Casino Arizona - Talking Stick Resort

We are here at Casino Arizona in Scottsdale, AZ, staying in the Casino parking lot for a few days.  Casino Arizona has two locations, the other one is about six miles up Highway 101, and I think Talking Stick Resort is at that location. I think this location is only a casino, and this is the one where they offer free RV parking overnight.

The people are really nice here and made me feel very welcome.  I got here yesterday, and was told by a woman in the parking lot in a golf cart (an employee) that I didn't have to check in, just park in this lot and security would be by to check me in.

They were having some promotions - one was Ghostbusters. Inside the casino they were giving away free drinks, and also gifts when you earned enough points at the slots.

These are the brave Ghostbusters!

And this is the Ghostbuster Mobile.

No one ever came by, or at least they didn't knock on my door, so this afternoon I went to the security desk and checked in. I have a pass to stay here for four more days.  That's five days total.  Then if I still want to stay longer, I just have to go in and re-register for another few days.  What a deal if you are killing time like I am, waiting for my solar install appointment on Wednesday.

This was a huge blow-up figure.

The casino has a steak/prime rib restaurant,  fast food windows, and buffets.  I'll probably go over for breakfast or lunch one day, but so far I'm happy to stay in The Palms, because I'm pretty stocked up in the kitchen.

Katie has been doing well with the driving - she hasn't been sick for a long time.  Here she is last night with her chew toy for those of you who need your Katie fix!

Yesterday on the way here, I saw a Best Buy from the freeway in Phoenix and decided to try again to get a Sirius/XM radio for The Palms.  I've tried twice before, but the employees couldn't answer my questions, and the installation people weren't available to talk to me, so I was out of luck.  This time they were knowledgeable and willing to answer questions and explain the radio to me.

I ended up getting the XMp3i, which is the Portable XM Radio + Home Kit. It's not wired to The Palms, it's like an MP3 with an antenna and ear buds.  I can put it in it's cradle and plug in the cradle and then listen through ear buds OR plug it into the little iHome speakers I bought for my MP3, and it works great.  I have no problem, at least in this location, getting a good signal from the satellite. Their home speaker set-up was pretty expensive, and I got my iHome speakers really cheap at Walmart.  I'm really glad the iHome works so well.

XMp3i

If it's not plugged in, though, the battery only lasts about four hours, so that's limiting.  I bought the full package, which means I can get their stations through the radio, my android phone, or my computer.  I need the Internet active for the stations to work on the computer, of course, but I can listen to their radio stations while I surf the net or play games, anything I don't have to concentrate on.  I can take it with the ear buds on our walks, and the attached antenna should pick up the radio stations, and it will also play music and audio books like an MP3.  I have 30 days to decide if this is going to work for me, but so far I like it.

I was parked by the roadway coming into the parking lot last night, and it was still quiet during the night.  There were trees around me, and they were full of birds this morning.

These are the birds, they were entertaining to watch.

This afternoon I moved over to the far end of the lot, with a fence and field out my window.  This is actually a nice place to park. There’s a big leafless bush/tree near the fence that was full of doves when we first walked over here, and the view is really nice.

I was sitting here earlier today working on getting my Sirius radio up and running, and I was thinking about moving closer to Glendale this afternoon.  I checked on-line with all my bookmarked sites, books and lists and membership info, etc., and I just couldn’t find anything that seemed worth moving to that is close by.  I have to stay in this area because of the solar install on Wednesday, and I need to be there by 3:00 on Tuesday, so I might as well stay here. 

I've really been enjoying sunsets since I’ve been full-timing.  Tonight’s sunset started out kind of pink, and then turn a deep salmon red/orange, and in the time we walked back to The Palms, a lot of yellow was added.  We walked to the end of the parking lot to get some good shots because there are light poles everywhere and huge truck trailers parked at that end and they block the view, so we walked over the get a better picture of the sunset.  So pretty.

I don't remember a lot of pretty sunsets in San Diego, just beautiful rising moons, but maybe it's because of the way my condo was situated.  I had a clear view of the moon rising over the mountains, but the sun set behind other condos and houses up the street, and I didn't have a good view in that direction, anyway.

Here’s tonight’s sunset shots (they are exactly as shot with the "sunset" setting, I didn't manipulate them at all):

 Aren't these colors gorgeous?

From Me and Katie, have a great Saturday evening, everyone!  :)

Good morning... and goodby... and a little campground rant!

