Saturday

Back to Benson for one night on our way to Catalina State Park (Tucson).   We left Roper Lake State Park after an enjoyable stay that had come to an end.  Too many tents, flapping in the wild winds, too many smokey campfires, too many bikes.    We decided a long time ago that when a place isn't fun anymore, we'd just move on, no guilt, no what ifs, just move on.

As I said, it was very very windy again and Dave had to keep both hands firmly on Beluga's wheel to stay between the lines. For the first thirty or so miles of our trip we took the brunt full on the side, but after that it was just an strong, annoying headwind.    We stopped for fuel at a Travel America truck stop and found out that we should try to avoid the dedicated truck lanes when fueling up.   The woman at the check out told Dave that the truck lanes are charged almost 8 cents more per gallon than the pumps on the car/rv side of the station (at least here in Arizona).     Something about trucker's over the road taxes.   You learn something new every single day.

Texas canyon rocks

 

We drove back along US 191 south, backtracking along the same route we took to get to Safford on Monday.  This highway runs from Mexico all the way north to Canada. Then  I-10 took us west, through miles and miles of high plateau with distant mountain views. I didn't take any pictures because the air was fairly dusty and hazy from the big blow we were driving in.  As we neared  Benson, we passed through an interesting, rocky area called Texas canyon.

So, tonight we're back at the SKP;s Saguaro Co-op park for a night of full hook-ups, cable TV, paved spot with a beautiful view of the Dragoon Mtns. for $15.50 a night!   Such a deal...

Friday - uh oh, another weekend

It was a beautiful morning, bluer skies and the sun shining on Mt. Graham when we went outside for coffee.

We decided to play 9 holes at the Mt. Graham/city of Safford Golf Course before lunch, before the "crowds" were due, its a weekend after all.   On our way out of the campground we saw Lisa and Hans checking in.  We chatted for a second and invited them over for a glass of wine later in the afternoon.

Dave felt he had an OK round of golf, but I have to say his putting was stellar today!   He says this course was a typical open western course with lots of unimproved ground between the tee and green.  I didn't think it was a particularly pretty course, but the mountain views all around were unbelievable.  Lots of birds and ducks for me to spy on.

What do you think Lisa?   Widgeons?

hard to concentrate on a putt with such a background

Holy guano!

We got back to Beluga around 2 p.m. and found ourselves once again surrounded with tents.   Grrrr.
I was looking forward to spending the rest of the afternoon sitting in the sun reading, but not any more, its way too noisy.   Luckily, our site is quite private on one side, so I just turned my chair to the view and pretended to be alone.   Lewis, unfortunately, wasn't able to keep his eyes off all the kids and bikes.  He quietly crawled up on me and watched from the safety of a warm, soft lap.   Dave took a picture of us that he thinks is cute, but it didn't pass my test,  so you can't see it......

Lisa and Hans came over around 4:30 bearing chairs and hummus and we shared some red wine and conversation.  This is probably the last time our paths will cross this year and I know we'll miss their good, solid information, their enthusiasm and laughter.

dusky view over Roper Lake with a special blackbird on the rushes

Lisa cued us into the beautiful yellow headed blackbirds zooming around the lake.
I would have missed them

too beautiful to overlook

happy Spring!!!!

Thursday

We had a delightful gilt free morning just sunning and reading.    Its taken us a long time to get over the feeling that we should be doing something, not just sitting and reading, but once we got over the hump.......what a luxurious feeling it was!  You should try it.

Dave and Lewis took a hike after lunch, while I prepped some dinner things and took care of some internet work.  He took the camera and got some nice pictures, so here they are....

come on Dad, just a few more steps to the top!

view of the campground and lake from above

Roper Lake

After they got home, we met our next door neighbors, from Alberta.  They have a huge, white (ish) Standard Poodle.  I say "ish" because he suffers from the same disease our lovely Sasha has - dirt bunny itis.  He is filthy!!!!!  Sweet, friendly and a dull gray.

We loaded our dogs into the jeep and went looking for Safford.  Found a Walmart, a nice Safeway and all the other normal big box stores.  We drove through the "historic downtown" area and saw an old west town that has seen better days.  Most of the store fronts were occupied, but there were lots of thrift shops, gun stores and mexican restaurants.    We did see a few nicer  homes, but, for the most part, the places were small, run down and very sad looking.   The biggest employers here are the Copper/Goldmine and the large federal prison.   Doesn't look like they pay their employees very well.

As we headed back to Beluga, we saw a sign for the city of Safford golf course, so we made a quick u turn and checked it out.   No tee times to bother with here and some beautiful views of Mt. Graham, so perhaps we'll give it a whirl tomorrow.

Mt. Graham as seen from the golf course

Hot dogs, macaroni salad, fresh veggies and a Redbox movie ends another exciting day in the life of the Bank family.

Wednesday - Roper Lake State Park

SKP's members drive many different types of RV's.  Doesn't this one look like  it was made by a boat builder?

We enjoyed our brief stay at the Escapees Co-op Park in Benson.  Its a nice, clean, very friendly home base   for Escapee members in sunny, dry southern Arizona. Most sites have expansive views of the Dragoon Mountains to the east and there is lots of room to walk the dogs in the surrounding desert.

