Summer Camp at
Tucson’s Desert Trails RV Park
February 16–March 16, 2011
Preface
What follows may appear to be a blatant commercial
for an RV park. We hope not to appear as though we’re gushing. The
truth is Desert
Trails is much more than a place to park your RV. It’s an
experience for people who enjoy the company of others who are, like
themselves, active, creative, talented, and welcoming. It’s a summer
camp in the winter for
adults who like to do things that are challenging,
stimulating, and rewarding. We can’t remember when we’ve had a true
vacation and so much fun. Next year we are planning to go again. It’s
that
good.
Intro to Desert Trails
Last year we spent a month traveling from Death
Valley to southern Arizona following the sun and warm weather we
were
missing here in Colorado’s Front Range. Along the way, we learned of an
RV campground/park in the Tucson area that sounded interesting and,
since we were headed in that direction to visit cousins and friends
living there, we decided to stay a few days at Desert Trails. We liked
what we saw during our few days there and planned to return this year.
We left in the middle of February and met, as
pre-arranged, with cousins Carol and Ken who had arrived a few days
before us. We stayed for two weeks, enjoying biking, afternoon cards,
visiting other cousins in Tucson and Sierra Vista, happy hours in the
afternoons, and dinners together. Carol and Ken left after two weeks,
but we enjoyed ourselves so much that stayed for two more weeks. Before
we departed for home, we left a deposit for next
winter.
[Along with our
deposit, we left a list of preferred sites; we’re hoping
to get assigned space #77, a site with ample room, a little shade, a
permanent bench, and at a crossroads location where we can invite
passers-by for a drink and a chat. (See photo below of Hughes and
dogs.)
There’s no guarantee of getting a
particular place except by those who come by December and plan to stay
at least three months—but we’ve got our fingers crossed.]
Facts and Figures
Desert Trails is located about 15 minutes west of
Tucson two and a half miles north of West Ajo Highway on San Joaquin
just north of Bopp Road. (GPS coordinates: N32° 10.897, W111°
9.1124) There are at least 230 sites at Desert Trails laid out, it
would seem, without serious regard for straight lines or right angles,
perhaps to take best advantage of the “trees” and landscape
restrictions. Perhaps it’s more visually interesting. The $26 per night
includes tax, full hook-ups, wi-fi
on site, heated pool, hot tub, cable TV lounge, pool room with darts,
three-room exchange library, 24/7 ice machine, horseshoes, miniature
golf, concerts, and exercise room. (There is an extra charge is for
laundry.) Access
to a network of hiking and mountain biking trails
adjoins the property that
connects directly to the Tucson Mountain
Park and, for those looking
for a longer hike, the Sonoran
Desert Museum and Saguaro
National Park
West. Bird watching in these areas is excellent, as it is within
the
park itself. Campers must be over 40, and have no more than two dogs.
(It seems everyone has a dog, and all of them are friendly and
generally quiet.)
Reservations are essential, especially in the winter months.
There is also an extensive and attractive
smorgasbord of activities to meet everyone’s tastes and interests. Most
are
initiated
and run by campers who have an interest and round up enough other
interested campers to schedule regular events and, when necessary, use
of one of the buildings. In the course of a week, those who want to can
join a
group
for road biking, mountain biking, hiking, geocaching, shooting, sewing,
quilting, line dancing (both beginning and advanced), painting,
photography, creative writing, acoustic jam sessions, blongo,
scrapbooking, exercise classes, bean bag baseball, paper
quilting, and specialized craft classes. There were seminars,
workshops, and demonstrations on computers,
RV repairs, self-massage,
bike repair, satellite
TV, and astronomy. Cash bingo (very popular!) was scheduled
every Thursday evening, and
on Tuesday and Friday nights were concerts presented by local or
traveling
musical groups. Dances (with live
music) and occasionally karaoke were held on Saturday nights.
