February 27, 2015

02/21/2015

Yesterday we drove east on Highway 60 for a few miles to see Superstition Views at Canyon Vista Resort, a Cal-Am Properties which also owns Sunflower RV Resort.  The park is a combination of RV’s and park models and now they are in the process of selling “upscale” park models.

The company brings in the manufactured homes then the transformation begins.  First, they put the home on a permeant foundation and then the home is insulated.  After that is done, they completely stucco the home.

You can customize your home to include a covered RV pad, a roof top sun deck and other improvements.  As you can imagine, these things don’t come cheap and of course you have the association dues at $514 a month right now.

Later in the evening we had a prime rib dinner at the Elks which turned out to be just OK.

Saturday, Wille, June, Joyce and I made the drive up he Apache Junction Trail to the little town of Tortilla Flat.  This little town, if you can even call it that, used to be the last stagecoach stop back in the day.  Now, they have a store and restaurant and not much more.

On the Apache Trail

We had lunch in there and I have to say, it was all pretty darned tasty.  The walls are and some of the ceiling is covered in $1 bills and when sitting at the bar, you'll sit on saddles.  Pretty cheesy if you ask me but this is a tourist destination.
More:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortilla_Flat,_Arizona

02/24/2015

On Sunday we hooked up the towd and headed down to the Gila Bend Famcamp on Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field just south of Gila Bend, AZ.  Nothing fancy here but for ten bucks a night you get good 50 amp electric service, sewer and a reverse-osmosis water system.  Also, there's free laundry and all the ice you need.  If you ever want to come here, make sure you bring plenty of food as any good shopping is an hour north in Buckeye.  There are a couple of convince stores and a 99 Cent Store in town.

I had been feeling a little puny on Sunday morning but when we got here, the bug hit me like a ton of bricks.  Chills, runny nose and a low grade fever.  Yesterday, I felt somewhat better but stayed around the coach for most of the day.  Today I feel about the same as yesterday so the plan is to some of the same as yesterday.  Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow for the move to El Centro.

02/26/2015

We’re now parked at the Palm Oasis RV Park on Naval Air Facility El Centro, CA.  The run over from Gila Bend was easy, taking us about 3.5 hours counting a stop for fuel in Yuma.  We got diesel for $2.68 a gallon there, a lot better here than in the Peoples Republic of California.

More later.

Barry & Joyce

February 20, 2015

January 31, 2015

Joyce has been looking at vacuum cleaners for sometime now and yesterday Costco got in the exact make and model she wanted; a Dyson DC59 Motorhead.  The thing is very compact which is important giving the space we have for storing stuff and very powerful.  Joyce said that I don’t any any excuses for not keeping our floors clean.  LOL!

Yesterday we drove down to Gila Bend, AZ to checkout the Famcamp at the Air Force Auxiliary Field.  The base, if you want to call it that, is pretty darned isolated and the RV park isn’t anything to write home about, but at $10 a night for full-hookups, what the heck.  I wouldn't call it a destination park but it’s good for a few nights while enroute somewhere else.

On the way back through town, we stopped to check out the Gila Bend Elks Lodge.  The Lodge just finished a $1 million dollar renovation of the facilities and I can tell you that it’s beautiful.  We met the gentleman who designed and was the general contractor for the remodel who gave us a complete tour.  He is very proud of the work as he should be. 

Where does a Lodge get that kind of money?  Well, the state took three acres of land for the new freeway exit and paid them $1.2 million for it so they put that money to good use.  Did all of those bucks pay off?  Time will tell but they are initiating 28 new members at next weeks meeting.

The lodge has a very large open parking lot where you can park your RV for $5 a night donation.  Plans are in the works to put in electrical and water hookups in the future.

February 1, 2015

Last night the park threw a dinner/dance for the folks who have been residence of Sunflower for twenty years or more.  Eleven of the attendees have been here since the park was first built back in the 1970’s.

February 7, 2015

Yesterday we took a drive down to Oracle, AZ along with fellow work campers Ed and Cindy Kopic to see the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 facility (Biosphere 1 being planet Earth).  You might remember that between 1991 and 1994 several Biospherians were sealed inside, the first group for two years, to measure survivability.

Our tour started with a short film about the facility’s history and present ongoing projects.  We were then lead on on a guided tour by a very enthusiastic docent who told us more about the facility and what is being done there now.  I took a lot of pictures but here is a great site to see more:  https://www.google.com/search?q=arizona+biosphere&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=MzHWVIrYKYGZNsiVgMgK&ved=0CDsQsAQ

 The Lung

February 11, 2015

Last week Rick and Patty Stills returned to the the Phoenix area from Yuma and are now in an RV park in Goodyear.  We all went to Patty’s sister, Judy Boone’s home in Sun City the other day for a great BBQ supper.  It’s always nice to spend time with good friends and to make new ones too.

Yesterday Patty, Judy and Joyce did a girl day and drove up to Cave Creek and Carefree.  From all reports, they had a great time.

Things have gotten busier here at Sunflower with the arrival of a lot of new folks.  We can definitely tell the difference in the Tiki Bar as our business has picked up in the past week.

Gettin' Back To Tulsa Time

February 16, 2015

Last week was very busy for us here at Sunflower.  Several events were scheduled and then we have had a lot of new snowbirds show up.

02/20/2015

After a lot of thought and talking, Joyce and I reluctantly left Sunflower RV Resort and made our way southeast to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction.  I don’t want to use this forum to bloviate (how’s that for a great word) about why we left early, but suffice it to say the BS got to be way too much.  Rest assured, we will not volunteer in a park that big and with that many workcampers again.

Jim and Jeanne Glaspey came to Lost Dutchman the day before our arrival and it was great to see them again.  I think I mentioned a while back that our friends Wille Beck and June are volunteering here so after we all spent some time catching up, we drove down to a joint called Filly’s for supper.  After supper we sat around a nice campfire for a couple of hours.

Yesterday we said goodbye to Jim and Jeanne, who are headed up to northern California to visit their kids.  Joyce and I hated we only had a short visit but we will see them the last week in April.

After goofing off for a couple of hours, we drove down to the Apache Junction Elks Lodge to check out their RV parking and to see what they had going on for the next few days.  The lodge has several dry camping sites and tonight they are serving Prime Rib for supper.  The parking there is only $10 a night so we will be moving down there today.  No idea at this point how long we will stay but we don’t have reservations again until the 25th so we’ll just wing it for a while.

Last night we went to the Hale Centre Theater in Gilbert to see a production of My Fair Lady.  Before the play, we had an outstanding meal at Joe’s Real BBQ just a block away from the theater.  The food was very good there and we highly recommend Joe’s if your in the area.

Well, that’s enough for now.  Until next time.

Barry & Joyce