Another year has gone by and Teri and I have been retired for 3 years now with no regrets. Neither one of us has said “I wish I had to go to work today”. It’s more like, “What are we going to do today, we have a whole day to do it”. As always we continue to find things to occupy our time and our friends help us.

Teri has been bitten by the bug to start riding her bicycle again. She fell several years ago and hit her tailbone while we were hiking in Washington. Since then it has been troublesome for her to sit for long periods of time and could not sit on a bicycle saddle. Things have improved over the years and she decided she wanted to try and ride. So we did. We took a ride down to Tempe Town Lake on the bike path. 10 miles and she felt great. It’ll be nice to have my riding partner back out with me as she builds her riding fitness.

On another afternoon we joined our friend Joe Caldwell for a day of basketball watching the ASU Sun Devils cap off a decisive win. I’m not much of a basketball fan but watching the Devils has been fun. Last month was Joe’s 83rd birthday.

Teri, Sherie, Craig and I took a day trip to Cottonwood and then a drive through Jerome. A walking tour of the AZ Copper Art Museum was quite interesting and loaded with history. The views from Jerome are amazing and you could spend hours perusing the shops.

January is also the start of the MBAA mountain bike racing season so one day while Justin and I were pre riding one of the race courses, Teri, Sherie, Craig and Darryll took off for a hike in the Lost Dutchman State Park. The weather this time of year is wonderful and it’s not necessary to get started at the crack of dawn like it will be in the summer.

So you might be asking yourself, What do retirees living in an RV park do for entertainment? Well, I’m glad you asked. There are events almost every night. Bingo, cards of all sorts, dice games to name a few but then there is always the opportunity to have a feast, a holiday meal, a chili cookoff, cake night, BBQ and potlucks. Bingo is $1 per card and folks are playing anywhere from 1 to 6 cards. A great night means you won more than you paid. A good night is when you break even. If you didn’t win a game, the socializing with everyone is worth the price. It’s always a great time for everyone to gather and share stories. Our mornings are generally taken up with a couple hours of pickleball where if folks aren’t there to play, they’re watching. It makes for a fun time. Several of the watchers said the main reason they were there was to watch Randy and I play a spirited match of singles. This is generally a best of 3 games between us and we are wiped out when we finish.

You might be thinking “How hard can these folks be playing”?! Well let me tell you. Everyone wears some type of step counter and calorie burn calculator, usually with a watch. At the end of 2 hours most everyone has close to their 10,000 steps. Normally we play doubles and switch out 2 or 4 players after each game. You would think we’re playing for a championship with some of the effort played. Twisted ankles, skinned knees, skinned noses and or pulled muscles were all part of this seasons games. There’s not a lot of patience when at the kitchen line. As Jerry is fond of saying “Someone has to hit it hard” as he either hits a winner or puts the ball into the net.

As I mentioned this was also the start of the racing season. The first race has always been a challenge for me as the heavy hitters always show up for this one. This year was a good year for me. I finished 4th of 13 in my age group. The 2nd race was a tough one and I finished 8th of 13 however I set personal records (PRs) in both races. This race saw me battling with Rob. Back and forth we leap-frogged through the race. As we rolled into the transition I jumped ahead of him and headed out on the second lap. A couple miles in he caught me and passed. I caught up to him at the top of a steep climb and was right on his wheel as we descended. As we climbed the next climb, his rear tire slipped and he had to stop. I was able to power around him and left him in my dust only for him to catch me again on the final long climb before dropping in to the finish line. We had a great competition. Races are also an opportunity to catch up with old friends such as Andy who I used to work with and his daughter and so fun to see the little ones enjoying themselves. The 3rd race I finished 8th of 11 and had another PR day.

The Arizona weather is the perfect time to be outdoors and we take advantage of it to the fullest with hiking, biking, exploring and enjoying time with friends. As many of our friends from the RV park are from out of state and just here for the winter, we do a lot of day trips as well.

