Nine Nights of Pull-Throughs

The weather forecast is for a deep freeze to settle over the nation.  We are ready to go, so ready to get on the road and head for Arizona!  Do we wait for the freeze to pass and take the chance on more snow and ice after the freeze?  No, of course not!  We hit the road, hoping for the best. The weather is fine that Saturday, the day before New Years Eve and we make it from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Meridian, Mississippi.
By bedtime the internet is full of cautions for tomorrow morning…icy streets, hazardous driving conditions.  I am thinking we will not be going anywhere!
But we do.  It is almost 11AM before the road seems safe and we get another 200 miles to Fontainebleau State Park in Louisiana.
It’s New Years’ Eve.  The wind is howling. The forecast is 24 degrees! We pay 2 bucks extra for a pull through and do not exit the trailer till morning.
Our destination for January 1 is Beaumont, Texas, Gulf Coast RV Park, another Passport America campground that has a great free breakfast!  It being a holiday, the office is closed but there are instructions guiding us to a vacant site.  It’s a repeat.  Another 24 degree night where we hole up to keep warm. We cover the Fantastic Fan’s screen with aluminum foil and stuff plastic grocery sacks in the weatherstripping around the door.

Sylvester staying warm.
Forgot to mention that the trailer is winterized. We are making do with a few gallons of fresh water in jugs and keeping antifreeze in the drains.

At Gulf Coast RV
We hit Houston just before 10:30 am and it is less of a problem than usual. We are shooting for Boerne, Texas where we usually boondock at a visitor’s center….but not tonight!
Top of the Hill, another PA park, is 10 miles past Boerne. For $22.50 we are escorted up the hill and have the run of a nice clubhouse with a large screen TV. I consider showering and decide it is too cold!  It will be 20 degrees in town tonight and colder at this elevation. The wind is brutal! We are not having fun!  But we are eating good due to the mini Instant Pot.  Our freezer is full of meatloaf, mexican casserole, ham and chicken.

The next day in a small western town we encounter Jerry and Wanda of Egg Rollings at a gas station.  They are heading for the same RV park in Fort Stockton.  It is great to see them!  That night we enjoy a great dinner together at the Roadrunner Cafe. 

Another pull through at Fort Stockton RV.
We are members of the Escapees RV club and so are Jerry and Wanda, so it was only natural that we were again going to the same campground, DreamCatchers RV Park in Deming, New Mexico.
From Deming we always go straight into Arizona…normally as fast as possible.  This year we decide to take a look around the area and go south down to Pancho Villa State Park.
There’s a museum at the park that explains the history of Columbus, NM being invaded by Mexico in 1916.  Enjoyed our time there but we were ready to leave the next day, skipping the almost mandatory trip to the Pink Store across the border in Mexico.

Pancho Villa SP, $14 a night with electric and water.

As we drive the last stretch into Arizona, it is finally warm, in the 70’s!
We stop for lunch at a I-10 rest area in western New Mexico and pull in behind another Escape….which looks real familiar.  I go up to check it out and, yes, it’s our old friends, Duke and Beverlee from Texas!  We exchange hugs and promises to visit in a few weeks at Quartzsite.
Saturday night, day 8 on the road, we stay at the SKP park in Benson, AZ.  Great place!  We stayed here for 7 nights January 2017.
This time we boondock….$5.58 for members!We are planning to spend another night when I manage to reserve three nights McDowell Mountain Regional Park, close to Fountain Hills, AZ.  We hear that it is really nice…..I’m excited!
We leave Benson with a plan to stay at the Escapees park in Casa Grande but for some reason it just does not feel right. We pull off a side road and call Usery Regional Park where we land on night 9.  Another pull-through and after 2100 miles we still have not unhitched the trailer.
But that status changed two nights ago when we set up camp at McDowell. 
For two and half days we rest. I ride the bike, read, walk and write.  And sit gazing at the mountains….my favorite thing.
Will close with photos from Usery and McDowell.

Usery


McDowell

Forty Days in the Desert

 

Four Peaks

The travel blog is behind 40 days! So sad!

On the positive side, we have had so much fun with friends, it was impossible to create the time (and get the mindset) to write.

Lost Dutchman State Park is our destination after leaving the Benson SKP Park.  The Superstition Mountains are our emotional home while in the Southwest. Four nights just is not long enough to get our fix.

Fish Creek Overlook, Apache Trail

We call some friends who live nearby who are entertaining friends who are also our friends! A trip to Tortilla Flat is planned.

