With leaving  a day early from Lake Pleasant, we needed to find a place to spend the night before arriving at our next location up in Prescott Valley.  No better time than the present to try out a Harvest Host location in Dewey, AZ!

For those of you who are not familiar with the Harvest Host program, it is a network of over 740 wineries, farms and breweries where RV'ers can stay overnight for FREE.  It is a great option for a night as you transition to your next destination and sometimes they become destinations themselves! As of early 2019, they now include golf courses.  If golf isn't your thing, you can still choose the classic membership, which is what we have, and save a couple bucks.  Although, the added golf course membership grants you access to their restaurants and spas.  If you want to check it out, click here for a 15% discount.

Mortimer Farms in Dewey, AZ had several great reviews on Harvest Host so we decided to take the leap.  We called them and they said come on in and to stop by the store and register when you get here.  When we arrived, we checked in at the store, which was a simple process of providing your contact information should they need to contact you during your stay.  The very large side gravel parking lot can handle several RV's.  When we arrived at 1pm, there was already and RV parked in the lot.  We were the only two there for the evening.  The side parking lot is near the road so we parked as far away from the road as we could which led us to discovering Pedro.  We parked right next to a fenced in area and soon we noticed a collection of animals gathering to watch us.  Actually I think they were looking for a hand out.  One of those was Pedro the burro.  He turned out to be Rick's favorite and I think Pedro took a looking to Rick as well. 

After we set up and said hello to the animals, which included goats,  baby heifers and sheep, we went back to the store to explore.  They have alot of great items such as fresh produce and meat, all from the farm.  They also have alot of jarred items and wine for sale as well.  A nice surprise was the little bakery/deli they had where you could order deli sandwiches or grab a breakfast burrito or bakery for breakfast.  We ended up buying some steaks and queso dip.  We then spent a good bit of time talking with the cashier about the full time RV lifestyle.  She was very curious about making it work for her and her boyfriend and I think our story gave her some confidence in taking the leap.  The store was really cute and the grounds had alot to see and do.  We browsed through their gardens they were planting, visited the chickens and took a nice stroll through the farm which included strawberry fields, areas to have fall harvest festivals and a large area for kids to play and learn about living on a farm.

We went back to the rig and settled in for the evening.  We had a nice time watching the animals and stars and then called it a night.  Even with a bit of road noise, we still slept well.  In the morning we went over to the store for some breakfast.  We each had a burrito, which is cooked fresh for you with farm fresh eggs and meat and veggies.  The homemade salsa was also really tasty.  We splurged and also split a homemade blueberry scone.  Yummy!!!

We really enjoyed our time at Mortimer Farms! They were very accommodating and offered us another night if we wanted to stay.  We will certainly be back if through the area again.  Fall would be great to take advantage of all the produce they grow.

​SHOP AMAZON HERE
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​

One of the things we may overlook or take for granted as full time RV'ers is the holiday crowds at campgrounds.  As you travel on down the road to your next destination, you get caught up in the moment, the beauty of the here and now and completely forget that a holiday weekend is upon you as you dream of another relaxing, quiet site with beautiful views.  Welcome to Easter weekend at Lake Pleasant Regional Park!!  Being that this is one of very few lakes near the greater Phoenix area for boating, it is a VERY popular spot with the locals.

​Ok, now that I got that out of the way, here comes our review of this park.  Unfortunately, not all that pleasant and after seeing two other Maricopa Regional Parks, I think we have a good feel for what the regional parks are like.  Well, we hit sort of a dud here at Lake Pleasant.  Part of it attributed to the holiday crowd, but even after they all left, we still ended up leaving a day early.  We arrived on Good Friday and it immediately dawned on us that it might be a bit busy because of the holiday weekend, but a campground can only be fully booked, right?, so we thought we would hunker down in our campsite and let the weekend play out before we explored the rest of the park. 

