's Saturday and we have tickets again for the MET live HD opera broadcast. Idomineo by Mozart is playing. Again, very comfortable movie theatre seats, not the huge recliners from Phoenix, and not a lot of people this time.
  After that we drive up along Skyline drive, beautiful views of the mountains and the city below through very nice residential areas to revisit Wildflower restaurant and happy hour. Prices are good, the food is lovely and the price is right. Ted is not so impressed as the first time with his short rib ravioli with wild mushroom sauce. But for tempura shrimp/zucchini, guacamole, the ravioli, 3 $3 beers, a $4 sangria the total is $40. Driving back along the sunset drive as the sun goes down is beautiful. If I were going to stay a month in a condo in Tucson, I think I'd like to be up here.
  This evening we chat to Ursula and Dieter who are leaving Palm Springs shortly, but we may yet meet up with them on the trip north, as we all aim to be home Apr 14 and take a similar route.

March 24 Sabino Canyon trails - and $1 movie night

  Nestled at the base of the 11,000ft Mount Lemmon mountains north of the city is Sabino Canyon. It's stacked with kids and tourists as it's spring break here. The tram ride runs once an hour and the lineup is an hour til the next one.
  We take off along the lovely desert trails and soon lose pretty much everyone. It's a pretty walk along the canyon, following the river which I s running and the cacti are just beginning to bloom. A lovely jaunt til it gets too hot. We then head for one of the 22 brew pubs, a nice little place by the university with a pile of good beers on tap.
  Back to camp, I brew up seafood soup, I'm getting good at this then $1 gets us into Friday Movie Night with a bag of. Popcorn. Its Manchester by the Sea, quite good, a bit depressing, too long, but hey for $1 who can complain.

March 23 Shoe shopping...and free lunch

  We've been all over town looking for shoes for Ted but at the end of the road from our RV site is KOHLs. It's a big department store and they are practically paying you to take things away. Ted has found shorts for $15 and belts for $10. While he hunts for sandals, I find a pair of Sketchers hybrid walking shoe/sandals for $65. Pointing out a mark on the floor sample model (last size 6) I get $20 off. Then they try to get 20% off  for joining their club but as I am Canadian and not eligible, they knock off 15$ anyway. II put them on and walk home. Really comfortable.
  The new management at our RV resort is really sucking up to their tenants so today is free lunch on them. Edges has catered Italian subs, with chips and a cookie, all the beer and wine you can drink and fruit ices for dessert. We meet more Canadians - from Sabrina! All that way. I thought they went to Florida but apparently too hot and too many people there.
  That night more people invite us to pot luck supper. I have nothing to take. They say, just put some chips in a bowl and come. So I don't make dinner either. But pot luck isn't Ted's idea of supper so I make him salad with leftover filet of beef after. He's pretty happy with that.

March 22 Hispanic influence

 Tucson and area are one of the oldest inhabited areas of the US, including the original natives residents, the Spanish, the Mexicans and later all the ret of us.
  One of the interesting things in the area is the two Missions, one historic and closed and one a very active community centre of the current Indian tribe (all PC descriptions here.)
  The Hispanic influence is great to this day, in the culture, the food, the community the plants, food grains being re cultivated, etc. Proximity to the Mexican border ensures a steady flow of Mexicans to keep up the traditions. At least so far it was...
  South of the city Tubac has developed into a nice little tourist enclave with many artists, artisans, and the nearby Tumacacori mission retains its old world charm. As well as a huge spice trading company just outside the walls

March 20 - back to Patagonia in AZ ranch lands

  A cross country drive through lovely ranch lands down to Nogales on the Mexican border brings us back to Patagonia Lake.It is spring break for many schools so we can't camp at the state park. But we find a good little RV park in town which is great and close to shops, and with wifi. A pair of vermilion flycatchers are nesting there too,, nice to see these bright red birds.
  It's interesting driving here as the main road north of the border is lined with huge warehouses for goods and food coming in from Mexico. What will happen to all this trade if Trump gets his way closing the border and making life difficult for everyone involved in this huge export/import trade region??
  We are only stopped at one border checkpoint, hardly even that, a cursory glance and waived on.
  There are many fancy dude ranches here where wealthy Americans come to ride the wide open spaces, hole up at spas and hotels, but you would hardly know it from the locked and gated entrances to many of them.
  It's still cold in the mornings, only 8, but going up to 24 in the sun later in the day. Our heater has continued to go on every night down here this year.
  The local gift shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors are doing good trade even in this now quieter time.
  Patagonia is a bird watcher's paradise and it is here that last year I bagged an Elegant Trogon photo. Not so lucky this year, but lots of colourful birds in this important flyway between North and South America. Walking along Sonoita creek always rewards with view of the
  WE learn that wealthy arts patrons have built an opera house in this tiny town and we are lucky enough to be there for the first concert of their classical program, a viola/piano recital. Beautiful acoustics in this little gem of a performance venue. I wear a black top and lacy black long skirt and am not out of place!
  I return to HIgh Spirits flutes to buy 2 new instruction books and am tempted by a double "Nova" flute they have experimented with. It has two bores, two mouthpieces that you have to coordinate blowing into, but one side is a drone, like bagpipes. Difficult to play. I will persevere!
  It's great to have good wifi down here as I've been able to check in with Liz and Clive in Cambridge to hear how Clive's new hip is mending up. The miles between us just melt away on that Facetime.

