Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
We Find Ourselves in Hot Water
We woke to a clear, cool morning. I ventured down the hill to the bike camp’s washroom, and spoke to a 60 something year old guy who was on his way from San Diego to South Carolina, pedaling all the way. He seemed not what I expected, as he spoke right wing politics, the virtue of Wal-Marts putting all the inefficient local businesses out of business, and the craziness of Obama’s health care plan. But here he was, 1/4 of the way on his cross country bike trip. Ya never know who you’ll meet. He also mentioned he’d been rousted out of his tent at 11 the last night, by a local sheriff who demanded to see his ID. She never made it up the hill to bother us, either we looked like part of the Forest service’s vehicles, or maybe it was too dark where we were. So we had an uneventful, quiet night. From the lot, we then went up the long incline of 191 west, and into the Black Hills, and then down the other side; second gear along the way at the steep parts…no trouble or hot brakes…phew. Just past the intersection with route 70, we took the small, but paved Haekel |Road heading south, and towards Hot Well Dunes BLM recreation Area.
We had heard of this area back in the desert, that had been designated an off road dune buggy site. There was cheap dry camping there, great dunes for four wheeling, and two free hot tubs, way back in, 25 miles off the highway. Since it was mid week, we thought we might enjoy two of the features without being harassed by the noise and smell of the third. When we finally made it, we discovered that it would have been a great place to have spent the night, and there had been several rigs parked here and there among the dunes. But even arriving early in the morning was a fine thing. We found only one of the two tubs was open, but it was the one set under a big shade tree, so we donned our suits (yes, this is still a public place) and settled in for a nice, relaxing hot spring soak. We were later joined by a teenager, who was here with his family for the four wheeling on the dunes, and later by another guy who was down from Colorado, and camping with a buddy at a place they come at least once a year. We learned that the second pool was closed because a BLM worker mistakenly closed the valve completely on the well, and the pressure cracked the pipe, so now there was only enough flow to maintain one of the two tubs. We also learned that the busy holiday weekend was approaching, and by tomorrow, the place would be packed with people racing over the dunes during the day, and partying and hot tubbing at night. Thankful we had seen it during a quiet time, and realizing again our timing was just off (we hit the blizzards perfectly on the way down the East Coast, both weeks of Spring Break in Texas, Spring Break the next week in New Mexico, and now Easter weekend in Arizona) we appreciated what we had, and spent several hours just relaxing and soakin’ in the heat. It was wonderful, and another place on the map to return to, at another time, when we could spend several weekdays, enjoying the desert when it was quiet.
On the way out, we took a different road that approached Safford from the south, and went past Roper Lake State Park. This dirt and sand road was called the Tanque Road, and although it cut a few miles off the distance, it added an extra hour off travel time. Part of this was due to the ruts and washboard in the dirt, and the constant cattle guards that required slowing way down (this is open range cattle country, and although the ranches are fenced, the roads aren’t gated. Cattle guards keep the cattle from just walking down the roads to greener pastures. They are basically iron rails, probably old train tracks, set parallel to each other, about 5 inches apart, perpendicular to the road, and over a shallow ditch. Cars and trucks can rattle over the 8 or ten rails, but the cattle aren’t clever enough to tip toe safely across). But most of the delay was caused by the spectacular show of Mexican Poppies, covering the desert floor. We had seen some of this in the hills coming out of the mountains the day before, but here, for over ten miles of road through the desert, as far as you could see, the ground was literally covered with a carpet of bright yellow poppies. The cactus were still there, doing their desert thing, but instead of sand between them it was all swaying yellow flowers. It was unbelievable…we just stopped several times and stared (and of course, took pictures). Later that day in the campground, we spoke to a family from Colorado who comes down here every spring, and they said it’s been years and years since there were flowers like these. The snows and winter rains that broke a ten year drought gave us this amazing spring sight, and maybe this was a balancing of the bad timing, in that we did get to see an amazing display that hadn’t been seen in years in this area.