There are two different campground areas, with 148 sites total.  Both are paved roads with a mix of paved and gravel sites.  The two are spread out from each other.  Desert Tortoise being down near the lake with smaller sites and Roadrunner being up on the hill overlooking the lake.  Roadrunner can accommodate larger rigs in some of the sites but some are not level since the campground is on a hill, so it is pretty difficult to really know what you are getting until you get here.  Our site was in a little gravel cul de sac off the main campground paved road.  It was down a somewhat steep, rocky entrance and all gravel and dirt.  There are four sites there and they probably have the most space separating them than the other sites, which are close together, but I guess with a view of the lake, people won't mind if their neighbor is right next door.  These sites are certainly closer together than the other regional parks.  We were thankful for being down in the cul de sac area as the rest of the campground was full and seemed even more stifling as campers had their Razors and boats with trailers crammed into the campground as well.  

​The weekend evenings were a time to let the hair down in the campground with sites blasting their music to drown out the site next to them.  The rules of the campground didn't seem to really be enforced over the weekend, although there were campground hosts and police presence in the park.  The other thing that really gave us a sour taste about this park was the unbelievable amount of trash EVERYWHERE!  When I say everywhere, I mean from campsites, to firepits, to the trails, the day use areas, overflowing trash bins and even floating at the shore line.  You see, for the holiday weekend it seemed like a free for all.  There was addtl dry camping that was opened up on all of the shore line.  Even though a good bit of the shore was on a hill incline, we saw large RV's parked there, tents, full size home grills, floating platforms, boats and everything in between, just randomly jammed into any nook and cranny they could get.  No sites, spaces or any logic to it.  We called it the redneck riviera because it truly was a cluster!  And there was quite the Hootenanny going on!  (That ones for you Rich and Ginger!!)

​On Saturday, the park started to burst at the seams and areas were closed in the park due to capacity limits, however, they never did close the park to newcomers and a quick jaunt to do some laundry in town, resulted in us having to sit in line for a little over 20 minutes to get back in the park, even though we had a pass.  Uuugghhhh! 

​It was very sad to see the after effects on Tuesday when all of those who vacated their weekend party spots, really left a terribly disgusting sight to behold.  Trash, including grill remnants, food, pool noodles, bottles, etc. The even sadder part is that we never saw the camp hosts and park staff attending to the park.  We did see the trash truck come thru, but that was about it.  At the other regional park we stayed at, the camp hosts were out and attending to the sites after campers left, even raking it for the next camper, but here...that never happened.  It was just very sad.

​Unless you are here to go boating or serious kayaking (with the boat waves) or hike a very strenuous trail, there isn't much to do and trying to relax right next to your neighbor was not our cup of tea, so we decided to leave a day early.  That is why our house has wheels, right?!?!

​While at the park we did take the kayak out one weekday morning for a short jaunt.  As I tried to paddle, it became very clear that I had not been out kayaking post shoulder replacement surgery and I was not in any shape to take on those rotating arm movements against the water.  It was still a beautiful view from the water for the short time we were out there and we still remembered how to ready our inflatable Sea Eagle kayak . For anyone considering a kayak, this is a great way to go.  It folds down into a large duffel bag with shoulder strap and does not take up the room you would need for a full size kayak.  Plus, this one seats two!

While here we also lucked out and were finally able to see a wild burro near one of the day use areas.  We have seen signs along the roads and talk of these guys but had never seen one yet.  He was a cute little guy and posed for a couple pictures for us.

One saving grace of staying here were some pretty great sunsets.  I must say AZ does have some of the prettiest sunsets we have seen so far.  We will miss those as we start to move north and east.

To be honest, it is a beautiful lake and I dreaded writing such an unfavourable review, as I am sure others have had a better experience, but we will always be honest in our reviews as they are our experiences.  We also don't want to sugarcoat this lifestyle into our readers thinking we always get great campgrounds and sites, because many times you don't.  We can honestly say that in almost a year of being full time, this is only the second campground we did not care for.  I think that is pretty good!

