Moving to Mesa

Mesa Spirit RV Park.    Site: V-79.   Highs: 50's-60's.  Lows: Mid 30's-40's  AT&T excellent, T-Mobile excellent 

Sparky is into alliteration these past two posts. We moved to Mesa Spirit RV park on Thursday. We traded wide open spaces with lots of trails for a very tight, narrow, packed in snowbird park. It's so tight that with a big rig and small narrow spaces, it's a lot more challenging to back into a site, because it's an older park designed when rigs were smaller. Also, for Thousand Trails members, there are only certain sites available to us, and due to a finite amount of allocations for TT members which is very small, the company restricts the park, so roomier sites are not available to us. This is an Encore park, a subsidiary park of theThousand Trails company, so we can stay for free except for a very few Encore parks. We can stay for free at most Encore parks for free because we have a small add-on to our membership, called the Trails Collection.

Back to the site difficulties...There is a personal metal mailbox at each site, and a fruit tree/bush at almost every site that you have to watch out for, in addition to maybe a park model (house) right across the street. The land that this park sits on used to be an orchard so that's why fresh fruit trees and bushes are at almost every site. Residents with fruit multiplying faster than they can eat it, will put out boxes or bags of free grapefruit and oranges throughout the park. Wonderful fruit!

When we came in, Sparky and Eldo were quite nervous at having to back in. Eldy knew he could do it, but it was just going to be very stressful as Sparky doesn't always tell Eldy the right way how she wants the rig to back into the site. Sometimes it can take up to a half hour or more with difficult sites to get situated and in parallel with the hookups. BUT--a really great park ranger named Frank, told us as we sat waiting at the office to check in, that he would get us in. He led us to our site in his golf cart, and he says, "Do you trust me? I'm gonna get you in this spot. Do you trust me? I'm so confident I can get you in, that your partner here (pointing to Sparky) could sit behind the wheel, and I could get her to back this thing in, no problem!" Sparky didn't want to question his ability, but she was pretty darn sure, that nope, that was not possible. He guides Eldy and the rig way forward past the site to get ready to back the rig in with a super sharp turn, and he gets a message on his walky talky radio. He says, "Just give me five minutes and I'll be there." FIVE MINUTES???? No way are we going to be backed into our site in that amount of time! (You'd have to be there to see the whole situation.) The actual parking spot for the rig is VERY narrow. The concrete pad for your living space is a decent size.

Well, five minutes later, we were in our spot! We did not have to do any back and forth see-sawing at all. He yelled (Eldy is hard of hearing) very specific directions--"TURN THE WHEEL TO THE RIGHT! HARD!!! NOW BACK THE WHEEL BACK TO THE LEFT---HARD! STRAIGHT BACK...KEEP GOING! YOU GOT IT!!!!" and it was just perfect. Thank you, Frank. He got us in correctly and spaced correctly the very first try, and off he went. Sparky gave him a big high five before he left and told him he was amazing!  Because he was. 

Did Sparky learn any tips to help Eldo park the rig next time for a difficult site? Sorry, nope! She has a LOT of trouble with directions and a rig backing up that goes in a different direction from the truck tires, so she's just going to pray that somebody as good as Frank will be available the next tight site campground or that Eldy will have the patience of Job, which he USUALLY does....haha....

It's a HUGE park, over 1650 sites, so they have LOTS to do for snowbirds.....TONS of activities, three pools, a quilter's room, a woodworking shop, and many many more as you can see on this list.

There are lots of dog parks, too, interspersed among the different corners of the park. They have free coffee and donuts on Tuesdays, and a little shop that serves breakfast or light lunches on some days. The parks schedules live entertainment on a regular basis during the winter months, and there are all kinds of exercise classes to boot. The park is also near the Superstition Mountains, which have trails and hikes that Sparky hopes to explore a bit in the two weeks we are here. Here's a cool fact about the Superstition Mountains and Mesa. If you are here the third week of March, or the third week of September around the equinox, the mountains cast a shadow in the shape of a cougar chasing prey. 

courtesy of the internet

Park at 4th Avenue and Goldfield Rd. The western sky needs to be free of clouds and best time for viewing is the last 30 minutes before sunset. So cool!

