Another Day in the parking lot!

 

We are back in one of our favorite places, Phon D Sutton Recreation Area in the Tonto NF, and we never thought we would be so happy camping in a parking lot!

It’s the Salt River that makes it so special….(see above photo.) And the wild horses and bald eagles also entice us to stay. 

We moved here last weekend, thinking we would stay one night on our way back to the Cholla camp at Lake Roosevelt.  But as the day passed, we found no reason to move.

Now we are working on our fifth day!  The $3.00 daily fee for the senior version of the Tonto pass also helps us to stay put.

And we keep discovering places to hike!

One day runs into the next.  We chat with neighbors,  hike and sit and stare into the mountains.  Trying not to be sad….this is our last week in the desert.

Backing up to 10 days ago….

We pull onto the 202 after saying good bye to David’s family in Phoenix.  Not sure of our destination but have several camps in mind.  But after the Flatiron of the Superstition Mountains rises in front of us, our truck heads straight for Lost Dutchman SP.

We notice another Casita as we try to maneuver into our spot. Taking a second look, the Casita is waving at us!  What a great surprise, it’s Bob and Mary from Kansas! We last saw them at Quartzsite.

After talking them into  second night, we call other fiberglass friends from Mesa, John and BJ, and arrange a mini gathering.

David’s hand!

It’s great to see everyone again….may be another year before we visit again!

David wants to hike up the Siphon Draw trail as he has only looked up at the mountain looking over us.

(Our hike photos are on my camera….will insert here if I get to a place to download them. )

Less than a mile up the Siphon Draw trail in the Superstitions.

 

Lost Dutchman SP

Our parking lot home.

Salt River

Unidentified desert flower.

David feeling envious!

Another Salt River photo.

Although we are sad to leave our winter home, we do have many good things happening in the future. We are excited to be attending the rally in Montgomery, Alabama in less than two weeks.  Just need to get through the several thousand miles between here and there!

Then we can go home, catch up with family and friends and, fingers crossed, sell our house!

Arizona Mountains, Medicine and Friends

Sunday, January 4th, we stop at Sunrise RV in Deming, NM, picking this park at random from the All Stays Camp and RV app.  Calling from 30 miles away on I-10, we learn the price is $17.  As the forecast is 21 degrees, the little ceramic heater needs an electric hookup.  

We have good friends just 30 plus miles south in Pancho Villa State Park but it seems too far away after the long drive.  I text Glenda    and make some tentative plans to meet later at "Q".  We winterize the windows and snuggle down for what we hope is our last frigid night.

Monday, arriving at Picacho Peak SP just north of Tucson, we feel warm...actually hot....for the first time in months!
It is like heaven to see the green desert foliage, the mountains and the beautiful sunset.  I-10 runs beneath us, endless points of light moving through the desert. Rocks around us glow red during the sunset.

Now we are only 60 miles or so from our favorite Arizona place, Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction!  If we time it right, we will be able to get into the overflow loop where no reservations are necessary.  No reservations and no electricity...we arrive at noon....check out time!
  
Quickly we claim a primo spot at the top of the loop, just a few feet from the mountain bike trail.  The mountain, Superstition Mountain, looms over us and I am feeling that it will heal me from this ### trip!
I take a few photos!!!

All I want to do is sit in the sun and stare at the mountain....but, life gets in the way.  We must find a place for David to get his blood tested and medications renewed.  And there are other chores....our refrigerator that worked perfectly in Deming and Picacho..now refuses to cool and we need ice. The truck is filthy from a muddy dirt road in San Antonio and we have no groceries.  At the end of the day all is accomplished, thanks to a Walgreen's that has a lab, and ice store and grocery all in the same parking lot.

Warning!  Wednesday is Seniors' Day at Fry's Supermarket!  (For you southeasterners...think about the grocery when snow is forecast....it was a nightmare!!)

The next day our Arizona friends, John and BJ, invite us for a drive through the Tonto National Forest.   Traveling over rough dirt roads in his wonderful little Tacoma, we explore potential boondocking spots while enjoying the Four Peaks area. No photos..guess I was enjoying the ride too much!

Decide to stay another day at Lost Dutchman to get some much needed exercise.  It feels great to get back on our bikes after almost 10 days of inactivity.  Now it's time to pack up and head for the Scottsdale backyard to visit with David's family.

Which takes us up to the present!  
Took a few photos on a walk around the neighborhood this morning.  This pm is all about the blog... playing on the computer while all the rest of the family is watching some very important football game...

The plan is to stay around this area until we can get the fridge into a shop and David's blood tested again.   Then we are westward bound.

Winter Solstice, Challenges and Gratitude

 

AZ Morning

This is what happens when I don’t post regularly….I have too much to say and can’t figure where to start and where to stop!

Normally I build the post around recent photos….and I may go back and stick in a few.  But, for now, I am just going to start writing and see what emerges.

Today is the winter solstice, 12/21/2014..the day I live for each winter, the day the sun returns to lengthen the day.  (Just noticed that I sound a bit dramatic…..but I do get very “down” in the cold, dark months.)

Lying in bed this morning I made a list of 10 things for which I am grateful.  Later thought of sharing them as a post….and a way to catch up.  They are in random order….not in order of importance.

1.  Grateful for the house furnace that provides warmth although it is 32 years old.

2. Grateful for the comfortable bed and the deep sleep that comes with the comfort.

3. Grateful for Sylvester, my newest feline, who provides a deeper quality of love than my other cats.

4. Grateful that my husband’s heart is back in rhythm after it went into atrial fibrillation last week. Grateful for the hospital who shocked it back into rhythm after only one night’s stay.  Grateful that he is tolerating the medication that will be a necessary and permanent part of our life.

5. Grateful that my husband can walk normally and without pain. David, after the hospital stay, took a short walk which resulted in severe hip pain….probably from arthritic changes….and he was unable to walk without assistance for 4 days!  Afraid the take the anti-inflammatory drugs that interact with the blood thinner, he just toughed it out until the doctor gave him permission to use Aleve….which has “cured” it for now.

6. Grateful for the cardiac doctor who understands us and our priorities…who said there was no reason to stay home and we could make our trek to Arizona!!

7.  Grateful for the lovely lady who decided to spend the winter at our house…grateful our other kitties will have someone to feed and love them.

8. Grateful it is only 8 more days before we start our winter journey to the sun.  Grateful we have family in Arizona that prompts the travel and grateful for the memories of the Superstition Mountains towering over our camp…..can’t wait!

9. Grateful for the little 16 foot Casita trailer and how it has changed our lives.  And the 8 trips we made in 2014…after we returned from the two months in Arizona!

(Trips: Montgomery for the GE&H rally, Townsend rally, Blue Ridge Parkway, Fall Creek Falls rally, Chester Frost Park, Land Between the Lakes rally, Cherokee rally and Gulf State Park.)

10.  And, finally, grateful for the friends…..who seem more like family than friends….who have come into our lives through this community of bloggers, fiberglass rv owners and fellow tumbleweeds who love this wandering lifestyle.

Superstition MT and David 2/2014

2/2014 Lost Dutchman SP

11/2014 Gulf State Park, AL

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! And safe travels!!

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.