We moved from Mesa on the coldest day Phoenix has seen, and arrived in Green Valley to even colder temps. It felt like we were back in the Northwest and after what we experienced in December of 2009 we were over protective of our new home. The cold spell here lasted about 4 days with temps hitting around 20 during the night with the wind blowing giving us a wind chill factor of 10. First night here we ran the heater most of the night and ran our tank almost out of propane. Called the next day to have someone come and refill and was told they come to this park only on Tuesday. With 6 days to get through, Deane hooked up a spare tank and we switched back and forth between it and the electricity from the park hookup. Electric does not seem to warm us as well as the propane and can be expensive, but when we found out this park does not charge for the electricity, we managed to stay warm and the coach did not freeze.
During the freeze, the citrus trees and the prickly pear cactus's took a hit and look pretty sick. Since the cactus are mostly water, after the freeze they are looking quite broken and droopy. The citrus trees are also looking bad, but an article in the newspaper are telling people not to do anything except pull the fruit off and let the tree recover on its own. This is Arizona, and the temperatures have warmed up so hopefull they will recover for next season.
We were invited again to Bill and Karen Woodrow's 3rd annual Superbowl party and we're not sure we will be asked back. There were two football pools and we participated in both. Deane won the first quarter on one, and I won the final on it. I also won 1 quarter on the other. We were pretty happy, but others who did not know us were a bit suspicious. Thankfully Bill and Karen have invited us over since then so there is a chance we may be invited back next year. Bill and his friends have incredible imaginations, and getting into the party demanded everyone, especially the women be screened by their interpretation of the border patrol and the TSA. http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=497685787407%3A1645554649&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
Deane finally got to meet Emily Mallory, one of my oldest friends from Washington state who resides here in Green Valley for the winter. We had a wonderful dinner with her and Deane got to hear a number of old stories. Our life style of being full time RVer's offers us the ability to connect with friends and family we have not seen for a while and otherwise may not be able to visit. We are so fortunate to be doing this and then be able to go "home" to more friends and family.
Tucson seems to have less pollution and dust so we are not seeing the extremely colorful sunsets we saw in Mesa.. There are also less clouds here, but when we do get a sunset, it circles the entire valley and is not just to the West. A really pretty phenomenon. The park we are staying at is much smaller, but does have a lapidary shop so I can finish up some of the projects I started in Mesa.
Besides seeing friends, we are back site-seeing. We have been to the Ferdinand Von Galen Titan Missile site (all I can find on this persons name, is that he is a wealthy german living in Patagonia AZ). This site is the only place in the world where the Titan missel has not been disassembled after the cold war ended, and was left as a museum. While we were on the tour, I got to sit in the commanders chair and in a simulation, turned the key that would have launched this massive missle. http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=308685787407%3A554814027&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
We also visited the annual Rock and mineral show in Tucson, and the Mission San Xavier which was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692 and is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona and filled with original statuary and mural paintings. http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=330926787407%3A1899049247&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
There is a lot to see and do here in the Tucson/Green Valley, SE Arizona area... next week we are planning a trip to Bisbee, Tombstone and Kartchner Caverns.