ARIZONA
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| Sonora Desert |
February 15-28, 2013
We finally left New Mexico, after spending several months there taking care of our annual medical and dental appointments, as well as visiting our son who recently moved back to Rio Rancho. It feels good to get back on the road.
We got into Casa Grande RV Resort on the afternoon of the 15th and set up camp. When we were parking, a gentleman came over and told us he heard a very loud noise coming from our trailer axle and he suggested that we might have a wheel bearing issue. This was the 2nd person who had mentioned that to us. More on that later.
Our friends, Doug and Pat, live in Casa Grande and we had the pleasure to visit with them several times while we were there. We met them in Michigan....they were the camp hosts at our RV park, Painted River Hills RV Park, in the U.P. (see County Fair and the Coast )
While in Casa Grande, Arizona, our trip coincided with their Cowboy and Indian Days Celebration. There was a rodeo and carnival, as well as a parade to open up the festivities on the 16th. We met Pat at the parade Saturday morning. It was a cute, home town parade, with every local organization and association taking part.
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| Entry from Pat and Doug's RV Park |
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| Who else? Wells Fargo, of course! |
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| Calf Roping |
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| Practicing Roping Skills |
On one occasion, we drove out to the Sonora Desert National Monument. I loved the Saguaro cactus forest but talk about desolate desert! It is lovely to see all these towering cacti marching across the desert. This is the only place they grow and they are beautiful.
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| A Little Perspective |
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| Saquaro Forest |
On Wednesday of that week, we had lunch with our nephew, Eric, and his girlfriend, Kathleen. It was good to visit with them for a few hours. Hadn't seen them in a long time.
After our lunch with them Jim and I went to do a little shopping. He had been dying to see this new Olympus 4/3 mirrorless camera so we found a shop in Tempe that actually had one he could hold in his hand and see how it worked. He ended up buying the camera there and he wants to convert his entire camera kit to the 4/3 format. That means selling his Nikon D300 and some of the lenses. I intend to keep my D90 so we will still have a Nikon in the family. I have to admit the small size is tempting, but I am still learning how to use my Nikon.
Since we were in town, we had arranged to have dinner with Jim's cousin, Pat, who lives in Scottsdale. We spent some time at her house, then the three of us went to Carrabba's. It was nice to see her as well. We haven't seen her in many years.
One of the days we were there we drove back to Tucson and visited the Pima Air and Space Museum. So far, that is the largest air museum we have been in. They had hundreds of airplanes, helicopters and other manner of air transportation. We spent several hours wandering around inside and outside. While we were outside, I tripped and fell, managing to injure both my left arm and leg. Ouch! That was so painful! I had the most amazing colors on my limbs for weeks following that fall. I am such a klutz sometimes!
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| Pentecost E-III Hoppicoptor |
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| McCulloch Super J-2 Autogyro |
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| Jim and Friend |
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| Smile! |
We decided to take care of the awful noise our rig was making when we were pulling out of Casa Grande on the 22nd. The only problem was that none of the repair shops could even look at it for 1-2 weeks! We found a place in Phoenix that could look at it the following Tuesday, the 26th, so we had to stay at the RV park for a couple more days. Dropped the trailer off on the 26th and checked into a hotel. To make a long story short... truly... we were looking at more than a week to get it fixed, so we decided to head out to my sister's in Rancho Mirage, California, to wait for it. Driving back to get it when ready would be cheaper than staying all that time in a hotel.
Our trailer was not finished for two weeks, mainly waiting for parts to be delivered from two different sources. I am actually still in California and Jim has gone back to Arizona to pick up the trailer now that it is repaired. We had to have new brakes put in on one of the axles. It was not wheel bearings after all, but a caliper on one of the brakes broke, causing all kinds of grief inside the rim. The entire brake assembly and the wheel rim and tire had to be replaced due to all the damage done by the broken caliper. Of course none of this work was covered by our warranty.....
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| Beautiful Cholla Cactus |
