How We Chose to Settle in Phoenix After RVing For 8 Years

This article was first published in TravelAwaits on Dec. 12, 2021.

Almost immediately after our wedding ceremony, we embarked on what we thought would be a never-ending honeymoon. We had both led very career-driven lives and our hunger for travel had reached its peak. But after crisscrossing the North American continent for five years full-time in an RV,  we decided to settle in one location every winter to begin what real retirement should be for us “sexygenarians.” But many ask, "Why Phoenix?" Let me tell you how we reached the decision.

It started with our realization that we were not super-persons who did not need a team of physicians who could take care of us on a regular basis.  After my husband suffered a heart attack in Florida—fortunately near a heart hospital— and my host of many smaller health issues, we decided to stay put in a place for a few months to do the rounds of doctors. Besides, not getting any younger, we would have to wake up from the dream later, cut short our honeymoon, and really retire.

Before making a firm decision, we took our RV and proceeded to stay in the most likely areas where we could try semi-retirement to get a better feel of how it would be to live there, which is vastly different from simply visiting. We were sure it would be in the South because neither of us could handle the cold. My husband’s fingers turned blue at the Grand Canyon National Park…in spring; and, for 54 years, it was summer year-round for me. It would probably be somewhere in Florida, southern California, or Arizona. We embarked on a serious search.

SEEKING A BETTER TAX STRUCTURE AND LOWER COST OF LIVING

Even if San Diego is touted to have the best weather in the country all year round, it was easy to eliminate southern California; sad because that is where most Filipinos choose to live. Thus, there are Filipino groceries like Seafood City, many Filipino organizations to join, and many of my former classmates, co-workers, and other colleagues. However, the tax structure of the state and the consequent high cost of living are not good for retirees on fixed incomes like us. A case in point is the cost of gasoline. It is always highest in “SOCAL.”  Our dollars would buy so much less!

TO BE NEARER OUR CHILDREN

We turned our attention to Florida where the tax structure is better. And there are so many ready-made retirement havens for people like us. As a matter of fact, we thought we would be buying a property at The Villages, often cited as the best retirement “city” in the whole country. We loved the climate there, hot and humid like I was used to in the Philippines. But, alas, Florida is so far from where our children live. Road trips to visit any of them would never be practical, and plane flights would all end up being more expensive in the long run. These may prevent us from visiting them often; or, worse, discourage them from visiting us!

So we zeroed in on Arizona, where a road trip to San Francisco, California— where my eldest daughter lives—would take just 12 hours; to Denver, Colorado— which my husband’s daughter calls home— would almost be the same; and to Boise, Idaho— where his eldest and only son lives— would be longer by just an hour and a half.  So we took our RV to spend three weeks each in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma, Arizona’s candidate cities.

A WARMER CLIMATE

The Grand Canyon National Park is only one and a half hours away from Flagstaff; only 45 minutes separates it from Sedona, that magical city of red rocks (photo). There are many other national monuments and state parks around the city: Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, Sunset Crater, Tuzigoot, and Montezuma, to name a few.  Yes, it’s Arizona’s prettiest corner. If we lived there, we would be visited by a lot of friends and family. And yet, it proved too cold for me and my husband since Flagstaff is in the northern part of the state, at elevations of almost 7,000 ft.  After three pleasant summer weeks, this Arizona city was nonetheless eliminated.

A MORE COSMOPOLITAN CHOICE

Let me explain here that I am a big-city girl, having lived in Metro Manila—a megacity with a  current population of 14 million, one of the densest cities in the world, much like Bangkok—until I retired. Given a choice, I prefer to have a wide range of facilities for cultural events, many options for shopping, extra choices for international culinary delights  (not a single El Pollo Loco), and a full complement of government and commercial services. So, even if Yuma has a population of 200,000 and is just 25 minutes walking distance to Los Algodones, Mexico, a mecca for inexpensive dental and medical services and supplies, it was also eliminated from the list. 

A BETTER GLOBAL REACH

In the end, it became a close contest between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona’s biggest and best metropolitan areas. At first, we found it difficult to decide between the two.

