SFinUS20

It is ominous that the world has gone crazy and Trump has declared a national emergency with $50m available to aid the C19 situation, which he is still denying is an issue. In fact, he has been exposed to a Brazilian who was diagnosed with it 2 days later, and still the idiot refuses to be tested. What an example of sheer lunacy.        Meanwhile our PMs wife has been diagnosed from her trip to UK and they are in isolation. Parliament has been closed in Canada for the foreseeable future and our country is being run from Trudeau’s dining room table. Oh joy!     Various Canadians and US residents here are heading home early (mainly to Ontario or points east)      Dorothy & John are in Florida and describe the situation as hysteria. Store shelves are empty of toilet paper and hand sanitizer! Go figure. Do these people think they are going to be home until Fall! Like us, D&J plan to stay down here into April and so far not changin...

You can stay at this park for 21 days but our neighbors all seem to be here a couple of days and move on.     No doubt the families have settled in for the week of school break. We have to change sites after 2 days but still a lovely spot overlooking the lake and small hills either side, and no close neighbors.     It’s very quiet here, sleep soundly and dark as hell with no lighting and no moon.      Our old non-digital TV does not work despite the fancy new aerial replaced by the insurance company. Also for some reason we can only watch DVDs with the outside power off, so it gets cold in the evening watching for any length of time. We need a 12 year old to fix all this!     Actually our NY neighbor at Tucson (who will unfortunately leave the day after we get back) said he could help us as he’s quite good at this. But we’d need to buy a TV first, not a big expense down here. Maybe a visit to Best Buy or Walmart...     I h...

  WE are now at the end of our Tucson patisserie croissants. Have to wait til the weekend to stock up more. But no sitting in the sun to enjoy them, it’s cloudy and dull but at least no rain, with a high of 17 by 2pm.     We take off for the day to visit the quaint little funky town of Patagonia, elevation 4000ft, population about 300! Nice craft and gift shops, a lot of local artists, a good bakery, and a beautiful little opera house which hosts classical concerts some Sundays. We went once before and everyone got dressed up to attend, with a glass of wine after! Really civilized in this far-out neck of the woods.     The main attraction here is Odell Borg, the flute-maker at HIgh Spirits flutes. I have told Ted we are “just going to visit” but of course that changes...  We meet the newest sales guy Danny, who spends a lot of time telling us how they actually make and tune the flutes, and about the new earth-tone flutes which resonate at 432hz, w...

This is a popular lake for kids and families but the other end of the age is ‘wake free” for canoes, kayaks paddle boards only - and waterfowl. Despite rain forecast, the sky clears and even some sun for us to take a long walk along the Sonoita river, and meet few people even though the 65 site camp is full. It’s mainly retired folks here now and the dozen or so sites at the end and on the lake are lovely. Twice hummingbirds     try to get in our camper, see the reflection in the bathroom mirror I suspect! Nothing red to attract them. But it’s nice to sit at our site and listen/watch them and other birds. It’s the beginning of the return migration but only a few of the many varieties of hummingbirds are back already. Our heater is still going on overnight so it’s just not that hot yet.     In the cottonwoods, we watch a couple of stunning bright red male vermilion flycatchers vying for territory so there must be a female about. No one has seen the famous but rare...

    The weather has done an about-turn and it’s blue sky and sun to wake up and we are off south to just north of the Mexican border to a nice State park on a lake famous for its birding. We are on a flyway between north and South America here and some species do particularly well, hummingbirds especially. You can find 8 different species in the mountains near here.       One day a wee one was buzzing around our doorway, watching itself on our mirrored bathroom door I think. I forgot to pack my hummer feeder but lots of RVers have them hanging from trees at their campsites.      There are some very serious twitchers (birders) at this park, very knowledgeable about all the LGBs (little grey birds) which all look the same to us. This is where 3 years ago Ted spotted the rare male Elegant Trogon, who hasn’t been seen this year. A female and young one have been, but not for us.      Our campsite here is overlooking the woods and...

    Our hiking day starts with heavy rain and we have little lakes at many of the RV sites. Finally the temp hits 17 and I am off to the pool and hot tub, virtually empty. I do my lengths in an empty pool then chat with the two old guys in the hot tub.     Our pool is partly salt water so far less chorine than usual. The hot tub is something else.       Pat and I visited Bealls outlet store in Sedona and found $19 swimsuits - ideal to ruin in those hot tubs. So I don’t feel bad wearying out my fancy new swimsuit in there.     I am so pleased with the fancy swimsuit (at 25% off from Presidents Day) that I order another one for delivery here at our friends in Tucson. Saves the US$80 for delivery/customs duties to deliver in Canada!     Ted has cooked up the gorgeous rib steak which feeds us hot the first night and cold the second. But it gets dark and cools off quickly by 6pm so we still end up eating indoors. Have not eaten d...

