Synopsis of the Remainder of Our Winter

Forgive me for not keeping up with my blogging.  

When we left Doheny State park we camped on Cachuma Lake near Solvang and did several wine tastings and wine pairings.  Vega, Mirabelle, Sanford, Alma Rose,  Roblar and Rusack Vineyards were just some of the places we visited.  Some good wines, some great foods.  We bought a few bottles to drink later. The weather was cool and rainy most days.

We headed back to the coast in Pismo Beach to do more wine tasting but weather was raining buckets.  It actually flooded out the state park next to our commercial campground.  We sampled at Presqu’ile and Riverbench and drove up to McPrice Meyer’s in Paso Robles for their annual party.  

After that we decided we had had enough rain and headed back to Borrego Springs.  We stayed there 10 days and had to move twice within the park.  If we are going to move sites we might as well head further west so we snagged two weeks at Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande, AZ.

We hiked, played pickleball, and rode our bikes around the resort. At least it was warm and dry! From there we headed towards home and a visit in Norman with our daughter & family. Arrived home on April Fools Day.

This has not been the best winter weather wise which has made us wish for a Florida winter next year!  

Our Last Stay in Quartzite

This may be our last time to stay out in the desert near Quartzite.  We enjoy it less every time.  Especially this year with the weather being so windy and cool. And the RV Show tent has less and less interesting booths and more and more ‘junk’ to sell.  

We rode our bikes into town almost every day.  We went to the tent a couple of times, checked out the junk tents nearby and also out on the highway. We toured the town on our bikes and walked into the desert for exercise. 

Our friends, Dwight and Sharon, are camped about a mile down the road from us for the winter having been there since November. We had a nice lunch with them and had intended to connect up again but we ran out of time.  We did find pickleball courts at a commercial campground and enjoyed playing one day.

Nothing much changes in this desert community and we didn’t take a single picture the entire 7 days.

Pleasant Harbor

We are camping on a site in Pleasant Harbor State Park overlooking Pleasant Lake and next to a commercial campground. Our friends John and Susanna from Missouri are staying for a month in Anthem and two other couples from Sedalia have homes in Cave Creek.

Our first outing was to watch the AFC playoff game at John and Susanna’s for a Chiefs win over the Bengals.  We also went hiking with them a couple of times, ate dinner with them and the folks in Cave Creek and I spent a morning with a former Sedalian, Beth, at a small Farmer’s Market nearby.

It felt like a very busy week.

More to do in Tucson

We connected again with our friends Judy & Tom from Sedalia and went out to dinner a couple of times with them.

Then we had dinner one night at a restaurant called Locale Neighborhood. John made these reservations almost a month ago but it was worth the wait to dine on really good Italian food.

Before we leave Tucson I wanted to go to two highly rated tourist destinations - Mount Lemmon and the Pima Air and Space Museum.

Mount Lemmon towers over the Tucson valley.  It is over 9000 feet high with snow at the top. In fact, it had snowed so much two weeks before that there was still enough to keep the ski resort open.  We enjoyed the magnificent sights along the road and a nice restaurant at the top.

Then we visited the Pima Air and Space Museum, an all afternoon affair but very interesting. We explored several buildings full of planes.  Some were vintage WWI and WWII, some from Vietnam and some from more recent wars.  From small planes to giant commercial planes, from helicopters to fast jets, we saw it all.

How To Enjoy Tucson

This is the way we have explored the city and surrounding areas - by foot, by bike and by car. 

First one needs to keep an eye on the weather forecast.  If it’s going to be rainy, windy or cold you want to get in your car and drive around. One day we drove south to Green Valley and toured the Titan II Missile Silo.These nuclear weapons were put in place more as a deterrent to Russian aggression than as an actual weapon.  The missiles were three stories tall and were watched by four man teams 24 hours a day.  If a threat came from Russia, we were prepared to launch within minutes.  After the silos were closed, the missiles were removed and some were used to launch the Apollo rockets.

