ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!......Sunday morning 1/29 about 10 AM we left Rockhound State Park and headed west on hwy. 10, then north on 191 to the little town of Safford and our nearby destination, Roper Lake State Park. We stayed at Roper last year and really enjoyed it. The views are beautiful and there are some good trails available to explore with the pups.   

As we rolled down the road we remembered that several years ago Steve had seen a posting on an RV discussion board for job opportunity in the area we were passing through. It was a "help wanted ad" for someone to help with the construction work of restoring a ghost town. The posting included an opportunity for someone to organize and index documents related to the town. It would have been right up our alley, but we still had jobs at the time. Steve said he remembered hearing the man who owned the town had been murdered a few years ago. Our route took us right by the location so we stopped there for lunch and to check out the town itself. 

The town is situated on a narrow strip of land in between Hwy.10 and the railroad line, past which there are dirt roads leading out into the desert. 

The "ghost town" of Steins (or Steens) is a small collection of buildings and adobe ruins, some in their original locations and others having been moved in or reassembled in the spaces between. The Wikipedia article provides the historic background. 

The area is now fenced, and looks very neglected, so photos had to be taken from the outside of the area. The town location is actually right on the highway, and traffic is busy these days, so it's tricky to get a shot with no trucks in the background. 

Unfortunately, between the fence and my short stature I couldn't get decent photos that weren't covered just rooftops covered in sagebrush, so try an areal view on Google maps. You can click on satellite in the layers choices and then zoom in to get a better idea of what is actually in the little town. 

Legends of America has the backstory of the town's current state and the story of the attempted restoration is intriguing. It seems we have a second murder mystery on this trip!

We arrived at Roper Lake State Park about 2 PM and settled in to the same spot we'd been assigned for our last visit. We have a perfect view of the mountains and the snowy cap on the highest peaks made for beautiful contrast. 

These are the   Pinaleno Mountains.

The name of the range reflects the pine trees growing on it's slopes. They make for a very picturesque background with the shadows constantly changing with the movement of the sun, and the glistening snow on Mt. Graham. 

We enjoy this campground for many reasons. The scenery is one reason, the trails another, and it's really quiet. Though fishing is allowed here, this time of year there doesn't seem to be much of that activity, and it's still chilly so the birdwatching is at a minimum too. The lake and the picnic area on the little island that extends out into it make for a nice viewing area. The park is popular pretty much year round, and based on difficulty getting reservations it must be full every night. As with all campgrounds anymore reservations are a necessity. 

We pull out this morning, we'll be moving to Lost Dutchman State Park for our next stop. 

The three hour drive to Lost Dutchman State Park wanders through Apache land, several small towns, and some beautiful scenery. 

The rocky formations in this area are not only beautiful, they are rich in minerals. We passed several large copper mines, and then the Magma Mine, originally named the Silver Queen. 

This is the deepest mine in the state. There are 36 levels, with levels every 100 feet in the upper 2000 feet, and then every 2000 feet apart down to 4800 feet. The article linked above provides the history of the mine. 

We arrived at our site in Lost Dutchman State Park around 1:30 and wasted no time getting settled in. 

A cactus wren perched atop a cactus and welcomed us to the neighborhood with a song, and there were humming birds darting about in the shrubs. What a lovely beginning to our stay!

Our site is nestled up against the rocky slope at the base of Superstition Mountain and we have a terrific view of saguaros and other native vegetation. The site has a short path leading directly to the trail that encircles the park. 

The view out our door is perfect. Due to the way the sites are laid out we have a clear view of the mountain behind us, with no interference from other camp sites.

We spent the afternoon getting settled and trying out some of the many trails around the park. Everywhere you go there are striking scenes of giant saguaros, bushy cholla cactus and red mountains with fascinating erosion patterns. There was a bit of haze in the air, but as the sun moved and changed the shadows the effect was still fascinating. 

We'll do a little exploring in the area tomorrow, so tune in again for that report. 

Heading to Arizona

 SAY HI! BEFORE YOU DIE 

We are heading to Glendale AZ for a reunion with a bunch of guys I (Steve) worked with at Orange County Sheriffs Dept. over 50 yrs. ago. This trip will include stops at state parks in Arizona and a trip to Palm Desert to visit Daph's relatives.  We are traveling in the trailer with the dogs.

We haven't been out in the trailer since February of last year, when we met with the same crowd in Arizona, so we had some work to do. The trailer is a 2003 model and is showing some wear.  The refer died and I replaced it with a 12 volt unit.  Of course this required a upgrade of our solar system and batteries.  This hopefully will allow some limited boondocking as the sun will allow.

We left Central TX on 1/23  We normally stay at the South Llano State Park when we're headed west, but it is closed for hunting several days in January. This time we stayed stayed at North Llano RV Park in Junction, TX. The park is on the river which makes a nice place to walk the dogs and during the summer it is probably pretty scenery, but the weather for us was a cold dreary, both the drive and all day after we set up camp. We were stuck in a space in the back as we had a discount pass.  With the discount the cost was $27.50.  The normal price ranges from $50 to $70 a night. The prices have gotten out of hand!  Be warned that I will probably complain a lot about the prices of camp grounds and the need to make reservations months in advance.  This is the result of Covid and late blooming boomers coming onto the RV scene.

On the 24th we spent the night at Saddle Back Mountain RV park in Balmorhea, TX.  It is an RV adjacent to a truck stop.  Only $20 a night. Again, the state park in the area is closed during this time. The spaces here are large, and there are plantings of native cactus and small trees between each. We've stayed here before and it suits the purpose, in addition to having a lot of space for walking dogs.