​SHOP AMAZON HERE
Would you like to help support our blog and keep these updates coming?  It is easy to help, just do your Amazon shopping through the link above.  You still get all your Amazon Prime benefits and the prices are the same.  Since we are in the Amazon affiliate program,  any shopping you do through our link, provides a little kickback to support this blog.  
Thank you for stopping by!!!!

​We bid farewell to Mesa and our fellow workampers at Val Vista Villages and headed north to Cave Creek Regional Park.  

​Cave Creek is another one of the Maricopa County parks, such as Usery Mountain where we went hiking last week.  This is another gem out in the desert and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  The campground is spread out enough that even though you don’t have a lot of trees and shrubs separating the sites, you feel like you have enough of your own space to enjoy the beautiful views.  The sites are paved with curbing and have electric and water.  There are some additional sites that were put in later, that are only gravel, electric and water and those sites are right next to each other.  Thankfully we had a nice spacious site and were able to enjoy the beautiful views of the hills, mountains and desert.

The Cave Creek area is really a cool area with lots of ranches, cowboys and bull riding.  At the recommendation of my cousin, we set out Wed night to Buffalo Chip Saloon, which is a Packer bar in the area, to enjoy dinner and watch the bull riding they have out back off the patio area.  Well damn if we didn’t get there two hours before the bull riding and the place was soo packed, people were parking waaayyy down the road.  There was no way we were getting near that place.  We went down the road to another great place, The Horny Toad, and had some delicious BBQ while watching the Milwaukee Bucks game at our table on my cell phone.  We didn’t feel like we were disrupting the place, but more so, adding to the ambiance since the big table next to us was playing a heated game of Uno.  
We were able to visit Buffalo Chip Saloon the next day after the dust settled, and had a delicious lunch.  Even their cheese curds were up to WI standards!  Great saloon with boots hanging from the ceiling, wide open walls of "windows" and out back they had a small arena for bull riding and a huge patio.  Lots of WI artifacts and a Packer tribute corner.  We even left them with a couple of our WI license plates to adorn the wall.

​We went out for a couple hikes while at Cave Creek and enjoyed the somewhat cooler mornings to explore the beautiful area.  One trail brought us to an old clay mine, in which the entrepreneurial woman who mined the clay, bottled it as a healing elixir, said to cure many things.  The one thing it really did help with was dysentery.  The mine is now gated off but it was really interesting to read the history.

​Out on all of our hikes we were hoping to see more of the animals in the area, such as burros, wild horses and even rattlesnakes.  Unfortunately, we came up with a big goose egg, unless we can count the rattlesnake and tortoise at the nature center!!

Our final outing while in the area was to McCormick Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale.  What a hidden gem in the area!  It has received national park awards and we can see why.  People of all ages will find something of interest here, but if you are a train fanatic, like Rick, it is train heaven!  They have a large building that houses several model train setups that clubs run and they are something to see.  They have all different gauges of track, Lionel and HO trains and even tiny little ones!  This building was free and there were several areas that were interactive, where you could make trains move, a UFO to take off and many other cool little actions.

​For just a $2 ticket, you can ride on the beautiful carousel, tour the museum and Pullman presidential cars or take a train ride around the park.  They also have the AZ Merci train car that was a gift from the people of France after WWII.  They have lots of shaded picnic areas and snacks as well.  A wonderful place to spend the day.  We rode on the train and went through the museum.  Amazing to see the presidential train car that Hoover, FDR, Truman and Eisenhower rode on. 

Next up...Lake Pleasant...or is it???

We are down to our last week in Mesa and our workamping positions at Val Vista Villages.  Working at the grill is really heating up.  Literally!!!  This week they are forecasting upper 90’s. The bar and dining area are all outside and most in full sun with some table umbrellas, but when you are running around, delivering food and drinks, it really is hot!  Even if it is a dry heat.  Rick has some reprieve in the kitchen with an AC, but on hot days and the fryers going, it only helps a bit.  Even after all that whining, we really do like working here and have had a good time with co-workers.  We are ready however, to get the wheels rolling and head to more scenic, cooler locations, especially if they include a campfire!  