Other dreary days were spent looking for a meat market, checking out grocery stores or trying to find wood pellets for our new portable fire pit.  New Year’s Day was spent searching for an open BBQ restaurant or any kind of restaurant since I didn’t want to cook!

The occasional hot days were spent on our bicycles riding some of the numerous bike paths. One took us downtown, another out into the desert and another to a very expansive sports complex.

The cooler but sunny days were spent hiking in Saguaro National Park.  The East Park Tanque Trail was a steep trail that about did us in while the West Park was covered with saguaro cacti and has a more diverse selection of trails.  The Desert Winds trail was a flat desert walk while the Brown Mountain Trail took us up and across the mountain then down onto the desert floor.

And in between all these excursions we played pickle ball with our new friends from around the country - Canada, Iowa, Colorado and other cold states. 

Tucson Before Christmas

We arrived in Tucson on the 17th and fairly quickly made ourselves at home in the KOA Campground.  It’s a large campground with probably 200 sites, two swimming pools and hot tubs, weight room, two pickle ball courts and lots of planned activities for both adults and kids, plus a restaurant.  We explored the area around us while trying to find a nice grocery store and shopping.

Monday morning found us playing pickle ball and making new friends.  We also got together with friends from Sedalia, Tom and Judy, and had dinner together before walking through Christmas lights in the zoo.  It was a nice evening although a bit chilly.

The resort hosted a Christmas Eve pot luck dinner with ham, dessert and wine while everyone else provided some really nice side dishes.  We sat with our new neighbors, Bill and Tracy, and another couple and laughed a lot while sharing RVing stories and blunders.

Christmas Day was cool but sunny.  I enjoyed a church service in the morning and we watch a football game before preparing a nice steak dinner.  Of course we talked with all the family at some point during the day.  Merry Christmas!

Bisbee

Sunday March 15 -

Following the winery tour we drove over to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area which is a winter refuge for many waterfowl but especially Sand Hill Cranes.  These are big beautiful birds which we have seen in Michigan and in Florida.

The next stop is Bisbee, a quaint little town built  around the Queen Copper Mine.  It’s all hills and reminds us somewhat of Eureka Springs, AR.  The RV park overlooks the copper mine and is within walking distance of the town.  As we were window shopping and strolling along the business district we realized the people in town were lining the street as if waiting for a parade.  When we asked a local she said that there would be a short parade to welcome back the Turkey Vultures!  It’s the weirdest parade we have ever watched!  They even had a drum line concert on the corner which reminded us of the drummers in Uruguay.

Hofmann Winery

Friday the 13th

Since we couldn’t find a park with a campsite we found a winery through Harvest Host where we proved that Friday the 13th is a bad luck day.  First I made John go on a hike - he calls them ‘Kill John’ hikes then we headed to the winery.

The Hofmann Winery is a very small operation that bottles only about 500 cases a year.  Charles has only been making wine for about four years, has about 1000 vines and a small fruit orchard.  He had us park in this large empty area near some of his vines.  This is Arizona desert meaning sandy soil and it rained yesterday.  The perfect situation for an RV disaster.  We are towing the Jeep and making a sharp turn in soft sand so that the wheels of the Jeep do not track but turn sideways and pull the RV down, down, down into the soft sand until we are STUCK! John was NOT happy to say the least.  But, once we unhitched the Jeep, pushed some sand back into the tracks and backed up the RV a short distance, John was able to get a roaring start and drove right out of that hole. 

We almost headed home right then but gladly we stayed.  Charles had us tasting every one of his German wines, whites and reds, we bought a case and the next morning he showed us his whole operation.  We turned a possible disaster into a nice evening with some decent wine.

Patagonia State Park

Thursday March 12

When it comes to finding a camp site on the weekends, we usually run out of luck or have to do some special planning.  So for the next few days we will travel no more that 200 miles on any day.  We wanted to stay at Patagonia State Park through the weekend but they were adamant that all sites were taken on Friday and Saturday.  Since the weather was going to be iffy over the weekend we had hoped to be able to snag a cancelled site but that did not happen.

