Arizona 2000
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This page was last updated on Jan 12, 2000
Jan 7, 00
Moved
to Justin's RV park for a month. Really liked the State Park we were in
but they had a 7 day limit and only had electric hook-ups. Here we've
got full hook-ups with water, electric and sewers but no cable TV and phone
- but then it's $300 a month less than the ones that do! Found a really
nice site at the edge of the park with nobody between us and the desert.
There's lots of wildlife all around us, like rabbits, quail, road-runners,
cardinals, and all sorts of birds we don't recognize. Need a trip
to Barnes and Noble tomorrow to get books on the birds and the cactus.
Spent most of the day unpacking the van and getting the trailer organized
for being in one place for a while.
Jan 8, 00
Another clear blue sky with temperatures forecast in high 60's. Tucson gets 350 days of sunshine a year so this statement might get redundant! Had our first bike ride in the desert today. The saguaro (saw-war-roe) cactus are everywhere here - apparently they only grow in the Sonora Desert and are very old. They are fifty years old before they start branching.
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Our English readers might be interested to know that this RV park is owned by Pericles Wyatt. This guy has quite a background - he's from English aristocracy and came to USA several years ago and gambled away most of his wealth and was disowned by his family. He opened a restaurant in California, made some money then moved to Arizona and bought this RV park 2 years ago. His wife, Kyodo, is Japanese and his father is Woodrow Wyatt.
Jan 9, 00
Boy, was it cold overnight - the plumbing froze and the van wouldn't start. Turned out there was water in the fuel line and it also froze. After it warmed up in the morning everything went back to normal. We learned that the desert climate is very extreme - hot during the day but cold at night. We are burning lots of propane as the furnace runs all night.
We've met lots of really nice people around the park, but my favourite
has to be our neighbour, Hal from Colorado. He's 65, been retired
10 years and bought his first motorbike when he was 60. He has it
with him and it's a 250 Yamaha dirt bike, and guess what - he gave it to
me for a ride in the desert today. It's 30 years since I've ridden
but it all came back in an instant. Think mountain biking might lose
interest fast - I see a motorbike in my near future!
Jan 10, 00
Well, the van didn't go back to normal after all. Wouldn't start today - replaced the fuel filter, adding some "Water Remover" to the gas but still no go. Guess we'll need to call AAA and have it towed to the GM dealer. Sort of wrecked the day - we'd just run out of milk, fruit, etc and now have no transport. At least it's sunny and we don't have any deadlines.
Jan 11, 00
Had the van towed away for repairs - the dealer called later to say the fuel pump had failed. Went for a ride to explore the trails a bit more, and had a BBQ.
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Jan 12, 00
The van was repaired by 11am but no one avialable to give me a ride so it was either cycle there (15 miles) or get an expensive cab ride. One and a half hours of pedalling later that cab ride wouldn't have made much difference as I got a bill for $895US to replace the fuel pump!