 |
| Chiracahua Hike |
We’re on the road again making the long trip back to
Michigan. And by long, I mean really long as we are adding a Northwest leg to
this trip so Joan can visit the Redwoods in California, the State of Oregon and
Washington and finally North Dakota. After that she, like me, will have visited
all 50 states.
But before I get
too far ahead of myself let’s finish up our last week in Tucson and our first
day on the road.
We did say good bye
to Walt McCandless at his memorial service (well, I did, Joan had to work at
her volunteer job at the resort health clinic). I didn’t know Walt well
personally but I knew of him and well enough to say hi to him when I saw him in
the resort. He was a tremendous keyboard player and we went to many dances over
the years where he was a key performer.
 |
| Big Balanced Rock |
Then Monday
afternoon we went to a birthday potluck party for my hiking friend Butch in the
resort courtyard.
Early Tuesday I
headed out with the Tuesday hiking group to do our annual end-of-the-year hike
in the Chiracahua Mountains. It is a beautiful hike that visits many unusual
rock formations unique to this area.
It was one of the
warmest days of the year so the hiking was a little more difficult than usual
for this 9-mile trek. This is one of my favorite hikes and this year did not
disappoint. The only downside of this hike is the 90-minute travel time each
way to Willcox.
I arrived back
just in time to meet Joan in the ballroom for our last Tuesday potluck dinner
of the season. The numbers of people attending just about everything is
dwindling but there was still plenty of food.
Two of my hiking
friends agreed to go on one more hike with me Wednesday to finish off my
season. Gayle, who winters her with her husband Rod from Saskatchewan, Canada,
and Dave, met me at 8 a.m. Wednesday and we headed to the Tucson Mountains to
hike the Brown Mountains. I did this hike earlier this year with Chuck, but
neither Gayle or Dave had done this hike previously so they were happy to go
with me.
 |
| Dave & Gayle on hike |
The show was a
tribute concert to the Righteous Brothers and a number of other classic 60s
groups. As usual the musicians and singers were great.
Joan and I are
both blessed with the many good friends we have met here at the Voyager over
the years. It is always with mixed feelings that we leave this place.
On Thursday, I
attended my last Men’s Bible Study, which on this day was our annual closing
breakfast. About 20 men attended and we said good by to my friend Roger who is
not coming back to the resort in the future. It was bitter sweet as he and his
wife seem happy with their decision to stay home and enjoy their great-grand
children for the next stage of their lives, but a lot of us are going to miss
them next year.
 |
| Gayle and me |
The rest of the
day was spent with Joan and I packing and preparing for the big getaway day on
Friday. Well, Joan also had a doctor’s appointment to get an allergy shot and
we both went to a local barber to get haircuts for the long ride home.
Friday, our final
day in the park started early. Preparing the trailer for travel requires dumping
the tanks for waste water and grey water, disconnecting cable tv, the water
supply line, the electric service, etc. I had to remove the tire covers and get
all the pins and equipment needed to hook up the trailer to the Tahoe.
We went to the
office and turned in our gate card and mail box key and then paid our final
electric bill to the park.
 |
| View from Brown Mountain summit |
Because we didn’t
cook breakfast in the trailer on Friday, after we dropped off the trailer I
took Joan to Waffle House for breakfast as she had never been to one before.
We took a drive around Saguaro East National Park to look at the super bloom of flowers. Joan had not been to the park during the season so we got her there on the last day of our trip.
The service took
most of the day so we went and saw a movie to kill some time. We saw “Glass”
which was an interesting psychological thriller which is the best way I can
describe it. The acting was great, the story was good, but weird.
Back at Camping World
we paid our bill, repacked the trailer (we have to leave stuff out of the
trailer so the service people can get at the water system for the
winterization) and then headed out on the first leg of our trip home.
 |
| Cactus flowers |
It was 82 when we
left Tucson and the Michigan State versus LSU game was on the radio so we
listened to the game as we headed to our first stop – dinner in Casa
Grande. We always stop at Mimi’s Restaurant
because there is a very large and empty parking lot next to the restaurant
where we can safely park the truck and trailer while we eat.
After dinner we
headed to Phoenix to top off the gas tank on the Tahoe and begin the long drive
up the “hill” to Flagstaff. As we have for the past few years we drive to the
last rest area before Flagstaff on I-17 where we sleep in the trailer until
early the next morning.
 |
| Desert blooms |
We tucked the rig
between two grumbling semi-trucks (drivers leave their engines running all
night because of the cold temperatures) and went to sleep. We were up early and
left the rest area at 5:59 a.m.
From the rest area
it is only another hour and 3,000-feet of elevation until we arrive at our
storage lot outside Flagstaff.
It takes about an
hour to go through our checklist and get the trailer stored for the summer. It was particularly difficult this morning
because temperatures were in the low 20s which made it hard to work my hands.
But we successfully stored the trailer and were on our way.
After storing the trailer we headed to the
nearby Pilot station to top off the Tahoe and as I pulled in the driveway of
the station two men were trying to push a car up an incline so I parked my car
jumped out and helped them push. Another guy ran up and we were able to get the
car up next to a pump.
 |
| Camping with the semis |
One area along I-40
is designated “Safety Corridor” and you are warned that there is zero tolerance
for violations. I just have one question, why wouldn’t every road be a “safety
corridor.” There was a sign that said “End of Safety Corridor.” I told Joan I guess I can drive recklessly
now.
Another thing that
confused me this morning is that the agricultural inspection station along I-40
just inside the California border was fully manned this morning. Traffic was
backed up and in the past they have always asked whether we had citrus fruit in
the car. This time they just slowed traffic down and then passed everyone
through.
 |
| Welcome to California |
At least give me
the chance to lie about the fact that I don’t have any citrus fruit in the car.
(We did have citrus fruit in the car, but they never bothered to ask us about
it). So explain to me why bother with four lanes of inspectors if no one even
is going to ask a question and just pass everyone through.
At one of the rest areas we stopped at in California there was a lone violinist playing his/her heart out to no one. I snapped a photo because I thought it was a typical California type incident.
 |
| Anti-toilet paper theft device |
Thefts of toilet paper must be a major problem at rest areas because the extreme measures folks have gone to to prevent these thefts are amazing. I snapped a photo today of a contraption meant to thwart toilet paper thieves.
I avoided a running
road rage incident along California 58 by backing off and letting the idiots
run ahead of us.
The wildflowers in
the Mojave Desert are incredible this year with wide fields of yellow and
purple flowers everywhere.
Time out at Voyager Friday morning: 9:01 a.m.
Mileage out: 7453
Time out at Tucson Camping World: 5:15 p.m.
Time in at I-17 Rest Area near Prescott: 10:14 p.m.
 |
| Fiddler in the Rest Area |
Time out of Rest Area: 5:59 a.m.
Time in to Storage Lot: 7 a.m.
Mileage in to Storage lot: 7793
Time out of Storage lot: 7:57 a.m.
Time in Bakersfield: 4 p.m.
Mileage in to Bakersfield 8281
No comments:
Post a Comment