Sunday, February 28, 2016

Catalina State Park and beyond























Leaving Catalina State Park -- Heading south to Patagonia Lake State Park

We have been staying at Catalina State Park since Monday, February 15th.  We have really enjoyed being here for the past two weeks.  There is SO much to do here, especially if you like to hike, ride bikes, ride mountain bikes, birdwatch, look for Arizona wild flowers, etc.  We have spent much of our time here with friends..... Friends from Cottonwood, AZ, friends who live here in Oro Valley, and friends of our friends/ new friends!  I have hiked almost everyday.  Steve has hiked and has gone mountain bike riding quite a lot with his Oro Valley friends.  We feel like we have really gotten to know this place well.  We love the campground here.  We have been in the same site - A 21 - for the entire two weeks.  Steve has already gotten on to the State Park website and made reservations for our site here next February.  The weather has been above normal temperatures.  The hottest day we experienced was the day we were hiking up to Romero Pools and beyond.  It was a beautiful hike, but the next time we do it, we will pick a cooler day.  Yesterday, while Steve was doing a mountain bike ride with the guys on the Arizona trail, I went bike riding on The Loop.  The Loop, when completed, will be a 131 mile system of shared use paths in and around Tucson.  I rode about 32 miles, out and back.  I only have my mountain bike down here in Arizona.  I was sure wishing I had my road bike yesterday.  I couldn't believe how many people were on the trail.  You certainly see MANY people out on ALL the trails here. It is fun!

Tomorrow we are packing up and heading south to Patagonia Lake State Park.  We are looking forward to hiking, riding bikes AND kayaking on the lake there.  I have heard it is a great place for birdwatching, too!  We will be there for about five days and then will be heading to Organ Pipe Natonal Monument.  

The more we are "out here" living this lifestyle, the more we love it!  So many places to see, so much to do...... Life on the road is good!

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Friends

One of the many fun things about this lifestyle is spending time with friends.  We have SO many friends from Estes Park and other places who have decided to spend either part of the winter or all of the winter in Arizona.  And, yes, there are a few who live here year around.  It doesn't matter where we are staying ~ Lost Dutchman, Cave Creek, Catalina, McDowell Mountain ~ we seem to have friends nearby.  Many of our friends have decided that they like this camping/RVing lifestyle, too.  This week we have "old" Cottonwood, AZ neighbors/friends who are going to join us at Catalina State Park.  It is great fun to hike, mountain bike, share meals, share fun times and just reconnect with all of these people.

We really enjoy meeting and talking to new people in the campgrounds.  It is always fun to see what people are camping in ~ truck campers, tents, tent trailers, motor homes, small trailers, 5th wheels!  Many types of camping RVs for many different kinds of people.  The thing we all have in common is that we like to "be out here".







Hiking in the Santa Catalina Mountains



















Steve & I are staying at Catalina State Park in Tucson.  We will be here for two weeks.  We have hiked most of the trails in the State Park, so today we drove north and drove out Golder Ranch road.  We hiked on the Baby Jesus trail along Baby Jesus Ridge.  It was a great hike in the desert, sunny, 82 degrees, and we had the trail to ourselves.  We saw a couple other hikers.  Now we are back at the Lazy Daze, enjoying the sun, reading and writing my blog.  Life is good.

We love this campground.  We are in A loop and are in site #21.  Our view of the Catalina mountains is amazing.  The sunrises and sunsets are beautiful.  We have enjoyed the moon, too.  It is a full moon tomorrow.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

A new post - trying again.....

So, here we go again.  If I posted to my blog, as often as I think about posting to the blog, I would have SO many entries/adventures.  

SO much has happened since my last entry in September.  Life has changed ALOT since then.  Steve & I have started the new phase of our lives.  Retirement.  It is pretty nice.  So far, we love our new life.  Home is still in Longmont, Colorado.  Home away from home is in our 1999 Class C Laze Daze motorhome.  We have decided this winter to spend most of the time in Arizona.  We love all the State parks and Regional parks in Arizona.  Our favorite places to camp and park the Lazy Daze are Lost Dutchman State Park, Catalina State Park, McDowell Mountain Regional Park, and Cave Creek Regional Park.  We have stayed at all of these places this winter and plan to be in Patagonia Lake State Park, Organ Pipe National Park, and Deadhorse Ranch State Park in March and April.  We are also planning to do a short backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon in March.  

Most of you are aware that I post MANY of my photos to my Facebook page.  I am going to try and do a much better job of posting to my blog and including pictures here.  I would like to get to the point where this is a blog that travelers/hikers/adventurers/ backpackers would like to read AND also see many of my photos.  That is my goal.  

My biggest "problem" writing the blog is that I love to be outside hiking, mountain biking, taking pictures, camping, and backpacking.  I haven't learned how to sit still long enough to actually take the time to write about all our fun adventures and share the stories and pictures.  That is what I want to start doing now.  I have found many travel/adventure blogs that I like to follow.  Now I am hoping I can make my blog be one of those that people will want to read.