Week 272 - Happy Trails, Surprise, Arizona - 10-30-2011

Happy Trails to You . . .

This week we left the Grand Canyon North Rim for Surprise, Arizona for the city's first annual Pickleball Tournament.

We were fortunate to be able to stay at The Happy Trails RV & Golf Resort in Surprise. We say fortunate because you don't just drive in and ask for a site. This is an adult, 55 and over, ownership park where the sites are purchased. Many owners come for six months of the year from October to March. Since the lots are owned you can either rent from a local property management company or directly from an owner. Our friend Gordon and Karen knew Ginger and Jim and there were two lots available adjacent to theirs. The goal of the property management company is to have you stay for months, so being able to rent for just one week, well, we were very lucky.

As you enter the resort, with the previously arranged rental agreement, the guard will let you through. The owners have transponders to open their private gate.

The Great Eagle Golf Course is open to the public, as is "The Grille". Both are located at the entrance and near the driving range, putting greens and the tee for Hole #1.

Of the hundreds of home sites, many surround the 18-hole golf course.

In addition to golf, what else do they have? Pickleball, of course. Cascade Courts shown below has five courts and Town Center has four more.

When Happy Trails was first built, these Vacation Villas were used to house prospective buyers. After all the sites were sold, the villas were also put up for sale.

1) An undeveloped lot has a large concrete patio, gravel base and utilities. 2) This site has a storage building, called a casita, and expanded concrete.

The lot we rented has the foundation for it's casita and a huge patio.

1) There are guidelines for what and how you can build. But, you can see a huge variety in what owners have created. RVs can be Class A or C motorhomes, fifth wheels or towable trailers. Minimum length is 24 feet. Buildings can be none, to small storage sheds to complete houses.

Our Atascadero neighbors, Ben and Sid, have this wonderfully covered site with room for their motorhome, jeeps, golf cart with plenty of room under the cover for patio living space.

These panels show complete building structures. 1) This house still has room for their motorhome. 2) While this house has room for four cars, it no longer is an RV lot as there is no space left for the RV.

The hub of the complex is the Town Center. This complex is loaded with all the facilities for the activities that the adult community enjoys.

There are meeting rooms, game rooms, craft rooms, the Chuckwagon restaurant . . .

. . . fitness center, quilting, laundry, library . . .

. . . 10,000 square foot ballroom and post office.

Residents can enjoy the Olympic-sized pool . . .

. . . patio areas, tennis courts . . .

. . . horseshoes, dog park . . .

. . . shuffleboard, spa . . .

. . . and covered patios overlooking the golf course. Besides the massive Town Center, there is also four Neighborhood Centers. This allows for shorter trips to get to a meeting room, pool, spa, laundry, billiards, and card rooms.

Happy Trails is a ownership park, not a drive in and stay-a-night park. It is worth getting here, if you can, to enjoy the facilities and the wonderful residents and their great hospitality.

. . . until we meet again, love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy.

Another exhausting travelogue is shipped off to the Mattson wing of the RV Hall of Fame! And oh yeah, my parents won a Bronze medal in Mixed Doubles 3.5 skill level, zzzzz!

Photos from Oct 2011