Retire in Tucson or How We Live in Style Affordably!

Agua Caliente Park, Tucson AZ

Living the Snow Bird Life

The area around Tucson AZ attracts a great many snow birds. They come flocking in during the fall to fill RV resort, apartments, and condo rentals. Golf course fill up and the driving habits of all those seniors cause younger people to pull their hair. Grocery stores are full of shoppers and the nurseries order extra plants so these visitors can fill a pot of small garden with winter flowers. The snow birds in Tucson and Green Valley just south of Tucson increase the population considerable. We find the cost of living to be very affordable in this area so we have chosen to make it our winter home. We live in Oregon in the summer.

Snow Birds Yearnings
The robins are back here in Oregon. Their flight path south and north takes them through town for a short period of time. In the spring they come to visit and chirp their happy song every time the sun appears. If it is a partly cloudy day they wake up again and again every time the sun emerges. In the fall they do much the same but because it rains a lot here we have not heard them before today. We like Robins!

If we are not beginning to think about traveling south for the winter by the time they come in the fall something is very wrong. I opened my eyes this morning as the sun appeared through the golden trees and the song of the Robin greeted me in the morning air. It must be time!

We are three weeks away from leaving Oregon and I have begun the count down to the day we close the house for the winter. I am a woman so all travels begin with my clothes and the things that make a shelter a home no matter where we travel in the world. I carry quite a few kitchen tools with me to Arizona and take some plants back and forth. When we travel I carry some pictures. I know it seems foolish but those are the things that give me comfort.

My husband is in charge of computer packing, tools, and the other mundane items needed to maintain both places. Our park model is waiting for us in Tucson. We have chosen to live in the small space because it is affordable and we have a built in group of friends when we return each year. We like that. It is a bit like moving back into the college dorm after summer vacation.

Creative Lifestyle for Snowbirds

A game of cards on the deck. Tucson AZ

Many of my friends are quilters. In the RV resort we live in, people have spaces for quilting, beadwork, silver and lapidary and wood working. We play pickle ball, bocci ball, cards, pool and bingo. Most seniors have that creative need and love to indulge in their whims while they are away from their family. Those new to the lifestyle do miss their families and some even feel the need to fly home mid year. These hobbies help them adapt. Soon they begin to realize that the winter break is good for their family as well as for themselves.

Almost everyone that comes to our park and buys a park model will immediately begin making the small space their own. The aesthetics of their surroundings continue to be very important to us all.

Animals in the RV Resort
We will be taking our cat south this year. He had been boarding at my daughter's family for several years but he is getting a bit old and not a reliable as he once was. He is ours so we will take responsibility for his care, feeding and general spoiling. He is a very good old cat. In our RV resort you can have a cat if you keep it in the house. If you have a dog you need to live on a street called doggy row. I guess barking dogs are not appreciated everywhere!

Have a wonderful day and come on down and visit us!

Note: I have added the list of blogs on the left so you can see a few of the blogs I follow. I added The Casablanca Transformation today. The author has some beautiful creative and inexpensive ways to make her home beautiful. Check it out!

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