Wandering Across AZ

December 25, 2019-January 15, 2020


Our Christmas was quiet as we celebrated it at Kartchner Caverns SP with no friends or family. We realized we want to be near family or friends for this holiday. Our plans for next year are to head to Gulf Waters right after we close our Christmas tree lot and celebrate with our GW family.


It was cold and snowy at Kartchner but we did manage to get a hike in, we had not taken the Ocotillo Loop trail before so we got out on the trail on one of the nice days.

Our friends Alex and Paul were in Tucson and would be leaving the day we arrived so one afternoon they made the short drive to Benson and we met up at a wonderful Mexican restaurant. Two and a half hours later after lots of laughter and a great meal we bid them goodbye. Not sure when we’ll see them again. Thanks guys for coming to see us and for a great meal.

On the 28^th we made the big more to Catalina State Park on the northwest side of Tucson. We’d been there and were glad to go back for another short visit.

 Site B7

We hiked the Alamo trail while there, a few water crossings but my feet only got wet once as we were almost done with the hike. Dave’s camera broke while we were on the hike so no pictures of me splashing in the water.

Our friends Mona Liza and Steve were also staying in Tucson so we headed down to where they were staying. They are getting ready for a 4-month adventure on the high seas, when they get back they are coming off the road, so glad we could catch up with them as we have no clue to when we’ll see them again.

On the 31^st we headed to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction. This was a new park for us and our view from site 57 was awesome.

Soon after arriving we headed to Gold Canyon to see our friends, Curt and Glenda, what better way to celebrate the end of one year than with great friends. A wonderful Mexican dinner at a local restaurant than an evening of catching up, a bit of planning for our upcoming adventures followed by lots of card playing. Had so much fun none of us took any pictures.


We did a first-day hike, around 6 miles with a 950’ elevation gain. The Cross-Cut, Prospector and Jacob’s Trail got us away from the crowds and provided us with some expansive views. A great way to start off 2020.

The next day Curt and Glenda came over for to hike, we combined the Treasure Loop Trail with the Prospector trail for a nice 4-mile hike with about 500’ elevation gain. By the time we got back to the RV, we were ready for a fish fry which was followed by more card playing.

On January 3^rd we moved to Pioneer RV Park in Anthem AZ. We’ll be here till 2/1 when we have a month of traveling around the desert with Curt and Glenda.


Knowing the sites in the park we were leery of what our site would be like. Site 501 is a decent sized site with the utilities in a very workable position, unlike the first site we had 2 years ago. We currently have no one on our door side, which makes it feel larger than it is.

 Site 501, sites are close together but at 

$543/month it's works

So what have we been up to since we arrived? We’ve had a couple of happy hours with our friends Ingrid and Al who have a long term site here at Pioneer. We’ve seen our son David and his wife Laura. Our friend Deb arrived in the area after a cross country drive from the Outer Banks NC, we’ll be finishing her coast to coast drive while she’s here. We’re taking care of mundane household chores, working through some connectivity issues, ordered new sneakers for the truck, had dinner at a few of our favorite place and we’ve been to an RV show put on by La Mesa RV here in Phoenix.

 Zeta's Grill-Lebanese Cooking

El Encanto-Cave Creek

We’ve been out walking in the “back 40”,  and just enjoying being settled for the month.

We hope our friends and family had a good holiday season and that 2020 is off to a good start for you. We continue to be thankful for the life we lead and those whom we share our lives with.

Until next time...