Sometimes You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs to Find a...Toad!

February 2, 2015

Heard that Puxatawny Phil saw his shadow today. Not a lot of hoopla about it in Florida. Big news is a freeze warning here for tonight. We completed our mad dash across the country yesterday morning. Once we are in traveling mode Greg turns into an automaton and we push back east. Our longest day this past week was over 500 miles, and that is going 55 mph.


We left Kofa Wildlife Refuge on Monday morning and hit rain as we drove south to Yuma and then east across I-8 towards Tucson. The long stretches crossing the Arizona desert need something to break up the ride, so between Yuma and Tucson we stopped again at Dateland. After running into Winnie from our Quartzsite rally, who was heading to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to meet up with several other single women from the rally, we went inside and indulged in our first date shakes. Yummy, but SO sweet, and the date chunks clogged the straw! We sampled the dates and made a purchase that included Pecan Date Pie. Greg's all time favorite desert is pecan pie, so we had to try it.

Another Glorious Kofa sunset!

Date Shakes count as a vegetable!

Back on I-8 we pushed on through Tucson and arrived after dark in Lordsburg, New Mexico. We parked in our customary spot at the visitor center, (this is our third stop here), and spent the night listening to the trucks and trains. They have outside water hydrants, so we filled our jugs before heading out the next morning. Sunny skies greeted us as we rolled into Deming. With I-10 being the main route crossing southern New Mexico, we find ourselves in Deming as we travel both east and west, so we are getting to know the town. Time to catch up on 36 days worth of laundry! A little hand-washing of our unmentionables got us through. I think I am carrying way too many clothes with me. I could have gotten by another two weeks with pants and tops.


We hit Walmart for food, bought fuel, propane, and found The Patio open. Yay! Finally good green chili cheeseburgers! We indulged and then drove to Rockhound State Park and hoped that we would get in. This is definitely one of our favorite parks, and we are seeing it fill up quicker than the last two years. Arriving at 3 pm got us an overflow spot in the group campsite, squeezed in next to a truck camper. We had water and electric and a view of the valley. This was our fourth visit, the second consecutive time in the overflow. We may have to make reservations if we go there in the future.

Green Chile Cheeseburger and sweet potato fries!

Sunset from Rockhound State Park. Never seen a magenta sunset before.

Wednesday began the long grind to get across Texas. There is no getting around Texas this time of year. Going north leaves you open to bad weather, so I-10 across Texas is the route. We stopped in El Paso to check out El Paso Saddleblankets after seeing their billboards on several trips through the city. We bought a couple small items, but passed on the rugs, pillow covers, pottery, saddles, furniture, and assorted knick-knacks; all Mexican, Western, or Native American themed.

Mexican sinks

We need a MUCH bigger RV to fit this!

Texas-sized bed set

Hood Ornament?

How to flatter your guests...Bar stools

Just about as comfortable as it looks.

It was getting late in the day before we found a Texas rest stop east of Van Horn. Texas allows over-nighting in their rest areas since services are so scare, especially in the western part of the state. It was the typical noisy night with trucks coming and going. We left early the next morning for another push. By nightfall we reached a rest stop east of San Antonio. Big, beautiful new rest area with lined out areas for RV's and separate ones for trucks. Nice, until a trucker decided to park in an RV spot right behind us, take his mandatory overnight, and ran his engine AND generator all night. He left just before we did in the morning. Can't say anything and we had nowhere else to move to. (Note from Greg – The truck driver must have known that the rest area would fill up. By midnight, every truck slot was filled and trucks were double-parked in every access and exit lane.)


Thursday we finally finished with Texas as we cruised into Louisiana, but not before stopping for a fuel fill-up at the famous Buc-ees. We had seen the chain and read about them, so Greg had to see it for himself. They are spreading all over Texas and seem bent on world domination! The WalMart of the travel world! They had literally dozens of fuel pumps, dozens of fancy, clean bathrooms, and a huge travel store/fast food/souvenir shop. Lots of food, already prepared or made to order, including BBQ, and plenty of clothing, home decor and souvenirs to spend money on. Greg settled for fuel, coffee, and a kaloche pastry. We both sampled their luxurious restrooms, and we were done. We had been Buc-ee'd.

One of two Texas-sized fuel islands

Bathroom decor

Tasteful knickknacks

Lunch Stop at the Un-Buc-ees: 4 Corners BBQ in Baytown, TX - Wonderful brisket and chicken!

Louisiana loomed flat and wet. The rice fields were flooded and raising crawfish until Spring. We stopped for the night in Rayne, the Frog Capital of the World. The fairgrounds where the Frog Festival is held has over 700 campsites! We were one of two campers. The sign said the fee for hook-ups was $20. We wanted a quiet night after the last few. There was no office, nowhere to leave the money, and no one to collect it. We spent the night, and the next morning appreciated the generosity of the town. Never did pay.


The next day we made the over 500 mile push through the rest of Louisiana, across Mississippi, and Alabama and into Florida. We found a Flying J west of Tallahassee where we stayed on our first journey west in 2013. Greg celebrated by visiting Denny's for breakfast the next morning. Then we continued on to Jacksonville and made a bee-line for CarMax.

Of course, we stopped at the visitor's center for orange juice.

