Going, Gone

They were the perfect couple for our Scamp and ready to take it on their own adventures. 

We are relaxing on the spacious front porch of my brother-in-law’s cabin. It’s pleasantly cool with a view of  the lake. Scott expects to join us next week. 

Things are Fluid

As readers know, we are winding down our time in Wisconsin.  The latest news is that I will probably part ways with the Brew Hut on Saturday morning.  Looking at the state title, I've owned this Scamp for 8 years, and it's treated me well on many trips.  It has made it to eastern California, the Texas Gulf, the Outer Banks, and the Michigan's Upper Peninsula.   No complaints.  I bought it for 9k and will be selling it to a couple from western Wisconsin for 6k.  They are excited to be the next owners, having missed out on three previous attempts to buy a Scamp.

We thought hard about towing the Scamp to Arizona.  I'm going to have to make a separate trip for the truck anyway.  In the end, the long tow and the cost of storing the Scamp in Arizona made that idea less attractive.  I'm not giving up camping/traveling.  We have a plan, and it involves a downsize.  More on that  later after getting settled in Arizona.

The timing could be better.  We had hoped to stay in the Scamp until our house closing, but the Scamp's buyers are still working and have a wedding planned for that next weekend. So...we will be moving up to Julia's brother's cabin in northern Wisconsin for a week before returning to Madison to complete the closing.  

One last beer at Tumbled Rock Brewery

One last free ferry ride (Wisconsin River)

One last sniff of real grass

Saying Goodbye to Wisconsin and Friends

We've called Wisconsin home for over fifty years.  With the house inspections in our rear view mirror, it's full steam ahead for our move to Arizona in the latter part of July.

This past weekend, we went to a music festival in Milwaukee called Summerfest.  The primary purpose was to say goodbye to our friends Dave and Ruth, who live in a northern suburb. There wasn't any particular band that we wanted to see.  It was just an excuse to get together.   

 

Milwaukee skyline

The Romantics

Friends since sixth grade

Close friends

Dave lived a few doors down from me in the sixth grade. We've never been best friends, but he's the only guy from high school with whom I've stayed in contact.  When we took an organized bike ride together across the state of Wisconsin during the late 80's, he met his wife Ruth.  I stood up in their wedding, and Julia and Ruth both became very good friends. 

Dave and Ruth have both lived in the Milwaukee area for their entire lives and have no plans to ever move away.  I hope they will come visit us in Tucson, but I just don't know. Hasta luego, Dave and Ruth.  

Just before our Tucson trip, we booked a different campground close to the Wisconsin Dells area.  Things are much better maintained here, but it's pretty far from services and still gets really busy on the weekend. That gets us through to July 12th.  After that, we will spend ten days moving between a couple of county campgrounds that still had openings.  The U-Haul truck is reserved.  Adventures ahead!

 

Hot Dog!

Growing up, I never liked hot dogs. Brats? Yes. Hamburgers? Yes. But hot dogs? Don’t they make those from pig lips, intestines, and sawdust?  Anyway, that’s what I always thought.  I don’t think I’ve eaten a hot dog since I was nine.

Today, my world shook a little bit when I had my first Sonoran Hot Dog at La Reina in Tucson.  We pulled into a worn strip mall. And there he was.

This is a one man operation, open 365 days per year. You place your order at the cart, pay the man, and then head into a small air conditioned dining area, where you grab your cold drink. The man then brings you the hot dog and heads back to the cart to cook up some more in the 105 F degree heat. 

This is not your ordinary hot dog.

For $4.50, you get a toasted, buttered bun, sausage, bacon, beans, roasted onion, tomato, raw onion, mayonnaise, mustard, jalapeño sauce, and a big roasted hot pepper. Washed it all down with a Dr. Pepper.  To be honest, I could barely taste the hot dog. We will be repeat customers.

Accepted Offer

Well, we are committed now. We put in an offer on an Oro Valley home. After some back and forth, we have a contract, contingent on inspections. In Wisconsin, doing an inspection means hiring a house inspector. In Oro Valley, there are additional specialty inspections for termites, roof, HVAC, and sewer. If the inspections go well in the next two weeks, it is full steam ahead with the closing set for the third week of July.

Without locating the house for the internet, I will say that we are close to trails, pickleball and have mountain views of the Catalina and Tortolita ranges. I’m pretty excited about it. It’s a single family house, single level house with a walk-in shower. The back yard is walled/fenced for Callie’s enjoyment.  We definitely downsized and stayed within our budget, but the house has high ceilings and still feels spacious. Julia likes the house, and I like the outdoor space, so we are both satisfied.

This morning on our six mile walk, we spotted three javelinas. I managed a photo of one, but the other two were romantically involved behind the brush.

This afternoon, we stopped in at Dragoon Brewery for a hazy IPA.

With our business on the house done for the most part, we headed over to The View for burgers and music. It was nice to sit outside in the shade with a moderate breeze and cooling temps (98).  The View is the golf club restaurant at the Sun City in Oro Valley.  We looked at some homes within that community, but decided against it. Our new house is in an all-ages neighborhood.

Those old folks have some nice views though.

One or two strong possibilities

We saw all 13 homes yesterday before 1 pm. The realtor was impressed with our decisiveness. Julia knows what she wants in a house, and I know what I want in outdoor space. We have a few more homes today that are on the list towards the east. Yesterday was the northwest. Not too hopeful as the realtor said that homes in the NE foothills are quite a bit more expensive for the same square footage, but he still wants us to see them. So we will be looking at a mix of townhomes and smaller older homes. Julia is hoping for something without shared walls or in need of major updating so we will see.

