Out for our morning walk...

 

We'll be heading to Phoenix this morning - Rufus wanted to get out for a walk before we go.  It turned out to be his longest walk in quite a while.

This KOA is a very nice place - nice patio areas and landscaping.  Ruf wanted to look around - here's a photo essay of some of that walk:

This flowering bush looks interesting...

 On the gravel...

Nice side-lighting...

Checking out his reflection as we walked by the exercise room...

The jungle cat out in the bush...

Taking time to stop and smell the flowers...

We came across the same couple walking their dog a couple times - they were impressed with "how good your cat does on a leash."  I explained to them that it took time and training for him to get me to the point that I "heel" when he wants to stop and smell the grass, rocks, pavement, flowers, etc... we have no destination or time-frame on our walks... it might be 3 minutes, it might be 40 minutes - his choice.  This morning was one of those 40 minute walks.

It is a beautiful morning: 66º when I got up.  Sunny and dry.  I miss the smell of "salt air" when I step outside in the morning; the desert has what my nose thinks is a "dusty" smell.  But there was a nice fragrance as we walked past the different flowering bushes and plants.

As always, Rufus is a good boy.  I thought I might have to carry him back he walked so far... but, he was still moving right along as we made our way back to the motorhome.  Besides the couple we saw twice, there were other people out walking their dogs... we exchanged pleasant "Good mornings" as we passed by each other.  One lady commented, "He's (referring to Rufus) not shy around dogs, is he?"

"Nope - he likes everybody."  We should all be as good as this boy is.

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An easy driving day from Tucson to the west side of Phoenix (Goodyear).  The GPS said it would take about 2 hours.  When the lady from the RV park called to confirm that we were coming, I told her we'd be in around noon (allowing 3 hours).  Life in the fast lane: we got stopped in traffic just south of Phoenix, before the turn off for the Loop 202...

We were stopped for over a half hour before traffic started moving slowly.  Then stopping again.  And again.  The Maps program said there was "an obstruction" - no other details.  Never saw anything.  But it ate up more than enough time so we rolled into the RV park at 11:58.

This is the place that has generally been a pain in the ass for the last 20 years or so.  Joan usually goes in here to register because there was a time in the past where I told the manager they were a pain in the ass.  Joan did not want to go in this time, so I put on my best smiley face... and the two ladies at the office were as nice as can be.  One in a row!

The manager lady told me, "If I had an additional 500 sites, I could fill them all this winter."  Nice position to be in.  I paid, brought 5 pages of paperwork to fill out and return back to the coach, and we drove to our assigned site.  We parked and started getting set up for the next month...

We are in the short term sites, due to having a cargo trailer.  They don't allow cargo trailers, except in the short term sites... so, you wind up paying more for smaller, skinnier site.  Don't get me started.

We got the bikes and the carrier off the Equinox, so we'll be able to see with our rear camera.  The whole back end of the car is loaded to the ceiling.  The next order of business later this afternoon will be unloading that into Steph and Dan's storage unit.  Tomorrow, we'll get stuff out of our cargo trailer and put it in the storage unit... if there's space.

The process has started.