Randy and Robin's Roving Retirement

Upon leaving Tucson on June 10th, we had multiple short stops as we made our way to Colorado and then back to Seattle. On a positive note, we have finally confirmed plans to start our international adventure with La Paz, Mexico in September, followed by Costa Rica in November and December.

Here is how our last 30 days went:

We drove from Tucson to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Spent 2 nights there and drove to Denver, CO. 5 nights in Denver and flew up to Grand Forks, ND for a family memorial for Robin’s parents in Aneta. Flew back to Denver and immediately drove to Boulder for 3 nights. Then to Breckenridge, CO to spend a week at my old timeshare condo. Next drove to SLC and spent 2 nights and after that drove to Reno, NV for 2 nights. Then drove to Sacramento for 4 nights, Sunnyvale for 1 night. Left for Grants Pass, OR for 2 nights and finally drove to Seattle.

Santa Fe June 10-12

We could spend a lot more time in Santa Fe. The galleries are amazing to peruse and most are clustered together on Canyon Drive. Plenty of food options are available as well. The downtown area is enjoyable to walk and is worth more time as well.

Denver, CO June 12-17

With 5 nights in Denver, we were able to connect several times with Rick and Janet Baird, father John, and their grown children, Willie, Andy and Kimberly. Our Airbnb in Aurora, CO, was a spacious 1000 sq ft and well equipped with a full kitchen and beautiful, peaceful backyard. We used guest passes from the Bairds to spend a few hours at Life Time Fitness, an immense 129,000 sq ft facility and enjoyed a workout and swim.

North Dakota June 17-20

June 17, we flew to Grand Forks, ND with Katy meeting us at our Minneapolis layover. The three of us. stayed in Cooperstown, about 25 minutes from Aneta, where the family activities took place. We were there to lay Robin’s parents ashes to rest in the family plot next to their first daughter. It was a beautiful day and several family members made the trip to share the experience at Silent Hills cemetery. Our Airbnb was a hunters style 4 plex. Roxanne, Tom, Shirley and Darrell were in an adjacent unit.

North Dakota is also home to Minuteman Missles. Silos and launch bunkers were spread across the countryside. All were deactivated with the 1991 SALT talks. The tours are quite informative.

Turkey Days is a big deal in Aneta (population 222). Thousands come and celebrate with turkeys, a parade, car show and conversation.

Boulder, CO June 20-23

Boulder is a fun city. I moved here in 1977 after working as a ski bum in Keystone with Rick Baird. Very scenic city. We stayed 3 nights with my friend, John Givens. His wife, Gail, was out of town, so we only saw her the morning we left. We explored the Pearl Street Mall and hiked a trail in Eldorado Canyon with John.

Breckenridge, CO

I bought a timeshare condo in Breckenridge back in about 1977 and still own it today. Robin and I last used it in 2013 over Labor Day. Quite a historical old mining town, now ski resort.

Salt Lake City, UT

A short 2 night stay near the Mormon Temple and state capitol. We enjoyed walking the City Creek Mall on a hot sunny day. Temple was under renovation. Ate lunch one day at the original Crown Burgers. The Law Enforcement Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial were quite moving.

Reno, NV

Another quick 2 night stay to relax and do a little sight seeing.

Elk Grove, CA (just outside Sacramento)

We spent 4 nights in Elk Grove at a lovely Airbnb. My sister, Kathie and husband, Charlie live there , as well as my niece, Ashley and her partner, Brandon. We arrived on the 4th of July and met up with my sister for the Salute to the Red, White and Blue event at a local park for fireworks. The next day we went to Ashley’s and Brandon’s for barbecue, sun and conversation.

Sunnyvale, CA

We spent one night with Robin’s cousin, Don. His cats Leo and Miller are still wary of us, but warming up after a few visits now.

Grants Pass, OR

We spent 2 nights in Grants Pass (Merlin actually) with my OVS schoolmate Jude and her husband, Greg. Beautiful location by the Rogue River. Lots of birds around their feeders. Another amazing home cooked meal and home made wine. Robin celebrated her birthday there. Wonderful to connect with a high school friend after so long.

