Chasing the Eclipse - CA- AZ

The total eclipse will be April 8th.  And passing right over our Dayton house.  With the new tires on Rufus he's ready for a Road Trip.

DAY 1:
After a brief stop at the Buckman Springs Rest Area for a leg stretch we were ready to deal with the Yuma traffic.  We no longer stop in Yuma but continue on to Wellton for gas.

But YIKES!  The Chevron we usually stop is now selling E-Diesel.  Diesel infused with Ethanol.  I did use in once while passing thru Bakersfield.  Rufus coughed and sputtered and went into Limp-Home-Mode.  $1600 damage!

However the Circle-K in town had real diesel!  Our new Wellton stop.

The Antelope Hills Petroglyph Site is just 7 miles east of Wellton.  Our trip has now begun.

I learned of this site from San Diego’s Arm Chair Hiker on his blog HERE.  As he points out the site is next to a significant mining operation and access to glyphs is restricted.  But it was a nice quiet place to stop for lunch.

The small parking area has a kiosk that details the history and a bit about the glyphs

Most of the glyphs are located high on the hillside.

Fran and i were married in Palm Springs, and a Date Shake is kinda our beverage for a toast.  Dateland has sure grown since our previous visits.  Got an EV, they have chargers! and it’s become very popular.  A bit of a line and we were off with a medium date shake!

I had planned on spending the night at Dateland, but it was still early.  I knew the glyphs at Painted Rock would not disappoint and were a couple hours away.
We have camped at Painted Rock for many years, but things change.  It was free, then a $4/$2 fee was imposed , now it’s $8/$4.  But the gotchya is the payment must be made online at Recreation.gov!  and with poor cell service there … and the $8 ‘convenience fee’ …

We spent a nice night under the stars there,  The ‘Painted Rock’ is now fenced off.  That’s good as folks like D.E.W take pleasure in defacing them. 

Just hope D.E.W lives to regret this

There are still many to enjoy.

Last time we were here in 2018 the Camp Ground Host and friends set up a golf course,  That blog is HERE. 

DAY 2:
After topping off the gas tank in Gila Bend we turned south toward Ajo, Why and the Oregon Pipe Cactus NM.  We’ve driven through Ajo many times and this time stopped at the City park to have lunch,

… and take in some of the many murals the town is becoming known for.

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That's gotta be Frida! Right?

A nice view of the school with Saddleback Mountain behind.

Having been to Oregon Pipe Cactus before the Wall was built we decided not to see the damage first hand and continue on to Tucson.  Our destination was the Lazydays KOA.

Awesome Arizona clouds did bring a little rain

DAY 3:

The RV park is huge!  All the amenities of a KOA and located in Tucson.  This worked out really great, altho a bit expensive.  Nice FREE hot showers and an easy drive to El Charro where we had made plans to meet with Gay and Joe for lunch at El Charro.  This is the same place we met last time, and I again ordered the Carne Seca Poblano, it's so good.  They are such a delightful couple to be with, we are privileged to be their friends.

With good friends Joe and Gay for a good time, good food and a lot of caching up.

Fran Joe Gay and me

We currently settled in at Patagonia Lake State Park.  We need to go to Nogales in the morning for diesel.  Didn't have any on the way here!  Plan accordingly ;)

Cactus Practice – Spring Training at the Cactus League

“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too”
`Yogi Berra

DANG IT! before we even left for the ballgames, the doc says that pain and swelling in my left knee is a torn meniscus!  It is a minor tear, but inconvenient none the less.  I should follow his RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) regime for the next 6 weeks.  I like the idea of rest , and ice packs 4 times a day at 20 minutes each is ok too.  Figure in the 6 weeks it comes to 3360 minutes (4 x 20 minutes/day x 7 days/week x 6 weeks) of RICE!  Bet it was those dang new shoes I bought for the High Tide Breakfast!  My toes need to see the light of day … Anyway I’ll be kicking back for a few more weeks.

The ballgames must go on!  And I have a Bucket List to attend a game at each of the venues in the Cactus League.  I bought 2 tickets to Sloan Park to see the Cubs play.  And that game will complete that Bucket List check mark, but afterward I scored 2 more tickets to the same game.  If you want to see the Cubs host the ‘Dbacks on March 15th let me know, I have 2 extra GA tickets.

With the freezer full of crushed ice,for my ice packs, we are heading out, taking I-8 east from San Diego with a late morning start.  On this trip we’ll often stop at the Center of the World, or for a Date Shake, or both.  But with the late start and an ice pack on my knee we cruise along knowing we can make Gila Bend at sunset.

There are numerous places to boondock along our route if hookups are not needed, or in Gila Bend if they are desired.  But I’m willing to pay to boondock at Painted Rock.  Painted Rock is a BLM campground ($8/$4), 10 miles off the highway, it’s quiet, it has large sites with table and fire ring, awesome dark skies, good cell service and painted rocks!

Most sites are like the one we pick – long pull-thru sites on graded gravel.


