Back in Arizona for the Winter

We arrived in Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, October 26th after a hectic drive…PEOPLE ARE FUCKING CRAZY! A short 3 ½ hour drive turned into a 5 ½ hour drive due to construction, traffic, wind, and rough frigging roads. Why would ANYONE put their lives or others in danger over a lane choice? We are well aware of slow driving in the right lane, we almost always follow that rule, but when the right lane is so eaten up and filled with potholes where most of tires fell into, we chose to drive in the smooth left lane. For the most part when traffic came upon us, we moved back to the right lane, but at one time we did not make it to the right lane before this semi whipped by us and then purposely tried to force us off the road by coming into our lane. It was uncalled for and so dangerous, and if Jerry wasn’t on point and kept it under control, we would have wiped out and there would have been deaths…PEOPLE ARE FUCKING CRAZY!

We both absolutely love Arizona in the winter, but it was the end of October, and it was still hot! Then overnight it dropped 20 degrees and its perfect 70s for highs and 40s for sleeping…perfect weather. We have become water babies, enjoying the pool and hot tub just about every day. Work started first of November and I am regaining the strength in my legs, as we are continuing with the low carbs. No sugars, no pastas, no breads and we have both been taking off a few pounds weekly, slow and steady and we are feeling much better already.

So now for the winter, we just hang out between our Thousand Trail Membership Resorts, moving every 3 weeks while we work at CalAm, but not in catering, we are cooking in the Café instead and we like it a lot better. A good perk of working there is all the free food, our shopping bills have decreased drastically and even though the pastry temptations are there, we have been sticking to the low carb choices.

Celebrated my birthday on the 29th of October quietly, just us enjoying the hot tub and wine. We went out to dinner, planned to have Crab Legs but we instead chose Chinese at our favorite Lin’s. It was very hard to stay with our low carbs since Chinese food is so high in carbs and we both felt very sluggish afterwards. Looks as if Chinese will be off our menu in the future.

Right now, our lives are about working and getting ourselves back into shape. No plans for the holidays or weekend getaways, just work and enjoying our days off relaxing and hot tubbing…LIFE IS GOOD!

Meridian RV Resort

1901 S Meridian Road

Apache Junction, AZ 85120

(480) 474-8900

11/2023, 2024

 

We paid $0 per night using our Thousand Trails membership for a water, 30/50 amp electric, sewer, backin site on a gravel lot with a patio slab.

 

During every encounter, we had extremely high customer service. Going above and beyond with such a great, high-energy attitude was so appreciated, and we felt welcomed.

 

We enjoyed the pool area several times with a nice hot and bubbly spa.

It was quiet and the area was always well maintained.

 

 

Monte Vista RV Resort

9060 E Steven Pollard Avenue

Mesa, AZ 85209

(480) 618-0460

12/2023, 2024

 

We paid $0 per night using our Thousand Trails membership for a water, 30/50 amp electric, sewer, backin site on a concrete slab with a patio.

We had extremely high customer service, going above and beyond with such a great, high-energy attitude was so appreciated, and we felt welcomed.

 

They have a separate area for RVs, away from the Park Models, but we are able to enjoy all the amenities throughout.

 

This included several pool areas, three with hot tubs and the closest one to us only had the pool, so we enjoyed the other areas several times with nice hot and bubbly spas.

It was quiet even though our site was near a main road and firehouse with sirens. The common areas were always well maintained.

 

 

 

Product Reviews

This blog will be about our testing various products that we have tried and will share our findings about the item. Just a note…we are not receiving any monetary gain by giving our truthful opinion; it is just something we love to do!

CERAKOTE CERAMIC HEADLIGHT RESTORATION KIT

BEFORE

AFTER

We keep our truck as clean as possible and our headlights have been the hardest part to keep clear and not foggy. We have tried several products prior to using this one and we were disappointed every time, they were time consuming to get any decent result, but then it never lasted more than a month. This product changed our way of keeping our headlights bright and shiny, and it was easy. No buffing, just wipe the lens clean, lightly wipe with sandpaper, wipe again with clean wipe, then apply coating. That’s it…so easy and such a lasting finish. We highly recommend, and we will update exactly how long this application lasts.

Our Experience at Polson Motorcoach Resort & KOA in Montana

We worked the summer of 2024 as Front Desk and Maintenance, using the K2 system, we checked guests in and showed them to their sites. Not only at the KOA but at the Motorcoach Resort that dealt with the high-end coaches. Answered a busy phone line making reservations and answering questions about the area. The work was easy for both of us due to our vast knowledge and experience. We ended up mostly on the closing shifts which we had some adjustments to make with our sleep.

Weather was ferocious many days, too cold, way TOO WINDY, too hot, and just miserable. We hardly had any perfect weather days.

Too many rules being ignored so not to make waves and maintain a high rating. My biggest issue was dogs, they had a list of “not allowed” dogs but too often it was ignored and then offered a “Meet and Greet” option. Early in the season when I asked if Jerry was doing a meet and greet and he got hurt, would the park cover our expenses, and I was told, “No, so maybe he shouldn’t do them.” I agreed for him to NOT do any in the future.

