Deb and I are planning a (non motorhome) Arizona trip, Feb 1-8, 2004 and I thought about doing this circle tour.



We would be able to do the Quartzite thing and see some desert. Does this seem like a good idea?

We are going down to look at some retirement real estate.

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Short cuts always take longer

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited October 29, 2003).]

Golly, you're going to miss the Barth rally by a week and the BIG TENT RV show by two weeks.

Where are you looking at land?
We are also considering retiring to AZ, hopefully in a year or two.

Bill, We're looking at Sun City West, Bullhead City etc. We will definitely be snowbirds and don't want to spend a ton.

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Short cuts always take longer

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

Wow! Two very different communities.

How so, we know nothing, it is just what people have told us. We have been looking at Realtor.com and Sun City looks very inviting. Prices are reasonable, great golf, etc. However, we were told that Bullhead was the new retirement haven. What do you think??

I don't think that we would ever "live" there year around. So we are thinking cheapo cause we want to maintain our home here and the motorhome too.

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Short cuts always take longer

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

Dave, I have only a light acquaintance with either. I haven't been to Bullhead in a while. Bullhead is less crowded, less urbanized, but offers fewer big city amenities than the Phoenix area.

We are looking somewhere in between, just a little north of Wickenburg, for year round living.

Use Yahoo weather or weather.com to check temps.

Maybe you need more than a week. Heck, we are doing Quartszsite for two weeks this year. One week hasn't been enough.

I would suggest subscribing to the local newspapers to get an idea of the community.

Hey Dave for some reason i can't access your circle tour to see where you are going. We have lived in Strawberry for the last 2&1/2 years and love it. When people think of AZ. they almost always think desert but Az is much more. For example we are at 6000 ft. elevation and are 20 to 30 degrees cooler than Pheonix in the summer. We also get snow in the winter but the sun shines over 300 days a year. We also have 3 national forests around us that combined are the size of Mass. Our next door neighbors are AZ snowbirds, they winter in a park in Yuma. Random thoughts follow for you and Bill... Lower elevations/ southern part of the state= hot in the summers, i spent part of the summer this year in Lake Havasu working and part of last summer working in Erhenburg and even tho the joke here is that "its a dry heat" and you can get aclimated to a degree anything over 110 is hot!!! Unfortunatly for me both times i started my jobs it was 120 to 122!!! I don't care for crowds or large cities having grown up and lived in very small towns in Wa. but i did like Lk. Havasu even tho it gets a lot of tourists on the weekends. In fact once we hit the road that may become our winter home for a year or two. Bill for year around you might take a look at the Prescott area... about 5000 ft. elev. cooler summers, some snow but not all that much from what i have heard, goodsized town with all the ammenities. Higher elev. = cooler summers but snow and colder winters and in some places like Flagstaff and Winslow windy. Friends of mine in Pheonix and Lk.Havasu say their electric bill in the summers is 400 to 600 bucks because of the a/c, and Az has fairly low rates for elec. Up here its our heating bill in the winter that is high depending on what kind of a winter we are having. Dave if you are near Sedona on your trip go see it! And of course the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Have either of you ever heard of or seen Arizona Highways magazine? It is great! Send me your mailing addresses and i can buy some older issues at our library for 2 bits a copy and i will send them to you. This is a big state and there is a lot to see and there is a lot of diversity in the terrain and vegatation and climate, sometimes within a very short distance. If you think of any questions let me know and i will try to find an answer for you or maybe some of the other Barth people in Az. can tell you more about their neck of the woods.....or the desert as the case may be.

Wonderful, wonderful how much you learn in such short order on this site. Looks like you are going to learn a lot, and QUICK. Have fun for sure, and I am sure you will. Dale and Sharon

Dave, I've been there, done that, in most of the places on your route. Lived in Bisbee and Sierra Vista 40 years ago, wintered recent years in Yuma. They all have their attractions. I love the Bisbee-Tombstone area, but others think I'm nuts. Like Shadowman, I don't like cities, and I don't care for the Bullhead City area, just a matter of personal preference.

If 'twere me, I'd stay East of the Colorado to take in Lake Havasu City and Parker, on your trip.

A week isn't nearly enough to cover your options. Just don't fall in love with a place, or a sales pitch, the first time around. Having bought in haste and regretted it some years ago, I'd say explore your options now, pick a spot and rent your first time down, explore some more, then decide.

