Lake Pleasant

While I'm working Spring Training I'm camping at two of the Maricopa County Regional Parks. I was at White Tank for a week and for the remainder of my time here I'm at Lake Pleasant. White Tank is about 14 miles from Surprise Stadium and Lake Pleasant is roughly twice that distance at 30. At White Tank their campground has electrical and water at each site and they charge $30 a night for those amenities. At Lake

Pleasant I'm in the $20/night campground which means I'm without electricity and have to walk to the spigot to get my water. I have solar for my camper which handles most of my needs which consists of charging the inevitable electronics like my phone, iPad, and Kindle. All these devices are power hogs but the solar seems up to the task thanks to the constant and reliable Arizona sunshine. Last summer we took solar on our trip to Alaska whithout remembering from our prior trip that Alaska is cloudy and rainy - not very conducive to generating solar power!

Thus far I'd give the nod to White Tank as the nicer of the two campgrounds. The facilities seem newer and better maintained. The nice thing about White Tank and having electrical is not having to listen to the roar of generators that I'm getting used to at Lake Pleasant. In both places I'm one of the few tenters with most folks rolling up in their RV home away from home. Last night on my stroll around the campground I even saw a couple sitting by their campfire watching, I kid you not, their big screen TV outside powered by the ubiquitous generator. That sight made me yearn for the wilds of the Yukon as I don't think the local fauna (bears) are into CNN. At White Tank most of the license plates appeared to be from out of state while at Lake Pleasant most folks are sporting Arizona tags. Fortunately by around 10pm the campground settles down and you can get some sleep.

While Lake Pleasant is farther away than White Tank the drivetime is about the same at 30 minutes. From Lake Pleasant the roads are not very busy and the main highway - the 303 - is uncrowded as this neck of the woods is still fairly undeveloped with urban sprawl. I can only imagine what it will be like in a couple of years though. This

morning driving in there were hot air balloons all over the sky and road cyclists  were out for their morning rides. Both are signs of still being in a primarily rural setting as you probably don't want to land a big balloon in a residential neighborhood.

One thing that both campgrounds lack is access to wifi and for that I've been making good use of the Maricopa Public Libraries. There's one within walking distance of the stadium and that's where I am today pounding on the keyboard.

The weather today is clear and sunny with highs near 80. It's getting warmer as each week goes by. That's fine for now but they tell me they'll have at least a day or two over 100 degrees by the end of March. Just in time to pack up and head for cooler climes up north!

Well, it's off to work I go slaving away at the ole' ballpark. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it...