The Scoop Of The Week!!!

Not ice cream, although you know that's ALWAYS on my must-have list!  This reporter got the scoop on the Chance RV shade cover fiasco!!  For those who read Mr. Dan Chance's blog, he detailed the construction of his garage and shade cover after moving to the Tucson area.  Unfortunately, his desire to continue the blog at 5:00 am every morning waned, and we were all left hanging, not knowing if the shade cover was ever completed!!

IT WAS!!  Not only did I see it in person, I've been parked by it for the last few days, and am happy to report it is STILL standing, even with the daily Vail gale!!  I interviewed Mr. Chance, who told the following crazy story.  He ordered the approximately $5,000 cover with a $500 down payment.  Delivery appointments were cancelled and rescheduled 7 or 8 times, most without even a phone call to say they wouldn't be arriving.  At long last they showed up and began to put it together, using Dan's ladders and with Dan using the backhoe to hoist them up high enough to get the job done.  When they burned out their own drill, they even borrowed Dans until he finally said no way Jose ... you guys get your own tools ... and by the way, when you return with tools, be sure and bring the rest of the missing panels for the siding.

The construction crew tried to get payment in full, but Dan wasn't having any of it.  He finally agreed to pay $1000, but refused the final payment until the job was complete!!  Smart guy that Dan Chance because the crew never returned.  He had to finish bolting the structure down himself, as well as find more panels and complete the job on his own.

So how long do you think it took the company to figure out they had a job they needed to finish???  Eight months ... yup eight!!!  Apparently a nice gal who was a new employee had been going through stacks of old paperwork and called to set up an appointment.  I won't repeat the words that came out of Dan's mouth.  The young lady said she was new to the job, and this wasn't the first time she had heard that.  That ended the conversation pretty quickly.  The company has not been heard from since and it's been about four months.

I know everyone would like the company name, including me!  I could use an inexpensive RV cover, but honestly, this reporter doesn't think it's worth the hassle!!  Buyer BEWARE or buyer be ready to argue and stand your ground!!  The Chance family is enjoying their new RV cover!!

Since I've been parked at the Chance RV Park, I haven't ventured very far out into the desert, but yesterday was the day Patty and I went for a hike.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love the desert??  How could you not love views like this!!  They've gotten quite a bit of rain this winter and at this elevation, things are happily growing like crazy.  

They say the jumping cholla will just jump out and stick you, but in our 1-1/2 hour walk yesterday, it behaved very well and we were spared the joy of digging out spines.    Many of the cholla were blooming with beautiful yellow fruit.  What a treat it was to see them all so happy!!

There's some big aloe around too, this specimen was almost as tall as Patty.  I sometimes forget the "don't touch" rule of the desert, since you're sure to get stuck or bit, but the textures are so cool, I couldn't help myself!!

Barrel cactus is everywhere ... some real beauties!!  We looked for very small ones, hoping to find something to put in a small pot for my window sill, but didn't find any.  I'm not sure it's legal to dig them up anyway ... maybe there's a cactus nursery around somewhere!!

The prickly pear were everywhere, some happy and growing wildly, many sagging and on their way out.  Seems the squirrels and pack rats love to dig holes underneath.  We saw lots of evidence of pathways from one cactus to another where they run to visit great aunt Margie.

Guess I'm kind of an old tracker ... my dad taught me to track all kinds of animals when I was a kid, mostly to find the horses and cattle that had escaped during the night.  It's fun to put those skills to work when I can ... and here in the desert there was a really big party the last couple of nights!!  There were packrats, bunnies, coyotes and mostly javelinas!!  The pigs just love to chomp down on a good piece of prickly pear, and seem to come back to the same plant ... it must be a tasty one.  This specimen had old bite marks as well as this very fresh HUGE bite!!  Wowee ... I would think those spines would hurt a little!!

I did get poked in the knee while kneeling down to get this image.  Definitely be careful where you walk, as cactus are poking out of the sand at every step ... some tiny ones only two inches tall!!

Our walk finally came to an end ... it's been threatening rain all day and we didn't bring any coats.  Besides, it's time to feed the kids ... and us!!  We'll be back for more tracking in a day or two!!