11/29 - 12/15/05 Back to Arizona - Respite in the Desert

Cute Desert Critters Photo Gallery Superstition Mountains Photo Gallery

11/29 - It was nice to get off the interstate again. For about 150 miles from Las Cruces to Lordsburg, to stay with US70 you have to take I10. We're killing 2 birds here, getting to where it's warmer & finishing off US70 which ends at Globe, AZ. We'll take a break in the Phoenix area for a bit before heading down our next historical highway. Timmy needs a trim badly, I need to catch up with a mail packet & get a little service on Gypsy.

After crossing into Arizona, US70 soon drops down into the Gila Valley. I had planned to boondock near Safford there, but after following some very poor directions, I finally got to the area we were looking for only to find that A) it was not a good place to tow a modestly large 5th wheel into & B) the camping information was just wrong. I've enjoyed a lot of Don Wright's suggestions for free & cheap camping, but every so often you come a cropper. Not seeing anything else in the vicinity that I found attractive, I decided to get back on the road. We soon crossed into the San Carlos Apache reservation in the rugged Gila Mountains. It was getting a little late in the day, so when we got to the Apache Gold Casino at the far end of the reservation I pulled off. We're dry camping in Geronimo's old stomping grounds for $5.

12/2 - We've been at Lost Dutchman State Park near Apache Junction (east of Phoenix for those who may not know) for a couple of days now. I like this park a lot. It's right at the base of Superstition Mountain, has lots of hiking trails, cute critters & it's very convenient to greater Phoenix. The Superstitions are very rugged mountains that stretch out east of here, but none are as dramatic as the mountain just above us. We're in gold country too. The park is named after a mine that is quite famous, but has never been found. The Dutchman took the secret to his grave.

There must be a lot of rabbits around, because we've seen several cottontails. We also have some very cute antelope squirrels here & tonight a coyote trotted right by the trailer. Timmy was already inside. I wonder how he would have reacted to a face to face.

12/5 - The days are sure getting short. Looking at a work week ahead, I decided yesterday to go for the grid for the next few days rather than stress out over having enough power. We moved on to Usery Mountain Recreation area, only about 10 miles or so from Lost Dutchman. I can still see the Superstitions out my picture window & we still see lots of wildlife here. I've gotten enough pictures of cute critters to devote a photo gallery to them. We're also high enough now that we can see the lights of Phoenix glittering on the horizon at night.

12/11 - It was a quiet work week, during the day at least. Most evenings we had a chorus of coyotes in the early evening. Timmy joined in briefly at first, but got used to the idea & just listened. We had one large fellow walk across the road in front of us in broad daylight. Friday afternoon we moved on to the Goldfield Recreation area in the Tonto National Forest, a few miles to the north and along the banks of the Salt River. The only trees anywhere in sight are of the scrub variety, but it's a nice quiet area to spend a few days.

This area has a few bands of wild horses, their presence is quite evident as you walk the trails. Last night about 2 AM Timmy went into a frenzy. I wasn't surprised to see the dark shapes of horses ambling by in the gray moonlight. Today we took a drive & I saw another band a few miles away galloping beside the highway. We were trying to get closer to Arizona's signature mountain, Four Peaks, for some pictures. That's the same mountain beneath the rising moon on our masthead at the top of this page.

12/14 - After a few pleasant days at Goldfield, we spent a night in the Camping World parking lot in downtown Mesa so we'd be there early today for some trailer service. With no sun today (Gypsy spent the entire day indoors), partial yesterday & overcast the 2 days before that, I had no choice but to get a hookup tonight. So we're back at Usery Mountain. The plan was to drive on west tomorrow, tracking old US80 down to Yuma and on into southern Cal, near El Centro. But I discovered this evening that we have to go back to the shop tomorrow because the fresh water pump still isn't working right. We'll have to wing the travel after that.

I took advantage of the city time today to shop for parts for a solar panel swivel mount that I want to build for one of my roof panels. The idea is to be able to aim it at the morning and evening sun on these short winter days to soak up more photons. I'll post my progress in future adventures.

 

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