Saguaro National Park (& "recharging")

We left the Escapade event after it concluded but we didn't leave Tucson, Arizona.  Instead, we spent six more nights at an RV park in Tucson called Rincon Country East Resort.  Rincon Country had amazing views of the nearby Rincon Mountains.  It was also filled with cactuses that you would typically associate with Arizona.  Despite being a bit chilly while we were there, we had clear blue skies every day.  

On our way to Rincon Country, we stopped for a steak lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse.  We kept our grocery buying to a minimum because we were going to be flying to Hawaii at the end of our stay at Rincon Country and would be there for six days. 

After our five days at Escapade, we needed a little downtime to re-energize and catch up on emails, blog entries, and laundry.  Since the weather was chilly, this gave us an excuse to stay mostly indoors during our first few days at Rincon Country.  Tim also completed and filed our tax forms during this time.  

After a few days at Rincon Country, we were fully energized and rented a car for running errands and seeking adventure.  Tim did some research and scheduled an appointment to get his haircut at a salon called II Sons for Men (as in "two sons" or Tucson).  Tim thought his barber, Sisqo, did an excellent job with his hair and would consider using Sisqo again if we are back in Tucson for an extended period.  Pat got his hair cut at Sports Clips because he says his hair doesn't require a fancy barber.  

The next day, we drove to the nearby Saguaro National Park.  This was our third national park visit since beginning our fulltime RV travels.  We stopped at the Visitor's Center to get our passbooks stamped and to buy a few souvenirs.  Then, we drove the loop around the park and to some of the trails to do a little hiking.  Soon after we started our drive around the park, we left the paved loop road and drove down a dirt road to have lunch at the Mica View Picnic Area and walk a portion of the nearby Mica View Trail (0.7-mile trail) and Cactus Forest Trail (a 1.2-mile trail).  Then we drove to the trail head for the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail and hiked a portion of this 11.2-mile trail.  The views of the saguaros, the Mica Mountain, and the Tanque Verde Peak were spectacular.

At the end of our stay at Rincon Country, we drove the RV to Picacho Peak State Park, located off of I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix.  This Arizona State Park is well known for its wildflowers, which were in full bloom during our visit.  We took a hike on the Calloway Trail at the park, a 0.5-mile trail that leads to an overlook.  The Calloway trail was moderately steep but gave us some magnificent views of Picacho Peak and the wildflowers.  The only downside to the views is that the park is located adjacent to I-10, which can be seen from the hiking trails and interferes with taking great pictures.

 

 

After this hike, we returned to the RV, but we didn't stay overnight in our RV at Picacho Peak.  We were leaving our RV at Picacho Peak State Park while we flew to Kauai, Hawaii, for our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  We chose this RV park to leave our RV during our trip because it was reasonably priced and had electric hookups.  We wanted to leave the RV hooked up to electricity during our trip after our last experience of storing the RV during our cruise in February 2023; specifically, having to throw away our all of our refrigerated items and defrost the refrigerator and freezer before we left since we would not be hooked up to electricity, then spending a small fortune to restock the refrigerator and freezer. [For more details on why we didn't like that experience, see our blog entry on February 11, 2023, entitled Deep Pocket Neighbors and Wonderful Friends.]  

We still had the rental car at this point, so we drove to Phoenix, where we would be staying the night in a hotel then returning our the car before our flight left from Phoenix to Kauai, Hawaii, the next day.  We won't blog about the trip to Kauai (see our Facebook posts about this trip), so the next blog entry for our readers will be after we return from our trip and are back in the RV.

Review of Rincon Country East Resort

Rincon Country East Resort, located in Tucson, Arizona, is a gated community for those 55+ years old only.  The landscape and view are spectacular.  Uniquely, the park was split in half between sites where pets were allowed and sites where pets were not allowed.  Rincon Country has 460 sites, some of which are small houses for rent, and some permanent residents live in small houses.  In fact, it seemed to us that at least half of the sites were small houses.

Amenities included a pool, hot tub, auditorium, exercise facility, library, woodworking shop, arts & crafts room, gift shop, hiking & biking trails, tennis & pickleball courts, shuffleboard, horseshoes, bocce ball, laundry facility, and restroom/showers.  It also has recycling bins, which seems to be rare for RV parks.  

Rincon Country has various activities for those staying at the resort, including water aerobics; quilting; poker; yoga; gardening; morning coffee & donuts; and a shuttle bus that takes excursions into the city of Tucson.  Rincon Country is also located close to Saguaro National Park and the Pima Air and Space Museum.

Our RV site had full hookups and the parking area for the RV was gravel.  There was a large cement pad located adjacent to the parking area for our site that could be used to set up chairs or a grill; however, the resort had no picnic tables, grills, or fire pits located on the RV sites.  We had plenty of space between our RV and the next RV site on the passenger's side; however, the driver's side with the slide was almost abutting the permanent small house located next door.  

