My "month" in Arizona

My take on Arizona

where I went this month

As you can see, there are huge areas I didn't get to.  But in my defense, I'll note that (1) AZ is the 6th largest state, so there's a lot of ground to cover, and (2) there are actually very few roads into some of these areas I didn't get to.  In many parts, I'd've been traveling on unpaved roads, and I don't do that any more than I can help.  But I'm still sorry I had to miss so much of the state.

I wrote the title word "month" in quotation marks because my time here was split between 2 months.  I came to AZ December 1st, 2021, intending that that would be my month here.  But my medical problem intervened and I left from Flagstaff on the 11th.  I got back to Holbrook on February 6th, and spent the rest of that month here.  February's a short month, but with the 5 extra days, I think AZ got its fair share of time.

Arizona's land
Arizona and New Mexico are very different states by culture, but they're very similar states by geography.  In Arizona, as I found in New Mexico, the northern part of the state has parts that are almost verdant, heavily forested with a lot of interesting land forms.  And in the southern parts of both states there's mostly desert, with lots of cactus and arid conditions.  Actually, now that I think about it, most of eastern AZ is desert too, not just in the south but all the way north past the Painted Desert and on up to Monument Valley in the far northeast.  And western AZ too from Yuma north past Kingman and all the way north, including part of the Mojave Desert (I think).

But I was trying to figure out why, given the similarities between the 2 states, AZ was the one to get most of the snowbirds.  And I think the answer is in the relative temperatures.  As an example, Yuma is at least 10° warmer than Las Cruces.  Forecasts for this next week show temps in the 70s and 80s in Yuma, but in the 50s to the 70s in Las Cruces, with similar differences in the nighttime temps.  And I think those differences arise from the very different elevations: Yuma is at 203' while Las Cruces sits at 3,908'.

They've both got high mountains, but NM's lowest point is at 2,845' while AZ's lowest point is at 72'.  So for people searching for warm dry climates, AZ would be a good choice.  Driving through those states, the differences aren't obvious - to me anyway.  But when you stop for a while and take a look around, the differences are vast.

Arizona loves its cactus, and the majority of homeowners have accepted xeriscaping, so I saw cactus everywhere.  I was interested to note that I saw far more saguaro cactus when I was driving between Tucson and Globe than I did back near Tucson in the Saguaro National Park.  And with AZ bordering on Mexico for about 370 miles, much of the vegetation (i.e. cactus varieties) is shared between the two areas.

In the north, AZ shares its entire 270-mile northern border with Utah, and instead of cactus what they share are land forms.  Monument Valley, for instance, and Vermilion Cliffs are both in AZ but both are, to me, spillovers from the landforms in Utah.

But what AZ mostly is, is dry.  Only about .3% of the state is covered in water (and I'm guessing if there were any substantial bodies of water, they'd evaporate in about a day, as dry as the air is here).

Arizona's people
Most of the people I talked to were pleasant and fairly helpful.  Most liked where they were living.  But to be honest, I was a little afraid to talk much with many local people, which may have been a real injustice to the state.

But first, AZ's history has a lot of violence in it (the Tombstone/Boot Hill mentality, for instance).  Then, the state was conceived in racism (refused to join NM in being a united state because there were too many (gasp) Hispanics in NM).  The racism was also seen during the Civil War in the acceptance of the Confederacy in the southern areas.  And to add to all that, strong far-right-wing leanings persist overtly in big chunks of the state.

It's not like these attitudes are unique to AZ (I'm from Texas, after all).  But the combination of those factors made me nervous about even wearing a mask into grocery stores.  I always did, and I was never the only one, but rightly or wrongly I worried.

But as I noted in my post about Phoenix, I think this state is suffering from a sense of rootlessness, of the ground not being solid under their feet.  As far as I know, it's the only state that doesn't have a capitol building.  There is literally no center of state government.  Sure, all the usual offices are there, and the usual government officials still do their jobs.  But I simply don't see how a state can feel pulled together if its capitol building is now nothing more than a museum.  What does this do to their sense of identity?

Driving in Arizona

There are some specialty plates in AZ,
but almost everyone uses this license plate.
It shows a very Arizonan kind of scenery.

I really didn't like driving in New Mexico and so hoped things would be better when I crossed the state line.  They weren't.  Well, they weren't as far as the roads go.  Arizona roads are lousy.  And I'm sure it's not a coincidence that AZ is ranked #46 among the states for the size of its gasoline tax (NM is #47).  They don't collect the money, so they don't have it to spend on roads.  It's noticeable.

The main difference between the two states is that AZ's drivers were mostly safe, courteous, and willing to share the road - even with an RV.  They didn't get up to those dangerous tricks I saw in NM where people jumped into the middle of traffic whether there was room for them or not.  Instead, in AZ they mostly followed traffic rules, didn't tailgate, rarely ran red lights - they acted like sensible folks.  In light of that, I can't explain the 2 traffic accidents 5 minutes apart I saw in Tucson - but even then nobody yelled at anybody and everybody acted responsibly in the aftermath.

What I didn't see that I wanted to see
I included lots of things in my daily posts that looked worthwhile to see on a return trip, but here are a few I didn't mention.  

This is an internet photo, of course.  But isn't it gorgeous?

This photo is in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.  The problem with visiting this place is that it's seriously remote.  I think it's accessible from Utah, although it lies in Arizona.  The only camping here is wilderness camping, and seeing sights like that photo requires backcountry hiking, something I'm unlikely to be doing, I'm sorry to say.  But I'd still like to see it.

Phoenix is home to the Heard Museum, which is the best place in the US to see US Native art, and the best place in the world to see artifacts from the Southwest Indians - at least I think I've got that right.  At any rate, it's a good place to go for an education in Native culture.

The Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson are home to the oldest known tree, a Douglas fir, that's been alive since at least 1320 AD.  That too sounds to me like it'd require some hiking, but I'd still like to pay homage to anything that can survive that long.

There are plenty of other places to visit here that I didn't get to, but when I got back into the state in February, I went through my list to pick out the places I definitely didn't want to miss before the month was out.  And I managed to get to all of them, so that turned out okay.

