April 6, 2017 by Lee and Tracy

First Time at Usery Mountain Regional Park

I am pretty sure that we had our shortest travel day ever as we only had to drive 13 miles from Lost Dutchman State Park to Usery Mountain Regional Park. Even though they cost the same and the basic terrain is the same, the two parks have a very different vibe. Lost Dutchman has better views and it’s extremely clean and orderly, but Usery has a more natural landscape, the sites are bigger and more spaced out, and the vibe is much more relaxed. Because there were more openings at Usery we were able to get campsites all in a row and despite different departure times we all rolled in around the same time. The park is water and electric only, so we visited the dump station right when we arrived and met a very nice couple from Connecticut who had just retired and purchased their first ever small travel trailer. The husband was dumping for the first time and since he was only using what the dealer gave him in the way of hose, seemed at a bit of a loss. The etiquette is to never offer assistance unless it’s requested, but when the gentleman was honest about how he wasn’t sure what to do Lee spent some time walking him through it. Lots of people helped us when we first started out, so we always like to pay it forward, but again, only if someone asks.

After we got them squared away we emptied our own tanks, and then headed to our site, and it was a beauty. The angle was a bit odd, so it took a few tries for Lee to put the rig right where he wanted it, but once we were settled I was really happy with the surroundings. Deb did walk over and say they saw a pretty big snake when they pulled in to their site, so I was very careful about where I walked during setup. In the entire time we’ve been on the road I have never seen a snake of any kind in the wild, which is fine with me because while I appreciate their purpose, I’m not a huge fan.

Our site, taken from the very back end. In the next picture you see can the picnic table in the distance, that should give you an idea how roomy these sites are.

Our rig

Deb and Steve on one side

Cori and Greg on the other

Cori made ribs for everyone for dinner in the Instant Pot and I paid close attention to how she did it. She uses hers all the time with great success, and although I like mine I am not nearly as advanced as she is. Once the ribs were finished, Greg crisped them up on the grill and added the sauce and everyone loved them. They were fall off the bone tender and really flavorful. I am definitely adding the recipe to my next cookbook, once I try it myself to make sure I can duplicate her efforts. She also made Macaroni and cheese in the Instant Pot and cole slaw, and Deb made strawberry shortcake!! Then we all settled in for a nice fire and enjoyed the night. Unfortunately, one of those fast desert storms came up with wind, lightning, and rain and we all had to go inside, but it was a great way to break in a new campground since none of us had been here before.

Deb added lemon flavored olive oil which made this desert extra yummy

The next morning I got up pretty early (Lee and I are still trying to get readjusted back to our pre-gate guarding sleep schedule) and decided to take a walk and get some pictures. Right across from Deb’s campsite is a 1/2 mile nature trail, which has signs showing the different plants and is a paved path. You can walk through the desert here, but I was nervous about it so felt much better staying on the path. I saw lots of birds, several chipmunks (couldn’t get a pic) and enjoyed the flowers in bloom. There isn’t as much color here as there was in Lost Dutchman, but I actually saw more animals on the walk.

This beautiful house is on a hill behind the campground. Nice pad. (Update: We learned later this is Stevie Nicks’ house)

People sometimes have the misconception that the desert is barren, and certainly some desert we have seen is, but in the area near Tuscon and Phoenix it is full of stuff and has it’s own beauty. It is also teeming with wildlife. We have seen doves, quail, roadrunners, and hawks along with lizards and chipmunks. Most everything is a brown or grey color to blend in so you have to look harder, but it’s all there. I came back from the walk and got our laundry together because Cori, Deb, and I all went to a local laundromat. We didn’t absolutely need to go, but it’s best to stay on top of it when you are on partial hookups plus it was a chance to hang out with the girls. On the way I saw my very first snake. Thankfully I was in the truck and it was stretched out on the black top covering about half the road but on the other side from where I was driving. I slowed down to get a look, and it had the coloring of a rattlesnake, but to be honest I am not totally sure if that’s what it was. It wasn’t that scary since I was sitting in my big truck, and I wish I would have taken my camera with me. I swear that happens every time I leave it behind.