Pericles Wyatt is the owner of Desert Trails who,
along with his step-daughter Andrea, nurtures an
atmosphere that attracts repeat campers who come from all over Canada
and the USA to Desert Trails for 4–6 months every year. Many have come
for all or
most of the 13 years the park has been in existence. There are other
parks that may look dressier from the outside, but they lack the warmth
and soul of what has evolved at Desert Trails. Pericles is as
interesting an individual as his name: while we were there we listened
to him talk about how he left Britain, made his living at a variety of
jobs in this country, and eventually bought what was originally a water
park and converted it into Desert Trails. He started telling his life
story every other Monday morning before we got there and finished
after we left, so there are some gaps in our knowledge of his life to
date. He doesn’t “run” things (e.g., the activities) nor does he appear
to micromanage what goes on in the park. He is, however, a first rate
administrator, visible
regularly throughout the park, checking how folks are enjoying
themselves or if they have any complaints; he’s hardworking, seems to
really
enjoy people, loves the microphone and is a natural storyteller. He
also has the envious knack of instantly remembering people’s names (and
their campsite numbers). Like a good administrator, he encourages
others and provides the means make things happen; at the same time, he
takes care of the nuts and bolts of the operation—making sure the
electricity is on, the showers have hot water, toilets flush, the
wi-fi signal reaches everyone, and the like.
Our Welcome
to Desert Trails
When we pulled out of our make-shift parking area on
the side of our driveway, Hughes turned into a pile of snow about two
feet high. He simply cut the turn too sharp and the side pull-out
drawer caught the corner of the snow which caused the metal and plastic
drawer to pull out in such a way that the drawer face bent, the sliding
mechanism and frame also bent so that the drawer could not
be pushed in flush with the side of the RV. We were crushed, angry at
the mistake and upset at the thought of repairs to our otherwise
pristine vehicle. What a way to start our winter getaway! Though we
were not on a tight schedule, stopping at a repair shop would cost more
time than we wanted, so Hughes shoved the drawer in as far as he could
force it, locked the drawer in place (though it obviously still stood
out from the smooth lines of the side of the RV), and hoped nothing
would happen until we got to Tucson where we could get it fixed.
We checked the drawer at every stop on the way to
Tucson and it made the trip OK. As we registered at DT, Judy asked if
there were some heavy duty tools we might use to try fixing the
drawer. Pericles, the owner, said he would send Stan over to see what
we needed. Within the hour, Stan (a retired airplane mechanic) had come
by to look the problem over, used our tools and his ingenuity,
experience,
and muscle to do the repair so well that you’d have to look pretty hard
to
notice that there was ever something wrong with it. The drawer now
opens and closes smoothly and it fits almost like new. (It should be
noted also that by the end of the day, most of the camp knew what had
happened in our driveway two days before. Several stopped to admire
Stan’s workmanship. “We heard you
had some
trouble...”)
When we registered we also received the usual
brochures on area attractions, a map of the park along with the rules
and regs, and a listing of February’s daily activities. Since we
arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, we didn’t have much time to get set
up, eat dinner, walk the dogs, before heading to the Rec Hall for an
evening
of “Cards & Games” at 6:30, which we remembered from last year
really meant several dozen games of Mexican Train dominoes going on
simultaneously. There were a couple of table of mah jongg players. No
cards! We
also knew there would be bottomless cups of coffee and plates of
cookies laid out on one of the tables. We joined some hard playing
women who ran their “trains” cutthroat style. If we were playing for
money, we’d have lost big time. But the cookies were good and the
coffee warm
and strong. After two days on the road, we slept well that night in
spite of the coffee.
[A word about
cookies and coffee: The culture af Desert Trails places eating near the
top of the values pyramid. Whatever activity people are engaged
in, food helps to make the experience more enjoyable—the grease that
makes things run smoothly. Cookies are
served with coffee and tea at every event throughout the day; donuts
are served
Monday mornings for the Information Meetings; there are at
least two potlucks each month (sometimes there’s a reason, sometimes
there’s not); events away from the park (geocaching, biking, and hiking
trips, for example) usually wind up at a local restaurant; cookies and
coffee/tea are served at evening concerts,
seminars/talks/demonstrations,
and bingo night. Up until last year, free sodas were available 24/7
from the soda dispensers in the Oasis building, but were stopped last
year: apparently some adults responded to them like greedy teenagers,
so everyone lost out. Fair enough. In any case, it’s tough to lose
weight at Desert Trails.]
