Desert Camping (In The Winter) – Phyllis

The reason we have an small RV is so that we can have heat and a bed off the ground. We like going to the provincial and national camp grounds and are quite accepting of no-service sites. When we do have access to power, it is a luxury. The places we camp tend to have large spots, trees, dirt roads and the occasional bear, deer, moose, mouse, squirrel or bird.  

This was our camp site in the Homolovi State Park near Winslow, Arizona. It is well off the highway, had a paved site, hot showers, heated WC. The park ranger was helpful, friendly, warned us about the weather front coming in, gave us information about the Petrified Forest and the meteor crater near Flagstaff. It’s a lovely park and we enjoyed our stay there. It was sparsely populated. We appreciated the trees that were planted at each site in an otherwise scrubby piece of land. The park exists because the remains of two Hopi Villages were  found in the area. One of them had as many as 700 rooms built into the village and archaeologists found evidence that the folks were building with adobe bricks before the arrival of the Spanish. Until this, it was believed the Spanish brought this knowledge to the Hopi people.

There were no bears, deer, moose, mice, squirrels or birds. Instead, this warning was posted in the shower. I was careful, though I think the venomous critters are hibernating. Our charming friend John tried to indicate otherwise at our last dinner with him. I intend to stick with my delusions.

Over the last two days we have been driving through the Tonto National Forest, White Mountain and San Carlos Apache reservations. There is one area where the road is at 7 and 8 percent grades as it winds down into a deep gorge with sharp curves and some hairpin turns. You feel as if you’re hanging on the side of the mountain. I checked the compass on my phone and know that we went down between 350 and 400 metres. We also had to climb back up the other side on roads with the same grade. We were very glad that we didn’t have a bigger RV in tow.

We are now in the Tucson area for a week. We are in a private facility which caters to both long-term and short-term stays. Its another type of camping. The site is a bit on the crowded side for our liking but all the neighbours were incredibly helpful. The lady next to us even offered the use of an adapter when we couldn’t hook up to the power. The fellow on the other side came out into the cold to tell us about “The Loop” in Tucson when he saw our bikes. When we were trying to squeeze our RV and vehicle into a spot the size of a tent site on Lido in Venice, the other campers were sympathetic, let us know how we could reach the owners to get a better site and complimented us on our ability and willingness to try a couple of tetris like arrangements to fit into the original spot. It is impossible to be outside without someone dropping by for a chat.

I had my first ride on my new ebike! It is very different than my road bike or mountain bike so I am having to adapt to being more upright and the weight of it. Ken had to make another adjustment on it – he’s the fellow with the allen keys and strength to do these tasks for me.  Hopefully tomorrow we can get out on the Loop on have a longer ride.