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Full-time RV travels in the United States and Canada
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November 16-30, 2005 Nov. 16th:- Don't have any real plans for today. We will just go for a drive and see what we find. Lots of times we find some of our best adventures this way. We plan and reserve our places to stay well in advance, up to 90 days, but what we will actually do, while we are there is very flexible. This way we do not become disappointed if we are not able to see everything, because we do not have a list of what has to be seen made We have lots of time and nothing in particular to see, which translates into no stress, because we have seen what we want to, when we feel like it. Works for us. We are also adjusting to the change in climate. We live in a very high humidity area all summer and we are noticing the difference already. The air is much drier here, in the high desert. The nights cool very quickly and it takes a long time in the morning to warm up. Once the sun is fully up, the air warms quickly. It is a large temperature variance. I am sure that we will make the adjustment before we start back east. Doug found a few things to look at and you can see them at What is Doug Doing? I enjoyed the scenery and the ever changing colors as night turns into day and back to night again. You can see the darkness of the night moving toward you. It begins with the look of a distant dust storm, then slowly steals toward you, then over you, turning daylight to darkness. I will never get tired of watching this happen. It is probably the vastness of the sky, not blocked with tall trees and buildings, which allows one to view this night ritual. At the same time this is happening, the sun is giving its final rosy rays of light to the distant hillside.
It is very clear in the right part of this photo. The hills are also showing the last rosy glow and the moon is rising. It is big sky country. The stars are very clear, with very little light pollution. Just another perk of being a fulltime RVer. There has been some many things we have experienced, which I am sure we would never have experienced, if we were not fulltime RVers. We would not have experienced night chasing day over the mountains and into the ocean, and numerous other experiences. We look forward to experiencing the next awakening. The days and nights have come and gone. We will be on the move tomorrow Nov. 21st to Apache Well RV park in Phoenix. We will be there a week and then on to Desert Vista, Salome, Arizona.
We arrived early in the afternoon. It is a medium sized park, in a residential area. Everyone is very friendly and we were signed in, assigned and escorted to our site. The streets in the park are paved. There are many park models here. Looks like one section is kept for transients like ourselves. We were backed in, satellite dish up, and lawn chairs out in minutes.
Tomorrow will be soon enough to start exploring the area. We took a drive around our part of Phoenix. We checked out where the grocery store, gas station, malls and other stores were. We also had a look around for tourist things to do. We will be taking a few drives up into the hills to check out areas that have fewer people, and more nature. We are thinking that we will make a day trip up into the hills on the old historical highway of SR-87. We returned to Apache Wells RV Park (a Good Neighbor Park) and took it easy the rest of the day. There are lots of orange and grapefruit trees loaded with fruit, here in the park. I had never thought of Arizona having citrus fruit trees. For some reason I thought it would be to dry for them. There goes another wrong impression I had. This is a beautiful park if you like urban settings. It will be nice for the week. Two nights gone already. The days are nice and warm. We have decided to follow SR-87 today. Our first stop is at Goldrush Ghost town. It was an interesting tourist trap, with some original buildings and lots of character. We drove in under a large derrick and across a small railway track. There was also a sign for Horse Crossing.
Entrance to Ghost town
Horse crossing sign
Saloon where we ate lunch, lots of neat stuff to look at inside.
There really are white buffalo, I would have preferred to see a living breathing one, with his head still in-tack, maybe we will get to see one.
Lots of worn out cowboy boots made for an interesting ceiling cover.
There were other buildings and things to look at, but we thought if we wanted to see what was on up the road, we had better get cruising on.
Our next stop was in Tonto National Forest. I always thought that a Forest had to have trees, but I guess in Arizona that it is not necessary. Bushes will do. This is a beautiful area with deep canyons and lots of twist and turns, ups and downs and arounds when driving this narrow road.
Another great view in the Tonto National Forest
We traveled on to Tortilla Flats where we had a look around and then turned around. We crossed a single lane iron bridge over a very narrow gully. We were very happy no one was coming the other way. There was very little extra room for a pull out.
Tortilla Flats was an interesting stop with a story to tell
Here is the rest of it
Two final pictures of our drive today
We have run out of pavement and we don't want to take our new car over dirt roads, so I guess we will miss seeing Roosevelt Damn. I was looking forward to seeing it. We will have to put it on our list for next time. We returned the way we came over, around, down and up. At times I thought the front of the car was kissing the back, the corners were very tight. It would be great fun on a motorcycle. We saw several testing their riding abilities. They all had big smiles. The rest of our stay at Apache Wells was uneventful. We found a very Flea Market and Doug bought a couple of items he couldn't live without. I think he is right on the one. It was a belt and he does need it to hold up his pants. I found two purses. One was a tapestry of wild horses and the other was Route 66 landmarks. We were both happy and still had room in the coach. I took a few walks around the park. It is a very large park, but easy walking because of the pavement. I broke my ankle a few years ago, which makes walking on uneven ground quite painful. I used to love getting off of the beaten track and looking at nature in her element. Now to do that I must wear a splint. I try to avoid wearing the splint I don't want to become dependant on it. We move on soon to Desert Vista just west of Salome, AZ. I stocked up on a few groceries. I am learning to take advantage of grocery stores here in Arizona, when I find them. Who knows if Salome will have one or not. It is a very small place.
Finally, we reached our destination for the next two weeks. It is Nov.
29th. Not many days left in 2005 now. I haven't started my Christmas shopping, so that is one thing we are going to have to get started on, at some point soon. We will check out Wickenburg and also see if there is some place to get the oil changed in the car, while we are there, if we can. We drove into Wickenburg and didn't find any place to get our oil changed. There was a grocery store and a few interesting things to look at. We stopped here on the way back and the plaque tells the story.
Here is a closer look at what it says.
This area would be a painters dream or nightmare, with all the different lights and shadows
Today is a day I have been waiting for, for several years now. Today we are going to Quartzsite. I have read about Quartzsite and looked at numerous photos, I found on the web, today I see for myself. We drove west on 60 until it connected with I-10. Drove a bit further, dropped down over the hill and there before us, in the distance is Quartzsite. Didn't take any photos as I was driving. We looked around and booked a week at Kofa Mountain RV which is just north of the 4 corners. We are within walking distance of the 4 corners and several other areas of Quartzsite. I will be able to take my morning walks and explore. We will be here from Dec. 12th and leave on Dec. 18th. for Colorado River Oasis in Ehrenburg, AZ where we will be for Christmas with Jody and Rachael.
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