Life at the Arizonian RV Resort

For the next 10 days, site 267 was home at the Arizonian RV Resort in Gold Canyon, located about 45 miles east of Phoenix. 

home is where you park it  - in site 267 for 10 days

 This was our back yard:

Superstition Mountains and the desert

Michael found this park on our Good Sam software, and it turned out to be a great choice. It's your typical snowbird retreat with the added bonus of having direct access to the desert for our walks and runs. And it's pretty scenery.

exploring the desert in our back yard on a morning hike

The Superstition Mountains provide a glorious backdrop and I especially enjoyed the different hues of the rock at daybreak and at sunset. At times the mountain glowed a deep pink, at others a purple-blue. In fact, I found the scenery quite mesmerizing with its tall saguaro, creosote bushes and forests of dense cholla.

evening glow

In addition this park offers other amenities like a pool, pickleball courts, shuffleboard, horseshoes, a quilt/sewing room, lapidary room, ceramics room, pool tables and card room, library, computer room, and a large ballroom.  

John and Jan, the sewing team

The first day, I went in search of the quilt/sewing room. There are two rooms totally dedicated to sewing. I noticed that there were machines set up on each table and concluded that quilting must be popular here.  What I  found out that is that at this park, park visitors can leave their machines set up on the sewing tables for the entire season together with all their supplies. I have never yet seen an arrangement like this, with machines left set up, and in several cases there were very expensive machines. Typically, quilters bring their machine to the room for a day or a few hours, find an empty spot, and then haul everything back at the end of the day. All the tables here were filled, however they found a spot for me as one of the ladies was gone this month. It's also the first time I have encountered a man in the quilting room. He embroiders on a top-of-the-line Janome, while his wife who sits beside him, quilts on her own fancy Janome.  The room was a hive of activity, with several quilts and other projects in the works, and design boards on each wall displaying various quilts in progress. Everyone was friendly and welcoming and when I mentioned my surprise at leaving all the equipment in the room permanently, the response was that if that were not the case, most folks would leave the park. 

several RZRs off on their desert ride

They specifically come here for the sewing and for the off-road 4-wheeling in their ATVs, which have direct access to the desert right out the back gate of the park. Groups of ATV's gather and go out daily on desert rides. 

watching model airplanes take off and land on the airstrip

For the plane enthusiasts there is an airfield where the model airplane club flies their crafts. 

And for the car enthusiasts, there is a race track where the model car club races. 

There is a also a desert golf course that adjoins the park. This is not a typical golf course with green grass but a natural desert terrain. 

We enjoyed our stay. 
The weather was wonderful, sunny and warm. And the folks at this park are friendly and welcoming, and we got to know several of them. Most come here for a minimum of three months, many stay up to 6 months, and by now have established lasting friendships and community after many years. Some stay in permanent park models, others in their RV's. Most are from Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri - all good places to be away from in the winter months. There are also a number of folks from Canada. 

Life at the Arizonian was good. We perched here contentedly, doing all the usual home-related chores while enjoying and exploring our new location. 
I completed a couple of sewing projects which included place mats and five bags which I forgot that I had cut out several months ago. After weeks of touring it was a nice change of pace to focus on crafts and to hear the familiar drone of the sewing machine. I find the process contemplative, calming, and chi -restoring. 

A few months ago I found a pattern for a reverse applique elephant that I simply had to have. I finally had time to start working on the project and traced the elephant shape on to the fabric. This wall hanging involves needle turn applique and is sewn by hand, a first for me. 

My quilt room buddies looked at me with some skepticism about working on a wall-hanging by hand! It does seem like a lot of work compared to sewing by machine. 

But I am in no hurry to complete this project and since it is a project that I can work on at any time because it does not require a sewing machine, it's perfect for those times whenever we are sitting outside or if we are boondocking (dry camping).

There was a ladies' pajama party one day to which I was invited. We watched the Lucille Ball classic movie The Long, Long Trailer, and had a good laugh. Those of us in our RV's could relate, except that in my case instead of collecting rocks, I seem to be collecting fabrics. We had popcorn and soda and had a good time. Some of the more daring ladies volunteered to participate in a game: they teamed up in pairs, were handed foam rollers and the first one to use up all the rollers on her companion's hair was the winning team. It was a bit of a challenge with our typical short hair cuts! There was a lot of laughter. 

We met up with NoWACA Alpine friends Lori and John Gailey, who spend their winter in Mesa, a few miles down the road from the Arizonian. And we met up with Carter and Patty O'Neill, Alpine friends from Washington, who were spending the winter in Apache Junction, the next town over from the Arizonian. Alpine friends Bill and Sonja Hearsey, also from Washington, joined us all too. I am beginning to see a trend: this region draws Alpines from the northwest! 

Yuengling, America's oldest brewery

And while I remember, we finally got to enjoy a Yeungling beer. Weeks ago I had noticed this beer being advertised on a delivery truck as the oldest beer in the States. We found the beer in a local store and tried it. Not bad.

Ten days vanished quickly and tomorrow we head out again, to meet up with our Alpine group in Death Valley for a week, like we did last year. But first we will gather in Tecopa for a couple of days at the hot springs.