Staying at a Fancy Shmancy RV Resort - Or Not?

Gold Canyon, AZ
Canyon Vista RV Resort


It is unusual for us to stay more than a week or two at any one place other than when we visit with Steve's Dad in Surprise.  So this was a first for us.  We were to be at Canyon Vista RV Resort for the month of March with our friends Curt & Glenda of Camp Lowry.  We generally prefer to be at State Parks, National Forests or boondocking.  But this month we were actually looking forward to being pampered in a full blown resort with all the bells and whistles.  There is no shortage of amenities in this Over 55 Resort or things to do here.  I was looking forward to joining the hiking club and hanging out at the pool while Steve was looking forward to the free beer at the multiple Happy Hour Get-Togethers.  And of course hanging out with Curt and Glenda.  We had lots of bike rides and hiking planned.

It was nice to be greeted by Curt and Glenda when we pulled in as well as a surprise Hello from a couple, Jim & Cheri we had met in Idaho by a chance geocache.  That blog post HERE at "Holy Taters Batman".

 

Our site.  A little closer to the neighbors than we like, but that is Flat Iron in the background! 

Can't beat the view!

One night we joined Curt and Glenda and their friends Ron & Patsy at the nice home they have here in the park.  These fancy RV Resorts are usually made up of RV spaces, and small homes.  Bob and Patsy's was gorgeous.  They come here for a few months down from Canada.

Curt, Glenda and Steve.

 

A bonus to this home is that it has a rooftop entertainment area.  What a view, again, with Flat Iron as a backdrop!  We had a nice happy hour and watched the sun set.

 

                                                         Patsy and Ron

We had a great time going out to dinner, pool time, happy hours (yes with free beer & wine) and looked forward to many plans.  Then it happened.  We have had these reservations for a year.  We try not to make reservations at all as we like to have that flexibility in this lifestyle.  Besides, we rarely know where we'll be next month, let alone next year.  Anyway...

Out for Mexican with Curt & Glenda

 

Our dog, Hurley, was not a problem when we made the reservation a year ago, but a couple neighbors complained once we were there and a big Ta-Do went on.  Let me say the management was very, very nice about it and actually came out to meet Hurley (he is a Pitbull).  They found him very personable and tried to get the anonymous complainers to come meet him.  They declined and after going over policy decided that his breed (among a few others) was not allowed at the park and that we'd have to leave.  They were very apologetic that it was not mentioned until now and we completely understood.  They let us stay about a week so we could make other arrangements as it was March and it would be very difficult for us to find another park during peak season.  They also gave us a full refund and did not charge us for any utilities.  Again, they could not have been more apologetic about things and we were happy they worked with us.  Unfortunately I could find nowhere to stay in the immediate area so we would have to cut short our time with Curt and Glenda and move further south to Tucson.  The only problem we had with their "policy" was that the rules don't seem to be enforced for everyone as there was a Pitbull directly behind us and next to us a Doberman Pincher.  Oh well.

 

Before we headed south we were able to help out at our friends, Doug & Dotty's, Salsa booth for the Salsa Challenge.  It's a great event and raises money for the Hemophilia Assoc.

It was a fun, busy weekend and Kickin' AZ Salsa took 3rd in the Hot category second year in a row!

 

Another day I decided to ride my bike to the trailhead to do a little hiking.  Curt recommended Silly Mountain Park.  Plenty of easy hiking, so I did them all!

 

 

The park is across the valley from the Superstitions.  There's Flat Iron again!

  

 

No rattlesnakes yet but lots of wildflowers.

Lots of up and down and around from one little group of hills to the next.  I even found a geocache along the way.

 

 

Lots of pretty colors of lichen on the rocks.

No getting lost here.  They are very good with their signage!  I wonder if anyone really couldn't figure out that there is a drop off on the other side?

I climbed up to one of the little peaks and off to the side, almost out of view, was a little memorial.  I see these from time to time on trails and it always humbles me.  I wonder who the person is and what happened to them and how sad their loved ones are that they are no longer here.  Then I look around, breath deep and I remind myself how lucky I am to be here.

 

Once back down, I walked through the small Botanical Garden.  It had many species of cactus, trees and flowers and their names.  One of these days I'll be able to remember them all.

 

 

Our last hike was to see the petroglyphs.  Curt took us out while Glenda was still nursing a sore ankle.

 

 

There are a few trails that branch off at the trailhead.

 

        Curt pointing to where we're headed.                                    Up there.

 

 

 

     

                                                 Small "tank" of water.

I only had my iPhone so this is as far as I could zoom in.  The balanced rock at the top is referred to as the Jay Leno Rock.  It's a bit blurry, but it does look like his profile.

 

Lots and lots of petroglyphs on the rocks.

 

It was a hot day so this late hike was very nice and the views looking back down were great!

Me, Curt & Steve

 

Ah, made it back down before sunset!  Thanks for the hike Curt!