We finally made it to the highway north, and we motored up 191 towards Safford. We pulled into Roper Lake State Park, and found they still had a few sites left open. We saw they also had a natural hot tub here, as part of the park, and when we found a quiet, almost shaded spot off to one edge of the campgrounds, we parked our trailer, then headed back to pay our dues. Donna still needed some low level recuperation time, and a spot by a lake, with birds all around, and a free hot tub a five minute walk away, seemed like just the ticket. Roper Lake is one of the many State Parks on the chopping block of the state’s budget cuts. It is a man made lake, built by a Mr. Roper, who spent all his life mining and making money. One day, he decided he had spent enough time drilling and blasting rocks, and he wanted to live by a lake. So he bought some land that had a number of springs on it, had a thirty acre pond excavated, and built a house on a bluff looking down over it. Stocked with fish, he enjoyed this life by the water for a while, until his original passion took hold again. He returned to mining, and turned the lake over to the state. It’s a beautiful facility, well used by all sorts of people. Along one side is a road leading to a fishing pier and a boat launch (electric or paddle only) and one larger picnic area. Along the other is first a large dry camping area, and a row of cute little cabins on the shore. Then come two different 25 site serviced campgrounds, with a peninsula that juts out into the lake that’s the home to a swimming area, a series of palms, several picnic pavilions, and a large great horned owl. Being one of the few constant bodies of water in the area, it’s also the home to thousands of birds. We had a road runner as a constant visitor, jumping up on the table to get an eye to eye look at us. There also were these amazing yellow breasted blackbirds. Sounding and acting like our familiar northern red winged blackbirds, these are definitely a flashy southern variety. We first were amazed when we saw six or seven brilliant yellow and black birds alight in a nearby tree. The camera came out to record this rare sighting. Little did we know, that flocks of them live down in the marshy bits, and at times that evening, the trees would literally covered with hundreds of them, with a few of their more subtle red winged cousins thrown in for a nice counterpoint. Add to this a natural hot tub, that’s gloriously empty early in the morning, and you have a wonderful place, used by fishermen and picnicking families, tent campers, tiny trailers, big rigs, and folks in cabins. They say that all the parks in Arizona cost 30 million dollars to operate, so they must shut some of them down to help balance the state budget. But an independent study showed that the parks bring in 230 million dollars in revenue, but somehow the folks in the government ignore this, and are shutting down parks here and there. So come July, they plan to lock the gate, board up the buildings, and keep a skeleton security crew on to keep folks out. What are they thinking with? It’s like the decisions years ago to eliminate all the unnecessary programs in our school systems, like Phys ed., and music, and art, and hot lunches. So now we are faced with an epidemic of unimaginative, TV addicted, overweight, unhealthy kids becoming the next burden on the health care system. A big headline in the papers yesterday revealed that 8 and nine year olds are on heart medicine, and high blood pressure pills, and are suffering from high cholesterol, and diabetes. Michele Obama has taken on this problem as her outside activity beyond raising her own two girls, and she is right in seeing this is an epidemic that is sweeping the land. Young and old, the US is a land of overweight, unhealthy people, eating poorly, and not getting enough exercise. So let’s also close down the state parks, cuz you wouldn’t want to provide a place where people can get outside, and swim in a lake, and walk in the hills, and look at the stars. Enough…..
We had a wonderful time here, and the one day stop turned into three. We met a man who Donna new from the Fiberglass RV forums, and people from Tucson, and from Colorado: from Phoenix, and from Wisconsin. Everyone was enjoying the park, and all it’s features. We went into town several times, the first to the Big O Tire service. When I was checking the brakes I discovered the ominous hex head of a sheet metal screw imbedded in the tread of the left front tire. Knowing I wanted to be at a shop before I messed with it, I headed into the recommended facility. Sure enough, when we pried the little devil out, the tire started going flat with a loud, steady hiss. But for fourteen dollars, I got a super plug/patch put in; had the brakes again checked with the wheel off, and things seemed fine; had a pulley squeak checked and confirmed as no problem until it got louder and grinding; and had a free car wash thrown in. Another trip provided similarly wonderful service in the local library, everything we could ask for and more. We also found a great Mexican Restaurant for lunch one afternoon, Mi Casita. So we slowed down, enjoyed the luxury of power, daybreak hot tubs, evening hot showers, with an interesting little town 15 minutes away. We had a lovely anniversary dinner at the campgrounds (26!!), a fresh bouquet of flowers on the table, a bottle of fine red wine with the meal, and a tub of Breyers all natural ice cream in the freezer. What more could one ask for? Thank you, thank you very much.
