3/30/14 Our Gate Attendant job with the Corps of Engineers at
Russell Park, Lake Georgetown, Tx ended March 30
th so we hitched up
and headed West. We’ve secured volunteer
positions with Emma Woods State Beach in Ventura, California as camp hosts for
the summer.
Pics of the grandkids at our site in Russell Park Lake Georgetown.
Our first stop was only 140 miles to Junction, Tx. We don’t plan to go far on our first day of
moving because it just takes longer and puts too much stress on us to try to
hurry and make tracks. We arrived in
Junction around 4:00 and dry camped at Schreiner Park, a city park where they
welcome overnighters to dry camp for up to 3 days. The weather had got pretty hot during the
day, around 90 or so. But it cooled off
nicely once the sun went down and got pretty chilly. The park is very nice with a lot of trees along
the Llano River. We were set up under
the trees with our front door facing the river.
Very nice. We met a young couple
from New York taking a road trip, they had arrived at a state park close by
Junction and did not pay enough for their site (complicated instructions) and
received a $200 fine. Yikes! So they are now trying to free camp. They were in a small car and had a small 2
man tent. They took a dip in the very
cold river. Those crazy kids, good for
them.
Schreiner city park, junction, Tx
3/31/14 Second night we made it to Balmorhea, Tx and stayed in the
Balmorhea State Park. This area of West
Texas is more desert like, not any trees.
Although the park was nice enough we wouldn’t stay there for any amount
of time. One overnight was good for
us.
4/01/14Third day we made it to City of Rocks State Park about 25
miles north of Deming, New Mexico. It
was 50 miles or so out of our way (round trip) but worth the extra effort. The huge boulders were really something to
see. Driving out there the land was
flat, pasture like, no trees. Then the
last 2 miles in you go down into a bowl sort of and you see these huge rocks
all in one area. I’ll have to read up on
that to find out how that happened, it’s very unusual. The weather there was beautiful with a high
of 70 and low in the 40’s. We got
ourselves a dry camping spot right next to some boulders for $10 a night. It got so cold I had to turn on the propane
heater when we got up the next morning.
The wind blows very hard in this area, blowing dust everywhere. Thought about staying an extra night but the
wind was wearing us out.
City of Rocks State Park near Deming, New Mexico
4/02/14 We looked on line and found some Arizona BLM land near
Bowie, AZ. It’s called Indian Bread Rock
campground. You go down a dirt road
about 4 or 5 miles, the road was grated so we had to take it real slow, 8-15
miles per hour or it would shake your teeth out. But so worth it. We camped right at the base of a rock
mountain without a soul in sight. The
stars light up the dark night sky, so beautiful, but too cold to stay out for
very long after the sun went down. We
would have loved to stay longer but needed to get to Casa Grande to see my
friend for the weekend.
BLM dry camping near Bowie, AZ
I grew up in Coolidge, AZ and went to school with Vicki
since she moved there in 7
th grade.
Vicki lives in Casa Grande which is near Coolidge so we stayed in an RV
park within a few miles of her house.
There are tons of RV parks in
this area. The snow birds are starting
to head north so plenty of places to stay.
We saw a LOT of RV’s heading East on IH-10 when we were traveling
West. Vicki and I were best friends
through junior high and most of high school until I moved to Oklahoma. We lost touch for many years and reconnected
through social media several years ago.
Vicki and Cosme had a wonderful full day planned for us on
Saturday. We drove up to Montezuma’s
Castle in Camp Verde and toured the old Indian ruins. Then visited Montezuma’s Well and had lunch at
Harry’s Hideaway in Cornwall. All very cool places and the
weather could not have been more perfect.
On the way back we drove through Jerome, an old mining town with a lot
of character, circled down to Prescott Valley, made a side stop in the tiny
little town of Mayor then back down through Phoenix and home in Casa
Grande. Sunday we took it easy at Vicki
and Cosme’s house with lots of snacks, reminiscing about old times, watching tv
and eating Chinese take out. What a
wonderful weekend! Thanks so much Vicki
and Cosme!
Montezuma's Castle Indian Ruins
My bff Vicki
Vicki & Cosme
When we arrived here in Casa Grande on Friday one of the
landing gear legs broke when we were putting them down (the gears inside I
guess). We left the 5th wheel
hooked up to the camper the whole weekend.
Today, Monday, Norm went to the RV Repair store to get the part he
needed. We decided to stay an extra
night here to get that done along with laundry and grocery shopping. The weather is getting warmer and is getting
too hot to dry camp like we wanted out in West Arizona, near Quartzsite so
we’ve changed our plans a bit. We will
move over to Coolidge and stay a few days and possibly see a couple more old
high school friends before heading out to California.