Did we get our jacks fixed? Nope, not yet. We are going around and around with the extended warranty company who is making it very difficult to file a claim. We have sent pictures and video to them and they are still refusing to take on the claim despite THREE mobile techs and the third one, who did a terrific job documenting testing all parts of the electric leveling system, who is trying to go to bat for us by trying to go higher up on the company chain to get them to honor the warranty, in which the LANDING JACKS ARE COVERED. Did Sparky get her broken tooth fixed? Not yet. That sucker broke off like a glacier calving. Luckily, no root canal--yet. Sparky is hoping it stays stable and doesn't develop an infection so she can just get a crown and be done with it. It will be a problem getting the final crown as we won't be in Mesa by the time it is ready, so Sparky will have to drive back from Cottonwood to Mesa to have it finished. 

What have we done for our first few days? Checked out the area, and revisited a favorite eating spot, the Organ Stop Pizza Restaurant, a pizza place with the world's LARGEST and finest theater Wurlitzer organ. It's a wonderful place to eat decent pizza and hear an amazing young man play this magnificent instrument. The organ revolves on stage at times, and goes down out of site when the organist is ready to take a break. The construction and equipment needed to run this amazing organ is mind boggling. 

There are four turbines in the blower room, which has a separately constructed floor from the rest of the restaurant to minimize the rumble  generated by massive machinery. Because the turbines generate tremendous friction, there is a 5 ton air conditioning unit that runs whenever the organ is running even if it's below 25 degrees F. outside.

The console, the main part of the organ where the organist sits, is the most advanced and complete theater organ console ever built. If you have ever played piano, some of this might make sense. There are four "manuals"/keyboards--61 keys each. There are 32 keys on the pedalboard for footwork needed. There are FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO stoptabs, which are what the organist pushes for different sounds--red is for reeds, amber for strings--vioin, viola, cello, etc., and ivory for flutes. There are two drawers that contain 327 switches to control stops, theatrical lighting and effects and other functions. There is even a digital rhythm unit which can be programmed to play traps and percussion instruments in complicated musical arrangements. There is so much variation and complexity woven into the design of this organ, that it is very adaptable to the style of any organist who plays it. WOW!

The pizza is decent, salad bar ok....You order it at the counter, you order your drinks at the counter, (soda or beer) and then grab a seat at the downstairs level or one level up. It's like very large auditorium seating, only with long picnic style tables on the ground floor and more table like seating on the second floor. And then, prepare to be awed by the massive pipe louvers opening and closing as the organist plays, the percussion instruments placed all around the hall, and even additional instruments tied into the organ like a grand piano and a player piano upstairs. The organist also takes requests. The Star Wars theme was Sparky's favorite!  The Organ Stop opens at 4:00 PM and fills up very quickly. We recommend going right at opening time to get a great viewing spot.

And with that, that's it for now...See you later on a trail or maybe in a state park nearby....

Last Day in Mesa

In our little family, Sparky is usually the "events" planner, and Eldo, the "trip planner". But he reminded Sparky of a unique restaurant we went to years ago, that was in the Mesa area called the Organ Stop Restaurant, and he asked if Sparky wanted to go. Of course she does! That means she doesn't have to cook, (HAHAHAHAHA, she very seldom likes to cook, laughs E., as he's rolling on the floor) and she remembered that it's the home of the WORLD'S LARGEST WURLITZER ORGAN, and that a VERY talented organist plays the coolest songs while you eat decent pizza. Without boring you with a ton of information about the organ itself, because probably only serious musicians would appreciate the details more than the average person, here a  few of the most interesting facts about this particular Wurlitzer, a theater style organ.

When silent movies first started, there used to be pit orchestras and pianists to provide the music to accompany the action on the screen. That became too expensive, so the theater organ came into play and was designed to be part military band, part symphony orchestra, and part sound effects. The Wurlitzer organ was considered the best by far in its time and still is today.

The Wurlitzer at the Organ Stop was built for the Denver Theater and installed in 1927. It was used regularly till the 1930's. As talking pictures came into play, it was seldom used by then. A later fire caused some damage, but in the 1970's the instrument was recovered, rebuilt and installed in the restaurant in 1975.

The organ has four manual consoles--that's FOUR keyboards you have to simultaneously rotate between or blend using just your two hands!

Over the years several rare sets of pipes have been added  and today the organ has over 6,000 pipes! The ceilings in the restaurant are 43 feet high, so the acoustics are great for the amazing sounds pouring forth from the Wurlitzer. It is very noisy in the restaurant because of that, but who cares? The dominating sound is that fabulous organ. 