We really loved how beautiful the view was at the resort and how close it was to the Saguaro National Park and the restaurants, bars, and stores located in Tucson.  Since the weather was cool most of the time we were there, we didn't take advantage of the pool.  Tim attempted to sign up for one of the shuttle bus activities, a "beer tour"; however, it was already full by the time he went to sign up.  We would definitely consider returning to Rincon Country and staying longer so that we could enjoy more of what it has to offer.

Review of Picacho Peak State Park

We did not stay overnight in Picacho Peak State Park, but it was so beautiful that we wanted to write a brief review about what we experienced there.  Picacho Peak State Park is located between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, off of I-10.  Picacho Peak is a 1500-foot peak in the State Park, which you can hike to if you are in decent shape (bring hiking boots).  In the spring, visitors can get a beautiful view of blooming wildflowers, which we were lucky enough to experience on our visit.  There are many hiking trails and picnic areas in the park.  The park also offers events like guided bird walks and guided hiking experiences.

Picacho Peak State Park offers 85 sites for tent and RV camping, with electric hookups only.  For water needs, campers must use their freshwater tanks, or the restroom/showers located in the RV and tent camping area (ours was within a few minutes walking distance).  For sewer needs, there is a dump station.  Access to the sites is paved.  The park is gated, and the gate closes at 10:00 p.m. (no in or out between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.).  All sites offer a picnic table, fire pit, and grill.  The sites are cement, fairly level, and located in the desert.  What was so unique about these RV sites was that the sites were not parallel to each other (the sites were scattered in different directions) and there was a huge distance between sites.  This allowed the park to position the picnic table, fire pit, and grill, in a space located separately from the RV parking site and really felt like we had an additional space for hanging out that was all our own.  We wished that we were spending more time overnight in this park because of this unique layout and the quiet and solitude it provided.  We would definitely consider going back to Picacho Peak State Park for an actual stay of a night or two.

Newcomers at the 62nd Escapade

Leaving Las Cruces, New Mexico, we were finally off to a destination where we would be staying more than one evening.  We stopped at a Walmart to stock up on food and supplies because we were attending an event called Escapade for the next five days.  Escapade is hosted by the RV Club we belong to called Escapees, which is where we get our mail and have our domicile address.  Escapade is basically a convention for Escapees members, with seminars during the day and socials at night.  There are also vendors there, the same as you would find at any convention, including RVs for sale that you can go through to see and experience.  

Escapade was being held at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson, Arizona.  We had planned to be in Tucson a few days later but when we heard about Escapade, we compressed some of our stays in Texas and New Mexico to squeeze this event into our schedule!  There were 871 RVs at the Pima County Fairgrounds for Escapade and a total of 1,980 attendees at the event.  There were full hookup sites available for RVs, along with sites that had electrical only, and sites that had no hookups.  We chose a site with full hookups of course.  Our RV site was fairly close to the facility that had a general meeting every evening with door prizes (and entertainment on some evenings) and the area of the fairgrounds where the afternoon socials were held. 

During the five-day event, we attended seminars on Planning a Trip to Alaska (hoping to do that in a couple of years); Visiting National and State Parks in Utah (we had some of these planned for this year); Tips for Cooking in Your RV; Planning Routes for RV Travel; Maximizing Escapees Benefits; and Things to Consider When Purchasing an E-Bike.  We also made a few purchases from vendors at the event.  

Of course, we attended every afternoon social; with free beer, wine, margaritas, mixed drinks, and snacks.  On our first day at Escapade, there was a special social just for first-time Escapade attendees that we attended.  We also attended a social for a group of Escapees called Xscapers, which are mostly younger RVers who work from the road, but they welcome retired RVers like us to their group. 

The entertainment each evening included a country-western band called Few Miles South; a pop cover band called The Status Crowes; and dances and music from a Native American group called Native Spirit.  One evening our entertainment was from fellow Escapade attendees, called "Escapade’s Got Talent."

On one day during Escapade, Pat participated in an event called Dip a Chip for CARE. Escapees CARE is a charitable organization run by Escapees, whose mission is to provide a safe haven with professional assistance at affordable prices for members whose travels are permanently ended because of age or temporarily interrupted because of health problems.  The Dip a Chip event was a fundraiser where Escapade participants lined up for a taste and made donations (for CARE) to the dips that they liked the best.  Pat made a spicy Cajun Crab Dip that one reviewer called, "so delicious" (you know the reviewer was Tim, right?).  Pat's dip raised $48 for CARE.

We also made many new friends at Escapade.  Escapees has various subgroups that members can join, called Birds of a Feather.  One of those subgroups is called Stonewall, which is a group for LGBTQ+ Escapees members and their friends.  Stonewall had a meetup at one of the afternoon socials, where we made new friends in Lupe, Sky, Linda, Lisa, Brady, and Jeffrey.  We were even invited to take part in a tradition (not sure how longstanding) of packing the largest/nicest women’s restroom for a photo shoot!  We hope to meet up with these new friends somewhere down the road.  We also made some new friends at the Status Crowes concert one night when we sat and chatted all evening with Kathi and Shawn from Texas. 