After that bit of exictement I followed Cori and Deb to the laundromat and unfortunately for me it was not the greatest. I must be spoiled by the excellent one in Dilley, TX, but this one was crowded, had no restroom, and very limited seating. But as Cori said, it served it’s purpose, I was just happy to get back to the peaceful campground. Plus Kat and Bert were coming in today and I wanted to greet them. We met Kat and Bert at the 2016 RV-Dreams rally and liked them right away. We met tons of great people at that rally, but they are the first to be in the same area we are. Bert reads the blog and reached out when she saw our paths would cross, and she ended up booking a spot in the same campground. I wanted to make them dinner since it was their travel day, and we all met for happy hour and I made chimichangas. Cooking for 8 can be a little challenging with limited kitchen space, but Deb loaned me her stove and with some careful coordination we made it work. Deb made beans and Cori made rice so we had a full meal which I was pretty happy with.

From left: Kat, Bert, Steve, Lee, a mountain top, Cori, Greg, Deb, and me, and a cactus.

My pretty chimis and they tasted good too. I also served Kelly’s Queso dip as an appetizer. Made a double batch, Kelly, and it was almost all gone at the end.

After dinner we had a campfire and stayed up until 10pm telling stories and exchanging experiences. It was really nice getting to know them better, and they were very patient listening to our stories. The next morning we all wanted to go kayaking, but the wind was too strong, so six of us went to the Superstitioun Mountain museum and Goldfield, and old gold mine town. Both were free and a little touristy, but we did have some opportunity for some great pics. (The gift shop and outside area of the museum was free, but the interior museum required admission. – Lee)

The museum

Some movies were shot here and I liked the cowboy boot prints

Who knew there were this many kinds of rattlesnakes??? Yikes!!

Giant stamping machine used in the 1800s to pulverize ore. It was moved here and restored, and they operate it on weekends for visitors.

Yes I have to always sit on the thing and take the pic!

Everyone’s favorite was this giant, outdoor train with tons of detail really neat

This little guy was my favorite. The sign was pointing to the Lost Dutchman Mine

(I took lots and lots of pictures of the model railroad, because I think they’re incredibly cool. Tracy says it’s not a good idea to put too many pictures in one post. I don’t work and play well with others. If you don’t like super awesome pictures of model railroads, go ahead and scroll past the next 20 pictures. But if you’re one of the cool kids, and also like pie, welcome to the club. Enjoy. – Lee)

I wasn’t supposed to put this one in because it’s the same one she put in above, but hers didn’t include the bear.

OK, back to the regular post.

The gold mine was right down the road mainly shops, but had a neat vibe. We went straight to lunch at this Saloon

Hats and boots on the ceiling

Our waitress was the only one wearing a costume.

Service was slow, portions were small, and on the pricey side, but the company was awesome!!

We went straight from the restaurant to a geocache hotel

Lee and Cori figuring it out

It was heavy!

The black and white tube was a huge log you could write on

The “sheet” to sign

Steve talking Cori and Lee through how to handle trackables

Cool cowboy church

I really liked the bordello

This was by far the best shop. All handmade.

Touristy, but a neat place to stop

Had to take some black and white

After we ate and shopped we came back and dropped off our extra books in the little free book area of the campground and then Kat and Bert treated us to Spaghetti Bolognese and bruschetta with homemade flatbread. So, so good, and Steve broke out some nice red wine he brought from their personal collection in California. Another nice campfire and then off to bed. Tomorrow is the Boyd Thompson Arboretum.

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April 3, 2017 by Lee and Tracy

First Time at Lost Dutchman State Park

Our relief didn’t show up until 2:40pm, so we got a late start getting out, and weren’t on the road until 3pm. Originally we had planned on a six hour drive and were going to push through but when we stopped for gas in Junction I called it because we were both too tired. Lee is still waking up at 4am, and the thought of me driving in the dark to get to the next available campground just didn’t seem like a good idea. So I found a Good Sam park close by called North Llano River RV resort and we drove a few miles down the road until we were there. Lee wasn’t thrilled about the $37 Good Sam price, but I pointed out that we were going to grab some fast food to keep driving and the cost would roughly be the same if we ate in the rig. (It’s amazing how after a long period of not having to pay for a site, any price seems steep. – Lee)

It turned out to be a good call. The office was closed when we pulled up but they had maps all ready with the available sites marked. We chose site 33 and right when we were going to drive back one of the staff came up and helped us pull in. It was a great site. On the edge of the park, with it’s own patio and grill and so very quiet. Plus it was blessedly dark when night came and we were able to open the windows, enjoy the breeze and not have to worry about generator noise and lights for the first time in months. Lee was also able to rinse our black tank out repeatedly which it really needed since we haven’t been able to do that for the last couple of months either. It was well worth the money and we really liked it. The only weird thing was we seem to have picked up several hitchhiker crickets. We had two in the bathroom and one bouncing around the living room and they really wanted to get out. We didn’t have any of them in the house the whole time we were at the gate, but Lee thought they might have come in through the slides. Either way it did make me a little jumpy, because they grow bugs big in Texas.