My conclusion
I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Grand Canyon, and for the red rocks near Sedona.  And I liked the places I spent actual time in - Flagstaff, of course, and Benson and Tucson and Seligman - though I probably liked them exactly because I spent time there.  I just didn't care much for anywhere else in the state, though maybe I'd change my mind if I spent more time in other places as well. 

I'd honestly had hopes for AZ, because I've heard for years that it's a good climate for people with asthma.  Maybe so, but for my own particular case of asthma it sure didn't do anything good for me.  I was having at least as many respiratory problems here as in any other state I've been in, and it actually seemed worse here for some reason.

As I've said before, I'm just not a fan of super dry climates, if for no other reason but the static electricity was a major nuisance.  I've lived previously in climates something like that in Flagstaff, which may be one reason I was more comfortable there than in the rest of the state.

But what it comes down to is - whether it's the climate or the bizarre politics or the lousy road system - I just didn't care much for this state.  It's not at all the result I expected, but it's where I ended up.  Clearly thousands of other people have a different opinion, but that's mine.

Arizona - in Seligman and campground

Seligman KOA, Seligman

Wednesday, 23 through Monday, 28 February 2022

Except for 1 day when I went into town, I spent this week in the campground, dealing with an odd variety of things.

Weather

Reminding us that it's still February and, thus, still winter, the wind that had been so strong the last couple of days when I was driving here kept it up all the first night, sucking the heat right out of the RV.  In case that wasn't enough winter weather, it started snowing during Tuesday night and well on into Wednesday.  We ended up with only a few inches accumulation, but the wind chill on Wednesday was 23° during the day.  Actually, on Saturday at 8 AM, the wind chill was 13°.

My little space heater, that David fixed for me when we were in Dallas, stopped working again, and then worked only intermittently for days.  So the only reliable heat we had in the cabin was from the propane heater, which was fine but during the night I'm too hot and the dogs are too cold, because of the heater's location.  One morning I found both dogs lying in front of the propane heater to stay warm.

Although the days gradually got warmer - by about 10° a day, up to the low 60s by Monday - the nighttime temps never got above freezing.  Which means it was seriously cold each morning when we went for our first walk or two - and sometimes for a good part of the day as well.  It'll be an abrupt change when I head over to California on Tuesday, because the temps are forecast for the 80s there.

The roads in this campground are all dirt.  Fine when it's dry, but after the snow melted the resulting mud was really hard to live with.  Both the dogs and I tracked it inside and it was hard to get rid of.  But as I say, it got dryer and the place got more comfortable.

Appliances

Besides the only vaguely functioning space heater, my water pump stopped working.  Because the daytime temps were much warmer than they'd been in Bernalillo, I was hoping my water system wouldn't freeze, but just as I was going to bed Friday night, the pump stopped working.  This time it stopped completely.  Not a sound out of it, unlike in Bernalillo when it was clearly trying but just not able to get any water through the lines.  This time, nothing at all.

Well, I've learned to be prepared, so I had a full jug of water that I'd filled up back at a previous campground (not water I'd spent money on in a store), so I could still flush the toilet and make coffee and fill the pets' water bowl and so on.  But I figured this time I was going to have to find someone who could sell me a new pump and install it.

Well, as I've mentioned, Seligman doesn't even have the massive RV parks that other towns farther south do, so I got nothing online when I searched for anything related to RV repair.  The closest I got was in Kingman, and even that didn't look so good.  Finally, I found a couple of places at Ft. Mohave/Bullhead City - towns in AZ just north of Needles, CA, where I'm going after here.  Closed for the weekend so I couldn't call until Monday.

But finally on Sunday, it got warm enough in the daytime that I pulled out my water hose and hooked it up to the campground's water and got a nice strong supply.  What a wonderful thing it is to be able to wash your hands with soap and water.  And by then I needed a nail brush as well.  I keep taking for granted the luxury of turning on a knob and getting running water.

Maybe it was the warmer temps, or maybe it was the inspiration of having the system functional, but after I unplugged the water hose Sunday night (freezing temps overnight), my water pump started working again.  I couldn't believe it.  But it worked then and it kept working the next day.  What a relief.  I still think I need to get it checked and maybe replaced, but at least now it's not an emergency situation.

Search for Rxs

My blood pressure pills run out on the 1st, so I started looking for a clinic that could take me on a walk-in basis to get a new prescription.  The one in Seligman is open only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it was a Thursday that I was doing the looking, so that wasn't going to work.  I called the Kingman branch of that same clinic - their website said they accepted same-day appointments and walk-ins.  I was on hold for the best part of half an hour, only to be told they didn't take walk-ins.  I read her what I was at that moment looking at on their website, and got no response.  She wasn't going to take me until April.  What's up with April?  That's when everybody says they'll take me.

Anyway, I was pretty peeved, having to wait that long to get an answer I was pretty sure wasn't the accurate one, but I couldn't figure out anything to do about it.  So I called the CVS in Kingman (not one in Seligman of course) to see if they could call the previous clinic to re-up the prescription.  And to my surprise I got a recorded message telling me they'd already refilled my prescription and it was waiting for me back in Dallas.  I don't think they were supposed to do that, because my last batch had said there were no more refills.  But I talked to the pharmacist in Kingman who agreed to transfer the authority from TX to them, and I said I'd pick them up next week.  That was a relief.

LIfe in the campground

From its location, this campground might seem to be noisy, since it's on Route 66 and a mile from the interstate.  Plus, one side of it is a wall on top of which sit elevated train tracks.  The trains run through here pretty often - several times each hour.  Fortunately, they never blow their horns and they're not usually very noisy.  I can see how easy it would be to get used to the train sounds and to miss them when you leave.  Sometimes two trains pass each other.  Once I looked up and saw the second train through the cars passing on the first train, and it was almost like a kaleidoscope and I got a little dizzy.  They don't bother me; I like trains anyway.  And this is absolutely nothing compared to that campground I was in in - was it Missouri? - where my campsite was just feet from the train tracks, and the trains passed during the night and blew their horns when they did, because of a nearby road crossing.

