Travels with Zia and Zia II: Casa Grande RV Park

November & December of 2015 was spent at Casa Grande RV Park in Casa Grande, AZ. Overall, the stay was ok, but could have been a whole lot better if the weather was a little better. Colder than average temps prevailed for the most part, although I shouldn't complain, as colder than average here is still better than warmer than average back home in Vermont.

Our spot - # 103- after a rain! In the desert!

The rainbow missed us again- got Dave & Teddy's rig. They didn't get the pot of gold either

As has been our luck, the best part of our travels have been the people we've met. At this park, we were very fortunate to have some great neighbors: Dave & Teddy and Bruce & Diane from Ontario, Jim & Casey from the DC area, Jay & Jan from Minnesota, Larry & Connie from California, Ed & Judy from Washington, and Don & Donna from the Buffalo, NY area. In late November, Dave & Teddy left( first to go to Algodones, Mexico for dental work for Teddy, and then to move to Fiesta Grande RV park in Casa Grande). Their spot was taken by our old friends from Saskatchewan, Keith & Dorann. Doesn't get any better.

Some of the best parts were our daily Happy Hours......

This Happy Hour included Pizza!

Our Happy Hours were well attended. Actually we were kind of lucky the weather was colder than normal because, after about an hour, and when the sun went down, it did get chilly and probably kept the happy hour from becoming happy hourS. On Christmas Eve, we had a huge Happy Hour....

Right between our rig and Keith & Dorann's

And a good time was had by all

And then there were the Clubhouse gatherings......

This was the opening, welcome reception party

And then there was the Thanksgiving Dinner....

These were just some of the organized events. Along the way there were a few things that are worth reporting. Like......

A new arrival at the park.

Along the way, we had some great sunrises and sunsets.

And then our taking advantage of Dave's RV Wash Service to get our new Mobile Suites all spiffed up. Wash, roof seal, hand wax.

And the one day Events.......Like Connie and Larry inviting us to join them for a Boomers pre-Thanksgiving get together at one of their friends places in Surprise(Phoenix), AZ.....

Getting lunch ready

The group, enjoying a great lunch

And then the group got together for a photo

And the pre-Christmas trip to Barleens AZ Opry for their Christmas show...

If you are ever in the Apache Jct area, this place is a must!

Check out the hair

And a great time was had by all!

And how about our trip to Casa Grande Ruins National Park.......

And the trip to Tonto National Monument, via Globe......

View of Lake Roosevelt off in the distance as we approach from south from Globe.

Another view of Lake Roosevelt - this from Tonto National Park

Cliff Dwellings among the Suguaro's

Molly doing her sniff thing

A trip down I 10 took us to Piccacho and Rooster Cogburns Ostrich Ranch......

The goat penthouse

The Hole in the Wall Gang

And the Ostriches

These birds actually flew in to your hand and removed the lid from the container which holds nectar. They were not one bit shy about this.....

Mary with her new friends

Resting or waiting for next victim. Not sure which....

The park mascot

Picaccho Peak off in the distance

The tour "bus"

A trip to Tempe was in order. We had guests coming for dinner just before we left and had to find a couple of chairs for seating at our table in the Mobile Suites. What better place to look then IKEA in Tempe.

What an experience. Had my doubts that we would ever find our way out!

From Tempe, it was off to RT 60 and Apache Junction, where we picked up the Apache Trail for a trip to Tortilla Flats. Every visitor to AZ should take this trip.

View along the way

More great scenery

Pic says it all

Canyon Lake off in the distance

And this is Tortilla Flats. Population: 6

Of course the population doesn't count all of us tourists......this was the lunch bar at Tortilla Flats.

We even had entertainment for lunch, which we shared with the rest of the people eating there.

The food was good and so was the music

View from the main street of Tortilla Flats

another view

And still another view.

Probably the one thing that I enjoyed the most while at Casa Grande RV Resort was Pickleball. I had never played it before and enjoyed it so much, that I was depressed at the thought of leaving and going to a park that did not have Pickleball. Leaving Pickleball and the many friends that I made playing each and EVERY morning. Special thanks to Don and Donna for their help and encouragement and practical lessons.

This is how it is supposed to be played. This taken at National Championships held at Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande.

Pickleball at Casa Grande RV Park. 4 courts that were busy and in use every morning.

Palm Creek courts.......just some of the 21 or so they have.

Manufacturers day, where you could try out paddles.....

typical morning at Casa Grande RV Park Pickleball courts

Randy and Barb taking on Bill & Denny

Sue & Doug

Randy & Barb & Bill & Denny

Mike sitting on the bench waiting his turn.

What was the most rewarding about this game was the personal satisfaction in how much I improved just over the course of the 4-5 weeks that I played. The last day that I played before leaving the park, we had a round robin tournament where each of 16 players picked a number and then for 6 matches was paired up with a different partner and different opponents. When it was all done, I had been on the winning team 4 of the 6 games. For me this was awesome and the 2 games that we lost, were close enough that they could have gone either way. Boy, am I going to miss this park and all of these new Pickleball friends.....Mike from Alberta, Mike from Fort Collins, CO, Randy and his wife Adeana from Colorado, Doug & Barb from Canada, Bill & Sue, Denny from Kansas, John and John(the 2 instructors for beginners), Don & Donna, Keith, Larry from Indiana, Kathleen & Marilyn, Ed from Washington, Dick & Barb from Saskatchewan, Bob and Marvel, Charles from Alberta.......

The Pickleball group at our very own Happy Hour

Probably the biggest disappointment of our stay here was the pool. Mary was so looking forward to it and it was one of the main reasons we came to Casa Grande in the first place- lower altitude, warmer weather as opposed to Benson. To start out, when we got here, and for the first 3 weeks, there was no heater in the pool. It was broken and they had not replaced it. Then when they did finally get it replaced, the weather went to pot. Cool and windy. There were a few days, though, where she did get to take advantage of it.....

Mary, Dorann, and Diane enjoying the pool

Volleyball. Weather played havoc with this also

At one happy hour, Larry & Connie decided that we should all learn how to play Pegs & Jokers. So, we scheduled an afternoon in one of the activity rooms and all of us happy hour people got together to learn how to play Pegs & Jokers, which I really have to admit, was a lot of fun......

Table includes: Diane, Bruce, Judy, Ed, Don & Donna

Don getting in the picture

Our table with Jay & Jan

The rest of the group-Casey, Jim, Connie, Larry, Keith & Dorann

Last but not least of happy events, was our bird feeder and the progression of feeders and visitors. We started out with a regular Hummingbird feeder, but found we were attracting hundreds of bees. After some research, Mary found a feeder with a different style. It was perfect. It eliminated the bees - because they couldn't get down in to the liquid mix and became perfect for our Hummingbirds. The real surprise came, and this is when the happy event occurred, when we got a new visitor each morning around 7:00 am........