 I walked to the clubhouse this morning to load 5 or 6 books onto our kindles, and then we picked up I-10 east on our way to Safford, Az. and Roper Lake State Park.  The scenery went from flat high desert bounded by jagged mountains to absolutely flat, grass lands.  We exited I-10 onto US 191 north and drove for almost 30 miles with nothing on either side of us but empty land.   Occasionally I'd see a man riding horseback through the desert, or once I noticed  a lone, saddled horse tied to a small mesquite tree, but other than that, nothing.....

As we approached Safford we began to see some small, very depressed looking houses and then our turn for Roper Lake State Park.  I have no idea what the town itself will be like, tomorrow we'll check that out.    

our site's sitting area

no one in sight on Beluga's driver's side

As you can see, it was quite hazy today.  No rain in the forecast, but the sky was quite grey, not very good for pictures.    We sat outside for quite awhile, reading and enjoying the warmth, then drove all around the park getting a little lay of the land.  We came across a small, rock lined hot spring pool and a dusty fenced in dog park.

Lewis and Sasha got a chance to run around the lake shore a bit while we explored.  I forgot to take my camera with me, so I took the picture below with my phone!   The cloud formations gave the promise of a  wonderful sunset, but delivered a picture more Wyeth than Gauguin!    

Tuesday - BCA

No pictures today.  Dave didn't think you'd want to see pictures of him exercising, vacuuming, shaking the rugs, wiping up the floor and the furniture, washing the car, making sour cherry/white peach vanilla pie, picking up dog poop or washing the dishes.   He didn't think you'd want to see pictures of me cleaning the toilet, doing the laundry, making campground reservations, grocery shopping or prepping roasted shrimp and lemon pasta for dinner either, sooooo....no pictures today.

As we were driving out of the rv park, we noticed a New York State license plate on a car and motorhome just down the way.  Of course, Dave stopped to chat and we found out the couple are from Livonia (just a stones throw from our home).  They live here (SKP Saguaro Park in Benson, Az.) part of the year and on East Lake Road (Conesus Lake) in Livonia the rest of the time.   Once they described their house, we knew just where it is and when we told them that Beluga sits on West Lake Road half the year, he knew just where we were from!   Small world.

After I download a few books to my Kindle and do another load of laundry, we'll try to leave here before noon.   Next destination is Roper Lake State Park, near the New Mexico border.

OK, I lied, here is a picture Nina took of Lewis leaping the railings at White Water Draw.  Doggie Heaven.

Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Monday - moving day again

one happy old dust bunny

After our morning second cups outside in the beautiful sunshine, we packed up Beluga and our dirty dogs and headed north to Benson, Arizona.  We have a couple of days before we are scheduled to arrive at Roper Lake State Park in Safford, Az., near the New Mexico border, so we decided to check out an Escapee's co-op park there.  Escapee's are one of the RV clubs we belong to, and use their mail forwarding service.

The park has nice wide gravel sites, terraced so most of them have a lovely view of the Dragoon Mtns. to the east.  It has loads of activities and social programs for members and is a really friendly place.  We got settled in around 3 and Dave rinsed the White Water Draw dust off Beluga and the jeep.  Sasha will really miss rutting around in the good soft dirt, but we'll try to find some for her again soon.

Good local pizza for dinner and Dancing with The Stars on TV tonight.

Sunday - Happy St. Patrick's Day

We did nothing to celebrate St. Patty's Day.  It was just another glorious day here in southern Arizona.  Well, Paul wore a green Dublin T shirt, but thats about it.

The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and wonderfully warm - but....tremendous winds blew.  Nina was off exploring with her bike, Dave was inside Beluga retrieving binoculars, Paul and I were sitting innocently outside enjoying the day.  All of a sudden, seemingly from out of the blue, a dust devil filled with tumbleweed clumps raced over us.  Chairs tipped over, the dogs ran for us and dust and dry brush blew every which way.     Dave was just opening Beluga's door to come back out as the dervish arrived and it nearly ripped the door off the hinges.  My dashboard plants blew over and pieces of tumbleweed and dust forced their way in....    And then it was gone.         It all happened so fast, I didn't have time or the presence of mind to get my camera out so you could see for yourselves.     We all laughed about it.....what an emotional girl mother nature is!

can you see us?

one of the trails at White Water Draw

Incoming....

we're so glad there are still some hanger's on, most have moved on by now

two of the probably 30,000 cranes that are here during the winter

On our way back from our last "Crane walk" we stopped by the Great Horned Owls in the barn.  I wanted to find an Owl pellet to dissect and Mr. Owl happily obliged.  I picked up my prize with a kleenex and we took it back to share with Paul and Nina.  After flooding it with water, we discovered a few tiny bones, lots of fur and a cool little skull with its jaws and teeth intact!   Once again, small pleasures.  I didn't take any pictures, didn't want to gross you out......



Thanks to Paul, you are able to read this blog tonight.  Things went haywire last night and neither Dave nor I had any idea what to do about it.  We were resigned to days, maybe weeks, of no internet and plenty of angst, but....Paul came to our rescue....

Paul at work

Polly at play

Polly came along with Paul, ostensibly to lend her assistance, but she really comes to Beluga to play with Lewis' toys...

sunset at the end of another happy day