Since we knew we would be here in late spring and would be tempting fate with the hot temperatures and no shade at our site, we decided to put up some Reflectix in the windows on the driver side of the RV were the afternoon sun beats on it.  The window over the oven and the two side bed windows do not have the tinting like the rest, so we wanted to be sure those were included.  We also like a nice dark bedroom to sleep in, so for those windows we used some Velcro strips in beige that blend in with the wall.  This way we can take the Reflectix off when we don't need it and easily put it back up when we do.  The Reflectix is very easy to cut to size and we also labeled it to know what window it goes on so the velcro lines up.  That, coupled with the dual pane windows, has been fantastic and as I write this, it is 97 degrees and the AC is not running all the time and still keeping the RV a lovely 72 degrees. Well worth the investment all around!

With having been stationary for a bit, we are getting things ready to roll on down the road.  This week we cleaned out the outside storage bays and mopped them all.  Our front bay had a latch that wasn’t contacting correctly and Rick fixed that with a bit of composite shims to tighten that up.  He also gave the RV a bath with the Aero Cosmetics waterless system and the truck got a bath last week; however, we are full of pollen again.  Oh well tis the pollen season, even here in sun valley!  ​​

​We also finally took the cracked plastic covers off the recliner foot rests. We wanted to protect them as long as possible.  Rick watched a video from the manufacturer that walked you through the process.  It was a lot easier than others made it sound on social media.  I then gave the furniture a good cleaning with some cleaner/conditioner to keep them looking good.  I am hoping that with the conditioning they will not tear or peel like others have experienced.  Fingers crossed!

​This coming week has a lot more “To Do’s”, a good spring cleaning, just like our old house but on a smaller scale!  I love when cleaning the bathroom takes less than 20 minutes!
​
We took a day to be tourists and drove to Queen Creek to tour the Queen Creek Olive Mill. They have over 700 olive trees, with 16 different varieties and they sort of resemble a willow tree with breezy type branches and leaves. The trees are just starting to bloom with little white flowers everywhere.  Interesting fact, if 4% of the tiny blossoms become olives, it is a big crop.  Wow!!!

​We then took a tour of the processing room and watched a quick video of the olive oil making process.   The guide was really informative and answered all our questions.  All of the olive oil they make is extra virgin olive oil.  We had taste tests and learned how EVOO differs from other olive oils and how most of us are used to tasting rancid olive oil!  My tip to all, always buy EVOO and the darker the bottle the better as light promotes oxidation which greatly diminishes the freshness.  Plus EVOO has alot of healthy qualities such as decreasing LDL cholesterol and blood pressure.  Good stuff!

​The mill also had all of their oils available to sample and buy as well as balsamics and other seasonings in the gift shop.  Another plus to this location is the wonderful café, where they use their oils in addition to the citrus and garden vegetables, they grow.  We split a yummy kalamata prosciutto pizza with balsamic drizzle and a fresh caprese sandwich.  If ever in the area, this place is really neat to explore!

We also got more hiking in on a day where it was forecasted to only be in the high 70’s.  Even with that, the bright sun really warmed things up fast!  This trail was in Usery Mountain Regional Park, one the wonderful Maricopa County Parks.  This park encompasses over 3,600 acres, has a 75 site campground, numerous picnic areas, a premier outdoor archery range and lots of great hiking trails.  We hiked Blevins Trail, another easy 3.1 mile trail that took us past Usery Mountain and the Cat Peaks.  We are feeling confident now and might try a more difficult trail next, just as long as there is no scaling and descending steep cliffs.  That is where I get in trouble!!!    

​Once we leave Mesa, we will head north of the city to another Maricopa County Park, Cave Creek.  We are looking forward to dark skies and campfires!!! 

​SHOP AMAZON HERE
Would you like to help support our blog and keep these updates coming?  It is easy to help, just do your Amazon shopping through the link above.  You still get all your Amazon Prime benefits and the prices are the same.  Since we are in the Amazon affiliate program,  any shopping you do through our link, provides a little kickback to support this blog.  
Thank you for stopping by!!!!