All Aboard! (Summerdale, AL)

Since moving to Summerdale, our weather has been rain and more rain with flash flood warnings.  We spent most of the time around the campground.  Our entertainment has been taking walks around the park between the gully washers and of course, getting the cats out for short periods of time.

Squirrel going for a walk

Dusty has decided it isn't so bad to sit outside while it is drizzling.  I, on the other hand, don't enjoy the smell of wet fur when he comes inside.  We argued that if he goes outside, he is going to get dried off and cleaned before he is allowed to come back in.  He does a lot of protesting, but doesn't fight me too much.

Dusty - a lot of fur to argue with!

Being stuck indoors has worked out well for me.  As you can see below, I have been very productive!  All the mug rugs are ready for quilting and embellishments.  I think this is the most I have done in such a short time.

The sun finally came out earlier this week and we started to do some exploring of the area.  We did quite a bit of shopping at the Tanger Outlets Store in Foley, had a delicious veggie pizza at Mellow Mushroom restaurant, and strolled through the Foley Centennial Plaza Park.  The best part of our exploring the area was stumbling across the Foley Railroad Museum located at the city park.

I was expecting to see miniature trains displayed on shelves.  What a surprise to be see this lively little town instead!  Everyone seemed to be enchanted by the details.  Young and old.  Even a couple of teenage girls with multi-colored hair were taking photos of the train display.

They had a miniature kiddies' train going around in the park.

There was a colorful Mel's Drive-in

The carnival was in town and the Ferris wheel was going round and round.

Behind the carnival, the drive-in was showing one of  Lucy Ball's shows on the big screen.

There was a fire at the Fire Works building.  Oh, I was told not to take too close of a shot because the couple being rescued had no clothes on.  Something about being in the shower when the fire started....uh huh.

As we were getting ready to leave, I saw this guy up a tree.  That bear looks very hungry!

Last but certainly not least - there was even a hobo's camp with a fugitive still wearing his prison stripes.  So much detail!

Next stop, Eglin AFB in Ft. Walton Beach, FL.  We were stationed there in the late 80s, so it will be nice to see how it has changed.  I'm looking forward to walking on the Gulf's white sands and breathing in the salty air.

Foley Centennial Plaza Park 

 Happy Quilting!

Deer Gardener (Sutherlin, OR)

We have been busy exploring and doing some research on Sutherlin's surrounding area on I-5.  We are staying in an Escapee's SKP Co-op within walking distance of Sutherlin's downtown area.  This park is another place where we can retire from our travels and become part of a community of full-timing RVers.  

This is the spot we are renting right now.  Most of the lots are the same except for different tastes in landscaping.

The lots are big. 

The people here have been very friendly and helpful, but I still have strong mixed feelings about making this our permanent park.

View down the street

So far, we love the location: close to the Oregon's coast and the mountains with plenty to do.  It is nice to be surrounded by hills covered in green trees instead of desert sand and brush.  Just two hours away and we can be back in one of the Thousand Trail parks along the coast.  But, we will be farther away from our kids and grandkids.  

What?! Eh?! Who?! Gobble?!

We also like all the critters.  It is a regular wildlife preserve inside the park with deer, wild turkey, quail, and big jack rabbits on steroids.  We were told that cougar, bobcat, bear, raccoon, and fox have also been sighted inside the RV park as well.

On our walk yesterday morning, we spotted quite a few deer hanging around the apple trees except for one deer.

He was busy munching on the greens inside someone's fenced garden.

Deer doing his own gardening.  Taking too much off the top.

Uh, oh!  Humans!

Once we were spotted, the deer moved off towards the apple trees.  This seems to be their favorite hangout.  

No worries of apples rotting on the ground here!

One of the downsides is the town of Sutherlin.  The bad economy leaves this town struggling to keep what little business they have open.  

The only major downside to the park is the sheds.  The sheds are all the same except for 3 different colors in similar tones.  No bright or bold colors.  No individual artistic imagination allowed and no Casitas or extra living space allowed in this park.  The sheds cannot be expanded so basically they are used for storage and a few have workbenches in them.  On the upside, I will probably save money from not spending money on upgrading the shed to keep up with the others.

I can probably use the center for any large quilting project as long as I'm willing to pack it up there and clean up when I'm done for the day.  No leaving projects sitting out over night.

There are several quilt shops and quilt shows within a radius of an hour's drive.  Sutherlin actually has a small quilt shop.  Sonja's Sewing Basket is more of a sewing machine and long-arm center, but she does have fabric and some supplies.  She also schedules a lot of classes since there doesn't seem to be a quilt group here in the park.  I can always join the quilters downtown.  I have my priorities to think about, right?