The landscape here is wide open and makes for a good view of sunsets and in this case, the almost full Wolf Moon.  

Just as we were getting ready to leave in the morning we discovered a nature trail on the outer row of RV spaces. We'll check that out next time. The sign says there are maps of the trail in the "office" but we've never seen the office open! They've always had a self-check in procedure. 

1/25 - Today we're are finally out of Texas!  It takes 2 1/2 days to leave the state (We only average 250 miles a day)  We're now settled in at Rockhound State Park in New Mexico for 3 nights.  This is one of our favorite places, both for the scenery and the campground itself. Really spacious sites, lots of vegetation around each site, all carefully maintained, and a beautiful display of sunsets over the town of Deming every evening. 

This park actually has two separate units, the second being Spring Canyon. This area is more rugged and has no services, but offers interesting and challenging trails and some excellent photo opportunities. 

In the morning we took a short drive up into the canyon and did a bit of exploring, but the chilly wind discouraged further adventuring.... that would be more fun on a warmer day!

We did make a quick stop beside the road after leaving the Spring Canyon section, but before returning to the main park. 

Steve noticed a roadside memorial, so I hopped out of the truck and walked over to inspect it. 

The photo below is all we could see from the road.  When I walked to the center of the arrangement there was an amazing collection of objects, all carefully positioned and some protected by low edging, like a flowerbed might have. Some of the items were religious, some cute toy type things, the neat paths were lined with stones, and at the very end a small plaque with a photo of a young woman and a name. 

I did a little research and found a rather sketchy story, the makings of a book if one were so inclined. Lots of mystery but no real answers as to what happened, why the memorial is located here close to the park, and why there were no comments anywhere online about the husband. What little I discovered is attached to her photo in the album for this post... you'll have to go there to find out what few facts I uncovered!

The town of Deming is only about 13 miles away, so close enough to hop over for a good Mexican dinner and a little sightseeing. We planned to visit the  Deming Luna Mimbres Museum, but it seems they have closed for the time being and no details were available on the reason or when they'd open again. So we did a little shopping and then moved on to an early dinner. 

At the suggestion of the campground host we tried Irma's Restaurant, a homey little place in downtown Deming. The street itself is interesting with murals and other art objects depicting the culture and history of the area. The food at Irma's was plentiful and really good! 

We were back at camp early enough for a walk with the dogs before they had their dinner, then enjoyed the ever changing sunset. This one hit a cherry-red stage just before the sun sank over the horizon, but the photo just doesn't do it justice. 

Tomorrow we pack up and head for Roper State Park in Arizona.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

 Happy Holidays!

We hope this letter finds you and your friends and family enjoying the season in good health and enjoying all the seasonal festivities. We are doing well, still enjoying life here in Texas.

Kendra and the boys came down with Covid last year just a few days before Christmas, so our 2022 Christmas happened in January of this year….better late than never!  This January 14 photo seems like a long time ago and both boys have grown a lot since it was taken.  

We started the year off with a dose of real winter.  February brought us an ice storm like we have never seen before. While the icicles hanging from fences and bird feeders were very decorative, the weight caused a lot of damage to some of our largest trees. Following the storm we had to deal with the cleanup of huge broken limbs and in some cases, whole trees that simply snapped and fell.  Mother Nature is always providing us with “opportunities”. I wish she’d stop with the opportunities! The storm did give us an appreciation for the normally mild winters we typically have. 

The storm cleared out just in time for a planned trip, to California to visit family, and then to Arizona for a reunion with friends we hadn’t seen for a several years. We spent several days in Long Beach, visiting Steve’s mother 

at the assisted living center where she lived, and several of our siblings who also live in Long Beach. We took our time as we traveled, staying in several state parks and enjoying some beautiful spring scenery. 

Our big project in May was the installation of an above-ground pool at Kendra’s house. The boys eagerly awaited the day it would be filled up, and wasted no time jumping in as soon as they could. It kept them busy most of the summer. 

In August we took the boys to a Jurassic World Live performance.  They love the movies, and Raylan (now 10 years old) is our special expert on dinosaurs, so they really enjoyed the pre-show opportunity to see some of the “performers” like this animated triceratops, and get close to some of the props like the Jeep featured in the performance. Jaxen (now 12 years old), the mechanical one, seemed especially fascinated by the movement of sets and the mechanics of the dinosaurs. The show had something for everyone!

Unfortunately Kendra’s health took a real hit this year, beginning in late March with a broken ankle. Other issues followed, resulting in a combined total of about 10 weeks in the hospital between March and September.  

She’s finally back on track, feeling much better, and was able to don her Dia De Los Muertos costume and join the boys for Halloween festivities.   

Steve’s mom passed away in early November, just 4 days after her 95th birthday.  We were so glad we had been able to spend time with her during our spring visit.  She had been in hospice care for quite some time, so it wasn’t unexpected, but we still miss our daily afternoon phone calls with her. She had a good life, and always had a positive attitude and loved keeping up with all the relatives and college football, especially the Ducks! 

The last (but certainly not the least!) noteworthy event of the year was December 8, when we celebrated our 50th anniversary!  An easy accomplishment when you marry your best friend!

We’re looking forward to 2024, with new projects, better health for Kendra, and hopefully a little traveling.  We hope the New Year has good things in store for you too! 

Merry Christmas, from us, and our Elves!