Routine
Weekly Activities
Each month Pericles puts together the schedule of
daily events for the month. This includes special events outside the
park (e.g., Tucson Gem
and Mineral Show, Indian
Pow Wow at San Xavier Mission, et al. Spring baseball games used to
be included, but all the teams that traditionally trained in Tucson,
including the Colorado Rockies, were seduced by $$ and flashy
facilities in the Phoenix area!). The one sheet of paper is jammed to
the narrowest of margins with 6–8 events each day. Monday morning
meetings (the ones with donuts) are to go over details, last minute
changes or additions to the list for that week. Here’s how we spent our
time:
Running. Judy ran every day including
the morning we woke to snow. (Not much, just a dusting and it was gone
by 10 am, but it gave folks a lot to talk about.) She usually went out
before breakfast after Hughes walked the dogs and while the dogs and
Hughes were having their breakfast. Though she did talk with one or
two others who claimed to be runners, she never found anyone to run
with. She kept mostly to the paved roads: Bopp east or west, and San
Joaquin
north or south, and went out and back. There are no shoulders along the
roads in that area, but at least there is dirt/gravel to run on and
keep
away from the speeding cars. Some days she ran in the desert on one of
the many ATV trails, even getting “lost” one day when she ended up
getting a much longer run that anticipated. The group activities
usually began between
9:00–10:00, so she was back in plenty of time to eat breakfast and, if
she wanted, take a shower.
Biking. Hughes and, while he was
there, Ken biked every day, usually in the mornings, but occasionally
in the afternoons instead or also. Like Judy, Hughes rode the two main
roads, though occasionally he would ride down to and along Ajo Highway
(which had a good shoulder). He also rode to east to
Kinney and north into Tucson Mountain
Park to the Old Tucson Studios.
(Once in the Park Kinney Road has no shoulder. The speed limit is 35
mph which most vehicles observed and most drivers were very polite
about sharing the narrow, two-lane with bikes.)
The road bike group scheduled their rides on Monday
mornings after Pericles’ Information Meeting. Twice we went into Tucson
and rode 8–10 miles along some of Tucson’s urban bike paths, winding
up at restaurants such as Sweet
Tomatoes or Magpie’s
Gourmet Pizza
for lunch. Both of these were excellent, especially Magpie’s on a hot
day eating
outside with cold beer along with great pizza. On another group ride we
went on left from Desert Trails and ended up about eight miles away at Todd’s
Restaurant at Ryan Field west on Ajo Highway. We decided not to eat
with the group that morning and instead returned to DT on our own. A
week or two later, Hughes rode out to Todd’s with another camper one
fairly warm
afternoon and had the best handmade lemonade he’s had in years.
Hiking. The hikers scheduled outings
(anywhere form 5-9 miles long) on Wednesdays, usually leaving DT about
9:00 and returning mid-afternoon. We were able to go on only one hike
with the group, a 7-8 mile jaunt on a trail to the ruins of a stone
house west of downtown Tucson lived in during the 1930s or 1940s. It
was a hot day for hiking
and the distance was underestimated by the group leaders, but there
were no complaints.
The trails adjacent to DT offer excellent hiking
through typical Sonoran Desert vegetation and we used them several
times. Our first serious venture was in search of an unusual saguaro
that had over 50 “arms.” We were given several maps and verbal
directions for what should have been a two-mile walk. The maps were
inadequate at best, misleading at worst, and the verbal directions
unclear. It turns out that we had come within 200 yards of the
many-armed saguaro and turned around in frustration. On the way back we
met a group of three campers who knew exactly where it was and they
were headed in that direction. We tagged along with them, retracing our
steps and came upon the fabled saguaro, took our pictures, and returned
on our own. We got lost on the way back and walked at least a mile
beyond the park, asked directions again. What should have been an easy
4-mile hike turned out nearly double that. We came back cranky, tore
the maps up in frustation, had a hot shower, a margarita and a glass of
wine, and a good laugh. If anyone ever wants to know how to find the
saguaro with lots of arms, there is no one better to ask than us. We’ve
been there and back!
Geocaching. We wish we’d started doing
this sooner. We had a good time learning how to use a GPS and the
internet to engage in non-competative treasure hunts. We’ve done some
here since we came home. If nothing else it’s a good excuse to get out,
hike, see
some places we might never get to without the excuse. The geocachers
gathered every other Friday morning: we paired up with another couple
and were given information about 4-6
cache sites in the Tucson area. When we found our assigned caches we
met for lunch after the others found their assigned locations.
Several years ago we got Judy a Garmin Forerunner
305 so that she could log her runs: time, pace, elevations, even
mapping her courses. Since it came with a heart monitor, Hughes used it
from time to time when he biked. Then we discovered, to our surprise
and delight, that cache location information can be downloaded from the
internet (see www.geocaching.com) to the device on her wrist and it
works as well as the more conventional devices used by serious
geocachers.