    Ted insists he doesn’t like shopping but he’s all set to take me to the Tucson Premier Outlet mall way up on the north west of the city on Saturday. Before that the RV residents have had a craft sale with all the lovely things they make all winter. Tempted but not much, enough stuff already.     I detour for 15 minutes to a store I want to checkout and when I get to the meeting spot, I find no Ted but it’s the Famous Footwear store.      We visit many shoe stores on our travels always looking for ANYTHING that Ted can wear. His walkers are getting on, with his sore feet he now likes Teva sandals and can’t find anything in Calgary at the price he wants to pay! I am starting to think he will have to have his shoes custom made.     Imagine my joy when I see him at checkout paying for a pair of Teva sandals. One pair!! I insist he go back and see if they have another pair, same size. Bingo. We are not going over this again when these ...

    We have been fortunate to meet up again with people we’ve known since 2012 in this RV park, and also hikers from our trip to Chiricahua National Park, out east on the border with New Mexico.       It’s going to be school spring break next week so I spend a lot of time researching how to book RV parks and especially state parks. This is the first visit when we have felt it necessary to have bookings everywhere before we just turn up as we did in the past. More people on the road. More RVers.      Fortunately we have fairly good wifi in our second location at Far Horizons RV park, but I still resort to my cell at times just to get things done!     Our location here is also close to the pool and other central facilities, so much better.      Friday we arrange to meet Vollie & Bill (from Colorado and here) for a lovely Italian dinner where, unusually, I clean up every morsel on my plate. I er a dress for the ...

We return to one of the loveliest areas in the north end of the city at Sabino Canyon for a nice day hiking up the valley from Bear Canyon trail and back down and along the creek which is running high this year. The highlight of the trail is spotting a pair of Western Diamondback Rattlers at the beginning of the trail. Several of us keen photographer close in and get some great shots. They are sleepy and cold so one is curled up between two big cactus plants while the either slithered across the trail in front of Ted. He damn near stepped on it before i shouted “Ted!” And he looked up from the map and neatly avoided it! That would not have been good! You can see clearly from its 6 rattlers that it is 6 years old.       I visit AT&T on the way home to change my 1G of data a month to unlimited, which in reality is 8G before it is just slowed down. I am told it is all fixed. Next morning I have no connectivity and a message saying my deposit has run out! Sheesh. A ha...

    Ted and I sadly say adieu to Sedona and our great hosts Bob & Pat and look forward to a return in future. Pink and white blossoms are starting to come out against the stunning red rocks,  Enroute back we stop at Wild Horse Pass outlets in S.Phoenix and have a profitable hour at the Columbia store to stock up on great sportswear at ridiculously low prices (compared to Canada.)     Hitting Tucson in the rush hour, we realize this town does not have any fast traffic systems around the city!      We return to the saddest news. My bridesmaid Elizabeth has been diagnosed with both brain and lung cancer from the old cancer in her leg. We are hopeful she can face treatment in the same successful way as I have done.

Pat & Bob have kindly invited us to share their time share condo in Sedona, but turns out we have our own studio unit too! And splendid views out over the stunning red rock canyons and mountains.       During the next few days Bob plans to hike our feet off first to Devil’s Arch, Fay Canyon and finally the circuit around Courthouse/Bell and Cathedral. My legs are talking to me after all that. But I’m glad my walking/hiking shoes hold up well to the task.      There are neat shops and countless galleries in this artists commune.      Our first night Bob cooks the rib steams to perfection with potatoes, beans, asparagus, mushrooms and salad. Then berries and ice cream. With margaritas and wine, we are stuffed.     Our second night we enjoy a casual    but wonderful dinner at the funky little Italian Hideaway House on the edge of the canyon with nice views of pre-sunset. We drive up for sunset at one of Bob’s fa...

We are off on a jaunt to visit Bob & Pat Allin, our old friends from Banff who spend their winters here.       It’s an easy 2+hour drive and good to be back in familiar territory with these two. We go back a long way in our wine club, camping/concerts in Banff, and have a wonderful rapport with them. We can’t take them in our RV so we whip around Chandler in their snazzy wee BMW sportscar with not too much bending like pretzels to get in.   Bob has kindly picked up free tix for us to return to the lovely botanical garden in Phoenix (a saving of $50) compliments of the local library and we thoroughly enjoy a return there. Sadly the butterfly garden opens the following day!     They are active members of their community here so one evening they put on an Elton John show (3 DVDs) with free popcorn at the clubhouse.      I’ve ordered a swimsuit (replacement for the one I have absolutely loved...) to be delivered to their place ...

Tucson is our destination and most likely almost as far south and wet as we will head this trip.     Ted is enjoying venturing down memory lane with his fav shopping places, mainly wines!     Our first day is Monday Music Night with free beer or wine, and we are reunited with the lovely Pat and Paul Scarlata from near Sacramento, CA, and welcomed by some of their friends. It’s a popular event and a nice way to begin our stay here.     Soon we have checked out the grocery store bargains and pick up 4 juicy rib steaks about 1.5 lbs each for $7 a pound! It’s asparagus season so we are going to gorge on them for a while now. I’ve found the Haagen Daz coffee cream source so we are set with fresh papaya and strawbs, then chocolate macaroons from the amazing nearby French patisserie.      Ted will walk here most mornings and pick the up fresh from the oven, oh joy! Sorry arteries...The first morning he nearly froze, forgetting it is very...