Fun in Q with Fiberglass Friends

 

In 2012, during our first winter in Arizona, we are camping in the Tonto National Forest at Tortilla and meet some lovely Escape owners from Texas.  One of them, Duke, makes an impression when he insists we not miss the big RV show in Quartzsite.  We change our plans and go….and manage to find and camp with his crew on Dome Rock Road!

Fast forward two years and we have a repeat occurrence! 

Last Saturday finds us creeping down Dome Rock Road looking for the shiny red truck with the Texas flag.  And it’s there just past the traditional spot for Casitas.  Our friends are with their friends and our Casita joins 5 other fiberglass trailers.

This is Dome Rock!  We are so glad to be here!!!  Missed this place so much last year!  ( It might look a tad disappointing to some…..but not to us!)

This is the “gang”!  Veteran fiberglass trailer owners and professional rally attenders!

Sunday morning we pack up our trash, stop at Love’s to dispose of it and hurry to find a parking spot near the Big Tent.  Methodically we pace the tent, trying not to miss anything.  The crowds increase as the morning progresses and we quit early afternoon.   How can I explain the joy of finding a 25 cent strainer for the bathroom sink or the two dollar broom/dustpan combo?  No big purchases…just stuff we need.  But still fun to buy!

Monday we are introduced to the free pancake breakfast and find the 6 dollar showers at the laundry.  It’s nice to camp with these experienced Q boon dockers!  We ride our bikes on the dirt road and try to pick out a special spot for our return trip in two weeks.  We ride, then walk up the old road on Dome Rock.

(We are camped center, far right in the above scene.)

This is all RV’s, trailers and the miscellaneous that come for the big show.

 

Our party increases when Casita owners, fresh from the rally in Lajitas, Texas, join us on Monday.  And someone is having a birthday!  Great excuse for a party!

The grocery is a bit lacking in Q….I decide to go to California for supplies!  It’s only 22 miles to Blythe and a huge Albertson’s.  Finding a real supermarket is one of our camping pleasures.  We usually just do without until we find our normal supplies.

That night we eat and laugh, eat and laugh!

The moon is full….the desert is bright at night.

Saying “goodbye” is hard on Wednesday….solace comes from knowing that there’s always another year and a return trip to Q in two weeks…to camp with a 100 or so fiberglass trailers!

We are off to Phoenix and family time!

(Posted from the Mustang Library in Scottsdale, AZ.)

Desert Rats at Cow Pile Rock

 

Green is not the color most people would use to describe the desert.  But green  and lush is the only way to speak of this lovely bit of heaven just south of Ajo, AZ.

We arrive at the famous (from RV Sue) Darby Wells Road just south of Ajo to meet up with Glenda and Jeff.  Their site is superb with all types of desert plants and a great view of Cow Pile Rock.  There is a strange cactus here….one I’d not seen.  It’s the Organ Pipe cactus….the national park bearing its name is just a few miles down the road.

The green is abundant in the above picture of an organ pipe cactus, a paloverde shrub and Cow Pile Rock in the background.

We are a bit off the dusty dirt road but not too far.  The border patrol are going by regularly.  We make camp less than 200 feet from our neighbors, Glenda and Jeff.

This looks like a place that I can get centered….the stress from the cold drive is still hanging on.  The tall rocks are calling me…..”climb me, climb me”!

That night I wake up and the full moon is flooding the desert creating light and shadows everywhere.  The stars are so near and bright….it feels magical! 

The next morning I grab my camera and water and strike out in the direction of the rocks.  I’m alone; I need to be alone!  My eyes scan the ground for snakes, thankfully none are spotted.

After a bit of trial and error I make it to the rocks noticing that climbing Cow Pile was out of the question….too steep and too slick.  Managed to get to the smaller middle rock without too much effort.

That’s not a person on the rock but a wonderful small stone that made the perfect resting place.  Leaning back into the stone and letting all the stress flow into the rock,  peacefully I returned to camp.

Our camp seemed very far away….photo with wide angle….That’s us in the middle.

 

And our campsite zoomed in…..

David is following my progress from the comfort of his lawn chair.   Notice all the young saguaros and organ pipe cactus surrounding us.

Glenda and Jeff’s camp……

The week proceeds peacefully.  David and I ride our mountain bikes on the dirt roads and take a few hikes.  One hike we explore the back of Cow Pile Rock still looking for a way up.  We saw a possible route but deferred… not agile enough, now.

Photo taken on the exploration hike….this is Teddy Bear Cholla, cactus on right.  Unknown mountain.

David, enjoying the view.

Back side of Cow Plop and our truck (center).

Lots of mountains in the distance.

We said goodbye to the Darby Wells area and tonight we are back in civilization at Coyote Howls West in Why, AZ.  Another few days in the boonies and we would have definitely been desert rats.  Heading to the Quartzsite tomorrow AM and the big RV show.  Looking forward to visiting with our Texas Escape friends.

Arizona sun at Catalina state park

 

Three exhausted travelers finally arrive in Arizona!  We are at Catalina State Park, just north of Tucson.  Love this place!  It’s tucked in just under the Catalina Mountains.  Very nice facilities and feels like one is way out in the boonies.  Coyotes serenade us every evening and the sun plays off the mountains as it sets.

But less than one mile away, just across the 4 lane, is Wal-Mart and a variety of shops and restaurants.

