We're in Fountain Hills

Yesterday we departed Tucson.  It was time.  The Alfa rally people, while pleasant enough, were somewhat annoying in that they begin congregating and chatting at 6:30 in the morning.  Their congregation point is just off of our bedroom slide.  So that was not a good thing. 
The drive up was windy, we had pretty good side winds the whole way in to the Phoenix megalopolis.  Last night was really windy.  Any plans to grill were set aside.  There was a storm rotating over Flagstaff and we were brushed by the winds.  Then we had lightning and distant thunder, followed by hail and then rain.  All of this in April, no less.
This morning was still windy, but tolerable.  We're staying at the RV park attached to the casino in Fountain Hills.  Since both of us are terrible at grey water management, we decided to stay here and have sewers.  It's not that much of a drive into McDowell.
The buckhorn chollas are massing for a spectacular bloom.  They are one of the last to bloom in the desert.  They are very prolific in the McDowell Mountain Park.

Overall, it is spectacularly green.  Phoenix got more rain than Tucson did, and it shows.

Riding was somewhat demoralizing.  In Tucson we rode a lot, but not on enough hills.  Hills are nature's way of making you do intervals.  There was no walking, however, so I'm declaring victory.
This is Jim, standing by the truck.

There was a trip to UPS and the hardware store this afternoon.  When we left, the front air conditioner was working fine.  When we came back, it was blowing warm air.  The digital display on the controller was blank.  The air conditioning unit is new, but the control unit is original to the bus.  It may be dying.  We turned it off and turned it back on, and all was restored to good order.  I think we're going to have to discuss replacing that thing sooner rather than later.

As far as today in politics goes, I just do not know where to start.