Archive for May, 2007
May 10, 2007 at 8:48 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
In nearly 100-degree heat, we carefully backed the Airstream up to the carport, and with that we were finally “moved in” to our first non-mobile home in two years.
The Airstream is now resting comfortably in its partially-shaded space — a luxury for a trailer that has been exposed to full Arizona sun these past weeks. Once we’ve removed a false wall in the rear of the carport, all 30 feet of aluminum tube should be under cover.
It has been a successful day. Our real estate agent came by with the keys not long after the Airstream was parked. We met a neighbor and she turned out to be a lovely lady who likes birding and hiking. We hit it off immediately. A few minutes later I met the mail carrier as she was doing her route, and so was able to introduce us and ensure we’d start getting mail. (Our mail box had a blue tag inside it saying “VACANT” which led me to believe we’d been blacklisted.)
The house-watching guy showed up on time and turned out to be very reasonable and personable. We made arrangements for him to watch the house while we are gone for the summer. The UPS man showed up with a package around then, too. It was as if we’d been living in the house for years.
For the next couple of weeks we will continue to live in the Airstream, while we get various things done inside the house. We have no furniture, no refrigerator, and only enough dishes and sundries to stock the Airstream. This sort of situation forces us to reconsider the definition of “home”. Home, today, is still the Airstream. But tonight a couple of pizzas baked in the house oven, eaten standing up in the kitchen, were enough of a celebration to make us feel like we’d really done something. We bought a house and it looks like it will be a good spot for us to land between trips.
May 9, 2007 at 5:17 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Our adjustment from Airstream ownership to a hybrid Airstream-home ownership seems well under way. By “under way”, I mean we are already spending money on care and feeding of the house we bought this week. We’re also beginning a two-week period of intense effort to set the house up so we can begin to ignore it and get back to the primary business of traveling in the Airstream.
That probably sounds cynical, but as I’ve mentioned in the blog before, we’re not ready to give up the traveling lifestyle entirely. The house is a strategy to provide a measure of stability during the school season. During the travel season, it needs to be “lock and leave”, as our fellow Airstream traveler Doug says. That means we can walk away at a moment’s notice without worrying that things will be OK.
Although we don’t intend to spend this summer in the house, and it is utterly devoid of furniture or personal possessions of any type, we still need to secure it while we will be gone. Here in Tucson, because there are so many snowbirds, there are a lot of services specifically designed for us. Thus it was easy to find a company that, for $35 per month, will come by and check on things, water the lemon tree, pick up the unsolicited flyers, etc.
In Arizona, there’s not a lot that needs to be done for a “summerized” house. Obviously there’s no chance of pipes freezing, but the monsoon season does mean some intense thunderstorms will come through, and so it is good to have someone checking for leaks and wind damage. Dust is also a form of precipitation here, so to make the house look lived-in the service will periodically sweep the walks.
In Florida, a friend came back to their winter home and found mildewed underwear in their dressers. They had made the fatal mistake (in Florida) of turning off the air conditioning while they were gone. Here there’s actually a chance of things being damaged due to excessive dryness. Some people recommend filling the tub and kitchen sink with water, to humidify the air. This is particularly important if you have antique wood furniture. The house-checking service also runs the taps a little on every visit, just to make sure the P-traps are not dried out (otherwise dangerous sewer gas could enter the house).
The goal of the next two weeks will be to make the house truly turn-key, so we can leave it behind without care. We bought the house with low maintenance in mind, so not much needs to be done. We have no lawn, few plantings that aren’t native to the desert, no pets, and a maintenance-free exterior. But still a half-dozen trips to the hardware store are probably going to be required. I keep telling myself that this is an investment in the future, but I can’t shake the feeling of being a successful jailbreaker who is now voluntarily walking back inside the stone walls.
Today’s photo is courtesy of Emma. Last night we went out for a walk around sunset and Emma posed us for the photo above. It’s one of a rare few pictures we have of Eleanor and I together, so it will be treasured even though it’s corny. Emma is getting handy with the camera but also a tyrant to pose for. “Closer! Turn toward me! Hold hands! Now kiss! Close your eyes!” Ah, the suffering we must go through for her art.
May 8, 2007 at 6:30 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Owning your own home is the American Dream. Going to the real estate closing is a pivotal moment in the process. Once you’ve signed all the papers, the house is yours, for good or for ill. And that’s what we did today. We passed around sheets of paper until everything was signed and sealed. We’ll get keys on Thursday when the deed is recorded.
Yet we have strangely ambivalent feelings about home ownership this time. Our perspective has changed so much. It has been two years (OK, one year and eleven months to be precise) since we sold our last house. In that time, we’ve been officially “homeless”, roaming the country in our Airstream and it has become our primary residence.
With that experience, the fixed-location home feels like a second home … a vacation place where we might live between extended trips in the Airstream. We’re still trying to get our heads around the concept that this brick-and-mortar place is what we are supposed to call “home”.
