Scored our first Roadfood.com find today--Vantastic Donuts in Glendale, AZ. Tried to just buy 2, but the gal insisted I would be stupid to pay extra for two and that six was a better deal. Old-fashioned buttermilk. Yum. Also on the excellent side of the ledger: meeting up with our dear friend from Chicago. She was soaking up the 65 degree warmth after their terrible winter. We had a good time catching up tonight and supping in the nearby Toby Keith Bar and Grill. Sorta like a country Hooters. But very cute kids working there and actually pretty good food. You just had to look past the gang prevention task force at the front door.
But the big oh dear is our accommodations. Good location--only 9 miles (which is just around the corner in Phoenix terms) from our friend's hotel and the Mesa ballpark--but OMG. Over 2000 sites-- permanent mobile homes and snowbirds. Overwhelming. And claustrophobic. And not all that dog friendly. We are only allowed on 2 perimeter streets, so we can't even walk the dog and gawk, which is a fun pasttime in these crazy places. It's always fun to see how folks trick out their spots and rigs for long-term stays.
The really unfortunate part is that they mixed us overnighters in with the permanents (this hasn't been the case at the few other "resorts" we've stayed in), so we're paranoid about disturbing folks as we hook up at night.
We knew we should've stayed at the regional (or state?) park at Usery Mountain--our kinda place--but we were afraid to be so far out on the edge of town driving back each night late, or at least in the dark. We plan to head there on Sunday to get us some nature, though.
In the meantime, we expect to have a lot of fun at the Cubs' games. First one tomorrow over in Phoenix at the Brewers' home stadium--we'll be the visitors. Then Saturday we'll be closer to home at the Mesa stadium, the Cubs' "home" field. We are very excited. That'll keep us from focusing on the "worst of times" location....
Isn't it nice to be back on the road? Don't worry about the neighbors. We've been "perm" parkers for six weeks now and a little excitement at night is welcome. :)
ReplyDeleteNancy, we'd LOVE to be next to you! It's all the little houses that are crammed in so close--just a very different vibe than we're used to. There is a Navion down "the block" but mostly park models that rent for $2000 (!)/month. Lisa walked the dog this morning out the back gate and along what she says is a pretty trail--so there's hope for pleasant dog walking. We did like getting a newspaper delivered this morning, though. Too bad that the laundry facilities are about a mile away--we don't have a toad or bike, so think we'll have to find a regular commercial place so we don't have to parade our undergarments for all the inquiring eyeballs.....
ReplyDeleteThe park where we stay in town near my brothers is also huge but at least they give the overnighters their own area which is not far from the laundry. Still, we MUCH prefer Usery Mountain Regional Park. But, we park in the big one when we are going to be spending evenings with my family rather than drive out to Usery late night. That may change now that we bought a toad so we don't have to hook up in the dark at Usery every night.
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