Outdoor Resorts Rancho Calfornia

January 25, 2008

From Arizona to California - More desert! The drive to CA was dry and arid. We drove over the mountains to San Diego and then headed north to our next RV park.


Outdoor Resorts is a chain of absolutely beautiful, upper class RV resorts and they are located across the country. Sites are privately owned.

Our friends Rita and Doug Fick live in their RV at Outdoor Resorts Rancho California. Pictured is Doug and Rita's RV Site and motorhome. They own 3 sites in the park. We met Doug and Rita in Grapevine, Texas last fall while we were at The Vineyards RV park and they invited us to stay on one of their lots here in California. It was an offer we couldn't refuse. Many of the sites are upgraded with stone and brick, landscaping, fountains, washer/dryers, stoves and ovens, grills and other amenitites.

The views are spectacular. Our site is located on the hill , over the pond, with the mountain behind us. It's another paradise.

The park has a golf course, 6 tennis courts, 5 pools, shuffle board, 2 club houses, plus..... It is located about 15 miles east of Temecula, between San Diego and LA.

Thank you Rita and Doug.

Visiting Jan and Don Ballman in Casa Grande

Jamuary 20, 2008

It's great making new friends all over the country. Jan and Don Ballman are people we met at Inks lake, Texas before we started full timing. They were park hosting at the State Park. They sold their house in Texas and decided to move to Arizona. We kept in touch with them through e-mail for a few years.

When we realized they were living close to where we were staying, we were excited to visit with them. They moved into Robson Ranch in Casa Grande. It's a community for 55 and older with all kinds of activities going on. Shown are pictures in front and in back of their house.

As you can see, yard work is alot different in the desert. It's very low maintenance, but very expensive to landscape a new home. Cactus are a premium, costing a few thousand dollars for a plant that's about 10 feet tall.

We had lunch with Jan and Don one afternoon and they allowed us to play tennis one afternoon on their club courts. The courts are sunken, which makes an echo as the ball bounces. We had never played on blue courts before. We liked it.

Don and Jan also have a motorhome and we hope they will join us, maybe in Colorado sometime.

Parachuting in Casa Grande, Arizona

January 16, 2008

NO! WE DID NOT JUMP OUT OF AN AIRPLANE!!

One afternoon, a bunch of us, including Mary and Dave Spears, decided to go see some international parachuting. Very interesting, but we are not brave enough to try it. We could have if we wanted to - for $25 a ride.

Pictured is a person who took the plunge for the first time. You can see the double parachuters. The rider is holding his legs out in front of him for the landing.

It was interesting to watch the parachuters getting ready to jump, folding their chutes, practicing their formations, taking off, landing and most of all - the excitment on their faces after a safe landing. There was one man who jumped from a plane and he had only 1 leg. He took off his "leg" (a telescoping leg which attached to his upper thigh) to jump. After he landed (on his butt), he put his leg back on and walked back.

Hiking in Casa Grande, Arizona

January 15, 2008

On to new adventures..... in Arizona.

We pulled into the Fiesta Grande RV park in Casa Grande. After a windy, dusty, dry drive through desert country, we had finally arrived. There are areas of highway where the visibility is 0%.... from all the sand blowing in the wind. Luckily, we did not have one of those black outs.

Some of our friends from Fun Valley, CO are wintering here and we looked forward to spending some time with them. Mary and Dave Spears are bicycling and hiking buddies. We met them in Colorado and have been friends for a few years.

We stayed in Arizona for 2 weeks and enjoyed many activities at the park.

Of coarse, hiking is one of our loves. We hiked up one of the "mountains" close to the RV park. We are pictured standing next to some mighty big cactii with Mary and Dave.

If you look real carefully, you can see Dave and Delton hiking down the mountain. They look like little specks on the top of the mountain. They blend in with the trees.

Other activites included biking and bridge.

On To Arizona

We are now in Casa Grande, Arizona, between Tuscon and Phoenix. It's different here in the desert. Our Arizona adventure will soon be posted!