rocmoc wrote:
2gypsies wrote:
2gypsies wrote:
BarbaraOK wrote:
darsben wrote:
2gypsies wrote:
Any particular reason why you want to be between Tucson and Phoenix?
Keep in mind that the only major town in that area is Casa Grande and they get horrific dust storms because of all the cotton farming in the area. We were in one in December and driving it's the scariest thing you'll ever encounter. Semis plow right into one another and other vehicles.
There are plenty of resorts in the greater Phoenix area and Tucson. I don't think I'd zero in on Phoenix itself but there's Mesa and Apache Junction to look at and they're all connected. The Phoenix area is huge but it's very easy to get around and there's so much to do there. Tucson is much smaller and a more laid-back western town.
BS I was there last winter starting Thanksgiving and our park had NO DUST STORM. The Picacho Peak area gets the dust storms you refer to. Please be accurate and quit scaring people for no good reason
Casa Grande gets plenty of dust storms. 3 years ago (IIRC) there were people killed on I-10 IN Casa Grande during a dust storm. We came through the next day and the wrecked was still visible.
Check out the Cal-Am parks in Mesa area. All of the amenities you could possibly want, easy to get around, great shopping, great nearby arts centers, easy access to the Superstition mountains, etc.
Barb
DARSBEN: Well, we were in this one in December 2009 traveling from the Tucson area to our daughter's in Phoenix. Perhaps nothing happened in your RV park but it surely happened on the highway. Read all about it here:
Dust Storm
People are talking about two different things. Unfortunately the report of your story used a bad choice of works. Blowing dust across the road as in 2gypsies' post are not the same thing as a Haboob. Haboobs rarely if ever occur in the winter while dust blowing across a section of road can occur anytime it has been dry. The dust blowing across the road are localized events while the Haboob travels many miles. I10 has several locations where dust blows across the road, Lordsburg, NM, Wilcotts, AZ and Picacho Peak, AZ. The Haboobs normally start near Casa Grande and travel northward to Phoenix as a result of the summer Monsoon rains and winds.
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico
My very first comment was that the Casa Grande area gets dust storms. Absolutely no mention was made to the summer Haboobs.
The dust storm we encountered one December in Casa Grande killed people. I just wanted to alert someone who has never been to Arizona about the area. Not all areas of Arizona get dust storms. . . and yes, these killer dust storms happen in winter. It's the most frightening thing we've occured. Immediately the dust became so thick you could not see beyond the windshield. It doesn't occur for seconds, it envelopes a huge area and occurs for many minutes. You know that there are vehicles behind you and expect them to crash into you at any second.
So back to the OPs question, we have RV'd for many years in Arizona in the winter. Our favorites are the Maricopa County parks in the greater Phoenix area, Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction just east of Phoenix and basically every state park in Arizona, Benson, Amado, Tucson and along the Colorado River from Yuma to Havasu City. Each place offers something different.
For your first time to Arizona I would recommend that you move around and experience many areas before someone can tell you where to go for the winter. It's more expensive to move around because you don't get those monthly rates but it's also more pleasureable rather than picking one place and being stuck there not really enjoying it.
