Camping among the Saguaros

Noisy night at the rest stop.  Sounds like a good book title. :)  We slept pretty well in spite of the really noisy big rigs that woke us up during the night.  I think the one next to me must have left early, because I slept like a log between 4:30 and 8:30.

As we were driving along Highway 17 toward Phoenix, I saw a brown State "Camping" sign and turned off toward Lake Pleasant Regional Park in Maricopa County to see what they offered RVers.  We checked in for one night at the park entrance and ended up here in the Desert Tortoise Campground.  After we got set up in our site, I called and extended our stay for a few more days.  There are water and electric hookups, but if I reach the electric plug, I can't reach the water hookup, it's weird, one is at one end of the site, the other at the opposite end.  I'm full-up with water in my tanks, though, so it doesn't matter.  I could also connect my electric extension cord that I have for this kind of site, but it's not worth the trouble.

There are tons of TV channels available with my antenna and Verizon works perfectly here.  The weather is warm and calm, a beautiful day.  This afternoon at 5:00 it was 72 degrees.  I'm loving it!

The landscape here is different than other areas I've camped in. This area has a cactus called Saguaro which is only found in this part of the world.  Some of the Saguaros here are from 150 to 250 years old, per the Ranger.  I've seen photos of them, and now, here they are!

There are also Wild Burros here - when we first drove into our campsite I heard a strange noise and thought it was a cow.  Turns out it was a Burro. I tried to find it with no luck, but later got some photos of burros drinking from the lake below us, and walking around that area.  I'm hoping to see some up close while we're here.

Some photos from the day:

 Our site, nice... lots of privacy, the park is almost empty.

 Barrel Cactus

 Bird on Saguaro Cactus

Lake Pleasant looks pretty low.

The sun is going down

Here are some photos of the burros I saw this afternoon, don't you just love them? 

And the last photos of the day:

I'm glad we took the off-ramp and ended up here - this is a really nice, quiet park and I think we'll like it here.  We've signed on for four days, but might stay longer.

BTW, a reader asked what kind of cold weather setup The Palms has.  This rig is actually prepared for freezing temperatures with an "Arctic Package" (cold weather package) that I turn on with a switch.  It ensures that The Palms won't have any frozen pipes or tanks.  I've used it twice, the last time at Zion where it got down into the 20s while I was there.  If I'm afraid it's going to freeze during the night, I just flip the switch.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Monday night, everyone!  :)

Snowy in Arizona, visited Sedona

Friday I met up with my cousin, Grant, at Sam's Town buffet for lunch and we had a great visit.  Then I invited him back to The Palms and we continued talking for a few more hours.  He had been up since 4 am and was stifling yawns and I was pretty tired, too, so we called it a day.  It was really nice seeing him again after so long and catching up on each other's lives.

We left Sam's Town RV Park Saturday morning and visited Walmart to do some shopping and headed southeast.  Before I knew it we were in Arizona.  I didn't have a specific destination in mind, but we headed toward Sedona.  

We drove a while, checked out a couple of places to camp but they didn't work for us, and we ended up parking in a level dirt area next to a gas station in Ash Fork, AZ around 6:00.  The employees in the store at the gas station were really nice and told us exactly where to park so we wouldn't be in the midst of the big rigs who would probably be coming and going all night.

There was a huge puddle in the dirt next to us, and when I was putting up our privacy curtain blocking off the truck windshield last night I looked out the front window and there were some cattle right in front of us.  It was so cool, one was drinking out of the puddle; I love it when things like that happen.  I think they had come in from the field adjacent to the gas station property.  I tried to get a photo, but I think it was too dark.

When we woke up this morning we were the only RV parked in that area, but right next to us at the edge of their parking lot were about a dozen big rigs all lined up. Seems they have to stay from 8 to 10 hours, depending on how long they've driven that day according to the woman at the gas station store.  We had a nice conversation, and she suggested a couple of places to go down the road, Indian Casinos, where I can stay three nights at each casino for free.  If I'm in that area, I will definitely check them out.  I'm spending a fortune in gas and I'll take all the free nights I can get!

I got some coffee-to-go at the store and got on the freeway and almost immediately had snow on each side of the road.  There was dense fog, sprinkles and then heavy rain.  Along the side of the freeway were signs warning of icy roads, so I was super careful and drove slower than usual.  Wow.  This is NOT the Arizona I thought we'd be seeing!

I always get pretty excited about snow, but...  I wasn't too happy about driving in those conditions.  The snow had stopped and I didn't see any except on the side of the road and in the forests along the way.

We drove to Sedona and stopped at the Red Rock Ranger Station and got brochures and maps and suggestions from one of the Rangers.  I wanted to be in one of the Vortex's, but it was chilly and damp and foggy and it's quite a hike to get to them, so we stopped in the parking lot of the first one and willed the harmony to come lower and find us.

I drove around a little and took a lot of pictures and then turned back and got onto the highway again.  I had hoped to find somewhere to do some dispersed camping, but felt it was too dreary for boondocking and the Ranger agreed with me. He said the roads and trails would be pretty muddy and even warned me which areas on the map I shouldn't try to drive.