There were great team members, and several not so great team members. We were so grateful that we worked mostly with the great ones, but during those other times, it was excruciating for us.

Our site was situated amongst the guests which for us seemed a better fit than in the Workamper area. Our only complaint was that our trailer and truck did not fit on the site due to our super slide and where we had to position our trailer, but we made it work by parking our truck offsite but nearby for most of the season.

The management, both maintenance and office were exceptional. Very professional, positive, supportive and fun.

We volunteered to help with the weekly pancake breakfast which turned out to be a blessing. We worked with the other two team members that were exceptional. It also broke the monotony of the week, and we finished by noon the day before our two days off which extended our time off.

If anyone is interested in working there, we would highly recommend, but at the same time, we would not return, mostly due to not enough places for us to explore. The only perk we received was free laundry which really added up to a lot.

On the Road Again… Finally Heading South

Six months is just too long for us to hang out in one area and the weather had begun to get frightful, we could smell and feel winter arriving. The park went from busy to absolutely nothing and it got harder for us to stay until the 15th, and our manager understood and told us we could leave anytime, and we did not have to be told twice that we were no longer needed. We left on October 1st, a few days later, a huge windstorm hit them and caused some damage, again, we are so grateful that we followed our gut and left when we did. We only wish our friends Tom & Debbie didn’t have to endure that storm, but they were both all right.

Our first day, we drove 173 windy miles to Anaconda, MT and stayed at Best Western Plus, The Forge Hotel and enjoyed ourselves in the hot tub and pool. We had the hot tub to ourselves for a short time before another couple came in and were so obnoxious that we almost left but instead I spoke up and said, “You do realize this is not your private hot tub and there are others trying to enjoy ourselves too.” I kid you not, we were both in shock when they arrived and sat across from us and the female put her body on top of him and then the obnoxiousness got worse with the noises they began to make. We knew what they were doing by the sounds and motions they were doing…it was rude, obnoxious and certainly not very classy. They immediately stopped and apologized and then left shortly afterwards.

Our next day drive to Idaho Sky Resort in Rexburg, Idaho was also windy and full of construction, especially in Rexburg. Since the park was such a great find, we decided to extend another night and rest our weary bones from the windy drives.

We decided not to make reservations in advance for the most part, just so we can travel like we use to, by the seat of our pants on a wing and a prayer and we will see how it works out, so far, we are liking it.

Our next drive took us to Layton, Utah at Valley View RV Resort where we had a coupon from April worth one night that we used and added an extra night so we could enjoy the hot tub and pool, but unfortunately, there were so many kids running around and screaming in the pool that we couldn’t enjoy ourselves.

We have come to the conclusion that a 200-mile drive, 4 hours maximum, and then stay for 2+ nights is our new way of traveling. Unhooking and hooking up is much more of a strain with the trailer, but we love our trailer so we will adjust our travel adventures so not to put so much of a strain on our bodies.

Our next drive to Monroe Canyon RV Park in Monroe, Utah was uneventful, even driving through Salt Lake City, probably because it was Sunday morning. It was great, there was no wind, traffic was light, and only encountered one idiot.

We hung out in Monroe for about a week, waiting for temperatures to drop in Arizona since it’s still in the hundreds. Since temperatures in Monroe were taking a drastic turn for below freezing by end of the week, we chose to leave before that happened. We headed for the desert, but before we could the wind picked up tremendously and we got a hotel in Richfield before heading out the next day.

Fairfield Inn had a great hot tub and pool, but unfortunately, we did not have the place to ourselves and had to share with not only another adult, but also a very energetic child too! The bed was comfortable, the room was spacious, and the ac kept us cool through the night.

The next day we drove 200 miles to the desert of Mesquite, Nevada and stayed at the Casa Blanca RV Resort for $45 per night and we stayed 2 nights. The first night we just tried to adjust to the heat by taking a cool shower, but the water is always hot to warm coming out of the faucets. The next day we had a fun play day, didn’t hit a big jackpot but we had a great time. Because they are now once again allowing smoking in the casinos, both of our allergies are on high alert, sneezing, coughing, and wheezing! Time to step up on our natural remedies to get it back under control.

Our last driving day to Lake Havasu, AZ to one of our membership parks was FRIGHTFUL. The winds were out of control, we were barely keeping our speed between 55 and 57 in a 55-speed limit for trucks and towing area without the feelings of being abruptly hit and feeling as if we were about to take flight. It was awful, there were quite a few semis and travel trailers flying by us and we just said a prayer for them. Just a few exits from ours the traffic slowed down to one lane due to one of the travel trailers that had passed us was flipped over in the ditch, the travel trailer was shredded. Not a fun driving day, but we made it to our destination where we will be until our last drive to Apache Junction in a little over a week to begin our winter stay.

Once the winds stops being so intrusive, we plan to get some honey do’s completed and enjoy some hot tub and pool time! Per the weather predictions, it should end by tomorrow.