We’ve repositioned our home to a spot in the Arizona desert overlooking Lake Pleasant. Here’s how we got here.

On Sunday, Donna and I went to Lucky Lou’s in Mesa for lunch. It was their 10th anniversary celebration. They had live music, free brats and two dollar beers. We hung out for an hour or so, saying goodbye to our friends. After we returned home, I straightened out a few things in the trailer. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching NHRA drag racing on TV.

We were up early on Monday, but we weren’t in a hurry to leave. We enjoyed breakfast, then Donna went for swim at the pool. I rode the scooter to the post office to mail our tax return. While I was out, I also filled the scooter with gas and replenished my beer supply.

When I returned, I loaded the scooter in the trailer. While I was dumping and flushing our holding tanks, Donna was packing our things inside the coach. I wondered if we would have any trouble starting the big diesel Cummins ISL engine, since I had replaced the fuel filter. I’ve heard of a few people having issues getting the new filter to prime. I followed the instruction manual – I turned the ignition key to the “on” position and waited 30 seconds. I did this twice, then I started the engine. No issue at all, the lift pump primed the system while the key was in the “on” position.

After going over our checklist, we hitched up the trailer and rolled out of the park around 11:15am. The checklist was a good idea. I had no worries about something being left undone. Our route took us west on the Loop 202. Then we went north at the Loop 101 through Scottsdale. The 101 then loops west where we hit the I-17 north to the Carefree Highway.

We went west on the Carefree Highway to the Lake Pleasant Regional Park (LPRP). LPRP has a marina and several boat ramps at Pleasant Harbor on the southeast part of the lake. They also run an RV Resort with full hook-ups, temporary RV parking with electric hook-ups and dry camping (no marked sites or hook-ups). The dry camping is limited to 14 days in a 30-day period.

We opted to dry camp and check the area out. The fee for dry camping is six dollars per night. For an additional five bucks ($11.00 total) you can dry camp with access to the resort pool, showers and laundry.  I think it’s a pretty good deal.

While we were setting up, a coyote sauntered by about 50 yards in front of our coach.

After we got set up, we took the scooter out and reconnoitered the area. It’s a fairly large park, covering more than 11 square miles. We sitting at an elevation of about 1,700 feet above sea level. The prevailing wind comes from the west, across the lake. This makes it feel a lot cooler here than it was in Mesa. It’s 74 degrees at 9am this morning. The forecast calls for temperatures to reach the upper 80s to low 90s for the rest of the week.

After we checked the area out, we put on our swim suits and went to the pool.

The RV Resort looks to be nearly full with rigs in most of the sites. We didn’t see many people though. There was only one other couple at the pool.

There’s a covered concrete picnic table near our site with a beautiful view of the lake. I took our Weber Q grill there and set it on the table. We grilled sliced zucchini and bacon wrapped filet mignon. Donna made twice-baked potatoes with parmesan cheese. Well, that was the plan, but the broiler was taking too long to preheat, so we skipped browning the tops which is why the potato looks washed out in the photo. It was still good though!

We enjoyed the view and sunset before we packed the grill and dinner plates back in the coach.

Last night there was an eclipse of the moon. Although we didn’t have any clouds, I couldn’t stay awake past 10:30. At that time the moon was still full, so I missed it.

I almost forgot to mention; we have a good internet connection through free wifi at the marina! We’ve decided to stay here for a few days. I’ll ride down to the office and pay for three more nights. It’s not a bad place to be!

Carefree highway, let me slip away, slip away on you