March 17 - Madera Canyon and the birds

Now Lupita (our RV registration LUP111) is feeling good again, we are off south to stay at a notable bird area at Madera Canyon in the Santa Cruz mountains. We get lucky as someone is checking out of their campsite late and spend 3 lovely days there, hiking, watching many birds, especially hummers. Most hikes are straight up the canyon walls, relentless climbs, but views of  Mt.Wrightson reward.
  I've taken to playing my flute at nights and neighbors come b to say how much they like it. I plan the sunrise and sunset Zuni tunes as well as some more recognizable. My red tablecloth weight hung in the tree attracts hummers but it would be nice to have a feeder instead!
  WE are enjoying eating lightly in this heat. The asparagus is 87c a pound so we are gorging on those all the time. Strawberries also as low as  89c a pound sometimes. Otherwise $2.

March 13 Finally - to Tucson (Some repeat)

En route from Phoenix to Tucson, we have to stop in at the outlet store mall at one of the huge Indian Casino/Hotel complexes. We go into every sho store but Ted can't find shoes or sandals to fit or he likes!! And they say women are the shoppers. We do find bargains at our fav Columbia store.
We return to Far Horizons RV resort, our home for 4 days. Its a 55+ park with nice pool, good facilities and nice people. Also right in town so shopping is close. Plus Ted takes a walk every owning to the French patisserie bakery for almond croissants, small lunch croisssants (great with smoked salmon), pain au chocolat and divine coconut macaroons.
  We have bad noises from the brakes on the way to Tucson so we check in with Mercedes and Sprinter van dealers and spend the next 4 days waiting for - the bad news - brakes need complete overhaul - parts to come, daily call, still not in. Finally on the 3rd afternoon, the parts arrive ad we spend another 3 hours at the dealership getting them fixed for C$1000! Not a great start to our Tucson visit, but necessary all the same. It's still stinking hot - at least I can go to the pool.
  Meantime we have found Poco & Mom's Mexican resto, Huge lunches or great chiles rellenos and tortilla soup means light suppers of avocados stuffed with shrimp and cheese and crackers.
  The park has new owners. They are selling off the rental units - park models - little mobile homes. Some as low as $6500! Unbelievable. If you wanted to be someone's landlord, it's a steal but you have to maintain it too. Not fur us. The new ones go for $65k.
  Glad we can get good wifi as Murray, Nadal, Djokovik and Federer are facing off at Indian Wells. I am delighted when Federer pulls off another amazing win.
  I find the time in Tucson waiting around for car work has been good for shopping. I return to one of my fav stores, Chicos, clothes, jewelry a lot different from Calgary. I pick up a nice outfit for all the golden wedding events coming up this year. There are 5 of us in the ski club alone, and the parties have already begun.

March 9 Indian days...and huge Phoenix (Some repeat..)

  We head back to Fort McDowell Indian reserve with a big casino and matching RV resort. We
Have stayed several times before, hard to get in, but close to Scottsdale where Mary & Mark have their condo apartment now. Also Apache Junction (AJ).
  That night we drive the 30 miles to join ski pals Lloyd & Sigrun for mariachi night at their RV resort golf club restaurant. Lots of fun with other Calgary friends Mia and Don.
  Next day we are up early for Mary & Mark to pick us up to enjoy Scottsdale. We can't park our RV there so they ferry us around on a scorching hot day to lovely lunch downtown, the annual Scottsdale Art Market, later cool drinks at the lovely McCormack Ranch golf club. Our RV temp hit 99 today, about 34C.
  Saturday we have tickets at the local cinema showing the Live in HD from NY MET opera broadcast of La Traviata. The cinema is something else. Huge (or as Trump would say - yuge) lazy boy seats you get lost in. Traumatic getting there: my GPS takes us into the middle of Indian reserve nowhereland, the main highway ramp is closed when I find an alternate route, we run into the baseball parking lot traffic and finally into the cinema just as the movie starts! Later we drive all over the place trying to find our fav TJ (Trader Joes) and Frys grocery stores, home hot, hungry, tired and low in blood sugar! I make smoked mackerel pate,  lobster bisque with catfish and finish with ice cream bars, light and easy supper for this hot climate.
  We have good cable TV so watch PBS and TCM in the evenings. I take advantage of the pool and laundry facilities and have a lazy day at the resort, another 33 day and lovely sunset.
  BTW when we arrived home from dinner in the dark the first day, a group of wild horses were there to greet us with their little foal at the RV resort entrance. Neat.

