Day 19: No drive: Tucson, AZ

There was a time, and a place. And today, this was the place to spend some time.

Early wakeup cause we seem to still be on New Mexico time. Walk was relatively boring as I just did the grid of this luxury RV resort. Each section is 300 meters long and packed with millions of dollars in equipment. Pickup trucks towing huge toy hauling trailers packed with Harleys. I’m not sure other bikes are legal in this part of the US of A. On my walk I stopped to pick up a citrus fruit picker and do the paper work to move our site as we only had the previous one for one night.

While I was out Mrs Milddogs baked some cornbread. Mmm, second breakfast I have missed you!

I decided to venture over to the nearby mega RV stores to get an accessory I wanted and should have ordered from Amazon before departing. You see, while I am not the one covered in feces at tank dumping time, our black tank slider valve has a slight leak, so, some timing and careful planning is required to remain feces free. I wanted to pick up a secondary slider valve that will prevent any possible contact and help keep our camping neighbours watching their outdoor big screen TVs rather than my no poop dance. I set out on foot hoping to find my prize. Lazy Days RV has a tiny parts department and not this part. LaMesa RV has a slightly larger parts department and had the part. Only $55 or $35 more than Amazon or Camping World. Walk another km and arrive at Camping World. So many parts and accessories. But wait, where is my slider valve? Poop, it’s not with the stuff it should be near. Over to the parts counter where the nice fella confirms they have 16 in stock. He also confirms they are not where they should be. Check the back. Nope. Check the other back. Double nope. He isn’t sure why the system is full of shit. Maybe they are arriving soon. Oh well, find a hose I was looking to buy in Canada so I picked that up and walked the 2km back to our van. I did find a trail on the way back and shall try that in the morning.

While I was away, Mrs Milddogs and Amy used the fruit picker to fetch some lemons. Our previous site had a grapefruit tree and this site has a blossoming orange tree with very few mature oranges. We did manage to get one.

The campground dude had been by and asked Mrs Milddogs when we were moving to our new site. She assured him we would move by 1100. He assured her that the new site was ready and the office said we had already checked out and in. We moved at 1056.

Hook up the new hose. Lovely, it leaks. Guess where I am going tomorrow?? Hey, maybe that poop valve will be on the shelf when I return.

Mrs Milddogs hit the pool while Amy and I hung out at the van doing little projects and relaxing.

Mrs Milddogs did the laundry on her second attempt as Prunella had declared her sovereignty over all of the machines on Mrs Milddogs first attempt to do laundry. I might smell better tomorrow on the morning walk.

Good news! Laundry and Pool are adjacent.

Mid afternoon in the 28C heat we decided it was time to de-fluff Amy. It’s going to be pretty hot for the next few days in Phoenix and losing that winter coat (non-shedding dog they said) will help. Walmart clippers on the outdoor tablecloth in the van on the floor and Mrs Milddogs, Amy and 43 litres of liberated fur emerged from the van.

Dinner was prefab ravioli from Costco with pesto for me and a homemade tomato and garlic sauce for Mrs Milddogs.

Shower! I rate this secondary washroom a solid 3/10. The one close to the main office was a 7/10. I’m guessing the inspectors don’t make it this far as often.

Last night I put this together. It’s a trail of where we have been with reasonable accuracy. I think the GPS is saving GPX files, I’ll check that later. That loop in NM is real. We went clockwise. I think we are at ~6400 km now. I keep a log each day but have not digitized it yet.

Here is another screen grab. This one of the temperature and humidity in the van captured every 10 minutes. The red arrow is our departure. I like? the massive humidity drop as we got out to the desert. That might explain why my naturally youthful skin looks like like desiccated shoe leather. My feet are like the hooked part of velcro, almost impossible to put socks on. TMI?