Good morning, Lake Pleasant!

Beautiful Lake Pleasant sunrise.

Good morning, Katie!

Come on, Mom!  I haven't even washed my face yet.

Every time we leave a really great campground, it's kind of sad - like saying goodbye to a friend.  We could stay longer, but I'm trying to be very frugal, especially since I've done some pretty expensive additions to The Palms:

Back-up camera
Roof vent covers
Truck Battery
Coach batteries - 12v (2)
Nikon Camera (that counts!)
Converter
Coach batteries again - 6v (2)
LED light bulbs throughout (next week)
Catalytic heater (next week)
Solar (next week)

The total is adding up, but I think the cost will be well worth it.

Here's the pre-rant:

When I pull into a campground, whether private or public, I never know if it's going to be a "hit" or a "miss."  Sometimes the campground is out of the way, but if it's a hit and the price is right, then we stay for a couple of weeks.

One thing I don't care for with campgrounds is the hope that the one we're heading toward will be a good place, especially since I'm new at this and haven't seen any of these campgrounds before, and when I go out of the way to drive to one, it's a dump and they want $25/night.  Or I just don't like the look of it, or the area it's in.  I've wasted time and gas going out of our way, just to turn around and continue on.  The on-line photos aren't always current, and the reviews are sometimes conflicting.  Of course, I see more of the area that way, but that's not always a good thing if it's getting late and I'm tired of driving.

Once I have the solar/heater installed, it will be easier and more comfortable for us to just pull off the road into free dispersed boondocking spots that are available nearby.  They will have the same wonderful views, or plants, or animals, or water nearby, but they will be free.  I was told yesterday that some RVers stay "across the street," free, for a few days, then come over here and pay for one night, recharge everything, take a long shower in the restroom shower facility, dump their tanks, fill their clean water tanks, then go back "across the street" until they need to come back for another night.  That sounds really nice to me.

Even if I'm in a Walmart or rest area for the night, not having to run my generator so much will be a real plus.

Okay, here's the rant (I haven't ranted for a while):

When I do end up at a winner campground and/or campsite, I feel like I have to reserve the site for a week or two or I might lose it. If I'm not locked in and paid for, I might not be able to extend in the same site.  And I completely understand that. If I asked for two days, they give me a site that's open for two days, and it may be reserved by another camper on the third day. If I pay for two days, someone might reserve it on-line, then I have to move if I want to extend my stay in that campground and I lose the site, and if the campground is crowded, I might be out of luck completely.

I've even paid in cash for a site for a number of days, then after the first day was asked to move to another one because someone reserved MY site on-line.  The camp host just got the on-line reservation report, and although he said there were no future reservations on the site and I'd paid cash, he later said the on-line reservation took precedence. It's kind of confusing the way the different campgrounds work their reservations.  I've even visited a campground, picked out my site for a two-week stay, then when I came back a few days later to check in, I was told they moved me to another site.

This probably wouldn't be a problem for RVers who have gone back to the same places and know where they want to be, make reservations in advance, and know exactly what they are getting. I know many of you do that and it works really well.  But for a first-timer, I'm never sure what's going to happen.  If I pay for a week or two in advance, and want to leave early, I lose the fees I've paid for the nights not used. I understand that the campground can't refund fees, they are in business, but sometimes I feel like I'm stuck when I want to move on.  And if I don't pay in advance for a period of time, then I want to stay, I might not have that option.

Do I sound like I'm whining??   Sorry about that.  I haven't whined for quite a while, and I needed that!  Sometimes it's a relief to just get it out, you know?

I'm thinking I'll have a lot more control over our destiny if I am completely self contained for longer periods, and after next week that should be the case.  If I'm in an area that allows a 14 day stay for dispersed camping, I'll pick my spot, stay 14 days then move on.  Or, if I decide it's not a good spot after a day or two, I can move on and not lose my paid up reservation.  And when I want to stay a while in a campground, I can still do that, too.

The Palms is an awesome rig.  Very simple and sweet.  And she's about to prove, with solar and a catalytic heater, just how very sweet.  I can't wait.

On a lighter note, this guy just flew over us - what a cool way to get around - wouldn't you love to fly one of these?

Click on this one for a close-up.  It's kind of funny, looks like ET with a parachute!  :)

Well, it's time to move on down the road and see what's next. If it's something blog worthy, I'll post again today.  If not, we'll see you next time.  (We're being serenaded by burros braying as I'm publishing this - so cool!) 