One trip took us to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. An outdoor zoo where the animals are living in natural habitat. I’ve written about this museum before but as a recap, Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My. Well sort of. Mountain lions, coyotes, javelina, deer, elk, birds, hummingbirds, mountain goats, wolves, snakes, and aquatic animals are all part of the exhibits. A wonderful walk through this developed desert landscape provides a wonderful view of the life in the desert. If you go, take water and good walking shoes. The walk is not hard, but you will definitely want to spend a couple of hours walking through all the exhibits. This trip included Craig and Sherie, Eric and Rikki, Jerry and Jerri Ann, Darryll and Betty, Randy and Sue, Teri and I. Yep our usual bunch of crazies with a few missing.

Another trip took us to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. This is east on US60 towards Globe. The arboretum is a walk through forests of vegetation from around the world. I can’t begin to name all the different species of plants that are on exhibit or the countries they are from. The walk through all the loops will take you a couple hours but some amazing views. The stone house was built in th1800’s and built right into the rock wall. A family of 5 or more lived here at one time. If you don’t know about it, the southwest is rich in all kinds of amazing history.

One trip gave us the opportunity to drive the newly opened Apache Trail, SR 88 from Apache Junction to Superior on the original stage line. This is a dirt road from Tortilla Flats up over Fish Creek Hill to Roosevelt Lake and then into Superior. This is not a drive for the faint of heart and you would be hard pressed to take a passenger car as the road is on the edge of the mountain and is a rough, bumpy, rocky road. But the views can be amazing. On this day Sue, Brenda, Darryll, Craig and Sherie joined us for this adventure.

One afternoon Monique, Sue and Teri went to the Lost Dutchman Mining Museum. They had the opportunity to watch the stamp mill in action. This mill was relocated from another mine where it was dismantled, transported and then rebuilt on it’s current location. The purpose is to stamp granite into small pieces that can then be run through a filter looking for the gold. The poles are huge and heavy and when the mill is running you can feel the vibration through the ground into your feet. The history of this little museum is quite entertaining and educational. We always marvel at the ingenuity of these hard working people from the settler days.

One evening saw us at the Silver Star Dinner Theater with Craig, Sherie, Darryll, Betty, Sue, Curt and Sandy. The theme was the 70s and 80s Rock n Roll. The majority of the band looked like they were in their 70’s and 80’s. I’m joking but they were great and all played a variety of instruments. The lead female singer looked like she could have been the daughter of several of the players. The Elvis impersonator has won several Elvis look-a-like competitions and the drummer was newly acquired from a renowned artist group (I don’t remember who). What a great night and the food was delicious.

Spending the winter also gives us the opportunity to catch up with old friends and co-workers. One day I ran down to Rio Salado College to have lunch with Michael, the cafe manager. While there, my old team wandered in for lunch as well so I had a very pleasant visit with Dave, Mike, and Sam.

As we were preparing for our departure we found ourselves partying with all our crazies. One party was to celebrate the Super Bowl. This was a potluck/buffet affair with smoked meat, bbq, baked beans, chips and cheese dip, cookies, cake and more food than we could all finish. Craig and Sherie, Monique and Steve, Brett and Callie, Erik and Rikki, Darryll and Betty all joined us at our house as we watched the game. There were some die-hard fans who were a bit upset with the outcome. Sorry Chief’s fans, no 3pete this year.

For our last outing there was a chili cookoff at the park. So much delicious chili and a bit of heartburn the next day. But what better way to burn off chili is to have an ice cream social while playing pickleball under the newly installed court lights. As our final wave good bye we supplied some ice cream for everyone while we all played a couple games of pickleball.

So as I wrap up this story we can’t forget to mention Sarge. He has a love/hate relationship with the nomadic, on the road lifestyle. But he is our little guy and he makes life interesting.

We hope you’ve enjoyed hanging with us for this episode. It’s time to move on and say good-bye to Arizona for a while. Next up the story of our travels to Oregon. Thanks for traveling with us. If you have any comments or suggestions on how we can improve our stories, please let us know in the comments.

Stay Safe. John & Teri