This KOA has 2 fenced dog parks, one of them decent-sized and the other not bad.  Since we're staying here so long, it's nice to have several choices for where to walk the dogs.  We all get bored with the same routes all the time.

One time in one of the dog parks we met an 8-week-old Blue Heeler.  Really cute and I was pleased to see that both Dexter and Gracie were good with her.  In fact, they both looked at her like they weren't sure quite what she was, obviously being a dog but being such a tiny one.  Her owner was a nonstop talker - not unpleasant, just constant.  At least, it was fine until she said something about the pandemic, then interrupted herself to say, "I guess I should say plan-demic."  From there on I was afraid of what she might say and got us out of there as quickly as I could.

Early one morning Dext started woofing (not quite a bark), and after I concentrated I could hear a pack of coyotes howling.  My life is more full with him and his acute perceptions than it would be without him.

The air's been so dry lately that there's static electricity everywhere.  Sometimes my hair literally stands on end for no reason.  So weird.  It's actually hard to comb my hair because the static makes it all cling to itself and to my scalp - or alternatively, to the comb so it then flies out into an untamed mess.

I got 2 phone calls on Wednesday purporting to be from PayPal, saying my account is being charged for $399.99 and if I have questions I should call a given phone number.  I don't have anything at all to do with PayPal, let alone know where anyone would have gotten my phone number.  Online I saw that this situation is a fairly common scam and I should definitely not call those phone numbers they were giving me.  Just to be sure I called PayPal themselves and they said no, it wasn't them.  They never call people.  (Same as the IRS and Social Security.)  Anyway, I was reassured.

I kept getting very little sleep, almost always because of cramps and pain in my legs.  One night I had really severe cramps in both my calves - sometimes together and sometimes separately - for well over an hour.  Not much I could do about them - I already had my heating pad on and did my best to wrap it around both legs.  But nothing's a quick fix for cramps.  I've also been dealing for a few weeks with a sharp pain in my right leg that starts in my kneecap and runs down the front of my leg to my ankle.  I have no idea what it's about, but the heating pad helps for that too.  Since it's been so cold overnight, I've started wearing socks to bed, and that also seems to help with the cramps and such.  I hope it's just a cold climate thing and that things will improve when March comes on, and in California.

Seligman

On Sunday we drove the half mile into town.  I stopped at the one grocery store - I haven't seen a store like that since I visited places in rural Alaska.  Lots of shelves, not much on them.  But I did get some bottled water (important until my pump is fixed) and some milk (for my coffee) and some grapefruit (I was out of fruit).  The owner told me they were super good grapefruit, and she thought maybe they were from California.  I mentioned how good Texas grapefruit are, and she said she was originally from Laredo and still had lots of family scattered all over Texas.  I should have stayed longer to ask her what drew her to this tiny AZ town, but I'll just have to wonder.  The label on the grapefruit said only Paramount orchards, but I've looked it up and learned that that's a Texas orchard.  Which explains why (she was right) they are really good grapefruit.

I also went to the Route 66 General Store, because it's the town's hardware store as well as being a tourist shop.  I wanted to see what they had for space heaters, but the only electric one they had was way too big for our little space.  I found the one I have in a Target, so maybe I can find one in California - if they haven't already stored their winter items.

And we stopped at the multiple (small) buildings that comprise the Seligman School System.  They're all together.  I didn't try to take the dogs onto the grounds because people don't like dogs to be near playgrounds.  But we did walk up and down the street, and Dexter found many many stickers, poor thing.  It didn't turn out to be a very good place to walk.  We've found a whole lot of stickers in Arizona.  Wonder if that'll continue over the state line (bet it does).

And almost every other shop in Seligman is geared to tourists and memorabilia.  They all seem to have old cars parked in front - in fact, I couldn't figure out where they expect customers to park.  But the town's committed itself to Route 66, and it shows.

Arizona - Route 66 to Seligman

Seligman KOA, Seligman

Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Because the drive to Seligman wouldn't take much more than an hour or two, I spent some time in Kingman doing errands.  Groceries, for instance, and laundry.  The wind kept blowing like crazy, making everything more difficult.

today's route

This is one time the scenic route made much more sense.  I didn't have any particular reason to rush right over to Seligman, the interstate up to Kingman was rough driving and I didn't expect the side road to be any worse, and besides - it was Historic Route 66.  One fringe benefit: Burma-Shave signs along the way.

In Kingman I was picking up an NPR station from Las Vegas, which isn't much more than an hour's fast drive away.  And I heard a live broadcast of Biden announcing that we're imposing sanctions against Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.  I hope those work - hitting actual rich Russians in their own pocketbooks - because this situation is very scary.  I was born after WWII, but not long after, and it was still a very clear memory for my parents.  I'd hoped we'd never have to go through something like that again.  But on the other hand, that speech Putin gave a night or two ago didn't sound rational to me, so I worry.

I passed a sign for the town of Valentine but didn't really see much.  And apparently the reason is that it's now a ghost town, according to something I found online.  And a short way farther on I came to Truxton, which isn't much better off with a population of 134 in the 2010 census.  

Another sign told me I was entering the Hualapai Indian Reservation.  This is a federally recognized tribe of people who've lived in this area since 600 AD and now have about 2,300 enrolled tribal members.  The nation's capital is Peach Springs, which I drove through - it seems to be a prosperous town.  It had posted an electronic sign that said: "Code Orange/Masks Mandatory/Keep Distance/Stay Safe.  Of course, the native populations have been especially hard hit with COVID and every place in their territories I've visited has been really vigilant about taking precautions.

I saw a warning sign for elk in the area (and am still waiting to see one).  Lots of hills with yellow grass and juniper/cedar.

I passed a turn leading to Lhoist North America, which sounded like a religious sect.  Instead, the internet tells me it's "a major supplier of lime, limestone and clay products to the North American marketplace."  Just goes to show.

