A Little Winter Blast & the Twins

 

We have a weather radio that we listen to often and knew that a major weather change was coming so when we awoke in Ironwood to dark clouds looming over us we broke camp early and got back up into Gilbert Ray in Tuscon Mountain Park adjacent to Suguaro National Park just west of Tucson. It is a little more protected and a favorite place of ours, but we barely got set up before it started raining, then blowing, then snowing. Not a lot of the white stuff stuck where we were but just above us on the hills that we have hiked in shorts and sun hats over the last month or so there was a good covering.

We spent Valentine's day on a 'double date' with Doug and Frankie to a cheap taco stand for one of our very rare meals 'out' and then hung around for a few more days to restock.

We ran into another couple from Colorado that have a slightly older but otherwise nearly identical rig to ours. We parked nose to nose for a while and spent a lot of time comparing notes and trading tips, storage solutions, and adventures. They are great folks that are newly retired and we hope to meet up with them again sometime in the next few weeks as we all wander in the desert.

Ironwood National Forest

 Ironwood National Forest is west and north of Tucson and we went in on a bumpy dirt road where we met up with Doug and Frankie again and camped for free in the middle of the Suguaros. Great spot, peaceful and quiet. Solar is working well and we are so glad we did it.
The threesome with good knees did a day hike to one of the peaks off trail and just through the desert. And we again had lots of fun sharing meals, evening games, and laughs for a few nights in the

middle of nowhere.

More Power

Last week we made the decision to invest in getting us more independent from expensive campgrounds ...  so we moved north a little and then up to Casa Grande for a day where we had another solar panel installed on our roof and upgraded our charge controller. We had found an installer for AM Solar in Springfield OR who was traveling in AZ for the winter, and through email and phone calls we had him order this newest technology, narrow, thin and lightweight 100w solar panel, special mounts and controller, and arranged for him to add it to our system. We arrived at our prearranged time on a Sat morning outside his RV park where there was a nice flat place to work and he and Steve had it all done and ready to go in just a few hours. The new charge controller replaces our 12 year old technology with one that will charge the batteries completely and is more efficient and the new panel is now adjustable to the sun's angle and ties into our existing one and really brings in the power. He did a great job and it was very fast and well done and we are stoked. We now have three times the power input that we did and can go many more days without needing to drive, run the generator, or find a power hook up.

San Xavier Mission

 We stopped for an afternoon at the San Xavier Mission south of Tuscon. This was built around 1783 by Franciscans after the original church was destroyed in an Apache raid and now serves the Catholics of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

San Xavier has a white, Moorish-inspired design, elegant and simple, with an ornately decorated entrance. No records of the architect, builders, craftsmen and artisans responsible for creating and decorating it are known. Most of the labor was provided by the local Indians, and many believe they provided most or all of the artisans as well. As you enter the massive, carved mesquite-wood doors of San Xavier we were struck by the coolness of the interior, and the dazzling colors of the paintings, carvings, frescoes and statues. The interior is richly decorated with ornaments showing a mixture of New Spain and Native American artistic motifs. Local legend says that the second tower is to be left unfinished until the "Excellent Builder" appears to finish it.

Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner

We are continuously amazed at the length and expense that our government is going to to try to deal with this "Border Issue". It is incredible the number of Border Patrol vehicles and personnel that are involved in this. Lots of scary warning signs on trails and campgrounds. Giant fenced buildings with razor wire and 'holding facilities' are being constructed every where down here and the green and white SUV's seem to be parked and hiding at every intersection and around every corner watching all the cars. It is huge industry. There are balloon/blimps as eyes in the sky watching 24/hrs a day with infrared cameras every hundred miles or so, and who knows what else they have in high-tech gadgetry. At regular checkpoints we are asked where we have been and where we are going and if we are citizens and they make a quick glance into the back. If Steve is wearing dark glasses it seems to go a little slower and they are a little more aggressive. We know that we are photographed before we ever get to the checkpoint as you can see the banks of cameras on the sides of the roads. They have sniffing dogs that circle every vehicle and these road stops are on both the freeways and on small country roads in the middle of nowhere. Trying to express our displeasure at this invasion of our privacy and ability to have our freedom does not get a satisfactory response and it is very intimidating to have them with all the guns and manpower and us just trying to go where we want to go. All this and it is still pretty ineffective as there are people continuing to run through areas that just cannot be contained. Our friend saw a person slip out of the woods onto the road and flash a mirror at someone on a hill behind them then slip back into the woods. So low tech may beat high tech after all. Much like the coyote, a lot of "Acme" products are destroyed, and a lot of money wasted, and the roadrunner just zooms on. It is almost funny to see it unfolding just like the old cartoons.
Lots of locals have bumper stickers that say: Protect the Borders ... at the Borders. And we would agree.    ....... beep beep.

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Empire Ranch

 We spent over a week camping in the open grasslands of this La Cienega/Empire Ranch site. Beautiful open rolling hills, gorgeous night sky, herds of Pronghorn and very few people here. Sunny and warm days, some a little breezy, and cold frosty nights. Glad I bought some long underwear for jammies at night. This place usually gets snow in the winter and it's nearly 5000 ft elevation, on the east side of the Santa Rita Mountains is, "Sky King" country.  We will be back. Would love to see it with the grasslands green and wildflowers in early spring.
Doug and Frankie joined us and set up their new 'suitcase' solar panels and we had some great communal meals grilled over mesquite fires for a few days. Yum.
We all moved on to Patagonia Lake for showers and power and a great Birthday Celebration for me. Excellent steaks and company and lots of fun. Beautiful birds around the lake including Cardinals. Heading out again to Whitewater Draw to see the overwintering Sandhill Cranes and then to Tombstone for some fake sheriff badges. Will head back to Tuscon Mountains then to Casa Grande and spend a few more days before we head west to a little warmer nights.

La Cienega National Conservation Area

 

 This 42,000 acre area is designated by Congress in 2000 and is a vast desert grasslands with rolling oak studded hills that connect the two sky island mountain ranges. Cienga Creek has a perennial flow and the riparian corridor is the heart of this area. It has a rich diversity of vegetation and wildlife and includes the fawning grounds for Pronghorn. This is the site of one of the oldest ranches in Arizona and the buildings and corrals of the Empire Ranch are part of this and open to the public to wander through. This is all managed by the BLM and dispersed camping is allowed so we can pull over and park most anywhere. We are enjoying peace and quiet and spectacular views. The grasslands and mesquite trees make it feel a little like we would imagine an African Savannah and I am waiting for the elephants and rhinos to wander through. There is hardly anyone here with our closest neighbor just visible about 1/4 mile away. So far we have seen eagles, hawks, and falcons hunting in the grasslands, and coyotes singing at night under the stars in this very dark sky, and while a lot of this is for 4WD some of the gravel roads are passable by us and we hope to explore as much as we can. This is a free camping area and while it is at over 5000ft we are enjoying warm days and frosty nights. Will stay here as long as the weather allows. Wishing again that we had brought our bikes.