After so much time in fairly rural areas it's nice to have the amenities of a large city. We've discovered 3 (count 'em, 3!) Super WalMarts within a 10 mile radius of us! And they even have a WalMart grocery store across the street from our RV park. Mesa is the land of large RV parks and ours is no exception. There are some 700 sites here and we've heard that this place is considered "small" by local standards! Unlike most RV parks we've visited this (and the others in the area) are populated mostly with "park model" units. Basically "single wide" mobile homes. OK, it's a mobile home park! But it's a VERY NICE mobile home park. The streets are lined with palm trees, we have a large heated pool with a large hot tub next to it, a computer room with at least 20 computers and high speed internet hookups for laptops, a restaurant and tons of activities. It's not your father's RV park! We do like it here.
So far we've done several good desert hikes here. We've also ridden our bikes all over the immediate area. There's a good amount of traffic here so we're constantly on guard when crossing streets and driveways. They do have bike lanes on the roads but neither of us want to be organ donors just yet.
Ross's aunt and uncle, Shari and Chuck, live just a couple of miles down the road. We all took a side trip to Las Vegas last week for a couple of days. Fun times! We figure we lost somewhere between $10 and $20 in all. It's tough to lose a lot when you mainly play the nickel video poker machines!
Next up is a week long cruise down to Mexico out of Los Angeles. Check back here in a few weeks for an entry on that! Until then, take care and have fun!
 | Shari and Chuck at Hoover Dam overlook. A new bridge across the canyon is being built so traffic over the dam can be rerouted for security purposes. This bridge will not be for those with a fear of heights! |
 | View from the top of the Wind Cave Trail. Note the small parking lot - that's the trail head! This hike was only a 10 minute drive from our RV park. Lots of great hiking around here! |
 | Karen coming down from the top of the Treasure Loop Trail. Incredible scenery! This hike also was just a few minutes drive from our RV park. |
 | A longer drive to reach, the Hieroglyphic Trail is well worth the drive. After a 2 mile uphill hike you come to this set of petroglyphs dating back over 1000 years that were made by the Hohokam, people that originally inhabited this area. A spring exists above the rocks - that's a pond below the rocks. Standing water in the desert is a rare sight indeed! |
 | Karen and a giant Saguaro cactus on the Hieroglyphic Trail. Saguaro cactus take 65 to 75 years to start growing arms. Average lifespan is about 150 to 175 years but some live longer. This one is probably at least 125 years old. |