I started seeing signs advertising Grand Canyon Caverns, which I hadn't heard of, but they turn out to be a thing.  They're considered dry caverns, which means there's no water to produce stalactites or stalagmites.  Only 3% of the world's caverns are dry, and these are among the largest of them in the US.  Inside were skeletal remains of an extinct giant ground sloth that lived about 11,000 years ago. 

Two interesting historical facts about the caverns: (1) in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, these caverns were designated as a fallout shelter and stocked with supplies for 2,000 people (the supplies are still there); (2) in 1979 a cosmic ray telescope was installed in the caverns, 138' below the surface (they detect radiation).

     If You Don't Know

     Whose Signs These Are

     You Haven't Driven

     Very Far

                Burma-Shave

     Thirty Days

     Hath September

     April, June

     And Speed Offenders

                 Burma-Shave

     Slow Down Pa

     Sakes Alive

     Ma Missed Signs

     Four And Five

                 Burma-Shave

And a sign told me we'd reached 5,400'.  Finally back up in the mountains, I guess.  After months of being in the mountains in several states, being down as close to sea level as we were in southwestern AZ seemed odd.

     Don't Lose Your Head

     To Save A Minute

     You Need Your Head

     Your Brains Are In It

                 [but no Burma-Shave sign following]

And then we reached Seligman, elev. 5,250', established 1886.  Its population in the recent census was 776, which was a substantial increase from the 445 they had in 2010 (and the 456 they had in 2000).  

Seligman bills itself as "The Birthplace of Historic Route 66," and maybe they can reasonably make that claim.  In 1978, I-40 went in and bypassed Seligman, cutting off almost all the business they'd been receiving from the public who'd been driving Route 66, which had been the main route and does go right through town.  Then in 1985, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (did you know there was such a thing?) voted to decertify Route 66 and remove all highway signs.  (1985 wasn't all that long ago.)  In 1987, residents of Seligman successfully lobbied state government to declare Route 66 a state historic highway.  This designation helped spark similar movements in other states and helped revive interest in the old road.  So yeah, Seligman's claim is reasonable.

About 20 miles east of Seligman is the town of Ash Fork; from there back to the California state line lies 158 miles of Route 66, the longest uninterrupted driveable stretch of the original road in the US.  Today I drove 85 miles of it and was happy to do it.  Nothing special as roads go, but a decent road and plenty of rural American scenery.

Arizona - Lake Havasu City, London Bridge, and Kingman

Kingman KOA, Kingman

Monday, 21 February 2022

today's route

Today's drive was only about 160 miles, but you can see I covered a good part of western AZ.  I'd never seen Lake Havasu, let alone Lake Havasu City, but I just couldn't imagine being in Arizona without seeing the London Bridge, since I'm unlikely ever to get to London and it's not still there anymore anyway.  So that's where I headed today.

I kept finding lots of RV parks and very bumpy roads and mostly small towns.  Part of the way went through the Colorado River Indian Reservation. and a great deal of it went past Lake Havasu, created by damming the Colorado River and shared with California, since the river creates the state border.

The lake is flanked by mountains on both sides and the road wound and climbed through the mountains.  Or at least, it felt like it was climbing.  Actually Lake Havasu City, at 575' in elevation, is substantially lower than Salome's 1,880'.  I had to contend with strong winds up to 40 mph today, so that meant I was driving those mountain roads cautiously.  Still, I could often get views of the lake, which is turquoise, making the drive much more pleasant.

Lake Havasu City, with a population in 2020 of 57,144, is a new town, established in 1968 to be a self-sufficient planned community.  That was the same year London Bridge got bought and moved here in hopes it'd be a tourist attraction to the town.  It worked.  It's why I was there.  And I saw many boondocked RVs there too.

Lots of other people wanted to see the bridge and I had a hard time getting a good view of it.  This is the best photo I could take.

London Bridge

The trouble is that it's a mild-mannered Clark Kent of a bridge, quiet and unassuming.  As far as I can tell, it was built in London in 1831 and was in use until it was moved here.  I found a better photo online.

This one shows more detail in the bridge as well as the beautiful water.  I sure don't know how the Colorado River acquired this color; I don't remember seeing it look like this anywhere else.

The flags in this area were both US and British flags, which is nice.

Not far from here I picked up the interstate, only to find I was far from being the only one having trouble with these strong winds.  One semi couldn't even stay in his lane, and I had to lower my speed even more than usual just to keep control of my driving.

Western and southwestern AZ are a good place to find people who don't like Pres. Biden.  I saw lots of flags saying "Impeach Biden," and I saw a license plate that said "LETSGBD," which I'm pretty sure means what it looks like.  Such a shame to have so many sore losers in this country that they'll swallow all kinds of lies.  Let's face it, not many Democrats were happy that their candidate (Clinton) won the popular vote in 2016 but lost the Electoral College.  And sure there was lots of grousing.  But that's different from what we've been seeing since the 2020 election. 

You know, I've come to decide that AZ's roads aren't much better than NM's.  All of them are rough - from the interstates to the US highways to the state highways to the local roads.

The Kingman KOA has a lot of oleanders all over the campground.  They provide thick walls between campsites.  This place is probably beautiful when they're all blooming.  It's a shame they're poisonous to dogs because I had to watch mine closely.

Arizona - to Yuma, then north

Salome KOA, Salome

Sunday, 20 February 2022

I had trouble sleeping last night, partly thanks to the group of folks in nearby campsites that were having a gay old time together - and I couldn't complain because the quiet hours don't start until 10 PM.  Then about 2:30 AM I heard something really strange that sounded like a pack of javelinas (they're here in the monument) had attacked a small dog and carried it off.  Of course, javelinas are vegetarians, and I doubt if anyone was stupid enough to leave a small dog outside overnight, but anyway that's what it sounded like.  It was loud enough to wake me up and scary enough to keep me from going back to sleep easily.  My dogs didn't like the noise either.

When I walked the dogs around the campground early this morning, I noticed that a lot of the vehicles - pickups and motorhomes and campers - had propped their hoods open overnight.  Is that to keep condensation from forming overnight and making the engine hard to start?  I didn't do that but had no trouble starting right up.  And I didn't see anybody I could ask.