We had heard of this area back in the desert, that had been designated an off road dune buggy site. There was cheap dry camping there, great dunes for four wheeling, and two free hot tubs, way back in, 25 miles off the highway. Since it was mid week, we thought we might enjoy two of the features without being harassed by the noise and smell of the third. When we finally made it, we discovered that it would have been a great place to have spent the night, and there had been several rigs parked here and there among the dunes. But even arriving early in the morning was a fine thing. We found only one of the two tubs was open, but it was the one set under a big shade tree, so we donned our suits (yes, this is still a public place) and settled in for a nice, relaxing hot spring soak. We were later joined by a teenager, who was here with his family for the four wheeling on the dunes, and later by another guy who was down from Colorado, and camping with a buddy at a place they come at least once a year. We learned that the second pool was closed because a BLM worker mistakenly closed the valve completely on the well, and the pressure cracked the pipe, so now there was only enough flow to maintain one of the two tubs. We also learned that the busy holiday weekend was approaching, and by tomorrow, the place would be packed with people racing over the dunes during the day, and partying and hot tubbing at night. Thankful we had seen it during a quiet time, and realizing again our timing was just off (we hit the blizzards perfectly on the way down the East Coast, both weeks of Spring Break in Texas, Spring Break the next week in New Mexico, and now Easter weekend in Arizona) we appreciated what we had, and spent several hours just relaxing and soakin’ in the heat. It was wonderful, and another place on the map to return to, at another time, when we could spend several weekdays, enjoying the desert when it was quiet.
On the way out, we took a different road that approached Safford from the south, and went past Roper Lake State Park. This dirt and sand road was called the Tanque Road, and although it cut a few miles off the distance, it added an extra hour off travel time. Part of this was due to the ruts and washboard in the dirt, and the constant cattle guards that required slowing way down (this is open range cattle country, and although the ranches are fenced, the roads aren’t gated. Cattle guards keep the cattle from just walking down the roads to greener pastures. They are basically iron rails, probably old train tracks, set parallel to each other, about 5 inches apart, perpendicular to the road, and over a shallow ditch. Cars and trucks can rattle over the 8 or ten rails, but the cattle aren’t clever enough to tip toe safely across). But most of the delay was caused by the spectacular show of Mexican Poppies, covering the desert floor. We had seen some of this in the hills coming out of the mountains the day before, but here, for over ten miles of road through the desert, as far as you could see, the ground was literally covered with a carpet of bright yellow poppies. The cactus were still there, doing their desert thing, but instead of sand between them it was all swaying yellow flowers. It was unbelievable…we just stopped several times and stared (and of course, took pictures). Later that day in the campground, we spoke to a family from Colorado who comes down here every spring, and they said it’s been years and years since there were flowers like these. The snows and winter rains that broke a ten year drought gave us this amazing spring sight, and maybe this was a balancing of the bad timing, in that we did get to see an amazing display that hadn’t been seen in years in this area.
