Ajo to Why

Yep, there is a town in AZ called Why. Don't know why but there is.
This morning we drove downtown to go to church. After church we drove to the Darby Road BLM Disbursed Camping Area. Darby Wells Road is a well maintained dirt road that starts just south of Ajo then takes about a five mile loop back to Ajo all around the old copper mine. A very scenic area. Hills, saguaro & other types of cactus & a good view of the old copper mine. I stopped to check out a campsite for the night when two guys came walking out of the brush. Gopher went right after them with her barking & growling. They walked away. I got back in the camper and we continued on. We don't mind camping in the boondocks within reason but common sense must prevail. Gopher earned her keep today.
We continued on to Why to the Gunsite Wash BLM Disbursed Camping Area. Not as pretty as Darby Wells but there are other campers here. Mostly creosote bushes and a few scattered cactus. There is actually a campground host here. The locals call this camping area Canada Wash because it's favored by the Canadians.
Another very nice day.
Now I know why Why is called Why and not Y. Here is why;
"The name of the town originates from the original Y intersection of State Highways Route 85 and 86. At the time of its naming, Arizona law required all city names to have at least three letters, so the town's founders named the town "Why" as opposed to simply calling it "Y." The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) later removed the old Y-intersection for traffic safety reasons and built the two highways in a conventional T-intersection south of the original intersection."

Ajo, AZ

This morning we headed south on AZ 85 to Ajo. Stopped at an overlook for the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range. Very interesting. It's used as a training area for pilots of all services. In Ajo we stopped at the St. Jude Shrine. We were thinking perhaps a church or something. Actually it is a small adobe structure with a variety of statues, pictures, etc. From there we went to the downtown square. The old RR station is still there. Drove to the "New" Cornelia Open Pit Mine overlook. This is a copper mine that thrived until about 1916. Unfortunately the mine visitor center, the city historical museum and the city welcome center are all closed on the weekend. Seems like a strange time to close to me. I would think the weekend would be when the area would get the most visitors.
We camped at a Pima County Park, the Ajo Regional Park/Campground. Free. Ramadas, trash collection & pit toilets. The GPS unit shows us camped on a river. Actually it's the Sikort Chuapo Wash. It likely only contains water after a big storm. I don't think I would like to be here during such a storm; the "road" through the campground is pretty crude.
Took another picture a minute ago. It's the one in the upper right hand corner with a mountain on each side and a huge flat spot in between. The flat spot, was at one time, a large mountain full of copper. A smelting plant was built into the side of the mountain and fed as the mountain was cut down from top to bottom. Amazing.

Continuing our journey East

We said our goodbyes about 9:00. We hadn't been gone for an hour when we were both wishing we had stayed for the weekend. Oh well. We'll see some of our new friends at the Southwest LD GTG in Benson at the end of February. We stopped in Buckeye off I-10 for a much needed Wal-Mart & grocery store run. There is a Fry's Grocery store in Buckeye. Well worth a stop. Excellent deli, bakery, meat dept., etc. They also have a gas station with the cheapest has in town. $2.95/gallon.
After Buckeye we headed south on AZ 85 to Gila Bend. In Gila Bend is a Holt's Shell station. They have a free dump/water fill, propane & an RV park. Escapees pay 1/2 price in the park. For only $13.58 we had a FHU site. There is a laundry in the park. $1.00/load of wash, $.75/dryer. A very good price. If you don't want to part with $13.58 you can camp for free behind the gas station. After being in the desert for ten days, we enjoyed the luxury of electricity, water and our own personal dump station. Gave the tanks a much needed cleaning & drained the water tank. We're all ready for another ten days of boondocking.
Tomorrow we head south on Hwy 85. No special destination.

The end of Q

Last night, our friends Frank & Cookie, and Buddy the dog, showed up. Hadn't seen them since the Balloon Fiesta in 2008. Jim & Gayle left this morning. Jim's not feeling real well so they are heading to Phoenix where better medical facilities are available should they be needed.
We took one last trip into town today. There is a very interesting area across the highway from the McDonald's. Lots of antiques, collectibles, etc. Had lunch at Sweet Madeline's Restaurant & Bakery. Basic American style menu. Reasonable prices, good quality plus a nice bakery.
"Q" was very interesting; we're glad we came. Now when people talk of Q we'll understand what it's all about. It was on our list of must see places, but I don't think we'll coming back. We had the pleasure of camping with some really nice people.