We were able to join the geocaching group just once,
going out on our maiden trip with Jack and Ada who are very
experienced. They taught us the tricks and
methods that led us to finishing our four sites in plenty of time to
get to the restaurant for lunch with the others. We practiced while we
were at DT, looking for caches that were in the Tucson Mountain Park
within a couple of miles of Desert Trails. We succeeded in three of the
four we searched for, but couldn’t find one (Tuscon Mountain Lover’s
Cache near the Ironwood Picnic Area) though we searched for nearly an
hour. When Jack asked how we did, we told him of our one failure and
learned that he hadn’t been able to find it either. A few days later we
went out with Jack and another camper and
we still couldn’t find it! A week after we got home, we got an email
from
Jack saying, without elaboration or details, that he’d found it. We’ll
try again next year.
Musical Concerts. We attended musical
performances on Tuesday and Friday nights. Not surprisingly, some were
better than others, but none was terrible. Some were families (large families) who “homeschool”
their kids and ride around the country in an RV performing at RV parks
everywhere. Their music tended toward country/bluegrass and gospel.
Others were veteran performers, often husband and wife, who follow the
families from RV park to RV park. Also with a preference for country
and gospel. Two groups, however, stood head and shoulders above the
touring groups in quality, enthusiasm, and energy: a jazz orchestra and
a mariachi band, both from local high schools. They were truly
outstanding and put on shows that brought the audience to their feet.
It was inspiring to see and hear the kind of talent that high school
kids have. Their performances were polished and entertaining. Hats off
to “Max
Mercury and the Monsoons,” from Tucson
High Magnet School and “Mariachi
Atzlan” from Pueblo
Magnet School (also in Tucson). You were outstanding in every
respect. We look forward to hearing you both next year.
Game Night and Bingo.
Those of you who know us well recognize that we are inveterate game
players, especially cards. While Ken and Carol were at the park, we
played Shanghai Rummy afternoons and evenings; after they left we
started up our ongoing gin rummy game (Judy took honors this trip,
2416–1716). However, Wednesday and Thursday nights we looked forward to
“Cards and Games” (Wednesday) and Cash Bingo (Thursday). We had hoped
to find bridge players, or at least some other folks who enjoyed cards,
but we found no takers; Wednesday nights was limited to a couple of
tables of mah jonng and several tables of Mexican Train dominoes. We
adapted and joined the dominoes players. Thursday was more engaging
since there was money (not much) at stake. We each bought five cards
every night for one dollar per card. Hughes won $19 in four
nights of playing. The “big pot” at the end of each evening was always
in the neighborhood of $200, which would have staked us to several
years of Thursday nights. Maybe next year.
Sunsets. Arizona sunsets are
simply spectacular. The reds are redder, the sky is wider, the clouds
change whimsically, and the saguaro silhouettes make every photographer
think his/hers are good enough for Arizona
Highways. We had our cameras ready at 6:00 every evening and
headed either for the 35' tower in the park or out to a desert trail.
Occasionally…
Accoustic Jam.
Hughes played guitar with some others one afternoon at the Acoustic
Jam. There were half dozen players and singers trading mostly cowboy
and country songs. A fellow hiker, Russ, brought extra guitars along
and loaned Hughes one for the afternoon. Next year he’ll bring his own,
plus his penny whistles, and join the group more often.
Hot Tub and
Swimming Pool. Ken and Hughes tried out the hot tub several
times after biking. It was effectively theraputic. When the weather got
warmer in March, Hughes used the swimming pool, which tended to be
crowded. However, he found it a great place to read: standing at the
edge of the pool with his book on the deck, dipping into the water when
he got very warm. At the pool he saw campers he’d not seen other
places. Like in any group of several hundred, some folks gravitate
toward some activities and not to others.
Exchange Library.
One of the improvements made since we were there last year was
expanding the library from several shelves in the Rec Hall to a
separate three-room building with an outside covered reading patio.
Volunteers have organized the excellent collection of varied topics
from mysteries and romances to books on travel, health, history and
other non-fiction. Hughes found a copy of John Le Carre’s Our Kind of Traitor, which just
came out last year. It’s a sign that the DT library collection is very
much up to date and that folks who use it read quality books.
Bird Watching.
