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Hoover Dam	Great bike and jeep roads around Sedona	Christmas lights in Sedona

Tucson, AZ
Dec 15, 2003 - ???
Fortunately the private RV park we stayed at near Sedona only allowed a 3 day visit by non-members or I would have been there for weeks!  A 4 hour drive, via Phoenix, and we were back at Justins RV Park, where we'd stayed on our previous two winters in Tucson.  Our excitement quickly faded when we found the site we'd reserved, previously backing onto catcus-laden prime desert, was now completely bare except for bulldozers and construction materials.  Unhappily, we moved to a different site away from the mess, and tried to make the most of it.  Christmas came and went - we tried to ignore it, but took part in the Pot Luck Christmas dinner with 100 total strangers at the clubhouse - and New Years Eve was similar.  These holidays aren't as festive without your family around you. 

Other than visiting Tohono Chul Gardens on Sandy's birthday and sampling their delightful English Tea, including scones, cream and strawberry jam, plus a couple of local hikes, we had a pretty quiet first month in Tucson.
 

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High Tea at Tohono Chul	Mt Wasson Peak at 4687', and the easy way up, or how to beat "No dogs on the trails"!	Our annual candle-lighting at the Mission on Jan 9

 After a few weeks we realized it wasn't the same as on our previous visits, so when we heardabout another RV park, Desert Peublo, that may be more suitable we quickly checked it out, found it to be perfect for us and moved there as soon as our pre-paid rent expired.  We liked the new park as we had lots of space on our site, as well as palm trees andfruit-laden trees, large cedars full of birds and a little bunny living under the home on the next site!  The park was primarily for manufactured homes and allowed RV's on any unsold lots, so it had really nice facilities, like two clubhouses, pools and hot tubs, and was nicely landscaped as many of the homes had people living there year-round as well as many snowbirds.
 

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Our site at Desert Peublo	The pool and hot tub at the main clubhouse

On previous winters in Tucson, we'd done all the sightseeing trips so we really just relaxed and spent most of our time around the park, or in the local stores and restaurants.  I met some motorcycle riders on the AZdualsports website and started riding most weekends with them - check out my motorcycle pages for pictures. 

Carol's visit
Feb 7 - 14, 2004
Sandy's friend Carol (from Oakville Humane Society) was taking a golf vacation with her friend, Carole, at the Hilton El Conquistador in Tucson, and wanted an experienced guide to show them around Tucson.  When they couldn't find anyone in their price range, we got the job!  It was great to see friends from home but we ended up spending more time in their hotel hot-tub and at restaurants than actually sight-seeing. We managed to fit in a couple of nice hikes in the Santa Catalina mountains, a visit to Gate's Pass for sunset, and a last-night-out at the Hidden Valley Inn dinner theatre to see The Sons of the Pioneers. 
 
 

Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson

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Sandy and Carol in Pima Canyon	Hiking on Pontatoc Ridge

Hidden Valley Inn, Sabino canyon, Tucson

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Sons of the Pioneers, and Carole with Sonny

All in all, a really enjoyable week for everyone.