Here who was there:
Roger Nickey the organizer and amazing cook. His wife is still working so she stayed home. We agreed that's not all bad. Someone had to support the Social Security system at least until we all die.
Jerry (Budster) Galang & Gidget the dog. Also left working wife home.
Jim & Gayle Cummings. Full Timers from Pensacola, FL.
Jerry & Ann Marcus. Full Timers on their way to Alaska.
David & Mary Gardner. David is a professional photographer. He's doing a photo essay on RV'ers. Carol & I are going to be in the book.
Jim Melvin. A Full Timer we had previously met at Crater Lake. Jim was an Eagle Scout!!
Rick & Annie Olson & Dweezel the Dog from CA. Annie was the resident nurse.
Frank & Cookie Kebelman & their dog Buddy. We first met them at the Balloon Fiesta in 2008. Frank is a retired Marine colonel. Cookie is an amazingly skilled Jill-of-all-Trades. She's made some incredible improvements to their LD.
Plus another handful of LD owners stopped by to say hello.

Q Days 5 & 6

Monday early I was walking Gopher and stopped to talk to our "neighbor" Gayle Cummings. She was on the way to the hospital in Blyth, CA with Jim. He was having abdominal pains. Turned out to be gall stones.
While walking this morning, Gopher made a dog friend. Turns out the dogs owner was from FL.
About 9:00am on Monday, we ventured into town with the camper. First stop, the great bakery. Again. Need to stop that I suppose although we can't really come up with a good reason why. Parking for an RV is really tough. I had heard about Rice Ranch from an Escapee so we went there. Turned out to be an excellent tip. There is a very large, level dirt parking lot with easy access to the sidewalks along the main streets. About a two block walk to the Big Tent. The array of stuff for sale is beyond imagination. Acres & acres of stuff. We were in the market for LED lights, a comfortable stadium for Carol and five of the MicroFiber Chenille Sponges. $1.50 each. They do an amazing job at cleaning smudges off computer screens. Carol wanted some as gifts for her friends. About 3:00 we got back in line to dump our tanks and top off the water tank. About 45 minutes.
We met three other Lazy Daze couples today. One couple we had met at the Northwest LD GTG we went to last summer.
All in all, another wonderful day.

Q Days 3 & 4

Woke up to 34* this morning. Can't go much further south around here and still be in the US. Some of the people here were telling us about the super deals they get on meds. & eye glasses in Mexico. You don't even need a prescription for the meds. We've talked about Mexico but simply have no interest. Money is not that tight.

We drove into town today and found a wonderful local bakery. After that we just poked around here & there. Parking for the camper is starting to get tight and traffic is picking up. The RV show starts tomorrow. We went to La Posa South where there is a dump station and water fill. First we parked and took long showers then joined the line to dump the tanks and fill with water. We were #15 in line. It took about 45 minutes but we used the time to clean the camper and rearrange some drawers. The old hands at Q said from 45 minutes to an hour is about the norm. There are two dump stations and four water fills.

On the way back, we stopped to visit with two good Escapee friends who are from Florida; Sue & George. George is in his mid-90's, he's a bit wobbly and has macular degeneration, but he's still traveling. Sue does the driving. They just came back from Alaska!!.

Another warm & sunny afternoon.

Q days 1 & 2

We arrived in Quartzite on Tuesday the 18th after making our final WalMart & grocery store stop. There are no reasonably priced grocery stores in Q. There are two main streets in Q. Highway 95 and Kuehn Road. Both streets are absolutely jammed with vendors of everything you could imagine. We parked at the Tyson Wells area. They had a lot big enough for an RV plus the ground was solid enough for Carols scooter. Spent an hour or so just looking around at stuff of all sorts. Rocks, gems & minerals are especially big. In the picture with Carol & the rocks, the large crystal looking rock had a price tag of $800!!. My father would have really liked this place. He used to bring home rocks from his trips and cut & polish them.
We bought some "amazing, dry anything, wipe up any spill, etc., etc" rags for $4.50. I'm half surprised;they actually do work pretty well.
Later in the day we went to the La Posa West LTVA (Long Term Visitor Area) and bought a 14 day permit for $40. The permit is mandatory but is accepted at all local BLM sites so we'll get our $40's worth. Roger, who organized this GTG, picked the campsite. It was OK if you had a car like he did, but very inconvenient if, like most everyone, you didn't. It was a long way on dusty pot-hole filled dirt roads from where the events take place. Carols scooter will never work from here and it's probably a two mile walk. There were better choices readily available. Oh well, live & learn. Should we come here again, we'll know where to go.
We met up with the owners of seven other Lazy Daze. In a few days, there should be about ten rigs here. On Wednesday, we all went out to lunch at the Grubstake Social Club. They are known for their fried fish dinner. It was both huge and wonderful. We are thoroughly enjoying the company of such a nice group of people.
The weather is just perfect. Clear & sunny with about 70* during the day & 50 at night. Each evening we had a fire. Tonight the moon is full. Just gorgeous.