Sedona sure is a pretty area. I'd like to come back this way when the weather is warm and dry, do some boondocking in the forest and a little hiking in the Vortex areas. It would be a great romantic getaway if any of you couples are ever in the area and haven't been here yet.  It's not far off the beaten track.

I pulled off the freeway a couple of times following signs for RV Parks, but they weren't worth a stop, so we kept going.

 Black Canyon - Lake Mead National Recreation Area - taken at aScenic Rest Area

This looks like a photo from a book, doesn't it?

It's 6:00 now, and we are in a rest area. Arizona rest areas allow overnight parking, no camping, but overnights are okay.  It's actually on the sign here.  I made myself a great lunch when we stopped around 2:00, and now I'm having cereal and raspberries for dinner.  As soon as I post this I'm settling in to catch up on your blogs.  :)  We've been on the road a lot the last two days and I wanted to stop early today to give Katie a break so she wouldn't get carsick again.

The sun was out here at the rest area, blue skies overhead, with distant clouds in all directions over the mountains; it was beautiful.  Nothing else to report - we'll be back on the road again in the morning.

A final shot - the sunset reflecting on the clouds across the freeway:

From Me and My Dog, have a great Sunday evening, everyone!  :)

We're in Las Vegas, NV

 

As we left Costco's parking lot yesterday it started feeling late to me, so I decided to stay in Las Vegas for the night.  We came out of Mountain Time, which just changed back an hour to Standard Time from Daylight Savings, into Pacific time which is even an hour earlier and my body clock is confused.  That's a three hour difference, right?  Or maybe two.  I'm hungry at 4:00, tired at 8:00, and it's getting darker earlier.  I checked with another Walmart about overnighting, and it's not allowed in Las Vegas, but she recommended Sam's Club RV Park, which was close by, so we drove here and stayed for the night.

After I got us settled in and got Katie comfortable, I walked over to Sam's Club Casino and tried out their dinner buffet.  It was pretty good, not great, but good.  The steak and fish were overcooked, but the salad, potato and desserts were good.  I was really hungry and ate fast and walked back to The Palms where I flaked out in front of the TV.

I have a cousin, Grant, who lives in Las Vegas and I sent him an e-mail to see if he was around and able to meet me for lunch today.  I haven't seen him in years but we talk on the phone from time to time.  He is a Veteran of the Vietnam War - a helicopter pilot - and he's meeting me for lunch at Sam's Town.  Vets get a free lunch there today; that was good timing!   He's playing golf this morning, so we're meeting mid-afternoon.

A few more photos from my trip here from Valley of Fire:

 Cattle were along the side of the road, no fences. 

There were lots of "washes" like the photo above.  It was wide and deep, and the result of running water.  All the washes were dry, but I'm sure there are times they are all full of water running like rivers.

I extended our site here for another night.  It's pretty nice having good Verizon signals and lots of TV channels.  This RV park is right next to Sam's Town Hotel and Casino and a large movie theater complex, right on a main road, but it was quiet last night.

I hate to say this and jink myself, but I didn't hear the mouse last night.  I took the trap and put it away, if I see or hear any signs that it's still here, I'll take it out and put it in front of the couch overnight while Katie is up in bed with me.

From Me and My Dog, have a nice Veterans Day.  Thank you to all the men and women who are currently serving in the military and all the veterans who have served in the past.  Because of you, we are free.  : )

Goodby Zion... Hello mouse

TUESDAY,  11/8/11

We left beautiful Zion National Park in Utah this morning.  It was a stop I'm glad I didn't miss.  The campsites are clean and well taken care of.  The Rangers and Volunteers are friendly and helpful.  I'll definitely visit Zion again if I'm in the area.

I am writing this from a truck stop along highway 15 in Nevada on the way to Las Vegas.

When I dumped my grey water and added clean water yesterday afternoon, I met our Camp Host for the first time.  I've seen Mike driving by my campsite in his camp host vehicle, but we had never talked.  I asked him which mountain in front of us was "Watchman."  I had read conflicting information on line and wanted to make sure.  Turns out he has been doing a lot of volunteering, especially at Zion, for the last eight years.  He said he's volunteering at Zion until June this year, all through the snow and floods, and whatever else comes along.  Very interesting man - check out his blog, Light Curve on the Road, for some beautiful photos and clips of Zion.  He has a lot of other interesting posts, too, but last night I mostly read the Zion posts. Last winter they evacuated the park due to flooding, and Mike has a short video of the Virgin River taken from the bridge next to the pedestrian admission area, and it's high and roaring.  When Katie and I crossed it, many times during our stay, it looked like a wimpy little river, and although I heard on my tram tour about how the river carved out the canyons, it didn't seem possible.  After seeing Mike's video, I'm a believer.

One of the posts I read was about some mice getting into his rig and what he did about it.  So, a while later I hear a rustling noise by the couch, and Katie was sitting with me on the dinette.  Hummm.  I hear another sound, look up - and see a small furry head going under the driver's seat.  :(   I blame Mike.  You know how if you don't think about something, it won't happen.  Well, when I read about the mice, I think I made it happen.

