Cool and rainy today, just 11C at 11 am. In the
morning we just hung out in the van, listening to
NPR, reading and knitting.
The BB invited us for tea again in the afternoon
(lovely to have electronic communications way
out here).
The dry wash behind our site became pretty full of
water from the rain we had. It made it easier to
imagine how careful we must be when picking
boondocking sites. We were fine here though.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Friday, February 17, 2017
Camped near Yuma
Today was a day for doing chores, visiting Yuma, and battening down the hatches for the oncoming (we hear) storm.
We headed in to Yuma this morning to have breakfast and a look around, get a laundry done, and a couple more odds and ends. Cathie got some Kroy sock yarn in Jo-Ann’s.
In my search for a Garmin topo map, I was in to a sporting goods store. They were advertising 9mm handguns, and assuring prospective buyers that winter visitors can buy one too, in Arizona. Made in the USA, and only $169. Yikes! They also had a hand-held anti-tank weapon featured on sale for only about $7,000. Holy Cow, we're not used to this stuff!
In the early pm we were invited to Al and Kelly's for afternoon tea which lasted til about 5pm. We seem to have a lot to talk about once started. It's getting quite windy here now, and cloudy. We're supposed to get rain tomorrow, as we get brushed by a major storm in California.
We expect to stay put here until Sunday. It's a holiday weekend here in the US (President's Day), so the weekend is busier than usual, except for our peaceful spot in the desert.
FYI for another time – exit 164 off I8 is real close to the boondocking area, and the Chevron station there has dump facilities, laundry, water etc, although apparently more expensive than in Yuma where we went.
We headed in to Yuma this morning to have breakfast and a look around, get a laundry done, and a couple more odds and ends. Cathie got some Kroy sock yarn in Jo-Ann’s.
In my search for a Garmin topo map, I was in to a sporting goods store. They were advertising 9mm handguns, and assuring prospective buyers that winter visitors can buy one too, in Arizona. Made in the USA, and only $169. Yikes! They also had a hand-held anti-tank weapon featured on sale for only about $7,000. Holy Cow, we're not used to this stuff!
In the early pm we were invited to Al and Kelly's for afternoon tea which lasted til about 5pm. We seem to have a lot to talk about once started. It's getting quite windy here now, and cloudy. We're supposed to get rain tomorrow, as we get brushed by a major storm in California.
We expect to stay put here until Sunday. It's a holiday weekend here in the US (President's Day), so the weekend is busier than usual, except for our peaceful spot in the desert.
FYI for another time – exit 164 off I8 is real close to the boondocking area, and the Chevron station there has dump facilities, laundry, water etc, although apparently more expensive than in Yuma where we went.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Why AZ to Yuma and on to California (barely)
We were up early again, as usual for us, to a clear blue-sky 7C at 7am. By 8:30 it was up to 14C. It’s so scenic and quiet here. We really enjoyed this stay, I think we’ll enjoy boondocking-style camping. So far the only place we have used our van privacy curtains was in the campground at Bowie.
Again today, we drove west looking for warmer weather. The weekend is coming up, there is a rainstorm forecast for Saturday, and we wanted to be set up somewhere for the weekend.
The drive through Why and on to Ajo AZ continued to be scenic. By the time we stopped for a browse in Ajo, it was feeling quite warm. Ajo is a historically pretty town, especially on a lovely sunny morning.
In this part of the world, the “gas” stations are often like a boondocker’s department store. The Shell at the north end of Ajo is a good example.
Of course they have gas and diesel, with good window-washing facilities. They also have large spotless washrooms, a car wash (which we used to get the salt off), and a water-dispensing kiosk. Bulk osmotic-filtered drinking water was 25 cents per gallon, or $1 for 5 gallons.
Heading north, we stopped at Gila Bend for some fuel for us and for the van. This is another “landmark” boondock supply stop. We then headed west on I8 to Yuma and beyond. Getting through Yuma was slower than it likely often is, due to construction out the west end of town.
We did manage to track down The Bayfield Bunch, boondocking west of Yuma, out along Ogilby Rd (aka S34, exit #159 north from I8). In the process we crossed from AZ into California. Yuma is in AZ, and the boondocking area is in CA. We had a nice visit with the BB folks.
It reached a sunny 25C today here, which sounds really nice and it was. The sun is quite strong though, so if you were right in the sun with no breeze, it quickly got very warm. Not that we're complaining though!
