2020 Trailer Tripping ~ Circling the USA: Day 8-12 ~ ARIZONA (Mesa & Tucson)

MESA/PHOENIX

Feb 13: After 372 miles and six hours, we made it into Mesa, Arizona. We are staying in Mesa at the MESA SPIRIT RV PARK. This is a Thousand Trail Resort; one of many places where the snowbirds come and stay during the winter. And the only place we could find that allows overnighters to stay. All other RV parks require a 3-month minimum. It has 1,667 sites. Many of the sites have permanent mobile homes or kit houses. You can easily get lost trying to find your site. But it is a nice park and our site is close to the main services building where there is the registration office, two pools, two spas, activity hall, social hall, game room, and library. There are two other service buildings on the property where there are workshops, arts and crafts, silversmith, lapidary, woodworking, etc. Wow, I could live here, except it’s full of old people. Major problem is we had no Wifi on site. Most guests have their own connections. We had access to Wifi in the library.

We were quite busy during our two night stay. We lost a third night because of our delay in Death Valley (due to the strong winds). The evening we arrived we met with some friends for dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Phoenix. We worked with Nicole during our volunteer days with R.E.S.C.U.E when we lived in Phoenix. The next night, Valentines Day, we were invited to another friend’s home for dinner. I met Jo Ann when I did a trip to Ireland almost 40 years ago. Jo Ann recently moved to Arizona from New York.

Feb 14: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! On the one full day we have in Phoenix, we visited the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Garden.

Phoenix Zoo
We were members of this zoo when we lived in Phoenix. It’s been about 5 years since we were last here and it has totally changed. New entrance, path ways redirected, a huge and extended elephant habitat, and many more. We hardly recognized the place. We spent about 3 hours exploring.

When they paved the bridge over the lake at the entrance of the zoo in the early 1990’s, we bought two bricks to make our mark in Phoenix. We visit it every time we visit the zoo. The bricks are laid at the edge of the bridge next to the railing. Unfortunately, it always has a shadow on it and sometimes bird s#!?

Beautiful bronze sculptures ⇧

This is the Cheetah pen. We saw no Cheetah's,

but did see a mass of slider turtles along the bank.

Desert Botanical Garden

We renewed our energy with lunch in their fine dinning restaurant, Gertrude’s. Then we spent another 3 hours exploring the garden; all succulents and desert native bushes, trees, and flowers. If you love succulents, this is the place to visit!

There is an art event currently in the gardens.

“Wild Rising by Cracking Art”.

“Wild Rising I arrive--it’s time to play, So let’s wander the garden, we’ll lead the way! Our frogs and meerkats by now you’ve found, Animals unleashed are all around. Animal crossings signal to creatures ahead, they like you to touch them, but not climbed on or fed. Once you see where the arches stand tall, In your imagination, you may hear the wolf call. Jump, jump! Through a fluffle of rabbits, Dive into an SOS about plastic habits. Just around the corner, things aren’t as they appear, Frogs form the cactus that we hold so dear. Head to our tallest cactus—face your fears, This crocodile does not bite, he only sheds tears. A safari of color once you’ve completed, Their message is one not to feel defeated. All creatures big medium and small, We rely on each other—a planet for all”.

⇧ "United We Stand"

"This friendly mob of meerkats represents

the importance of shared social life".

⇧ "Spheniscidae Mammilaria"

"Penguins? What a strange sight in the desert!"

Had a delicious Charcuterie plate for lunch at Gertrude's

⇧ "The World of Snails"

"A red, yellow and blue escargatoire (group of snails) showcase the colors of the Arizona state flag. Together, they share a message of regeneration, inviting others to participate in improving the existence on the planet".

⇧ "The Benefit of Tears"

Derived from ancient stories about crocodiles weeping for their prey, the expression 'crocodile tears' is used to describe false emotions. Here their tears offer precious liquid to sustain the surrounding plants".

⇧ "Green is the Answer"

"Co-existing with humanity and artificial environments, wild swallows often build their nest in homes or other buildings. Here two swallows protect a brood of eggs camouflaged as cactus".

⇧ "The White Rabbit"

"Down the rabbit hole into a world of wonders..
The hurried White Rabbit, a nod to Lewis Carroll's
'Alice and Wonderland', stops to enjoy the beauty of the desert".

⇧ "The Wolf House"

"Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Only five wolves survived when the Mexican gray wolf were added to the Endangered Species Act in 1976.

Today at least 144 exist in the wild--

a conservation milestone still to be expanded.

Dandy’s Last Journey

Feb 15: Our 17-year-old cat, Dandy, made his first trailer tripping journey with us and his siblings (2 dogs, another kitten and 2 adult cats), 17 years ago as a newly adopted kitten. For the last 8 months or so he has been ailing with some intestinal infection, loosing weight, getting weaker. When we started this journey 10 days ago, he was fine. Weak, but active, eating well, loving, and always greeting us at the trailer door demanding to eat. When we came home from dinner last night, he was not at the door to greet us. We made him comfortable for the night, but at 2:00am we needed to find an emergency vet. There, we loved on him and said our good-byes and sent him on his last journey over the Rainbow Bridge. He entered our lives on our first trailer tripping adventure and left our life on our last trailer tripping adventure. Dandy has been to all 50 states, and all provinces (except the Northwest Territory) in Canada. How many cats can claim that? Safe journeys our dearest Dandy!

Feb 15: Even though we have Helene and Crystal traveling with us, the trailer felt so empty this morning. Dandy fills the space with his constant chatter. This morning, it was so quiet.

TUCSON
After 114 miles and two hours we arrived in Tucson. We are staying at Lazy Days Tucson KOA, south of Tucson. This place is not like any KOA we have stayed at. It is truly a resort; a haven for long term residents. But it is not a 55+ place. There are lots of children and young people. There are around 400 sites, so the property is large with a security fence and entrances. There are several levels of sites. Sites with enclosed dog areas, sites with a two-level shaded deck, sites with wood adirondack chairs and a large stone fire pit, sites with flowering hedge and hammock, and other sites with deluxe features. There are two rows of covered trailer sites (the cover are rows of solar panels). Wow, this is a KOA??! We have a standard site that is spacious. With a nice patio table and chairs.

⇧ Sites with dog runs, or it could be a baby run.

⇧ Sites with two level patios!

⇧ Covered sites with solar panels

⇧ Really cool trailer with solar panels in the site next to us.

After we set up camp. We looked for a Cracker Barrel to have lunch. Found one that was 16 miles away, south of Tucson. Did a little shopping after that for supplies and returned to the trailer to relax.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Feb 16: We are in Tucson for one full day. We will be visiting our favorite place in Tucson. The Desert Museum consists of Sonora desert plants and wildlife. It is 21 acres with two miles of walking paths, 230 local animal species and 1,200 types of plants. It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day.