Back to Coolidge Nov. 2015

Restored 1937 WACO Staggerwing

Coolidge, Arizona is a a small town South of Mesa where there is a small airport with a couple of runways.. The sign at the entrance reads - Welcome to Coolidge Army Airport 1942-1945. So there is some history here. Today, Coolidge Airport serves a number of purposes, including hosting a fly-in for aviation enthusiasts the first Saturday of the month (summer months excluded). This is what puts me at Coolidge yesterday morning.

The Florence Lion's Club puts on a magnificent outdoor breakfast on these fly-in Saturday mornings, and I ate my share of pancakes, sausages, and scrambled eggs, washed down with plenty of hot coffee. Pretty much all you can eat for $8, and all for a good cause.

You never know what you'll find sitting out there on the tarmac. This time, what got my attention was a recently restored 1937 WACO Staggerwing, which two men laboured over for more than seven years on evenings and weekends. Seeing it up-close-and-personal is such a treat, seeing it running, taking off, and flying off is something else again. We're talking aviation history here, and this is a rare diamond indeed.

Biplanes are in fact rare birds, and I must have a thing for them, because I did a YouTube video of a Coolidge fly-in back in 2012, and it featured a Beechcraft Stillman Model 17 Staggerwing.

If you're on holidays, in the Phoenix area, and interested in aviation, Coolidge is a great place on a Saturday morning. Go early, by 11 am the looking is over, and the pilots and their planes are heading home. I usually arrive around 8:30 am, and that works perfect. There is no charge, and you can wander about, feast your eyes, and even talk it up with some of the owners who don't mind taking time to tell you all about their planes. Enjoy, and bring your camera.

The smell inside this cockpit didn't come cheap - think Rolls-Royce

5th Wheel versus Park Model?

Two things got me to this post this morning: it's raining; and, there is no park water (a shut down for repairs - not uncommon). Our 5th Wheel has a water storage tank, so water interruptions are a non-issue. Park models have no water storage tanks, so your morning wash-up waits.

That said, why a 5th Wheel in the first place? Assume for this discussion that this is your seasonal home, you are somewhere warm (if it's winter), you are one or two people, and you can still safely climb stairs. Here are a few of my ideas:

• 5th Wheels can be moved, and since they are intended for seasonal use only, they survive longer, and cost less to maintain if you find covered storage when not in use. Very important in sunny, hot places - like Arizona. I say this, because park models sit in the sun and bake, and this can cost you lots of money down the line. 
• If you are unclear what a park model is, here's what you need to know. Park models once onsite can be moved, but with difficulty, and once a Arizona Room has been added, for practical purposes, they're permanent;
• For the dollar, modern 5th Wheels provide very comfortable, organized, accommodation. Some might even call it luxury space. Plenty of cabinets and storage, fully self-contained, all the conveniences, attractively decorated, with a plethora of creature comforts. Plus, at least for a day or two, you can live off the grid if necessary. On power failure, the refrigerator switches to gas, water pumps and lights work off a storage battery, the furnace and stove run off gas, and you have storage tanks for grey/black water, and fresh water;
• With mostly fiberglass exteriors, 5th Wheels are easily maintained, and kept up. And, there are plenty of people out there who know how to fix them when things do go wrong;
• Safe space. Manufacturers do pay attention to safety concerns, and with just a modicum of common sense, there is no reason to worry about safety issues. Having said that, if you can't safely manage two or three steps, forget 5th Wheels;
• Reasonably priced, even if you're purchasing new. Ours was three years old when we purchased it, and the first owners ate a ton of depreciation. What we got was a modern unit, in excellent repair, at a very reasonable cost, which because of the cost didn't require financing to purchase. No regrets. Don't pass on a good quality, well maintained, lightly used unit;
• Easily insured, with some restrictions. Our policy won't allow attached decks, or extra rooms. RV parks don't like this anyway. Most won't allow it. If this is your vacation home, put the tools away;
• Forget renting. Again, we're back to insurance, our policy does not permit renting. If you're not using it, sell it;
• Easily relocated (as compared to a park model). We don't own a truck, so when the trailer gets moved to storage, we're paying someone to move it. Someone with driving and parking skills we don't have. This is not a major expense.
• Finally, park models sit where they are planted and pay park fees 12 months a year. 5th Wheels can pickup and move, so storage is a cost saving option during the months when you're not using it.

Snow in Arizona?

Channel 3 November 3 weather forecast for Flagstaff, AZ

It's true, people in Flagstaff, Arizona will wake to snow tomorrow morning. So isn't this a little early for snow?

