The snowbird life...a taste of retirement

As I explained in my last post, I have been staying at my Mom's RV retirement park in Apache Junction, AZ, while she has been in the hospital. I have a good decade and a half before I hit retiring age but the last two weeks have given me a little taste of the lifestyle of an Arizona Snowbird. Here is a little photo tour.

The Happy Days sunshine logo beckons snowbirds to the park. Apache Junction is just one RV Park after another- on and on and on. The one my mom lives in is small and friendly, but there are big and fancy ones and everything in-between available.

Shuffleboard anyone?

Or a dip in the pool or hot tub?

Mountain views

Some snowbirds get pretty fancy with the yard ornaments.

Others like the Southwest theme with a burro and a sleeping Senor- or two!

RVs come in ALL sizes- great big fancy ones that are like home on wheels, and then some!

Itty bitty tiny ones that are not much more than a place to sleep.

My Mom's is a "park model" meaning it stays here year round, rather than being pulled or driven back and forth. She lives in it about 4 months a year and then returns to her home in South Dakota when it starts getting warm here.

Hope you enjoyed the tour- maybe someday you can live the "snowbird" lifestyle and enjoy the lovely Arizona winters.

The mighty Saguaro

I got my first look at the mighty Saguaro at age 12, when I visited Arizona for the first time with my parents. I was amazed at the huge cactus and the exotic landscaping of the Sonoran desert. To a kid from South Dakota this was a strange land indeed. About 15 years ago I lived in cold Wyoming and a picture of a Saguaro adorned my bulletin board- it was a dream I'd had forever to live in Tucson Arizona. I did eventually make it and after 14 years living here, I am still captivated with this harsh and beautiful desert and its plant and animal inhabitants. The Saguaro is pretty amazing, and as I've posted previously I would love to have one in my yard. I am lucky though that there are a few in my neighborhood so I don't have to walk far to enjoy them.

The Saguaro in my header picture and in the first three pictures below, is actually two Saguaros that have grown together. The one lost an arm and their main trunks are very pitted with holes but they seem pretty sturdy overall and I hope to have them standing longer than I am around to take pictures of them. The two of them leaning together look so content and harmonious don't you think?








Another neighbor has this young Saguaro in her yard. This one has no arms yet so is less than 100 years old. The large ones with more than five arms are estimated to be more than 200 years old. Can you imagine what they have seen in their lifetimes? It boggles the mind!

The pictures below are from Picacho Peak in Picacho Arizona. The southernmost battle of the Civil War was fought here and it is reenacted each year in the same spot. The Saguaros grow up the side of the hills- quite a sight!

The Saguaro blooms in May with beautiful white flowers. The ones in my header picture are closed as they are night blooming. They are pollinated by bats, insects and birds. Fruit follows the flowers. The fruit is often made into candy and syrups.

An interesting fact I found is that the Saguaro flower has more stamens than any other cactus flower and the fruit has more seeds than any other cactus fruit.

SkyWatch Friday- One sky across the border

I was down to Mexico last weekend, and took these pictures of the border fence along the Mexican American border. Mexico is on the right hand side and it appears to be a residential area with homes built up the side of the hill. At the bottom of this hill are many small shops that cater to tourists. Tucson is about an hour from the border, so a trip down to Mexico is easy to do.

Many of the houses in Mexico are patched together with a variety of salvaged building materials giving them a rather haphazard look. There is a good deal of poverty in this area, but the people you meet are some of the friendliest anywhere.

To join in the SkyWatch fun and to see beautiful pictures from all around the world visit SkyWatch.

Walls of Tucson Arizona

One of the big things on my "Wish List" is a wall around my property, to replace the chain link fence. In my travels around town I've accumulated pictures of a variety of walls around Tucson Arizona.
There is everything from a wall made out of old rubber tires and glass bottles, to a living fence wall made from the Ocotillo cactus Which is your favorite?

www.flickr.com kesslerdee's Walls Tucson Arizona photoset

Bridges and Bats

It is a spring and summer tradition to go watch the bats come out at dusk here. There are several bridges that cover dry washes- where thousands of bats are sleeping each day and at dusk they come out and fly off to feast the night away on insects and the like! The first pictures shows them flying out toward the Catalina Mountains. The other is a shot of them emerging from under the bridge. Put it on your list of must see's when you visit Tucson!