LUNA AND LAURIE PREPARE FOR A FEW DAYS ALONE

As anticipated, yesterday was a busy one. We drove out of Rosanna's gate at 9 am, and accomplished our first errand with ease (dropping off our defective Pressure Pro monitor at an RV park in Benson). Then we zipped over to the SKP RV park, a mile south, to dump our holding tanks.

On Monday, Odel had called the SKP park to make sure they had a dump station, that we could use it, and to discover the cost. The answers: yes, yes, and free - and we could fill up with water while we were there, too. Great!

When we arrived at the park, I went into the office to find out where the dump station was, and was told (by Shirley, while Sharon watched), that we were misinformed - only SKP's staying in the park could use the dump. I couldn't believe my ears. What? I told them about Odel's phone call the day before... all I got was "whoever told him that was wrong." Followed by "sorry".

Well, "sorry" didn't cut it. I cannot imagine any reason that an SKP park would deny an SKP member access to the dump station. We would have been happy to pay, if that was needed... but, even when I said again that we had called in advance to make sure the trip would be worthwhile, all they said was "no, sorry, hope it wasn't too far out of your way". My mouth was hanging open in surprise and dismay when I got back into Scoopy and told Odel the news, and I am still infuriated whenever I think about it. That is one SKP park we will NOT be visiting again!

Okay, okay, Laurie - calm down!

We took off out of there and headed to the dump station at the Pima County Fairgrounds, not as convenient but WAY more welcoming! We arrived there at 11 am - $5 and 15 minutes later, our tanks were clean.

From there, we called Catalina State Park and found that they had 6 dry camping sites open, no electric sites. If you snag a dry site, you can get your name on the list to move to an electric site (usually, the next day), so we decided that we should split up - I would drive the Jeep up to the park and try to get a site (the ranger said they would all be taken by 1 pm), while Odel stopped at the Triple T truck stop for fuel, then dropped by Trailer Refrigeration for an adjustment to the automatic ice maker. I don't remember ever splitting up during travel before, but we REALLY wanted to be settled in an electric site at Catalina State Park before Odel takes off for Memphis tomorrow and it seemed the only way to fulfill that wish.

Before I even got to Catalina (with the never-ending construction in Tucson, a 50-minute trip) , Odel called me: the ice maker was fixed! He wanted to know if we had a site. Well, not yet...

When I arrived, I got one of 4 remaining dry camping sites, and we put our names on the list to move to the electric sites. Odel arrived half an hour later with Scoopy, and we settled in for the afternoon.

Our friends Jeanie and Ray are here at Catalina, so we called and invited them for dinner (they were at the Tucson rodeo), then zipped off to Safeway for groceries. Dinner (grilled chicken thighs, the Sorensen's pea salad, and Safeway's fudgy chocolate cookies), wine, conversation, laughs - then we broke up to watch President Obama address Congress and to wind down from our fast-paced day.

We were up early this morning, and a little before 9 am, Loop A Host Vicky pulled up in her golf cart to tell us there was a space open in the electric sites and we could move. By 10 am, we had deployed in one of our very favorite sites (assigned to us by the wonderful Loop B hosts, who knew which sites we like). In the top photo, you can see Luna exploring one of the many trees on our site, and check out that green "grass", a good six inches longer than when we were last here three weeks ago.

By 10:30 am, we were out on the Sutherlin Trail, where I took the rest of today's photos. Just under 6 miles, it climbs several hundred feet in elevation, the change reflected in the different wildflowers growing along the trail. Water was flowing through the wash and, when we stopped at the top of the trail to admire the surrounding cactus and a little waterfall, a tiny frog jumped onto a nearby rock. Can you see it? Look just below the word "this" in the photo. It blends perfectly with the rock.

Jeanie and Ray treated US to dinner tonight - grilled salmon, green beans, and cous-cous - delicious! Though the daytime temperatures have been at least 10 degrees above average for this time of year (in the low 80's), the evening temperatures drop dramatically, for lovely cool sleeping weather. Odel is all packed and ready to go; we leave for the airport at 6 am tomorrow.

What am I going to go while he is gone? Explore to the north of Catalina State Park, hike, hoop. Start Week 5 of the 100 Pushups program (I managed 56 today when I did my "stress test"). Visit A.J.'s Market and the Encantada Shopping Center (about which I have heard so much, but have never taken the time to visit...). Shuffle and reorganize our overflowing files and prepare for tax time. Play with Luna. Eat grains and vegetables, and snack on fruit. Read. Download free MP3 files from amazon.com. Blog. Bask in sunshine (temperatures are forecast to drop back into the mid-70;s) and the pleasure of solitude, happy in the expectation that Odel will be back in just 4 days. Ah, the good life!