Onward we go toward home -- November 2023

 

Still heading west, toward home.  Into Arizona from New Mexico, following secondary highways, two-lane, scenic routes along the border with old Mexico.  Skirting by Chiricahua National Monument, one of Arizona's wonderful sky islands (below).  Past Bisbee and the Queen Mine's seriously deep (at 435') copper pits!  And into Sierra Vista, AZ, which we thought had grown exponentially since the last time we were here.

Craggy Chiricahua.

I'd made a reservation at a Harvest Host site for the night at Marquis Ranch in Sierra Vista.  We stopped for groceries before finding the ranch nestled in low foothills, bracketed by higher ranges.  Harvest Hosts are marvelous places for a "sleep-over" as long as you're self-contained, which we are.  Our host, Mark, met us at the gate.  We backed Tergel into a comfy spot and then ventured out to see the farm.  

Mark took us around.  They raise and breed sheep.  There's also lots of chickens, and Great Pyrennes dogs to guard all the animals.  The sheep were low to the ground and cute.  The dogs were HUGE, especially Charlie, which you see above with Jimmy (and a younger dog).  And nine wee two-week-old puppies who couldn't walk yet and whose eyes weren't opened ... and they're already spoken for!  They mewed.  I bought a dozen eggs, too.

It was a fun afternoon. Mark and his wife, Margaret, were very congenial hosts.  We four sat around at happy-hour time and visited, told tales, and enjoyed each other's company.  The dogs do bark at night, especially when the coyotes start singing (or howling), so I wore earplugs to sleep.  We were up early the next morning, pleased with our overnight stop, but ready to hit the road. 

Arizona is cactus!  Gambel's quail.  A curve-billed thrasher.  And plenty of Cholla.

Into Tucson on I-10, and then another scenic route from Tucson to Phoenix, a route that took longer than we expected, past Phoenix and up toward Kingman, AZ.  Darkness was descending by the time we hit teeny-tiny Wikieup, and we were done and done-in!  Thankfully, we found a (ho-hum) RV park, but any port in the storm and all that. 

Next morning we crossed into Nevada via the Hoover Dam bridge.

Mountain scenery in these parts is fabulous.

A long curving road took us to the Hoover Dam bridge.

November 5th -- driving through Las Vegas -- sin city -- didn't take long.  Besides it was Sunday morning so I figured most folks were in church.  Right? 😀  Once away from the city, multi-colored mountains appeared.  Some of that involves mining, photo above.

Our goal for the night was Beatty, Nevada, which is on the Nevada side of California's Death Valley.  We figured we could find a place to park Tergel (no problem).  After setting up, we went out for an explore.  

Awwww, look what we found!  Burros.  Tamed burros.  Burros looking for a handout (not good), but c'mon how sweet is this?  (We were camped across the road, but Tergel's just out of the picture.)

Howdy, y'all!

Spied this elegant old clock near the RV park.

See a burro in the background?

Here are two more.

Don't they fit right in with the mural?

All aboard!

We walked and walked and walked.  The weather was ideal.  Felt good to be on our feet.  I told Jimmy I'd live in Beatty if I could see this magnificent mountain outside my windows every morning.  Bet there's a trail to the top ....

Think we could buy this place cheap?  Fixer-upper!

Tonight's sunset was brilliant.  Another great day, and tomorrow we'll move on again, north toward home.  We're watching a weather system approach and don't want to be caught in snow on 7239' Donner Pass as we go up and over.  to be continued ....

Teec Nos Pos! Thurs, 4/1/21

Hah!  You probably thought this is an April Fools joke, but nope, it's the real deal.  We'd called John McCulloch yesterday to ask if he had room for us to stay at his Trading Post (Teec Nos Pos), located in the Navajo Nation, a few short miles from the Four Corners junction.  He said, "C'mon ahead."  This is a Harvest Host site, with no hookups, which is fine for us.  You wonder how we picked this remote, sort of out-of-the-way place to stay, and all I can tell you is that "we're heading east, and I like the name."  

Leaving Pipe Springs near the tippety-top of Arizona, aiming east for Teec Nos Pos, we crisscrossed the border into Utah, back and forth several times, which left us wondering all day what's the time?  Arizona doesn't "do" daylight savings time.  Utah does.  Part of the Navajo Nation does; part doesn't.  We gave up, and just enjoyed the ride on the road less traveled.