Just adjacent to the park is the Sonoita Natural Area with some nice long trails.  I had hoped to walk an 8 mile trail on Wednesday but it rained!  So we adapted and walked a 3 mile trail on Thursday morning and then headed on down the road.  It was a lovely walk along the river and then up the hill.  The budding trees indicate that spring is coming in AZ.

Rincon Country

Tues March 10

We reluctantly left Joshua Tree on Friday since there was no place to camp in the park and headed to Tucson.  Friends from Sedalia winter there, one couple at Rincon Country Resort and the other couple just a few miles from there.  We were able to snag a spot for five days and enjoyed our stay and our visit with our friends.

We played more pickle ball, caught up on chores like grocery shopping and laundry and enjoyed hanging out with Tom and Judy.  One afternoon was spent watching them play in an exciting (sort of) Bocce Ball tournament.  We also found some nice places for dinners out.

This afternoon was spent cruising through the Saguaro National Park East.  This giant cacti only grow at this longitude and are a protected species.  The park is also populated by Staghorn and Chain-fruit Cholla plus other cacti like barrel and beaver tail as well as varieties of yucca and scrub bushes.  It was a lovely drive.

Desert Life

Jan 26 - Feb 1

Things are starting to quiet down in Quartzsite as the RV show is over so many, many people are moving on to new adventures.  We opted to stay a few extra days to enjoy a slower pace and fewer people.  We rode our bikes into town on Sunday with a short cruise north of town on their nice bike trail. It took us past their park that is made for fun.  There are tennis courts, sand volleyball, R/C airstrip and race course for R/C cars and of course the playground.  We also found this desert garden where folks have planted trees or bushes in memory or in honor of their loved ones.  The Historical Society created a miniature city with homes, businesses, barns, people and privies.

We went wild on Monday and rented a side-by-side Polaris ATV and we went crazy driving down gravel washes and climbing hills to explore the mountains just west of the town.  It was so much fun that it now has John thinking about getting one along with a pickup truck to haul it behind the RV.  Imagine me shaking my head “NO!”

Tuesday evening we had a nice evening visiting with Dwight and Sharon at their campsite and meeting some of their fellow RV friends.  Then on Wednesday we drove down to Yuma and found an Escapees park with boondocking sites for $8 a night.  Janet and Mellow pulled in the next day and we had an enjoyable time with them.  Then we found Cherrill and Jim and had dinner with them.  They were the wagon masters on our Canadian Maritimes Tour in 2018.  Saturday found us searching the city for Kansas City Chiefs t-shirts so we could properly represent our team at the Super Bowl Party on Sunday.  We also strolled around a Renaissance Festival. It was a clear, warm and enjoyable day.

Quartzite

Not much changes out here in the desert nor in town during RV week.  John says this every year but he swears the Big Tent is even bigger.  It does seem like there are more people, RVs and cars this year with traffic jams most of the day.  We are camped about 1.5 miles from the big tent, an easy 5 minute bike ride with no traffic issues or parking problems.

We have walked the big tent almost every day, and perused the junk aisles, biked into town to the east but have not made it to the west side yet.  Friends from the Canada caravan came over for dinner and friends from the Baja caravan met us for lunch and friends we made through earlier travels took us to lunch.  All these visits were 3-4 hours of catching up and reminiscing.

Today has been a hard day for John as the inverter/charger quit working this morning.  As it turns out we overloaded it and it said that was enough.  A short call to Newmar and he was able to reset it and start it up again.  I guess I can’t bake, fry and perk all at the same time!  This afternoon’s bike ride out into the desert was short but difficult. It may look flat but its up hill and rocky which made for a rough ride.  But a campfire and beautiful sunset makes the tough day right again.