We finally made it to the highway north, and we motored up 191 towards Safford. We pulled into Roper Lake State Park, and found they still had a few sites left open. We saw they also had a natural hot tub here, as part of the park, and when we found a quiet, almost shaded spot off to one edge of the campgrounds, we parked our trailer, then headed back to pay our dues. Donna still needed some low level recuperation time, and a spot by a lake, with birds all around, and a free hot tub a five minute walk away, seemed like just the ticket. Roper Lake is one of the many State Parks on the chopping block of the state’s budget cuts. It is a man made lake, built by a Mr. Roper, who spent all his life mining and making money. One day, he decided he had spent enough time drilling and blasting rocks, and he wanted to live by a lake. So he bought some land that had a number of springs on it, had a thirty acre pond excavated, and built a house on a bluff looking down over it. Stocked with fish, he enjoyed this life by the water for a while, until his original passion took hold again. He returned to mining, and turned the lake over to the state. It’s a beautiful facility, well used by all sorts of people. Along one side is a road leading to a fishing pier and a boat launch (electric or paddle only) and one larger picnic area. Along the other is first a large dry camping area, and a row of cute little cabins on the shore. Then come two different 25 site serviced campgrounds, with a peninsula that juts out into the lake that’s the home to a swimming area, a series of palms, several picnic pavilions, and a large great horned owl. Being one of the few constant bodies of water in the area, it’s also the home to thousands of birds. We had a road runner as a constant visitor, jumping up on the table to get an eye to eye look at us. There also were these amazing yellow breasted blackbirds. Sounding and acting like our familiar northern red winged blackbirds, these are definitely a flashy southern variety. We first were amazed when we saw six or seven brilliant yellow and black birds alight in a nearby tree. The camera came out to record this rare sighting. Little did we know, that flocks of them live down in the marshy bits, and at times that evening, the trees would literally covered with hundreds of them, with a few of their more subtle red winged cousins thrown in for a nice counterpoint. Add to this a natural hot tub, that’s gloriously empty early in the morning, and you have a wonderful place, used by fishermen and picnicking families, tent campers, tiny trailers, big rigs, and folks in cabins. They say that all the parks in Arizona cost 30 million dollars to operate, so they must shut some of them down to help balance the state budget. But an independent study showed that the parks bring in 230 million dollars in revenue, but somehow the folks in the government ignore this, and are shutting down parks here and there. So come July, they plan to lock the gate, board up the buildings, and keep a skeleton security crew on to keep folks out. What are they thinking with? It’s like the decisions years ago to eliminate all the unnecessary programs in our school systems, like Phys ed., and music, and art, and hot lunches. So now we are faced with an epidemic of unimaginative, TV addicted, overweight, unhealthy kids becoming the next burden on the health care system. A big headline in the papers yesterday revealed that 8 and nine year olds are on heart medicine, and high blood pressure pills, and are suffering from high cholesterol, and diabetes. Michele Obama has taken on this problem as her outside activity beyond raising her own two girls, and she is right in seeing this is an epidemic that is sweeping the land. Young and old, the US is a land of overweight, unhealthy people, eating poorly, and not getting enough exercise. So let’s also close down the state parks, cuz you wouldn’t want to provide a place where people can get outside, and swim in a lake, and walk in the hills, and look at the stars. Enough…..
We had a wonderful time here, and the one day stop turned into three. We met a man who Donna new from the Fiberglass RV forums, and people from Tucson, and from Colorado: from Phoenix, and from Wisconsin. Everyone was enjoying the park, and all it’s features. We went into town several times, the first to the Big O Tire service. When I was checking the brakes I discovered the ominous hex head of a sheet metal screw imbedded in the tread of the left front tire. Knowing I wanted to be at a shop before I messed with it, I headed into the recommended facility. Sure enough, when we pried the little devil out, the tire started going flat with a loud, steady hiss. But for fourteen dollars, I got a super plug/patch put in; had the brakes again checked with the wheel off, and things seemed fine; had a pulley squeak checked and confirmed as no problem until it got louder and grinding; and had a free car wash thrown in. Another trip provided similarly wonderful service in the local library, everything we could ask for and more. We also found a great Mexican Restaurant for lunch one afternoon, Mi Casita. So we slowed down, enjoyed the luxury of power, daybreak hot tubs, evening hot showers, with an interesting little town 15 minutes away. We had a lovely anniversary dinner at the campgrounds (26!!), a fresh bouquet of flowers on the table, a bottle of fine red wine with the meal, and a tub of Breyers all natural ice cream in the freezer. What more could one ask for? Thank you, thank you very much.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)