We're parked in Meridian RV Resort in Apache Junction, AZ until the Spring and I was wondering if anybody on this forum is in the area.

We arrived in Mesa today. We fly out to Anchorage on Wednesday. We need to renew our drivers licenses up there. We will spend a week or so visiting friends and family in Alaska, then return to Mesa for a few weeks before heading to Quartzsite for a few months.

We've pulled into Desert Trails in the Tucson area to check it out after reading rave reviews here.
The full moon this evening is just magnificent on the C-row as we face the Mountain/Saguaro Parks.

We too have to migrate for license renewals: to southern California. However, this will be the first year we're not tied to Hemet, California for the winter.

Have been researching reviews for Quartzite (Sunsetters or Holiday Palms) and Brenda (Black Rock or Desert Gold) areas for after the holidays.

Denali: May I ask where in Mesa that you are parked and what you think of it?

Rangibob: What do you think of Meridian Apache Junction?

We are at Val Vista RV Village. We have probably stayed at a half dozen parks in Mesa over the years, and this is our favorite.

It's a giant geezer park (actually, four parks merged in to one), so it is mostly park models, and the average resident is probably 75 years old. There must be a thousand sites here. We like it because it is extremely friendly, well maintained, and has lots of facilities. It has the best fitness center I have seen at these parks. Several outdoor pools and saunas and a big indoor pool. They have a huge, alphabetized book exchange as well as wood working, lapidary, glass working, etc. shops. Shuffleboard, bocce ball, pickleball, tennis, and probably other courts I don't recognize.

We usually stay at one of these parks for a week, on our way to and from Quartzsite, using one membership or another -- Coast to Coast, Passport America, etc. This time we needed a place to leave the rig for over a week while we fly to Alaska, so we bought a month here.

We are in Casa Grande for the winter in a park where we own our site. We bought about 4 years ago and spend about 5 months here.

Foster, this is our second year back here and we like it a lot. The reasons we prefer it over others in the area are:

There are no park models here, only RVs. It is an over-55 park.

It's on the small side compared to many in AZ with about 250 sites whereas others have up to 2000 sites.

There are lots of activities to choose from as well as ongoing potlucks and other types of meals where it's small enough for people to get to know each other. My favorite is the Yoga teacher they bring in.

There are two dog parks and they are very strict about people using them and not letting their dogs use the public areas for a bathroom. There is a pool, hot tub, exercise room, library, a U.S. post office, showers, a laundry room with lots of washers and dryers; both the laundry room and the restrooms are spotless.

We have found the people who work here extremely oriented toward customer service which is much appreciated by me. My husband and I are not retired and he frequently has to take our vehicle and travel for work while I stay home and run our business. During these times, people in the office have driven me to shop and made it clear that they are there if I need them.

We'll be passing thru Arizona again this year. Last year we went to the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Scottsdale. This January we will be in Scottsdale again and, depending on the weather, will probably be heading North to the Grand Canyon and into Utah.

We (RV newbies) are in Benson in Pato Blanco for a week doing the tourist thing. We will be heading up to Sedona for some time weather permitting, then maybe Quartzite after the holidays. Anyone know any place worth staying in Sedona and around then Las Vegas, NV for a few days where we will be visiting family for Christmas? I'm really not too picky other than the park needs to be reasonably clean and safe. Clean functional showers/restrooms are a must for us, being in a small trailer we rely on them because our bath/shower is a closet.