March 5 Back to Arizona and Chandler

 Driving out of the Palm Springs area of California we cross the state line into Arizona and lose an hour on the pretty much boring drive across the desert.
 We join our Banff friends Bob & Pat Allen at their lakeside condo in Chandler which is the southernmost city in the huge conurbation of Phoenix. Its a bittersweet time as Pat is in Ottawa for her brother's wedding. The ought after she gets back, he passes away and we are all rather sad.
  Bob hosts us for dinner at home first day and he and Ted embark on trying various reds, especially Zinfandels. Then we find a great local restaurant next day:  Flos, Asian Thai fusion. The coconut chicken soup is to die for so we take an order home for next day too.
  Ted and I hare happy to poke around the area on our own, returning to the Burrowing Owl reserve where I catch a pair outside guarding burrow nest on film.
  Pat has a yen to visit Boyce Thomson Arboretum, a lovely day trip out to this lovely canyon nature preserve. We stop in at the funky little old silver mining town of Superior, now the site of the largest copper reserve ever found in the US. Lunch at Porters is an experience and on the way back we stop in to see Susa and Merv, Pat's old Banff neighbors, and are pressured to stay for BBQ chicken dinner. Not a difficult decision to watch the sun go down.
  Before I leave Chandler I use Pat's coupon clipped from the local paper to get a $7.99 haircut. I got my money's worth - hardly any hair left. But OK for camping and the pool. I keep another in case Ted fancies a cheap haircut on our travels too.

MAR 15: GOURMET TUCSON - AND HOT HOT HOT

We are back in patisserie country, Did I say Ted gets up in the morning and takes the 0 minute stroll to the bakery down the road for the most heavenly croissants and pain au chocolate? My hero. They also make wonderful coconut macaroons like the ones in England, not the now very popular macaroons which are small and hard sandwiches, with cream in between.
  I tried replicating the shrimps in honey sauce with walnuts from Trader Joe, but they simply were not as good as the ones at the PF Chang. We are finally able to eat dinner on our patio every night.
  Yesterday we found one of the great local Mexican cantinas, open for breakfast and lunch and no beer license. Hatch green peppers are legend and that's what they use to make their Chile sauce. Poco & Mom make everything from scratch.  I ordered my fav, Chile rellenos, sauce on side, tons of rice and refried beans.  Ted ordered his fav, tortilla soupy, loaded with lots of other things too. Ted loved their hot sauces which he could enjoy without my asking him to taste everything, as I really can't take the hot sauces any more. The stuffed chiles had a lovely tang but didn't bring out the blisters on my lips!
  I have also found premixed margaritas by the 1.75 liter bottle so fill up my single serve bottles and find spots in the fridge for them easily. Ah yes, got watch the consumption of those I guess...
  There is new management at the RV park here in Tucson and they have sand. Blasted the 4 pickleball courts in front of our unit last week. Glad were were not there then. The lines went in this week and a horde of foaming at the mouth players are lined up there every day to use them.  
  Lots of people i the park also cycle around, some oldies in tricycles, but they are still moving. The afternoons are now 33-36 and it's impossible to think of doing much other than sit in and at the pool. Ted sits in the shade to read and do his Sodukos but we have ot leave the AC on in the RV as it is soon over 99, the highest temp that our thermostat will show!
   Without TV we can't get news but I am following the tennis at Indian Wells in Palm Springs with interest. It's amazing that 3 of 4  top players all met in the early rounds. Murray didn't even make it out of the blocks! But the old man Federer is the only one left in. I can get some good replays on wifi, if slowly sometimes.
  I can also download snippet from MET opera, and love The Audition, which illustrates how difficult it is to go from the 1800 applicants to winners of the MET opera prize. The 2007 winner, American  Michael Fabiano, was the star of last week's  La Traviata, very impressive.
  But for some strange reason, we can't watch DVDs on our TV without disconnecting our power to the RV and running off the coach batteries...can't find DVDs much now, but wifi is often too unreliable to download movies.  Also our 'old' TV isn not digital so we can't pull in cable  either!

