Today is Christmas Eve, and as with all things F&O our plans changed. Here are the adventures to date:
We spent two nights in Tonopah, AZ (NOT to be confused with Tonopah, NV <- a much more interesting place). The site in a random stranger’s Boondockers Welcome driveway was fabulous, the property owner even had 50 amp service for us for a very nominal fee. Clearly no sewer or water, but that’s a ok. It was also at the same highway exit as a TA station which had the cheapest diesel for 50 miles around. Thanks Dwayne, you rock!
While there, F&O ventured into Phoenix for a full day of fun and excitement. The first legitimate stop (after treating the critters to espresso drinks), was the National Indoor Recreational Vehicle Center where we got a tour of their storage facility. This place is insane, basically acres and acres of a single fully enclosed heated building where they will store your RV. The RV’s there are muy-expensivo and muy-coolio to look around at. Obviously no touching or going in, as they are all privately owned. The number of units inside a single building is almost surreal. At $17/foot /month for storage, well… it would cost F&O almost $800/month to keep BeBop there. Hard pass. They also service RV’s (the good ones), and they sell motorized RVS (vans, Class A & C). Ollie and Flynn spent a good two hours there touring million dollar coaches. Still a hard pass.
Next stop in Phoenix was at the White Tank Mountain Regional Park. There the bird and otter took a fabulous hike up to the Waterfall Trail, which was an easy trail to navigate, about 1 mile all uphill to the pool and non-existent waterfall (if there had been very recent rain, there would have been falling water). Must say, this was a great hike, and while there were no problems with the 2 mile round trip, Flynn felt it in his quads the next day!
Having worked up an appetite, Flynn and Ollie headed to the far otherside of the Phoenix area to Cave Creek to meet up with Mr and Mrs Lightning for dinner at a cowboy themed chow-hall. The meal and company were excellent, and it was a pleasure meeting the Mrs, as she is also an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast. Between the two of them, F&O have a lot in common – poker and nature. We look forward to not only spending more time with them, but also exploring Cave Creek which appeared at first glance to be a quaint unique town.
Two days later, and F&O were on their way to Tucson proper to spend two weeks over Christmas and New Year in one place at a RV resort near the Mission San Xavier del Bac. As per the norm, they began discussing alternative stays/locations which may be better suited to their temperment and plans. By the time BeBop rolled in to check-in, the decision was made to only stay 3 nights, and take their chances further south for the duration. Mind you, the RV park was perfectly nice. It would have been fine for two weeks. They had mail for us, the facilities were clean, the site was good. But….Flynn and Ollie really wanted to check out their ‘membership’ park in Benson, AZ and it seemed silly to hold out for two weeks when they could just skeedaddle south. So, just 3 nights it was.
What did they do for 2 days in Tucson proper? Laundry. Housekeeping. Dentist (grrr). Repairs. Fought traffic to get to stores to get needed items 3 days before Christmas (yikes). By the way, sorry, no gifts nor cards from F&O this year. Didn’t even realize the Holiday was approaching cause, you know, retired & broke. They did manage to make a drive through Saguaro National Park – West for an hour and are very much looking forward to going back as there are some great looking hikes there. Nor did F&O get to the Mission, which seems silly as their RV park was almost right next door. Pfft.
Up and out after early on Friday morning, F&O made another gueling one hour drive to Benson. A phone call to the SKP Saguaro Park confirmed they had space for us that day as long as we got there soon, which was a relief, as having to hunt around for a decent boondocking spot would have been a hassle. Fair warning, this SKP does not take any type of reservation at all, so you show up and hope for the best. Flynn and Ollie got the best. A. They had room B. There is a site they can stay in for a whole month C. The cost is astoundingly low. Really Really Low. Full hooks, great park, good Vz signal, awesome distance from anything the critters could want to do, great weather (almost too hot in the RV this morning).
So, that brings us to today, Christmas Eve. F&O are settled in the barn with the other animals making a short term home. Jones, Jeff and Erin are thrilled with their current circumstances, the weather, and have hope that the 4pm-every-Saturday Poker game in the clubhouse is a go tonight (?? on Xmas eve??).
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Fin
Flynn