Most of the pictures are from Tergel's windows, maybe not the best quality, but we couldn't help taking one picture after another, entranced with the outrageous and wonderful scenery outside those windows.  Come along and ride with us.

Uh-huh, can you spot the State Trooper car hiding in the shadows?

These were called Baby Rocks -- look at 'em, all lined up!

Some of the roads, however were, uh, terrible?

Awful?  Needed help?  Yes.

We arrived late afternoon at Teec Nos Pos and checked in with cowboy-hat-wearing John, a friendly and helpful guy.  He showed us around the store, which is an all-around trading post, with gas pumps out front, groceries, art, and a great collection of Navajo jewelry and rugs for sale.  He also kindly shared his internet connection with us.  You see Tergel parked below, where we spent a peaceful night.  The post closes at 6pm, and that includes the gas pumps, so it was quiet.  Jimmy and I had fun roaming in the store, and we bought a couple of things.  And an ice cream!  Been a long time since we'd had ice cream.

Historic Teec Nos Pos was established in 1905.

This was our sunset -- wowee!  Tomorrow we'll move on, but we still don't know where, which direction.  Maybe up into Colorado, Cortez-way?  Perhaps over to Chama in northern New Mexico?  Down towards Santa Fe?  We checked the weather, but that didn't help.  Then Jimmy, looking at the atlas, saw north/south Route 491 led down to Gallup ... and below Gallup was a spot that had been on my wish list for a very long time.  That cinched it.  We'd head south in the morning.  So, if you're ever in the neighborhood, looking for a comfortable place to stop for the night, Teec Nos Pos (Trading Post) will welcome you nicely.  Thanks bunches, John, we enjoyed our stay. 

Pipe Springs Nat'l Monument, Wed 3/31/21

From St George, Utah, our options heading east were limited, and truly, the only good choice for us at this time was to dip into northern Arizona, called the Arizona Strip -- an area of vast high desert between the Grand Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs.  We're getting smarter in our old age (well ...), and we called the one Passport America campground listed in the entire region to make a reservation.  Plus, we phoned the next place and made a reservation there!

Scenery continues to be beautiful hereabouts, though as the ground flattened out, humdrum slid in.  No matter; it all evens out.  I didn't notice when we looked up the campground that it was next door to a national monument, but we were happy to be so close.  Literally, across the road.  Neat find for us.

Pipe Springs National Monument has quite a conflicted history -- initially between the Kaibab Paiute Indians and the Mormons, and then the US guv'ment got involved.  The bone of contention was, of course, water.  Copious springs water.  This country is arid and harsh, our elevation is 5,000' and water (the life force) could always be found here.

In a nutshell:  In the Paiutes' ancestral land, Mormons set up an outpost at the springs, part of Brigham Young's vision of expansion.  Members had to tithe, often in the form of cattle, and the Arizona Strip offered both a water source and grazing space.  In 1870's, the fort, above, was constructed directly over the spring as protection from hostile Indians and as a hideout for polygamous wives.  The cattle overgrazed the land, leaving the Kaibab band of Paiutes to starve.  Navajos raided the Mormon livestock and killed some white men.  Sound familiar?  The fort was called Winsor Castle, and there are several versions of why it was named such.

The look of the fort in the late 1890's - 1900's.

Nice representation.

Above, the springs water flows through a pipe and into a trough beneath the fort and out into a pond, below.  The Mormons fashioned the trough system, but I don't know when the pond came about.  The water still flows ....

Barely spring here -- the trees are only beginning to bud out and any wildflowers are still sleeping.

A volunteer did a great job telling us about the fort and its tumultuous history.  She and Jimmy stand in the courtyard between the two fort structures.  Mormons used nearby sandstone in the fort's construction.

Local Junipers were mostly used to build fence corrals.

Jimmy has a new ride?

Those horns!  This big guy had a five-foot span,

but it wouldn't pull its head out of the feed box!

Nickie has a new ride, too?

Old-timey RV! 😄

Same old story.  Overgrazing killed native grasses.

A half-mile loop trail took us around and above the fort.  Jimmy is reading the sign (in part, below).  The park service has done an excellent job at this national monument.