Mike had given me his card and I e-mailed him about my critter and asked him what he put in his traps, because I was going to buy some on my way out of the park today.   This morning, there was a knock on my door, and there was Mike with a mouse trap for me.  He helped me load and lock it, and now it's sitting under my couch ready to take the little critter into mouse heaven.  I hope.

Thanks, Mike.  (He also lit my oven for me, which hasn't been working for me for a while.  Thanks again.)

And so we left Zion.  We drove to Saint George and stopped at the BLM office to get info, and then headed over to Snow Canyon.  As we were driving to it with all the gorgeous red mountains surrounding us again, I thought, "A week, or two?"  We got into the park, and headed to the campground with electricity and water hookups.  I had called from town, and was told only site 2 was available for the next 7 to 14 days.

When I saw the site, I was so disappointed.  It's in the most beautiful area, and from what I've heard about Snow Canyon, it has great hiking trails.  But this campsite couldn't have been wider than most parking spots in Walmart.  I got into the site, lined up the hookups and got out to see what we had.  Immediately next to me was a bigger Class A completely blocking any view, sun or privacy.  The windows of that rig were within two or three feet from my window.

I could almost reach out my window and touch the side of their rig.  Their shades were closed, and I can assure you, mine would have been, too.  I sat at my dinette and looked around - Nope - this wasn't going to work for me.  It was $20/night, and honestly I would rather be in a parking lot where I have something of a view and a little privacy.  I pulled out, and down the road to the ranger station and as I went out, I asked the ranger about the sites.  She said there was another campsite with no hookups and there was more privacy in that one - for $18/night.  I wanted electricity because of the cold nights, and since I was already on my way out of the park, I just kept going.

Along the road - there were some fantastic views and interesting roadways:

We'll find something.

THURSDAY, 11/10/11

I'm writing this two days later - I'm parked in a Costco parking lot in Henderson, NV.  Had to get my Almond Ice Cream Bars!

We ended up at the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

We drove along the road to Valley of Fire just as the sun was going down on our right and the moon was coming up on our left.  When we got here, we checked out both campgrounds.   This Arch is between the two, and the moon was coming up as we drove by, so I stopped and got a lot of views of the Arch.  It was amazing.  I’m so happy I stopped here.  It’s worth a day trip even if you don’t camp.  I’m glad I didn’t miss it.

 Moon rising in the East

Different angle, from farther away.  The arch looks smaller here.

 Close-up of the Arch

Sun setting in the West

A few more photos from Tuesday evening:

The site fee is $20/night or $30 for electricity and water.  Since I was afraid it would be cold down here in this valley, I opted for two nights with hook-ups.   The Arch campground was more enclosed, and only one site was taken in the entire loop.  I decided to go back to the first campground where it was more open and there were more RVs.  There were a lot of open sites, so as the dusk turned to darkness, I tried a few different sites to see which one was best and most level and we chose one.  It's a drive through site and pretty level. 

On Wednesday morning, Katie and I got up early (the time change has us waking up an hour earlier, which is fine with me.  The whole world looks different at 7:30 as opposed to 8:30, our previous wake-up time.  At least mine – Katie is a lazybones.  We walked around the campground – there are 44 sites – and into the walk-in tent camping area where there are three sites.  Along the way we saw birds, a squirrel, and a rabbit.  (Anything resembling a squirrel, chipmunk or prairie dog I call a squirrel because I can’t tell the difference.)  It was a beautiful, cool morning, not a cloud in the sky.  Here are some photos I took on Wednesday as we were walking around:

Sunrise on Wednesday

 Can you see the bird?

 Here's another little critter

 I took this photo out the window - he was on the side of The Palms.  Isn't he beautiful?

 Moon rising last night (Wednesday)

Amazing rock formations.  The only drawback to this gorgeous area is there is no Verizon signal.  I’m fine with not receiving signals for TV, but I want to be able to use my phone and the Internet.  A day or two without them is fine, but today is my Dad’s birthday and I wanted to call him, and I've got an offer on my condo and I want to be available for any updates.   So two days it was and now we're on our way again.  

On the way out of the park I stopped to read this sign and snap a photo of Seven Sisters.  

 I'm not sure if the above is the Seven Sisters, or if the two below are included.

On the road again...

We drove through the Lake Mead National Recreation area into North Las Vegas.  I stopped at a Walmart in one of the cities.  I was thinking I might stay there until tomorrow, but it was a marginal area.  I drove by gang type people and homeless people sitting with shopping carts full of their belongings, a few of strange acting men, etc.  I parked in the lot looking around and didn't even want to leave The Palms to go inside to shop. So we moved along again, driving south toward Arizona when I saw this Costco and took the off-ramp.  One hot dog (eaten) and four ice cream bars (in the freezer) later, here we are.  Soon we'll be driving down the road again looking for a good place to stop.

BYW, this morning I found some mouse droppings on the carpet.  I'm checking every evening and morning, and the peanut butter is still in the trap.  When I get settled again, I'm going to take the trap out, put in fresh peanut butter and leave it on the carpet in front of the couch overnight and see what happens.  

From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday, everyone!  : )