BACK TO TUCSON AND FAMILIAR GROUND..

Ted is worried about our brakes scraping badly so we are heading straight into Tucson to find the Dodge Ram dealer and get them checked. The good news: They fit us right in. The bad news: We need $1000 brake job and they have to order the parts, no knowing how long that will take. We settle in for more than the 3 days we planned, at least 5 now. Some retail therapy is going to result from this, I can just feel it...
  We roll into the nice spot facing the cactus garden and mountains (553 at Far Horizons RV). New management is tarting the place up, putting all the rental units up for sale. For $6500 and up you can buy a mobile 'park model' house. Rent is about $6000 a year on top of that. It's a fantastic investment opportunity if you want to be a landlord, or even have a pied a terry in the desert. But we don't.
  A 2007 unit in front of us is the only one that was totally built to accommodate a wheelchair - going for $56,000. Again, a good investment opportunity.
  Hanging around each day to hear whether the parts have arrived, we get to chat with the neighbors some more. Many are now leaving but we know quite a few here and meeting new ones every day. People are super friendly, it's gated and secure and better still, the French patisserie is still only a 10 minute walk away for Ted to go every morning for pain au chocolate, croissants (almond and plain) and heavenly coconut macaroons. There's also a Kohl's dept store where Ted finds shorts for $15 and belts for $10.
  We also hear about the neat New Mexico type Mexican resto near here that only serves breakfast and lunch, no beers, but great food. We take advantage of a lazy day and take in their home made everything - guacamole, chiles rellenos, tortilla soup and famous Hatch green Chile sauces, both hot and mild - so famous around here, they sell it.
  It's also nice at the pool here with new pool furniture. You can find shade everywhere and while away hours there reading and thinking....hahaha

MAR 11: OPERA ANYONE...eventually..

  Saturday we are up and off by 10.15 to the cinema only 20 minutes away to catch the live from the MET La Traviata. My GPS deposits us in the middle of the Indian reserve 20 minutes before it starts! Sheesh. I make a quick decision to head west, catch the main 101 highway south and come back to the same road the other side of the arroyo and highway. Ramp to 101 closed!
  Into the very very busy area of Tempe Marketplace, a huge shopping mall.
  It is also spring training for baseball in Phoenix now. Everyone is going to the game. The main stadium is next to the Marketplace. Oh joy. Everyone is steering people in to parking along the route, so it's slow then slower...finally my GPS gets the right location. There is a cinema in a big mall. Yeah.
  We rush in. We have booked seats and I remember they are at the end of the row. We stumble in the dark. There are people in our seats....they have to move...we can't see any other empty seats but they disappear behind us.
  The seats are huge lazyboy type recliners fit for 300 pounders. I am lost in mine. Fortunately I have brought a cashmere sweater and wrap and I need them both. Ted wraps himself in his hoodie.
  The performance is stunning, there are two cinemas here both full. The people in front of us are from Edmonton...but lots of people more interested in opera than baseball.
  We drive around finding our fav grocery stores, Trader Joe first. By the time we get home we are exhausted, cranky, tired and hungry. Ted does not believe in lunch...blood sugar running very very low...thank goodness we found the Haagen Diaz chocolate/almond ice cream bars today...
  We do get cable TV here but it's hardly evening entertainment, mainly rubbish...the occasional good movie on Turner Classic Movies or PBS programs.
  It is 33 mos days not, blue blue sky and the mountains look as if they are behind out RV park. The top of the mountain is about 9000 ft so it gets cool at ights still. Great for sleeping. We are eating very lightly here, lots of fish soup, lobster bisque with more fish/shrimp added to them. They are practically giving away the asparagus and strawberries here, under $1 for big bunches and big clamshells. But the strawberries are still being picked too early. Good fish is easy to find and I found Canadian lobster tails for $6 each this week too.

IN THE DESERT IN THE CITY OF PHOENIX WITH WILD HORSES..

