Decisions…Decisions…Decisions…

Our event was at the Maricopa County Fairgrounds for 5 days and they were all very long and slow days but we made it through. We had lots of time to meet some great people and to just enjoy it all. We tasted some fair treats…

Eegee’s is a fruity slush with big chunks of fruit throughout, we partook in several of those because it was in the high 90s all days and the slush chilled my inners. Thank goodness we were inside with a well working swamp cooler.

We also had a burger, fries and chicken tenders on our last day and it was tasty but costly…small portions at high prices, not good.

Since the Fair was over 100 miles away we had to get a hotel, rates were extremely high, but we found one in Tempe, just under 10 miles away.

The Tempest Hotel was a preppy hotel located by ASU. Our King bed was comfortable, the air conditioning was perfect, the shower was a walk-in with light water pressure, no free breakfast included, in our photos we should have had a couch but instead there was only one very uncomfortable chair. We have Gold Status and are usually able to get a free upgrade and check in early if there is availability. Instead we were informed that check in time was 3pm and because it was 2:47pm we would be charged an additional $50, we chose to wait the 13 minutes instead. Not happy with the terrible customer service everywhere nowadays, she wasn’t rude, just matter of factly with no wiggle room.

On our week off in between the 2 fairs, we rested but we also did a lot of honey do’s in preparation for our next leg of our journey…we are headed to Maine with our truck and using a cargo trailer that we will pick up in Virginia once the Pima County is completed the first part of May. We have events lined up in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Upper State New York, we even have a NASCAR race on the agenda at Pocono Raceway in July…we are beyond excited! We will be staying in hotels and AirBnBs until we return to Arizona in December where we hope by then the outrageous prices will drop so we can get our next motorhome.

Time is Flying

We are at the Park Model for a few weeks since our events our nearby. 

Our first event was at the Pima Fairgrounds where we will return next month for the Fair, but this event was the FMCA. Nice to be back amongst our people, RVers. It was a 4 day event with long hours and it was hot. Even though we were indoors, unfortunately they don’t have or would not turn on the air conditioning, instead they used the swamp cooler which usually is sufficient this time of the year. We know because when we lived in Phoenix, we had one and it worked fantastic, but you have to keep the water running and they kept making excuses why the water continued to be turned off, so it was hotter indoors then the 90+ degrees outdoors. It was a good event but none of these out west events even come close to comparing to the ones we worked back east.

Our next event was at the 4th Avenue Street Fair held in Old Tucson which for us was a total shit show. We were stuffed in like sardines and for our booths location, it was right on the trolley tracks with a step up to half of the booth…it was very difficult to walk around safely. The heat was tremendous especially since our booth had direct sun in the afternoon from noon until after 5pm.

Police, Sheriff and even the Bomb Squad were constantly patrolling around the event. There were many homeless people just hanging around all day, a few fights and incidents occurred near our booth, it was really uncomfortable. There was  trash everywhere throughout the entire event and the staff were not keeping up with it all. There were piles of bodily waste in corners as well as urine spots everywhere…it was a cesspool. 

It had more of a party atmosphere, like a block party event with lots of alcoholic beverages beginning as early as 9am, it was not a selling market. As much hype that we got about this event, it ended up being a huge disappointment except for some delicious eats.

We ate corned beef and pastrami sandwiches from the 4th Avenue Deli that had a great spicy mustard on them.  

We also had Chicken Strips that were so juicy and flavorful at The Drunken Chicken. The Cole slaw was fresh and crunchy with the perfect amount of sweetness verses vinegar. The burger was fresh and flavorful, but the Mac n Cheese was disappointing.

Now we have one day of rest before heading to Phoenix for the Maricopa County Fair 5 day event. It will be indoors in a climate controlled building that will be a blessing since temperatures are already rising into the 90s here in Arizona, and we’re in a hotel that has great working air conditioning.

We only have a few events left here in Arizona and we will not be able to secure a motorhome to continue our dream. We are so disappointed and discouraged but as usual we will prevail and figure out our next adventure.