BOONDOCKING IN THE BEAUTY OF THE DESERT

Wednesday, January 31 – We've spent the last four days boondocking in the desert in Maricopa, AZ. We were here to meet with long-time RV'er friends. We have been friends with this group since we first started RV traveling in 2009. Our first year together we met at Quartzsite, AZ, at the annual RV pilgrimage. The group has tried to get together in Quartzsite every year since, but we only have been able to attend twice. This year we decided to meet in Maricopa, AZ, because most of us were in the Phoenix/Tucson/Yuma area, and this was a nice central location for all of us.

Looing right.

Looking left.

Most of the time has been used relaxing and sharing time with friends. We really didn't do much sightseeing or other outings. We've had a covered dish dinner, snacks at happy hour, and Marsha managed to have only the women over for a morning get together. The short get together ran from 8:30-11. Geesh, how much do women have to talk about? The men poked around each others RV's and helped one of the guys install a new TV in his rig. Pretty low key stuff!

Bella loves the desert. Each day we took her for several walks. She loves all the smells and sounds in the middle of nowhere.

Each day we have two visitors. They don’t come real close to us but make their presents known. Thanks Doug for the photo.

We have a “fire” each evening in portable-gas fire rings. What a great time for telling stories, jokes and just enjoying each other’s company.

Everyday is an beautiful sunrise and gorgeous sunset! The desert just comes alive early and late each day.

Sunrise.

Sunset.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

MOVING ON TO CASA GRANDE

Thursday, January 26 – We had a nice trip across I-10 today reaching Casa Grande, AZ, soon after lunch time. We are at the Escapee Co-Op Park (SKP) Ro'Ver's Roost. It is located about eight miles west of Casa Grande. This is a Co-Op park which means the camp sites are owned by individuals.  When the owners are out of the park, the sites are put into a rental pool. These sites are then rented ($16/night FHU) to traveling Escapees.

Our site is very nice. Nice wide site with plenty of room to park the truck next to our 5^th wheel. Patio and concrete sidewalk out to the paved street. The street is plenty wide enough to make backing into the site fairly easy. We have 50 amp electric, water, and sewer. There are activities at the center for those wishing to partake. There is also a nice laundry, library, and social room. As an added bonus, washing of rigs and tow vehicles is permitted! Our 5^th wheel was filthy and washing it was Paul's first priority after completing set-up in our site.

Looking right.

Looking left.

We then took a short drive through Casa Grande. This is a fairly large city with just about any store you need. We shopped at groceries at a newly opened Fry's Grocery which we found outstanding. We may do a little more sightseeing tomorrow, but we have plans on returning to Casa Grande in early March so may delay touring until then. We have laundry and other household chores to take care of instead.

We are only here two nights before meeting friends for a couple days. Then it will be off to Yuma and beyond.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

NICE HIKE TO DRIPPING SPRINGS.

Wednesday, January 25 – Another cold night in Las Cruces, NM. Woke up to 28 degrees. Too cold for us! We killed some time before heading out on our hike today at Dripping Springs Natural Area. Again, we were able to use our America the Beautiful pass for free admission.

The trail is a gravel base that climbs about 600 feet in elevation over about 2 miles (one way).

That is Las Cruces way down there.

Lots of dry beds along the trail.

 

At the end of the trail is a small mountain waterfall. There are also the remains of the Dripping Springs Resort. It had 16 rooms, a large dining room, and a concert hall. It was very popular around the turn of the century. Today the resort is in ruins.

The retaining wall at the base of the waterfall provided water to the hotel.

Back in the early 1800’s, a hotel built here and was named Van Patten’s Mountain Camp. A stagecoach line from Las Cruces would carry guests along the narrow, rocky path up to the hotel. That must have been a bit scary to say the least.

Original hotel.

Today.

We then finished our hike by returning on the same trail but this time the two-mile trek was all down hill. Overall, the hike took about two hours. It was Paul’s first hike since he had his knee replacement He did pretty good. We did enjoy the hike. Thankfully the temperatures were moderate, although it was only 38 degrees when we started, There was little or no wind until we made the turn to head back down the trail, and then we noticed a cool (Marsha says cold!) breeze beginning to cool things off.

Our last stop was the old Town of Mesilla. The town is one of the oldest and most visited communities in southern New Mexico. It is easy to see why this small town was named one of the top ten small towns in the country to visit. There are over fifty unique stores, boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and taverns all within walking distance of one another.

Basilica of San Albino

Dating back to 1850, this next building once housed the Capitol of Arizona and New Mexico. Later it was the courthouse in which Billy The Kid was tried and sentenced to hang.

The Plaza.

We had visited a winery, a craft brewery, and a margarita bar previously while visiting downtown during their Sunday afternoon craft show.

St Clair Winery came highly recommended. Their wine is excellent. We enjoyed the wine tasting and ended up buying two bottles of wine for our annual summer wine tasting party.

That ends our visit to the second largest city in New Mexico, Las Cruces. Due to predicted cool days and very cold nights (lows around 22 degrees) at our next planned stop of Deming, NM, we have decided to postpone our visit there until another time. We need to get out of high desert country and head further west to lower altitudes. Next stop is Casa Grande, AZ.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon. Have a great day!