October 29 through November 4, 2004
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This page is posted in preliminary condition, as I have not been able to find time and energy to finish the last three weeks of RV Adventures in the usual detail. I will strive to update these pages later as time permits, and include all the pictures and narrative I think the subject deserves. Until then, ENJOY....as much as possible. |
Friday October 29:
Three Rivers Petroglyph Park is a BLM fee area about 35 miles south of Valley of Fire recreation area. We intended to stop and view the petroglyphs and move on to Alamogordo. We found the park fee to be $1.00 with our golden age pass, we had digital cellphone, and the host said we could park overnight in the picnic area for no extra charge. :-)) We decided quickly to stay, and hiked the 1 mile round trip trail up to the rocks with ancient designs on them. This park has over 20,000 petroglyphs, more than any other area in the southwest. I took as many pictures as I had energy for.
This was one of the better ones, showing a big horn ram with arrows imbedded. We returned to dinner of DELICIOUS hominy, beans, tomatoes, and (what else?) red CHILE PEPPERS. The weather was turning cold, and the furnace was necessary overnight.
Saturday October 30:
The battery was at a new low after running the furnace all night, and computer activity on the net this morning. Soon after 7am we started the generator. It seemed to resist taking a fast charge...not a good sign, but we left it on a long time to hopefully bring it back. We expect to buy a new set of house batteries this winter after the storage, as they are 6 years old and that is LONG of tooth for deep discharge golf cart batteries used like we do with daily discharge to nearly half their capacity. Walked to the ruins of the Indian settlement at Three Rivers Petroglyph Park, then departed for Alamogordo. Tried to get new frames to fit Claire's lenses. Walmart vision center did not have any frames to fit, offered some that did not fit for $100. I bought new epoxy, and used an old broken small drill as a pin to support the bridge. Hopefully it will suffice until we get home. Otherwise, the alternatives are pretty unattractive considering Claire has an exam for new glasses two days after we get back. Perhaps the best approach would be buying reading glasses and toughing it out...at least her driving is legal without glasses.
Sunday October 31:
Drove to White Sands, visited the National Monument. After driving in 8 miles, we parked the motorhome.
It looked like we got caught in a s*** storm, but something really doesn't look quite right; the vents are open, and the snow isn't melting....well, actually the s*** is pure white gypsum SAND...... :-) We decide to hike 5 miles on the Alkaline Flats trail. The steep "drifts" of sand are really FUN.
Some plants are actually able to root in the desert floor and grow faster than the dunes 30 foot per year movement, to keep their leaves above the sand and sustain life.
The plant's roots hold the sand together even after the dune that forced the strange growth moves on. Even the kids notice the resemblance of the white sand to snow.
Their snow saucers slide fast and smooth down the 30 foot high drifts. One wise young pundit observed that the sand is really much BETTER than snow....it doesn't melt! :-)) This is a GREAT place to spend a day, really a highlight of our trip, but it has no place to park overnight. Tired as we were after the 5 miles trudging through the dunes, we went on to Las Cruces and their Super Walmart for the night.