Tucson has a weekly newspaper that I’ve been enjoying. In the archives is a story about Arthur. Someone on Reddit saw him yesterday on the street and asked who he was. In these times of cutting benefits and forcing conformity, I hope he continues to survive and, in his own way, thrive.

Dry Heat

We flew from Rockford into Phoenix-Mesa this afternoon, rented a car, and made it to our Airbnb in Casa Adobes by late afternoon. By then the temperature had dropped to 106 degrees. 

Ate tacos and buros at Amelia’s kitchen and enjoyed margaritas. 

Everything tasted wonderful. Tomorrow is a big day. Seeing 13 homes with the realtor. The heat will continue.

Inhale, Cough, Cough

 

Smoky Haze

We have been experiencing poor air quality over the past few days, due to Canadian wildfire smoke moving slowly across Wisconsin.  Julia was all excited to see that the Northern Lights were going to appear recently in the Upper Midwest.  Not in southern Wisconsin, I'm afraid.  Those aren't clouds.  Just smoke.

Last week, Julia and I helped move my Mom to her new apartment in a Continuing Care Residential facility.  The multi-building campus has independent living, assisted living, memory care, and a nursing home.  She qualified for independent living and was "allowed" to pay an entrance fee that guarantees a lifetime rate that includes all higher-level services, except for inflationary adjustments.   

My mom is downsizing, moving from a two bedroom condo to a one bedroom apartment, but it is a much nicer space with freshly painted walls, newer appliances, a walk-in shower and great natural light.  Breakfast and dinner are included, although she does have a full kitchen if she doesn't feel like going to the restaurant-styled dining room.  She is already enjoying her new community.  

We are back at the campground.  Julia just came from the showerhouse, reporting that the showers are now working, but the stalls are out of toilet paper.  We are living at the Ritz, for sure.  At least it's quiet mid-week. 

 

Life by the River or If Momma Ain't Happy

Originally, we thought we might stay at this campground for at least a couple of months, as we tied up some loose family ends in Wisconsin and Iowa. However, there have been a few potholes on that road.

When we signed on for the month, the owner of the campground warned me that "he's only one guy", and things can take awhile to get some attention.  That only raised a little red flag. On the other hand, we might have thought twice if he had said: "The toilets may go ten days without getting cleaned, and the showers don't really work."

Now, you may be thinking, "what about the bathroom and shower in the Scamp?"   It's true that there is a small wet bath, but Julia doesn't like to use it, especially if there's a full showerhouse and toilets less than 100' away.

The showers here are coin-operated.  Two minutes for a quarter.  In theory.  Thinking that she needed a good six minute shower, Julia plugged 3 quarters in, and nothing happened.  I advised going to the other shower, and trying just one quarter.  The guys' shower starts up right away (with cold water).  After a minute, the water turns lukewarm, and I add more quarters, if needed.  The women's shower started right up, but sprayed sideways, soaking all of Julia's clothes and backpack.  After moving her stuff, she managed to get a decent shower in with additional quarters.

On the next day, Julia went back to the shower that "kinda worked" and stepped in when the shower warmed up.  She added two more quarters for a six minute shower.  As soon as she got wet and lathered up, the shower abruptly stopped without warning.  Julia was not a happy camper and has been taking showers at the school swimming pool since that time.  

Yes, she did tell the owner.  And he said, "I'm only one guy, you know.  But I'll look at it."  

He hasn't, so we took a road trip to another campground between Wisconsin Dells and Portage and signed up to switch over there in mid-June.   It's much nicer with lots of amenities and many guys making sure everything is clean and working. More expensive, but if Momma ain't happy, no one else is happy.  

The downside to all of this is we love this area.  We can walk to one of Wisconsin's best breweries. 

Scaredy Cat Oatmeal Stout

We see eagles and pelicans on the river walk nearly every morning.  It's a close enough drive that I've been able to play lots of advanced pickleball.  

And Callie gets a four mile walk in the morning and a couple of miles in the evening.

Kennel?

In other news, I made another trip to Iowa last week to further prepare my mom for a move to senior housing.  Julia and I will both go this week for the actual move, which will also involve Two Men and a Truck. Once she is settled, we can turn our attention to relaxing for awhile in Wisconsin.  There's a family reunion in mid June (Julia's side of the family), and then we're flying to Tucson for a week to look for a house.  Callie will stay behind at the kennel.

 

 

 

Exhale

 In retrospect, the last year was a tough one without a lot of joy in our lives. Besides adjusting to life without Justin and my dad, the process of de-accumulating and selling the house was an emotional one. Now that we are back in the Scamp, we can literally feel all of that stress begin to melt away.

We are not traveling yet. We have some family stuff to take care of on both sides of our families. And once that’s done, we may still stay at our current spot, enjoying the Wisconsin summer. Eventually, I think, we will find a house in the Tucson area and move by fall.  But with temperatures already nearing 100 in southern Arizona, there doesn’t seem to be any particular urgency.

So we will spend our days along the Wisconsin River, taking long walks with Callie and hanging out with friends. We live in interesting times and control very little on the national or global scale. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. And everything tastes better on a tortilla. 

Homeless

 And feeling fine. More later.