That lack of sleep meant  was going to have trouble staying awake as I drove across the vast desert area of southwestern AZ today, and I couldn't use the generator/microwave until 8:00.  So I packed up and moved us up to the visitor center a little before 7:00, where I could use the microwave to heat up some coffee to put in my thermal cup for the drive.  Yeah, I could have used a pot on the stove, but that always makes the coffee taste boiled.  Microwaved is better.

From the visitor center parking lot I got a nice view of the sunrise.

This came first:

Then suddenly, this showed up:

It was pretty gorgeous.  My photos don't do it justice.

The dogs and I walked around the parking area a bit, I turned on the generator and used the microwave to heat up some coffee, and then we got on the road a little before 8:00.

today's route

We covered 314 miles today, which felt like a very long day, probably because there really wasn't much variety in the scenery.

You can see from the map that the one road that runs through the monument goes straight to the Mexico border.  On the way north I passed 3 large trucks with open tops, and they were piled over the top with household goods and mattresses on top of everything else.

Just at the edge of the national monument is the tiny town of Why.  Of course I had to look up where the name came from.  Two Arizona highways meet there forming a Y intersection, and folks wanted to call the town Y.  But at the time, state law required at least 3 letters in town names, so ...

The town of Ajo, elev. 1,740', looks like a thriving place.  They have more than 3,300 residents and the population grew slowly but surely between 2010 and 2020.  Ajo is the Spanish word for garlic, though I don't know if that had anything to do with the naming of this town.  Passing through town I saw the American Citizens Social Club.

And then we entered the Barry M Goldwater Air Force Range, one of the largest free fire ranges in the world (AZ is a big state).

We came to a Border Patrol Immigration Checkpoint.  The problem there was that they had a very active canine who sniffed all around the RV while Dexter got very upset.  I told the agent it wouldn't find anything except the smell of my dogs, but of course they didn't take my word for it.  I was glad when they got done and Dext quieted down.

At Gila Bend (elev. 735'), I stopped for gas and talked with a young woman waiting in line.  She told me she was nervous because she was supposed to meet her boyfriend's grandmother.  She was wearing baggy knee-length shorts that displayed her heavily and colorfully tattooed legs but had at least removed some of her facial piercings.  I told her I was sure it'd go fine, and it might, but I'm guessing it's going to be tough on Grandma.

I passed a turn for the Painted Rock Petroglyph site.  I hadn't heard of this, but it turns out to be an area with about 600 boulders covered with petroglyphs - one of the densest such concentrations in North America.  BLM is the caretaker, and they operate a nearby campground.  Something for my next trip to AZ.

I passed a vast installation that I was sure must be solar panels, but they were concave and silvery, not at all like the usual solar panel.  Thousands of them.

I saw a sign for "Middle Of Nowhere Gas Station Sentinel AZ."  On the internet it's billed as the only place to stop for 60 miles (thus the name), but I couldn't find out whether it's even still in business because all the information about it is locked away (as far as I'm concerned) in Facebook.

I saw an AZ license place that read: WR DONE.  (We're done?)

And a NM plate that read: SF VIDA.  (San Francisco life?)

And another AZ plate that read: SDEHUSL (side hustle?)

As I got closer to Yuma I started to see large fields that had been planted with some kind of bushes.  They looked dead and I couldn't figure out why someone would plant bushes, but I could easily see the rows they were planted in, which no one would bother doing without a good reason.

Several times today I crossed something called the Wellton Canal, which seemed to have plenty of water in it.  Online I found that that water came from the Colorado River.

At the town of Wellton I saw acres and acres of RV parks.  And I kept on seeing them all the way over to Yuma, which sits smack on the border with California.  This is clearly an area that gets lots of northern visitors.

In Yuma, I found a large city park named after E.F. Sanguinetti.  In Yuma he's known as the Merchant Prince of Yuma and is credited for founding a number and variety of industries in the area.  His life spanned 78 years on either side of the turning of the 20th century.  The park covers a full city block and is covered in lush green grass and lots of trees.  We enjoyed walking around here.

Not far out of town I passed a field where 25 or 30 men were harvesting something green, and the smell of lettuce came into the RV's cabin.  It looked like back-breaking work because they had to stoop over and whack loose the plants, straighten up and toss them onto a conveyor belt headed for a large truck.

I continued to pass crop fields - maybe cabbage, and maybe broccoli.  I saw bee boxes beside a field of flowering broccoli.  I passed other fields that had just been harvested, some that were recently planted, and others that had just been plowed.

For some miles I saw a sort of dirigible that reminded me of one I'd seen in West Texas.  Finally, I saw a sign that said "Tethered [something]" - I couldn't read anything but the first word.  But I've looked back in my blog and found the mention back on November 28, 2020, that said a sign called that one a Tethered Aerostat Radar System.  Since the 2 floating objects looked the same, I'm guessing that's what this one is too.  The one in Texas is supposedly being used to fight drug trafficking, and AZ does have a long border with Mexico.

I passed what felt like endless miles of sand and scrub, all backed by mountains.  And I saw lots of North Dakota license plates.  In fact, I saw more ND plates here than in any other state besides North Dakota.

I came to the town of Quartzsite, elev. 879' (still very low compared to where I've been).  For some reason, its population declined by a lot in the last 10 years, sitting at 3,677 in 2010 but down to 2,413 in 2020.  On the other hand, they figure they get more than a million visitors a year - mostly RV folks and mostly in January and February.  They say they may be the RV boondocking capital of the world.  And from what I saw, they might be.  Campgrounds were full, and wide areas of undeveloped land had RVs parked haphazardly all over them - no need to line up if you're not plugging into a power source.  I'm not set up for that but quite obviously lots of people are.

Not many miles farther along, we came to Brenda (I guess - I never saw a sign), an unincorporated town of 466 (as of 2020) that seemed to consist entirely of enormous RV parks - all of which looked full.

By this time I was on 2-lane US-60, and I moved over onto the shoulder to let a semi go by me.  And he actually flashed his lights to thank me - first time in a long time anyone's done that.  It lifted my spirits.

