A SUNNY SUNDAY IN TUCSON

Sunshine and calm winds? Check.
Full hookups with unlimited hot water? Check.
A huge site and great view? Check.
Refrigerator cleaned and refilled? Check.
Sunday newspaper? Check.

What else could a person want??? It was a day without plans, most of our chores completed on Saturday. The weather had dried and calmed and the temperature was on the upswing.

I took my breakfast - hot, homemade, multigrain biscuits with apricot jam and a "Cutie" clementine - outside, along with my phone. Sunday is a "free" day for cellphone use, so I made phone calls to friends and family after I finished breakfast.

We are back at Justin's Diamond J RV Park on the west side of Tucson, AZ. We totally enjoyed our two-week stay here in January, so signed up for another week when we arrived wet and muddy from Casa Grande on Friday.

We chose "Golf View Site 7", on the "golf course loop" at the back of the park, as far from the road as we can get. These sites cost a few dollars more per day than the "standard" sites. They are HUGE by typical commercial park standards, and just one row deep: no one immediately behind or across from us. Our friends Jan and Barry Kessler are next to us on one side; blog readers Grant and Kathy are beside us in site 6.

I think the complete name of this new RV park includes the words "and Golf Resort". Odel and I enjoyed watching the "golf course" develop when we were last here.

I can't imagine who came up with this idea - it couldn't have been a golfer. The "course" is the size (width and length) of ONE hole on a standard course, which means that the RV's parked across the road down each side of the course are within easy reach of any errant shot that leaves the ground. Yet it can't be considered a putting course, since the surface is dirt and pebbles, so.... ???

Now that the holes are complete, the landscaping is underway: a water hazard surrounded by cactus, and small groupings and rows of saguaros, barrel cactus, and chollas along the fringes of the course. From our standpoint, the great thing about the course is the open space, and the landscaping will be very appealing as it matures. It's a great conversation piece!

Sunday was what I consider a perfect"normal" day in our life. After a yummy breakfast, we read the Sunday paper. I put dinner in the crockpot. Friends Jim and Ellie and JoAnn and Doug were leaving for their highly-anticipated trip to Mexico, so we walked over to their sites to wish them well.

Then we headed off into the desert with Jan and Barry, walking a familiar 4 mile loop to Ironwood picnic area in Tucson Mountain Park, a county park adjacent to Justin's RV Park. This part of the Sonoran desert is PACKED with flora, and bits of green grass have sprouted courtesy of the recent warm, wet weather.

We had a late lunch when we got home, then cut each other's hair. That left just enough time for showers before we gathered for happy hour in the late afternooon sunshine behind Scoopy: Mick, Anne, Jan, Odel, Barry and me.

The sun sank down, the cold crept back, and we adjourned. A fine, fine day!