Farm Camping

The last weekend in July, 2013 Gene was invited to attend his 50th year high school class reunion. This event also coincided with Bratwurst Days in Stacyville, Iowa.  Planning to use the motorhome as our "home base", we got permission to park for the weekend on the Smith family farm.  We drove into the farmyard where Gene's grandparents, aunts and uncles once lived, and set up camp between the house and the chicken house.   

Gene wondered what the deceased relatives would be thinking...probably discussing among themselves why he had spent all that money for an RV, and what was he doing parked next to the chicken house!
   We had an enjoyable weekend attending reunion events; having lunch at Bubble's Cafe in Adams, MN; watching the Bratwurst Day parade and eating brats Saturday evening; and visiting old friends and relatives in the area.

Return to Minnesota

After leaving Benson, AZ we began our journey back to Minnesota.  This year our return travels took us through Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Tularosa, Ruidoso, and Roswell, New Mexico.  Along that route Gene got more practice manuevering the motorhome up and down mountains.  We drove past White Sands National Monument on the way.
     We camped overnight near Alamogordo, then Amarillo, TX; on to Liberal, KS and the next day to Cheney State Park (just west of Wichita, KS).  We stayed there two days to visit relatives, then three more days waiting for the spring storm weather fronts to move on. There were threats of thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds, but further north was blowing snow and sleet!
      Once the storms were past we headed north to near Topeka, KS, then on to Osceola, IA and finally arrived in Shoreview. 


What a surprise...there was still snow, and more on the way!   Mother Nature had planned a real "Welcome Home" for us.

Touring the San Pedro River Valley

After leaving Casa Grande, we moved to southeastern Arizona for a few days of sightseeing.  We set up camp in Benson, AZ and spent 4 days touring various towns in the San Pedro River Valley.

First day was spent in Tombstone, where we watched a reenactment of the famous "Gunfight at the OK Corral"...a gunfight between the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Clayton gang in 1881. We wandered down main street, seeing the Bird Cage Theater, Crystal Palace, and Big Nose Kate's Saloon (all on the register of historic buildings).

 At the end of the day we stopped at Boot Hill Graveyard, just outside Tombstone, and saw where victims of the OK Corral shootout are buried.

Kartchner Caverns State Park was next on our list of places to visit. One of the few "wet caves" open to visitors, we followed a guide through the maze of trails, seeing such structures as soda straw stalactites, flowstones, and a super-sized calcite column named "Kubla Khan" which has been growing over hundreds of thousands of years.  This wet cave is still forming, as water from the surface drips, seeps, flows, and pools in the cave.  Special precautions are in place to keep the dry desert air out so structures can continue to grow.

A drive through the river valley to Sierra Vista took one afternoon.  Sierra Vista, at 4600 feet above sea level, has different scenery than the desert we had been in.  Huge cottonwood trees grow along the river valley; you can see a line of green snaking through the dry desert where the San Pedro River flows.  Sierra Vista is also close to Fort Huachuca, one of the longest operating military operations in the US.  The fort dates back to 1877 when the Buffalo Soldiers protected early settlers.

Bisbee was last on our places to visit.  An old copper mining town in the Mule Mountains, between 1877 and 1900 people flocked to the Queen of the Copper Camps.  Copper and other precious minerals were abundant.  Mining continued until 1975...now museums and shops line the streets.

Montezuma Well National Monument

Montezuma Well is located off I-17 north of Camp Verde, AZ.  This limestone sinkhole filled with water in the middle of the desert is a place like no other.  The Well is located in an area that receives barely 13 inches of rain per year, yet has maintained a constant supply of water for centuries. Coming from deep underground, water even overflows and exits the Well through a natural cave-like outlet, creating a free running stream. Ruins of homes that ancient cliff dwellers created around the well indicate it's importance to desert survival thousands of years ago.  The Hohokam may have moved here from the Salt River Valley. People of the Sinagua culture may have built small cliff dwellings here in the 1100's.
    Water from the Well contains arsenic, high levels of carbon dioxide, and little oxygen, making it uninhabitable for fish.   Unique species of water creatures...amphipods (tiny shrimp-like crustaceans), leeches and water scorpions...have evolved to survive there.  The water likely could not have been used for drinking, but may have helped irrigate crops. Today it remains a place of wonder and mystery, this large Well in the desert.

Prescott, Sedona, and Jerome, Arizona

Before leaving Arizona for the season, we drove by car to Prescott, AZ to visit relatives and do some sightseeing.  One day was spent on a road trip from Prescott on highways 69 and 169 through the Prescott National Forest and Verde Valley to Montezuma Well National Monument located off I-17; from there it was on to Sedona (known for it's red-rock buttes) for lunch; then we followed highway 89A to Jerome (a mile high copper mining ghost town), drove
across Mingus Mountain and back to Prescott.  The scenery along AZ 89A was wonderful...filled with pines, steep cliffs, deep valleys, and hairpin curves!