Arizona has so many options for climate, topography, and social culture, that you could decide to retire in your rig, do a new thing each year, and never really settle down.

Shadowman, Thanks for the input.

Please (anybody) keep talking about AZ. We are sort of considering somewhere between Phoenix and Prescott, trying to split the difference between summer and winter utility bills. What I really want is the weather of Cuernavaca in Arizona. We will be living in the country, so bottled gas will be the heat, I guess. Your quotes of air conditioning bills are stunning. How large are your friends' houses? I would also be interested in heating bills in the winter. My near-bankrupt airline employer will probably screw me out of my retirement, so I will be limited in ability to pay high utility bills.

Dave, Olroy's advice on seeing the AZ side of the river is on target. Much more interesting.

Have you considered Barthing around for a longer time? I would hate to make a decision based on only short visits or impressions.

[This message has been edited by bill h (edited December 28, 2004).]

Yes, when looking at that Hwy 95 to Needles I felt it looks a little out of the way. I called the Blythe, CA chamber and they suggested I follow this route;



We have only 8 days for this trip. Each leg is right around 200 miles so I should easily be able to make it before lunch. We are so excited about the trip.

Got a question, for you guys who have spent a lot of time at 7-8000 ft. Do you loose your breath up there or does that only bother folks who have emphysema.

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Short cuts always take longer

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

Dave,

I'd be very careful at 7-8,000 feet.....

Washington DC is only 50' above sea level, and I've noticed that even that altitude apparantly causes people to act strangely and make goofy decisions......

Lee
Wash. DC

Dave, what could be called altitude sickness affects everyone differently.

I am 60, overweight, have atrial fibrillation, and need a CPAP to breathe at night. I still hike regularly above 10,000 feet. A much younger friend who has climbed Mt. Whitney before, recently got sick trying it again.
There is no sure way to tell what will happen. Just be careful and take it easy until you get a reading. Drink very little. Smoke very little.

You don't smoke, do you?

No Bill, don't smoke. Do have afib, had it so bad 8 years ago I had an AV node ablation and pacemaker. Changed mylife. One day I was almost disabled, two weeks later Libby and I were running around Disneyland for 12 hours.

I am losing weight, down 20 a bunch to go. I preparing ofr my Arizona retirement. I want to wear tight Levis and one of those belt buckles the size of a '62 Lincoln grill. Oh, and a big Stetson, Ye ha....

By the way we have been getting Arizon Highways mag for awhile, we love the old west stories. However, we quit subscribing and bought a bunch on Ebay. I figured that the rocks haven't changed in 1 million years so there would be not difference in a 1993 issue and a 2003 issue. I was right. Bought 30 fot $8.00.

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Short cuts always take longer

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

Geez, I hear you young guys talking about your heart problems, and I can't feel sorry for myself any more. I'm pushing 75, surgeons have patched me every other year on average for the last twelve, got four bypasses eight years ago, but no bionic devices except s.s. sutures that beep the metal detector when I go through the airport.

Anyway Dave, if you're following the numbers, I'd forget Blythe and Needles (I never found anything in either, except fast food, fuel & lodging). I'd drop off 40 at exit 4, and pick up 95 North, or continue on 40, and cross the river at Needles to 95. I'd take 95 to old 66, go through Oatman, then continue on to I-40, & Kingman. Oatman is tiny, terminally quaint, and you have to look out for the donkeys in the street. A couple eclectic restaurants in Oatman & some touristy stuff, too. Check the road conditions on old 66 first, it doesn't get a lot of attention any more. Your total miles will be less than backtracking from Needles to stay on I-40 to Kingman.

Also, your new proposed route misses Bullhead City altogether. If you went North on 95, whether you hit Oatman or not, it leads right into Bullhead.

Don't be afraid to leave the Interstates, unless you've just got to fly at 75 or 80 every minute. The solid red lines are usually good, as are the yellow lines with red borders, they're 4 lanes. The solid black ones usually aren't too bad either, though it makes sense to check them out first. The scenery is almost always better than on the interstates.

Order an Arizona highways map, and if you want any more Arizona opinions, let me know. I'm opinionated about a lot of things.

You might be a little breathless at 7 or 8K feet, but if you don't suffer severe cardiac insufficiency, it'll just make you move a little slower. You'll never know unless you try it.