More Buckskin

Last Sunday was the first of the NFL playoff games and the KC Chiefs were playing.  We are not huge football fans but since our local team is playing we are trying to keep up with the games.  But first we made a trip out to the Desert Bar only this time we took the gravel road instead of the four-wheel trail through the mountains.  I don’t know if it was the cooler weather, the football game or just no interest but the place was not as crowded as it has been on past visits.  They still have cold beer, hot sandwiches, and a great band.

We got back to the campground in time to catch the last quarter of the game.  Chiefs won!!

Again this week we biked and hiked.  One hike was 5.5 miles!  We also played 9 holes at Emerald Canyon Golf Course.  It’s a bit of a challenge with narrow fairways, elevated tee boxes and sandy roughs but it was still fun. We ate out a couple of times - nothing fancy but it was tasty and I didn’t have to cook.

Today we drove a whopping 58 miles down to Quartzite where we parked in the same area as when we were last here.  John was able to get the Chiefs vs Titans game on TV.  So exciting that we are going to the Super Bowl!!

Buckskin Mountain State Park

It’s not been as warm as I would like but John has insisted on wearing shorts everyday!  Me, I’ve been wearing long pants and long sleeves and a sweater!  Oh well, its still better than the cold back home.

We have taken at least one bike ride this week and several hikes on the trails in the park.  The most exciting thing we’ve done is to drive up to Lake Havasu City to take in their annual Hot Air Balloon Festival.  There are supposed to be over 70 balloons but due to high winds on both Friday and Saturday, we saw zero balloons.  We thought for sure they would fly on Saturday afternoon as there was no wind in Buckskin but there was in Havasu.  

We also drove over the Parker Dam and explored the California side of the Colorado River down to Parker. Lots of RV parks and retirement communities.

Westward Bound

We left Sedalia on January 2 and headed west through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and our final destination of Arizona.

After two full days of driving we stopped early near Winslow AZ and stayed at the Homolovi State Park where the Anastasia had once settled on the Little Colorado River.  We saw some ruins, walked a short trail and enjoyed the clear starry skies.

While singing “Taking it Easy” by the Eagles, we drove into Winslow AZ  and did the typical tourist thing of taking our picture while “Standing on the Corner in Winslow AZ.”

There was lots of  snow covered hills along the interstate so the state has posted signs over the interstate highway asking people to not park on the highway to play in the snow. Unbelievable.

We arrived at the Buckskin Mountain State Park early on Jan 5 and will be here for two weeks.  Sure hope the weather stays sunny and warm for us.

Oxbow Lake

Even though we had to travel through California to get here, Oxbow Lake is still in AZ. It is south of I-10 about 20 miles and north of Yuma about 60 miles in the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge surrounding an ox bow of the Colorado River. This is a place where the river backs up into a lowland area creating a lake of sorts while the main channel continues on. Thousands of birds migrate here for the winter. According to their literature over 288 species of birds have been recorded here along with mule deer, coyote and bobcats and many other animals. Not that we are birds hunters but it was neat seeing all the ducks and geese in one pond as well as sandhill cranes nearby and later we saw white pelicans and wild burros.

We are dry camping on the lake. We took a ride around a protected portion of the refuge where a majority of the birds are located then we followed the river a short distance to the Hart Mine Road and headed into the desert where we had lunch then explored the washes and canyons of the area.

Sauturday we got the kayak out and paddled up the lake for a bit until we felt like we were getting sunburned. Today we got in the kayak with fishing gear. I paddled while John fished. He had no hope of catching any fish as everyone we talked with said they had not had any luck. But it was peaceful and pleasant to be surrounded by grebes chirping and chortling as we paddled past them.

Believe it or not - we can get the big game on our little antenna! Its Super Bowl Time!

Lake Havasu City

John made reservations at the State Park back in July as this park is always full. In fact a lot of RVers were staying in the overflow parking lot which we have done in the past. It is so popular because it is only about a mile from the London Bridge.

We rode our bikes every day we were here. We crossed the bridge to ride on the bike/walking trail on the island several times, we tried riding south but the slog up that long hill had us worn out before reaching the top, and I went shopping on my bike.

