You know the saying, “all good things must come to an end”? Our time in Arizona is nearing an end. Tuesday we pulled out of Cave Creek Regional Park and headed south toward Tucson. Our time at this regional park was most enjoyable and the fact that our son lives a short drive away added to the enjoyment.
We not only say goodbye to Cave Creek, we say goodbye to our son. Yes, watery eyes all around. Although I was initially sad to leave Phoenix, excitement set in after thirty minutes of driving; excitement to explore a new destination, new surroundings, and new people.
As I look out the truck window, I think about how I spent Valentine’s Day. It was a super fun day starting out with a ‘girl’s outing’. Fellow blogger LuAnn and I went out for lunch, photography, and shopping.
LuAnn and I explored the little towns of Cave Creek and Carefree, located north of Phoenix, Arizona. Cave Creek has more of a western, cowboy vibe while Carefree has a Spanish flare. We quickly settle on a café in Carefree and enjoy good food and even better company.
And what’s this….a chocolate and art festival? Two ladies amongst an abundance of chocolate…..outta the way!
With cameras in hand, these two bloggers snap away. We need blog material after all. The vendors are set up in an area that appears to be a town center of sorts; walkways, playground, lovely landscaping. We meander among the vendors and admire the unique cacti and landscaping.
That’s when LuAnn, somewhat excitedly, exclaims, “Crested Saguaro!” Forget the chocolate, a Crested Saguaro? With exuberance we quickly snap away at this rare sight. Ah yes, now I definitely must do a separate post on the amazing Saguaro Cactus. Rare sight, indeed!
With a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, and faces possessing huge smiles, we opt for some retail therapy and head to the outlet mall in Anthem. Since one must be fashionably attired while hiking, we head straight to the Columbia store. No purchases were made. Perhaps Columbia just couldn’t top a wonderful lunch visiting, the sight of a Crested Saguaro, and a chocolate festival.
Our day was over before we knew it. Reluctantly, we say our goodbyes with the promise of meeting someday and somewhere down the road. LuAnn and I return to our husbands with our chocolate purchases. Come on, you didn’t think we’d walk away from a chocolate festival empty handed, now did you?
Just a reminder – to view any of the photo galleries in a larger format, simply click on a photo 🙂
Live Laugh RV 
I am so, so sorry that we didn’t get a chance to meet, while you were in Phoenix. I didn’t expect to land a job, at the RV resort we are staying at in Buckeye. I am sure we will have a chance to meet in person along the way sometime!! Travel safe!!
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Yes, sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet….perhaps in Yellowstone. I look forward to hearing about the adventure. We’ll be back in CO in a couple of weeks… probably just in time for some more snow….lol. Tucson sure looked like CO yesterday!
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That crested saguaro is a beaut!
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Yes, what a find for sure. I’d been on the hunt while hiking and there one was in the town of Carefree!
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Hi Ingrid, Hans and I will be passing through Gilbert Ray on Friday afternoon after we finish a hike with some folks that are staying there. Thought we might drop by and say hello if you are around. Unfortunately I can’t give a specific time but it will probably be early to mid-afternoon…likely a time when you could be out and about…my email is lmmsdca at yahoo…perhaps we can meet if the stars align! Or perhaps we could get together over the weekend, we leave on Monday for Catalina.
Lisa
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Awesome…..we may go to a museum Friday and are scheduled to leave Saturday (supposed to leave today but extended). We are in site C-2 Laredo 5th wheel F-250 with CO plates. Hope it’ll work 🙂
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Sounds good. We’ll look for you on Friday and if we see you, Great! If not, we’ll try to meet up some other time, some other place!
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Sounds like a plan…..heading to the Desert musuem a.m and should be back around noon 🙂
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Turns out we won’t be hiking with our friends today, they have to take their dog to the vet…it will be tomorrow instead. Perhaps we’ll catch you in the morning before you leave! Today we are headed to Saguaro East…
Try to catch one of the Raptor Shows…it’s awesome!
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Bummer……I’m sure we’ll run into each other eventually. The Raptor show was great. Safe Travels!
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Ahhh, the sad good bye! We, also, had that tearful good bye as we dropped our daughter off at the airport this morning. That is the hardest part of this life style, leaving family. But, we had a wonderful time with Jessica. I guess for me it was extra special because we had to leave dad home on the floor while the girls traveled together…special mother daughter time:)
Glad you had a special girls day and with two of my favorites, chocolate and crested saguaro!!
What a beautiful crested! I really miss the saguaro. Keep those pictures coming!
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I love spending time with my daughter. She and I always have a blast together. Sounds like you and I are pretty darn lucky to have such good realtionships with our girls.
Isn’t the desert in Vegas plain compared to AZ? The saguaro topped with snow were quite the sight here in Tucson….we’re actually camped near Amanda Watson at Gilbert Ray Campground. Hopefully we’ll meet.
Can’t wait to hear the rest of your tale…..girls on the strip and Red Rock Canyon.
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Wow what a gorgeous crested Saguaro! We’re on our way to the Phoenix area this weekend so I’ll have to search that one out. I just found you through a comment you left on the Wheeling It blog. You mentioned that you’re at Gilbert Ray campground and that’s where we are right now! We’re in site H24. A shiny airstream covered with snow right now. We’ll be here until Saturday- stop by if you want.
Amanda & Tim
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I started following you because of Nina. I think I can see your shiny airstream…..we’re the Laredo 5th wheel in C-2. We’ll stop by later or if you’re walking by feel free to knock…… 🙂
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Am writing Cave Creek Regional park on our list of places to visit…We had a good friend who played Honky Tonk piano at a place called The Satisfied Frog, now the Silver Spur Saloon…His name was Jack Fairclough…small world…Hope you guys had a great visit with your son!