Overall, we really enjoyed our first Escapade.  We look forward to attending another Escapade in the future and keeping in touch with our new friends.

Review of The RV Park At the Pima County Fairgrounds

Pima County Fairgrounds, located in Tucson, Arizona, has an annual fair, but also hosts many other events (like Escapade) and concerts.  Facilities include four buildings (including a large convention space and a large auditorium), an outdoor park, RV and camping space, stage and concert areas, and a large equestrian facility.  There were also food trucks and an indoor bar available while we were there, but it isn’t clear if these are available outside of events held at the Fairgrounds.  The Fairgrounds has beautiful mountain views and great sunset viewing.   

There are over 400 RV sites available at the Pima County Fairgrounds.  The sites include full and partial hookups or dry camping.  The website states that the Fairgrounds doesn’t take reservations except for events hosted at the Fairgrounds but it also states that it is open year-round.  In reaching out to Pima County Fairgrounds for more information, they stated that RV sites are available on a first come, first served basis, except when there is an event happening at the Fairgrounds.  

The RV parking area includes a dog park, laundry room, dump station (if you don’t get a sewer hookup site), fitness and nature trail, restrooms/showers, and picnic areas.  The RV sites are on dirt and gravel, with no picnic tables, fire pits, or grills located on the sites.  Our RV site was a bit unlevel.  We probably would not choose The RV Park At the Pima County Fairgrounds for camping unless we were there for an event, as there are other outstanding RV campgrounds available in Tucson (see the next post), but we can’t imagine many county fairgrounds having facilities this nice.

White Sands National Park

Our next one-night stop was in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but on the way, we were going to pass near the White Sands National Park; so, we decided we would stop there for our second National Park visit since we began full time RV travel.  From Roswell to White Sands National Park was about a 2.5-hour drive crossing through the Sierra Blanca Mountain Range.  There were some fairly steep sections that slowed us down to a maximum speed of about 45 mph, but the RV handled it well.  To our surprise, as we reached the higher elevations around Ruidoso, it began to snow.  We thought we had missed snow altogether this winter since we left Brooklyn in November before the first snow, but here we were, driving through snow.  The snow was not accumulating on the road, so it wasn’t a treacherous drive; however, it was accumulating on the mountains to either side of us, so it was a beautiful site to see.

We slowly approached White Sands National Park and stopped at the Visitor’s Center to get our stamps in our Passport Books and buy a few souvenirs.  We also watched a brief film about the park and learned that the white “sand” is actually gypsum, formed from the wind chipping off pieces of the nearby mountain range and then continuing to whip at the pieces until they form a fine white sand-looking gypsum substance that cover 275 square miles of desert.  This is the largest gypsum field on earth. 

Leaving the Visitor’s Center, we drove the “Dune Drive” that loops into and out of White Sands National Park.  We stopped at the Interdune Boardwalk to take pictures, then drove on through the loop, which eventually became only a dirt road. 

The dirt road was very bumpy in some sections, and the dishes and everything else were jumping up and down in the RV, which made us extremely nervous, but we drove on slowly.  We finally arrived at the end of the loop and parked the RV so we could take in the beautiful white dunes.  We hiked up the dunes and took pictures of the white gypsum as far as the eye could see.  We could have purchased plastic sleds to slide down the dunes, as many people were doing while we were there; however, since it had turned cooler and there had been some rain in the area, we didn’t think it would be that satisfying (and we could see that others were struggling to get up speed as they sledded down the dunes).

  

...lots of sand in the RV to cleanup later...

After leaving White Sands National Park, we drove another hour to our campground for the evening, called the Hacienda RV Resort.  We arrived after the office had closed for the day, but had called ahead and our paperwork and map were waiting for us outside of the office.  Once we arrived, we did some laundry and settled in for the evening as we had another long drive to Tucson, Arizona, the next day and were leaving early in the morning.  In fact, we left the Hacienda RV Resort so early the next day the office had not even opened yet.  Office closed when we arrived and closed when we left; that’s how short our stay was there.

Review of Hacienda RV Resort

Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is located directly off of Interstate 10.  It has approximately 113 RV sites with full hook ups.  The RV sites vary in size to accommodate small and large RVs.  The sites were made of gravel, and our site was slightly unlevel.  The sites did not have picnic tables, fire pits, or grills; however, there is a community picnic area with a burning fireplace and a community room with an indoor fireplace.  The Hacienda RV Resort has restroom/shower facilities and a laundry room.  It doesn’t have a pool, but it has a large hot tub.  There is also a workout facility, an events room, and a gift shop.  

The Hacienda RV Resort is located within the city of Las Cruces and is a short drive (2 or 3 miles) to shopping, restaurants and bars; and of course, is only an hour drive to White Sands National Park.  Since we only stayed one night, we did not have an opportunity to take advantage of any of the Resort amenities other than the laundry room, but we would consider staying at the Hacienda RV Resort again if we were in the area.