It’s very much like going virtual with a business, or paying bills online, or switching from film to digital. Once you get used to the lack of physicality (no office, no paper, no negatives), you quickly get hooked on the advantages and before long you can’t look back.
It is exactly like that with our house. Buying a brick-and-mortar house is like going back to paying bills with the checkbook. What’s all this paper in my mailbox? I need envelopes? Stamps? How archaic!
Right now we are inclined to not take the house seriously. We bought it so we’d have a home base and Emma would have a place to go to school. But the Airstream still feels like the place we want to be. It’s still our magic carpet. School schedules are going to seriously impinge on our travel — we aren’t kidding ourselves — but the life of travel still calls.
I wonder how long that can last. Can we combine the lightweight, low-overhead existence we’ve enjoyed these past two years, with the obligations of home ownership? We’re winning a few battles but they are small: the house won’t have a phone installed, nor cable. When we are there we’ll continue to use our cell phones.
But already the house has won a round too. We’re stuck here for a couple of weeks while we arrange various services the house needs: roof replacement, electrical upgrades, minor plumbing fixes, etc. We’d rather be on the road exploring some corner of Arizona, but instead the house demands we stay close and give it our attention.
You’ll notice the little ad for Airstream Life magazine above. I’ve been writing daily entries in this blog for eighteen months, and at this point we have over 600 entries and thousands of photos online. Unfortunately, the web hosting expenses have skyrocketed because of all the traffic we get now. I don’t like the idea of putting out a “Donate” button on the blog because I would feel awkward cadging money from my friends who read it regularly.
So instead, once in a while you’ll see an ad promoting Airstream Life magazine — my day job. If you subscribe, thank you!, and if you don’t you might give it a try even if you don’t own an Airstream. At $16 bucks a year it’s very affordable and a lot of fun to read. Click on the image above if you want to learn more.
May 7, 2007 at 7:27 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
With house obligations looming, we’ve moved out of Catalina and back into Tucson for a few days. Our spot in Tucson doesn’t have the natural beauty of Catalina State Park but it does have a convenient location for the things we need to do.
Our campsite at Catalina State Park
Since today was a very full work day, I have no adventures to report. But I do have a few photos left over from our hike on Sunday to share. As I mentioned, the desert is still blooming and the temperatures are still mild for this time of year. All the tourists and snowbirds seem to have departed the area, so we’re getting the benefit of off-season prices at campgrounds, our pick of campsites, and lots of privacy on the trails.
The purple flowers on this cholla cactus were so vivid I couldn’t believe they were real at first.
Everywhere you look around here there’s a view of the Santa Catalinas, or the Tucson Mountains, or the Rincon Mountains, or the Tortollitas. They’re all fantastic to look at, and they’re all a little different. I can’t seem to get tired of seeing them. Look at the view above … is it any wonder we love this place?
Interestingly, the media are finally getting a hold of the fact that it has been a buyer’s market for houses in Tucson for several months. But the best buying opportunities have already disappeared, as the good properties with motivated sellers have been snapped up. A lot of the 10,000 properties on the market at the moment are overpriced or less-desirable. (I know, we’ve seen dozens of them.) Good houses priced fairly are selling fast.
In a year or so they’ll be talking about how this was the time to buy. But the popular media are always behind the curve on this sort of thing, because they rely on historical data and public statements by self-interested parties. I’m satisfied that we bought at the right time and at the right price, but of course only time will tell.
May 6, 2007 at 6:07 pm · Filed under Places to go
The neat thing about Catalina State Park is that it feels completely remote, with amazing views and wonderful hikes, yet is directly adjacent to all the services of Oro Valley and Tucson. Convenient, yet peaceful.
The real reason we are here has nothing to do with the hiking, however. Once we complete the purchase of our house, Catalina is a park we’ll probably never camp in. It’s too close to home. So camping here a couple of days before we pass papers for the house is sort of a last-chance opportunity.
Our Google Earth location.
Another last-chance opportunity is hiking in mild weather. This time of year it’s not unusual for the weather to be in the 90s and to start breaking into the low 100s. But right now we’re having a few cool days, topping out around 78 or 80 degrees, so it’s perfect for hiking. By the end of this week, we’ll be more inclined to head for the swimming pool.
Our hike today was about three miles. We concentrated on butterflies, since they were out in abundance today. It’s tough to capture a butterfly in flight, but I got a few blurry shots, enough for Emma to identify a Pipevine Swallowtail, and a Sleepy Orange. A few others escaped without identification, like masked robbers at a 7-11. We’ll catch them next time!
The other marvelous thing about the desert this time of year is that the blooms just keep coming. I am amazed at the diversity and intensity of the colors. There are several types of prickly pear cactus that grow here, and their flowers range from peach to rose to bright yellow.