To visit with friends in Phoenix, we head to the hills west of the city and the Ft.McDowell Indian reserve. Across from the casino which we never enter is a first class RV resort. If only Tsuu Tina could emulate this at the end of our road instead of planning small industrial complex...
  We get one of the last spaces and had to delay our trip into the city a week to get it. But we can stay 4 days over the weekend which is busy for them.
  We are greeted the first evening coming home after dark by a small group of the wild horses that live i this area, with thier little foal. We didn't see any javelinas this time, but have seen them in the past.
  Driving into the city, we pass through a lovely residential area - Fountain Hills, with huge mansions overlooking splendid views.
  We've stayed here before a few times so we know the area pretty well.
  It's now 33 every day, stinking hot by 3pm, really pool time but we have lots to do.
  First day we head round the city, about 30 miles away but just half an hour drive - the roads here are just amazing. We spend the evening with ski pals Lloyd & Sigrun and friends Mia and Don, whom we met last year here. Their cantina at the resort has mariachi night with Mexican food (so-so) and e have a lot of fun with that.
  Next day friends Mary & ark pick us up at the resort as they are in Scottsdale, also only about half an hour away. AFter lovely patio lunch downtown, we stroll the Old Scottsdale area and go to the annual art sale, full of lovely pieces of various forms of art. But by 3pm it's 33 and sweltering so the guys walk back and bring the car and we go to a beautiful golf course for cold drinks overlooking the palms mountains and keeners on teh golf course.
  It's too hot to eat two meals a day so we enjoy snacking and grazing the rest of the time.

OLD WORLD CHARM IN CHANDLER

Phoenix is a huge metropolis made up of several other cities, just huge and the road system is mind boggling. It's miles from one place to another and nerve-racking on the freeways at times. Ted is the soul of patience when people cut him off, in front, etc. because they think we are slower just because we are an RV. In fact the MB engine is quite stalwart but he takes his time with everything to arrive safely. I am lucky to always be in the passenger seat as he likes driving better than sitting...
  It's a boring drive across the desert form PS to Phoenix, but our GPS takes us quickly around the city and into the nice small city of Chandler.
  Our pals from Banff, Pat & Bob, live here in winter. They are great hosts at thier condo on the lake in a nice small neighborhood. Pat is in Ottawa for a week while her brother gets married when we arrive. So we enjoy a few days with Bob, he hikes and bikes while we go visit some of the nice places around, a burrowing owl reserve not far away, and a lovely Riparian area we have visited before.
 We also enjoy strolling around the centre of Chandler with it quaint downtown shops and refurnished 192s resort hotel, which is still grand. And finding Mexican paletas (fruit ice cream bars) at Paletas Betty!
  He cooks the first night but we find a great Asian place with happy hour prices not far away next day. Flo's is a small chain in that area, sorry there are not more of them. Bob is glad to have Ted to help him with his wine lake as they are off to Sedona for a week Saturday, back for a day, return to ?Calgary for one day then to Hawaii after that. We are lucky to have caught them home.
  Pat returns from her trip keen to take a trip out to Boyce-Thomson arboretum, a gorgeous country estate and famous plant preserve way out east of Mesa. WE visit the neat old silver mining town of Superior, where the largest copper find in the US is now being mined and the town resuscitated. Lunch at the local bar/resto is fun, as is visiting the artsy and antique stores there too.
  We return to Chandler that evening, only to hear the sad news that Pat's brother passed away. We have also had word on email of the death of our good ski pal Joan Closson, so it's a sad end to what was an outstanding day. We are all intent on enjoying every day we can.
  

MARCH IN LIKE A LION...HAPPY HOUR HEAVEN

This area is known for its wind. You cannot believe the miles and miles of huge windmills as you drive into this valley now, every direction you look. Fora. Few days we had 2, sun and not much but then back it comes in a big way.

  We enjoyed returning the hospitality at lovely local happy hour spots. First to the Cliffhouse, really does hang on a cliff with a waterfall and half an hour before opening time, the patio is already packed. We feast on beautifully presented nibbles: calamari, lamb meatballs with tomato jam, beet salad, fish tacos and lovely cheap cocktails. Dinner for 4 for US$140 is pretty good, as we certainly don't need to eat again afterwards.

  Don/Kathy have other ideas - we go back to their house so Don can regale Ted with his single malt Scotch!

  Next day, the Cosandier's take us to their fav spot for happy hour on El Paseo, THE shopping street in Palm Springs. We get a table by the window to watch the action and put away copious quantities of tropical cocktails, beers at the Pacifica resto. Oysters by the dozen, calamari, scallops, shrimp, bacon wrapped dates, all very rich in cream sauces but swabbed down nicely with French bread. The bar has been raised. It's $240 for 4 here - but nobody wants to eat for another half day...

  After, we stroll the fancy boutiques, Ushi and I get free samples of Bee sting cream to get rid of our wrinkles. Yeah.

