One of the lights in our rear closet stopped working properly; very dim, and only half working:
Plus blinking:
I unmounted it from the ceiling:
Then replaced it with a new one, bought from Tiffin:
Remounted on the ceiling:
Done:
An easy fix.
Author: David
Baseball Spring Training: Los Angeles Dodgers vs Seattle Mariners
Our second spring training game was the Los Angeles Dodgers vs our Seattle Mariners, playing at Camelback Ranch.
They really captured the spirit of a Dodgers game, with a long wait to get into the big parking lot around the stadium, leading us to arrive just as the game was about to start, instead of an hour before as we had planned.
View from our seats:
Baseball Spring Training: Seattle Mariners vs San Diego Padres
Perhaps the main reason for staying in Phoenix over winter was to attend baseball spring training games.
The first one we attended was our Seattle Mariners vs the San Diego Padres, playing at the spring training facility that they both share, the Peoria Sports Complex, for the first game of their spring training.
Playground:
Greetings from Peoria, AZ:
The team store was crazy busy; we bailed on that, and went back later:
Lineup:
View from our seats:
ABS challenge:
The ABS challenge system is coming to MLB this season:
Disney California Adventure for Jenn’s birthday
We visited Disney California Adventure on Jenn’s birthday.
Jenn with a birthday badge:
Mail lady and policeman:
Jenn asking for mail:
Ruff! Ruff!:
Radiator Springs Racers ride:
Magic Key Terrace for lunch:
Little Mermaid ride:
Goofy’s Sky School ride (our first and last time!):
Toy soldiers:
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree ride:
Lamplight Lounge for Jenn’s birthday dinner:
Jessie’s Critter Carousel ride (our first time):
Pixar Pal-A-Round ride (also our first time):
We of course opted for the non-swinging side:
Weird seeing outside the park; being in Disney is a magical bubble:
Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters ride:
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! ride:
Back to the hotel:
Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts’ Nite
We attended Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts’s Nite, a special event in the evening, where a more limited number of people can access the park, with little wait for rides, plus special entertainment.
The marching band, during regular hours:
Castle:
We watched a Beauty and the Beast live show:
Side of the castle:
Sweetheart’s Nite Event Check-in:
Sweetheart’s Nite Event lanyard, booklet, chocolates:
Oga’s Cantina was closed for renovation:
Dinner:
More food:
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway:
Fountain:
It’s a Small World:
Teacups:
Dumbo the Flying Elephant:
Dessert:
Popcorn:
Sweethearts parade:
Space Mountain; our first time doing this here (we’d only done the one in Disney World before):
Astro Blasters:
We got to the front of the line for Alice in Wonderland… then it broke down, so we abandoned that:
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish:
Camelot Inn, Downtown Disney, Disney California Adventure
We normally stay in our motorhome when visiting Disneyland, but on this occasion we left our coach in Phoenix, and drove six hours to stay at the Camelot Inn, across the road from Disneyland.
Here’s an interactive map of the driving route from our site in Phoenix to the hotel:
And an interactive map of our walking route from the hotel to dinner and shopping in Downtown Disney, to Disney California Adventure, and back to the hotel:
Camelot Inn:
Our hotel room:
A short walk from the hotel to the crosswalk by the Disneyland entrance:
The Disneyland walk-in entrance:
We walked past Disneyland to Downtown Disney, with a stop in the Pandora jewelry store:
We had a reservation at the Céntrico restaurant for dinner:
LEGO Store:
Jenn bought some LEGO bonsai:
A quick look through the World of DIsney store:
Then we went into Disney California Adventure for dessert:
We happened to see a Lunar New Year parade:
Churro for dessert:
Happy 25th birthday:
Lunar New Year:
Cars Land:
Heading back to the hotel:
Watson Lake, Arizona
We took a scenic drive from Phoenix to Watson Lake in Arizona.
An interactive map of our route:
Park features sign:
We had a picnic lunch with a lake view:
Interesting rocks and the lake:
Lake map:
We do enjoy interesting rocks!
Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show
We attended the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show in Quartzsite, Arizona. A two-hour drive from Phoenix.
This show has been an institution in Quartzsite for over 40 years. A big tent full of vendors selling RV accessories, with lots more outside. We weren’t in the market for anything, but wanted to check it out, since we hadn’t been before.
Lots more vendors outside:
Beer Belly’s adult daycare:
Back through the tent:
An interesting experience. Not sure we’ll bother with it again in the future, but if we’re in the area, we might check it out again.
Encore Paradise RV Resort
We stayed at Encore Paradise RV Resort in Sun City, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice 55+ community in the Phoenix area, where we spent three months; our longest stay to date. It was ostensibly winter, but had record unseasonal temperatures reaching 105° F!
Dates:
- Check in: 2026-01-01
- Check out: 2026-03-31
- 89 nights
Weather:
- Partly sunny
- High temps 55-105°F, lows 38-69°F
- Negligible wind, occasional gusts to 25 MPH
Noise:
- Little road noise
- Very distant train horn noise
- Little neighbor noise
- Frequent fighter jet noise weekdays (in flight path for Air Force base)
Site:
- #832, back-in, sandy gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
- Somewhat level site; low slope in front; used hydraulic leveling
- Sandy gravel driveway about 45 feet long by 18 feet wide
- Total site 55 feet deep by 45 feet wide
- Just gravel between site on passenger side
- Carport on driver side
- 24 by 8 feet concrete patio
- No trees
- Clean site
- Elevation 1210 feet, front facing south
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 60 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 105-125 Mbps down, 25-35 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
- RoamLink: 21-23 Mbps down, 4-8 Mbps up, 88 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
- AT&T: 580-620 Mbps down, 13-17 Mbps up, 35-42 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Pool
- Cafe (breakfast and lunch, Tuesday to Saturday)
- Lots of activities
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Since we were there for three months, we set up all the things:
Including making pizza:
Record heat:
A nice thing about this place is that Amazon, UPS, and FedEx delivers directly to the site:
For USPS, they have mailboxes:
They also have a small on-site cafe (that is open to the public, though I doubt many outsiders patronize it); we thought we’d eat there regularly, but actually only went once — not because it was bad, we just never really felt like it (if they had been open for dinner, we might have gone there more):
Cafe menu:
Lots of activities:
A popular pool (that we didn’t use; we’re not really into pools):
RV arrival area:
Water feature at the front of the park:
A nice pond and fountains:
I added a Pokemon Pokestop for that, and the front water features:
Lawn bowls:
Pickleball:
And more:
Garbage:
Recycling:
Propane fill:
The park is split into two parts, the pet area (where people can have dogs) and the non-pet area (where they can’t); we were in the non-pet area, as an indoor-only cat doesn’t count as a “pet” (fair enough; he’s in charge, and we’re his staff):
“Stop; it does matter”:
Free fruit:
Other sites; the vast majority of the community are park models:
Aerial views of our site (a couple of days before departing, after packing up our stuff) and other sites:
Quite a nice community. We’d stay here again. The jets were somewhat annoying, but we got used to them after a while.
Video: Palm Desert, California to Sun City, Arizona motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 252 miles from Palm Desert, California to Sun City, Arizona.