From Me and My Dog, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

Our last night at Pleasant Lake

WELCOME to our new followers!  I noticed the number went up but saw only one new Follower, so there must be some at the end of the Follower list without photos, and there were three that I wasn't aware of.

Welcome to Unknown (11/4)  and smeekins222  (11/5), who don't have photos or blogs or any information shown, but we're happy to have you both along with us on our adventures!

Welcome also to Jim and Gayle, who have been full-timing since 2008!  Because there wasn't a photo, Jim and Gayle were also at the end of the Followers list, but they do have a blog with their travel adventures and great photos; I enjoyed reading the last bunch of posts to catch up a bit.  They also started posting in 2008.  How have I missed your blog for this long???  Well, I'm following you now, too!  (11/6)

And Welcome to Tippy, who is still working, but looking forward to getting a van and becoming a vandweller.  She said in her profile that she found this lifestyle by accident when she found cheaprvliving, and was delighted to find people actually live this way. Good luck, Tippy!  I hope you achieve your dream!

Welcome aboard to you all, and thanks for following along with Me and Katie. :)

YESTERDAY:

Katie and I walked down the road and over to the edge of the main road to get more photos of some burros that came closer to our area.  Katie doesn't seem to like this street, it has lots of little rocks on it, and I think it hurts her little pads, because she walks really slow and carefully.  Yesterday suddenly she started walking faster, even went ahead of me.  I looked down and this is what I saw:

Smooooth sailing.  She is so funny!  :)

I got a close-up of this little one:

And this guy was totally enjoying this bush - he walked around it and munched it all over.

More birds at the faucet:

 Hello, again.

 Get off, I got here first!

 There's a bird nest in the tree next to The Palms.  I haven't seen any birds around it, though.

Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!

TODAY:

Today I took a long shower, washed my hair, cleaned the linoleum floors, vacuumed, dusted, washed some of the windows, cleaned off the bugs outside, went up on the roof and oiled my antenna, took the MaxAire kitchen vent cover off and cleaned the vent cover, checked out the roof, and then I sat in the campsite in my chair with Katie and read my Kindle for a while.  It was beautiful outside.  So nice to have everything clean before I move on to the next stop.

Katie loves napping in the sun.

View of the lake from my roof.

I haven't hooked up to the water since the faucet is so far from the electric plug-ins.  I finished up the water in my holding tank and decided to plug into the water faucet and fill it before I leave. I was going to do that on my way out, but decided to do it today at my site.  Because of the leak, the fittings were encrusted with chemicals from the water and I couldn't get the hose to screw in. I flagged down a county worker and told him, and a little bit later he was back wtih another county worker and they cleaned it up and were able to attach my hose for me.

I had to unhook the electricity and move The Palms back a little to reach the faucet with my water hose.  Now I won't have to worry about fresh water on our way out - we'll just dump the grey and black tanks, then we're on our way.  I want to check out a casino for a free stay for a few days in Phoenix.

 This Cactus Wren (thank you, Judy!) flew onto my windshield wipers, 
walked around near the front window, and flew to the ground.

If you click on him, you'll see really pretty markings.

 Another new bird (Curve-billed Thrasher - thank you heyduke50).

Thirsty bird. 

The county workers are going to come back tomorrow after I leave and change out my faucet, which is an old one.  They were surprised it wasn't already changed out.  The birds are going to miss this leaky old faucet.

These photos are from our early evening walk:

 This "flying machine" flew right over the park.

 I love these pastel sunsets.

Tomorrow we're on the road!

From Me and My Dog, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)

Solar install is scheduled! :)

I  originally planned to have a solar installation done last August in Oregon, but the company that was highly recommended, AM Solar, was booked pretty far out, and he suggested I live in The Palms for a while before I make the expensive decision to have solar installed.

Now that I've been full-timing for almost six months, I know I definitely want solar. I think I'll be much more comfortable full-timing and boondocking with solar in addition to my generator.  I want to eventually be able to boondock almost exclusively, and I'm finding I REALLY want my TV and computer on pretty much all day. 

So... I have an appointment for next Wednesday here in Glendale, Arizona with Ron at D & R Family R.V.  I've read about this company in blogs of full-timers who are pretty extreme boondockers, and have also had recommendations from Followers.   It's expensive, but I think I'll quickly recoup the cost by having the ability to boondock comfortably a lot more often I do now.