The huge quantities of wind needed to operate this massive Wurlitzer are provided by four humongous turbine blowers. The organ is installed in four chambers at one end of the restaurant. The platform that the organ is on rotates back and forth as the organist plays, on an 8,000 pound rotating hydraulic elevator. AND--he takes a break for ten minutes every hour by slowly descending down into the organ "pit" and then ascends back up shortly after his break and resumes play. 

You may or may not be an organ music fan, but you gotta see the world's biggest Wurlitzer when you are in the Mesa area, that's for sure! We loved it, and highly recommend it! And then...there is the scenery......

Apache Trail Scenic Drive

We love scenic drives. They are always scenic and in many cases jaw dropping or awe inspiring. We decided to revisit a drive here we took over ten years ago, when we first started full timing in the motorhome. It's called the Apache Scenic Trail and is 39 miles long. From the Viewpoint RV Park in Mesa, take US 60 east to Idaho Road, exit 196. Go north to Arizona 88 and follow AZ88 through the Superstition Mountains. The road ends about 9 miles after Tortilla Flat, so you will turn around and head back once again to the valley. Sparky had her regular camera, the Nkon Coolpix 900 on the wrong setting so NONE of her landscape photos turned out today....phooey! Take our word for it, it was a terrific drive! Don't miss it when you are in the area....

We leave Mesa tomorrow for Yuma, AZ, for a week. The weather is warming up both in daytime and nighttime temperatures...(About time! says Eldo.) Sparky is still trying to recover from some sort of stomach bug, but hopes to be out on more trails in the Yuma area soon. So we don't really have any great restaurant suggestions for Mesa, because Sparky has been under the weather, (I know she is pretty sick when she doesn't want to eat out! explains Eldo), but you know, there are fabulous ones out there to find. Next time, we will be checking that out more. Thanks for following us! See you on the road.....

Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ

Eons ago, in Mishawaka, IN, there was a pizza place that entertained you while you ate, with a big Wurlitzer organ with organist playing all kinds of music where you could sing along, or just enjoy the show while eating your pizza. The organ's pipes, tubes, blowers, drums, and all kinds of extra orchestral instruments which were on all sides of the room tied into the organist's nimble fingers on the keys which kept young and old alike enthralled. This place was called the Band Organ Restaurant. It went out of business quite a few years ago. So I was excited to hear that there was an Wurlitzer organ entertainment pizza place in Mesa, AZ, called Organ Stop Pizza.

We met some friends there for dinner, and what a treat it was! Picture this--a huge orchestra pit with a beautiful black and gold Wurlitzer organ rising out of the pit as the show starts...the music echoing throughout the large banquet room with picnic style tables, big blowers and pipes causing the window slats to open and close in time with the beat of the music...there is a grand piano in one corner, a player piano in another, drums and cymbals yet in a third corner. The organist is able to make his instrument sound like an accordian, trumpets, bells, whistles, ducks, birds and all kinds of accompanying instruments. Marquee lights flash during certain songs...everything is keyed into the keyboard that the organist controls, even the lighting spotlighting certain instruments around the room.

All kinds of songs are played---patriotic, (flags come down out of the ceiling for Canada and the U.S, and of course everybody stands and sings their national anthem), sports fight songs, really old classics, movie themes, and special requests. I requested "Mama Mia" by Abba, and he played it! The organist was excellent, having trained in Europe on classical organ music. At certain times, he plays old fashioned sing-a-longs, and everybody sings.

We had a great time with our friends Gayle and Chet Longwell, who we met at a previous rally last year. They work for Passport America. They are from the Chicago area and are national champion roller skaters. Chet used to play the organ at the local skating rink that they owned when they were first married. Who should sit down next to us at picnic style tables, was the guy who repairs the Wurlitzer if it needs it. Not so unusual, but he was a rollerskater at the same time the Longwells were, and they proceeded to talk skater talk most of the night, sharing memories of organists in the Chicago area, and skating memories.  Small world! We see that all the time while we are RVing. You meet people that share the same hometown or know the same people you know when out in this big country of ours.

This place was really great fun, and we highly recommend it...if you go there, you need to get there right when they open. We went on a Thursday night, and the place was almost full by 4:30 PM., which is when the show starts....Organ Stop Pizza, what a treat! Pizza was great, great salad bar and Bluebell ice cream for dessert.

the organist at Organ Stop pizza

You never know where Eldo is going to go....we end up in the coolest places!  See you on the road.....