Archive for the ‘On the Road’ Category
Show Low Blow
Hello dear family and friends!
Show Low! (That’s the answer to your question, “Where have you been?” Well, it is just the latest answer if you were wondering.) The more complete answer includes Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, Patagonia Lake, Roosevelt Lake State Park, and, most recently, Fool’s Hollow Recreation Area State Park near Show Low. We are told by Ranger Jim that the town got its name from a poker game that was for the land around here. The game was “Show your low card.” Apparently a deuce of clubs won, and that is the name of Main Street in town.
Not too far from here is the city of Winslow, Arizona, made famous in the Eagles’ tune, ‘Take It Easy’. One thing is for sure…the area is not noted for “wind slow”, nor for “winds low”! The winds this morning are raising whitecaps on our little lake (perhaps 50 m across where we are camped), and a forecast this morning suggested that nothing will get better for 48 hours with high winds “reaching 50 mph, with possible rain, mixed with snow”. We have been here since Saturday afternoon, and have paid until tomorrow, but today, we have totally packed up and will go into Show Low to paint the town – grey, of course, being seniors!
The day we left Yuma, temperatures, as always since we came down here, were predicted to be in the low 90’s (30+C). There was a bit of trepidation, as our plan was to travel to Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, a desert park just south of Ajo on the Mexican border. However, the campsite had lots of room, and we enjoyed the beautiful desert scenery and fauna. The next day we drove around the 21 mile loop through the eastern portion of the park. The ruggedness was spectacular, but the going was slow on the rough road.
We carried on to Patagonia Lake in the afternoon on Tuesday, and arrived to find our favourite campsite available. Our plan is to be in Phoenix on Tuesday, April 9, so we decided to split our week of “lake” camping between Patagonia, and Roosevelt Lake which we have not seen. (A camper at Organ Pipe had suggested that Show Low had great lakeside camping, but it was a bit off our planned travel route.)
Murky waters at Patagonia Lake spelled out poor fishing, so plans shifted a touch…three nights at Patagonia Lake, and 4 at Roosevelt Lake. So, after some bird-watching, and kayaking, we headed north to Roosevelt Lake on Thursday to try to beat the weekend rush from Phoenix on Friday.
Our first approach took us to “Bermuda Beach” where it was totally “dry camping” – no facilities or services – camping in the dirt amid other people’s leavings, and a fish carcass in the water. “Yuck!” was our unanimous reaction, so we headed up to the more appropriate camping sites with facilities – a little further from the lake shores. After a false start or two, we found two lovely sites side by side with no one between us and the lake in the distance. Trails led down to the shore, so shore fishing was a possibility. And it was hot, so we were happy to have shady ramadas at our sites. Looked good for the 3 days that we paid for!
On Saturday, with no fish, our bike routes limited, and very warm temperatures, we decided to blow off this site, and try the suggestion of “Fools Hollow Lake at Show Low”, about 2 hours northeast of where we were. (We had paid for 3 nights, but since each night was only $6 we didn’t mind the cost of abandonment.)
The highway on Saturday through the Salt Canyon (Hwy 60) was gorgeous, and we climbed to an elevation of 6300 feet. The registration at Fool’s Hollow provided us with the only two shore accessible sites, and we settled in to our warm, sunny sites with a cooling wind, and great beauty in a Ponderosa pine-juniper forest. Ranger Jim warned us that the area was still subject to lower night-time temperatures, and that snow had appeared as late as May 24.
On Sunday, we paddled the length of the lake, tried for fish and eventually settled back at our camp with our books. This morning, Monday, we awoke to a shaking Truck House, and howling winds. The radio tell us that winds are in the vicinity of 75 kmh. Temperatures “show low” so we packed up our rigs, and headed into the town of the same name for Macdonald food and wifi. We will returning to our $30 sites tonight, and then head for Phoenix for 3 days before pointing the rigs north.
Much love and best wishes to all!
