January 1-14, 2022.Arizona

Happy New Year. Woke up to snow on the ground in Tucson, Arizona. Just a slight dusting, but still snow. I think maybe it’s just a frost from the cold. We had a great time at the Casino Del Sol. Greg donated some money and I won back the money that I originally donated.

We were able to get a spot, the last spot in the RV park across the way which was basically a parking lot with some fancy gravel in spots. it was gated to keep the rifraf out and the bathrooms were key entry as well. But really the best part was the convenience of being able to walk to the casino. The weather was really bad. Windy rainy and cold so we didn’t really go back and forth too many times.

We decided to treat ourselves to the New Years Eve Buffet which was really GREAT!!

I tried my best to stay up till midnight but it just wasn’t happening so we went back to the van to watch the ball drop in NYCity which was 10 pm our time. Greg went back to the casino for the free concert that started at 10. He took lots of video for me to enjoy in the morning.

Next morning we went back into the casino. That’s when I won my money back. It’s so exciting to win!!

New Years Day we headed to the mall. We always thought that the mall and all other retail places were closed on New Years Day but that’s not the case in Arizona.

From the mall we headed to the Cracker Barrel for the night. A lot of people had the same idea as us and the back parking lot was packed with overnighters.

I forgot to add this picture to the last blog when we were staying at that BLM land the night before the casino. Greg took a little hike in the morning up this mountain to get this shot of the area and the van.

Next morning, I found this really beautiful church among the Saguaro Cactus. I have never seen a church like this. My photo does NOT do it justice at all.

After church, we did some food shopping and headed into the cactus Forest. On the way to the supermarket 2 extremely fast coyotes ran out of the desert and across the road right in front of the van. It was so UNBELIEVABLE!! Moments like that is when I wish we had a dash cam.

We are gonna spend a few days here. The weather supposedly is going to start warming up in the next few days.

Sent the drone up and around the cactus. It really is extremely quiet and peaceful here.

The sunsets and sunrises here are breathtaking.

We’ve been hiking a few miles each day, enjoying the scenery and the weather. The mornings are ridiculously cold but once that sun comes up, it’s perfect weather for hiking.

We left the cactus forest in search of a shower and laundry and found the High Chaparral RV Park. We had stayed here last year during the pandemic in the beginning of December. This time here was much different. Last year, the Canadian border was closed so the place was pretty empty, not too many snowbirds. This year, the place was packed. Every single spot was taken. They still managed to squeeze us in right next to the office and the clubhouse. They have an activity calendar at this place. Something going on every day of the month. Wednesday is Bingo Night. Greg doesn’t like games of any kind so I was on my own. Met some fun people at my Bingo table and won thirty bucks!!

Woke up to freezing cold weather once again. Thankfully when the sun comes up, it warms up the van pretty quickly. Right outside the van door is several bird feeders. Fun watching the birds from so up close. as you can see, they really pack the RVs in here.

Today we are heading to Painted Rock Petroglyph Site and Campground. It’s about an hour and a half from here. First we gotta stop at Tractor Supply to refill our propane tank. It’s amazing how long that propane lasted us.

The Petroglyph campground is huge and so nicely set up and spread out. It’s only 8 dollars a day so we will stay her as long as the water lasts. There’s no water here but there are clean pit toilets. The Petroglyphs are all in one area which to me seems a little weird considering that’s there are rocks all over the place that they could have drawn on. I wonder why they only chose one pile of rocks to draw on and not the others.

We spotted a hummingbird when we pulled into the campground so Greg made some hummingbird nectar and we put up the feeder. We have two hanging around now. They are different than the ones we see in the Adirondacks. These are a little bigger and more glamorous. The colors are brighter and more iridescent. It’s fun to watch them.

Headed out once again in search of a shower. Stopped about an hour into our drive at Copper Mountain RV Park and we’re politely refused entry. This area where we are now has a zillion RV parks but for some reason, they do not like Camper Vans and we usually have to do through a bunch of hoops to be allowed in. So we left that Park and drove another half an hour to an RV Park that we had stayed at last year so that was hopeful, but still they were all set to say no. We were able to answer all their questions correctly and they agreed to let us in.

From there we headed back to the BLM land. Spent a few days at Fortuna Pond. This place is tricky to get to because you have to travel through the lettuce crops. We did finally find it and had a nice spot on the pond. This would be the perfect spot if not for all the unleashed dogs. I prefer dogs to be leashed especially when they come charging at you barking. The sky here one night was so unbelievable. We also befriended another hummingbird here

We headed back to town to pick up my prescription and to take showers and we figured why not go to the casino while we are here. neither one of us won. It was a pretty small casino. We spent the night at a Cracker Barrel. Pretty uneventful evening. I think today we may buy new tires for the van and then maybe head to Quartzsite for a few days. I heard they have chocolate Italian Ices there!!