We rolled into Tucson early afternoon yesterday and it was a fairly easy drive. The RV park in Tucson is a 55 and older community and it looks like something right out of the Stepford wives. All the little lots and lawns and front yards are perfectly landscaped some of them with rocks and cactus and gravel others with signage and statuary.

We had to take the dogs for a walk and because it was pretty hot. We tried on the little boots that we brought for them. We’ve learned that with hot and also with places where there’s a lot of stickers these little hiking boots save their paws. When trying to get them used to the boots, the instructions say do not laugh. When they put them on, their little feet and legs are jumping up like they are on marionette strings. It’s all you can do to not laugh so we try not to let them hear us and I bribed them with treats.

It’s about 200 yards to the park so we figure let’s get it. Dani lost a boot at about 20 yards and Denzel lost a boot the next 20 yards and so on. We got to the little dog park, which is all gravel and they both laid down in the gravel underneath the bench. They were not having any of it. We marched them and their happy selves back towards the RV and at one point, Dani just laid down in the gravel and said I dare you to make me move. So, I picked her up and carried her for a little bit. We tried again and dogs and booties all made it back to the RV.

We loaded everybody up in Jed and went to our friends, Carol and Jess, for dinner. They have a standard poodle named Oliver and he’s a big sweetie. However, our little hellions take advantage of his good nature. Denzel bosses him around a little bit, but they get along pretty well together. All the dogs slept like logs after chasing each other through the yard and across the living room. Our mutts make themselves at home and, as with every other time we’ve been with Oliver, they pulled out every toy he owns. Oliver sometimes plays them, but Dani and Denzel think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. We enjoyed the evening and about 10 o’clock, we realized we felt like it was midnight our time. We came back and slept solidly.

Like all good folks here, we got up at 6:00 AM and took the dogs for a nice long walk in the cool weather. After our walk, we ran errands which included getting gas, going to the store, running through the car wash, and grabbing coffee. We worked on some outside things including scrubbing several hundred miles of bugs off the windshield, mirrors, and grill. It was really nasty. I cleaned up inside and Clint is installing a tall pole for our Starlink dish.

Starlink for RV is awesome. We’ve had it for about three years and the only challenges we’ve had are in really urban areas or in places where we can’t get a clear path to the sky. We noticed that a lot of people buy poles and attach them to their back ladders and telescope dishy above the rig. It seems to be working. We will have to put him up and take him down at every stop, but at least he now has a skyward home.

Today, our friends, Janine and Bryan are stopping by. They recently bought an RV and are checking out ours. We will all join Carol and Jess for burgers and enjoy the rest of Sunday. More on Tucson later this week.

-Cheryl