The Tucson metropolitan area, population of almost a million, was the early front-runner. Temperatures are cooler by five degrees year-round because it is at a higher elevation. It is also closer to Mexico which we were looking at as a second home at best or a regular vacation spot at least. There are also many landmarks in and around the city like the Saguaro National Park and the Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area, aside from cool day trips to places like the Tumacacori National Historical Park, the site of the first-ever Spanish mission in the US. Actually, another mission, Xavier San Juan del Bac, is right in the city and is the best example of Spanish architecture in the US, still actively providing enchanting services. Tucson is decidedly more Spanish in character. It is also the site of the world-famous “International Gems and Jewelry Festival” in winter. Great for aspirational women, like me!

On the other hand, Phoenix is five times larger with a population of five million, the 11^th ranked in the nation. Although it does not have national parks or Mexico at its backdoor, the Flagstaff area is just about three hours away, Yuma about the same, and Tucson, two. It is also home to more museums, entertainment options, venues for concerts and shows, and city, state, and regional parks. The latter were very useful for communing with nature when we were in forced lockdowns.  There will be no dearth of places to take our visitors and guests. The megacity is made up of a cluster of cities and municipalities like Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Apache Junction, and 17 others. 

We stayed at the Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort in Mesa. With 1,900 sites, it is the biggest such resort of its kind in the Phoenix area. There was a similar resort called Voyager RV Resort and Hotel in Tucson. Although a little smaller with 1,500 sites, there was a hotel for guests attached to it. Both are part of Encore Resorts which also owned the network of campgrounds where we were members. And both had sections for homes when one finally decided to stay put.

We chose Viewpoint. The deciding factor was simple: Sky Harbor International Airport is a global hub, and therefore our travels around the world and visits to children in Anchorage, Alaska, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and Melbourne, Australia would not only be less expensive but more convenient, with usually just one stop or even nonstop stop flight options.

Three years later, after we settled with a great family physician and a team of specialists to whom he referred us, we finally fully retired, sold our RV and bought a house in Viewpoint. I have fallen in love with the desert. Spring is a beautiful season to be here when the ubiquitous paloverdes, aside from all the wildflowers, are in full bloom with their delicate yellow flowers. Fall weather is also perfect.  These days, we stay home during these two seasons and travel when Phoenix sizzles in summer or chills in winter.

It was a blessing owning an RV. We were able to search the country thoroughly and when we were ready, choose from candidate cities by staying in each one for three weeks. And then we took all of three years wintering in Viewpoint before deciding to make the arrangement permanent. It was a rigorous and highly enjoyable process. And in the end, we made the best decision. 

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Wow: Picking our Top 10s from Our Travels!

we have chosen the city of Phoenix as our winter haven

Bill and I have been to 49 American states cruising in an RV. This January, while I am finishing my book and Bill is helping his son finish his office building, we agreed to vote on our Top 10s! Often we have been asked the question, ‘What are the best places you’ve seen?’ As usual, I developed a matrix to make our final selections. Most of the criteria centered on three: things to see, places to eat, and things to do.  We voted independently, in separate states, may I add, combined our scores electronically, and came up with the following lists:

Top 10 States to Visit

1.       Arizona

2.       Pennsylvania
3.       New York

4.       Massachusetts

5.       Maine

6.       California

7.       Florida

8.       Virginia

9.       North Carolina

10.     New Mexico

Obviously, we love history and nature!

Top 5 National Parks

1.       Yosemite National Park

2.       Grand Tetons National Park

3.       Glacier National Park

4.       Great Smokey Mountain National Park

5.       Yellowstone National Park

6.       Acadia National Park

In 19 years, Glacier will have lost all its glaciers, so this list will become 5!

Top 5 SMSAs to Live in as a Winter Haven

1.       Phoenix

2.       Tampa

3.       Orlando

4.       Tucson

5.       San Diego

That is why we are snow birding in Phoenix!

Top 5 SMSAs to Live in As a Summer Haven

1.       San Francisco

2.       Seattle

3.       New York City

4.       Boston

5.       Philadelphia

We left our heart in San Francisco

Top 5 SMSAx to Live in Year-Long

1.       San Diego

2.       Las Vegas

3.       Savannah

4.       Albuquerque

5.       Phoenix

You will notice that Phoenix made two lists and Arizona even made it to the top states list so we have decided to make the city our winter haven for Stage 4 and just make trips to other parts of the world or visits to our kids and siblings from there. It may even be our eventual Stage 5 (nesting) home!

