Enjoying Mesa, AZ

At Roosevelt Dam

Because of our last-minute booking, we were unable to find any available spots in Sun City, which was where Mark initially wanted to stop. Sun City is closer to his niece, Becky, who visited us while we were here. Instead we ended up on the other side of Phoenix in Mesa. Though it worked out to be a little bit of a drive for Becky and her husband Ty (sorry), we ended up in a beautiful Encore park-- Viewpoint RV (and Golf) Resort. We paid a little upcharge to stay there, but it was totally worth it. This park is going on our "Must Revisit" list. It is clean, quiet, and well-kept. And each site has a citrus tree. We were invited to pick as many oranges as we wanted! And we did. We're still munching on them.

Viewpoint has a wide range of amenities, including a nice restaurant just outside the gate, at least two large pools with hot tubs, and several pickle-ball courts...not to mention the golf course and golf proshop (which I usually don't mention). Neither Mark nor I have any idea what pickle-ball is, but it looks like a cross between tennis and ping pong.

We arrived at the park last Wednesday, and spent Thursday catching up on laundry and checking out the pool. Friday morning, Becky and Ty came by and visited for a few hours. For a "blogger," I don't do a very good job with pictures, and regret to admit that I didn't take a single picture of Becky's visit. Apologies are in order. (I will try to get better at this.)

Mark & I with Jenny & Troy

Then on Saturday afternoon, my friend Jenny, who recently relocated from Chaska (our old hometown) to Mesa, came by with her husband, Troy, and the four of us spent the afternoon at the swimming pool and hot tub. They shared with us their amazing testimony of how God worked in their lives to move them from Chaska to Mesa in the mostly unlikely of ways (isn't that how God usually works?).  Just this week she started what we all hope is her "dream" job working for the non-profit Jewish Voice Ministries, which proclaims the Gospel of Christ to the Jewish people. Jenny has had a heart for Israel and the Jewish people for many years. Her story is a reminder to me that when we desire to be a part of what God is doing in the world, He will move what seem like mountains to us in order to put us into a place where we can serve him. We parted that afternoon as "prayer partners."

On Sunday, Jenny and Troy invited us to visit their church, Generation Church in Mesa, and we did. I enjoyed the service and the message so much that I downloaded their app and have been listening to other messages as part of my devotional time. Their young pastor has a unique gift for making scripture relevant. If you're in the Mesa area, you should definitely check it out. Of course, Mark and I are about two generations behind the music, but I'm sure younger folks will love it!

After church they treated us to brunch (thanks again!) at one of Mark's favorite Mexican diners - Rubio's, and then we parted ways and headed out to experience the Apache Trail and the Roosevelt Dam. 

I'll start with... it was beautiful, and so it was. Beautiful and treacherous. The first half of the trail was paved, and then we hit the gravel road. From this point on, for approximately 22 miles, it was indeed a trail. We crept along at about fifteen miles an hour over a washboard that was occasionally wide enough for oncoming traffic to pass. Some three and a half hours later we arrived at the dam, where the trail ended. We took the highway back home, which was straight and smooth, but which still took us another hour and a half (give or take). The whole affair took about five hours. If you even think about making this trek, I highly recommend leaving early and stopping often...and take a very small vehicle, like a "smart car" or a horse.

Monday we hit the road for Texas, which is where we are right now. I don't know why I keep agreeing to 350-mile days, but I think I've done it for the last time. Monday and Tuesday nights we dry-camped in a Walmart off the freeway and got early starts in the morning. Long travel days really are tiring; not only tiring but hard on the body. We weren't created to sit in chairs for hours at a time. And my body especially feels it when I do. Perhaps going forward we will cut down the daily miles, and stop more frequently. After all... how else will we have opportunities to see things like this...??? ...which, by the way, we drove right past.

...maybe next time.

More Apache Trail Pictures...

Greetings from Arizona!

Finally! We are out of California. Not that California is so bad on the face of it, just that we spent WAY more time there than we ever intended.

California is in our rear view mirror until October. And God put a beautiful rainbow ahead of us to remind us of how good He is.

Our next stop was the Phoenix area with a half-way stop in Quartzsite. We (and by "we," I mean I) just don't like long travel days. If it were entirely up to Mark, I really believe we'd be doing ten-hour days. But we both do better on a slower, calmer schedule. So we're trying to make that our new normal.

We have a giant slab to park the car and put out our
chairs...and we even have our own trash cans!

Citrus trees line the streets

This week we are in Mesa, AZ, at an Encore park. This is a very nice park with all the amenities you could ask for. We even have orange and grapefruit trees growing in every lot from which we can partake at will. We had to pay a $20/night premium, but it is so worth it. They escorted us to our assigned spot, and Mark parked the coach without incident. Yay! Even though it was only 69 degrees, we spent some time this afternoon in the swimming pool and jacuzzi. It was lovely. The warm sunshine made it feel like 75.

We've got some visitors coming tomorrow and Saturday. Tomorrow morning Mark's niece, Becky, and her husband will come by to say hello and see our rig. Saturday, my friend, Jenny (and hopefully her husband) will visit. Both are recent transplants from Minnesota. Who doesn't love the wonderful warm weather of Phoenix... in the winter at least. And we'll be long gone before the summer heat hits.

While we were at in the Palm Desert area, Mark and I decided to check out the Thousand Trails park there. It was much smaller than many of the T.T. parks, and the pool was not nearly as attractive as Caliente's, but it has the advantage of not costing any money (outside our normal T.T. dues), as well as being right in town and close to shopping. For those reasons, we'll likely make it a destination for at least a week or two on our next time through.

On our way back we stopped at the Coachella Valley Preserve. This is a very interesting place. It is a real live oasis, in it's natural state. You can see what palm trees look like when they're not regularly tended. Kinda scary, actually. Who knows what creatures are lurking in those masses of dead palm fronds! I wasn't about to disturb their repose - THAT's for sure.

From here we journey eastward toward Florida. We'll be stopping in Texas for a short while to take care of that one unifying pain of all Americans - the tax return. Then on to Florida. While we're there, we'll be hanging out with family -- my brothers, who live in Gainesville, and Mark's daughter and her family, who will camp with us at Daytona Beach. In April we'll be park-hopping around Florida and visiting the Keys.

As the Good Book says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps." (Prov. 16:9)  Things may or may not pan out the way we plan--we'll see how the Lord directs. But for now, our plan can be found on the itinerary page.