Monday, March 28
Last night we
did laundry after we got back from Sedona, then decided to just have chips and
salsa for supper. The cooking equipment
was already packed away and by the time we got done with the laundry, it was
easy to say ‘go for the junk’. Then we
hunkered down in the trailer…Kim was playing with a photo program and I caught
up on writing postcards. Noticed that
the night air wasn’t quite as crisp as it had been, which was encouraging. The last two nights we brought the electric
heater into the tent…put it on low. It
made a nice barrier against the cold outside the tent, so it was a bit easier
to get up in the morning. Didn’t really
need an alarm clock in the Flagstaff campground…crows did a fine job of waking
me up each morning as they’re up talking early.
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Moving day! Broke camp at Flagstaff and headed to the
Picacho KOA, which is between Phoenix and Tucson. Hoping to put away the heater and bring out
the fan! Or at least be able to be
outside without shivering. I was wearing
shorts today in anticipation of the truck cab being a bit warm with the sun
coming in…and it was. But because of a wind, it really didn’t feel warm to me
outside of the truck until we reached the KOA.
Didn’t do a lot of lingering at the rest area stops.
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The Picacho KOA
is, more or less, snuggled in along the highway. There isn’t a direct exit to it, so we had to
travel a couple miles down a frontage road. The location looks to be good for stargazing,
but not so good for gas or groceries.
Eloy, AZ, is about 4 miles back west and it has a grocery store and gas
station…and other stores necessary for small town living. If we need a bigger store, we have to drive
about 13 miles. We are, however, within
sight of Picacho Peak, the namesake of Picacho Peak State Park which is about
10 miles east. Wikipedia describes it like this: “….centerpiece spire is visible from downtown Tucson, a
distance of 45 miles. The summit rises
to 3,374 feet above sea level. Though
appearing to be the remnant of a volcanic neck, it is now believed to be a
tilted and eroded piece of rock overlain by a lava flow. The place name (Picacho Peak) is redundant:
“picacho” means “big peak” in Spanish.”
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Saw a roadrunner
on our way down the frontage road. It
ran across the road in front of us and there was no coyote in pursuit. J
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We knew we were
heading south, to the Tucson area. It’s
a good starting spot for riding in all directions and it has an observatory
that Kim would like to visit. So looking
ahead to that area, I found that the KOA options weren’t real plentiful…only
3. Started looking for availability and,
well, the Tucson KOA doesn’t allow
tents and if you want to stay in your trailer, rules state there must be a self-contained
bathroom onboard. Not that you have to
use it, it just has to have one. Wonder
if we could put a can in the corner and call it good? Benson
KOA had no availability for a tent site or a cabin for the dates I provided.
Picacho
KOA had plenty of availability so we went with it. It’s a bit farther from
Tucson than Kim wanted to be (60 miles) but it works. Plus we were hoping there would be a site big
enough to accommodate truck, trailer and bikes.
No problem on that front, so this is our home away from home for the
next 4 nights.
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When checking in
today, the woman told us to be careful when we come in because the campground
has some feral cats and please, don’t feed them because they catch and eat the
snakes. She claims there are no snakes
in this campground. And that’s just what
Kim has been hoping to see…snakes. No,
seriously, he wants to get pictures of a snake in the wild. While in theory it sounds all National
Geographic and such, the reality of it would be totally different for me. J
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Got to Picacho
late afternoon….it was windy, but the staff at the park told us this wind isn’t
typical…that there’s a front moving through and the wind should die down soon. As we saw it, there were three options: 1. Set the tent up in the wind…2. Wait for the wind to possibly die
down and set the tent up then…or 3. Sleep in the trailer. After some discussion and figuring out the
logistics, we choose Door #3, Sleeping in the Trailer. J And after getting it set up, I think we’re
going to be downright cozy in here. We
can even stand the mattress on end to give us enough space to set up the table
and play cribbage after dark. We’ll have
the fan going and there’s a roof vent so it shouldn’t get too stuffy overnight.
Said something similar before: what a
difference a day and being a couple thousand feet lower in elevation makes! Oh, and the staff here at Picacho has no issue
with us staying in the trailer. No onboard bathroom necessary. J As we see it, it’s just part of the
adventure!!
SMILE !!
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