Of Highs and Lows

A pictureless blog day---my apologies.

The last 48+ hours have produced some highs and lows.

Getting up at the crack of dawn Tuesday in the Kartchner campground, I joined a line of hopefuls at the visitors center, hoping to score some tickets for a cavern tour. (Due to the 3 day weekend, we were shut out Fri-Sat-Sunday. Buy yours on the internet if you are certain when you will be there.) I was able to get some for the 9:20 a.m. Rotunda-Throne Room Tour. The tour was fabulous. These caves are absolutely spectacular. Don’t bother with Carlsbad, etc. Do this one!

We were on the road by 11:30, headed to the Catalina State Park, northeast of Tucson. After winding around surface traffic for about an hour, we arrived, only to find that there was no room at the inn. Full! Bummer! Upon the advice of the kiosk attendant, we headed 5 miles north to the town of Catalina, being advised that there was an RV Park “behind the Circle K Store.” Upon arrival, I pulled off the highway, deftly avoiding major potholes in the dirt lot in front of said park. This was a burial ground for RVs. Old and older. Carly has high standards for her blue bag tours. So, it was back on the highway, heading to the next burg up the road: Florence.

The next 40 miles or so were perhaps the most boring straight-line cactus and sage brush highway in the U.S. (excepting most of the state of Texas). We desperately sought the Rancho Sonora RV Park, reputedly the best this side of Florence. Tired and disappointed, we weren’t in a mood to be choosy. We would take just about anything—and that’s what we got. A somewhat muddy space in the back 40 of this mainly white-trash snowbird haven. We set-up, plugged in, pulled the shades, and drained a bottle of Corona. As long as we didn’t look outside, it was fine, although there was a pretty sunset.

Leaving bright and early the next morning, we spied an RV park directly next door. Looked real nice. This was Florence’s finest, for sure, but it was 12 hours too late. We were headed north, “2 folks with old dog seeking nice place to stay for a few days.”

Having heard about the great regional parks in Maricopa County (Phoenix area), we headed to Usery Mountain Park, just above Apache Junction. Fortunately we phoned along the way, before getting too deep in the tules, and found that it was full, with many in the overflow lot waiting for a vacancy. We were advised to head to McDowell Mountain Regional Park, some 25 miles away. Calling there, they indicated they were full and had only one rig in the waiting area. “I’d take a chance,” the young lady optimistically advised. We were due for a break, so we headed north, passing through Fountain Hills, a very nice upscale town. Arriving at the park, we were advised that it still was full, but that we could park in the overflow lot and take our chances. We went for the gamble, becoming the new first rig in line as the earlier one was gone. Shortly thereafter the host arrived and advised us that they had one vacancy in the park for the day. With all deliberate speed, we moved to site 38. After arrival and set up, we scarfed down a peanut butter, pickle and mayonnaise sandwich (on toast). And….life was good again..

News flash: Nephew James and wife Erin, who we visited a couple days ago, had their baby----a boy, Daniel James Horgan. We will see them in Sacto in May, so we fought off the urge to make a U-turn. Mother and child doing well.

We spent a lazy afternoon, reading in the sun in new loungers purchased at Camping World in Tucson. Super deal. The next big event (other than BBQ chicken legs for dinner) was the heralded lunar eclipse, scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm. Ominously, a weather front was gathering in the area, beginning to obscure the eastern horizon, where the moon would be rising. At the appointed hour, the celestial show was cancelled—a solid black wall of clouds blotted out any chance of viewing.

A few hours later, there was an even better show—a classic desert thunderstorm. We turned off all of the lights, opened the shades and just sat there enjoying cosmic lightning flashes all around us, streaks of lighting, vertical and horizontal, dancing in the skies. Carly, having lost most of her hearing (except for my sneezes and gunfire) was initially unfazed by the distant rumblings. When the light show began, she began her classic thunderstorm teeth chattering and slinked (or slunked) back to her corner in the bedroom. The storm went on for about 2 hours, accompanied by intermittent pounding rains on the roof. Then it stopped, and the shrill wailing of a coyote family could be heard nearby.

It is now morning, the skies have mostly cleared. The desert has been cleansed, with droplets still hanging from saguaro cacti needles, glistening in the morning sun. Mountains surrounding us are crystal clear in the still clean air. Birds are singing all around in the desert shrubbery. It is a good day for a hike.