Spring Training Trip - Day 14

We’re in Tucson.  We left the RV Park in San Diego about 8:30 am in the wake of another storm that passed through the San Diego area Wednesday night.  We hadn’t thought much about the route to Tucson from San Diego other than it is essentially a straight line on the map along I-8 to I-10.  We discovered however there are mountains east of San Diego almost all the way to Yuma, AZ.  We were trailing the storm as the morning progressed, and we started to notice there was snow on the mountains ahead of us and then alongside the highway.  Luckily, the temperature was high enough that the roads were only wet and not icy or snow-covered.  To enhance the driving experience we also had a fairly significant crosswind to keep us alert and focused on the road.  Of course, the truckers and locals didn’t have any problem with any of this and flew past at 65 mph or more.  When we finally hit the desert flatlands after a steep downgrade, we were able to relax a little and only have to worry about a slight quartering headwind the rest of the way.  The mountains from San Diego are only about 4000’ high but seemed much higher.  The rest of the trip was long and fairly routine with not much to look at except distant mountains, desert, and saguaro cactus as we passed through a portion of the Sonoran Desert where they grow.

We arrived at the Voyagers RV Resort just east of Tucson around 5:15 pm MST after about 8 hours of driving (415 miles).  We originally planned to stay at the Davis-Monthan AFB FAMCAMP in town but they didn’t have any spaces open.  You cannot make reservations at most USAF FAMCAMPS so you never know until you get close to the base if they will have any open sites.  The Tucson area is a popular destination for “Snowbirds” and February is right in the middle of the winter season down here, so we had the RV Park where we are staying as our back-up plan.

The Voyagers RV Resort is something to behold.  It is about a mile off of I-10, is gated and has maybe 400 sites that include permanent and seasonal residences and RV sites that are actually owned or rented by the year/season/month/week/day. The residences are park model RVs – one bedroom units that are roughly equivalent to a small single-wide modular unit. The resort has a 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, three pools (indoor and outdoor) a restaurant, full-service bar, market store, fitness rooms, and activity center.  The resort is primarily a self contained community that caters to retirees, snowbirds, and senior citizens. The people staying here are definitely up-scale with no pit bulls or blue tarps in sight. There are activities galore and more things then you would ever want to do, even if you wanted to do them.  They even give you name tags you are supposed to wear at all times when on the property.  We think the reason for doing so is that security can take you back to your site if you forget who you are and/or cannot remember where you are staying.


(Judy's note:  I feel better today- yea!  I want to talk about the female security officer at the entrance gate of the resort.  She was formidible and serious.  She said,  "Welcome to Voyager RV Resort.  Name please?  Yes, you are on The List.  You will drive ahead to the stop sign and wait there for the person in the golf cart to lead you to your site.  You will follow the golf cart to your site and park there.  The person in the golf cart willl tell you where to park your car.  You will sign this paper that absolves Voyager resort of any responsibility for any damage.  You will take this sign-in card to the office before 6:00 p.m.  Have a good time at Voyager."  As we followed obediently behind The Person in The Golf Cart, I said to Pat, "I dare you to go back to the entrance gate and tell her that you don' t like the site and want a new one."  He declined.  We love the site.  We are rebelling in a passive-aggressive way by not wearing our nametags.)

Judy is still fighting a stomach disorder (we now think it is probably a touch of intestinal flu).  She feels pretty good but doesn’t have much energy and little appetite.  I went down to the resort restaurant to see if I could get a take-out sandwich for dinner.  While waiting for my sandwich, I checked out the bar and that scene was something else. The restaurant was packed and the bar was jumping.  It was Karaoke Night Thursday with $3.00 Margaritas.  There wasn’t a person in there under 60 years old and people who appeared to be at least 70 were singing Karaoke songs like “Strangers in the Night” and “Spanish Eyes”.

After dinner in the RV, we both are going to bed early.  There is another small rain storm predicted to hit the Tucson area tonight and pass through by morning.  The plan for tomorrow, depending on how Judy feels, is to do a little sightseeing in the Tucson area and go to the Davis-Monthan BX for a few supplies before we head across Texas.
 

No pictures again today but we will make up for it tomorrow.