  Next day Ushi takes me to another fav spot, Glossys, in Desert Hot Springs. Here you buy Nordstrom's $160 swimsuits for $30, unless you find one for $15! Of course I buy one and a two-piece which dries quickly in the sun too. Ushi buys $95 Chico pants for $15 and if you are lucky you can get pants and Tees on the sale rack outside for $5 each. Silly really...

  Before we leave we spend a nice visit with Khannas for nibbles and drinks on their deck on the golf course where everyone who drives by knows them! They have spent winter here, except for the 3 week trip to Sri Lanka, which should now be on our list to visit, sounds wonderful.

  Ushi graciously hosts a farewell nibbles/drinks party  the night we leave so we are sent off with lots of good cheer and warm friendship. We may not all be back in DHS next year so it's a special time.

Feb 28 Caliente Springs pools, happy hours, time flies

Meeting up with Cosandier's, Druery/McDougall and Khannas, it's a non stop feast of parties drinks, happy hours and hot pools. They are all well ensconced here in life in the desert, also hosting Kathy's sister from Ottawa and friends from Calgary too.
  The mineral water pools are the big draw for all those old bones and aching muscles but it was fairly cool most days for sitting out. Finally the hot weather arrived for the first time this season.
  Saturday five of us went into Palm Springs to catch the live from NY MET opera broadcast of Rusalka, which was lovely.  Very comfortable seating in back row for the guys all with long legs. We are supposed to be on cable TV here but only finally got it working for a couple of days, to find there is nothing on TV worth watching. It's all the Trumperama show these days with an occasional bit of world news if the US is involved with a war there...
  Ted is in heaven, he has found his Total Wine stores again and can spend hours in there browsing bottle labels. Prices are good and there are some finds - Sauterne to take home, Monbazillliac and Touraines to drink and good inexpensive wines. I am now hooked on premixed margaritas, buying by the 1.7 litres...
  We also have Trader Joe's here with all our usual favorites but not the Zin Ted first found in San Diego. Good clam chowder makes a base for my fish soups which go down well in this heat rather than meat. They have stopped importing the almond pear flan I liked from France, it's now raspberry flan, I'll take it.
  Sunsets up here in the desert are spectacular but I've only caught one on camera so far.

Feb 26 Reconnoitering Palm Springs...

We had planned to take in the 'all you can drink champagne brunch' at the local casino but with nobody else interested, give it a miss in favor of a lazy start, grease fix camping breakfast of cheese croissants with bacon. Ahh the arteries are screaming...but tastes so good out there in the open.
  We woke to rain pattering and although the tarmac was wet, it soon dried up and was sunny and 22 by afternoon.
  There's an 8-hour difference from here to London so at 8am I do Facetime with my big sis Liz to find out how Clive has fared with his knee replacement. We have a chatty time and pleased to see Clive dressed sitting up reading in the living room. Surgery Tuesday, home Friday and doing well, not bad for an 80+-year old. No walker, no crutches, just two canes and doing the steep stairs to their bedroom 3 times today! Whew. Good going.
  We set off for town, about 20km south, and in fact Palm Springs is a conglomerate of several towns all joined together. Some beautiful palm lined avenues and flowers everywhere, what a change from Calgary where big snowflakes are still falling.
  I get in touch with several friends here and in Phoenix to plan some visits with them in the next week or so. It seems there are still a bunch of Canadians down here despite the dollar differential.
  Ted is delighted to find his Total Wine, an amazing store with about 6000 bottles for his perusal. We pick up a case of 6 to get a 10 discount, including our favorite New Mexico champagne from Gruet. And some good prices on Monbazillac  too.
  We still can't figure out the cable TV system, so follow some of the Oscar ceremony on wifi. Hilarious, they announced the wrong winner for best film! We havent't seen any of them...But lots of interesting digs at their new president, who hasn't tweeted his displeasure alll evening yet and fired the whole movie business...hahaha

Feb 25 Rain! And big winds..but divine opera

At CALIENTE we are on the San Andreas fault line but hopefully not a problem. I am up early to get door to door limo service to the live MET opera Rusalka today. Ushi has unfortunately gone down with post-Mexican food stomach problems so Ted comes instead with Dieter abd I. We are joined by Susan and Roy, another Calgary pal staying here. WE all have a jolly time enjoying the opera, which is packed at 10am with rabid opera fans. It's a lovely production, some great singing and acting and of course, lovely music from Dvorak.
  Back home I cook up a big feed of veggies and stuff avocado with the lovely baby shrimp form Alaska that we get here. Its dark and windy out by the time Ted gets out the frying pan and cooks the rockfish but he nails it.
  I am able to download my book so we settle in for the night, get our little space heater going and soon are cosy in our wee 22ft home.
  WE have found the local PBSradi station with classical music all day, Oh joy.
  