Monday November 1:
Weather in Las Cruces at 7AM is predicted to worsen, with chance of snow at elevation this afternoon. We decide to depart immediately for Arizona where the forecast is much better, and call the BLM folks about the Hot Wells recreation area from somewhere on the road before we have to commit to going there. The office is only open during normal business hours. The drive started VERY early for us, soon rain started, with gusty wind, then even some snow flakes mushed onto the windshield wipers. We call the BLM folks who confirm we can get our RV into the Hot Wells, with outdoor hot tubs, and the fee will be $1.50/ day with our golden age pass..... OUR kind of place! Almost on cue, as we cross the continental divide the sky turns blue and the sun shines..... :-) It is sooooo GREAT when a plan comes together!! The Arizona weather is "clear and sunny", as forecast, although there is still a freeze warning out for tonight and the wind is blowing hard. We find the road into the BLM land, southeast of Safford AZ by 30 miles or so.... It has no real public roads that show on a map, only a "chip sealed" BLM road. It looks hard surfaced, but there is vibration as we drive, and 25 miles on it at 45 MPH, the crossing of numerous cattle guards and dry wash gullies, loosens the battery cable on the RV so it would not start when we stopped to ask the area host some questions. This was not exactly a relaxing experience, and one we have never experienced in 4 years of driving this RV. I first tried the battery emergency start switch (that connects the house battery to the starter circuit) with no joy, then checked the cellphone and found no service. I finally accepted that rolling in the sand under the coach to check the recent repair on the transmission neutral switch was necessary. Only under there did I notice there was not the slightest click when Claire turned the key to try to start....and suspected there was no battery power to the engine. Sure enough, the wing nut holding the starting battery positive cables had loosened.....and evidently the starting battery pulls the emergency start relay in. This is not the smartest design in the world......DUHHH. We got started and parked where the host suggested, but noticed while backing around that the sand 30 feet from the campsite was SOFT. Oh well, we'll not go there AGAIN! We are now headed straight out and do not need to turn around any more. I relaxed after this in the 106 degree hot tub fed from a 1900 ft "oil" well that hit a hot artesian aquifer and was abandoned.
The BLM and Arizona funded the building of two outdoor tubs and a small park here. We get some TV here, PBS is weak with noisy audio, understandable enough for business news, but ABC seems best for easily understood election news tomorrow night. We decide to spend at least two days here. We will ask the host if we can safely traverse the shortest way out going south over dirt roads with the RV. It will save 50 miles of driving getting to Tucson if we can.
Tuesday November 2:
It went to near freezing last night, but I was out at 7:30 AM to soak some more..... :-))) There was steam coming from the 8 foot circular tub, and I quickly removed my sweat pants and jacket....and lost no time getting into the hot water!! What a feeling, watching the sun come up on the cold desert from the comfort of the hot water.... worth the gas to get here, fer sure! There are few other users now, so we practically have the place to ourselves. The cellphone has 2 bars analog service from Valley Telephone on the campsite we are in. It at least should allow an emergency call if necessary. There was nobody in sight last night, and it was QUIET....except for the loud "thump" at 2 AM which may have been thermal contraction in the coach, or an animal banging on the trash can .... there were some telltale raccoon like tracks visible in the morning. :-)
Wednesday November 3:
It was below freezing under the RV this morning. The news revealed that although Kerry had not conceded, it was inevitable that Bush would win Ohio, and the election. I retrieved our bathing suits hanging outside, changed, and hurried to the tub…steaming in the sub freezing air of the dawn.
The cool air was really an incentive to undress quickly and GET IN THE WATER. What a delight...sooo warm and comfortable!! I returned to breakfast of Claire's "French toast"....a New Orleans treat that was quite good, but not worth the effort needed to make it. It did use up the eggs, which was the goal, but did not hide the eggs enough to encourage Claire to eat much of it, so I had a whole loaf of "French toast" to eat. We watched through the day as the election was decided, then puzzled as the pundits on the news shows tried to decide what part of this they do not understand. It seems rather clear to me that the populous urban centers of the Northeast and West went for Kerry, while the rest of the country went for Bush. The media centers are in the population centers, and they truly DO NOT understand what the rest of the country is thinking, feeling, and voting. Bush REACTS with vigor if someone or something attacks him. He defends his own with all his might. Despite what Kerry implied during the campaign, the military strongly supported Bush over Kerry, something else the population center folks seem to puzzle over. The closest I can come to expressing my idea about the very real split between the areas of the country is VALUES. The urban centers are more concerned with working together, developing consensus, while the rural regions value more a sense of independence, standing on their own feet and taking their own knocks if that is necessary, with a willingness to kick butt when required. It is amazing that the split in the nation is so nearly equal, but I doubt much changes in the near future, and we will continue to have "cliff hangers" in elections until large numbers of folks change their basic attitudes about their values. Nuff of this ...I'm sure you've heard this all too much by now. :-)) We took the edge off the election tensions by soaking repeatedly in the hot tub, and I waxed the remainder of the RV decals, and one side of the blue locker doors. I feel the blue will suffer more from the Arizona sun than the white, so will do it first. I doubt we get it all done before the holiday break which starts for us early on November 16th.