OLA: Visiting with Family and Friends in SC

the sprawling Southern retirement home of the Thiesings in Mt.Pleasant, South Carolina

view from their 3rd floor deck, witht he boat at the end of the walk

So we just left Florida after 5 warm winter months and are now here in Low Country USA…South Carolina… on our way to Nova Scotia for the nth reunion of the DUs, Bill’s high school gang. This is one of the several visits we will make along the way. Jim, one of the DUs, has decided to retire here to be near his grandkids. Erika, my darling niece who married the eldest nephew of Marty, her mom and my sister Julie’s husband (who passed on in 2009), has also decided to relocate here. Time for special visits!  

Carol walking on the boardwalk back to the house after our boat ride

a Nerd Clock, very apropos in Jim's home office

The Thiesings of Mt. Pleasant

Jim Thiesing just retired last year as Group Vice-President, Federal Operations of Jacob’s Engineering, a Fortune 500 company providing technical, professional, and construction services globally with 200 offices in over 25 countries in Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Industrial, Buildings, Chemicals and Polymers, Consumer and Forest Products, Energy, Environmental Programs, Infrastructure, Mining and Minerals, Oil and Gas, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, Refining, and Technology. Jim was primarily involved in its nuclear clean-up operations including the 3-Mile Island and the Oakridge facility.

spacious second level living quarters

Jim and wife Carol are obviously very comfortably happy in their sprawling 2-level 5,000 sq. ft. Southern home (yes with porches all around) that reaches out to where his boat is moored on the Toomer creek that leads into the Atlantic Ocean through Wando and Cooper Rivers.The 2 guest quarters, Jim’s office, the middle lounging area, and a recreation area make up the lower level while the couple lives in utmost comfort at the second floor. They decided to stay near the grandchildren (don’t we all?) and are truly a picture of shared blissful contentment.

Bill's fave banana cream pie
 baked from scratch by Jim's Carol!

Bill, Jim, and Carol were off to the beach early the following day for Bill’s 2-3 mile daily walk and her bike ride. Then the 2 friends fished  while the two Carols watched the quarterfinals of the Miami Sony Ericson Tennis Open (yes, we are both fan-addicts). What a grand vacation for Bill and me. Carol is a perfect host. Meals were always fine dining…from soup salad, entrée, and dessert! We could not have enough of the cola brisket slow cooked to perfection...and the shrimp pasta salad...and the chcken wild rice mushroom...and even the apple/ham/cream cheese sandwiches!!! But the killer was Bill's
banana cream pie, something he had been pining for for years! 

the co-pilots, Jim and Bill

Bill and Jim at Vickery's at Shrimp Creek
where we stopped for lunch on our boat ride 

The following day, all of us went for a lovely boat ride to the great Atlantic. We had a traditional Southern lunch at Vickery’s, a local favorite resto with its own dock, right before the bay. Back home, Bill and Jim went fishing again and the 2 Carols watched the last set of Quarterfinals. The next morning Bill and Jim braved the walk on the 5-mile loop on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge and then, sadly, we had to say our goodbyes. The stay was truly fun but we will see them soon enough in Nova Scotia, although it will not be at their lovely home!

the Ravenal Bridge, signalling that we had arrived at the Charleston Harbor!

Jesse and Erika with Bill while dinner was being readied

The Sellers of James Island

Erika is my sister Julie’s youngest child. She married Jesse Sellers, nephew of Marty, Julie’s husband who passed on in 2009. She now baby-sits two little kids while Jesse is in partnership with friends in a construction company. Erika was former Philippine Idol finalist and is currently expecting their first child in September!  I wanted to see first-hand the joy on her face! It was certainly there…perhaps permanently etched, after waiting for almost five years!

we have missed Erik'a snging!

We stored the RV for 3 days while we stayed with Jim and Carol but we wanted to show Erika how we camped so we booked at the Charleston KOA just beside the storage facility. We had Jesse and Erika the first night at the RV. Bill grilled pork loins and I made green beans and mushroom medley and simple baked potatoes for sides and some Italian bread with cream cheese chocolate cake for dessert! And of course, we set up the karaoke equipment so we could once again hear Erika’s melodious voice singing some oft-forgotten OPM (Original Pilipino Music)!

digging into the sumptuous Southern dinner!