From there I came to the tiny town of Hope.  Wikipedia says its name came from the town's hope for increased business after some merchants visited.  However, they say, today the town consists of one RV park, one gas station, one church, and one antique store.  But they've got a sense of humor: not far to the east of town I saw a sign saying: "You're Now Beyond Hope."

And not much farther from there I came to the almost-non-town of Harcuvar, which is where the Salome KOA actually is.  But I could find almost nothing about Harcuvar online, only that it was once known as Mountain Pass.  I don't know why the name changed or in fact anything else about it, including why the campground is there instead of Salome.

What I can tell you is that Salome isn't pronounced like I thought it'd be.  It's pronounced as 2 syllables and rhymes with home.  And I can also say that this KOA has as much ambiance as a field of gravel - which in fact is what it is.  Gravel everywhere, with occasional stickers thrown in for the dogs to find.  I sure was glad I hadn't planned to stay there for more than the one night.  Depressing.

Arizona - Tucson & Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Twin Peaks Campground, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Saturday, 19 February 2022

Today is my sister Louise's birthday.  The trouble with someone dying young - she was only 21 - is that it's impossible to know what kinds of things they'd be interested in as adults.  I don't know if she'd be glad I was celebrating her birthday by exploring a lot of desert and cactus, but she had an inquiring sort of mind, so she might have been interested at least a little.  I went only because I was here and it seemed to be something unique to Arizona, and I ended up being much more interested than I'd expected.

today's route in Tucson

today's route on the road

In Tucson

I drove past the University of Arizona campus - very attractive.  It's a land grant college and was founded in 1885, which is interesting because AZ didn't become a state until 1912.  So it's impressive that they were quick on the educational uptake, even if they were a little slow on the statehood bit.

In the historic downtown area I ran into so much road construction that it was hard to get to places I wanted to see.  Plus the streets weren't called what Google said they'd be called.  But I did stumble upon this amazing-looking building.

Pima County Historic Courthouse

close-up of mosaic dome

It was built in 1929 in the Spanish Revival style.  Pretty gorgeous, isn't it?  It looks like the actual court activities are now conducted in a more modern building that's lacking the history of the old one: this old building is where John Dillinger and his gang were arraigned after they'd finally been caught here in Tucson.  There's an interesting account of the whole saga at this link.   https://thisistucson.com/tucsonlife/john-dillinger

We stopped for a short walk at a public library by a Boys and Girls Club, and then hit the road.

On the road

Much of today's drive crossed the Tohono O'odham Reservation.  As far as I can tell from the internet, these indigenous people aren't part of an Indian nation such as Navaho.  Instead, their families crossed what's now the Mexico border with the seasons, and many of the tribal members still live in Mexico.  Because their land sits right on what's now the border, there's been controversy over smuggling, illegal immigration and other such issues.  Not long ago the tribe offered vigorous resistance to Pres. Trump's border wall, because thousands of tribal members live just on the other side of that border.  I don't think the wall got built but instead the government put up surveillance towers to monitor border activities.  They told the tribe there'd be 16 of them, but it recently became known that there are 52 of them instead.  And the Border Patrol has been putting so much pressure on tribal members that they now feel like they can't leave their homes without being under scrutiny.  Not a happy state of affairs, regardless of the problems of border security.

I passed a sign telling me Kitt Peak was just over there, and when I looked I saw what I thought was an astronomy set-up.  It reminded me of the telescopes I saw at the McDonald Observatory in Texas.  And sure enough, that's just what's up there.  Kitt Peak National Observatory is "one of the largest gatherings of astronomical instruments in the northern hemisphere," per Wikipedia.  You can see from the road map that there's not a lot out here, so I imagine there's not a lot of light pollution either.

I passed lots of saguaro cactus and mesquite and sage, lots of rolling desert hills.  There were large mountain ranges dotted all along the road, on both sides.  According to the AAA map, they really are separate mountain ranges, and there really are a lot of them.  And I started seeing what I thought might be called cholla cactus - looking like a bush with dreadlocks.

We stopped at a rough picnic area to take a walk, and the dogs found several holes in the ground they wanted to check out.  I hauled them away.  We're no longer in chipmunk country and I'm afraid the holes down here might hold snakes.

At one point I got passed by the US Border Patrol pulling 2 ORVs in a trailer.  Later I found the truck parked off the road and the trailer was empty - presumably the agents were patrolling in the ORVs.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

When I turned onto the entrance road, I was met with a sign saying this monument area is a Biosphere Reserve.  I've seen those signs before but had to look it up again: they're designated by UNESCO to "preserve genetic diversity in representative ecosystems by protecting wild animals, traditional life style of inhabitants, and domesticated plant/animal genetic resources.

I learned that the organ pipe cactus lives primarily in Mexico, and this monument protects most of its US range.

This is an organ pipe cactus:

And lest you think they're just fleshy plants, here's a somewhat fuzzy close-up view.  You may want to enlarge it more to get the full effect.

There are spines everywhere on that plant.
They are not to be trifled with.

These cactus typically grow to about 15' and were named by early settlers who thought they looked like church pipe organs.  When a cactus is about 35 years old, it'll begin to produce flowers.  The odd thing about them is that the flowers bloom only at night and close again by mid-morning.  They're pollinated by bats, which I guess figures because who else is going to be flying around at night.

These cactus need lots of warm sun to grow, so they're found almost entirely in specific sections of the monument: on hillsides that get the most sun during the day.  So I drove for some miles inside the monument without seeing any, and then suddenly there they were.  Lots of them.  The photo above I took in the campground - it was very close to my campsite.

Of course these weren't the only kind of cactus around here.

Park rangers told me these trees with dreadlocks are indeed cholla (pronounced CHOY-yuh), and I think I saw 2 different kinds.

You can see this cholla was between us and our next door
neighbors in the campground.  I worried about the dogs
getting too close.

close-up view of that cholla

Note the differences between that one and this next one, that is also a cholla.

These were near the visitor center.
See close-up below.

Rangers said these were called chained fruit cholla,
because they grow those "chains" with the fruit-like
balls at the ends.