Our whirlwind 30 days came to a close when we pulled into Snohomish, WA on July 11th. We had a terrific month zipping around the western US, but it will be nice to settle in for the next month. We have definitely gotten our packing down and have been exposed to a variety of floor plans and furnishings in our ultimate quest for our future home.

We are in Tucson from May 13- June 10. It is great to be back in the desert. Our condo is up in the Catalina foothills where it is cooler than the central area. There is so much to do here that we are shocked. People are very friendly and the weather is excellent.

Our place is very roomy and comfortable (except the bed) and we have a hiking trail behind our building. Birds, lizards and bats are daily sights.

Reid Park Zoo

We became members of the zoo in Palm Springs as we were there 3 months and it paid for itself after 2 or 3 visits. Now we get 1/2 off at reciprocal zoos and fortunately, Tucson`s zoo qualifies. Small, yet entertaining zoo, it was easy to breeze through in 2 hours without rushing.

Turquoise Trail

The Turquoise Trail is an historic walk around Tucson, marked with a blue line with historical signs along the way. We jumped on the light rail, known as the Sun Link Tram. Normally $4.50 for a 24 hour pass, it was free due to the pandemic. We met a local couple, Al and Evelyn, as we got on the tram. They have been married close to 60 years and met in first grade here in Tucson. We parked across from Seis Mexican Restaurant (our post walk lunch destination) and took the tram to Hotel Congress. It is infamous for being the hotel where John Dillinger was arrested in 1934, but he later escaped.

Hotel Congress bar

While visiting Hotel Congress, we met Tiger, the hotel’s bartender, namesake of Tiger’s Taproom. He has worked there 60 years and his 88th birthday was May 28th.

Next along the trail we met Jerry and Randy at the train depot where we got an expert education on steam train operations.

We finally caught the tram back to Seis. We were pleasantly surprised to find Al and Evelyn on the tram.

Sabino Canyon

Sabino canyon is actually down the road from us. Our America the Beautiful National Park Pass gets us in free. One day we took the tram up and down, a 7.4 miles round trip. Another day we just hiked.

Sunset from A mountain (Sentinel Peak)

Sweetwater Wetlands

The wetlands is a man made habitat using reclaimed water. It is a short 1.1 mile loop around multiple ponds. Plenty of birds, green herons, white winged doves, Abert’s towhees and more.

Loews Ventana Canyon Resort

We are fortunate to be a short walk from a beautiful resort. There is a delightful trail on the property with educational signs describing the fauna and flora of the area. The trail ends at a scenic waterfall. We discovered that they have live music at 2 different venues on Friday and Saturday nights. Fun to get out dancing again.

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

Tucson is a very widespread city. We are living in the very north end and it can take an hour to get to the far end of town. The desert museum was a long drive through Tucson Mountain Park and abuts the Saguaro National Park West. The museum is a zoo, an aquarium, an aviary as well as a museum.

Degrazia’s Gallery of the Sun

Very large art gallery of Ted Degrazia, a Tucson legend.

International Wildlife Museum

This is an incredible museum with a huge display of stuffed animals from around the world. Very educational place with many rooms of displays.

Mount Lemmon

We heard from several sources that we should make the drive up to Mt. Lemmon. We had no idea what an incredible adventure was in store. You go from Tucson’s 2400 feet, up to over 8,000 feet at the summit. There is actually a ski area up there. As you go up in elevation, the landscape and vegetation change several times. We had lunch at the Sawmill Restaurant and bought a mountain berry/rhubarb pie at the Iron Door Restaurant.

Mission San Xavier del Bac and Tubac

We took a day trip to Tubac, an artisan colony. We stopped at an historic mission en route.

Pima Air and Space Museum

Fascinating air museum with a specific space hangar as well as thousands of planes at the boneyard. Unfortunately, the boneyard, which is on USAF property was closed. Still very entertaining and educational. Modern cafe with snacks and drinks to cool off during the Tucson heat was appreciated.