Since most of us are here for the climate during the winter months, just the mention of snow gets your attention. Flagstaff is about two-and-one-half hours North of Phoenix, where people go to ski in the winter months, and escape the heat in the summer. The elevation is about 7,000 feet, and compared to Phoenix at 1,100 feet, you see why you can see snow one place and not the other.

Does it ever snow in Phoenix? It can, but it melts quickly. Don't come to Phoenix for snow.

So what about the averages?

• Lows in Phoenix average: 47 degrees Fahrenheit in November, and 40 degrees in December. January 39 degrees, February 43, and March 47.
• Highs in the same area average: November 74, and December 66. January 65 degrees, February 70, and March 75.

Flagstaff is much cooler in January - March with lows below 20 degrees, and average highs around 45 degrees. You get the idea - don't bring your tent to Flagstaff in the early spring months. And, don't laugh, I knew someone who did.

November 4, update. Sure enough, it snowed.

RVs on the move

Main entrance VDO - Snowbirds on the move

The last weekend of October, and it really is one after the other. Today alone (Oct. 31), 39 RVs that look like what you see here will arrive at VDO - most of them will spend the winter.

Valle del Oro in East Mesa is a small city on its own with close to 1,800 sites, most of which are permanent park models, which don't come and go with the seasons. Exact figures are a little hard to know, but in most RV parks in this area, the ratio is close to 80 percent park models, 20 percent RVs. The days of RVs in these parks are numbered as park operators continue to aggressively market their park models, which keep the rent coming in 12 months of the year.

Baby Boomers are the new retirees, and there are plenty of them looking for winter relief from weary winters, and park models are proving popular with them. A new park model with an added Arizona Room and carport runs about $80,000 U.S., and you get three years free rent (worth about $18,000). You see the attraction.

VDO have NO spring vacancies, and the waiting list for RV sites is a long one (over 80 as of Friday). Truth is, most people won't ask to join a list of this length, what's the point! The park is full.

Short lesson: if you haven't already figured this out, think hard before you invest big bucks in an RV, unless you know for certain where you're heading will have space for you. Especially true if your travel takes you South for the winter.

From about $62,000 with Arizona Room

Welcome Home AZ 2015

My friend, Joe Szegeti and his wife Julie Bach, have just returned from a motorcycle ride that took him and about 70 other Kingston riders from Calgary, AB, to Tombstone, AZ in September 2015. I gave Joe some postcards to mail back over their trip, which he did, and I so enjoyed the adventure that I've decided to share my Arizona adventures with him, and all those who follow this blog.

It's raining tonight in Mesa, and I'm watching one of my favorite TV channels, PBS (there are no commercials). I'm tired from a day in the sun, and PBS is just fine. I am not at the Halloween dance, which is what happens when Judy is not here. Dances are out. My choice.

Watching a restaurant review show on PBS, I have tuned in on a restaurant, Aloha Kitchen here in Mesa, which I want to visit with my friends, Lee and Colleen Loveridge.

Lee and Coleen live here in Valle del Oro (during the winter months), and we've been friends forever. They are from White Rock, B.C.

They owned a place in Hawaii, which we visited, and Aloha Kitchen sounds like a step back to those good old days in Hawaii. If it wasn't for PBS, how would I know about this place?

This is day three on return to Mesa. It was all about scrubbing down the 5th Wheel, and setting up for the winter. Washing a 5th Wheel is like bathing an elephant. You can hire out the work, or do it yourself. I enjoy the experience, so I start at the top, and work myself down. It was partly overcast earlier, and there was no wind, perfect day for this job. $200 saved. And, I've got a good idea how the skin on this rig is faring, and what if anything needs to be done.

The 5th Wheel lives here in AZ, and spends about six months each year under covered storage. Aside from dust, it is protected from the most damaging elements of heat and sun over the extremely hot summer months. Since we don't own a truck, we depend on Harvey to get it back and forth from storage. Easy enough, and Harvey knows how to back a trailer.

This is day three, and yesterday was about setting up, and watching the World Series. It was also about stocking up on cheap California wine, and a visit to AJ's for lunch. Since I'm mostly into health foods, I settled on a brat with sauerkraut, chips (the bag type) and another side, which I can't remember. I also secured Mexican meatballs soup and sourdough bread for later. Since Judy will follow later in the month, this is my opportunity to lose some weight and gain some control over what I eat.

The days of driving to Arizona are behind us, so Air Canada got me here on Tuesday. It was a great trip: Kingston - Toronto - Phoenix. Got up at 4 am (Kingston time), and arrived here in Phoenix around 10 am (in October there is a three hour time difference). Lee picked me up from the airport, and I took him to Paradise for lunch. The weather was wonderful and warm, approaching 90 F, time for shorts and a T-shirt.