Spent two nights in the Cactus Forest by Darden Wells, near the town of Ajo, Arizona. It’s like a 10 minute drive down a dirt road with spots on each side that are few and far between. We were lucky enough to get the same spot that we stayed in like 4 years ago. Everything about it was exactly the same except for one thing. Someone thought it would be a good idea to bury their dog here and the Coyotes dug up the grave and bones and fur are scattered everywhere. At first when I saw the hole with the bones, I thought I would have to make a call to the Police but then I saw the fur. Lots of fur and lots of bones. Whoever buried the dog probably thought he did a good job. He put a lot of rocks on top and a big cactus on top of the rocks but that didn’t stop the Coyotes. Amazing that they found it.
The weather was absolutely perfect! 72° with no wind. I was finally able to take out my puzzle and finish it. The Sunsets in the cactus forest are amazing!
We left there and went to a self-wash Car Wash to get some of the dust and grime off the van after being in the desert atmosphere for over a month. From there we drove 2 hours back to Tucson through the very very large Indian Reservation. We got lucky because along the way was a giant PowWow. We had lunch and some Indian Fry Bread with powdered sugar. One of my favorite foods. They also had a rodeo going on which we watched for a bit and then the dancing competition which we stuck around for. The costumes were magnificent.
We continued on to Tucson and spent the night at the Del Sol Casino, from there we headed to Discount Tires to get a tire rotation but when he pulled up our records, we were due for new tires. We were about 55 thousand miles on these tires and they were having a sale so the exact tires this time cost less than when we purchased them over 3 years ago.
From there, we drove about an hour to this really cool rest stop on I-10. It was like someone unloaded giant boulders everywhere. The boulders were no where else in the scenic drive except in this area. It was so cool. I’m a big fan of giant boulders.
From there we headed into the mountains to another National Monument. The Chiricahua National Monument. We heard great things about this place but it’s always been too cold for us to go up into that elevation. This time however, the weather Gods were with us and we were able to book a sight at their very small and quaint campground. We checked out the site but didn’t set up because the hikes were on the other side of the park and we had a few picked out from the maps they gave us at the visitor center. This park and these hikes we took and the drive to get to the trail head were National Park worthy. We couldn’t figure out why this place was only labeled as a National Monument. We think maybe because they were lacking in parking spaces at the trailheads. We got lucky and got a great spot and went on an amazing hike.
Greg uploaded a review of the place to his YouTube channel.
Next stop, Tombstone, home of the OK Corral shootout. We just love Tombstone and all its Hokeyness! We stayed in the lot just outside of town for 10 bucks. It’s a great spot and walking distance to Big Nose Kate’s Saloon and all the other fun places to enjoy. We even had some horses trot by our campsite.
From there we headed east in search of a shower. Decided to stay at the Beef Jerky RV park in Bowie. I don’t know the actual name of the place just that they sell every kind of Jerky known to man. The RV spots are only 10 bucks and that includes a nice hot shower. They also have a good food truck on location which was pretty good. This town, Bowie, has over 700,000 Pecan trees. It’s unbelievable how many trees there are as far as the eye can see. Needless to say, Greg had several slices of Pecan Pie while here in this area. Next day we decided to take the 3mile hike to Fort Bowie National Historic Site. This was where many battles happened between the Apache Indians and the US soldiers to protect this mail route that went across the country. This spot that we hiked had a couple of natural springs which was very valuable for both the Indians and the mail carriers and soldiers. It was a very well laid out trail that ended at the parks visitor center. We received a Healthy Hiker pin which is something new that the National Park Service is doing. Anything longer than 3 miles, gets you a really cool NP pin. The program is called Hike to Health. Each park offers different prizes for hiking.
After our hike, we went to the Indian Bread Rocks Free camping area in BLM land. We have been here before. It’s a great place with beautiful scenery and friendly cows. Can you spot the van among all those rocks?
Next day we headed south to the Mexico border and stayed at Pancho Villa State Park. The weather has been absolutely amazing. Sunny, blue skies and temps in the high 70’s and then cool at night for great sleeping.
We basically had the entire state park to ourselves because the boobs in the boardroom of New Mexico’s state parks decided that they didn’t want tourists from out of the state to stay in their campgrounds so they made it free for people that have the New Mexico camping pass and $25 for out of staters. This kind of back fired because they were charging $600.00 for the pass. Cmon now, who is gonna buy that. It’s absurd. Through all of this nonsense, they pissed off a bunch of out of state people, including us. During the pandemic, they wouldn’t even allow us or anyone else from out of state to stay or enter their parks. Greg and I are still holding a grudge against New Mexico and very very rarely will we spend any time there. And apparently we aren’t the only ones. A Saturday night and an empty campground with over 75 camping spots. For us it’s quite easy not to go to New Mexico for camping because two of our favorite states are on either side of New Mexico. We love Texas State Parks and we love the Arizona Desert. So sorry, not sorry to New Mexico.
Off we went the next day to get some miles under our belt. Heading back east to Fort Lauderdale for another cruise. We did two nights at two beautiful Texas Rest Stops on I-10. The weather is changing again. It’s cold, cloudy and rainy. We are currently at South Llano River State Park in Junction, Texas. There’s lots of hiking trails here but the 50° rainy weather makes it difficult to get out of the van.
I decided to do the 2 mile hike up to the overlook. It was a nice hike but no view because of the fog.
On we went another 2 hours or so and booked site 7 at Bastrop State Park. The temps hit down into the low 30’s. These cold temps are killing us. We managed to get a few hikes in but boy was it cold.
We had a great dinner and some fun times with The Hardy’s. They are full of energy and a great people to hang out with. And as an added bonus, Christine baked Valentines goodies for us. She is an amazing baker.
We headed another two hours east in search of that 72°. It’s just not happening. We spent the night in the Houston Cracker Barrel. Had a nice Valentine’s Day Pizza Party at Cosco and did some “fake shopping” there to keep warm. Today we head to Louisiana in search again of warmer temps.
Im currently in the Beaumont, Texas library using their WiFi to send out the blog. Once we crossed over that cold front, temps immediately went up to 78 degrees. So at least for today, we are warm. I might even put on my shorts and take off my rabbit hat.
The Van Stops Here 