We are settled into our new condo 1 block from the beach. Lots of shops and restaurants all in walking distance. Definitely an old school California beach town. Lots to do here in San Diego area. Several sunny days, but cooler and cloudy most days. May Gray. We are glad we have 28 days to explore.

Candi and Gene drove down from Ellensburg with their trailer. We met up with them at Mission Bay at the trailer show. So nice to meet up with family while on the road.

Tijuana Estuary Wildlife Preserve

The Tijuana Estuary Wildlife Preserve is a short walk away. Several trails are accessible. It is on the Pacific skyway and hosts 350+ bird species.

Coronado is king!

We spent a day touring Coronado and the elegant Del Coronado Hotel. The white sugar sand beach as well as the shops and restaurants along Orange Avenue were a delight.

San Diego Museum of Art

We spent a fascinating day at the museum and Balboa Park. Saw works of many renowned artists, Dali, Monet, Rembrandt, and others. Beautiful grounds at Balboa Park. Delicious lunch at Panama 66, grilled cheese, tomato soup, Ceasar salad and fries.

Old Town and Ocean Beach

San Diego Zoo

What an incredible zoo! A bit spendy at $62 per person. AAA discount saved 10% though. The tour bus and the Kangaroo bus were closed due to Covid, but the Skyway was open, which saved a lot of uphill walking. We spent 5 hours and walked 15,000 steps. We did not see everything, but probably covered 80% of the exhibits.

Chance encounter with a sea lion

Tandem bike and other fun

One day we drove to Coronado and rented a tandem bike for half a day. We got a great deal $35 for 4 hours. Beautiful ride along the Bayshore Bikeway and the town on Coronado. We stopped at Silver Strand State Beach for a picnic lunch. In total, we rode about 15 miles. Afterwards, we had baby back ribs at Lil Piggy’s BBQ.

Always a pleasure to connect with friends and family while on our travel adventure. Mark, Arlene and Spencer treated us to breakfast at Tip Top Meats in Carlsbad. Afterwards, a relaxing stroll through Carlsbad Village.

Vista with Janice

I had not seen my cousin Janice in over 50 years. We met for breakfast in Vista, where she lives. What a delightful visit. She gave us a walking and driving tour. It was incredibly educational, informative and entertaining.

USS Midway Museum

We jumped on the Coronado-San Diego ferry for a minute ride to the Broadway Pier which is right next to the Midway Museum. The Midway is an aircraft carrier which served from 1945-1992. Along with a self guided audio tour, there are excellent docent talks about the catapult launches and aircraft landings.

Visit with the Altobellis

Cousin Mike Altobelli and his wife, Becky met us for lunch at Las Olas in Carlsbad. Delicious food and then a casual walk by the beach. Fun to connect with family.

Little Italy San Diego

Farewell date night and sunset

One of our last nights we had date night dinner at Sea 180 at the Pier South Hotel. Incredible Brussels sprouts and braised short ribs with an ocean view. Another beautiful sunset. Our very last night, we met with our new friends, Mike and Carolyn at their place for conversation, cobbler, wine and card tricks.

We left our beloved Palm Springs on March 1st and drove through the Mojave National Preserve to Las Vegas. The preserve had a fire in Aug 2020 and was quite eerie, yet thriving. Incredible numbers of Joshua trees were everywhere. Our new condo is off Flamingo and Buffalo, west of the strip. Most of our Airbnb’s are 1 bedroom, fully furnished and well equipped with dishes, towels and supplies. This one has a washer and dryer in the unit, so we are pleased. We love our king size Vibe bed, which is amazingly comfortable as well as the benefit that you cannot feel your partner’s movement. Another aspect of our constant relocations is that we get exposed to a variety of floor plans, furnishings and neighborhoods. This is a great help for planning our future home when we eventually settle down.

We have continued our quest for amazing almond croissants and have found several French bakeries. We just love Cardenas market and go every Friday for $5 rotisserie chickens which are so delicious that we buy 2. At our favorite non smoking casino, Park MGM, there is a section called Eataly with Italian foods. The Tricolore street pizza there is fantastic. The Vegas strip is packed these days, especially with spring break, so we are staying away and will return only on weekdays. On another note, we were able to get our 2 dose Covid vaccine next door at Walgreens.