Tony, the Tilleyman, and Sandy, the Quiltless
Saturday, March 3, 2012: Travelling to Yuma
On Monday last, we said our good-byes to the Lindsays in Walnut Grove, and then headed through the border crossing at Aldergrove. After a fuel up, we pulled into the first rest-stop after Bellingham to wait for Mike and Marlene to meet us. A horn honk before I had even turned off the engine let us know that our timing was impeccable! Our planned stops are identical to last year’s.
Hours of driving with only pit stops and fuel stops got us to Woodburn RV (just south of Portland) before dark. There were no quilt store stops, but Truck House required a cooling-off lunch stop at Cabela’s in Lacey! (I know, I am spoiled!) Temperatures throughout the day stayed below 7 C, but the roads were all dry and clear. What a treat. We were to pay for this pleasantness on Tuesday!
Our drive on Tuesday began well enough with clear roads and no precipitation. However, after Siskiyou Pass, as we rolled into California, Mt. Shasta was completely hidden in whitish clouds. The “Shasta Pass” from Weed, CA through to Redding was a very difficult ride with heavy cross-winds and blinding snow that, fortunately, did not stick on the roads. 
By the time that we arrived in Red Bluff, the worst of the weather seemed to be behind us, except for the very cold wind. Wrongo! During the night Truck House rocked and groaned as high winds tore through the northern “Chico Valley”. We were tired enough to be able to sleep through most of it, but at 5:00 a.m. the wind picked up to screech force and delivered a wild thunderstorm with crashes almost in sync with flashes! Pounding hail sealed the deal – time to get up!
We learned later, that, like last year, we had just made it through before the northern pass highways were closed. Broken branches, and hail covered the ground. There was nobody in the swimming pool!
Wednesday’s travel on I-5 to Bakersfield was relatively uneventful. We arrived at Orange Grove about 4:00 p.m. and as we registered, a line-up or RVs quickly formed. By the time we had finished the paperwork, and filling up our propane tanks, the RV Park was full, and even the overflow parking was occupied.
The propane fill-up was a bit of an embarrassing botch-up. A friendly Latino quickly filled both tanks, and when I asked, “How much” he replied “Six”. So, I had Sandy fish out a five and a one, which I handed to him. He looked very pleased, but then I realized, he was giving me a quizzical look. Of course! I got another $1 from Sandy and handed him this as a tip. Then, he handed me a slip of paper with a “6” on it, and said I should take it into the office to pay for it. Now I was puzzled, and told him that I thought that I had paid. He explained that no, I had to pay in the office. He explained that the “6” was “gallons” and then he kindly gave me the $7 back. (I did give him a tip, but I guess he had initially thought that the whole thing was a tip on the eventual $17 for the propane.) Sandy’s simple assessment of the transaction: “You’re stupid!”
Thursday’s travel took us through Kramer’s Junction, Barstow, and Banning to a rest stop outside Palm Springs. The chilly wind was blowing so hard, that all the wind generators on the hill were spinning, and the Truck House kept rocking up against the curb.
On the road afterwards, we watched as the temperature climbed from 9C up to 24C within a few miles. The wind kept picking up for the rest of the day, and by the time that we were settled in Rivers Edge RV on Thursday afternoon about 4:00, temperatures had dropped, and dust was really drifting. However, we received a warm “welcome back”!
Friday was a day for some Yuma shopping and getting fishing licences for Squaw Lake. We tried to sit outside in the late afternoon for drinks, but chilly temps, high winds and dust drove all 4 of us into Truck House for the social event. I tried sitting outside with a T-shirt and shorts 3 times, but kept having to go back inside and change back to jeans and fleeces.
Today, we sit inside reading, because again, it is a bit chilly (10 C) and breezy. We had hoped to bicycle into Algodones, but that will have to wait. The swimming pool is warm, but no one is using it. (Too painful to get out, I think.)
On Monday, we will head north to Squaw Lake for 10 days to 2 weeks of “desert camping”. (We will actually be in a parking lot on a beautiful lake.) Mike has given me some plastic worms in the hopes that I can have more success at pulling in fish this year. However, nothing suggests that my sad record from the past will be broken.
We will be thinking of all our school-aged children and teacher-aged friends in the coming days. What a mess in BC education!
Love and best wishes to all!
The Quill and the Quilter (Tony and Sandy)
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