December 21, 2010 - January 1, 2011
We escaped the cold (left picture) and made our way south, stopping a couple of times to visit with friends and family. Our last day in California (right picture) before entering Arizona was still cold but at least we were finally dry. Click to see our escape trip or our route maps.
January 2, 2011
We made it into Arizona and officially started our vacation, commencing with five days at Buckskin Mountain State Park. The park still looks just the same as it did in 2007, though we were in a different site this time.
January 8, 2011
Our second Arizona stop was the Saddle Mountain RV Park. We had only planned to stay a couple of days but the park was nice enough that we delayed leaving for a couple more days -- and the afternoons were almost warm.
January 11, 2011
We moved down the road a couple of hours worth to Picacho Peak State Park where we spent the night before heading on to the Tucson area.
January 12, 2011
We stopped at the Desert Trails RV Park for a few days to have a look at Tucson and check out the nearby Sabino Canyon Recreational Area. As a bonus we managed to meet up with some friends who happened to be passing through.
January 15, 2011
We arrived at Patagonia Lake State Park and signed in for a one night stay as we didn't know what to expect. Once we got set up and went for a little walk, we then went back to the ranger station and extended our stay for three more nights.
January 19, 2011
We stopped at Kartchner Caverns State Park in 2007 and went on their Big Room Tour so this time we stopped to try the Rotunda/Throne Tour, as well as just spending a few days hanging out.
January 23, 2011
We returned once more to the Tombstone Territories RV Resort which still looked just the same as it did in 2007.
January 25, 2011
We stopped at Roper Lake State Park for a few days to see how it was. Nice little lake, with ducks and a few other birds around. Very quiet and rather pleasant.
January 29, 2011
The Sagebrush RV Park in Willcox was not much on ambiance but it did make for an okay stop to do some laundry and grocery shopping plus checking out the Chiricahua National Monument.
January 31, 2011
We stopped awhile in Gilbert Ray Campground so we could spend a full day at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
February 4, 2011
Moving back north a bit, and enjoying the improving weather, we stopped again at Picacho Peak State Park.
February 8, 2011
We stopped at the Tiffany RV Park in Phoenix to just spend a couple days in a big city for shopping and doing laundry.
February 10, 2011
We planned to stay at Usery Mountain Regional Park but found it full up, so we zipped over to the Apache Junction KOA, which we remembered from our 2007 tip, had lunch in Tortilla Flat and took a tour of Canyon Lake.
February 13, 2011
McDowell Mountain Regional Park was (at long last) warm.
February 17, 2011
We bypassed Dead Horse Ranch because of the lower forecast temperatures, skipping instead on to Lake Pleasant which we enjoyed on our last trip.
February 22, 2011
We were becoming inclined to start heading towards home but decided to make the excursion to Alamo Lake just to find out what it was like. It was not unpleasant but still it is unlikely we will visit it again.
February 24, 2011
We decided it was time to start heading back towards home, so we stopped for our last Arizona night at Havasu RV Resort which was rather baron and windy when we were there last. They have added a lot of landscaping and the place looks much better now (picture is from their web site), though it was expensive and was still windy.
February 25, 2011
We stopped for a night at Barstow Calico KOA, which was another repeat from our 2007 trip and still looked exactly the same, so I just copied this picture from our 2007 Arizona page.
February 26, 2011
The Backersfield RV Resort was a new place for us and seemed fairly nice. I cheated once again by taking this picture from their web site rather than taking a current one which would show lots of clouds and all the puddles cause by the recent rains. We enjoyed their on site restaurant and had a relaxing stay -- but we were getting anxious to get home so expected to proceed without any extra sightseeing.