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As I write this it is 6:30 am on New Year's Eve of 2003. Like the month of November we have not done much
traveling but continued to get ready for our trip to Panama. We only traveled 1000 miles this month.
Off and on during December we stayed at Rover's Roost an Escapee Co-op park about 6 miles west of Casa
Grande, AZ. The Escapees is an Rving organization that is very active. There are several either co-op or
leasehold RV parks that have lots for one's RV. Buying in is really inexpensive compared to owning a home. Lots
at the various parks run between $6000 and $20,000+.
Rover's Roost is set out in the desert between Phoenix and Tucson and has a clubhouse with lots of activities
going on, a laundry facility, a library and lots of fulltime Rvers staying there at any given time. There is a
boondock area where one can stay for $2.50/night or you can stay on one of the rental lots for $12/night with full
hookups. We stayed in the boondock area.
We visited with our friends Gus and Berry who are staying in the Scottsdale area for the winter. They beat us to
fulltiming by about a year and a half. Their home is a beautiful 36' Teton, 3 slide, 5th wheel that is like an
apartment on wheels. 5th wheels offer so much more flexibility in floor plans than motorhomes but the big ones
require a monster truck to pull them. We are enjoying our motorhome and are happy with our choice.
We also spent a week camped at the Pinal County West Park at the intersection of I-8 and Hwy 84. This is also a
boondocking area that is free for as long as you like to stay. There are people there who stay all winter.
Periodically they hitch up and go into town for water and to dump the holding tanks. It was a really nice area to
just finish up some of the projects for our trip and prepare ourselves mentally for the trip.
Since December 26th we have been in the 10 acre Elks Lodge parking lot in Gila Bend, AZ with the group we will
travel with to Panama. It seems like a great group and in 2 days we will be pulling out to cross the border into
Mexico at Sonoita.
The caravan consists of 11 rigs. Starting with the largest rig, there is a 40' 1967 bus conversion with Bruce and
Maria who have been traveling in it for 15 years, us in our 38' Class A motorhome, a 32' Winnebago with Bob, a
retired marine seargent, who is 66, a 31' 5th wheel pulled by a diesel truck with Joyce and Larry, retired
psychologists in their early 60's, a 30' 4 wheel drive Class C with Bud a retired airline pilot who is 75, a 24' Class A
with Mary and Elaine a retired teacher and podiatrist in their late 50s, a 1984 Class A towing a 1985 Bronco with
Jim and Lena, a 20' 5th wheel pulled by a diesel truck with Ken and Carolyn, retired pipefitter and nurse in the
their early 60s, a 20' trailer pulled by a diesel truck with Kirk a 40 year old who is between jobs, a 21' RoadTrek
Class B van with Joe who is early 60s, and last but not least, a van conversion with a pop top owned by Evelyn
who is a retired art professor in her late 60s. All together there are 17 of us...9 women and 8 men...what a great
group!!!! It is certainly a hodgepodge of RVs and a mixed bag of adventurous souls.
The week we have been here we have all been meeting a couple times a day to discuss various things and
working on our last minute projects. Tonight we will have a potluck dinner, tomorrow we finish projects and day
after tomorrow we leave. The next time I write to you we will have eaten many fish tacos and be somewhere south
of Mazatlan. Our route in Mexico takes us down the west coast of the mainland until we get to the narrow part to
cross over to the Yucatan.
Hasta la vista, Kathe
traveling but continued to get ready for our trip to Panama. We only traveled 1000 miles this month.
Off and on during December we stayed at Rover's Roost an Escapee Co-op park about 6 miles west of Casa
Grande, AZ. The Escapees is an Rving organization that is very active. There are several either co-op or
leasehold RV parks that have lots for one's RV. Buying in is really inexpensive compared to owning a home. Lots
at the various parks run between $6000 and $20,000+.
Rover's Roost is set out in the desert between Phoenix and Tucson and has a clubhouse with lots of activities
going on, a laundry facility, a library and lots of fulltime Rvers staying there at any given time. There is a
boondock area where one can stay for $2.50/night or you can stay on one of the rental lots for $12/night with full
hookups. We stayed in the boondock area.
We visited with our friends Gus and Berry who are staying in the Scottsdale area for the winter. They beat us to
fulltiming by about a year and a half. Their home is a beautiful 36' Teton, 3 slide, 5th wheel that is like an
apartment on wheels. 5th wheels offer so much more flexibility in floor plans than motorhomes but the big ones
require a monster truck to pull them. We are enjoying our motorhome and are happy with our choice.
We also spent a week camped at the Pinal County West Park at the intersection of I-8 and Hwy 84. This is also a
boondocking area that is free for as long as you like to stay. There are people there who stay all winter.
Periodically they hitch up and go into town for water and to dump the holding tanks. It was a really nice area to
just finish up some of the projects for our trip and prepare ourselves mentally for the trip.
Since December 26th we have been in the 10 acre Elks Lodge parking lot in Gila Bend, AZ with the group we will
travel with to Panama. It seems like a great group and in 2 days we will be pulling out to cross the border into
Mexico at Sonoita.
The caravan consists of 11 rigs. Starting with the largest rig, there is a 40' 1967 bus conversion with Bruce and
Maria who have been traveling in it for 15 years, us in our 38' Class A motorhome, a 32' Winnebago with Bob, a
retired marine seargent, who is 66, a 31' 5th wheel pulled by a diesel truck with Joyce and Larry, retired
psychologists in their early 60's, a 30' 4 wheel drive Class C with Bud a retired airline pilot who is 75, a 24' Class A
with Mary and Elaine a retired teacher and podiatrist in their late 50s, a 1984 Class A towing a 1985 Bronco with
Jim and Lena, a 20' 5th wheel pulled by a diesel truck with Ken and Carolyn, retired pipefitter and nurse in the
their early 60s, a 20' trailer pulled by a diesel truck with Kirk a 40 year old who is between jobs, a 21' RoadTrek
Class B van with Joe who is early 60s, and last but not least, a van conversion with a pop top owned by Evelyn
who is a retired art professor in her late 60s. All together there are 17 of us...9 women and 8 men...what a great
group!!!! It is certainly a hodgepodge of RVs and a mixed bag of adventurous souls.
The week we have been here we have all been meeting a couple times a day to discuss various things and
working on our last minute projects. Tonight we will have a potluck dinner, tomorrow we finish projects and day
after tomorrow we leave. The next time I write to you we will have eaten many fish tacos and be somewhere south
of Mazatlan. Our route in Mexico takes us down the west coast of the mainland until we get to the narrow part to
cross over to the Yucatan.
Hasta la vista, Kathe
Copyright - All Rights Reserved
2005
2005
December 2003
Around the World with Kathe and Colleen