Tripometer – 12,843 mi
Gas Gauge – 963.196 gal
Location – Tombstone RV Park & Campground, AZ
Lodging – $37
Cans of OFF – 4
We woke early this morning with the intention of getting a head start on today’s drive. By our usual driving pace we need to be in Globe, AZ tonight, but if we can make especially good time we could make it all the way through to Tombstone, AZ where we want to spend a couple of days. As a treat for waking at a reasonable time, we ate a great breakfast at the KOA concession for about $10.
The gardener left the hose running on the new plants next to our trailer all night long. By morning the mud was at least 6” deep on the entire back side of the trailer. With no other option Paul slogged through the mud the entire time we packed up the trailer swearing up a storm. By the time we were packed away and ready to leave, there was mud everywhere. Kelly, who manages the interior of the trailer as we pack up, was spared most of the mud… until she went to get into the car. One foot sunk into the mud at least 4” deep right next to the driver’s side car door. Needing to vent her frustration in a productive manner before hitting the road angry, we stopped by the front desk and gave them a precious piece of our mind.
Our first stop this morning was Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood. Having slept on the decision, we opted for a fairly large chunk (20 lb?) of partially polished petrified wood with beautiful coloring. What will it cost us in gas to bring this beast home with us?
Leaving Rt 66 for the last time, we headed south on small two lane roads into an increasingly flat and dry landscape. When you think of the town of Tombstone and your mind brings forward an image of what the countryside around town looks like, the reality of the landscape is exactly what you would expect. The only item missing from the scene was the two vultures arguing over a carcass.
It was on today’s drive that we finally put to rest any notion of going to Saguaro National Park near Tuscon, AZ. We have highlighted many of the national parks as ‘To Do’ if we’re in the area or find ourselves driving by. Saguaro is just too far out of the way and, let’s face it, not a huge draw for either of us anyway. Kelly was delighted when we passed the hillside pictured above that was covered in saguaro cacti from top to bottom. Now that we’ve seen them in their natural habitat we feel we can move on down the road without regret.
Driving through Pima, AZ today (Kelly points out that this town/area is the origin of the Pima Cotton brand) we spotted a wild pig running into the brush on the side of the road. These things are of appreciable size(!), we’d guess somewhere in the 30-50lb range. We don’t think we’d like to get into a fight over a garbage can with one of these little piggies.
On the drive into Tombstone our cell signal was strong, 4 bars of LTE signal for most of the trip. Standing at the check-in desk to the RV park we noted 2 bars of LTE, that’s fine. By the time we got to our site and halfway set up for the night we noticed that we had ‘no service’. &%@# A quick walk around the RV park showed that signal was sketchy at best in most of the park. The 2 bars of LTE that we got at the check-in desk was coming and going as if blown by the wind. Driving up and down the highway showed that this little RV park was located in a small depression and that the cell signal is great anywhere except here. Figures. The only thing we can do now is see how it goes in the morning and make a change as needed.
This RV park has rattlesnake warning signs everywhere…
Special Note: Arizona Sunsets. Anyone who lives in Joppatowne will tell you we have some of the most beautiful sunsets going, due in no small part to the smog coming from Baltimore. The Arizona sunsets that we have experienced are legendary and have made us question the superiority of our local evening show. We have been simply thrilled night after night by the sunsets here. The skies light up into an absolute rainbow of color that whirls overhead to meet, in many cases, a simply stunning horizon silhouette of mountains and mesas. This is a part of Arizona we will never forget.