Gypsy & The Navigator

The Sun Is Setting On This Arizona Visit

Not long and we will be rolling down the highway.

We arrived here at Good Life Resort on September 12, 2016.

Wow, 6 1/2 months in the same spot. 

No wonder we are ready to get our eyes on the road.

We have had good times with the grandchildren.

I went to lunch with the now teenager, Lyndsee, and spending time with her reminded me that she has always "marched to her own drummer."  This photo of her is at the Monterey Bay Aquarium when she was little and while everyone else was ooohing and aaahing over the fish she chose to read her book. 

We will miss them all but time to "buzz off" to some familiar places and faces and some brand new experiences. 

There is still time for a Spring Training game or two.  This time we went to the Oakland A's park when they were playing the Diamondbacks.

It was in the mid 90's.  The seats in the shade were pretty well filled.   Lots of openings in the sun.  Luckily the park has free sunscreen available.

The A's mascot is an elephant named Stomper.  Kudos to him for being out there in the heat and entertaining the crowd.

While not as big as the Diamondbacks home park at Salt River Fields this one is very nice and so easy for us to get to since it is right in Mesa. 

There was lots of action on the field.

The Diamondbacks came away with the win.

Since it was St. Patrick's Day there were even special hats for the holiday.

Another pleasant sunshiny day was spent at Salt River Field watching the DBacks play the Angels.

This time the Diamondbacks didn't come away with a win but it was still fun.  Walt was happy to see Mike Trout of the Angels and Paul Goldschmidt of the DBacks.

 

I will miss looking out my window and seeing pretty flowers but I am looking forward to new views out this window.

We will be finding out how this handsome cat will travel in the morinng.  Will he be a travelin' man or a stuck in the mud wanna be? 

 

HERE WE GO!

Tucson's Desert Knows No Limits

The skies were grey but the mountains were golden as we made our way toward Tucson.

We were on our way to a FROG dinner.  No, we weren't eating frogs.  It was a Forest River Owners Group get together. There were about 80 Forest River RV owners at the BarBQue dinner from as far away as Yuma.  Most were staying at the LazyDays KOA in Tucson where the dinner was held.  We especially liked the information about the annual Rally in Goshen, Indiana and may see if we can be one of the lucky ones that score a spot there in 2018.  At the Rally you can have repair work done on your Forest River RV for free.  We don't need anything now but by 2018 I am sure there will be something. I initially heard about the group from a gentleman whose blog I follow and I appreciate him giving me the heads up. 

And again Thanks Rob for the great discount for a nice place to stay.  The Oro Valley Fairfield Inn has wonderful mountain views and it is always fun to stay in a Hotel room that is bigger than GypsyII.

I always laugh at myself about how excited I get to have a vacation from our permanent vacation.

We were given the gift of another one of those amazing Arizona sunsets.

The next day was for exploring.  I asked Google Maps the way to the Sonoran Desert Museum and this time we were happy with where it sent us.

We swerved and curved through amazing desert mountains and dipped into pretty canyons.

It is a road full of arroyos, those that cross the deserts of the world.

Oh, to be 17 again and to put the pedal to the floor and fly across those stomach dropping dips.

The road led us into the heart of Tucson Mountain Park.  Established in 1929 it is another of those wonderful places graced by the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 30's.

The CCC built 8 structures in the park and miles of hiking trails.

I love the glow of the cholla's.

Desert flowers are starting to bloom

Two ladies with Minnesota license plates were discussing what the correct time for the Ocotillo's to bloom was. They seemed to think that March was too early.  I didn't tell them that they don't have a correct time.  Just happy to burst forth after rainfall in the spring, summer and even sometimes the fall. 

Continuing on following the Google Maps directions we arrived at our destination.

We had not been here for a very long time.  Our prior visit had been when Kevin was attending law school at the University of Arizona.

The Desert Museum is truly an amazing place.

Packed into 98 acres is a botanical garden............

an aquarium.............

a natural history museum...........

an art gallery.............

and my favorite.........a zoo.

Some of the animals are in enclosures.

Some roam free.

Look at those sweet bobcat faces.

There is definitely a family resemblance to our handsome Bubba.

The Desert Museum was founded in 1952 and focuses on the natural history, plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert. 

The museum is supported only by admission fees and donations, and receives no direct support from public taxes.

Birds are very used to human visitors.

In the Hummingbird Aviary you can feel the breeze stir by the movement of their wings.  

There was a nest low enough you could see that tiny bit of fluff waiting for Mom to come back.  I was surprised to listen to the visitors around me stating how exciting it was to see hummingbirds because where they live they don't see them.  At first I was quite confused because in our travels we pretty much see them everywhere.  Then a little more info told me they lived in cities.  Glad I don't live in a city.  I want to see more birds than pigeons and doves.

Due to its bi-seasonal rainfall, the Sonoran Desert region is known as the “lushest desert on earth” and is home to over 2,000 species of plants.  

I spent a long time watching this cute little critter.  There was no smell but a lot of activity going on.

They put his food in a folded up paper bag to give him a little challenge and it took him awhile but then there was SUCCESS.  

We spent hours enjoying all there was to see as well as a very good lunch at the Agave Grill there.

One of the docents there said they receive 20% of their visitors in the month of March.  There were a lot of people there but with so many places to explore it did not feel crowded.

There are crested saguaro's to be found.

From this angle can you see the camel head with a hump behind? 

Another splendid day in the Southwest.

 

More Horses and Baseball

It was time for the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show.  We have had this on our list to go to ever since we have been in Arizona and this was the year. 

Scottsdale has held the Arabian Horse Show since 1955.

Friends Charlotte and Carl were visiting from New Mexico and we asked them to go with us.

Not everyone loves horses like we do so our hope is that they were not too bored.  There is lots to see beyond the horses.  Like camels!  You can pay $10 for a ride.  

There are pony rides for the little ones.  This adorable little girl was named Harper.  Baby brother is due any day with no name on the radar.  I wanted to suggest Davis to cover both me and Walt but I didn't.  

A dog trainer was showing off his very well educated canine.  

Here's what we came for.  The horses.

We soon found our way to the arena where the judging was going on.

These winners were in the side saddle category.

There are multiple competition categories.

There are Hunter/Pleasure,  Western Pleasure, English Pleasure, Ladies Sidesaddle, Classics by Age, and many more Classifications. 

I think they should add a category.

That little boy knows what my category would be.

Most Spectacular Tail should be added.  There were lots of examples of it at the show.

Arabian horses have a distinctive head shape and carry their tails high.  

All lined up for judging.  These high spirited horses seemed to have a hard time standing still.

We had no idea of what the criteria was that they were judged on but we declared all of them beautiful winners.

Thanks Charlotte & Carl for adding to the enjoyment of the day.

It is Spring in Arizona.  Time to head to Salt River Fields.

It is baseball Spring Training!

Denise and Gerald generously gave us tickets to a game with great seats.  Thanks a bunch.  Great spending the day with them and Charlotte and Carl.  The field is in perfect condition.  The day started with a few rain drops but ended with bright sunshine. 

This is when you get a small glimpse of the tried and true players.

And a much longer look at the players you've never seen before.

 

The Rockies beat the Diamondbacks but as Walt says "It's still early."  He's still waiting for another year like the World Series win year. 

People watching is always fun at a ball game.  This one's for you Frosty & Ginger.  True Las Vegas love.

Our new kitty has stolen my heart.

But as far as Walt is concerned I think the only thing he thinks he has stolen is his chair.