Ron is going to install a catalytic heater for me, too.  I don't have a lot of room for a hard install. I don't want to have it sticking out on a wall, which would narrow the walk ways.  There might be a place or two it will work on a wall, but I think he's going to tether it, and then when I don't need it I can stow it away.  The way Ron described it, the hookup sounds like what Tioga George has in his rig.  We'll decide when I get there next week and he sees the inside of The Palms.

Once these two things are completed, I'll be able to live off the grid in warm weather or cold weather, which has been my plan from the beginning.  I'm glad, though, that I waited to see exactly how I use my rig, and whether or not I really need the solar and heater.

I think those are the last two things on my to-do list.  Oh yeah, the Oxygenics shower head.  But that's a small mod and one I can do myself.

One of the things I love about having my kitchen in the back of The Palms is that anytime I'm in the kitchen I look out the window, and that's where I often see the animals and birds, etc. As long as my kitchen window is clean, I can get some good photos through the glass without disturbing the little critters. That was one of the first things I did when we set up here, my kitchen window was dusty and dirty, and spotted from the rain. The sun was shining on it, and I could hardly see out.  I don't always keep the windows super clean, but I was glad I did this time.  That's how I noticed the birds and ground squirrel at the leaky faucet.

This afternoon I was at the sink and looked out and here's what I saw.  The burros were on the opposite side of where my rig is than the first ones.  They just wander all over the place, there are lots of fingers of water off the lake, so they can feed and water almost anywhere in the campground. I grabbed my camera and went outside and took a ton of photos, these were among the best, the first ones are close-ups as close as I could get the zoom lens:

I was talking to a man and his son, they are down closer to the lake, and they heard the burros braying, so they went over to see them.  He said there were a few, then more came, more braying, and more came until there were 12 or 13 of them.  He said they were really noisy.  I didn't hear them, but my TV was on and I was further away.  Then they started moving along the side of the mountain until they stopped to eat, and that's where I saw them out the window.

Then I zoomed out:

So I'm looking and snapping, and there's movement at the bottom of my camera lens.  I thought there was another burro on the top of the hill on the other side of the lake, and I snapped, and enlarged the screen and here's what I saw:

I zoomed in again to see if it was a baby burro (burrito?):

And saw the coyote.  Once he climbed onto that large rock and his silhouette could be seen, it was obviously not a burro.

Howdy, pardner.

How neat is that?  I heard the coyotes calling last night, and I'm careful to keep Katie close on her leash, but I didn't think I'd ever see one.

Now I want the burros to come up the road and parade past my campsite so I can see them really close.

Speaking of critters, I'm certain my tag-along mouse is gone. I haven't seen or heard him in a long time, and I have no evidence of droppings.  He must have escaped in Las Vegas the same way he entered The Palms.  Maybe he just wanted a ride to Vegas.  Good bye, good luck, good riddance!

From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday, everyone!!  :)

Lazy day at Pleasant Lake

Katie and I just took it easy today, we took three long walks which felt really good.  Different parks offer different kinds of walks, and this park has good views and terrain for us.  Just enough hills, lots of plants to look at, and Katie loves the burro piles.  That's definitely a new smell for her.  :)

I just paid some bills, watched some TV, played some computer games and took a nap.  What a day.  I love retirement and full-timing.

Some photos from today:

 Our water faucet leaks, and the birds like that.  Can you see the bird drinking?

The move their wings like a hummer and just hang there while they're drinking.

I had fun watching them for quite a while this afternoon.

 Another drinking bird with lots of buddies nearby.

 Pretty birds - almost the same red as the faucet.

 Chipmunks get thirsty, too!

 He can barely reach the dripping faucet.

 Close up of the (I think) chipmunk?

 I love the different shapes and arms on these Saguaro Cactus.

 The Saguaro Cactus are all over the hills, I guess it's a cactus forest?

Another picture of The Palms.

The sunset reflecting on the lake - I can't get a good Eastern sunset photo because there's nothing there to photograph.  Clear sky - it's beautiful, pinks and yellows, the colors keep changing as the sun goes down - but no clouds, no trees, nothing to show except a gorgeous colorful sky.  It's much prettier on the Western side where the colors are reflecting on the lake and clouds.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Tuesday evening, everyone!  :)