We needed to buy a towed vehicle, or Toad as they are referred to in the RVing lingo. This CarMax location looked like it might have one to meet our specifications. We have to tow something light and manual, so a small car with a stick shift. They had a Toyota Yaris, and nothing else, but it was just what we needed and priced right. So, actually, we didn't need to kiss (test drive) a lot of frogs in order to find our toad! Now we are positioned to spend periods of time volunteering or work camping in one spot. The car will give us the freedom to explore an area on our days off, and run errands easily. For now we will be using it to travel to Maryland on family business for the next month or so, while we store the RV in Florida.

Looks kinda like a toad...

After our purchase we drove to our “home” of Green Cove Springs to our mail forwarder to pick up mail, and then south to Faver-Dykes State Park. Tomorrow we will make arrangements to store the RV and then in a few days drive north. We are trying to time our drive to miss the storms that have been hitting the Mid-Atlantic. We'll probably be out of communication for a while as we tend to family business, but expect to be back on the road sometime in March, and have news about where we will be working/volunteering for the summer. In the meantime, enjoy some of our older posts. I have been going back and reliving some amazing travels. Don't know if it is age or overload, but I have already forgotten so much!

KOFA National Wildlife Refuge Boondocking

January 25, 2015

Well, we got bored with La Posa South LTVA in Quartzsite and decided to leave before our 14 day permit expired. Last year after the rally we were content to sit tight at the end of the road for the rest of our pass. Cheap camping and all, you know...It was nice to just sit in the desert and soak up the warmth and Greg explored the ridges to the south on his mountain bike. We had several more months of exploring the West still ahead of us last year, so staying longer was okay. This year we are heading back to Maryland very soon for “family business”, and wanted to boondock in a new spot before we start the long drive back.

Impressive saguaros near our La Posa South campsite.

Our "shady" Palo Verde

Large bird nest, maybe a thrasher or a small hawk

Our campsite along the narrow track.

Greg did a few more bike rides, but I mostly sat in the RV. The weather turned colder and very windy. When I would venture out, I got short of breath from the blowing dust. No fun...So Friday we stowed our gear, drove to the dump and water station, and drove away from Quartzsite down Route 95 to the south. Last year we boondocked a night at KOFA National Wildlife Refuge not far down the road. We took the road in to Palm Canyon again. Check our post from last winter when we had a great hike up the canyon to the only native palms in Arizona, and found a spot for the night along the road next to a lava flow.   Palm Canyon, Mittry Lake, and California at Last!

After checking out the area again and seeing how busy it was, and electing not to take the side road to a new area, that is recommended for four wheel drive, we ate a quick lunch in the rig. Then we drove back out to Route 95 and took the road east at Stone Cabin to the Kings Valley area. We drove along the dusty, but recently graded and wide road back 7 miles. Turning around we drove back a few miles and found a good level spot slightly off the roadway and settled in. A bit later two RV's pulling trailers with ATV's pulled in across the road from us. What? This is a huge refuge with lots of isolated places to boondock. Not many people are back here, and they decide to park across the road...Well, they weren't very smart. They were on the downwind side up the road and the few vehicles that drove past dusted them thoroughly from the strong winds roiling across the desert.


We stayed through the night and yesterday morning Greg rode a side road to the Horse Tanks. This area is filled with old mines, and livestock and wildlife watering holes. Just like in Quartzsite, he fought the wind the whole way. When he returned he suggested we change sites. The big Class A rig had left the great spot on the crest of the hill, and we quickly packed up and drove a mile back towards 95, and snagged a prime spot. Now we have a ridge behind us, and a commanding view of the valley in both directions. This ridge has a lot of cholla cacti that drop their prickly branch tips on the ground to start new plants. We've been picking cactus spines out of our soles!

Horse Tank, one of 4 natural rainwater traps about 4 miles up a jeep trail from our camp. This is a former (Pleistocene age?) waterfall plunge pool about 60 feet across.

Deer and mountain sheep come to the tanks for water and grass.

Indian grinding holes in the flat ryolite outcrop below Horse Tank.

Inside the grinding hole

Campsite with a great view into the valleys on either side of the pass.

Our knee-high forest of Jumping Cholla.

Small barrel cactus with red spines

We had no neighbors for more than a mile!

Our "backyard" - See Greg in the orange shirt climbing our mountain!

Cholla Fruit

Lava tube cave stuffed full of cholla spines to protect the resident packrats.

It has been warm enough at night to leave the blinds up and not put the insulation in the windows, so we can see the stars all night. The desert is very quiet here, and the only light besides the early setting crescent moon is a soft glow on the horizon from Yuma in one direction and Phoenix in the other. The sun set last night behind a jagged ridge, and even though it was cloudless, the sky had a orange glow from the dust blowing all day. The opposite hills faded from pink, to mauve, to deep purple as the light disappeared.
 

Looking east across the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. The King of Arizona Mine is in the distant range.

Another view of our "neighborhood" in the late afternoon sun. White spot is our RV.

Sunset shadows racing across the valley floor.

Alpenglow on the mountains behind our camp.

Sunset over the Castle Dome Mountains

  Greg is out exploring new dirt tracks on his bike and we will stay tonight and head out tomorrow. We plan to drive to Yuma and then east on I-8 and cross all of Arizona tomorrow. The next day will be a stop in Deming, New Mexico to do a mountain of laundry, get some goods back into the fridge, and try once again to find green chili cheeseburgers at The Patio!

Heading down the jeep trail on a 25-mile loop.

 

Heading south into the Castle Dome Mountains

The Proverbial Fork in the Road - Only one way home.