Out site had a really nice patio

And was on a corner so we had a great view

The second day of driving was a long one. We left at 9am and didn’t reach our campground until 8pm (it was 7pm local time because we lost an hour). Part of that was due to trying to make up time from yesterday, part of it was due to high winds and dust storms, and part was because we hit El Paso at 4pm on a Friday. Sometimes things just happen like that, and we decided to go ahead and hopefully beat the worst of the traffic (which we did) and because Lee was just coming off a two hour shift I drove. Oh, and as we were entering town we passed an RV that looked fine from the back, but when we went around it, the front half of it was completely burned up and it was actually being towed. I managed to get a couple of pictures. Pretty crazy, we’ve never seen anything like that.

The back of the RV looked totally fine and was on it’s wheels. You can see where the fire stopped here. Not sure how that was even possible

The front and middle was totally gone. Not that safe driving down the highway with this as stuff was falling off

Generally I don’t mind driving in cities, even in traffic. All I need to do is stay in my lane and keep enough distance between the car in front of me but this was a tough one. There was major construction and I got behind an oversized vehicle in the middle lane. The right side break down lane was gone and no trucks were allowed in the left lane so I was going 45 mph for about 15 miles, with lots of people passing on the right and then getting stuck because of the narrow clearance of the wide load in front of me. The winds were not helping,and visibility was not great so I really had to pay attention. When we got through the city it was getting close to 5pm (6pm in the time zone we came from) so I asked Lee how he felt about stopping at Cracker Barrel.

It used to be every Cracker Barrel we saw had huge RV and bus parking but that is not always the case now so Lee checked it out and saw it had a big enough parking lot. Unfortunately someone parked lengthwise in one row and was taking up four of the long spaces. Wow, I really hate that, and although there were two left they were on the short side so it took awhile for me to get the rig properly lined up. (If you’re in a pickup, or a car, PLEASE don’t park in the RV/bus lanes. – Lee) We did enjoy dinner, despite the restaurant being full it came out within 15 minutes so we ate and were back on the road. Lee took the wheel this time and we were about 40 minutes away from our campground. At least that what we thought.

We decided to stop at El Rancho Lobo which is Passport America, only $11 for the night, and right off I-10. All those things were true, but I didn’t read the fine print. The direct road leading to the campground was closed, so we had to travel 9 miles down a side road and then 2-1/2 miles down a gravel road to get to the campground. It added an additional 20 minutes to our drive. When we arrived, someone did come up immediately and were very nice, but they informed me it was $11 plus electric. OK, no problem, but then I was told I couldn’t pay until the morning because they had to calculate the electric unless we paid a $4 flat fee. I knew we would probably be up and out before the office opened at 9am, but I was pretty irritated by the whole thing. It didn’t help that the sites face the highway, are very close to each other, and had none of last night’s experience. It’s true, you often get what you pay for, but I was disappointed. I will mention though that they have a mail service at the campground which looks pretty well formed, so if you were thinking about getting a mail service in New Mexico you might want to check them out.

The highway was right past the sign and the campground was on this corner

I was pretty excited because the next day we had an opportunity to go on a road less traveled. I have kept track of our routes using a paper trucker’s atlas, and have each year marked in a different color highlighter. It’s cool because I have access to it when we travel, and sometimes we can go on a side road that we have never been on, and it takes less time. We have to be careful though because not every road has easy to access gas stations and sometimes the road is more challenging, but it is almost always worth it so we decided to take Route 70 and then Route 60 to get to Apache Junction, rather than I-10 through Tuscon, which we had already been on. The scenery was really great as we traveled, and we passed through several small towns that seemed like they would be worth a second look when we had more time. We also traveled through the Apache Reservation and part of the Tonto National Forest. The road through the National Forest was great, but it was narrow and curvy and there were two steep downgrades that even Lee found challenging. It was fun though and we still ended up at Apache Junction by 12:30pm (Mountain time, but since it’s AZ, it’s the same as Pacfific).

