Miss Dory, Winter, 2015 - 2016
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Thursday, December 31, 2015: On New Years Eve day, we visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with our friends Gary and Jeanne. This is a mostly outdoor museum to become educated with desert animals, plants and birds. We arrived early and left late and there is still much to see and do. This is a great way to learn about all the desert plants and why EVERY ONE has a thorn. Click the photos to see another view. It's Clemson and Alabama in the Championship Bowl.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2015: Last year we went to the Fiesta Bowl because we were within driving distance of the University of Phoenix Stadium. This year we are close to the Arizona Stadium for the first annual Arizona Bowl where the Nevada Wolfpack (from the University of Nevada, Reno) will play the Colorado State University Rams. Our friend Jack went along with us. Gary and Jeanne had planned to attend but their refrigerator stopped working so they waited for the "RV Doctor". Jack showed us how to ride the Tucson Trolley to the game, it's something we will have to try again to visit the downtown area. Since my three children and three grandchildren are Reno, Nevada residents we were routing for the Nevada Wolfpack. We arrived at the stadium just as the Nevada band was marching into the stadium. I'm always routing for the band since I played trombone in the marching band in high school and college. This was our first time into the Arizona Stadium, a Pac12 team where the Oregon Ducks have defeated Arizona many times. Of course, Arizona has defeated the Oregon State Beavers many times too. In this case, the Wolfpack defeated the Rams but it was a good game to the last second with the Rams threatening when time ran out. Click the photos for additional views. |
Monday, December 28, 2015: This was a shopping day looking for Costco items, RV items, hardware items and groceries. One of the items was a replacement freshwater filter for our filtered fresh water tap. This is our fifth RV but our first fresh, filtered, water tap in an RV. Since we don't know the age of the filter, we want to change the filter. It turns out, this is a very expensive filter but good for 5000 gallons. I wasn't able to find the replacement so instead of continuing a search around Tucson, I've ordered the replacement from Amazon. Click the photo to view the filter. Arizona water is badly in need of a filter.
Saturday: December 26, 2015: What a lazy day. We watched Washington State beat Miami in the "Sun Bowl" where it was snowing. I'm sure the Miami team must have become confused with the snow.
Most of the rigs in the park have lights under their rigs, not for decoration (although it helps) but to keep the pack rats out of the wires and electronics. I know!, hard to believe, but the pack rats like to eat wire insulation and the lights keep them away. Another RVer told us to spray Pine Sol on everything to keep the rats away so I spray around the Samurai each night. Now it's time for UCLA to beat Nebraska ... Go Pac12!
Friday, December 25, 2015: Our friends, Gary and Jeanne are also visiting the Desert Trails park. We took a short hike with them into the desert around the park. Tucson Mountain Park (TMP) is nearby and a hiking trail leads into the TMP. We had Morgan so kept the hike short, she can do only 2 miles. After our hike we barbequed Salmon and combined that with an apple salad and vegetable dish plus Gary's fresh baked bread. Gwen and I spent the rest of the day continuing to clean and organize Miss Dory. There are miles of trails leading from the park and we will spend some time exploring.
Thursday, December 24, 2015: A year ago, we made a reservation at the Desert Trails RV Park in Tucson, Arizona. Our friends Jack and Carole come here every year because they enjoy the activities of the park. We are giving it a try. It was this day we decided on "Dory Limited Edition", Miss Dory for short as the name for our Dolphin. Gwen and her daughter Lesa, liked this name the best and I'm going along for the ride. Note: the front wheels are off the ground due to hydraulic leveling, much easier than the manual method I was using with the Lazy Daze. I've already moved my external propane connection to Miss Dory so you see the external propane tank under the slide.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015: After getting delivery of our Dolphin in Blythe last night, we turned around to drive back to Quartzsite, it's late, we are tired and we know a desert location where we can park for free. Everything was thrown into the Dolphin so nothing is stored and boxes are stacked everywhere. We were is such a hurry yesterday, we forgot some key items so we are on a return trip to the dealer then on to Tucson. The Dolphin drives like a dream. We are discussing a name for our new motorhome. Click the photo for another view.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015: Today is the day to trade the Lazy Daze for a Dolphin LX Model 6342 manufactured by National RV in California. Our trade did not come off without a "hitch". The dealer was late in preparing the Dolphin which made us late in transferring our gear. In the meantime, Annie (our cat) got loose and hid in the dealer lot. Most everyone of the staff came to help look for Annie. Click the photo for a view of the folks looking. When an RV is purchased by an out-of-state resident, the RV must be delivered some where other than Arizona. We had to hire a driver to drive the Dolphin to Blythe, California where the Dolphin was official delivered to us in front of a notary public. All this to avoid paying Arizona sales tax which is quit high.
