Lost Dutchman, AZ & Being The Only Deaf Person At Mini Sewing Retreat

Lost Dutchman State Park Campground, Apache Junction, Arizona – I was so excited to go there. We drove through the campground back in 2021 when we flew down here to look for a homebase. I have tried to get reservations but they are always filled up. Finally, 6 months ago when the booking window opened, I was online and reserved the second it opened.

Extra friendly at check in and then we saw our site. It is a curved pull through but we are facing the wrong way. No worries, we pulled on and will just turn around. Well, following the map, we should be able to go this way but wait, that sign says one way only. HAHA We stopped and were looking at the map when a lady volunteer on a golf cart came our way. She stopped and Kevin asked her. She said we should always ask if we have questions because they are always happy to answer and help. Sweet. Then follow her and yes, she got us to our site and the right way. We are at the base of Superstition Mountains. This campground has all paved roads and sites, all deep enough and more for any size, saguaro cactus, sage, and green bushes.

We think this place is stunning! This view is from my kitchen window in HOWE (footnote 1).

I won’t be here all week to go out and explore and hike around here but I will have fun. 🙂 Why? Because my sweet friend, Wendi, set up a mini sewing retreat at her house. While everyone else went home each night, I stayed at Wendi’s house.

The mini sewing retreat was a lot of fun and I met really nice ladies. Being deaf, though, it is hard to keep up with communication and conversations. Usually, hearing people can sew and chat at the same time. But not the deaf. We have to either be looking at what we are sewing, or, look at the accessibility voice-to-text app (or, someone using American Sign Language if they know it). As you can see, voice-to-text doesn’t work well when several people talk, background noise, and/or they are sitting on the other side from you. Here are screenshots of what I “heard.” Tell me what those conversations were about. However, I had a lovely time and got some sewing done. 🙂 I look forward to seeing these talented ladies again sometime.

I made this fun wall hanging. I got the fabric when we were in Shipshewana, IN.

I needed some batting and more thread so Kevin met Wendi and I for dinner one evening. He is so silly…he brought a mini bat for the “batting” that I needed. HAHA That bat is from when we visited Louisville Slugger Museum, in Louisville, KY. Thankfully, he had the batting underneath the bat. Silly guy!

Kevin stayed at the campground in HOWE and enjoyed his view out his office window. That is the back of HOWE and our living room. He says he likes it because his “office view changes every few weeks.” This photo he took out while sitting at his desk. Stunning!

*The blog posts are taken from my daily travel journal. Would you believe – it takes me a 1/2 day every week to whittle down a week’s worth of journal so it won’t be too long for the post each week. HAHA Thank you for reading!

1. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.