There are numerous educational signs near the rocks, that explain the importance of the Gila River to the indigenous tribes, the passage of Juan Batista de Anza with Padre Font, the Pony Express and Overland Mail all passed this way …



…. back when there was water in the Gila River.  It seems not so long ago that we would come to Gila Bend to enjoy tubing and float trips in the Gila River, but alas it is now dry, as dams have been built up stream – even east of Phoenix the old river bed is now dry.

The painted rocks are of course the highlight that make this detour totally worth it.  Although the art is chipped into the rock as petroglyphs, I’m ok with the name.



There are literally thousands of artworks chipped into the desert varnish on the basalt rocks.

And new to me this year is an executive 9-hole golf course … clubs and balls provided – FREE!   The T-boxes and greens are ‘manicured’, the fairway is indeed a bit rough!


Now we are settled in at Usery Regional Park.  Nice location although a bit of a drive to My PADRES in Peoria, but it’s convenient to all things Cubs and the fun along Apache Trail.

Cactus League

With a few ball parks left on my bucket list, this trip was planned around those venues, all in the Mesa Scottsdale area … and the moonless sky.  I discovered a star Party was scheduled at the Usery Mountain Regional Park for March 15th and made the camping reservations months before the ball games were scheduled.

With a decent start from SandyEggo there’s usually time to make a stop at the Center of the World in Felicita, CA.  If you’re looking for a place to stretch your legs on I-8 just west of the AZ border this is among my favorites.


Another fun stop is Dateland AZ, where a date shake is a must.  At $5 for a tiny cup that may be what keeps them going.  I think of it as a fun treat and a donation to help them be here next trip.


Gila Bend is a decent destination form the long sprint across the dessert.  But the Gila River is long gone and the town fell on hard times.  But now with Solara building one of the largest arrays near by it is recovering and no longer dependent on the overnight traveler.  So instead of stopping there again, Painted Rocks is the place to stop.  It’s 10 miles off I-8 on BLM land at $8 ($4 with Senior card).  Not much to offer but what it has is well maintained and each site has fire pit and table. 

Arrived right at sunset and as the sky developed the Milky Way stretch from horizon to horizon … Priceless!


Site 27 at Usery will be home for the  next 5 days.  It’s a large back-in site on the outer loop, but unfortunately faces east-west – meaning there is little relief from the AZ sun from sunrise to sunset.   But there are no neighbors to the south and large fields of cactus to wonder thru.  The cholla are the largest I’ve ever seen, with balls of new growth hanging below.




I normally wear Keen open toed sandals, but for this walk I’m glad I wore shoes.  And it no I did not try to kick the cholla's balls, this was picked up along the trail.  A good way to remove these pesky burrs is with a pocket comb, just pop it right off.   There's no worry about getting lost from most everywhere on any of the trails – there is a sign says Phoenix is to the west, which is visible pretty much everywhere in the park.


The purpose of this trip was to allow me to catch the last few stadiums in the in the Cactus League, a bucket list item.  However I waited too long to get tickets the new Sloan Park, home of the Chicago Cubs.  Disappointed – yes.  But for sure the Cubs have some of the best fans in all MLB.  Glad to see them turn out and welcome the team to their new home.  There’s next year for me.
Most of the east coast teams are sold out for the weekend.  Another aspect of global warming?  Maybe, and with the winter endured by the Midwest fans, can’t blame them for wanting to be here!  It was 80 on the grass in Right Field as the Mariners hosted the Dodgers at the Peoria Sports Complex, the west coast teams are not selling out.  Abuelo’s is the usual stop when we attend a game in Peoria.  But, a little further west, is the best Chinese food in the Valley of the Sun (IMHO).  The Big Buddha, I’m stuffed!
 

The Angels have a great old-style park at Tempe Diablo.  Gotta root for the home team and they prevailed over the Rangers.   Having missed Abuelo’s my second favorite Mexican is El Bravo with it unique family offerings.  This time I select the Mango-Pepper Margarita along with dinner.



Took an early hike along the NoSo/Belkin/Levy/Crimson Wash trails to test the old legs and enjoy the dessert offerings on a fairly level 3-mi loop.   Lots of variety when combining these trails into a loop.  Hiked to ‘the levy and the levy was dry’.  But at least some Maricopa were in bloom


Also a bit of proof that a Saguaro cactus has a woody structure and a rare white tailed hawk – at least rare this far north.  Must be global warming …


That hike was a warm up to the more popular, and more difficult, Wind Cave trail.  It’s only 3-mi round trip with an 800’ elevation gain, but in parts it’s a bit of a rock scramble and the footing is never quite certain.  Three hikers coming down had twisted their ankle.  Still a worthwhile hike to some great views.  A wind cave is not a classic cave but more of an eroded sandstone.




And add one more to the list of twisted ankles from the day.



Another sunset from the Usery Mts! Not much of a view of the sky in the west as the communities of Mesa, Scottsdale, Gilbert, etal provide too much light pollution to have a good night sky. Still great to be here for the games and a few hours of stargazing in the eastern sky.