Adventure 379: Phoenix, AZ/Covered Wagon RV/Post A

Our homey home for the week: site #41.

We scrambled out onto I-10 just about nine this morning after a pleasant breakfast with our friends, the Krals. We jostled our way to Phoenix, safely navigating around the big dogs, the speedy dogs, the lazy dogs, and the rabid dogs. Fortunately, we didn't encounter too many rabid dog drivers in such a hurry as to be unsafe companions. We arrived at the Covered Wagon RV Park just before noon. The Covered Wagon is a venerable park mostly likely established in the fifties. In many ways it's tired and dated. In other, more important ways, it's quaint and homey. We spent a month here a couple of years ago, and that held us in good stead with Angie, the manager. The result, although she promised only an overflow spot, we're nestled in one of the prime shady spots on the side away from the freeway. She's a hard working woman, and we connected with her instantly the last time we were here. For lunch, we rushed to our favorite hole in the wall Mexican spot only to find that they are closed on Mondays. Drats! We'll make our visit on Wednesday. Tomorrow, we're hooking up for most of the day with Russ and Kathy Isaac (Judy's cousins). We're excited because they're easily as fanatical about sports as we are. It's always comfortable to hang out with like minded people. So, first we'll enjoy a spring training game (Of course we'll root for the Royals), and then we'll cheer for Kansas State against Wake Forest in a NCAA play-in game tomorrow evening. In between we'll eat. What more could an American boy dream of (Maybe catching a foul ball, and even better, a long run for our beloved Zags)? We spent our afternoon checking out the neighborhood we're scheduled to live in next winter. We looked for biking routes, churches, coffee shops, parks, eateries to try, and mostly we just tried to orient ourselves to the neighborhood. It's seems strange to plan for something a whole year out when we truly believe that tomorrow is a gift, but we'll hope and pray for the best. Our last event of the evening was checking in with the Tai Chi master I hope to study with next winter. He wasn't in tonight, but will be Wednesday evening. Hopefully, he'll be willing to take on another student. In the meantime, we enjoyed a nice dinner at the CIBO Pizza Restaurant that's very close to our proposed new neighborhood. We even got to listen to a little bit of live music, which made us miss Luchenbach, but also gave us a another opportunity to realize that our life is good, especially today.

 We had made our own lunch, which we enjoyed in the shade of our awning. We also played our daily cribbage game. Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on who you ask) the Wiley Cager won today's game, which adds to her overall winning streak. I think it's time to start getting political, or put it bluntly--put the fix in.

 I hope to learn from Master David Block, owner of this truck.

 At ninety-one degrees  today, this water was a welcome refreshment.

 This is  quite a good pizzeria.

 We shared a house salad of fresh greens mixed with cherry tomatoes  slivers of sweet onions and red peppers, generously covered with fresh shaved Regiano Parmesano, and spritzed with oil and vinegar. Excellent. 

 Thin crust pizza with light cheese, a well balanced sauce, Greek olives, artichokes and chunks of prosciutto.

If you squinted into the evening light, it was easy to imagine this bald fellow as Eric Clapton. He did a very nice job of covering the bluesman's songs. I found myself flashing back to the live oaks, the squawking chickens, the cold Lone Star beers, and the pickers who in this same time we're playing the night away in Luchenbach, Texas, a place where everybody is somebody.