Apricity West 5

January 31, 2025 - Friday

Today was my last line dance at North Ranch. Kindhearted teacher, Cindy, arranged to end class a little early for a coconut cake, pound cake, fresh berries, and whipped cream send off! I started line dancing here 5 years ago and have learned so much and met so many terrific people.

Liz models her line dance t-shirt...

Went with Pat for a walk around the park. John and Geri came by to wish us well in our new chapter.

Later, we went to The Wild West Saloon at 4pm to meet up with this crew and have a bite to eat and drinks. Dave and Penny pulled in today for a brief time together before we leave. 

February 1, 2025 - Saturday

Beautiful sunrise on the first day of February. 

Day 126 of consecutive walks and WW tracking! I did gain a 1/2 pound this week, but, honestly, expected it to be worse! 

 

Started picking things up to get on the road Monday.  There are 21 rigs pulling in today; thankfully, they got the electricity corrected yesterday! Three 45-foot coaches pulled in together. All three of them were parked, leveled and settled within 10 minutes with their “toads” circled up like wagons in front of their appropriate owner. Amazing to watch. 

Picture 

 

Dave and Penny came over from across the street for an outdoor visit. The weather is warm this weekend - 60’s and up. 

Pat, Penny and I went for a walk around the park on a glorious sunny day. 

 

Ended up with a great gang for cocktail hour tonight. Thankfully, we were able to sit outside and discuss so many things... 

February 2, 2025 - Sunday

A simply gorgeous day with sunshine and 68 degrees. Went to online church and finished up my granny square aphgan so that I could press the seams so it lays flat. I will add a granny stitch border to give it a finishing touch. 

Gary and Kathy stopped by after church to say goodbye. He has helped both of us so much with our musical growth. 

Our last-hurrah gathering around for laughs, stories, and drinks - and a little spontaneous line dance on a loose gravelly slope. Brenda and Darren, Melissa and Jim, and Glenette stopped by to say goodbye. I missed getting action shots of some of our peeps, so here are ones they provided.

Dot and Harvey

Denny and Joanne

The view from our site..

February 3, 2025 - Monday

Last morning rise and shine to finish the process of storing and anchoring all moving parts before hitting the road. Penny, Dave and Pat came out for one final hug before we hit the road at 8am.

As we pull out with a tear in my eye, I try to take in everything around me. This RVing thing is a new 5-year adventure for me and I can’t express how exciting, thrilling and fulfilling it has been. I have learned so much, discovered so many new places/things, and met so many wonderful people. It was a long time dream of mine to retire, travel cross-country, interview people along the way and share their stories. Someone is definitely watching over me, because that is exactly what happened when I met Rich online. Not long after we started chatting, he said, “I’m going West - do you want to come?” I was working part time as a church administrator. When I told my pastor, she said, “Well, do you want to?” I said, “Yes.” She said, “Then go for it. Don’t worry about us here - you only have one chance to live out your dreams!” That was all I needed to hear... 

 

I also always wanted to write a book. So I ended up taking a course in self-publishing, and turning the first year of my blog into a book and publishing it through Kindle Direct Publishing. It is for sale on Amazon - Finding Love Again, A Pandemic Romance by Raymonda Driscoll.

 

This decor is at the gas station heading out of town. It is all rusted metal and a perfect depiction of the lifestyle of Wickenburg.

It was an easy ride to Crazy Horse RV Park in Tucson. After we got set up, I went for a swim in the small pool and did 15 minutes of laps since it was too hot to walk - over 80 degrees. My watch tells me I burned 224 calories so I’ll consider it as part of my walking streak. Then off to sister Terri and Jim’s to reconnect and sit in their beautiful courtyard, followed by a short drive to Transplant for delicious pizza. They split wings, fries and a salad. We will be eating pizza for the rest of the week I’m sure. 

February 4, 2025 - Tuesday

I need to create a route in this small park that will give me 1.66 miles or more, so I got to it before the heat set in. I’m not crazy about walking on gravel, but that is what it is until I venture outside the park and on to the bike path about 1/2 mile away. Also noted - there is no bench to rest like at the Saguaro Park with the view of Granite Mountain. Miss you Pat and Penny. We went to get pedicures and the route takes us by the Air Force Boneyard (decommissioned planes). If you’ve seen this picture before, I apologize, but we are blown away by the magnitude of them. A picture really can’t capture the depth of it - you have to zoom in to get it.

Next we put on the new seat covers for our dinette; anyone who has been inside our motorhome knows how worn the leather was getting.

Our patio area was next to get set up. We had this site last year because there was a mixup in our reservation. They had torn down an old building and created a new site. We liked it so much (a little palo verde and openness on the road side) that we requested it for this year. 

We miss our “regulars" who knew when it was cocktail hour!

 

February 5, 2025 - Wednesday

Warmer weather this week so I walk fairly early. Rich and I tore the camper apart looking for a gift bag we brought for Terri and Jim. Oh, the things we found! One thing I have been looking for since we got here is this knee brace...

Went over to Terri’s at 2pm and had a little jam of our own. She has been practicing piano/singing and really sounds great. I processed the laundry in between things. After cocktails in the courtyard, we had dinner - roasted veggies/yams and grilled chicken breast. 

February 6, 2025 - Thursday

Another glorious day here in Tucson. Took my walk at 9am - then we went to Super Cuts on 22nd Street for Rich’s walk-in haircut. There was a Fry’s in the same parking lot and we (and our pocketbook) were blown away by this Superstore. We walked the whole store and really like the layout, full shelves, cleanliness, and customer service. I was looking down an aisle and a clerk actually asked me if he could help me find something. Then when we checked out, a supervisor told Rich he could go in this lane. He said he doesn’t like scanning items. She said, I can do that for you and she did just that with striking precision and a succinct plan of how to bag things. She was reaching in all directions to put heavy unbagged items in the cart, cold items in bags on the spinner thingy, and dry items in bags on a tray in front of her. It was cool to watch, but it didn’t help bring down the amount it co$t! 

 

Got everything put away and sat outside in 82 degrees with a cool breeze. Of course, I miss not jamming today, but went for a swim instead. Did laps for 15 minutes - trying to make up for not dancing...

Miss Maci had her first surgery yesterday and the doctor is very pleased with post-op x-rays❤️‍🩹