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.

Baseball

Baseball

Playground:

Playground

Greetings from Peoria, AZ:

Greetings from Peoria, AZ

The team store was crazy busy; we bailed on that, and went back later:

Team store was crazy busy

Baseball

Chicken and fries

Lineup:

Lineup

View from our seats:

View from our seats

View from our seats

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

ABS challenge:

ABS challenge

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

The ABS challenge system is coming to MLB this season:

ABS challenge

Baseball

Chirro

Mini Melts

Baseball

Baseball

Camera

Baseball

Attendance 9,956

Baseball

Mariners win!

Baseball

Peoria

Disney California Adventure for Jenn’s birthday

We visited Disney California Adventure on Jenn’s birthday.

Disney California Adventure

Jenn with a birthday badge:

Jenn with a birthday badge

Mail lady and policeman:

Mail lady and policeman

Jenn asking for mail:

Jenn asking for mail

Ruff! Ruff!:

Ruff! Ruff!

Radiator Springs Racers ride:

Radiator Springs Racers

Magic Key Terrace for lunch:

Magic Key Terrace

Magic Key Terrace

Magic Key Terrace

Magic Key Terrace

Magic Key Terrace

Little Mermaid ride:

Little Mermaid ride

Goofy’s Sky School ride (our first and last time!):

Goofy's Sky School ride

Toy soldiers:

Toy soldiers

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree ride:

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

Junkyard Jamboree

Lamplight Lounge for Jenn’s birthday dinner:

Lamplight Lounge for dinner

Lights

Pixar Pier

Jessie’s Critter Carousel ride (our first time):

Jessie's Critter Carousel

Jessie's Critter Carousel

Pixar Pal-A-Round ride (also our first time):

Pixar Pal-A-Round

We of course opted for the non-swinging side:

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Weird seeing outside the park; being in Disney is a magical bubble:

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Pixar Pal-A-Round

Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters ride:

Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters

Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters

Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters

Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! ride:

Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!

Back to the hotel:

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:

Marching band

Castle:

Castle

Castle selfie

We watched a Beauty and the Beast live show:

Beauty and the Beast live show

Beauty and the Beast live show

Beauty and the Beast live show

Beauty and the Beast live show

Beauty and the Beast live show

Side of the castle:

Side of castle

Sweetheart’s Nite Event Check-in:

Sweetheart's Nite Event Check-in

Sweetheart’s Nite Event lanyard, booklet, chocolates:

Sweetheart's Nite Event lanyard, booklet, chocolates

Sweetheart's Nite Event brochure

Sweetheart's Nite Event brochure

Oga’s Cantina was closed for renovation:

Oga's Cantina closed for renovation

Dinner:

Dinner

More food:

More food

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway:

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway

Fountain:

Fountain

It’s a Small World:

It's a Small World

Teacups:

Teacups

Teacups

Dumbo the Flying Elephant:

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Dessert:

Dessert

Popcorn:

Popcorn

Castle

Castle selfie

Sweethearts parade:

Parade

Parade

Parade

Parade

Parade

Space Mountain; our first time doing this here (we’d only done the one in Disney World before):

Space Mountain

Space Mountain

Space Mountain

Space Mountain

Astro Blasters:

Astro Blasters

Astro Blasters

Astro Blasters

We got to the front of the line for Alice in Wonderland… then it broke down, so we abandoned that:

Alice in Wonderland

Snow White’s Enchanted Wish:

Snow White's Enchanted Wish

Snow White's Enchanted Wish

Castle

Main Street

Castle

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:

Camelot Inn

Our hotel room:

Our room

Our room

Our room

Our room

A short walk from the hotel to the crosswalk by the Disneyland entrance:

Short walk to crosswalk by Disneyland entrance

The Disneyland walk-in entrance:

Disneyland walk-in entrance

We walked past Disneyland to Downtown Disney, with a stop in the Pandora jewelry store:

Pandora

We had a reservation at the Céntrico restaurant for dinner:

Céntrico restaurant

Céntrico restaurant

Céntrico restaurant

Céntrico restaurant

LEGO Store:

LEGO Store

LEGO Store

Jenn bought some LEGO bonsai:

Jenn bought some LEGO flowers

A quick look through the World of DIsney store:

World of DIsney store

Then we went into Disney California Adventure for dessert:

Disney California Adventure

We happened to see a Lunar New Year parade:

Lunar New Year parade

Lunar New Year parade

Lunar New Year parade

Lunar New Year parade

Lunar New Year parade

Lunar New Year parade

Churro for dessert:

Churro for dessert

Happy 25th birthday:

Happy 25th birthday

Lunar New Year:

Lunar New Year

Cars Land:

Cars Land

Cars Land

Cars Land

Heading back to the hotel:

Heading back to the hotel

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:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Since we were there for three months, we set up all the things:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Including making pizza:

Our site

Record heat:

Hot

A nice thing about this place is that Amazon, UPS, and FedEx delivers directly to the site:

Delivery to site

For USPS, they have mailboxes:

Mailboxes

Mailboxes

Mail room

Mail info

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

Cafe menu:

Cafe menu

Cafe menu

Cafe menu

Cafe menu

Breakfast

Lots of activities:

Activities

Activities

Activities

Activities

Activities

A popular pool (that we didn’t use; we’re not really into pools):

Pool

Pool

Pool

RV arrival area:

RV arrival area

Water feature at the front of the park:

Front

A nice pond and fountains:

Pond and fountains

I added a Pokemon Pokestop for that, and the front water features:

Pokemon Pokestop

Lawn bowls:

Lawn bowls

Pickleball:

Pickleball

And more:

More games

Garbage:

Garbage

Recycling:

Recycling

Propane fill:

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):

Pet area

“Stop; it does matter”:

Stop; it does matter

Free fruit:

Free fruit

Other sites; the vast majority of the community are park models:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Aerial views of our site (a couple of days before departing, after packing up our stuff) and other sites:

Aerial view of our site

Aerial view of our site

Aerial view of other sites

Aerial view of our site

Aerial view of other sites

Aerial view of 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.

Disney California Adventure Christmas

We visited Disney California Adventure to see their Christmas decorations. Not as many as Disneyland, but some. We also ate a lot of churros.

No line for the tram from Pixar Pals parking structure; a much more pleasant experience than the Toy Story parking lot:

No line for tram from Pixar Pals parking structure

Tram selfie:

Tram selfie

DCA Christmas tree in daylight:

Christmas tree

DCA had six special holiday churros around the park, so we decided to sample all of them:

DCA had several holiday churros, so we decided to sample all of them

Starting with the carrot cake churro:

Carrot cake churro

Cannoli churro; we ordered one, but they (intentionally) gave us two — a little Disney magic:

Cannoli churro

Jenn had a craving for Mickey waffles:

For a change, Mickey waffles

Guardians of the Galaxy skit:

Guardians of the Galaxy skit

Guardians of the Galaxy skit

Loki:

Loki

Captain America:

Captain America

Strawberry basil churro:

Strawberry basil churro

Cars Land Christmas:

Cars Land Christmas

Cars Land Christmas

Cars Land Christmas

We were waiting for another churro when the neon lights came on in Cars Land:

Cozy Cone

Cozy Cone

Cars Land neon

Apple pie churro:

Apple pie churro

Cars Land Christmas

Cars Land Christmas

Cars Land Christmas

More festival food:

More food

More food

Lights

Christmas

Mice

Yet more food:

More food

Fresas con crema churro:

Frames con crema churro

Ho ho ho

Grizzly River

Jenn got a Christmas necklace:

Jenn got a Christmas necklace

Firefly lights:

Firefly lights

Fluffernutter churro:

Fluffernutter churro

Christmas tree:

Christmas tree

Disneyland Christmas

We went back to Disneyland after New Zealand, to see their Christmas decorations.

We accidentally went to the Toy Story parking lot, which we regretted, due to the very long and slowly moving line for the shuttle bus:

Line for shuttle

An hour later, arriving at the entrance:

Entrance

Christmas tree:

Christmas tree

Main Street and castle with Christmas decorations:

Main Street and castle

Castle selfie

Dinner with holiday stuff:

Dinner

It’s a Small World:

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

We wanted to take a train ride, but they announced that it’d be stopping for fireworks, so didn’t:

Train

Dessert:

Dessert

Fake snow:

Snow

Christmas Mickey:

Christmas Mickey

Selfie

Back to the parking lot:

Disneyland sign

We popped back into Disneyland a couple of days later, after visiting DCA, just to do the train ride:

Train station

Christmas tree from train station:

Christmas tree from train station

On the train:

On the train

Selfie

It's a Small World

It's a Small World

Castle

Castle

70th anniversary

NZ: flights from Christchurch to Auckland then LAX

All good things must end, and so it was with our New Zealand trip.