The next night, it was Jesse and Erika’s turn to show off their culinary skills so we drove to their lovely, cozy home. Dinner was excellent Southern cuisine: grilled porterhouse steaks courtesy of Jesse, Kajing made extra special (we brought home the left-overs!) dinner rolls from Jesse’s family’s secret recipe, Caesar salad, and mashed potatoes. Oh for appetizers we had veggies and ranch and deviled eggs! Bill and I brought the couple nice oranges and grapefruit from Florida and a small box of Mexican mangoes from the Carolina Coast Flea Market, the state's biggest!.

Carol's turn to sing!

the four...happy together!

We ended the night singing karaoke favorites again and, though we wanted to linger on for we might not see each other again for another 5 years, we had to bid our reluctant  goodbyes. In the morning, Bill and I will proceed to a short vacay in the North Carolina Outer Banks! But surely we left with hearts full of wonderful memories.Visits to family and friends, especially this one to South Carolina early in the spring of 2012, are truly special! RVing makes it all possible for us.                                                                                                                        

Touring Low Country USA with a Visiting Friend

Our next stops were in Low Country USA in South Carolina. What made the stays extra special, however, was the visit of my dear friend Dittas, a top-notch IT business consultant in the Philippines, who was vacationing for a month in the US.

Low Country USA is the identifier of a unique culture and geography that extends from the Sandhills of South Carolina, just east of Columbia, its capital, to its coast and outlying islands. Our campgrounds are conveniently located in the midst of beautiful Savannah, Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, Charleston, and Columbia. This area is mostly near or below sea level; thus the term "low country". As far as your eyes can see are marshes filled with low grasses and swampy water. It is perfect country for shrimping (remember Forrest Gump?).

Although Savannah is not in South Carolina, it is often included because it sits right at the border of Georgia and SC and shares much of the history, landscape and culture. It is just 45 minutes from our first campground, The Oaks at Point South. In fact, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport was where Dittas landed and where we took her for her flight back to San Francisco. The highlight of the city is the 24 Squares around which the city was designed by Oglethorpe, the British settler in 1733, making the city one of the most organized in the world and, definitely the best structured during its time. The largest and oldest is Johnson Square but the most beautiful is Monterrey Square, especially when it is blooming with flowers on the bases of magnificent live oak trees. One of the old houses around the square is Mercer House, the site of the enchanting film, Midnight in the Garden of Good

and Evil. In another square was the park bench on which Forrest Gump sat, contemplating life like a box of chocolates (we also went to Chocolate Tree, the maker of the chocolates who gave each of us a complimentary sand dollar dark chocolate). Another enchanting section of the city is River Street where old cotton warehouses along the Savannah River had been transformed into quaint boutiques and restaurants. In fact, one of the raw bars there is where we had two dozen fresh oysters for just $6 during Happy Hour! And, on the river bank was Savannah River Queen, a paddle boat waiting for tourists to climb on board. Dittas and I could not help but be queens for an instant (beautiful queens!). At a distance, the double suspension bridge casts a striking pose in the Savannah sky. 

Hilton Head Island is an island unto itself. It was conceptualized around 1765 by Charles Fraser, a

visionary at 27. He pioneered gated communities in America as he transformed the island’s many plantations. Sea Pines is the only one open to the public for a $5 access fee and it features the South Beach (If Sea

Pines is a foot, then South Beach is its toe!) and Harbor Town. South Beach is where we had traditional fish and chips at the Salty Dog Café on the marina only to be pleasantly surprised by the best key lime pie in the whole wide world! Harbor Town, on the other hand, is where Liberty Oak, a giant centuries-old live oak, was left untouched during the development of the island and under which large, red, rocking chairs wait for visitors torelax in the beauty of the marina and its nearby shops. Elsewhere on the island are the Coligny Beach, the public beach where hundreds of colorful beach umbrellas and towels conceal the lovely tanned bodies of scantily clad men and women. On Shelter Cove stands a giant statue of Neptune whose spear tells time on one of the largest sundials in the world.   