Fascinating.

We can (and do) thank Stephen Mather for this national monument.

Two-timing wind changed from back to front -- if Tergel had feelings, I'm sure she'd feel grateful to be parked and not fighting the punishing headwind.  So are we.  You see Tergel by the red check mark?  

The RV park where we're spending the night is one of the best!  We were welcomed by the Kaibab band of Paiute Indians.  It's so sparkling clean that it looks new, though it isn't, and we have full hookups (wow!) and powerful internet.  Since our drive today was fairly short, we had enough time to tour the national monument and do a week's worth of dusty, stinky laundry.  Wow again!  Tomorrow we'll continue our journey east. 

What's next? 3/26- 3/29

Where have we been, you wondered? In the boonies, without cell signal (how attached we've become to "being connected!").  Friday forenoon, Jimmy and I pulled into one of our favorite spots on earth, a wide-open wonder full of boulders, rocks, monsters, and movie stars: Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, CA, on Hwy 395. We knew to get there early to park Tergel in an optimum site (boondocking), 'cause the good ones would fill up fast. A giant chill wind was blowing and we wanted shelter, too -- so we backed up to a pile of rocks, tucked in snug-like. We spent two enchanting days here, though we were surprised (is that the word?) to see so many rigs, so many people, Out and About in March.

We clambered over boulders, hiked on trails, hopped across a snow-melt-running creek, and appreciated the absolute quiet while hiking alone alone on a trail.  If you're in the vicinity, stop by (day use is okay), it's really something to see.  Here are a few pics from Alabama Hills.  That's me in my pink parka playing peek-a-boo, above.  I also have a video to share, but not a strong enough signal to send it.

Jimmy, from our second day hiking along Rush Creek and into a deserted canyon, standing near a strange rock.  Alabama Hills IS made up of strange rocks!

From our site, we enjoyed a 360° view of mountains, the jagged peaks of snow-capped Sierra Nevada including Mt Whitney, and the "geologically complex" Inyo Mountains opposite.  Alabama Hills are a formation of rounded rocks and eroded hills set between these mountain ranges, with all kinds of crazy rock configurations.  Both geologic features were shaped by the same uplifting occurring 100 million years ago.  In case you've forgotten your geography, Mt Whitney is the tallest peak in the contiguous United States at 14,505'.

No wildflowers were blooming yet, but we spied several patches of Cholla, whose wicked spikes can pierce anybody's hide!  Ask Jimmy.  He got speared at Organ Pipe a few years ago.

If you use your imagination, on the left you'll see an eagle or hawk's face (beak) and on the right is a horse's ass rump with tail.  Notice I said rump.  There are hundreds of rocks you can make into faces or animals or whatever you fancy.  I only have these pics to show you.  Somehow, and I don't know how, all my 300+ photos, except these collages, from two days at Alabama Hills and one day in Death Valley have disappeared off my computer.  Beautiful photos, gone.  Gone where?  Nether world?  Maybe they are still in the computer and can be found, but right now I have marginal internet connection and don't feel like fooling around with it.  Trust me, though, those pics showed some wonderful scenery.  But, so be it.

We moved on to Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley where we camped overnight on a plain large tarmac with 150 sites, many of them filled, and no hookups.  Ten sites with electric had been reserved.  I didn't know they were reservable, so we were SOL on using our A/C, though the temp rose to 87 that day.  No matter ... we went out exploring on Emigrant Road, pretty much by ourselves, the way we prefer it.  Out there we wandered around the historic Eureka Mine, Cashier Mill and a ghost town.  Lots of fun, lots of photos, fun remembered, photos gone.  Very enjoyable day.

Today, Monday, we decided to move on from Death Valley, and aimed for Valley of Fire St Pk near Las Vegas, arriving early afternoon -- where we joined a line of 25 cars and one RV at the entrance gate.  When we were close to the gate, we saw:  Campground Full.  Phooey.  We paid our ten bucks and drove through the park, reconnoitered at I-15, called the St George Elks Lodge, and came here.  Then I tried Zion, etc:  Full up.  Now we're beginning to see the light.  Times have changed.  If we want to continue RV'ing, we'll have to plan in advance, which goes against our grain, and reserve, like it or not.  Maybe tomorrow I'll see about more photos.