We left for Quartzsite, Arizona on Jan 15th with a stop at
the Needles Elks Club overnight. There we met our friend Jeff and
traveled to our Plamosa Road campsite the next day. Joining us were
Larry and Molly and Nobby and Deanna. This year saw many more winter
visitors than we can recall seeing for some time. Camping was at a
premium on Plamosa Road.
Sunset at Plamosa Road
After ten days at Plamosa Road, we moved to Bouse and John and
Connie’s home site for 2 days where Connie made homemade cinnamon
rolls for all the neighbors. You haven’t lived until you had
Connie’s rolls.
Parked at John and Connie's (our rv in the middle)
We then move on to Picacho Peak State Park South of Casa Grande for 4
days where we camped with friends who had spent a week in Yuma after
camping on Plamosa Road. While there we visited Biosphere 2 near
Oracle, AZ. Quit an experience. Biosphere 2 is funded by the Bass
Family from Texas and has been there for some years. After the tour
we had a very nice lunch at the Ore House in Oracle.
Biosphere 2
Jim at the Ore House
From
Picacho Peak we traveled to Usery Mountain Park Northeast of Mesa,
Arizona. We had camped here last year and once again enjoyed our time
here with Jim and Michelle. One night we had pizza at Organ
Stop Pizza, Home of the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ.
What a hoot! Pizza and organ music!
Organ at Organ Stop Pizza
We
also did a day trip to Tortilla Flats Northeast of Mesa where we had
lunch at Superstition
Saloon.
Next
up was the Running of the Gourds at Pinal County Fairgrounds at
Eleven Mile Corner East of Casa Grande. This is a 4 day Gourd
Festival which I think we have attended the last three years.
Michelle is the gourder while Jim, Clyda and I just camp and enjoy
the surroundings.
Michelle and the gourd she is working on
Jim
and Michelle headed for home while Clyda and I moved to the Casa
Grande Elks club where we visited Clyda’s cousin.
I
made reservations at Green Valley Resort South of Tucson for 5 days.
We haven’t spent time at a winter resort in some time so this was a
treat. While here we visited with old friends who moved from
Washington to Quail Creek, a retirement community. They love it
there. While Carol and Clyda toured the new models, Tom and I toured
the nearby Asarco Copper Mine. What a huge operation. The very large
and deep (1400 feet) pit, the computer controlled processing plant
and the
large tailing piles were very impressive. We
also visited Madera Canyon which is a popular trail head and bird
watching area. The day we visited there was still snow on the ground
in places at the 4900 foot elevation.
From
Madera Canyon we drove down Highway 19 to Tubac which is an artists
community. We have been here before for the art festival. We just
missed it this year. After a lunch of tacos we strolled around town
stopping in the small shops. It is a nice place to poke into all the
small shops.
Clyda checking out the pottery
We
moved on to Sierra Vista to visit our niece Dawn, her husband Mat and
daughters Samantha and Abrigail for the next week. We stayed at Quail
Ridge RV Park North of Sierra Vista which was about 15 miles away but
perfect for our needs. Each day we traveled to Dawn’s house for the
day, where
we
entertained
the girls, and occasionally cooking dinner for all of us.
Sunset at Sierra Vista
We
also drove to Bisbee, AZ one day as we had not been there in several
years. Overall, we were impressed with the area and surprised at how
large the population of
Sierra Vista is.
We
drove back to Bouse and again stayed at John and Connie’s for 4
days. Connie made Indian tacos for lunch for the whole gang with
plenty of extras for everyone to take home.
We
had planned to leave for home on Sunday with a stop in Parker at the
Blue Water Casino for their Sunday Brunch with several friends. There
was a 45 minute wait for seating so Clyda
and I
decided to leave as we had a long way to travel. However, the truck
had other ideas. The brake controller was showing a small voltage
which wasn’t good. After crossing the river, I stopped to check
things out and found that the trailer brakes were on so disconnected
the trailer so the
brakes weren’t dragging.
The truck brake lights were on and not going off no matter what I did
so we turned around and went back to the Blue Water Casino and parked
in a dirt lot. I finally disconnected
the truck batteries to keep the brake lights from draining the
batteries.
Because
it was Sunday, I waited until Monday to take the truck to Parker
Ford. They did not have a service opening until Wednesday so I rented
a car. Our friends from Oregon, Dick and Barbara were camping up the
river from Parker so they picked us up and we toured all the RV parks
on the California side of the Colorado River, the Parker Dam, and
then went to their RV for snacks and dinner. A great day!
Clyda and Barbara at Parker Dam
Later
that evening I got an email from Parker Ford saying they had
diagnosed the problem as a bad brake switch. By Tuesday noon the
truck was repaired so we turned in the rental car, picked up the
truck, hooked up the trailer and headed West. Well we tried to head
West but the wind was blowing so we only made it to the Needles Elks
Club. No use fighting a 35 MPH headwind. The next morning the wind
had died so we drove all the way to Bakersfield for an extended stay
with Budd and Brenda.
We
had a great time, setting puzzles, playing a variety of board games,
and traveling to Tehachipi to visit Don and Tori
and seeing
their new house and large RV garage.
Eventually
we came home on Monday March 9th.
We
traveled 2864
miles and were gone 55 days. We had a really good time and saw lots
of our friends who we only see in the winter in Arizona.