We have a walking park across the street and have found several other pleasant parks close by. We took a glorious day trip to Boulder City. We stopped at South Nevada Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery to pay respects to my mom and dad. Next we stopped at Hoover Dam, an amazing site. We ended up at our favorite Hemenway Park in Boulder City to see the Bighorn sheep that congregate there.

One day we took a day trip and drove to an old mining town, Goodsprings. Hiked the Goodsprings Trail, a 2.2 mile loop. Uphill to a beautiful breezy view on a clear 80F day. Came back into town to find a Mad Max style car show.

Fremont Street Experience is always a fun evening. Lots of people, buskers, lights and fun.

Red Rock Canyon is free with our America the Beautiful senior pass. We enjoyed some scenic hiking trails.

We went to Zak Bagan’s Haunted Museum. Entertaining, 90 minute + tour, but expensive. Probably not advised if you have a fear of clowns, or are not curious about serial killers, exorcism, or haunted items. No photography inside, so here is all I have.

Vegas is always a fun time, but it was much more crowded than our last visit in October, especially during spring break and with the economic stimulus money in people’s hands. Now off to San Diego, where we are staying in Imperial Beach, one block from the beach 😎.

We are still in Palm Springs, having extended our stay until March 1st to ride out the pandemic in warmth. California has been closed down for a majority of our stay since November 15th, but outdoor dining has just reopened. We are spending our days hiking, walking the downtown corridor, attending the zoo, riding our vintage tandem bicycle and enjoying our pool and hot tub. The local casino has a senior day at the cafe with free pastry with a coffee as well as 50% off lunch. Palm Springs is also a great place for medical tourism and we are catching up on medical appointments. We have also connected with friends and family.

Indian Palms at Coachella Valley Preserve

Garstin Trail

Living Desert Zoo

Willis Palms

Whitewater Preserve

Our current plan is to stay in the US until after Labor Day and then head to Portugal, one year later than our original plan. If Portugal is not feasible, it might be Thailand, Costa Rica or another destination. For now, we are heading back to Vegas on March 1st for 6 weeks, then San Diego for 4 weeks, Tucson for 4 weeks and then to Denver. We will head to Seattle in July, stopping in Sacramento and Oregon en route.

Robolights! What the hell is Robolights? In a nutshell, this guy started making giant robots and post apocalyptic Christmas decorations and over decades developed an immense collection. During Christmas, his 8 million lights attracted many visitors as well as complaints from neighbors and so for Christmas 2019 and 2020 Robolights was not open. It is being moved to another location in Rancho Mirage and another location was opened in Detroit. The following pictures were taken from the outside of the compound, located in a residential neighborhood. Some of the robots are 20+ feet high. These are limited views from the perimeter and so do not reflect the full scale of the display which is no longer open to the public.

We went here a few weeks ago. Decided to get a membership as it pays for itself with 2 visits and we will be here several more months. This zoo is highly ranked, rated 10 best zoos in US by Conde’ Nast Traveler as well as in the top 1% of all attractions in the US on Trip Advisor. It was closed for a short while with new lockdown, but being an outdoor activity, wisdom prevailed and it has opened back up. In contrast to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, this zoo has many animals from sub Saharan Africa. We can’t wait for Wildlights.

What a beautiful place! Fortunately, we have our America the Beautiful National Park Pass. It gives us free entry to all US national parks and saved us $30. Joshua Tree lies at the overlap of the Mojave and Colorado deserts. Lots of hiking trails and campgrounds. For Robin, this desert treasure is truly a spiritual experience.

Another beautiful and peaceful hiking area just north of Palm Springs. Most of the preserves are free of charge to enter. Visitors centers have usually been closed due to Covid. The Canyon Loop Trail actually connects with the Pacific Crest Trail. We did not get that far this time, but we will get back there.

This is a working movie set, but with real buildings, not facades. It is located north of Palm Springs Chilly day when we were there. We had ribs (takeout) from Pappy and Harriet’s.