Beautiful drive

I’ve heard quite a bit about Apache Junction from friends and other people’s blogs, but you never know until you get to a place how you will like it. We pulled in. The people at the check-in were very friendly and the place was just beautiful. The Superstition Mountains are very close and you know it’s a nice park when the view from the dump station is amazing!

Views from the dumpstation

The campground

Superstition Mountains

Our site

Our view

We were in site 103, which was the only site available when we booked, and turned out to be one of the best spots in the loop. There was a bit of concern though when we pulled in and caution tape was blocking the site. There was also some chalk on the pavement and my immediate thought was, “Crap. Someone hit the water line.” So I got out and walked over and then I heard a growling noise from the bushes. Turns out it was an April Fool’s joke from Cori/Greg/Deb/Steve. So there were lots of hugs all around. We saw Cori and Greg in Texas over the holidays but it had been a year since we have seen Deb and Steve and it was awesome being with everyone.

Couldn’t see the specifics of the drawings until we got out.

When I saw the bear I knew something was up

They laid on the ground for the chalk drawings and Greg added some extra booty to Cori. Goofballs

They were hiding behind the bush, but I didn’t see them and then Steve growled.

And Deb pops out

The motley crew of hooligans Steve (in red), Greg, Deb, and Cori

Plus as a bonus as soon as things settled down the cactus wren jumped up on our tires (and on our front grill) and started eating the smooshed bugs. Never saw that before

They let us get set up, which was fast since we weren’t planning on unhitching. We couldn’t get over our view from our front door. We’ve been to many places, but I don’t think we have ever had a better view right from our front door. Amazing. The sites are really nice too, and the campground hosts are amazing. This campground is spotless.

Our view

As soon as people vacate camp hosts come clean and rake the site

So happy the flowers are in bloom

After setting up we went down and hung out with everyone. I took Hurley (Deb’s dog) and Hobie (Greg’s dog) their dog toys and they made fast work of chewing them to pieces. Still, what’s the fun of being Aunt Tracy if I can’t bring them stuff to rip apart? Cori made a shrimp boil for dinner for everyone since it was our travel day, and then we had a great campfire, had some adult beverages, and caught up.

From left: Greg, Deb, Steve, Lee, and Cori

The next morning we all decided to take a hike. Now, if you are going to hang out with Deb, hiking is definitely in the itinerary, and although she is a very considerate hiking partner, she tends to downplay the level of difficulty for us newbies. Her heart is in the right place. She loves to hike and wants to get everyone moving, but I have learned from past experience to gear up for these adventures. So we put on our Outdoor Hydration packs, took some snacks, and I grabbed my hiking poles just in case. (We also made out a will, and scheduled a rescue helo and had EMTs standing by for the “moderate” hike. Deb’s nickname should be “Just A Little Farther. – Lee) I’m glad I did. The hike was beautiful, but it had a steady incline and the path was loose gravel, which are two things I found challenging. The poles help me in particular on the way down, providing a steadiness I need and taking some stress off my knees.

There are trails in the park itself, but it also abuts Tonto National forest and that’s where the more serious trails are. Deb and Steve had hiked to Flatiron earlier in the week, which is an intense hike that at least once a week someone needs to get helicopter rescue from, but we just did the base of the trail to the beginning of the canyon. Deb’s plan is to hike the highest peak in every state as they travel, and Steve is going along with the plan. I love that they have a specific thing to do in each state, but I’ll never love hiking for the sake of hiking the way she does. We hiked Siphon Draw #53 but stopped about halfway up to Flatiron. Keeping in mind I an not an experienced hiker, I found the trail to that point moderately difficult, but it was definitely doable. Just watch your footing. If you keep going to Flatiron that is extremely difficult and took Deb and Steve about 8 hours to do round trip. (In the second picture, you can see a small triangular shaped rock almost right in the center. When you get to it, that rock is probably 40 feet tall. That was about the halfway point for our hike, and the first two pictures were right after we left the campground. – Lee)

Deb and Steve hiked up to flat iron which is the rock in the upper right which has a white line in the middle

There were lots of side trails. We saw some people hiking up in this canyon

The views looking backwards were great. Houses right up to the edge of the National Forest

Loved this one and it had an amazing view

Lots of flowers in bloom

So pretty

Deb loves this dead cactus because it points to flatiron

We finally made it to thumb rock. This is about the halfway point.