Another view down the street and the back side of this lot.

We plan to visit two more parks in California and go back to Benson for one more comparison between the parks.  We can add our names to as many park's waiting lists as we want if we have the money to add our name.  I have a feeling we will make our final decision by November.

On the Cutting Board
I have been spending a lot of time in Pinterest lately.  There are so many beautiful quilts and color inspirations posted that I started a new board for just creative ideas.  With many fresh ideas in mind, I bought these fat quarters for a new wall hanging.

Inspector Hitch approves

I picked up two pink fat quarters with chocolate dots.  I'm thinking they will make a cute little cow mug rug.

The material will have to wait.  We leave Oregon on Thursday.  Time to head back south to Arizona.  Dan plans to drive until he is tired, so we are in for long days on the road.  We are due back to Patagonia on 1 November, so I don't know where I'll be when I blog again...

Happy Trails!

Working and Planning (Patagonia, AZ)

We begin our first work week today at the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve. Yep, back to work.  Well, sort of...we maintain some records, clean up, help visitors, sell passes and items from the office.  You know, just sort of keep an eye out for things to be done.  Not too hard.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Our new home is in a field near the Visitors Center and it is very dark.  A great place to see the stars.  Last night around 9:30pm while feeding the cats, Dusty, our gentle giant started to growl which made Max growl.  Suddenly, all the cats were on alert!  We used flashlights and our motorhome's docking lights (spotlights for parking in the dark), but we did not see or hear anything.  We think we got our first visit from a Javelina or wild pigs.  It took the cats some time to settle down.  They never did eat their food before we went to bed.

Anyway, Dan has sent out an explanation as to why we are looking into finding our future home.  So, without further Adieu!  Heeeeere's Dan!!!

Several people have been curious about the posts we made on our blog about the Escapees co-ops we are visiting, and how they work.

All full time RVers should have an exit plan for coming off the road for age, illness, or desire, We have had a rough plan in mind for a while, and are now firming up our exit plan. As with everything else RV related, we may change our plans, or modify them at some later date.

Our long term plan is to remain in an RV, but when the time comes to get off the road, park the RV at a SKP co-op. Escapee (SKP) co-ops are RV parks affiliated with the Escapees RV club (designed for full timers who RV 365 days a year).

Corner lot

We will buy in (lease) a lot in a SKP co-op before the time to get off the road permanently, and use it as a home-base in the meantime, perhaps staying several months a year. We want one not in a city, but near good shopping, 'maybe' a military base somewhat nearby, a VA hospital or clinic is an upside, decent medical and dental care nearby, and maybe even an assisted living facility nearby. Some freezing nights is OK, and an occasional light dusting of snow, but with decent daytime temps to walk or be outside.

The people in the co-op purchase a life time lease on a lot, and then all lease holders jointly own and operate the park, with member elected boards for decision making. They have nice community centers, community activities, and keep a clean and well operated park. The cost of the lease varies park to park, plus the cost of authorized 'improvements' on the lots such as a casita, storage shed, cement pads, etc. The co-op members help keep the park up to reduce cost of hired help.

When we buy a lifetime lease, we can sell it back early, or if we die our kids can sell the lease back. When finished with the lease, the entire lease cost is returned back to us. The only long term cost is annual maintenance fees, which pay for the community roads, community shared space and buildings/utilities.

The annual maintenance fee includes water, sewer, usually cable tv, usually wifi in at least the community center, garbage, weed control, and more. The only cost to us once we 'own' a lot is electric, propane, and the annual maintenance fee which varies park to park and year to year. Benson was $1,000 last year, so after buying the lease about $100 per month, plus our own electric and propane use.

Benson, AZ - Casita

If we travel, we can at our option, place our lot in the rental pool for other Escapees who are not co-op lease holders to rent while we are gone. The rental pool splits the proceeds, approx 1/4 to the park for overhead, approx 3/4 split by everyone in the rental pool. So overall, after an up front cost of a low of 3,000 for a bare lot in Hondo TX, to a bare lot in Benson AZ for $10,000, to a lot with a very nice Casita in a popular location perhaps $25,000 to $50,000, then thereafter $100 a month average, minus any rental proceeds we earn when we travel. (only the lot rents out, not the Casita  itself which will be locked up).

So bottom line, that is our long term plan, for a low cost way to have a home base, and a landing place when we cannot or do not want to travel either temporarily, or long term.

