Seeing Friend in Phoenix, and on to Sharp Creek NF Campground ... in the RAIN!!!

 

 

We ALWAYS enjoy our nearly yearly visit to Phoenix to see Laurie.  Marcia has known Laurie since Laurie was around 12, and she is...NOPE, not going to give it away!  She treated us to Lunch today, after we all had a good visit at her house.  Until next time dear friend...

After a fill up of gas at Walmart, off we traveled through Fountain Hills and up the Beeline Highway to Payson.  In Payson we decided to travel east on Highway 260 to Sharp Creek NF Campground.

I love traveling a new highway in the mountains, and was very glad to see TREES once we started east toward the campground.

Prior to Payson, the clouds made for some interesting pictures as sun hit some of the hills, and lack of sun covers up the rest.

There was little traffic, and the climb to 5,000 feet was smooth.

We come around a corner and see this Wall of Rain ahead...with a faint sign of a Rainbow.

And after many attempts, we (Marcia) gets this shot which, if you look close, is a double rainbow.  Rain came and went, as did the rainbow(s). 

I did not get any pics of the campground, but let's just say it is the typical National Forest Campground.  However...when you do the self pay, it is on a machine which takes credit and debit cards.  That was slick!  Later, a camp host came by and collected their half of the receipt, and placed a Reserved Sign in front of the camping spot.  Like other NF Campgrounds, there are no services outside of the outhouse and some water spouts.  Verizon Internet is excellent.  Generators need to be off by 10 pm, which is an hour from now, so I have to wrap this up.

 

 

To Wickenburg

Sorry, no pics.  But we did make it to Wickenburg.  Intended to dry camp, 95+ degrees changed my mind on that.  We are staying at the Aztec RV Park near McD's.  Lots of folks live here full-time, and lots of spots for Snowbirds.  The park is probably 2/3rds empty.  All the folks I have seen seem very nice.  Enjoyed watching the horses in the pasture across the back fence by us...closest Indy has been near horses.

The trip was a familiar one to us, travel this way nearly every year coming or going.  Impressed that the Interstate from AZ boarder to Kingman is half finished...so now you only lose your fillings for half the drive.  Unfortunately Highway 93 is still full of bad spots, but that will all change when Interstate 11 is put in... don't know when that dream will see the light of day, but they have signs up.

When we got gas near Bakersfield 21 gallons cost $100...in Lake Havasu I got 20 gallons for $61.  Don't see how folks in California can afford to live there...

Tomorrow we plan to see our good friend Laurie, then head out towards Payson AZ where there are a few National Forest Campgrounds we can call home for the night.  We have never been in this part of Arizona before.

To Tehachapi California

 

It was a toss-up as to if we dry camped, or get into a campground at Tehachapi.  I decided on the latter.  Here we are in spot #1, 25' (little more like 28' in my opinion), and all we hooked up was electricity.  We dumped our tanks at the rest area in Tulare...when we got to the Flying J just north of Bakersfield I found that the container that holds the sewer hose had come open and we lost our hose out on highway 99.  

I KNEW this was something that other owners had complained about, and I thought having a clip on it, which you can see in the bottom right of the holder, would prevent this from happening.  Apparently I was wrong.  I will need to be more prudent to be sure the cap is on properly, and then clip it.  Thank goodness they have a Walmart here in Tehachapi, so we are good to go. The new hose is only 10' long, not 12' or 15' like the one that came with it, so it should be easier to put the lid on the storage container.

The backup camera sure makes it easy to backup into spots like this...

Here is a panoramic view of the north side of Highway 58 in Tehachapi.  You can see the smoke which has been very prevalent from before Fresno all the way here.  Normally you can see the mountains to the east as you travel Highway 99...not today.

We are at the Mountain Valley RV Park, a 27 site campground which can hold rigs as big as 60+ all the way down to the one we are in which they claim is for no larger than 25'.  The price is $43 with the AARP discount. There is an Airport right next to the property, but it has no lights and is for small planes, so no noise from there at night.  It is a very quiet park, especially since the train tracks are over by Highway 58.  Tomorrow....Wickenburg is our destination.

And the answer is YES...Indy misses her Aunt and Uncle and the green grass of the backyard there in Citrus Heights.

 

Grandma Has a Special Little Visitor

 

Thursday of last week Marcia and I went for a visit with mom.  If we get there earlier enough, I can put out the awning and we enjoy a cool outdoor visit.  Arrived shortly after 9 am, got everything setup, went in and got mom, and started to enjoy our visit.  A blue VW comes humming up (an EV) and mom says, "I don't have any idea who that is..."  Until it parks and my son Michael gets out.  Now he is parked a good 20-25 yards from where mom was and as soon as he emerges she says, "It's Michael!"  Her next words were, "I hope he brought Addy!!!"

Michael and Addy get setup, and Addy sits comfortably on her daddy's lap.

It does not take long before she is on the grass, and she is pulling out books, playing with her toys as we all converse and watch the show.

Soon she is off to the rocks where she starts to load up her dump truck.

Then she moves over to the other side and gets those rocks too.

Then she spots the small amount of water puddled on the sidewalk from the lawn irrigation system.  PUDDLES!!!!

So at first she jumps on the puddle, then squats over the puddle, puts her hands in it, then puts her hands in her mouth.  "ADDY, don't put that water into your mouth!", says Michael.

Well, like any two year old, that warning lasts for about 60 seconds...

... and back at it she goes.  Soon she is sitting in the water, then she is sitting on Dad's lap.  

We all had a wonderful hour-plus visit, and seeing her Great Granddaughter, her Grandson, Marcia and I all at the same time sure made Mom's day.  Michael took Addy's pants off and put them on his dash for the drive to Day Care down by the State Capitol where he works.  I hope they dried before he got her there...

Well, we find our time here in Sacramento is coming to an end.  We left our Condo on July 18th.  We knew when we left that we would be home before the end of October.  We plan to leave on Saturday the 14th, and take our time getting home...which probably will be before October 1st.

As for living in the Camper Van, the fix with the beds has worked out very well.  I find the cooking area to be much too small, but I work with the area the best I can.  Dropping a raw egg on the floor, a rare thing for me to do, is product of the small area.  We can go five days before emptying the waste tanks, which is not bad considering how small the black tank is.  There is a gas station a few miles away where I pay $10 to do the dirty deed.  We just make sure to include the dump station in any errands we needed to do on those days.  And the small fridge definitely has its limits, but we have been able to fit our most needed items in it, and we go to the store at least twice a week, and Sam's Club about every 10 days.  

Will try and post one more time before we leave, and every day or two while we travel back to Florida.