Early morning and evening walks with the dogs were excellent
opportunities to see some of the more that 50 species of birds that
live in or near DT. There is at least one great horned owl that calls
home the palm trees in the middle of park; cardinals/pyrrhuloxia (it’s
hard sometimes to tell since they interbreed) are quite abundant, as
are finches, and a host of small seed eaters. Campers have put out
feeders for hummingbirds, thistles for finches, as well as suet and
seeds to attract other birds to their sites. We did not keep a list,
but we’ll bring a field guide with us next year.
[Note: There
are few animals besides birds in the park. We saw rabbits, who keep a
low profile because of the number of dogs, even though the dogs are
always on leash. One night we certainly heard—and caught a fleeting
glimpse of—a small group of javalinas who crashed through a couple of
campsites, banging loudly into the wheel well of a neighboring fifth
wheel. They caused quite a ruckus and lots of comments. Across San
Joaquin Road we often heard coyotes howling at night. There was a rumor
of a snake sighting in the park, but that went unconfirmed.]
Potlucks.
There are monthly birthday potlucks to celebrate those who have
birthdays that month. Pericles provides the cake and ice cream. There
was a potluck in February to recognize the park-wide effort by campers
who had contributed to the recylcing program this year. Pericles
contributed the hot dogs and hamburgers to feed the hundreds who
attended. Most everyone turned out for both occasions (why wouldn’t you
come?) and brought their favorite recipes. Good food, good people, and
a good time.
Dog Washing.
With a name like Desert Trails you would expect that dogs would need a
bath occasionally. The park has an excellent dog washing facility: a
table at a good height with a drain beneath; a hose and spritzer that
is always set to a perfect temperature for the dog; a chain to attach
to the dog’s collar keeping her on the table. Bring your own shampoo
and towels. We never had to stand in line to use the dog wash station,
but we were lucky. DT dogs are the cleanest anywhere.s
Informal Happy
Hours. Thank goodness there were a number of campers from Canada
and Minnesota; you could count on them to host a spontaneous happy hour
(“Hey, come on over for a drink?”) or stop by our site for a beer,
wine, or margarita and conversation before dinner. We learned a lot
from these chance meetings—where to camp in other towns, where LP or
diesel is cheapest, etc. It should be pointed out that while we were
there in February the weather cooled in the late afternoons.
Sweatshirts or more were required dress. We did wake to snow one
morning, and those who were there before us remembered that the
overnight temperature the first part of February got down to 17°.
So it was not until early March that it was warm enought to begin
having happy hours.
We
skipped…
…Craft Classes (Mondays), Quilting (Tuesdays),
Sewing (Wednesdays), Painting Classes and Photography Club meetings
(Thursdays), Paper Quilting (Fridays), Exercise Classes (Saturdays),
and Scrapbooking and Hymn Singing (Sundays at different times). We
never played miniature golf; never tried our hand at bean bag baseball;
never joined a blongo team. Hughes never pitched horseshoes, shot a
game of pool, or threw darts.We never sang (or listened) to karoke or
went to a Saturday night dance (though we did poke our noses in to hear
the music a couple of times). In some cases we were not interested
enough in the topic; in some cases there were conflicts with other
events; much of the time we were too tired and wanted to relax and read
and sip a glass of wine. After all, we had to shower sometime, and the
dogs appreciated a walk more than once a day!
Without a car we felt fairly confined to the park;
we gave ourselves a ten-mile radius, the distance we felt comfortable
riding our bikes one way. Big
Papa’s outstanding milk shakes were only five miles to the east,
near Susy’s
Shear Artistry where Judy got her hair done. As a result, we missed
out on some really fine events that took place in the greater Tucson
area while we were there, like the Festival of Books and the
Rodeo Parade,
both big deals in Tucson. We’ll take care of that problem next year.
Conclusion
We’ve been retired for twenty years and since
transplanting our lives from Ohio to Colorado we have lead full lives
as active volunteers, adventure travelers, campers, and have enjoyed
family and neighbors. After a month at Desert Trails, we realized that
in all that time we have never felt on
vacation. We’ve gone here and there, seen some awesome sights,
and had life-changing experiences. But for the first time we sensed a
difference between “getting way” or “taking a trip,” and being on vacation. We have tried without
success to articulate clearly what that difference is. We both feel
it’s real and palpable. We’ll continue to mull over what makes an
experience a vacation by taking another one next year.
If you can help clarify among “being retired,”
“taking a trip,” and being “on vacation” we’d love to hear from you.
And, we hear you ask, how did Bella and Lucy like
being on vacation? Here they are. Let them speak for themselves.