I'm sure someday we will all look back on 2020 and say "What a ride!" This year our plan was to try "high season" at Val Vista Villages in Mesa, AZ when it was full of guests. Since we were stationary, I've chosen to condense a lot of varied activities into this one post.
We missed traveling and visiting new and exciting places but this was a pretty nice alternative to all that moving around. The amenities, as I have said in previous posts, were first-rate. We had so many options to keep ourselves busy.
We both enjoyed the Core Balance classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:00. It was a great way to get the day started. The class was in the Fiesta Community Hall just across the street from our site. It literally took us 30 seconds to get from the coach to class.
On Tuesday mornings, weather permitting (and it usually was), I joined the hiking group to explore some of the many trails in the mountain parks around Mesa. The Superstition Mountains in the Tonto National Forest to our east, the Usery Mountains to our north, and more provided our group with easy hikes and beautiful views. Below is part of our group hiking the Silly Mountain Trail early in January.
Joani spent quite a few hours in the lapidary lab slicing, shaping, and polishing rocks. She had been hooked on the hobby since our first visit to VVV and had collected upwards of 300 pounds of interesting specimens during our travels knowing we would be back.
The lapidary was open 6 hours every weekday. While David hiked and played pickleball and signed up for classes, I sliced and polished my treasures.
By the end of January, my friend Glen had me interested in Mixology classes. Below we were learning all about Scotch, Whiskey, and Bourbon. Learning, of course, included a lot of sampling spirits and mixed drinks. It was exactly the kind of class one should attend in retirement even though I cannot remember a lot of what Jennifer taught us.
After several weeks of Tuesday morning hikes, I tried the more challenging trails with the Thursday morning hiking group. We usually stopped somewhere along the trail for a group photo. Between exercise classes and hiking and pickleball, I wondered if maybe I was oversubscribed but then whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger - right? I've included group shots from some of our various hikes this spring.
Kiwanis Trail at South Mountain
Mask Arch Hike
Treasure Loop Trail
One of the nice features of a low-humidity atmosphere was the color in the sunsets. It seemed like there was a beautiful, colorful sunset every night unless we had visitors, and then - nothing. Still, it was nice sitting outside with a glass of wine as the day wound down.
Joani scored some tickets to the Three Dog Night concert at Valle de Oro (another Cal-Am Park a few miles away). I think we recognized every single song they did - I did not remember they had so many hits and great songs. Only two of the members had been with the band since its inception. Interestingly, the young man on bass (Timothy Hutton) was the son of Danny Hutton (far left in the picture below) one of the band's original lead vocalists.
Hackberry Springs Trail
I do not know how Joani managed front-row seats at the Val Vista Villages Talent Show but what a blast it was. Who would have guessed there was so much talent in our park. There were so many folks with no inhibitions and a willingness to get on stage. I think I can state categorically I will never be anything but an audience member when this show returns.
A fine rendition of "Calendar Girl" performed by the men of Val Vista.
(such a reserved crowd)
Not to be outdone, the ladies performed "My Guy"
The men's synchronized swimming took the cake!
I can't believe I didn't take a video, they were hilarious!
Even though we were starting to hear more and more about the pandemic many of the groups managed to have their season closing parties. Below we attended the Lapidary party where we had a huge taco bar and all the margaritas your poor judgment would allow. We did not drink enough to get out on the dance floor but clearly many folks did.
As much as I enjoyed the Mixology classes, I did not have to have my arm twisted to attend the wine-tasting classes. Jennifer could fill an hour with everything a person could ever want to know about wine - I even managed to remember a few small facts about the fruit of the vine but mostly I (and probably the rest of the class) just enjoyed the wide selection of wines we tasted each week.
Wild Horse Pass Hike
About mid-March, the Canadians were called home and things started shutting down. Our reservations for the trip east to Georgia were canceled and we were suddenly left scrambling for a plan. We had already thought about returning for the fall special and January-March of 2021 so it made sense to just rent a site for the year (April 1st through April 1st) for just a few dollars more. This gave us some assurance we had a place to stay. Even though the crowds had thinned out drastically we still found plenty of things to keep us busy.
Site 168 in Fiesta was very nice indeed!
A beautiful new dog wash had just been completed so Sam had his inaugural bath. He loved it even though we had to lift him into the tub (his hips had degenerated to the point where he was no longer able to jump up.)
The dog wash building included a public restroom. Joani found the posting below to be humorous. I think everyone remembers the inexplicable and insane hoarding that almost instantly led to the great toilet paper shortage of 2020. This restroom was locked a few days later after someone absconded with the roll of toilet paper.
(The restroom at the dog park)
This photo (taken 4/3/2020) is a reminder of the insanity. The next time I checked the door was locked.
We found great pleasure in walking around the neighborhood to photograph the many beautiful cacti blooming within the park.
Strolling around the park photographing the various cacti is a favorite pastime.
We like Arizona's lack of bugs, but a few do survive the heat.
In early April 2020, the park made the decision to close the pools. While temperatures were only in the mid-70s, it did not take long before many enterprising residents installed their own pools as a way to beat the ever-increasing heat. We counted about 6 of these around the park - sadly, we did not know any of them well enough to be invited "poolside".
After all of the amenities closed, this became Val Vista's idea of entertaining us. I'm not complaining, they did their best.
One afternoon I ran into a neighbor, Penny. She scratched Sam's ears and we talked for a while before she told me she had to get back to packing. They had bought a house and were moving. A few days later, I pointed out their unit to Joani and told her it would soon be for sale. She really liked the location so I went the next day to talk to Penny about their place. Joani looked at it later that day. We found it easy to rationalize that a new "home base" might be a good idea given we were driving a 21-year-old motorhome. That afternoon I told Penny "We have a deal". More about this in the next post!
I was blown away by the lot/location. Corner lot with the pool across the street. We agreed we could make all the changes we wanted on the inside (that is the fun part!)