Though they're both obviously cholla, they also don't look the same - the one in the campground doesn't grow those balls-on-chains.  And it turns out one of the rangers said he too calls this type beaded-dreadlocks chollas, so it's not just me.

Then there are these dangerous looking things.

This is an ocotillo - see close-up 
at right.

close-up view showing how lethal these
things are

So here's the odd thing about ocotillo: they're not cactus.  Despite their obviously cactus-like appearance, they're considered a shrub.  Seriously.  Apparently, if you happen to see one of these things 48 hours after a rain, you'll see that they're starting to put out leaves, and within a few more days all those thorns are hidden by a thick coat of green leaves.  Seems impossible to me, seeing them as they are now, but that's what the park service says.  And in March and early April, they'll even put out bright red flowers at the ends of those stems and become very popular with hummingbirds and pollinating insects.  Then, when the soil dries, they go back to being a bundle of dangerous sticks.  Weird plants.

This campground, which was within the national monument, had no plug-ins for either electricity or water.  Fortunately, some parts of the campground, including mine, allowed use of generators - but only from 8-10 AM and 4-6 PM.  It was a warm day with temps in the upper 70s, so I turned on the generator and then turned on the AC for my allowed 2 hours in the afternoon.  Gracie and I were both hot enough to want it.  But I played fair and turned it off at 6:00 - and noticed everybody else did the same thing.

I'd been without any kind of utilities the night before at the doctor's office, but there I could run the generator all I wanted.  Here, no generator not only meant no AC but also no microwave and no TV/DVDs.  All I had was the electricity from my cabin batteries, and I tried to conserve that, just in case.  It worked out fine but I had to do some planning to make it work.

Arizona - back to Tucson for the night

Tucson Gastroenterology, Tucson

Friday, 18 February 2022

today's route

And back to Tucson I went for my endoscopy appointment.

There weren't many events of note.  For some reason, Dexter had very loose stools and threw up all his breakfast.  Probably something (unauthorized) that he ate.  Fortunately for my sanity, this time he didn't make any of his mess where I couldn't clean it up.  Unlike when we were stuck with inches of snow in Bernalillo.

I saw a license plate that said: SAWAURO.

I stopped by a grocery store, so I wouldn't have to do it tomorrow when I was trying to leave town.  And I found a city park not far from the doctor's office where I could walk the dogs and we could have lunch.  That's where I finally got around to checking my voice mail and found that the doctor's office had called to say they'd had a cancellation and could I come in early.  My appointment was originally for 2:40 - probably the last one of the day - so we were all glad I could come right on over.

Of course, once I got there I found the person ahead of me ended up not having a normal procedure but was instead having some medical problems.  I certainly didn't begrudge them the extra attention from the medical staff, because I'd've wanted that for myself if I'd needed it.

I got knocked out, but I know they did the endoscopy because they gave me photos of the inside of my esophagus (not one of the more attractive areas of the body).  They said they took a few samples for biopsy, and the results will be back in a few weeks, but as far as they could see everything looked the way they'd expected it to.  Certainly a reassuring note.

I took the dogs out for a short walk in the neighborhood afterwards.  Less than a block from the doctor's office was an intersection where I saw 2 car accidents within 5 minutes of each other.  And these were before 4 PM.  Two of the cars (one from each collision) had to be towed.  I know because they both limped into the doctor's parking lot so I could see it happen.  Luckily, the damage seemed to be only property - no personal injury.

That street - Swan Road - must be a major artery in Tucson.  I could easily hear fairly heavy traffic until about 2:00 or 3:00 AM (I didn't get a lot of sleep there).  Plus lots of sirens from emergency vehicles.  I found when I took the dogs around the next day that there are quite a few private residences along that street - I'd thought at first it was just businesses.  I'm guessing those homes have soundproofing or something to deal with all that noise.  Otherwise, it was a good place for us.  Paved sidewalks on both sides of the street for quite a distance in either direction, so we could walk early in the morning.

So the short version is that getting this done was a nuisance, but it was one that had to be done and it went much more easily than I'd expected.  It helped a lot that I'd already gone through this in Toledo so I knew what to ask for.

Arizona - in Benson

Benson KOA, Benson
Wednesday, 16 and Thursday, 17 February 2022

That strong wind from yesterday continued over the next couple of days and brought with it a cold front.  The high temp on Tuesday probably made the forecast of 77°, while Wednesday's high was for 46° with rain included.  Thursday wasn't much of an improvement.

I spent quite a bit of the time here making plans for the rest of the month - deciding what sights I still wanted to see in Arizona, figuring out where we'll be staying and making those reservations.  And I went a bit further and made plans for the first few days we'd be in California next month.  I'm not sure why, but it always seems to take hours to do this kind of planning.

Lots of other dogs around the campground, but since the place was by no means even as full as it was in December, we could make it work.

I talked with a woman from Olympia, WA, who informed me sadly that once the pandemic allowed people to work from home, the population in the Olympia area skyrocketed, as did the price of houses.  Such a shame.  When I lived there it was a nice, reasonably-growing area, but she made it sound like it was getting out of control.

And I talked with a couple who were from East Greenwich, RI, which I'm pretty familiar with thanks to my Momma and the month I spent in the state.  They were talking about the exploding property taxes on people's houses, which priced a lot of people out of the market.  I was interested that the man was still - 5 years later - upset about that Access Hollywood tape of Trump.  Until then, the man said, he'd thought of Trump as a businessman who'd bring those principles to governing; but after that, he'd thought of his own daughters and how beyond the pale he thought Trump's words (and actions) were.  He said it was why he ended up not voting for him when he otherwise might have.

And I talked with still another couple from somewhere in Wyoming, maybe Rock Springs.  They said they'd spent the last 3 winters in Yuma, but this year they were trying to see more of Arizona.  They'd been down to Tombstone and planned to go back, saying it was a lot of fun - which it is.  I remember the Rock Springs area - it's just north of Flaming Gorge that runs down into Utah.  I'm sure it gets cold in the winters, but I don't know that I'd've picked southern Arizona to run to.  But each to his own.

