As I sit down to write this I see it has been almost a month since my last post. Geez time flies. We drove to Palm Creek Resort and Residences, a 55+ communitiy that is also an RV park. The drive was a bit longer than what we would usually drive, but as we were going to be staying for a month upon our arrival, Mike powered through it.
The property was huge and had a very residential feel compared to a normal "campground" environment. The sites were well spaced and Mike expertly backed in to site 585 on the corner. Upon our arrival, the ranger who took us to our site told us that we were arriving a little too late, that everyone goes back to their "summer" locations on April 1st. I guess we could have planned that better.
The resort had two resort pool areas, a pickleball complex (30+ courts) and all sorts of other ameneties. It was a mix of park model homes and RV sites. In season, Palm Creek hosts ~4000 residents. During the summer months it drops to 500 full-time residents.
Our first morning, the weather was spectacular and we headed for pickleball. We met some nice folks right away who gave us the low down on how everything worked. That served us well the rest of our stay.
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| You can see only a fraction of the pickleball courts at this complex |
It was super handy to have our e-bikes here. The park was huge and we frequently just took a leisurley after or before dinner ride around the property. There were sidewalks everywhere within Casa Grande so we took our bikes on a lot of rides outside the park as well. One Saturday we rode our bikes to what we thought was a local farmer's market. Turns out it was more of a wholesale market, but Mike scored a free spaghetti squash as they were just packing up. Bonus. The market was packing up early as they were set up on the parking lot of a church which would host a funeral in the next hour. That is an efficient use of space.
Casa Grande was mostly big box stores and some other independent retail, but I had read about the Neon Sign Park downtown. We drove down one evening to view. It was a deserted, but gitchy display of neon. The downtown of Casa Grande looked as though it had fallen on hard times and was not in any state of revitalization.
The only other remarkable thing about Casa Grande was a little hispanic market we found which sold marinated carne asada and hand made tortillas. We had a couple of authentic mexican meals from that.
Nearby Chandler, Arizona hosted a free two day Jazz Festival on our first weekend. We drove over to Chandler on a Friday night to enjoy some live music. We went a little early and had an dinner at San Tan Brewery. Mike and I shared a Cuban and a Rueben. Both were delish. We also stopped by The Stillery for a pre-concert cocktail. The music under the stars in the cool clear evening was delightful.
We are always on the look out for things to do. One Saturday evening we opted to check out the Arizona Central Raceway at the Pinal Country Fairgrounds. We arrived to a parking lot full of cars and an oval dust track. We bought our tickets and found a seat in the grandstands. It was around 7pm and the track was kind of dark. Just as we had the realization that the lights were out on the track, the announcer told us they were working on a power outage.
We hung around and watched the herculean effort to make this race happen, as they enlisted assistance from an electrian who happend to be in the crowd. About an hour and a half later, the cars rolled out onto the track for the Allstar Shoot Out IMCA Modifieds and Sport Mods - Pure Stocks - Bombers. I have no idea what any of that means but it was loud and dusty and exciting to watch. It was one of those small town local experiences that makes traveling fun.
We explored the Mesa Marketplace Swap Meet one day and stopped by the Gilbert Heritage District for lunch. It was a very cool strip of restaurants and bars. We ended up at Joe's Real BBQ. Mother Nature was beginning to turn up the heat in the afternoons so early activities are more enjoyable.
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| Gilbert Heritage District |
As our time in Palm Creek continued, more and more RV's spaces were vacated and park model homes buttoned up for the summer. The pool went from so crowded you couldn't find a seat to an almost private afternoon swim to cool off. We felt like we had the whole place to ourselves some days.
After a lovely day hike in the Saguaro National Park our first week in Casa Grande we made another trip to the the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum. It is part zoo, part hiking trail, a botanical garden and aquarium. While visiting the zoo area, I became a litte obsessed with seeing a javelina live. They were sleeping strategically under a culvert to be in the shade and not be bothered by the tourists so I did not get to see them. Disappointed. (More on that later)
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| Saguaro National Park |
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| Arizona Sonora Desert Museum |
We had a super fun day riding a UTV on Box Canyon Trail. The weather was perfect and we rode through the dust and rocks on some great trails. There was a stop along the way called Granny's Pass where folks who enjoyed motorcycle or off-roading were creatively commentorated by their loved ones after their passing. There were many irreverant and heartfelt tributes. On our way back from the canyon via Florence, AZ we stopped by Windmill Winery for a some live music under the trees, some wine and food from a Vietnamese food truck. Terrific day.
We had some windy hot afternoons during the later part of our stay which reduced outside acitivities. We worked on a few projects around the RV and I had the time to practice my guitar a bit more. We hit the pool in the afternoons to pass the time and reduce our temperature.
Before departing, we had the chance for one more outing to the Casa Grande National Monument. A very interesting archeological site located about 25 minutes from where we stayed. We watched the movie and toured the ruins. The story of Casa Grande was one of pure fortitude and true community in one of the harshest landscapes in the United States. It was a short visit, but very educational stop.
Our time at Palm Creek was over already, we were so busy, it went by in a flash. We never even made it to Tuscon or Phoenix during our stay, maybe another time.
On our last day we learned that the interstate we planned to travel on through Phoenix to Williams, AZ (Grand Canyon stop) was going to be closed in certain sections. We planned an alternate route, consulted the Truckers Atlas, hope it works for big ol' Ruth. Who sent balloons for our departure? Very thoughtful.
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