What a week! Snow everywhere in Arizona; Tatis Jr. is back; and Charlie got his $%@ kicked by a big dog!
View of Superstition Mountain from Coach Addy's front window-Absolutely Stunning!
Although our primary reason for spending six weeks in Arizona is to experience Baseball Spring Training and see as many stadiums as we can, we are also having fun exploring the surrounding area. This past week we took in a couple of ball games and welcomed Tatis Jr. back on the field; visited wineries and breweries in the Sedona area, moved Coach Addy to our new home (Desert Shadows RV Resort) for the next four weeks and we saw real cowboys herding cattle!
Hot Tip #1: When staying in a town for a period of time, research the top things to do and best places to eat, make a list and start checking things off!
Yes, we are here to cheer on the San Diego Padres and we are also here to visit as many different stadiums as possible. This past Tuesday, we watched the Padres beat the Giants at Scottsdale stadium. (Sorry Maddie!) But the highlight of the game was seeing Tatis Jr. make his first appearance since his injury and suspension. He looked good…and a bit humbled. The Padres are looking great and the bats are hot!
One cannot live on baseball alone! Before we came to Arizona, I made a list of about 25 different things that I wanted to do while we were here. The list includes National Monuments/parks, museums, gardens, ghost towns, Art Walks, local wineries/craft breweries, and local musicians and cuisine.
This past week we checked three of these items off our list.
1) We were on a waitlist for one of Phoenix’s top attractions: Barleens Dinner and Variety Show and we were lucky enough to get in on Wednesday night. This location was literally right next door to our RV Resort in Apache Junction. We weren’t sure what to expect, but everyone said we had to go and the reviews were all excellent, so we went for it. We got in at the last minute and had a blast! The place holds about 400 people and they do 8-10 shows a week and they are sold out for months! The dinner was actually very good, much better than we expected. The best part: the chocolate cake that is waiting for you at your table when you sit down. Their theme is: life is short, eat dessert first! I was only going to have a couple of bites and save it for after dinner, but not a chance once I tasted it. The variety show was musical hits from the 1950’s through the 1990’s. The musicians and singers were so engaging and really talented. This is really a family affair with many of the employees part of the same family and serving multiple roles in the organization. We sat at a table with three other couples from Minnesota who were here with a tour group-we just love meeting new people and hearing about their lives and sharing special moments with them.
Hot Tip #2 Seize the moment! Do things that you would not ordinarily do. We would never have bought tickets to Barleens Dinner and Variety Show if we had not adopted this motto on our adventure…and we would have missed a great show and missed the opportunity to create a beautiful memory of our trip.
2) We enjoyed a visit to the Goldfield Ghost Town at the base of Superstition Mountain. All authentic buildings and a cheesy train tour around the town and the mines. The saloon was the original building and you could almost feel the energy from the 1800’s. A great musician, Bobby Joe Bell entertained us at the Saloon as we waited for the train to depart the station.
Hot Tip #3 Invest in The National Parks and Federal Lands Annual Pass! It is well worth the $80.00 investment! So many amazing and beautiful sites across this country to explore and enjoy! Extra bonus: Next year, I qualify for the Senior pass which is $80.00 for a lifetime pass! Quite a perk for turning 62!
3) Yesterday we took a day trip to the Sedona area and explored the National Monument, Motezuma’s Castle, had a lovely picnic near the running river, visited a couple of wineries, a brewery and ate at Pisa Lisa’s, one of Lisa Dahl’s famous restaurants. Their wood fired pizza passed the Peder Test and the meatballs were pretty darn tasty also. The drive to Sedona was probably the best part of the trip. The snow level is so low and made for a beautiful ride. Montezuma’s Castle is very interesting, considering that there is no castle and Montezuma was never there! The monument is dedicated to preserving Native American culture, the “castle” is a 20 room “high-rise” apartment, nestled into a towering limestone cliff in the middle of the desert! Oh yeah...we saw real cowboys herding cattle off the side of the road. Remarkable day!