Beaufort, SC, is the oldest of the communities, dating back from 1711. The quaint historic downtown is home to many southeastern eateries and craft shops, a beautiful waterfront, and a long and winding bridge/highway to a group of small islands the farthest of which, Fripps Island, is privately owned. We chanced upon a shrimp shack but lo and behold…all the fish and shrimps are fried! For all of us who come from the tropics, fish had better be grilled, or poached, or steamed, or baked! So we went instead to Gilligan’s Island and peeled steamed shrimps to our tummies’ satisfaction. For those who love beautiful sprawling historic homes, Beaufort is the place to be. For those who love stately more modern homes, Hilton Head Island is more ideal. And for those who care for the in-betweens, Charleston is a must.

Charleston’s beautiful southern mansions dot the road along its harbor. But the distinction of the town is in Fort Sumter. Lying just outside the city, beyond the harbor, in the middle of the water is the fort where the first blast of the Civil War began. The city is known as the Holy City with all of 300 churches around.  But the Catholic cathedral is uniquely pretty with its small, narrow facade. And the small wineries featured more of fruit wines than the regular whites and reds. But what we were thrilled about in Charleston is the City Market where hundreds of stalls, flea-market style, are laid out with so many Low Country crafts. That is where Dittas finally found a bright, flowery Welcome Sign for our RV, colorful, chunky earrings and necklace set to match an old red, yellow, orange, green, blue ring, and an off-white top made from organic cotton. As women on a frenzied shopping spree go, we were more than just satisfied with our afternoon stash!

The Oaks campground was largely uneventful (although the clubhouse was the place where I finally beat Bill in pool!) except for the 3 ponds at the back around which we took brisk walks for our afternoon exercise. There were 3 alligators there and we did not realize one of them was camouflaged as he lay lounging on the banks. Thank heavens he jumped back into the water in surprise when I asked Bill to move closer to the edge for a photo of the beautiful red, green, and yellow trees that were mirrored in the pond.

Around our campground are small towns with unique attractions. We found a Carolina Cherry (My name is actually Carolina and I have a sister named Cherry) Store where we found benne wafers (sesame seed cookies) and pecan pinches, tasty Southern snack bites. There were old church ruins in Sheldon that were almost razed to the ground by the British during the American Revolution but left elegant columns that looked like a small brick

Parthenon. We also discovered an authentic African Village (as seen on TV) where, upon entry, you are considered to have left the USA! Coosawatchie, a

town 6 miles away, was where Bill finally found a shop for the S’un (our Saturn SL1). To both our chagrin and delight, the day after Dittas left, we even discovered a Low Country Visitors’ Museum just around the corner from the camp. There Bill and I found a huge live oak with its trunk and all its branches bent to the ground. The museum also featured the ‘Blue Bottle’ tree to ward off evil spirits, a common practice in Low Country, and a joggling board, a historic contraption made by German friends of a plantation owner who had bad back problems.

Dittas treated us to lunch at a Scottish pub in downtown Savannah on the day of her departure.  We wanted to go to Paula Deen's, on the advice o a friend from Seattle, but the line was so looooong.  Bill loooooved the food (he had Guiness beef stew) and Dittas loooooved the waiter's utility kilt. The unfortunate thing was I left my purse there when we hurried to catch Dittas' flight. So the next day we had to go back one more time to Savannah and decided to hear Easter mass at the lovely

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. On the way out of town we saw two huge cute elephants, one pink, one blue in front of a souvenir shop.

Two days after Dittas left, we headed for Big Water in Santee on Lake Marion. The campground has 2 warm pools, a Lazy River for tubing, and beach access to the lake. We spent several days of water fun. But SC fishing licenses sold for $11 for 7 days and $35 for a year so Bill postponed buying one until North Carolina where we will be staying longer, for a month and a half. The campground also gave us access to Columbia, the state capital, where we were able to finally see Avatar which was still showing in an old movie house at its outskirts! The campground was also near Sumter where we found a small flea market.  And, even if we did not find anything worthwhile buying (it was more of a large garage/junk yard sale), a good soul told us to go to the Swan Lake and Iris Gardens, the town's jewel.  That day 3 weddings were going on...it was obviously the most beautiful place around for miles.  The lake had several elegant black and white swans and the banks were filled with the spectacle of tree roots jutting out a foot or two high.  All around the lake were pedestals where buttons, when touched, would explain the tree orn plant it was beside.

Next Stops: Salisbury and Advance, NC, Lynchburg, Va, and Lenoir, NC