Checking in to Air New Zealand in Christchurch:

Checking in to Air New Zealand

Our plane from Christchurch to Auckland:

Our plane from Christchurch to Auckland

Our first flight

In Auckland International Airport, love NZ with Buzzy Bees:

Love NZ with Buzzy Bees

Last meat pie, caramel slice, and L&P soda:

Last pie, slice, and L&P

Our international flight:

Our second flight

Menu:

Menu

Seat selfie:

Seat selfie

The flight was delayed over an hour:

Our international flight was delayed over an hour

Dinner:

Dinner

Breakfast:

Breakfast

Arriving over Los Angeles:

Arriving at LA

LA freeway:

LA freeway

Looking back at our plane:

Our plane

Welcome to the United States:

Welcome to the United States

Welcome to Los Angeles:

Welcome to Los Angeles

Shuttle back to the parking garage:

Shuttle back to parking

Our truck was still there!

Our truck was still there!

We then drove to pick up our coach from storage, which will be in tomorrow’s post. But this concludes the posts about our New Zealand trip. It was great to visit my family, see old and new places, eat favorite foods, and try van life.

As discussed in the 2026 travel plans post, this year will be a bit different than previous ones, including another big trip, this time through Canada to Alaska (twice!). Stay tuned for our continuing adventures!

NZ: returning van; Christchurch exploring

We traveled from our last campsite to return the rental van, then got dropped off at a hotel in downtown Christchurch, and did some touring around the central city.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with the stops marked:

A pile of things to donate to Red Cross:

A pile of things to donate to Red Cross

A pile of our luggage:

A pile of our luggage

McRent Christchurch:

McRent Christchurch

Other campers:

Other campers

Our van:

Our van

No problems dropping off the van (unlike a German family that returned their camper at the same time as us, that had thousands of dollars of damage!). McRent arranged an Uber to our downtown hotel for the night, Distinction:

Distinction hotel

Hotel room:

Hotel room

Hotel room

We went to the Tramway Cafe for lunch:

Tramway Cafe for lunch

We did a city tour tram ride:

City tour tram

Tram route:

Tram route

A must-do in Christchurch — punting on the Avon:

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

 

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

Punting on the Avon

A brief walk through part of Christchurch Botanic Gardens:

Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Fountain

Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Then more walking around looking at Christchurch buildings:

Christchurch buildings

Christchurch buildings

And back on the tram:

Tram

Tram

Christchurch buildings

Christchurch buildings

Coffee and a slice:

Coffee and slice

Christchurch buildings

Christchurch buildings

Christ Church Cathedral reconstruction; it was significantly damaged in several earthquakes:

Christchurch cathedral reconstruction

Christchurch cathedral reconstruction

More buildings and art:

Christchurch buildings

Christchurch buildings

Christchurch buildings

Christchurch buildings

Christchurch buildings

A very nice city.

NZ: Hokitika to Christchurch

We traveled from Hokitika to Christchurch; our last full day with the van.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:

The town of Kumara; amusing as that is also the Maori name of a sweet potato:

Kumara

One lane bridge:

One way bridge

Taipo River:

Taipo River

Taramakau River:

Taramakau River

Otira Stagecoach Hotel, with Gollum on the roof:

Otira Stagecoach Hotel

Another one lane bridge:

One lane bridge

Roadworks light with a countdown; nice:

Roadworks light with countdown

16% downgrade:

16% downgrade

Interesting avalanche guard:

Interesting spillway

“Thank you for not feeding me”:

Thank you for not feeding me

Otira Viaduct Lookout:

Otira Viaduct Lookout

Alpine Parrot Cafe for a coffee and slice:

Alpine Parrot Cafe

Alpine Parrot Cafe

Kea:

Keas

Kea info:

Kea info

Kea info

Kea info

Kea statue

Arthur’s Pass National Park Visitor Centre:

Arthur's Pass National Park Visitor Centre

Arthur's Pass National Park Visitor Centre

Arthur’s Pass:

Arthur's Pass

Arthur's Pass

My beard having “main character energy” as the kids say:

Arthur's Pass

Arthur's Pass

Dusty:

Dusty

Arthur's Pass

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Castle Hill rocks:

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Castle Hill rocks

Arthur's Pass

Springfield doughnut:

Springfield doughnut

Sheffield Pies:

Sheffield Pies

Perhaps the tastiest pie I had in NZ:

Sheffield Pies

Christchurch Fanfare Sculpture:

Christchurch Fanfare Sculpture

Arriving at Top 10 Spencer Beach:

Top 10 Spencer Beach

Map

Our site:

Our site

Pre-loved items bin; a good idea, since a lot of people end their trip in Christchurch (as we did); we had too much stuff to fit in that bin, so we took it to Red Cross before dropping off our van:

Pre-loved items bin

Shower:

Shower

We went out to a laundromat to do a last load of laundry:

Laundromat

Laundromat

And got takeaways from Kaikanui Fish & Chip and Chinese Restaurant next door:

Takeaways

Which we took back to our site (not the best, but the last):

Burger and chips

Our site

This was our last night in the van.