Tag: campground

Down Into the Desert Valley

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

It was time to say goodbye to the cool mountain weather and head to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, just outside of Arizona. The landscape on the drive down into the desert valley was dramatic and stunning.

Less than a mile from Lost Dutchman State Park when we had to stop. A wild fire had just started and it was going from the park, across the road, and growing. The highway was closed, fire trucks were racing to the fire, and all we could do was watch. After about 20 minutes, we had to turn around. Unsure where we were going, or if we needed to find another place to park our home for the night, we headed down to a tourist mining camp type place to see if the fire was going to spread, and if the highway was going to open back up.

We were sitting in the camper looking for options to camp for the night when a fireman knocked on the door and told us they were evacuating the area. So, we closed it up, jumped in the truck and found a safer area to regroup and figure out our next steps. Last year we had stayed at a campground about an hour south, we looked and there were plenty of spots available, so we booked a site and headed south. Aaron had plans to stay there in about a week’s time anyway, so we figured one more night there would not hurt. On the way, we stopped and grabbed a pizza and had a dinner pizza picnic in the truck before we settled in for the night. It way to hot to eat in the closed camper, or outside.

On our way to Pinal Park, we got a call from Lost Dutchman. The park was not badly damaged and would reopen to campers the next day. That was great news! We got ourselves parked, cooled off the camper, and prepared ourselves for moving day two.

We finally made it to Lost Dutchman! This park sits at the base of the Superstition Mountains where it is said that a very rich gold mine, The Lost Dutchman, is supposed to be. According to legend, Jakob Waltz, a German immigrant found the mine in the 19th century and kept the location a secret. No one has found the gold mine, and according to legend, it has been searched for since at least 1892. Aaron and I had no plans to search for the mine in the desert, in the summer. We were just happy to have water and electric hookups, and a place to park our camper. It is a beautiful park with tons of hiking available, and we would love to go back and explore when the temps are below 100+ degrees.

We celebrated Aaron’s birthday while we were there with dinner out with our oldest son, Gage. He lives about 30 minutes from the park, and drove over to Apache Junction to meet us to celebrate another year of Aaron. They both hate having their picture taken, so this was the best I could get.

After five days at the park, it was time to pack it up again. Aaron was going back to Pinal Park for a week, and I was headed to Gage’s place to take care of Lola and house-sit so he could spend the 4th of July week in Florida with our other two kids, Mason and Jenna.

We both hope that we will return to Lost Dutchman again.

White Mountains, Father’s Day, and a Visit From Gage

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

It was time for us to find a cool location for a while. The Carnero Lake area in the White Mountains of Arizona seemed to be just the place. It sits in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and had some really promising boondocking areas. The weather was forecast to be in the 70’s and 80’s during the day and the 40’s at night. Sounded perfect to us!

Coming into the national forest was quite dusty. It may be a forest, but the sand was real. I don’t think we have ever gotten our camper so dirty! But, it was totally worth it.

After some driving and exploring on foot, we settled for a great spot surrounded by trees and a meadow. There was a natural spring just a short hike away, and there was solitude.

We were at about 8,000 feet in altitude, and for the first few days, we really felt it. We took it easy, drank lots of water, and let our bodies acclimate to the altitude. I’m not sure why it effected us both so much this time, but it really did. After a few days, it was time to explore our surroundings. Aaron, Murphy, and myself took a hike to the natural spring. It was a short, pretty hike with some surprise findings along the way. Murphy came across what we named “the bone yard.” He even brough back a souvenir.

It was a beautiful walk, a bit of an incline, but worth it. The water at the spring was crystal clear until Murphy started running through it. He muddied it up quite a bit before I could even get one picture.

Father’s Day was coming up, and we were about 4 hours north of our oldest son. He decided to drive up and spend that Saturday and Sunday with us to celebrate the day. It was great seeing him and Lola! Murphy was super excited to have Lola to harass and play with. Lola enjoyed Murphy, but not quite as much as he enjoyed having her there. We cooked steaks, had great conversation, a few brews, and just a really nice time together.

Aaron also pulled out his drone and got some fantastic arial pictures of the area.

It was great to find a cool spot in the mountains to recharge, relax, and just enjoy the nature. Murphy chased squirrels, they would taunt him from the trees, and he stayed super dirty the whole time. He loved it.

WE soaked up the good temperatures as much as we could, because we were heading south of Phoenix in a few days, Aaron to camp, and me to house and Lola sit for Gage so he could go to Florida to celebrate the 4th of July with our other two kids and his friends. We really liked the White Mountains and enjoyed our time there.

We hit the road, next stop-Lost Dutchman State Park at the base of Superstition Mountain.

One Hot Stay in New Mexico

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

Santa Rosa Lake State Park in New Mexico has a lovely campground. We spent one night there last year on our drive to the West Coast and wanted to spend more time exploring the area. We settled in for a week, and as we did so, reality of desert living in June started to sink in.

Our campsite had no electric or water, which is what we had chosen to put our camper to the test. It also did not have any shade to speak of, and it got hot! We were cautious when running our AC, as we did not want to deplete our batteries, but when it was over 100 outside, and the camper got over 90 inside, it was time to crank the air. We learned that it is easier to try to maintain a temperature instead of letting it get super hot and then trying to cool things down. With the AC working so hard, we had to supplement our batteries with the generator. We did find of good balance of generator and battery power to keep everything running smoothly. One thing we have learned over the past year is that the AC will cool the camper 15 or so degrees cooler than the temperature outside, especially if there is no shade. Honestly, when it is 100 and higher outside 80-85 inside feels pretty good. We also have multiple fans to keep air flowing and keep us more comfortable. Murphy does not like it hot, and he always found the coolest spots in the camper to nap and relax. He usually planted himself directly in front of a fan.

