It was way back in Lordsburg New Mexico under the buzzing glow of the Days Inn sign I bid farewell to my traveling comraderies and Rosta the dog that could drive a F 350. We toasted to our travels with hot mugs of fresh brewed Koffee. Did the obligatory hugging and we were off to separate corners of the globe.
From Lordsburg I traveled to Tucson, because I needed to
pick up some supplies at a camper land and do some other chores that can only
be done in larger towns.
A few weeks ago, I had joined a camping club called Harvest Hosts.
Membership gives you access to thousands they say of free places to safety park
for the evening, and my night in Tucson was going to be my first time trying
out a Harvest host spot.
There were not that many to pick from and I selected the El Pais Motel RV Park
The pictures were a bit less faded than establishment, but I
was not disappointed, at all with El Pais.
They keep one spot for Harvest Host, but the owner said that for $20.00 I could have full connections. I opted for full connections and parked in one of the spots by a cactus.
The washer, and dryer were free to use. After dark they had
a central fire where you could chat with other guests. They sometimes have
movies but the night I stayed there was no movie, only music videos on a
outside screen that was above the pool, that was dry, and a whopping 9 feet
deep. In the morning there was coffee, and sugary treats. It was one of the best places I have
stayed.
Without a plan other than to stay out of Phoenix I headed
north out of town on highway 77 that passes through Oracle where Biosphere is
located. Having previously visited there I pushed on to a spot on the map named
Roosevelt.
I thought it odd that a state that despises socialism as much as most of Arizona does, would have a place named for Roosevelt, but what I discovered was Theodore Roosevelt Reservoir in the Tonto National Forest, complete with national forest camping that as a senior you get for $7.00 a night.
The sites do not have any power or water, but I was stocked up for that, and there was plenty of sun to charge the vans batteries for another day of dry camping.
There was even a weak 4G cell signal so I didn’t have to
make fire.
Walking around the camp I discovered what I suspect was bear
scatt. I never saw any wildlife well except for maybe a fox or coyote, it was
moving pretty fast and was hard to identify.
It was surprising to find such a oasis here. The reservoir is the largest one solely in the state of Arizona and TR himself came out to dedicate the dam way back in 1911.
Still without a real plan I traveled north along route 188,
that took me through high country and pine forests. I ended up at Dead Horse
state park, where my batteries were treated to a AC connection.
A short drive from the state park is the Tuzigoot National Monument.
The stones have been reconstructed by the park service with
care, but people lived here in this valley with year-round water for centuries,
and then moved on.
Just up the road from Tuzigoot is the Verde Canyon Railroad that just so happens to have as one of its locomotives a FP7 number 1510, that was built for Alaska Railroad way back in 1953. I tried to purchase the cab ride seat, but it was already sold, and even explaining that I had traveled all the way from Alaska just to ride in the cab of one of OUR former locomotives had no effect on the stern faced Arizonan I was up against. Oh well next time…
Highway 89A north out of Sedona is a pretty amazing winding
road that had several forest service camps on it, unfortunately they were all
closed for the season.
Still having one major errand of filling a prescription to take care of I motored
on to the town named after a flagpole. Flagstaff.
While finally getting that prescription filled, I noticed
that the fellow in line behind me was proudly wearing a “Maximum MAGA T shirt. Who
even knew there were even shirts like that, and who would be stupid enough to
wear one.
The answers to both questions were that guy, and along with
the pharmacist knowledge of snow by the weekend in the town with the name like
a flagpole, I took that as two good reasons to head to the desert…
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