Feb 24 Back to Caliente HOt Springs RV in Palm Springs

We are up early and off after a nice walk along the beach and visits with various friendly neighbors. Sad goodby to the lovely S.Cal coast and beaches. The two hour journey takes us 3.5 hours with lots of traffic build up everywhere as we head back through the interior rather than the longer interstate route, maybe not such a great idea. It's warming up, hits 17 and sunny as we arrive at the desert hot springs spa which will be home for the next week.
  There is only one spot in this some 650-lot resort free for the week. However, we are willing to horse trade on sites, so we check out a few before we go to the office and, tada, discover a spot we found can be available for the week after all.
  We check in with Ushi & Dieter, who tell us we have an invite for impromptu supper with more Calgary pals Don & Kathy and her sister from Ottawa. Saves me doing dinner tonight, really thoughtful. We get set up for the week in our serviced site $330 for the week, great improvement on our beach site at $75 a night and having to check in every morning to see if we can in fact stay the next night there.
  It's very quiet here, seems they all go to bed early, no trains, we sleep for 10 hours.

Feb 22 Look who turned up?

Ushi.& Dieter are staying at Desert Hot Springs for 5 months over winter. They said they might join us on the coast but we really didn't  know what we were doing til we got here. However, they are golfing with friends and staying just north of us in Carlsbad today - so will come down and join us for early dinner.
  Ted and I go off to investigate the local market store and are walking down the main highway, and suddenly somebody is walking towards us and it;s Ushi! Small world. They came down early and decided to enjoy the beach. We all go back to the camsite and enjoy walks and sitting on the beach in the sun.
  We then wend down to the Chart House, a gorgeous resto overlooking the crushing waves for their excellent happy hour drinks and food for a song compared to regular prices. We take photos of the lovely sunset and they set off back to the desert, a 2 hour drive normally.
  Next day, we really do investigate the Seaside Market Cardiff store across the road from our campsite. They have Mondavi Opus1 wine for sale for $420 a bottle, and all sorts of caviar...clearly there are a few well-heeled burgers around this area...
  We do our grocery stockup and buy gas, try to find wifi and finally get it in the little local fish place where we have great scallop, dorado and Oprah tacos and a huge bowl of fish stew with a bit too much chili for my liking, but hearty all the same.
  Another lovely and last sunset over the Pacific but very cold and windy. I've lost my book from my download again, so satisfy myself with my real book, 'Yiddish for Pirates" which is a total hoot and very funny, to keep me vaguely awake til 10pm.

Feb 21 Surfies and beautiful people land...

  It doesn't seem to have changed since we started coming down here 40 years ago. Ted says the eye candy is still good (they peel off their surf suits with nothing much underneath but some ittybitty bra tops and floss bottoms...)
  Pelicans cruise above us, as well as stealth helicopters. I wonder if Mexicans are coming ashore here? Hahaha. It's high surf, they are probably just monitoring that. The birds and waves wake us, lovely.
  It's cool overnight so our little space heater goes on and off all night, glad we have a plugin.
  Ralph's grocery store has a great selection of fish and seafood. BUT the stone crab legs I buy turn out to be off, so we dump them and just enjoy my shrimp stuffed avocados, more fish soup, salad and chocolate! Lots of chocolate.
  I've found the French raspberry flan at TJs so we are set for dessert now, with gobs of cream.

Feb 19 Welcome to the Hotel California...

  We pull into San Elijo State Beach camp to find our spot backing on to the busy road and railway. It takes a while to convert our $35 non serviced spot to a one night $75 beach serviced spot. They have cancelled our other bookings. We will get a refund to our credit card in 4-5 weeks, right, weeks. So much for Silicon Valley influence down here.
  It is the Presidents Day holiday weekend, so busy as all get out. Hope we don't have to kowtow to their current president, who doesn't seem to be too popular here.
  We are surrounded by great grocery stores including my fav Trader Joe's - so it's off to stock up then Ted methodically gets the RV up and running, no glitches this time around to blow our hot water heater!
  It's too dark at 6pm and cold now to cook or eat out. I add onions carrots and mushrooms to TJ's clam chowder with olive oil/rosemary foccacio and wine. A good start. The trains are noisy but we are too tired to notice and go so sleep - and wake - listening to the waves crashing on the shore below our cliff side home some 2100kms from home.