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It’s always fun visiting with the kids. I’d put Cave Creek Reg Park high on our list of places we really like. Lots of spacing between RV’s, far enough out of Phx, but close enough to lots of fun things. We’ll need to get together and exchange notes. That’s a major thing I love about this blogging community. We’re at a campground in Tucson because of a blogger. We never would have know about it. FYI…snow in Tucson today…I’m sending it your way 🙂
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The Pima Air Museum is a must see for Al!!
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Thanks 🙂
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Safe travels Ingrid! From the looks of the weather channel you are enjoying a rare snow day in Tucson! Looking forward to hearing about your experiences there. -Maureen
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Happily hunkered down at Gilbert Ray Campground watching the huge snowflakes fall. It’s quite pretty seeing the cacti topped with snow. I’ve been clicking away!
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That Crested Saguaro looks like Phyllis Diller on a good hair day waving hello. What an amazing catch. There must be something wrong with my girlie-gene. I can’t think of too many things I hate worse than shopping. Maybe jury duty…. maybe.
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I’m not into shopping like I used to be….have nothing to shop for. You shop for the perfect photo op….it’s the hunt that’s appealing. Phyllis Diller? Char said Lisa Simpson…..too funny!
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Yeah, I could see Lisa Simpson, too… but my reference tended to show my age more than anything. The Simpsons just didn’t come to mind first.
Your comparison to shopping for the perfect photo op makes a bit of sense. Come to think of it, I’m quite happy shopping in a camera or computer store, but never, ever liked doing the girly things.
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Its all about what one finds of interest. Come to think about it, that Columbia store had some nice coats marked down and I should’ve picked one up….snowing in Tucson today!
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Great photos and great memories had that day. It will be a Valentine’s Day I will not soon forget. Aren’t our hubbies lucky to have two wonderful wives who bring them home chocolate on Valentine’s Day?! Safe travels to you both Ingrid. I had great fun getting to know you and look forward to our next meeting, which I am sure will happen. 🙂
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Oh, definitely we’ll meet again. Our hubbies are lucky for LOTS of reasons…..haha. Ya know, our photos are pretty darn good, and then think….we don’t use any software to edit them….pat on the back all around 🙂
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I am liking your camera and will probably purchase something similar before too long but yes, I would say we aren’t too bad (lol). 🙂
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It’s fun having the two cameras to play around with…..I still want to take a class but for now I’ll keep playing with the different settings and see what happens.
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Like anything else, it takes lots of practice I’m thinking. 🙂
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That first picture is so gorgeous it should be on a calendar. And I’m jealous you got to go to a Fine chocolate festival. Oh my! I’m salivating just thinking of it. And I have never seen a saguaro like that one. It reminds me of Lisa Simpson.
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Oh, how funny….Lisa Simpson? Thanks for the photo compliment. The sunsets and sunrises at Cave Creek Reg Park were just beautiful almost every day. AND the chocolate WAS worth salivating over….yum!
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Whoa! That Saguaro is fascinating! Can’t wait to read about that. Is that a type of Saguaro or just an anomaly?
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Working on all the facts right now. Even hubby found my upcoming saguaro post quite interesting……crested saguaro – rare anomaly!
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So cool! Can’t wait!
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Ingrid, I know that feeling of excitement when you are headed to a new camp. Even though we are really liking it here, Hitch Itch is starting to set in. New adventures are always around the corner. Love it. Looks like you are having a super time.
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You are so right….there comes a point and you just know its time to move on. That’s why we do this after all. We are hunkered down in a snowstorm in Tucson, what are the chances? Ah, adventure!
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Oh this is so wonderful.. to share a location with a fellow blogger.. must be awesome… and on top of that it looks like you had good food and then the cream on top of the pudding… a chocolate festival… damn how lucky can two women be.??… I love the photo of the pair of you, both looking happy and content… marvelous… now for the Crested Saguaro, I was picturing some rare bird or special food or chocolate… not a cactus… but I look forward to learning more from you on the cactus… looks fascinating..
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Kind of a weird name for that saguaro. Apparently I wasn’t consulted…haha. You’re right though….sounds more like a bird. Good food, good company, and chocolate….great day!
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We were sad to leave Cave Creek too. It is such a beautiful and peaceful and the only park we had our best sunrise and sunsets. Looks like you had your blogger bonding time. Way to go. Looking forward to your crested saguaro posts.
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This time I was ready to leave and explore, but didn’t count on snow in Tucson 😦 I think you guys know a thing or two about cold weather. Hope TX is warm!
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I think it is your turn to be in cold and snow in Tucson. We had enough of it and got out of it but not the rain. It’s rainin’n here in Houston.
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Raining cats and dogs! We will know if we will have a leak again!
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Bummer….hopefully you are dry and toasty. We had a lot of moisture…..Al laughed as I kept opening cupboards and looking in corners…..don’t want any leaks of our own!
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Sounds like the perfect day…shopping, chocolate and a girlfriend. I’m keeping notes on all the great places all of you bloggers travel to. Someday my hubby and I hope to be exploring, as you do. Thanks for sharing.
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Yep, it was a pretty good day. There certainly is no shortage of fun places. We started RVing with weekends here and there as we could break loose. No need to wait 🙂
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Enjoy your blog, we are just starting out on the full time journey. Similar background, 45 years commercial aviation, married the lady who asked, captain, would you like a cup of coffee. Hope we meet up on the road, drive safe.
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