100407 Green Valley

April 7, 2010
Green Valley, Picacho State Park
Colorado River Oasis RV

Ehrenberg, AZ

6 Years ago, when we were rookie Rvers, we were returning from a Mexican Caravan and stayed at a RV park north of the border.
Two couples that were staying there befriended us and taught us how to play MEXICAN TRAIN.
Briefly, it’s a domino game that has nothing to do with Mexico but is lots of fun for groups of 4-6.

One of the couples, Barry and Maureen (New Englanders), had relatives in Green Valley (Buck and Marilyn) who also took a liking to us. Any time we are in the Tucson area, we make it a point to visit them and spend some fun filled evenings playing Mexican Train.

The park we usually stay at was quite busy this season and we were only able to get a week’s reservation, but we made the best of it. The last time I had been there Peter was alive so this was their first opportunity to meet the new guy, Danny. Of course he charmed them with his sad brown eyes and constantly wagging tail. He actually behaved well most of the time and made some new friends.

There is one other couple we tried to visit there that we knew in Los Angeles, but they had a death in the family and had to be away during the time of our visit. Our condolences to Margie and Murray on the loss of her brother and hope to see them the next time we are in the area.

Knowing that Arizona is closing down its parks due to budget problems, we wanted to make sure we got our “desert fix”. Picacho is a great park and we unwound and relaxed for a few days there.

We are now parked along the Colorado River at one of our member parks. The weather is bright and sunny, warm and dry. Danny looks like he wants to jump off the boat launch ramp into the river but if something happened; I wouldn’t be able to help him so I have to keep his leash tight.

Now that the cold weather seems behind us, we have to think about our summer destinations.

The little blue scooter is holding up well, but my knees and general stamina and endurance are not.

Grocery shopping would not be possible without the market’s electric carts, and Danny would get no exercise at all without the aid of Little Blue. I guess the silver lining is that since I exert much less effort by not walking, my cardiac symptoms have been more mild and less often.

I’ve been trying to teach Danny to Dial “9-1-1” in case I have an emergency, but as soon as the operator come on and asked what the emergency is - he tell her to send cookies.

As usual, we are always open to suggestion for places to visit. Just remember that when someone talks about a beautiful scenic drive, you can bet he or she wasn’t doing the driving. As much as we enjoy the southwest in the winter, we never get used to seeing brown grass, green trees and gravel. Forests, lakes, and level roadways are desirable. Gravel, sand and
Muddy trails are the natural enemies of the handicapped with their scooters and walkers.

We usually avoid the road less traveled (like everyone else). There has to be a reason nobody’s on it.

High altitudes and steep mountain passes causes the Beast to breath hard and slow down so we just enjoy the view.

By the way, speaking of being handicapped – we have Sprint as our cell phone and Internet carrier. Sometimes communications can be prehistoric.
A weak signal doesn’t ring and goes right to voicemail and emails can take longer than snail mail to get.

We don’t use MY FACE or YOUR SPACE or TOOTER. I am registered with all of them but have no idea how to use them nor do I want to. Phone calls, voicemail or sometimes an IM is as good as it gets.

Till next time,