And a nice cool place we could take a rest

Hurley was with me it was too hot

At this point everyone wanted to keep walking up and see the basin, but I was done. I learned a while ago that it’s OK to cry uncle, so I walked down by my self, and the group went on another 15-20 minutes up a steep winding trail. I normally wouldn’t walk back alone but there were lots of people on the trail and I enjoyed taking my time and taking some pictures.

Steep winding trail they went up

I went back down

That night Steve and Deb treated us all with some beautiful bone-in ribeyes and we had another fire. I skipped the adult beverages because I was worried about dehydration, but overall I felt really good. 4 1/2 miles round trip isn’t bad for someone who hasn’t hiked in a while and I was tired, but not super sore. Tomorrow we all head to Usery Mountain and we are looking forward to meeting up with Kat and Bert who we met at the last rally we went to about a year ago. They’ve been on the road for close to a year, but haven’t met that many other Dreamers while on the road, so I hope we don’t traumatize them! Actually knowing Kat’s wicked sense of humor, she may traumatize us lol.

April 2, 2017 by Lee and Tracy

March Budget 2017

Another great budget month! We made $3,468.74, and spent $2843.41, for a net of $625.33. From a pure cash flow perspective we spent more because we prepaid three weeks of April campground fees, but we are tracking those in the month the stays occur, so they will show up in April. We also paid taxes, but since that amount was roughly the return we got last year and was set aside in a separate account that was a wash. The details are listed below. By the way, April 15th will be one year since we have supported ourselves exclusively through our various work kamping efforts, and I will be doing another post on how the 12 month period went. I was going to include it here but I think it deserves it’s own summary.

Campground Fees – Just a couple of nights when we left our oilfield gate.

Food – Almost exactly to budget. The totals were a little higher than last month because we stocked up on meat and a few other items at Costco, but we were careful to stay within budget. In the past we have gone over budget when stocking up in the hopes our bill the following month would be lower, but then it never is, so we aren’t doing that anymore. We intentionally bought enough to get us through the month and will have another Costco run next month. (I would also like to point out that I have stopped buying Pepsi, and pie. There’s some serious savings there. – Lee)

Alcohol – Stocked up in anticipation of being with our friends. We are almost always under in this category so not a big deal going over $8 one month.

Dining Out – We were about $50 to the good overall. I got lazy at the end and we grabbed fast food here and there, and then I bought some Church’s chicken for travel days.

Entertainment – Lee bought a couple of computer games and I bought some music. I usually only buy it when The Voice is on (big fan of that show).

Truck Fuel – The bulk of the $258 was spent in the last couple of days of the month because we traveled from south Texas to the Phoenix area. The good news is our trips are much shorter in April, so we will see how we do on truck fuel through the end of the month. (Our distance from the gate to Lost Dutchman state park was 1000 miles in three days, but from Lost Dutchman to Las Vegas, which we’re essentially taking three weeks in April to do, is only 370 miles, so we might actually end up on budget or under for fuel in April. – Lee)

RV Insurance – They over charged us a couple months ago (it’s auto deducted) so they have been taking out less making that up.

Cigarettes – We have been buying tobacco and tubes in bulk since the summer, so this is three months worth.

Gifts – I spent $200 on the one-on-one session with my favorite author. $100 of that my father gave me as a Christmas gift so I put the other $100 in the gift category. I could have put it in entertainment, I guess, but it felt right going here.

Home Repair – We spent nothing in this category which is a huge deal. Last year we were routinely spending $200 or more per month in this category but Lee has really focused on this. We were going to replace our Vornado fan, but couldn’t find one locally so decided to wait until we reached Phoenix and pick one up there.

It was another good month from a budget perspective. We will see what happens in April since we will be moving so much, staying in campgrounds, and hanging out with friends.

Camper Chronicles

Travel Tales from Working Full Time RVers

Month: April 2017

First Time at Usery Mountain Regional Park

First Time at Lost Dutchman State Park

March Budget 2017