Benson AZ has the longest waiting list, currently around 7 years. That works for us as we want to travel right now anyway, and cannot tap our 401Ks without penalty for another 4.5 years. We put down a $500 deposit (refundable if we change our minds) to get on the list at Benson AZ Saguaro Co-op. We are number 374.

Benson, AZ - Casita

We plan to travel many more years, don't think we want the trouble of a deeded house again, and have no desire to rent. A SKP co-op gives us a community of like minded folks, a community center on site, and the opportunity to travel without worrying about our "home/homestead" as the co-op looks after it in our absence. When we are no longer capable of living in a co-op we would also be incapable of living in a house, and it will be time for an assisted living facility. A list of all the SKP co-ops and locations: http://www.escapees.com/baseco_op.asp

We still have yet to visit the Yuma AZ, Pahrump NV, Wauchula FL, or 2 California co-ops, and we want to re-visit and re-evaluate the Summerdale Oregon co-op. If we change our minds as we visit more co-ops next calendar year, we can get our $500 Benson AZ deposit back, losing only the additional $20 handling fee.

Thus far this year we visited the Lone Star Coral co-op in Hondo TX, The Ranch in Lakewood NM, Rovers Roost in Casa Grande AZ, Saguaro in Benson AZ, and 2 years ago Evergreen Coho in Chimacum WA, and Timber Valley in Sutherlin OR. Our favorites so far are Saguaro, The Ranch, and Timber Valley. FL is not a player for us, so we will skip that co-op. The Ranch is a nice friendly park, and nearby Artesia NM is pretty nice - however the co-op is out of town a good ways. The Ranch had lots available right now - no wait.

We don't recall the Oregon park very well as we were not in the market for a co-op at the time, so we plan to revisit as it this coming summer as a potential area for us. The WA co-op is not an area we are interested in. It is in the NW peninsula of WA, fairly remote, and with limited roads in and out, plus the ferry system. We doubt Yuma AZ will work for us either as we want a year around weather capable park and Yuma may be too hot in summer. For us, 'light snow' and 'a few' freeze temp nights are more acceptable than extreme heat in summer.

So in a nutshell, that is our current long term plan.

Dan

#1 Choice - Benson, AZ

So, we have been spending this last week in Benson, AZ.  We have stayed here a couple of times, but it has been awhile.  So, we have been busy driving around southern Arizona getting familiar with the area again.  We liked it quite a bit last time and what a surprise....we still do!

We drove to Davis-Monthan AFB/Tucson one day.  On the second day, we drove to Ft. Huachuca Army Base/Sierra Vista and to Patagonia to see where we would be spending our winter.  On the third day, we drove over to Casa Verde near Phoenix to see another Co-op park.  That park wasn’t as nice as the one in Benson. 

This Casita is my favorite one.

Back door

Side patio

Front overlooks the valley

After all that driving around, we decided to stay home to do a little resting and catching up on everything.  We did some walking around the park, took photos of the Casitas that we liked the best.  

The lots are very spacious and people do quite a bit of landscaping.  

Backside of our site

We were assigned a front row site and fell in love with the view.  Across the street we were able to watch a lot of different birds along with the Quail.  They really kept the cats entertained.

Time to Slow Down

We know we have not seen all of the Co-op parks yet, but we decided to get on the Saguaro SKP's waiting list here in Benson.  There are over 300 people waiting to have a site here which means it may take up to 7 years to get a site.  In the meantime, we plan to keep looking at the other parks.  We might change our minds and decide on a different park.  We can be on more than one waiting list.  We will have to wait and see.

Quails Run - Tuesday Treasury

We are in Benson, AZ sitting in Saguaro Skp Park for Escapees.  Here's a view from our front window.  Isn't it wonderful!  I know people pay hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to get this view.

I will post photos of the park's Casitas and the lots later.

So, I have been watching the Gambel Quail run around the park area.  They are keeping our cats entertained by running by the motorhome and being very noisy.  It's a good thing we are on a boat because the cats would be tilting it to one side from gathering at one window.

Male running across the street

Wait for me!

 While walking Hitch, I notice two Quails sitting on the barb wire.  First there were just the two, then there were four of them.  I realized they were watching Hitch and I.  Alerting the others by giving them warnings as we got closer.  I tried to get a photo of all four, but Hitch had other plans and yanked on the leash just as I clicked.  By the time I got him to come back to me, all four were gone.  Darn!  That's what I get for trying to take bird pictures with a cat on the leash!

Here's my Tuesday Treasury...Enjoy!

 .....stop by Aquariann's blog below to view more Treasurys