Heading towards "Q"

Time to move on. We drove to Lake Havasu this morning. Went to WalMart, Basra's and Safeway in search of some good prepared salads. This Safeway was a winner. Just like the one near Alex's house. A great deli, bakery, fresh veggies, etc. After that we did laundry and topped off the propane tank. From now on, we won't be having any more electrical connections for quite a time. All the camping around "Q" is boondocking. Right now we're at The Crossroads BLM campground just north of Parker,AZ but on the CA side of the Colorado River. $2.50/night !!! with the Geezer Card. Our site is under a shade tree with an unobstructed view of the Colorado River. Doesn't get much better then this.
Tomorrow we drive to "Q" to meet up with some other Lazy Daze owners.

Moabi Regional Park

We're at the San Bernandino County Moabi Regional Park just south of Needles, CA. What a great find. The Peninsula sites are on a series of cul-de-sacs on the bank of the Colorado River. It's us and one other couple. Very private & quiet with a perfect view of the river. We have our own private piece of sandy beach. Gopher just loves it. She just runs free. Our neighbors live in northern California. They just finished a six year sail boat tour of North & South America and now travel in a 5th wheel. A very interesting couple.
When we arrived on Thursday, yesterday, I paid for two nights. This place is so nice, Gopher & I walked to the office and paid for two more. We'll continue our trek south on Monday. The weather has improved. Very windy, but blue skies and warm. Just perfect.
Mom called today. She wanted the phone number of the Realtor who is selling her condo. which, of course, sold about a year ago. This is not the first time we've had this conversation. The three recurring themes of these calls are the condo. or that she's not getting any mail or not getting a bank statement. I'm getting used to this type of call. She very agitated , carries on for perhaps a minute then hangs up. After talking to her doctor, these calls are a sign of dementia which will, with time, progress into Alzheimer's. The calls no longer upset me like they used to. Ginny was supposed to look after Mom when we were traveling this winter but, true to form, she's mostly consumed with her horses.
There is a very active train track about a mile to the west. Today I saw a train pulled by seven locomotives; the most I've ever seen. Used Carol's iPad Bird ID app. to identify an American Coot and a Gambrel's Quail. Do you know what a bunch of quail are called? A battery, drift, flush, rout or shake of quails. At home we have lots of Painted Buntings. A group of Painted Buntings is called a pallet of buntings.
There are some sparrow like birds around as well as hummingbirds. None would sit still long enough to be ID'ed.

Death Valley National Park

We got to The Tire Man store just before 8:00am. Had four tires installed on the rear, plus the long valve extensions. The work was completed by 10 and we headed out to Death Valley. The drive was interesting. We passed through the Searles Valley. It’s an area of potash and borax production. All around the various processing plants small company towns have grown up. I suspect virtually everyone in the area works for Searles Minerals.
We stayed at the Furnace Creek Campground in the Death Valley NP; $9/night. We had high hopes of touring the large Visitor Center/Museum. Regrettably, it’s closed for renovation until the Summer of 2012. Tomorrow we’ll visit the Borax Museum. Another chilly, cloudy day. Never saw the sun and the temperature never got much above 50*. On the other hand, these temps sure beat 120* in the summer. Some nights during the summer, it never gets below 100*. Can you just imaging the borax laborers misery during the summer. The laborers were Chinese. They got paid $1.30/day minus a bed rent and minus food bought from the Company Store!! What do you suppose they netted from their $1.30?

Death Valley NP is the hottest, driest and lowest NP in America.

When we got up today, Carol wasn't feeling well again. Her health is so fragile it worries me. We're going to talk later about whether it's best to continue the trip or head home. Either way, from now on, I'll only camp in areas with cell phone service and a hospital in the area.

On the way out of the park, we drove to Badwater Basin to see the lowest point in North America. Look at the picture that shows the cliff with the small white sign. The sign is at sea level.
We saw a coyote standing by the edge of the road. What a pretty animal. I know you're not supposed to feed the wildlife but I couldn't resist. I threw him a few of Gophers dog biscuits out the window.
We spent the night at an Escapee RV Park in Parhump, NV.