Feb 18 Retail therapy in the rain..

When the rain gets going, the shoppers get going..when you can't sit at the pool or see the sights, a trip to the Premium Outlet Centre 10 minutes from your hotel is just the job. It drizzles most of the afternoon as we dive into shops, mainly looking for shoes for Ted's awful short wide feet, with no success. I think he is going to have to have shoes made in future, too difficult to find them off the shelf.
  We did find some nice bits and pieces at Banana Republic, Columbia Sports and, as ever, stockup on really good prices at the French L'Occitaine.
   Good thing we only had to risk our lives crossing the road from our hotel to the nice G&B brew pub for happy hour dinner again. $10 margaritas for $6, mango/shrimp and tapas tray, 10% coupon from hotel, $10 off to join their dinner club, dinner: $35 total. Tada.
  Next morning we make an early start (for us) at 9am. The storm has passed and it's mostly sunny now but very windy still. Gas is now $3.50 a liter.
  We follow the easy I-15 and 1-215 skirting Los Angeles east and are soon back on the beautiful long stretches of unspoiled sandy beaches of Southern California. We spent many holidays here when we worked, at co-worker John Knight's condo at Del Mar Beach Club. Still very exclusive, it is not C$200 a week now, it's US$200+ a day.

Feb 17 Glitz and glamor and minimum wage in Vegas

With a short drive to Provo, we have time to check out phones at Walmart. Your friendly Verizon sells you a phone for $13 and unlimited talk and text for $1 a day. This is a far cry from good ole Telus (aka Screw-us) and well use the iphone, ipad and iPad mini for wifi connection as we go. Leo sets it all up for me in the store with a California number (just give him a Cal zip code) and a hug to send me on my way. For 2 months we can be reached at 760 579 9338 if we remember to (a) switch it on and (b) take it with us....
  We find a local Japanese resto (help wanted on the door...) for great gyozas and sushi in Orem. 2 sakes, 2 beers, 2 dinners for $50. We drive to our usual La Quinta hotel to check in but we are not listed! It is now a Ramada so we drive about 5miles back up the highway to the one I am actually checked into. Closer to shops and restaurants in this busy young, lively university-based community. Utah is still growing like topsy, they are determined to out-baby the Islam religion here. New housing popping up everywhere, almost on the highway in places, with children's playgrounds practically on the road. Great for their little lungs I am sure....
  By Friday's its raining and a huge storm that hit the S.California coast is on its way. Ted hangs on to the steering wheel at times, but takes plenty of breaks.
  I've finally found how to download books from my local library to my ipad and while away the time with my crossword too.
  WE pull into Lost Wages in the rush hour Friday, not ideal, but easy trip as we did it last year. Fortunately no red lights from our engine this time and the panic of finding a Mercedes shop to fix it!
  We cross the road for dinner at the huge brew pub which is jumping at happy hour with happy drinkers and eaters. There is an early bird menu of $10.60 margaritas for $6 (I'm on them) $4 beers (Ted) and appies for $3,5,7 and 9. We put away shared servings of mussels, calamari, fish tacos and a beef slider for $50. Less the 10% coupon from the hotel. Not bad. So much for the night life, we are pooped and go to bed an hour early as we have gained an hour in Nevada.

US Winter 2017 - To go or not to go??

Having failed to get ur act together to spend the winter in Chile - that will have to wait til next winter - we took the RV out of storage on a day we could finally drive through the mountain of snow and ice. No signs of mice this winter, yeah.
  The line of least resistance is to head south into the new banana republic. No wall is up yet to stop us going south. It is much warmer down there. We will take the risk.
  A mild weekend and good forecast lets us get on the road on - sweet - Valentine's Day Feb 14 in clear dry weather.
  The border guard asks us how long we are going there for. We say two months. Is this holiday? No this is life. Are we going to work there? Certainly not. No guns, rifles, dogs, cats, fruit, meat or over $10k in cash? Nope. And off we go...tada.
  Day 1 in Great Falls, we return to the friendly pizza place next to the hotel on the river, beautiful sunset and sun on the river in the morning.
  Day 2 in Idaho Falls. It is snowy on the mountains but dry on the roads. We make good time and after a brief rest, walk along the river and lovely blue ice falls to the nice little Jalisco Mexican resto where happy hour give us $2 margaritas (me) and $2 16oz beers (Ted) along with $4 dinner. (Home made salsa and bean dip and a huge pile of warm taco chips, an Enchilada, beans, rice, salad.)
  The first of many signs on resto doors "Help wanted". Yup, you have no idea how much help you are gonna need now oh great America...