Mar 1, 2, and 3, 2023 (Wed, Thu, Fri)
Carefree Manor Trailer Resort, Apache Junction
There was a big storm headed in on Wed and since it was a stroke of luck to find this RV park (as detailed in our last exciting Trip Log), we decided to hunker down here for a couple of days and let it blow past.
Also, we needed to do laundry, take a shower (fun fact: if you both go without showers for the same period of time, you can’t smell each other!), restock on food, and spend hours reading. This is our vacation, after all
Everything is blooming here!
Gini managed to finish up her Maggie Hope Mystery series of 10 books, while Robert is still reading the Wheel of Time series (he’s on book four of 15, so it’ll last a while). We decided it’s a good thing that we both like reading so much, because it might get a little tense if one of us didn’t… (“Why don’t we ever go out dancing at the clubs?!?”)
Carefree Manor is mostly people who rent for the year, but only stay half the year (called “snowbirds” or “seasonal visitors”). Since it only costs $3,000 annually to rent a space (you pay electricity separately), it’s pretty affordable housing.
Some of the places are single-wide trailers, while others are the big ol’ 30 and 40 foot camper trailers. Harvey is the only teeny little 21’ RV, who is mostly kind of lost. There are 146 sites here, and there’s a pool room (three tables!) and a community room. There are activities every day (Men’s cookie baking classes, women’s tea, shuffleboard). They’ve gone to some trouble to make sure there’s a community here.
One of our favorite things is the walking track. This is a standard quarter-mile gravel track that’s level and easy to walk on. We can each walk at our own pace and meet up after once around (which shows how little walking we’ve done—a quarter mile tuckers us out!).
Gini and Robert on the walking track
The people here seem friendly and lots of them talk to each other (and even us—the blow-through tourists!).
We found out, though, that the owner of the park recently died (Nov 2022) and the rumor is his kids are looking to maximize income, so this little oasis of affordable housing and community (seriously, $250 a month?!?) is probably on its way out.
When the storm showed up on Wednesday night, it was a humdinger. Rain slashing down so hard we couldn’t even open the windows in Harvey without getting soaked. Wind whipping all around—fortunately, Harvey’s spot here was sheltered by trailers on all sides.
Harvey nestled in his spot
Our next stop is near Tucson in Green Valley, to visit with our friend Diana. She sent us pictures of her pool area covered with three inches of snow Thursday morning! Fortunately, by the time we get there on Sunday, it’ll be 72 degrees, so we’re expecting all the snow to be vanished.
It does make the nearby mountains pretty, though.
Snow in the mountains!
Once again, we’ve managed to dodge the snow. Whew! Tomorrow (Saturday) we’ll be heading out looking for a suitable boondocking place twixt here and there.
Gini & Robert
Harvey Staff