Tucson Mountain Park, Gilbert Ray and the Desert Museum

 

It’s early on Friday the 13th of March. The wind is whipping around the trailer here in Montgomery, Alabama and we are on the last two days of the Green Eggs and Ham rally! 

But I want to write about our last few days in Arizona…while the memory is still intact.

We leave our lovely parking lot in the Tonto National Forest.  It is time for David to have his blood tested again and there are groceries to be bought.  Between the wait at Walgreens’ clinic and fighting the senior crowd at Fry’s, we leave Apache Junction much later than planned.

Our destination is the Desert Museum in Tucson.  There’s a nice campground close to the museum but it may be full.  It does not take reservations.  I research free camping in Tucson in find a BLM close to our destination.  Nina and Paul warn that the road is rough and there’s some broken glass scattered throughout the camp.

After several hours of negotiating traffic, we find the area and, at first glance, it does not look too bad.

  The sunset gives us another visual delight.

David settles in with his book.

We notice a bit of broken glass as we park.  By the next day, with the changing sunlight, I realize that we are surrounded by glass and dog poo!  David decides to nap and I decide to go find Gilbert Ray, the campground that keeps coming up in conversations.

After consulting Google Maps and making a few turns, I arrive at Tucson Mountain Park.  The beauty is overwhelming!  How can this be so pretty and our spot be so….less than pretty?

On to Gilbert Ray, stopping at the office to find that there are campsites available..even though it is Saturday afternoon!  After riding through all the loops, drinking in the lovely landscape, I wonder what kind of mood the husband will be in if I suggest that we break camp and move…NOW!

Luckily…the nap is over….and we break camp in record speed!

 

Love this guy!  He looks like he is directing traffic!

Camping at Gilbert Ray is like camping in a desert garden!

We pay for two nights…staying long enough to visit the Desert Museum.  And feeling nostalgic…already sad that our paradise visit is ending.

We hear from our neighbor to not miss the museum’s free flight show. 

The show is astounding!  It starts with two ravens, then a great-horned owl, then hawks….two are red tail hawks.  The birds fly freely, soaring out of sight into the clouds.  The handlers are not concerned when wild red tails bombard their wards, trying to knock them out of the wild birds’ territory.  They explain that their birds know where good living and easy food can be found…so they always return.

We return to camp for lunch and return to see the rest of the park.

There are coyotes.

Big Horn Sheep.

And hummingbirds!

It’s a perfect day and a perfect way to end our winter in the desert.

Five Nights in Texas!

 

Llano River in Junction, TX

Technically it will not be 5 nights in Texas until tomorrow night but it’s going to take that long to get through this state.

The weather forecast dominates our thoughts this week.  Staying safe is at the top of our priorities.  Rain, wind, ice, snow and plummeting temps are heading our way!

We leave Tucson on Monday morning after a superb visit to the Desert Museum in the Tucson Mountain Park.  (Plan to write next about our time in Tucson.)

Our destination for the night is the KOA behind Camping World in El Paso. We need a few things from CW and the park is conveniently placed just off I-10.  The winds blow relentlessly all day….two hands on the wheel type wind.

The setting sun over Camping World’s  inventory of trailers and, us, sandwiched between motor homes.

Tuesday morning’s mission is to find a Discount Tire store and get a second opinion on our truck tires.  We decide to stay another night in El Paso as it’s raining and there are groceries to be bought.  The tire store confirms our opinion that it’s time to replace two of the tires.  The other two are good enough to get us home.

We didn’t expect the tires to be in the same place as an outlet mall.  And I see a Crocs store!  I am almost Croc-less…none were bought this year in Mesa.  I rationalize that walking the mall will be an excellent way to get my daily steps done and ….. more rationalizations…..we have spent almost no money on camping in February and I have spent only $7.50 on clothes this trip, a $2 tee at Quartzsite and 3 items at a thrift store.  This is what I am telling myself as I enter a Chico's store for the very first time!

Short version….we leave several hours later.  I have 5,000 steps registered on my phone, two new pairs of Crocs….there was a sale…, a new blouse and David has a new pair of pants!

Groceries, lunch and a tour of Camping World leaves us exhausted.  What an expensive lay over day!

The scary weather is coming in on Wednesday and we are nervous.  We pick a nice RV park in Fort Stockton…nice in case we are stranded for several days.  Up early by 5:30 the next morning and on the road by 7. And it’s a good thing!

Rain, sun, rain keeps us guessing for most of the day but by the time we roll into the park, dark clouds and gale force winds were whipping  around the Casita.

The sun comes out momentarily and I run out to take this photo.

The Fort Stockton RV park also has a nice little café, the Road Runner.  There’s nothing better than food to lift our morale…not looking forward to the 22 degrees forecast for the night.

After ribs, maybe the best I have eaten, mashed potatoes and green beans, I am wishing to be back in the sun so I can walk off all the calories.

We survive the night without getting cold, as long as we are under the comforter!  But it takes the little ceramic heater and one stove eye on low to get the inside temperature into the 50’s the next morning.

The roads are icy and we wait for the sunshine before getting back on the road.  After a sunny trip, we are at Morgan’s Shady RV in Junction, Texas, another 200 miles down the road.  We can see the lovely Llano River from the side dinette.  The rest of the windows are covered with Reflectix.

