Moved onto the Phoenix area in separate vehicles again as the jeep was still not ready to go. It was very hard to make my decision of where to park the Busse Bus. There are hundreds of places all around Phoenix to park. We ended up at Pueblo El Mirage in El Mirage, AZ because of its location on the northwest side of Phoenix knowing that we would be heading north after our stay and came into the area from the west. A lot less maneuvering of the ole bus – smiley face 🙂 for me!
The place was huge! Over 1,000 RV sites – golf, restaurant, bocce ball, horseshoes, three dog parks, tennis, swimming pool, laundry, card room, woodworking room, craft room, billiard room, pickle ball (whatever that is – I’m not old enough yet to learn), and more! Really, a woodworking room complete with lathes, power saws, dust collectors, staining area and drying area. Crazy! This place offers so much for the snowbirders who flock here for months at a time. Here’s some pictures:
Our youngest “son”, Bear has picked up the same sport as our oldest son:
That shot was taken at the local dog park, moments before Bear annihilated the soccer ball. Don’t know who owned the ball prior to Bear finding it, but it would be very difficult to use it after Bear was done playing.
Off for a hike in the White Tank Mountains to the west. We took Bear with us so that he could get some exercise – he loves to climb. Beautiful views of the valley! Take a look:
Nine miles achieved, wanted to go further but we thought that it would be dark before we got back down the mountain. Headed back. On the drive back to the resort, we noticed a new subdivision being built that had RV garages. We had to check it out! Nice places – we didn’t know that houses with RV garages were even a thing – they are and it put a thought in our minds that we may be keeping the Busse Bus longer than we had first thought – who knows though?
We were able to attend the Tempe Arts Festival with friends of ours, Janet (Planet) and Bryan Zonsius from Schaumburg, IL. Obviously, the Planet comes from the Rocky Horror Picture Show (not because she is spacey- or is it?). Planet and I went to JB Conant High School and the University of Illinois together. I’ve always thought of her as the little sister that I never had. We have had many a good times together! Planet asked me to standup in her and Byran’s wedding! Talk about being close. We lost touch over the years, but as fortune has it, we reconnected during Keenan’s college soccer career when we had tournaments in Phoenix. Seeing her again after so many years was great and we connected like we hadn’t even missed a few decades in between. Last year Planet and Bryan joined us in St. Martin for a fun-filled week in the sun. Pictures from this visit:
It was very nice catching up with the Zonsius’ on this adventure!
Speaking of JB Conant High School friends, I had the opportunity to meet up with one of my buddies from back in the day, Bill Pierce. Now I haven’t seen Bill for 30+ years – thank goodness for Facebook and reconnecting with past friends. Met Bill for a beer (of course) and some catching up!
Maybe it’s just me, but I think we look like we are still ready to run track together! Bill – let’s not let another 30+ years go by….
We also had time to meet up with friends of ours from Mundelein / Libertyville who bought a house in the Phoenix area a few years ago. John and Sarah Eichmann always find the best places to grab a dinner and this night was no different. Nice catching up with them although we forgot to take a picture together so we had to improvise (I guess we had one too many margaritas)!
So, the pictures were taken on the same night, just separately, together!
Great news! The Jeep is done and we had it shipped to us in Phoenix. Final bill from Jeep: $0.00! Covered under warranty. Total bill for rental car: $1,400.00, Jeep covered the entire cost! Covered under warranty. Total bill for shipment of Jeep from San Francisco to Phoenix: $795.00 and Jeep covered $400.00. Covered under warranty. I am so glad that we had a newer toad (that’s a vehicle that you tow in RV lingo) and almost everything was covered. I think that I would buy a Jeep again!
1 Comment
Carl Flowers · January 29, 2019 at 2:51 pm
Houses with RV garages — Ed, when we lived in Marshall, TX (2011-13), there was a neighborhood just east of town that had many homes with RV shelters/garages. Marshall is in East Texas, in the Piney Woods, and the neighborhood had large lots (1 acre+) with many trees. People in East Texas like to RV — hunting trips, Nascar trips, hide out from the law trips!