We experienced ome of many beautiful sunsets and the rising Supermoon simultaneously!

Tuesday John received a text from our son that he was in town on business and did we want to meet for lunch! What a treat! Most days we watched ultra-light aircraft flying around us and remote control planes flew at the beach parking lot. John even took me out to eat a couple of times.

Life on the Colorado River

Buckskin Mountain State Park is on a point where the CO River flows around a corner. Across the river is CA and another RV park. We are camped up against a mountain which blocks the sun most of the day so it is rather a cool spot. Thursday after we pulled in and got settled, we drove along the river road looking at other RV parks, checked out the Emerald Canyon Golf Course (since it is the only one in the area it is very busy), and drove through the Parker Strip. One the way back we stopped at the Pirates Den Bar where happy hour started at 4 pm and they had Karaoke. It was 4:30 and the retirees had the run of the place, some were 2-fisted drinkers and several thought they could sing. It was FUN!! John figured it would be dead at 7 PM!

Friday we hiked, did laundry and rested so that on Saturday we would be ready to off-road in the Jeep out to the Desert Bar. We’ve been there a couple of other times and enjoy the ride out as much as the beer and food they serve. The bar is situated 5 miles out into the desert on what used to be Willie E Mine. Their only power is from solar, and until recently they hauled the water in. There is live music, fried foods, beer and liquor and lots and lots of people. When we got our food, we found an empty table then one couple joined us then two more couples sat down and it was as if we had been friends for years instead of just a couple of hours. In fact, one lady asked how long we had known each other!

Quartzite Con’t

Sunday, Jan 21 we took the Jeep out for a run. About 10 miles south of town is a National Wildlife Refuge with a Palm Canyon hike. We left the RV unprepared without extra water, extra jackets, no poles and regular tennis shoes. The hike to the palm trees was longer than we expected, on rougher terrain and the wind was bitingly cold. We turned around and went back home.

Monday and Tuesday found us in the big tent looking at stuff for RVers like food, dresses, hand lotion, specialized cookware, bedspreads & pillows - you know - stuff! Actually we did talk to industry people about braking for tow cars, air pressure monitors, water pumps, solar panels, tow bars and caravan tours. We signed up for a caravan tour to the Canadian Maritimes Provences, got a new water pump, learned something about our new tire pressure monitor, and teased the Blue Ox folks about the stickers on their new tow bar.

Wednesday we did the Palm Canyon hike only this time it was warmer and we were prepared. Nature is amazing. These 40 some palm trees were surviving in the crevasses of rock walls at the back of the canyon where there must have been some water but we can’t imagine there was any dirt in that rock slit. While on the hike we got a call from friends from home who were in Quartzite and wanted to meet. We had a lovely afternoon with them at the Yacht Club.

One week in the desert it enough for me, so on Thursday we headed north a whopping 32 miles to Buckskin Mountain State Park on the Colorado River.

Desert Living

I havent posted in awhile because we haven’t done anything really exciting. When we left White Tanks we spent a night in Buckeye so we could prepare for our stay in Quartzite.

We arrived in Quartzite early on Thursday so we missed a lot of the traffic that is expected for the RV Show and Gem and Mineral Show which start on Saturday. Our spot in the desert is near where we stayed three years ago so basicly 1-1/2 miles from town on the side of a large wash, with few neighbors, in the desert.

Our daily routine is to sleep until 7, breakfast at 8, bike into town around 9 or so, back at the RV mid-afternoon for naps, walk or go back to town, then supper and a quiet evening until bedtime. There are several miles of vendors selling anything you might need like tools, kitchen supplies, RV supplies, outdated food and drugs, not to mention tons and tons of gems, beads and rocks! Then there are the junk/collectables vendors; fair clothes, hats, belts, & scarves sellers; honey, oil, soap, etc; and food, of course, like corn dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, cinnamon rolls, tacos, gyros and the list goes on. And did i say junk?!

We met friends Sharon and Dwight for lunch on Saturday. Haven’t heard of any other acquaintences in the area.