Walked around the camp before we headed out
down the road...a little pre-walk warmup but mostly to give myself an edge in
getting my 10,000 steps during the day.
Lately I’ve been having to walk around the camp after dark to get
fireworks...and I’m not a big fan of walking in the dark.
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This KOA has a fair amount of pass through
business this time of year...people who pull in for the evening and are gone in
the morning. That happens across the
board...RVs, motorhomes and tents. I’m
always amazed at how quietly the tenters pack up. The tent area is right next to us and I never
hear a thing. Just stumble out in the
morning to see the site empty. I don’t
know that we’ve ever packed up our tent without making some noise.
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It’s interesting to see the different types
of equipment that comes in. There has
been an interesting tent set up for maybe the last 3 weeks...it’s a 10’ x 10’
center canopy with a tent attached to the frame on either end of it. There could be as many as four tents attached
with the center being a gathering place.
Again there are only two attached now but with curtains dropped down on
the un-tented sides the canopy still provides an enclosed common room. I asked
one of the men staying in it if the tents had to be used in conjunction with
the canopy. The answer is yes...the tents
were designed to be used on a 10x10 (as he called it)...the canopy frame is
the support for the tent. He’s the one
who told me about the possibility of using 4 tents, etc. These two men are from Colorado and are working
in Chandler as part of a crew that builds Wendy’s restaurants and Old Chicago
pizzerias. Hotels were ridiculously
expensive and although it’s a 40 miles commute, camping seemed to be a better
choice of how to spend their per diem money. They leave early and come back later...must
have quiet vehicles because I never hear them.
Another man pulled in yesterday afternoon
with the tiniest camper I’ve ever seen...it’s simply a sleeping setup, he said
it was ideal for two people who don’t mind being cozy. Also figures it would
pull fine behind a motorcycle, especially a trike, as it weighs about 600 lbs
empty. It was just him and his youngest
son (maybe 5 years old)...it’s his first solo camping trip with dad. Usually his wife and other son are with them
which according to him makes for a tighter fit inside the camper. They left this morning.
There were two couples camping together that
pulled in near us yesterday early evening. When I saw their setup last night in the dark,
I was a little perplexed...seeing it by this morning’s light really didn’t help
much. It looked like they were camping
on top of their vehicles which were smallish SUVs. Each unit had a ladder and what looked like a
canopy extending off the passenger side.
It kind of looked like a homemade set-up but when Kim asked them about it
he was told that these tents are made to go on top of the vehicle. And they prefer sleeping up high to avoid any confrontation with critters. They also left this morning.
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After our walk Kim fixed a late but big breakfast of pancakes and eggs. It was
already shaping up to be a hot day...mid-70s by 11 a.m. Kim
went up to the clubhouse to process his images from last night and with nothing
else to do I wandered up too so I could write postcards in the coolness of the
clubhouse. The trailer was heating up
fast. We came back to the trailer
planning on taking a ride. Between the
heat, a full belly and the walking earlier I was feeling a bit sleepy. I put the music on and then flopped down on
the middle of the air mattress and put my feet up on the wall...it was comfortable
and easier on my back than letting my legs dangle over the side. Kim thought about it for minute or two, laid
down beside me, and put his feet up on the wall also. And in that manner, we both dozed off. Don’t know how long we slept but I’d say at
least a ½ hour. It’s the first time we’ve
taken a nap out here but it just the refresher we both needed. 👍
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We’d just snoozed through part of our
afternoon...now what to do with the rest of it?
Finally decided to ride over to IR 15...ride out a ways and then come
back, although truthfully the thought of putting jeans on made me cringe. I was already hot and that wasn’t going to
help. But I’ve been trying to get out for a ride every day, even if it’s a
short one, because it sounds like the weather back home won’t be conducive to
riding for a while. For me it’s been a ‘Make
hay while the sun shines’ mentality.
Without any warning about road work ahead, we
got stuck in road construction traffic at the corner of Battaglia and
Toltec...traffic was down to one lane due to a resurfacing project on Battaglia
Rd. At that point we abandoned Plan A
and went to Plan B, which basically evolved as we rode. Road projects going on all around the
area.
Ended
up going from Coolidge into Florence and back to Coolidge. From there it was a short ride back to
camp.
--------------------
Last week Kim noticed a problem with
distance signs on SR 87...it hadn’t registered with me despite riding past
those signs numerous times in the last 3 ½ weeks.
Heading north toward Coolidge a sign at mile
marker 127 indicates that Mesa is 41 miles away. Good to know if you’re heading to Mesa. Two miles down the road...two miles closer to
Coolidge and therefore Mesa...a sign at mile marker 129 indicates that Mesa is
now 45 miles away. Huh? Two miles according to mile markers yet 4
miles further according to distance signs.
Google
was of no help to me on this one but I honestly couldn’t figure out how to
define my search. So I don’t know why
the signs are like that but I have photographic evidence of the mix-up. 😕
--------------------
Random encounter of the
day:
There
have been several people walking down Picacho Hwy...whether for exercise for
themselves or their dogs, people are out walking. It’s the norm to greet each other, if not
stop and small talk.
We did our 3 mile walk today. When we got to Nutt Rd. and turned around to
head back, we saw a girl down the road on a bicycle, stopping every now and
then to pick something up. Kim guessed
aluminum. When we got close it was
obvious that she was indeed picking up aluminum and we crossed over to chat a
minute. Well, her back was turned to us
and our presence startled her...after she yelped in surprise, she just stood
there looking at us. I’d guess her age to be early 20’s. When I said we were simply curious about what
she was doing, she responded defensively, saying “Why do you want to know?” Ah,
no reason other than we saw you and were curious. Then Kim asked about the prices for aluminum
these days...she answered reluctantly but she did answer. As she got on her bike she said, “I was hoping you wouldn’t stop to talk,
just walk on by me. I come out there to
do my thing, thinking I’d be left alone, ya know just like everyone else.” Oh-kay!! When talking with her we definitely caught her unfriendly
vibe but her parting words didn’t leave any doubt about her
feelings.
When we got out of earshot, I said that she
apparently doesn’t come down this road very often because this is a stop and
talk road...people just don’t pass each other by without saying anything. Even the drivers in passing vehicles
wave.
Kim found some aluminum cans
on our side of the road and set them over on the other side for her to pick
up. At one point I looked back to check
traffic and saw that she had stopped and was standing near her bike doing
nothing. I guess she wanted to allow
some distance to build up between us.
She was still a ½ mile or more behind us when we got back to camp. A very odd encounter, indeed.
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Oh, goodness! Kim cooked steaks, potatoes and asparagus for
supper tonight. Dee-lish-ious!! Then he went out to see if the sky was going
to be kind to him. It was...and then it
wasn’t. No usable images tonight.
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Today’s miles: 81
Total miles: 1658
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