Sometimes you can find all three colors on a single cactus. They are lovely enough in their form and color to be a prom corsage. I wonder if anyone has actually tried that? The spines can be easily trimmed off, much like the thorns of a rose.
A small announcement. Trailer for sale. I have decided to sell the 1953 Airstream Flying Cloud I found last fall in Virginia. I was hoping to take it on as a project later this year but it doesn’t look like that will happen, so it’s for sale. You can see photos of it as found in our Flickr photo album.
Since the photos were taken, the trailer has been moved to Plattsburgh NY, cleaned up a bit, and otherwise left alone. It’s a very interesting trailer with all original appliances and a great layout for one or two people. But it does need a good restoration. As-is, where-is, $3500 or best offer. Colin Hyde will be happy to restore it for you, too.
May 5, 2007 at 5:49 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
At the Tucson Gem Shows, Eleanor and Emma have always loved the turquoise displays. A lot of the local turquoise comes from the Sleeping Beauty Mine, in Globe, which happened to be right along our path today.
The mine operates a wholesale ore shipping business in a building near the historic center of Globe. Although they don’t actually make anything from their own turquoise, they do re-sell jewelry and other items made by artists from Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, and that brought us in for a look.
If you go, you can park your trailer or motorhome in the big lot next door and walk over. But hang on to your wallet because the shop is loaded with great art & jewelry made from turquoise, sandstone, wood, and clay. Prices run from $25 to $7,000.
Eleanor was kind to our budget and chose only a pair of earrings. Emma got a few small bits of turquoise and peridot for her collection. I browsed the local newspaper and ended up with a 2-for-1 coupon for buffet lunch at the local casino … which we hit later.
Hawk and Airstream: click for larger.
Our trip ended at Catalina State Park in Oro Valley, a community just northeast of Tucson. It’s very pretty here. Grassy level ground and mesquite trees, with an incredible backdrop of the west side of the Santa Catalinas. I went out to get a photos and a Coopers Hawk swooped by at low altitude right past the trailer. I had the Nikon in my hand, ready to shoot, so I managed to capture two shots of it in flight. You can see one of those photos above. Look to the lower left of the photo, by the bumper, and you’ll see the bird.
May 4, 2007 at 4:28 pm · Filed under Places to go
We learned a few things today, as we seem to do every day when we are adventuring. This lake we are camped beside is the result of a massive dam-building project from the early 1900s. When it was completed in 1911, the Roosevelt Dam was the largest masonry dam in the world and it caused the largest man-made reservoir to be formed behind it. Teddy Roosevelt himself came down here for the opening ceremonies and to hand out awards to the workers.
The level of the lake fluctuates quite a bit, like other man-made desert lakes. I mentioned to our real estate agent that we were here and he asked, “Is there any water in it?” Yes, we seem to be here at a high point. The lake is about 20 feet down from the apparent high-water mark, but still very full relative to other years.
People occasionally zip by on jet skis or fishing boats. There’s plenty of room, since the lake continues north-south for many miles. About four miles from our campsite is a visitor center for Lake Roosevelt, next to the marina, and it has a good interpretive area with information about the dam, the wildlife of the area, and native American history.
For more on the native Americans, called the “Salado”, you can drive south two more miles to Tonto National Monument. This smallish member of the national parks system protects Salado cliff dwellings high above Lake Roosevelt. The dwellings are found about 350 feet vertically above the visitor center and reached by a half-mile steep hike.
Visitor Center with dwellings far above
The Lower Cliff Dwellings are mostly gone, victims of erosion and vandalism in the early 20th century, but there’s still enough left to make it worth the hike. At some times of year the rangers will also lead a daily trek to the Upper Cliff Dwellings but we missed that on this visit.
Another reason to make the hike is the incredible view of the Tonto Basin and the lake. We were lucky to find many of the cacti still blooming, as well as turkey vultures making slow and majestic circles above.
The turkey vultures aren’t the only things flying around. The entire Tonto Basin has a large number of insects this time of year too. Normally we don’t encounter a lot of bugs in the desert, or even the higher elevations such as last week in Prescott. But here there’s plenty of water to encourage breeding and it’s springtime. Nothing seems to bite but a lot of little flies made themselves annoying on our hike, at times when the wind died down.
Emma picked up the Junior Ranger packet and completed the questions on the way down, thus earning her 17th Junior Ranger badge.
Last night we took a short walk around the campground and found a messy site. Some slobs left trash all over their site, including plastic bags, empty beer cans in the fire ring, and a quarter-bag of charcoal. I have never understood why people so often leave crushed beer cans in the fire ring. I see it all the time. Do they think aluminum cans burn?
The residents of the campsite were clearly long gone, so Eleanor did her good deed for the day by cleaning up the site and I snagged the charcoal. So we have a surplus of choarcoal and that means tonight we will cook out.
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