Again today, we drove west looking for warmer weather. The weekend is coming up, there is a rainstorm forecast for Saturday, and we wanted to be set up somewhere for the weekend.
The drive through Why and on to Ajo AZ continued to be scenic. By the time we stopped for a browse in Ajo, it was feeling quite warm. Ajo is a historically pretty town, especially on a lovely sunny morning.
In this part of the world, the “gas” stations are often like a boondocker’s department store. The Shell at the north end of Ajo is a good example.
Of course they have gas and diesel, with good window-washing facilities. They also have large spotless washrooms, a car wash (which we used to get the salt off), and a water-dispensing kiosk. Bulk osmotic-filtered drinking water was 25 cents per gallon, or $1 for 5 gallons.
Heading north, we stopped at Gila Bend for some fuel for us and for the van. This is another “landmark” boondock supply stop. We then headed west on I8 to Yuma and beyond. Getting through Yuma was slower than it likely often is, due to construction out the west end of town.
We did manage to track down The Bayfield Bunch, boondocking west of Yuma, out along Ogilby Rd (aka S34, exit #159 north from I8). In the process we crossed from AZ into California. Yuma is in AZ, and the boondocking area is in CA. We had a nice visit with the BB folks.
It reached a sunny 25C today here, which sounds really nice and it was. The sun is quite strong though, so if you were right in the sun with no breeze, it quickly got very warm. Not that we're complaining though!
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Bowie AZ to Darby Well AZ.
Overnight we heard some trains running nearby, but they didn't bother us. When there are no whistles blowing, train noise is not as intrusive as highway tire noise.
We enjoyed early-morning showers and the sunrise. A cool morning though, -2C. It was nice to have electric heat overnight.
Our objectives changed as the day warmed up to 23C. We finally decided to aim for Ajo AZ to camp.
By the time we got away about 7:20 it was up to 3C, and up to a sunny 11C by 9:30. In Tuscon we had to stop at the Camping World store for a browse. They had an aluminum step for getting in the van that I liked, on sale but still kinda expensive. Out to the van to think it over, we realized we had left our little plastic step at Bowie this morning! The new step is much more stable and safer than the old one.
We stopped in to the nearby Costco for a cheap lunch to make up for the step, then headed across #86 towards Ajo. Once west of Tucson the beautiful cactus-laden Sonoran-type desert views started, so many different cacti and all new to us.
Almost to Ajo we saw a sign for Darby Well Rd and remembered blogger Al mentioning they had boondocked there. So about 2:30 on this beautiful sunny 23C day we decided to try it for the night. We were sure in cactus country now!!
It was a real treat to lounge around in the warm sunshine for the afternoon, listening to the birds sing. We were still able to get good Wifi at our site too.
We enjoyed early-morning showers and the sunrise. A cool morning though, -2C. It was nice to have electric heat overnight.
By the time we got away about 7:20 it was up to 3C, and up to a sunny 11C by 9:30. In Tuscon we had to stop at the Camping World store for a browse. They had an aluminum step for getting in the van that I liked, on sale but still kinda expensive. Out to the van to think it over, we realized we had left our little plastic step at Bowie this morning! The new step is much more stable and safer than the old one.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Roswell NM to Bowie AZ.
Cool again this morning, 4C, so we decided we need to get on to southern AZ and find some warmth.We crossed the Pecos River, a pretty small river up here, on the way to Roswell NM. The Roswell Cowboy Cafe called to us for breakfast. Better be hungry when stopping here!
#70 is a good 4-lane road heading west from Roswell, steadily climbing through scenic desert and hills to over 1700 M elevation, even though it felt like we were going downhill. Lots of desert scenery. Glencoe NM feels quite similar to Glencoe Scotland.
We did make a stop at a Pistachio store on the outskirts of Alamogordo, lots of yummy stuff for sale in there. Along in the same area we passed at least one car wash. I didn’t think to stop and clean the new salt off the van – the roads coming down through Ruidoso were salted due to freezing temperatures and damp roads, so we were salt-coated once again.
At the lower elevations it turned into a nice day, a sunny 10C. We could see the White Sands stretching across the horizon from miles away. By the time we stopped for groceries in Lordsburg about 4pm it was up to 13C.
We stopped for the night by 5pm, at Dwayne Mountain View RV park in Bowie AZ, $16 with electric. Nothing special as a campground, but it was time to get off the road. The campsite is just off the I10 highway, but far enough away that we couldn't hear the traffic from inside the van. It’s been 48 driving hours so far this trip.
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