Because of the heat, we did not do much hiking or exploring. The lake was super low and not really accessible. Even staying close to the site and camper, there were beautiful cacti, flowers, and juniper trees to photograph and enjoy.

Dramatic skies would tease us with clouds that looked like rain, but the rain never fell. The skies also gave us beautiful sunsets.

After a week of sweating, it was time for us to say goodbye to Santa Rosa. We were heading west again, with Arizona on our radar.

Our Last Stay in Oklahoma

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After grocery shopping, we settled into our two week home at Kiowa Park in Texoma. This park is situated on Waurika Lake. The previous week, we had stayed on the other side of the lake. We had made this reservation well in advance because is was going to be over the Memorial Day weekend. We had learned our lesson last year, that planning ahead for holiday weekends was really important. We did not want to risk not having a spot, or having to drive a really long distance by not planning ahead.

During the beginning of our stay, we had a few neighbors, but no one really close. As Memorial Day Weekend crept closer, the park began to fill. That was OK. We are fortunate enough to camp and enjoy nature all the time. Most people do not, so we do not begrudge crowded parks over the holidays. This year, our neighbors were very polite and friendly. For that we are grateful. During the week, we really enjoyed the park. Over the weekend, we stayed inside most of the time, and let our neighbors enjoy their boats, their family time, and the lake itself. We used the time inside to clean, reset, tape a few naps, and catch up on some TV.

The skies here were terrific, and changing constantly due to Texoma being in tornado alley, and it being spring. The following pitcures are some of my favorite sky shots from our stay.

There were also wild blackberries growing next to our site. Of course I had to pick some, but left most for the birds and bunnies. There were wildflowers, butterflies, bunnies, birds, and lots of geese, with even more baby geese.

I spent a lot of time down at the shore of the lake so Murphy could swim and swim. I swear he was a fish in his past life. He did have a standoff with some geese in the water, they did not come to his part of the shore, but he decided there were too many to chase after.

We really enjoyed our last two weeks in Oklahoma. I had never imagined that we would spend a month in Oklahoma, but I am really glad we did. We got to see family, and we learned that Oklahoma is a beautiful state with various terrain. I had always thought that it was a state of plains, but there is so much more to Oklahoma than that.

It was time to head west again. Our next stop is a quick overnight at a Harvest Host. We were headed to an old Route 66 ghost town in Texas.

RV Repair and Unexpected Surprises on Waurika Lake

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

It was Mother’s Day, moving day, and a rainy, stormy day. On our way to Chisholm Trail Ridge campground on Waurika Lake, we stopped for our weekly grocery shopping. It wasn’t raining when we went in, and luckily held off until we had unloaded our groceries into the camper. As soon as the grocery bags were inside, the skies opened. Aaron and I put the groceries away, and then Aaron returned the cart. I had Murphy on his leash as we went to get into the truck. Aaron didn’t unlock the truck, and wasn’t right behind me, so I used my key to unlock and get the dog settled in, and got myself out of the rain.

He could not find his keys. We looked all over the camper, the truck, and the ground outside. As I was going back to the trailer for a second round, an employee of the grocery store came out and asked if we had lost our keys. Someone had found them on the grounds and turned them into the store. Whew! They had fallen out of his pocket when he was returning the buggy.

The rain was really coming down when we arrived at the campground. The lady who checked us in was super friendly, and she was excited to tell us that our site had just gotten water added to it. We were happy to hear that! We backed into our site, and the skies decided to pour as much rain as possible. No big deal; we weren’t unhooking the camper anyway since we had to take it to Dallas for repairs. We decided that the electric and water hookups could wait until the rain subsided. We turned on the TV, and Aaron fell asleep. It finally stopped raining, so I decided to go ahead and connect the electric and water. Well, the water installation must have been REALLY new. I stepped up to the faucet and sunk mid-calf into red mud/clay. I pulled my leg out, but my shoe stayed buried. I started digging to get my shoe out, and probably had to dig a good foot and a half to fish out my shoe. Yup, this day just kept getting better and better. Barefoot and cautious, I got the water and electric connected. Then I got out of my red mud soaked clothes and rinsed everything out. We had planned on grilling ribeye steaks and potatoes to celebrate Mother’s Day, but at that point, neither of us wanted to deal with it all.

Monday, the sun came out, and we enjoyed our great lake view site.

Tuesday rolled around, and it was time to drive to Dallas-Ft. Worth to get our AC replaced. We also needed to do laundry, so we figured that while the camper was getting fixed, we would do that. The laundromat we found was the cleanest and best decorated we had been to yet. They had sports murals on the walls and free dryers. We also went ahead and got the oil changed since we had the time. Things were looking up!

The Airstream dealership was great! Within three hours, they had a new AC unit on the roof, tested it, and did a few other courtesy checks that we did not request but were greatly appreciated by both of us. They could not figure out why the soft start on the AC caught fire. They were very kind and accommodating, and we were grateful to have air conditioning again!

The rest of the week was quiet and uneventful. We eventually enjoyed the Mother’s Day ribeyes and baked potatoes. We also enjoyed an almost empty campground, the lake, and the pretty wildflowers.

It was time for us to move on; we had another reservation for a two-week stay at another campground on the same lake, just on the other side at Kiowa Park. Memorial Day weekend was coming up, and we knew the quiet, uncrowded campground life we had was coming to an end—at least for a short while.