Thursday November 4:
Hot tubbed again in the AM dawn…early. Tom from nearby Willcox AZ was in the tub. He comes here to camp with his trailer often. He asked how the host was, I told him quite helpful and genial. He told of a host near Parker dam who carried a big pistol on his hip and had a bad attitude. We have never experienced anything like that, and hope to never do so. Evidently the hosts are on contract by the BLM at many of the sites out west; how they are compensated I do not know, but will seek to find out. We decide to head for a truck stop in Benson and get water and dump before going to the Desert Star casino south of Tucson for the night....perhaps there will be a buffet there too? :-) We know from experience Tucson is not friendly to boondocking RVs, so we plan carefully to avoid places we know have restrictions. It will cost Tucson some of our business, as we decide not to drive to the north side of town to Sam's.....we can buy what we need in a Walmart on the way. A final dip in the tub before we leave lets us discuss compensation with the host, who referred to himself as a volunteer, but had earlier referred to his contract requiring him to arrive when it was still hot in August. He said the BLM compensated him only for hauling the trash trailer to the dump, and the compensation covered little more than the cost of gas. I'd call that a volunteer.....I'm not sure I'd sign a contract to BE a volunteer though. We left around noon and stopped in a RIP Griffin truck stop in Willcox AZ to dump, take on water, and fill fuel. The dump is free, but fuel was HIGH. They told me they had an 8 cent/gallon RV discount on fuel. I filled based on that, figuring the extra four cents / gallon I'd pay with the discount was fair price for a dump. When I went to pay, they refused the discount saying it was for diesel fuel only...GEEZE! 12 cents more for gas than Flying J is charging west of Tucson...grrrrrr!! I asked if they might have free Internet....they said sure if your computer is equipped for WiFi, it's free. We decided to stay overnight. I tried to connect to the net...I could associate with the truckstop.net wifi access point, but could not connect to the net. I tried reconfiguring the network connections in many ways, no joy. Finally I went inside and asked if they had a brochure indicating how to hook up to the network....no luck. After dinner I lugged the laptop inside and asked for help. The shop manager said he would send a mechanic out to try, after he got finished with a transmission job. Oh my.....???? A clerk pointed out a flyer hidden near the cash register.....it said the net access cost $29.95/month low monthly flat fee. THAT is not free! No wonder I cannot get on. Double grrrrr....... A frustrating afternoon trying to connect, $5.16 extra fuel cost for a dump and water....RIP Griffins sure tries to live up to their name. :-(( We DID need the dump and water, and the extra driving to get to Sam's Club in North Tucson (with no dump) would have cost more. We are heading into remote territory again west of Tucson, planning to revisit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on the Mexican border on the way to Yuma. We will stay near Tucson for cell connections through at least Saturday before moving into the communications black hole at Organ Pipe.
PLANS: We will move to a BLM area west of Tucson Friday (if we can find it from the rather vague description posted on line; otherwise it is an Indian Casino for the night), revisit Saguaro National Park, this time taking in the desert museum there, resupply for the few days we intend to spend in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument next week, then move on to Yuma by midweek to prepare for the flight home November 16th.
The last three weeks of web pages are posted incomplete, as I will have little time to complete the picture editing before we start home. I guess it is good news that I'm sleeping later in the mornings, but that is the time I normally use for the web page, and it is not getting done. I'm still keeping up with the daily log, and that in pretty much unedited form is what you see in the last three weeks posting. Perhaps now that we are at lower elevations I will regain some of my enthusiasm and energy for the page creation process, but there is not time to catch up with the three weeks lag before we depart, so here it is, as it is. :-)
ENJOY if you can...my apologies if you cannot. We're still having loads of fun ourselves! :-)