Winter in Tucson AZ 2021-2022

 Once we got back, we found a storage spot for the little camper and started to enjoy the desert.

Mark started experimenting with his smoker and produced some tasty wings!

Enjoyed a beautiful morning playing disc golf in sunny Arizona .

The courses are definitely different from what we are used to.

Mark's next experiment was with ribs and once again he did an excellent job.

Linda and Greg Thompson, who we met in Port St. Lucie, Fl stopped on their way to Lake Havasu and camped in your park for a few days.  Paul and Tammy took us all on a nice hike, The Tucson Mountain Park is right in our backyard.  It's amazing how things don't rust in the desert.

Dinner with friends. Thanks Chuck and Beckie for detouring to come see us! And thanks Linda and Greg for coming to visit as well. It’s been a great few days with wonderful people including Paul and Tammy Smith from your old neighborhood in a rocky Point.

Made a trip to Gilbert, AZ so Mark could do some work on Larry and Barbs RV. We work camped with them our first summer on the road.

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Woohoo back at the bowling alley! We are subbing tomorrow so thought we would go practice since it’s been almost 2 years since we have bowled. Good thing we did because when I opened my bag the ball was cracked . Luckily the pro shop was open and Russ hooked me up with a new ball. Mark was throwing really good! Signed up for a league in January. So happy to be back bowling again .

We had an excellent day today. I became a member of the Amvets last Sunday. It’s a wonderful organization for veterans. Today they had a golf cart poker run and I won $50 for the worst hand and also won the gift basket with 5 bottles of adult beverages and a nice bottle of red wine plus tons of extras. Made a lot of new friends, feeling blessed.

I participated in a craft show in the park.  It's been awhile since I have done one and forgot how much work they are!

Spent Thanksgiving with Paul and Tammy Smith and Mark smoked the turkey.  Everything was delicious!  It's crazy how life happens, we were neighbors with them years ago and both went our separate ways and are now back together again.

Went on a rock dig today with the Old Pueblo Lapidary club to Globe AZ in search of Peridot. It was a wonderful day being back in the desert enjoying the sunshine and great weather. Hopefully I found a piece big enough to facet. Peridot was everywhere, it looked like moss on a wall.

Beautiful sunset tonight!

Tucson has a wonderful bike path system, and we got out to enjoy it today.  

A beautiful day in sunny Tucson AZ at the Groves Park for a round of disc golf

 Went on a road trip with my new friend Barb to Las Vegas to pick up a camper she bought, and we stayed the night at the 4 Queens on Freemont Street. It had really been a long time since she had been there and had never seen the downtown area. This is my favorite part of Vegas with the music light show and folks zip lining. I actually zip lined down Freemont Street when they first started doing it. Fun times showing her around.

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Well, the new Year didn't turn out so hot for us.  Mark got covid and had to be hospitalized for 5 days with double pneumonia, he almost died but worked very hard to recover and is doing well.  He went to the emergency room, and they told him he had it and just sent him home.  Nobody said anything about getting up every hour and walking for 10 minutes so he wouldn't get pneumonia, makes me so mad when I think about it.  Anyway, the refrigerator crapped out while he was in the hospital, so I filled 3 coolers twice a day to save the contents.  He told me to go outside of the rig where the frig was located and see if I could smell ammonia, I couldn't smell anything.  When he got home, he went and checked, and it was like sticking your nose in a bottle of ammonia!  I tested positive but only lost my sense of smell for about 2 months.

We replace the back of the frig with a high efficiency dc compressor, much cheaper than buying a new frig.  It was a big job but thank heavens Mark knows how to do this stuff!!!

 

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                Had a good time at the Rock n Gem show in Tucson, I see earrings in my future!

Meet Sally, she is our new ride!!!  It's no fun driving around in the dually and when I have the Tahoe Mark has to drive it, so we were looking to another vehicle. She is 19 years old, and the transmission was just replaced, paid $1,000.  Bought new tires and had some front-end work done and we love her.  She has some quarks but is great.

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Went on a tour downtown with Paul and Tammy to check out some of the many murals around the city.

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Took a Road trip to Lake Havasu to visit Linda and Greg Thompson. Mooch docking at Linda’s stepmom's house.

Disc golf, bowling and drinking beer were some of the activities.

Good time with good friends.

On our way back home, we stopped in Quartzite for pizza at Silly Al's, when in Quartzite one must eat at Silly Al's!

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Our bowling league started up the first week in January, our team name is the Bowling Stones, new friends Mike and Terri, and good times!

Our bowling league is part of the Baja group and they had a cornhole tournament.  Mark came in second and won the 50/50 drawing!

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We are so blessed to have tons of hiking opportunities available to us.  This morning we went to Kings Canyon with Paul & Tammy Smith and Barb Wellnitz.

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Paul and Tammy took us to the Desert Museum, which is only about 10 miles from us, to see the Raptor show. Beautiful location and I highly recommend it, these birds are amazing.

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We feel we have found utopia in Tucson and especially Tucson Estates, so we are in the process of purchasing a home!!!

Our winter has come to an end and its time to headed to our summer work camp gig in Spearfish SD.  We have left the small camper and my Tahoe in covered storage and will take Sally.

As always, thanks for following our travels and check out my Etsy shop for one of a kind handmade jewelry!

www.etsy.com/shop/wanderingdesigns