Day 164 – 2/10/21 Moving day: Mesa to Tucson, AZ

It’s moving day today, and we are going to Tucson for the weekend, and that will be our base to visit Saguaro National Park.

We had a quicker than usual morning routine.  Bella woke up before Bia and got going with school.  Bia woke up and got going soon after as well.  Carol was up a little earlier too.  I got up and was able to get a post written and then turned to getting things ready and packed outside.  I had not put all the bikes up so I still had to do the bikes in the front, which are a bit harder when the front of the trailer is so high up, like here, it requires some “climbing”.  Nothing unusual aside from the girls getting almost done by time we were all ready to go, and just wrapping up what they could on the road.  We also didn’t put the weight distribution bars before leaving, as I knew we’d have to steer pretty good, and potentially back up a bit.  So, once we were all connected and ready, I pulled the trailer out in one shot, and we put the bars, and got on the road.

The trip down to Tucson was pretty good, easy driving on major highways.  Some mountains in the view to look at, but driving is mostly flat, with desert around.  Our campground, a KOA, was right off the highway, so easy to get to as well.  As we drove in, it looked very nice.  Lots of things to do.  Pickle ball, tennis, pools, dog parks and lots of space.  They have all kinds of sites, some are covered and huge, some have mini dog areas right on the site, with fences, and trees, many fruit trees.  The girls were out as soon as we started getting things hooked up, and they were picking up fruit.  They called the fruit Lemoranges…. Hahahaha. They look like oranges, but taste like lemons.  Hahahah. They love picking up fruit, so they got two bucket fulls before we were done hooking up. 

We have a nice spacious site, with a concrete pad and table and chairs, next to fruit trees.  We got the slide out right by a tree, looks like an olive tree, so the view is nice and we are kind of protected from direct sun on that side, which is great.  The weather is awesome as well, in the 70s.  We can see mountains from here, and I think we are well located.  There’s some road noise though. 

As I was finishing connecting everything, I had an issue with the sewer hose which I usually leave for last. When I went to connect it, I was not able to connect the elbow that I have that goes into the sewer, as the spot they have is on a concrete pad, and the center is lower, so the elbow I have does not clear that space.  I had to go to the camp store and buy a different elbow.  This is not the first time I have trouble connecting, so it’s good to have this other option when the connection is deeper.  The only draw back is that it is not clear, so I cannot see what’s coming out.  We’ll see how it works, but it is a nice and tight connection, so I know no smell is going to seep out 🙂

When we were all done, we just relaxed and enjoyed the area.  Bella had gone to the store with me when I went to buy the sewer elbow, and she asked for a toy, a pair of rackets and pickle ball.  When we got back, she was all excited to play with Bia, but Bia didn’t want to play… and that set up a whole new drama time… and Bella was upset, and crying, saying she wanted pool floaties instead of the rackets, even though I said I was not buying those.  She just got in a bad mood and it took a while to get her out of it.  In the meantime, Carol and Bia went for a walk, stopped by one of those mini libraries, and were also playing with the rackets.

I was with Bella while Carol was out with Bia, and I wanted to stop at a gas station to get some beer, so I told her we had to go.  She came without complaining much, but I knew she had second intentions. hahahaha… sure enough, we got there and she wanted to get some cookies.  I let her buy a small bag of mini pop tarts, and told her to share some with Bia when we got back.  Oh, and at the gas station, there was a guy inside the store with his mask down and a cigarette lit in his mouth.  WTF!  Another guy told him he should not be smoking there and all I heard back was “fuck off”.  Trouble maker… Bella kept saying he should not be smoking in a gas station, right?

Then as we settled down, had dinner, and were ready to do showers and watch some TV, Bella wanted to put lights on her bike and go for a ride in the dark.  OK, we helped her with the lights… She rode for like 2 minutes and was done.  Yep.  But, at that point she was feeling a bit better and things were back to normal.  The girls showered, finished whatever school work was left, then we got the TV on for them for 20 minutes before putting them in bed. Carol and I finished a few things, and called it a day.

We had a good moving day and nice first day in Tucson.

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