Lesson Learned: Don’t assume that all dogs in a dog park are friendly AND don’t assume that that the gate at the dog park is latched closed! Charlie had quite the scare this week as we were walking past the small dog park at the RV Resort where we are staying. Charlie was on his leash and there were two large dogs in the dog park. The gate was closed, so I was not really worried about them. My mistake! The dogs inside began to bark at Charlie as we walked by (not unusual) and of course Charlie (thinking that he is a big dog) barked back. Well, the gate was not latched and one of the dogs came charging out of the gate and lunged at Charlie. The dog was about four times bigger than Charlie and let’s just say it wasn’t a friendly encounter. I’m yelling, Charlie is barking, the other dog is growling and the owner of the dog is running out of the park to get his dog. Poor Charlie, fought for a bit, then assumed the surrender pose and laid on his back, snarling. The big dog had him totally pinned by the time the owner got to us and was able to successfully get his dog off of Charlie. A traumatic incident to say the least. Thankfully, both dogs were fine, no blood or even scratches from what we could see. The dog owner lives here in the RV Resort where we are staying and was quite nice and of course apologetic. He checked Charlie out and gave us his site number if we had any issues. The only thing that appears to be bruised is Charlie’s ego-let’s just say it was a humbling experience for him. He thinks he is a big tough dog and puts off this, “I’m a big dog and can kick your $%@!” Lesson Learned!
Bummer of the Week: We are having a helluva time with our T-Mobile Hotspot. It is supposed to provide us coverage wherever there is T-Mobile service. Our cell phone service and phones have been great, but the mobile hotspot has been problematic. Which is unfortunate as this is how we access the internet in Coach Addy and stream channels on our TV. We worked with T-Mobile and they helped us troubleshoot the problem, with no success. They sent us another device which is working (albeit not perfectly) it does provide internet to our phones and computers, but is not consistent and still does not enough strength to stream to the TV. So, writing this blog this morning was easier than last week, but we are still unable to watch TV.
BUT WAIT!
Peder has worked the problem and just this morning while I was finishing this blog post, he has discovered a workaround! Remember, I said that we could connect our computers to the interned, but not the TV's. (Evidently it takes a stronger signal to pair the hotspot with the TV than to our devices.) Well, Peder remembered that we had an HDMI port installed in the coach that was for a DVD player and connected to all 4 TVs. Soooo, he plugged the HDMI cable into his computer, logged onto YouTube TV and mirrored his computer screen to the TV. And just like that...We have the ability to stream all of our channels (YouTube TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Peacock, etc.) onto the TV via the computer! Brilliant, I tell ya, Brilliant! Another example of how the Bummer of the Week became a Highlight of the Week!
Highlight(s) of the Week:
We spent Tuesday evening with some friends of ours, Jon and Jodi, who divide their time between Carlsbad and Arizona. They have a beautiful home in Tempe and we enjoyed a delicious dinner at one of their favorite local Italian restaurants. Sharing this adventure with friends and family is always a highlight for us!
We are looking forward to the next couple of weeks as we have dear friends joining us on our adventure. We have both the Matron of Honor and the Best Man at our wedding coming to Arizona. This next week, my dearest friend Leela and her husband Pat will be here and next week Peder’s best friend, Todd and his wife, Laura will be joining us. In between these two visits, we will be joining Kris and Bill (Jamie's in-laws) for NASCAR! More about that next week! How lucky are we! Life is good!
Great blog post. I’d like to suggest the underground Caves and Caverns east of Tucson. My oldest Alex and I were there for NCAA‘a following SDSU at U of A many years ago. Awesome natural beauty unlike anything and civil engineering marvel from early last century. Worth a day trip for something very unique.
What an amazing week filled with fun, adventure, and work-arounds!!!! I have never heard of Bobby Joe Bell. What a phenomenal gift you received in hearing him sing in such a small venue. I hope that he told a bit of his life story since it directly relates to the countless families you touched with your skill set as a leader and guide. Love you!