2021

January - December 2021

A 365-day adventure by Debra Read more

37footprints
1countries
365days
330photos
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2.6kmiles
877miles

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Traveler 2021
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- Jan 15, 2021
- ☀️ 66 °F
- Altitude: 1,414 ft
- United States Arizona Pinal County Fiesta Grande Mobile Home Park 32.8737, -111.7186132°52’25” N 111°43’7” W
Day 15
January 1-15
January 15, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
We departed Desert Hot Springs on January 2 for a beautiful five hour drive to Fiesta Grande RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ.
Though Arizona is now the epicenter of Covid the county we're in has a relatively low case and death rate. Fiesta Grande is serious about enforcing mitigation measures and since it is an age restricted 55+ park the population here is much less transient. Although Covid restrictions are much looser in Arizona than California Randy and I continue to be very cautious. We've met some nice folks on the pickleball courts and have socialized with Kathy and Renee who joined us here from Cat Spa. We're enjoying the calm warm days and cool nights but miss the mountain views at Cat Spa.Read more
Welcome to Arizona. We were in Casa Grande, but are now in Yuma. Sorry to have missed you. [Ellen]
1/21/21Reply
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Traveler 2021
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- Jan 22, 2021
- ⛅ 61 °F
- Altitude: 1,414 ft
- United States Arizona Pinal County Fiesta Grande Mobile Home Park 32.87373, -111.7186332°52’25” N 111°43’7” W
Day 22
January 16-22
January 22, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
It's been a good week, we took a walk around downtown Casa Grande; gazed upon some beautiful sunsets; appreciated an inspirational and peaceful presidential inauguration; hiked the Casa Grande Mt Trail with Kathy and Renee https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/arizona/casa…; visited the Domes of Casa Grande (thanks Renee for the recommendation) https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/Domes; and continue to play lots of pickleball.Read more
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- Feb 7, 2021
- ☀️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 1,411 ft
- United States Arizona Pinal County Fiesta Grande Mobile Home Park 32.87379, -111.718632°52’26” N 111°43’7” W
Day 38
Jan 23-Feb 7
February 7, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F
It's been pretty quiet since my last post. A big storm blew through a couple of weeks ago bringing rain, wind and cold temperatures here at Casa Grande and snow in the higher elevations.
Our friends, Kathy and Renee, brought over Chicago Italian beef sandwiches and hot dogs from Portillo's as well as their chocolate cake... delicious! They departed Friday and will be missed. https://www.portillos.com/index.html
We continue to exercise and socialize at the pickleball courts.
Last night Randy and I drove to State Farm Stadium in Glendale for our first Covid vaccination. Our appointments were at 1:00am and we were in and out within 30 minutes. It was well worth the hour + drive to get there.
We've extended our stay here at Fiesta Grande RV Resort through March 8th.Read more
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- Feb 24, 2021
- ☀️ 70 °F
- Altitude: 1,414 ft
- United States Arizona Pinal County Fiesta Grande Mobile Home Park 32.87374, -111.7186932°52’25” N 111°43’7” W
Day 55
February 8-24
February 24, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
We've been enjoying the beautiful weather here in Arizona while monitoring the weather in the Pacific Northwest and Texas. We're glad that our family and friends survived the polar vortex earlier this month.
We took a quick visit of Casa Grande National Monument on the February 9th. Quick because we arrived 20 minutes prior to closing, also we'd taken a full tour five years ago.
Our friends Joy & Jim and Susan & Bill stayed at Fiesta Grande for a week. All good pickleball players so we were able to reunite on the courts.
Today we drove to Gold Canyon to look at park models, casitas with RV parking and 55+ communities. Just "window shopping" for now, weighing our options for the future. We had lunch and a nice stroll in Scottsdale before heading back to Casa Grande.Read more
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- Feb 28, 2021
- ☀️ 57 °F
- Altitude: 1,414 ft
- United States Arizona Pinal County Fiesta Grande Mobile Home Park 32.87369, -111.7186632°52’25” N 111°43’7” W
Day 59
February 25-28
February 28, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
Thursday we visited St Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery, a spritual oasis in the desert, just outside of Florence, AZ. Though the monestary was established in 1995 the architecture, icons, furnishings and landscape make it seem much older. To visit the grounds and chapels a strict dress code had to be followed. I dressed in what I thought was appropriate attire but apparently my denim jacket wasn't modest enough as I was loaned a huge men's plaid shirt to wear over my dress...the visit was worth it. https://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/
We took a tour of McFarland State Historic Park https://azstateparks.com/mcfarland/ and strolled downtown Florence before heading home.
We wrapped up the month by heading back to State Farm Stadium for our second dose of covid-19 vaccine. 😊Read more
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- Mar 9, 2021
- ☁️ 72 °F
- Altitude: 2,848 ft
- United States Arizona Pima County Pima Ramada Mobile Home Park 32.09401, -110.8401232°5’38” N 110°50’24” W
Day 68
March 1-9
March 9, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