Arizona - Tucson doctor appt. and Saguaro National Park

Benson KOA, Benson

Tuesday, 15 February 2022

today's route

My appointment in Tucson wasn't until 8:45, but I left the campground at 7:00 so we could stop for a quick walk at a park in Benson - you know, someplace different for the dogs to walk.  We left there at 7:30 and I got to the doctor's office just in time.

They listened to my symptoms and medical history and agreed it was probably time for me to have another endoscopy.  I had to remind them that I was leaving for California on the 1st and not coming back to Arizona, and they decided they could find me an appointment for this Friday.  And they agreed to do as the doctor in Toledo had done and give me permission to park the RV in their parking lot on Friday night - I'm not supposed to drive until the next day after being anesthetized, and I really had nowhere else to go.

I went back outside and walked the dogs around a bit and decided to spend the 2 days in between now and the appointment in hanging out at the Benson KOA.  It's comfortable enough for us for a few more days.  Although I'd heard on the radio that the American Southwest is now at its driest point in 1200 years, which really is quite a long time.

Saguaro National Park

The Saguaro National Park is in 2 pieces, east and west of Tucson.  Both pieces offer a scenic drive route, but only the one in the east is paved.  Since that one is also directly on the way from the doctor's office back to the Benson KOA, that one was an easy choice.

This is what a saguaro cactus looks like.

Here's a little info on this cactus, taken from the National Park Service brochure:

Saguaros grow very slowly at first - an inch of so during their first six to eight years.  It may be 70 years before they sprout branches, or arms.  They reach full height, 40-50 feet, at about age 150.  The tallest may reach 75 feet.  Long woody ribs support their multi-ton bulk.  They usually die of old age.

The 8-mile drive was very popular when I was there - the visitor parking lot was full and I saw plenty of cars during the drive.  The park charges a $25 admission fee (per car, I think), but once again my Golden Age Pass got me in for free.  Remarkable.

The road is narrow, winding, with lots of steep hills.  There are intermittent paved pull-out places, and most of my photos were taken from these vantage points.

The saguaro (pronounced suh-wahr-oh) grow densely enough here that the area is called a forest.

example of a "forested" area

Saguaros have shallow roots that extend as far out as the plant is tall, so I can see that the kind of spacing you see here would be important.

I guess these saguaro without arms are younger ones
(though that is a relative term since they're usually 70 years old
before they sprout arms).

The young saguaro under the tree on the left is being protected
by a "nurse tree;" they improve the chance of survival for the young-uns.

That photo above shows some of the variety of cactus living out here.  Here are others.

As far as I could tell, every plant in these photos except the juniper had thorns.  There was no way on earth I'd have been willing to let my dogs out as I saw other people doing.  Mine haven't even figured out the occasional cactus we see in campgrounds can hurt them and they don't try to avoid it.

Speaking of thorns, take a look at this tree.

see the close-up below

a close-up -
they're dripping with thorns

But those same thorns are a boon to the cactus, as well as to other critters.  Somehow those spines shade the plants and shield it from drying out in the winds.  Several species of birds (and I think some reptiles) make nest holes in the trunks, or use those that others have made.  It's a remarkable ecosystem out here.  To me it's entire inhospitable - too easy to get stuck on something - but there's clearly a lot of life out here.

Saguaro don't grow in a symmetrical way, which was a surprise to me.

I guess those branches grow wherever they want to.

As I've said before, I'm not a desert person; I prefer sand to stay ocean-side and I don't much like even roses if they have thorns on them.  And I got real tired of all this sand and cactus before I was through with the 8 miles of loop road.  But I could also see the fascination this kind of place must have for those who have different tastes in scenery.  It's a remarkable atmosphere out here.

While I was at the park, and especially on the way back to Benson, I could understand why the National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning.  Winds were forecast up to 40 mph, and out here there's not much to slow them down.

Arizona - southeast to Benson again

Benson KOA, Benson

Monday, 14 February 2022

I heard on the radio that yesterday's high in Phoenix was 82°.  Definitely warmer than Flagstaff.

I also heard that AZ ranks last among the states for teachers' pay.  Not an enviable statistic.

today's route - the left line
the right line that goes north was from my trip north to Globe

I tried to stay off the interstate as much as I could today and ended up seeing a few things I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

I saw a highway department sign saying:

   Roses Are Red

   Violets Are Blue

   Buckle Up We LUV U

Can't say I've seen that one before.

When I turned onto AZ-87 I passed miles and miles of northbound vehicles.  So many of them that I started wondering if the interstate was closed and all these folks had to take a detour to Phoenix.  Never did find out.

I passed the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, protected since 1892 and the country's first prehistoric and cultural preserve.  It looks like these ruins would be worth the time of a side trip some day.

Not many miles south of them is the town of Randolph.  It's a historically black town, originally established for cotton workers, named for the railroad worker who founded it.  Now there are still a few houses but only very few, all of them in disrepair from the brief look I got.  If there are still folks living there, their poverty level is severe.  No businesses at all.  Such a shame.

All along the road I saw agricultural land with irrigation ditches alongside, some of them with water in them.

We stopped for a break at Picacho, where I saw a huge orchard (couldn't tell what kind of tree), and then joined the interstate for 92 miles.

Farther along I passed an ostrich ranch and a corral of emus (not at the same place).

I found more lying highway signs - these saying the right lane was closed ahead because there was debris in the road.  So I moved over, to the consternation of faster traffic, only to find no road closed anywhere and no debris.  These are electronic signs so they should be easy to update.  I guess updating isn't important in Arizona?

And at Benson I went to the post office to mail my absentee ballot.  I told the clerk what I really wanted was to send it return receipt requested, but Texas was being so picky about these ballot envelopes I was afraid it might cause trouble.  The clerk agreed that those RRRs required large labels stuck on the envelopes so people could sign and so forth.  As an alternative she printed out a stick-on postmark dated today and gave me a receipt to prove I got it in the mail before February 28th.  I can't help but worry that won't be enough, but the post office has 2 full weeks to get that envelope from Arizona to Texas.  Surely that'll be enough.