The plan for tomorrow is to get through Houston!  Once we say good bye to Texas, our journey will get easier.

Trying to keep good thoughts about the upcoming rally….note to self, stop checking the Montgomery, AL 10 day forecast! 

Maybe it won’t rain the whole time!

 

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!

We Made It!

 

The trip that took forever (8 days) has finally come to an end!  We are in Arizona at a beautiful state park, Picacho Peak, and only had 250 mile driving day.  We had time for a short walk before sunset but those photos are still in the camera.  Relying on the new phone’s photos……

Interrupting the story to tell you that I got a S5 on Black Friday…it was free…kind of free…with another 2 year commitment to Verizon.  Now I am like a teenager…can’t do anything without it!!!  I’m constantly asking Google…”Ok, Google” everything from “what time does the sunset in Deming, NM” to “where is the closest McDonalds” , “what is the elevation of Picacho Peak” And love the camera!

So back to the story!  It has been a hell of a trip!!  Thought that we would never, ever get here!  From our very slow start…our Garmin issues and the rain, the never ending clouds and mist, damp and cold to the nightmare of the western Texas freezing rain.  Can close my eyes and still see that weather radar map so full of pink..indicating the freezing mix that was falling over Texas off and on for days.

We have only taken I-10 through west Texas one other time and it was a miserable trip.  This time we were better prepared and knew we needed to know where we were sleeping and where we would be buying gas before we passed our only opportunity.  Still totally unprepared for what we found in Fort Stockton!  Due to the prolonged ice and snow, the gas deliveries had not been made.  The few stations with gas were over run….our exit ramp was backed up to the interstate with everyone waiting in line for gas.  We waited over an hour for our 8 or 9 gallons of gas.  And if you are thinking “why did they not go on down the road?”, there is no down the road…well maybe 60 or 70 miles away!

Another thing on this drive…(last Saturday…our first day of sunshine).. was seeing the totaled tractor trailers in the median.  Terrifying to think what might have happened….hoped most of them made it out alive.  Most of the autos on the side of the road or in the median did not look demolished like the big trucks!

The ice and snow is now behind us!  Temps in the 70’s with the famous abundant Arizona sunshine!  Sitting in the camper with bare feet and a short sleeve tee shirt, rejoicing that it will not be in the low 20’s tonight.    (In Van Horn, Texas, and Deming, NM we woke to temps in the low 20’s.)

It feels good to be back in the desert!

 

Forgot to mention that we relied on our Passport America app and the All Stays Camp and RV app to find our overnight stops.  Prices ranged from $27 (Comfort, Texas) to $13.50 in Van Horn Texas.  It was too cold for us to be without hookups and the weather was too bad for us to care what was outside the trailer.  Most nights we even had cable tv…..amazing for us!

Surviving at the Shore

It is 72 degrees and a bright sunny day as we arrive at our campsite in Gulf State Park.  Our bodies, already accustom to cold weather, are hot.  The sun is relentless and we are scrambling to get out the awning.
But the forecast is ominous!  A deep freeze is coming and we will not be able to escape.  Tomorrow will be our best chance to get out in the kayaks….we have a rule…if we carry a toy with us, it must be used!  And I have no intention to paddle  in 40 degree wind chills!        
There are 3 lakes at Gulf State Park separated by canals.  We decide to start in one of the canals.


 

After a couple of hours we are ready to quit….and, with the sun setting at 4:55 PM, dinner must be grilled while there is still daylight.
The next morning I get up and take a shower! (not my normal routine while camping)… Preparing for a special day! This is the day we will meet up with Carla and Jerry,  blogging friends that I have never met in person!
While walking from the bathhouse a big truck passes, I look in the window and there they are…..recognizing her face from the two years of reading the blog!
We immediately start talking and can’t quit!  They offer to show us around town and we head for the beach.






After a tasty lunch and a quick trip to see their lovely fifth-wheel home, we say good bye….knowing we will meet again somewhere down the road.  Maybe we will get in another visit before we head north!
The promised rain arrives the next morning.  We make plans to eat lunch with our egg group.  There are now two other Casitas, one Escape and an Egg Camper just a few sites away.  This is not an accident but the sharing of plans at a rally last month.  Two couples had reservations at Gulf Shores in November.  The rest of us just thought it an excellent idea!

Boardwalk to gulf….just across from park.
The survival part of the trip starts right after the rain!  We are not winter campers!  Except for lower Florida and Arizona! 
There is full bright sun which makes the cold a bit more bearable but the wind is merciless.   We decide to check out Fort Morgan, not realizing that the breezes are gale-force out on the point.



Nothing is very pretty….don’t enjoy taking photos of ugly…but anything historical is educational.  Fort Morgan guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay during the Civil War.  This is where Admiral Farragut made the famous quote “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”  (At that time, a mine was called a torpedo.)
The Gulf is blustery and cold.

Today is another cold day with plentiful sunshine!  We may ride our bikes…many, many bike trails lead out of the park.  Tomorrow it will be warm again but rain and cold are heading back soon.  Thinking it will be time to leave before another round of survival-type weather.