Today we were rested enough to explore one of the hiking trails.  Got a late start….when do we ever get an early start?….and the sun started beating us up before we made the trail loop.  Managed to take a few pictures.  This is the Sonoran desert and saguaro cactus are in abundance.

 

The hike is up to a small pool of water where we rested and turned back.  If we were in better shape, we could have hiked for miles in the Romero Canyon.  Lots of familiar plants and cactus are everywhere….I’m frustrated that I knew their names two years ago and I must relearn the names of all the foliage.

Nice campsite!  Opted to go without electric hook ups as we are in a saving money mode.  It’s suppose to be warm in AZ!  Just learned from a park volunteer that it’s 7+ degrees colder here than what the Weather Channel says.  Our new thermometer reported an inside temp of 37 this AM.  We are using our Sport Cat sparingly and, occasionally, turned on the gas stove.

Our trip west has had challenges….the extreme cold, adjusting to traveling with an animal and his kitty litter box and just not feeling well with various respiratory and stomach complaints.

But we are here and the trouble and misery will be worth it….once we’re rested!

Sylvester is climbing the walls…goes up the wall next to the closet like it’s a tree!  (His food is kept in the top of the closet.) Poor baby needs more space.  But he appears terrified every time we take him outside.

Tomorrow we are heading for Ajo, AZ for the Darby Wells area.  RV Sue seems to like that place…..so we are going to check it out.

Hope to camp near Glenda and Jeff who are boon docking somewhere in the Ajo vicinity.

Closing with pictures from Texas…Monahan Sandhills State Park.

Surviving the Freeze!

 

(We are on our way to Arizona!)

COLD!!!! That’s been the word for the past 5 days!

We are able to get packed and leave last Saturday morning.  Not  a pretty travel day but not too cold.  Made it to a Meridian, MS Passport America park….not much there.  Just a gravel parking lot with a nice bathhouse and office.  Free chocolate candy!

The next day the forecast got scary with talk of sleet and snow but we pressed on driving through rain and wind and back into the sunshine….cold sunshine!  Got through all of MS and LA arriving at another Passport park in Longview, TX.  The predicted low for the night is 19 degrees!  (Need to stop here and remind everyone that we do not have a furnace….just a little ceramic space heater!)  We manage to sleep warm with our  comforter and a few throws.  I worry about our cat, Sylvester, staying warm.  I try to cover him and he does not cooperate.  Eventually he makes his bed on David’s stomach.

The next morning we have ice on all our windows….on the inside!!!!  It is 17 degrees that morning and I hope to never experience that again!  The freeze is predicted to extend another day and night but I’m not concerned as we will be camping inside Little House Customs’ shop that night. 

For the past two years we have had BAL stabilizers on our wish list for the Casita.  And it’s going to finally happen!

Tada!  The finished product!

Since it has been way too cold to take any pictures outside….and thought it might be different to show what it’s like on the inside of a Casita. Not the pretty little doll house pictures that I see on Facebook and the forums but our version of real camping!

David reading his Nook (or sleeping!)

Sylvester enjoying the heater!

Supper….the leftovers did not fill us….second course, vanilla wafers and peanut butter.

Baby boy staying warm.

Enjoyed our time at Little House Customs as Larry and Debbie are great hosts!  I stuck to Larry’s huge wood burning stove…it felt sooo good to be warm!

A better view of this wonderful stove!  This is the main source of heat for his shop.

Our Casita baby all snug and warm for the night!

View from upstairs.

Writing tonight from Monahans Sandhills State Park (west Texas) ….last night was spent in Ranger, TX.  May be through with Texas by tomorrow afternoon….sure takes forever to drive!

The good news!!!!!!  It was 60 here today!  But 28 predicted tonight….still camping with hookups.

Getting Ready to Roll!

 

Less than 24 hours away, departure day is upon us and we are awakening to snow on the ground!  Unexpected show….they said flurries!  It’s not much but coupled with the low temps, the trailer packing becomes more challenging.

Wish we had planned better…..  This year we decided to stick around after Christmas instead of hitting road right after the big holiday.  Now we are paying the price!

So it is either pack in the sub freezing temps today and get out of town tomorrow or take the chance of being caught in more inhospitable weather.

Just trying to keep the eye on the prize this AM as I survey the white stuff around me.  We are heading to east Texas and a visit to LHC and from there, well, it depends on the weather.  We have friends on their way to Big Bend and it would be nice to camp with them again.  ( Hi! Glenda and Jeff) but I don’t want to be cold!  Current temps across our pathway….Big Bend National Park 33 degrees, Quitman, TX 27 degrees, Phoenix and Yuma, AZ 49 degrees….and it’s 8 AM in AZ.

We are taking our newest family member, Sylvester, to the Southwest with us.  In anticipation of his needs, we’ve gotten more cat carriers, kitty beds and litter boxes.  Not sure where everything is going to fit.

This will be the first time we have taken a pet.  A bit nervous about it but so many other people travel with their cats and dogs…surely we will adjust!

Don’t have the time to do a proper post….just know we are heading to the sun!  A visit to the boon docking lands of Yuma and Quartzsite and a wedding in Phoenix….these are our only concrete plans….and there’s some jello in them!

Wishing everyone on the road to stay safe and everyone else, stay warm!!!!