We spent our last week at Fiesta Grande playing... what else...pickleball once or twice a day. Thursday we managed to leave the park to have lunch at the Bent Prop Saloon and sip a bloody mary while watching the skydivers land at Skydive Arizona. A great way to spend the day. https://www.skydiveaz.com/
We had a wonderful stay at Fiesta Grande: good pickleball, well kept grounds, friendly people and convenient to shopping. Special thanks to Bob & Kathy and Dreena & Mike for their hospitality and Dwayne for the smoked meat. Hope to see some of our new friends in their home states as we travel the country.
Today we traveled southeast on I-10 to Voyager RV Resort in Tucson, AZ, our home for the next 6 nights, a beautiful resort with 16 pickleball courts!https://www.rvonthego.com/arizona/voyager-rv-re…Read more
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- Mar 15, 2021
- ⛅ 63 °F
- Altitude: 4,403 ft
- United States Arizona Cochise County Whetstone Road Tank 31.69086, -110.3568431°41’27” N 110°21’25” W
Day 74
March 10-15
March 15, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
We had a busy week in Tucson:
biked 20 miles of the Loop https://www.arizonabikerides.com/rides/586/the-…; took a walking tour of Old Town Tucson; toured the Titan Missile Silohttps://titanmissilemuseum.org/;
visited Fort Lowell historic site;
took a drive into to the Catalina Foothills; shopped at an outdoor art fair; played many competive pickleball games and, as always, met wonderful people on the courts.
Today we head 52 miles southeast to Quail Ridge RV Park in Huachuca City for a 9 night stay.https://www.rvresortquailridge.com/Read more
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Traveler 2021
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- Mar 19, 2021
- ☀️ 72 °F
- Altitude: 4,403 ft
- United States Arizona Cochise County Whetstone Road Tank 31.69091, -110.3568131°41’27” N 110°21’25” W
Day 78
March 16-19
March 19, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F
We're enjoying our time here in southeastern Arizona's Cochise County. Tuesday we strolled around Tombstone before going to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area to see sandhill cranes and other birds. I'm so glad we didn't miss the cranes before they headed north. https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife/viewing/wheretog…
St Patrick's day was windy with gusts up to 40 mph so we stayed in and dined on corned beef and cabbage for dinner.
Thursday we played pickleball at Oscar Yrun Park in Sierra Vista. Nice people and excellent courts, https://www.skyislandpickleball.com/ then had takeout from Vinnie's Pizza.
Today we took Kuma for a day trip to Chiricahua National Monument. We didn't do any significant hiking as dogs aren't allowed on trails and he's too old to go on long hikes, but we did get to see a "Wonderland of Rocks". Fantastic! https://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm We stopped in Bisbee as we circled back to the RV park. We hoped to play some pickleball there, but alas, the courts were empty. Old town Bisbee was packed with tourists so we did without our planned walking tour.Read more
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Traveler 2021
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- Mar 20, 2021, 2:04 PM
- ☀️ 77 °F
- Altitude: 4,403 ft
- United States Arizona Cochise County Whetstone Road Tank 31.69089, -110.3568231°41’27” N 110°21’25” W
Day 79
March 20-23
March 20, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F
Saturday we visited the Ramsey Canyon Preserve. We gained about a 1000 ft in elevation during our hike of the Ramsey Canyon /Hamburg trail while enjoying beautiful views, a small clear running stream (rare in this region), historic buildings and a few critters along the way.
Unfortunately the Nature Conservancy's Visitor Center was closed due to Covid. https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-t…
Monday we drove southwest to Patagonia Lake State Park where we took a nice long hike along the lake. Next we stopped in Nogales, AZ for a lunch of sonoran hot dogs and tacos. We'd planned on walking around Old Town Nogales but it looked a bit desolate and the museum I'd hope to visit was closed.
Today has been VERY WINDY.
We had some problems with our bikes, diagnosed by Scott of Anywhere Bike Repair.com, when we were at Voyager RV Resort in Tucson. Today he drove out and spent three hours tuning and repairing our bikes. We highly recommend him.
Tomorrow we hit the road for an 8 night stay at Westwind RV and Golf Resort in Yuma.Read more
Joe and I are in Yuma until the end of April, would love to visit with you [JoAnn Marino]
3/24/21Reply
Traveler Sounds good.
3/24/21Reply
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Traveler 2021
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- Apr 1, 2021
- ☀️ 86 °F
- Altitude: 253 ft
- United States Arizona Yuma County Shangri - La Mobile Home Park 32.66534, -114.4612132°39’55” N 114°27’40” W
Day 91
March 24-April 1
April 1, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F
It was wet, windy and cold when we departed Huachuca on the 24th of March. We hit areas of slush as we traveled north on hwy 90.
As always we enjoyed our stay at Westwind RV and Golf Resort in Yuma. We dined on fish and chips at the Friday Fish Fry (Alaskan cod flown in every Thursday) ; met Joanne and Joe, who we met in Wyoming four years ago, for lunch; had Tom over for happy hour; played pickleball at Westwind, and as Tom's guests at the Palms; had the coach and car washed and waxed by J & R Mobile Wash; shopped at the Arizona Marketplace for RV stuff.
We didn't make it across the border to Los Algodones but a lady we gave pickleball lessons to was nice enough to pick up meds, Kahula and vanilla for me.
Today we had a beautiful drive to Rancho California RV Resort in Aguanga, CA, our home for the month of April. https://www.ranchorvresort.com/Read more
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