We say a temporary good-bye to the friends knowing we will all be together again in February at the Quartzsite fiberglass trailer rally.

After a visit with the family we head for Quartzsite as the Big RV tent show starts soon.

Unfortunately winter is in full swing at Q with rain, clouds and a cold wind. We stay a week boondocking at Dome Rock but after two semi-sleepless nights due to high winds, we head back to civilization and comforts including electricity and warmth.

Found FL and KY friends also boondocking at Dome Rock.

Notice the wind sock flying horizontally! One night my Clam (outdoor room) is blown over….Jerry C teaches me to stake it down with rebar.

It’s time to switch hats and change out of the desert rat mode.

David’s son lives in San Francisco and we are FLYING there for a visit!

We are excited like children.  It has been years since we were on a plane!

I use my phone, on airplane mode, to see where we are.  I see the Salton Sea! (It’s in the middle of the photo).

 We are gifted with 3 glorious days of sunshine, lots of great food, good companionship and a ferry ride to Sausalito.

Another day we hike to Corona Heights Park, enjoying panoramic views of San Francisco.

After four nights in the big city, it’s time to return to Apache Junction, pick Sylvester up from the boarding center and get back into the trailer.

Again we find more fiberglass friends at Lost Dutchman. Amazing how all our paths constantly cross!

Good friends and beautiful sunsets!

Superstition Mountain

It is goodbye to Lost Dutchman.  Time to head west, back to western AZ and a superbowl party at a RV park in Ehrenberg, AZ.

No photos are available!  I twist my ankle, severely, one hour after our arrival, falling at the door of the trailer. One of our buddies, a retired RN, performs first aid. The next few days are spent babying the injury.

It is the worst ankle injury I have ever experienced but recovery is fast and there is no pain after the first day, just left with a black and blue foot.

This catches us up to two weeks ago.

Our week at the rally and time in Nevada will be coming soon, I hope!

A Week at Buckskin and Musings

 

The musings come first.  Been wondering why on earth can’t I make myself sit down and write? Decided that I am just not motivated or there’s too much distraction with the ongoing medical issues and managing all the demands of the trailer.  And I’m seriously short on my “alone” time 

It is good to be around real live bodies instead of just cyber relationships but I’d like to have a better mix of both as I am missing my blogging friends.

With that said, I can resume our travel story.

This is the Colorado River at Buckskin Mountain State Park near Parker, AZ. The rv park on the opposite shore is in California. 

We are fortunate to book 3 nights at Buckskin just after the big Dome Rock gathering.  It is very hard to get into this park due to it’s popularity.

 

Our site is close to the river but it is also on a very busy corner with lots of traffic! On the third day the temperature hits 90F. We stay in with the A/C blasting!

We find that there are cabanas available and we move even closer to the river!

We stay another 4 nights, just not ready to leave the river, the coots and mallards and the ever changing colors of the Colorado River.

One morning I hike up the campground trail.  The path is straight up from the entrance.  The views are breath taking!

That’s our blue Tundra, middle left, at the top of the row of cabanas.

 

 

As I take this last shot, a fifth-wheel drives by and blows a friendly greeting. I wave, feeling connected to this vast world of snow birds.

David and I have been to this part of Arizona in 2012 but we didn’t go see the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. It’s time to see a piece of history!

 

 

The path goes along this canal.

 

This is the 25th anniversary plaque. The bridge was taken apart piece by piece in London and shipped to CA.

We also missed the Parker Dam on our first trip. The road goes along the California side of the river.

It is famous for it’s depth under the river bottom.

It goes 235 feet below the river bed and 85 feet above.

 

 

These sad, but cute, little panhandlers were mooching just past the dam. Signs are everywhere saying to watch for the wild burros.

We say good-bye to Buckskin Mountain and head east, searching for some cooler temperatures.

There is an Escapees park with dry camping in Congress and the weather is said to be cooler!

We stay four nights at North Ranch, enjoying every moment. David sees his first pickle ball match.

We take the winding road up to Prescott (and stumble across more fiberglass friends hidden in the forest). We have dinner in a fancy small town diner and see real cowboys in Wickenburg.

And now we in the Phoenix relatives’ back yard, getting ready to celebrate the granddaughter’s birthday. It’s hotter than it is suppose to be by  15 degrees.  Would like to land on a mountaintop but David has another doctor’s appointment. Will be heading back to Apache Junction tomorrow.

Hello, Superstition Mountains!