The next day was spent in Prescott, touring Sharlot Hall Museum, which documents local history in a park like setting.  Territorial buildings, including a govenor's mansion, one room school, military housing, and period homes complete with costumed volunteers who explain life in Prescott from mid-1800's through the early 1900's.

Salt River Canyon

On March 13 we took the scenic drive to view Salt River Canyon.  We picked up US Hwy 60 east of Phoenix and drove through a variety of landscapes.  High Desert, with cactus and mesquite trees changed to rocky spires and mammoth boulders doing balancing acts that defy gravity as we approached the city of Globe. From Globe to the peak we climb to an elevation of over 6000 feet and the scenery changed to ponderosa pine and snowbanks.

     From the peak it's all downhill!  The highway decends quickly into the 2000 feet deep canyon following a series of hairpin turns and switchbacks to the bridge crossing the Salt River.  The multi-colored layers of exposed stone on the canyon walls are amazing.   The nickname "Mini-Grand Canyon" seems appropriate.

Comet Panstarrs

On March 13th and 14th Kathy had the luck of viewing comet Panstarrs (C/2011 L4) as it made its way across the Northern Hemisphere sky.  The comet is said to be making its closest path to Earth, but is still 100 million miles away!
     In order to see the comet, an unobstructed view of the western horizon was needed. I went to the far western part of our RV park, where there is only desert and very few homes or streetlights...started my observation at sunset, and finally located the comet (with the help of binoculars) about 45 minutes later.  It was just as described, a bright ball facing down toward the horizon, and a short stubby tail pointing upward toward the moon.  Considering the awesome vastness of space, I felt truly honored to be an observer of this rare comet!

Quartzsite Arizona

The end of February we took a day-trip to Quartzsite, Arizona.  This little town of approximately 3500 permanent residents, located at the western edge of Arizona at the intersection of I-10 and US Highway 95, is a popular RV camping area for winter visitors.  Gem and mineral shows, huge swap meets, and RV shows attract thousands of visitors annually during the months of January and February.  For the adventuresome camper, Quartzsite offers "wilderness sites" where you can drive out in the desert, find a sandy spot that supports your RV or camper, and call it home. There is no furnished electricity, water, sewer, etc...you must be self-supporting.  For the not so adventuresome, there are parks which have those utilities available.  As you approach Quartzsite by car, you crest the mountain and  see parked RV's stretching for miles around the small town.
    Quartzsite also is noted for being the burial place of Hi Jolly, a man of Greek-Syrian parentage, who played an important part in the US Camel Corps.  In 1856 Jefferson Davis, as secretary of war under President Pierce, approved a plan to experiment with camels for freighting and communication in the arid southwest.  33 camels were procured and shipped through Texas; their caretaker was Hadji Ali, whose name was changed by the US soldiers to Hi Jolly. The camel caravan successfully opened a wagon road across Arizona to Fort Defiance California in 1857.  But after that the war department abandoned the camels; they were set free to roam the Arizona desert.  Some survived, and lived in the area for years...however, we did not see any camels while we were there.

February Activities

February activities centered on events here at the park.  Kathy helped with "States & Provinces Day" on Feb 2nd.  Each state or Canadian province was offered a table to set up displays about our "other home"...displays included maps and pamphlets about recreation activities, places to visit, sports events, etc.. Most tables served some food items popular to their state. At the Minnesota table we served samples of wild rice soup, Spam, Schwann's Ice Cream, and small Pearson's Nut Roll candy bars. 
   In February Kathy was attacked by the flu, or some such virus, which had her homebound for a couple weeks.  Gene continued to attend our regular weekly activities. Friends began to ask where Kathy was...rumors were that she had either gone back to Minnesota or was lost in the desert!  Neither was true, and she eventually returned to good health, to appear in public again.
   Near the end of the month we traveled to Tuscon and Mesa to visit with friends and relatives who are also Arizona snowbirds.  Everyone agrees this winter has been one of the coldest and wettest in memory; our friends in Tuscon even had an inch or so of snow one day!

January Entertainment

January has been entertainment month at the RV park... "Elvis" tribute artist Jim Westover started it all on Friday, January 11th with a high energy show featuring songs made famous by Elvis during his 1970's concert years. He is local, from Mesa, Arizona, and has performed shows all around the country. He brought with him a younger "Elvis" who did the first part of the show...with a whole lot of shakin' going on!
   The next  Friday evening (January 18) we heard Gene Gebo perform his tribute to "Johnny Cash: The Man in Black".   He comes from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; has been singing since age 5, and playing guitar since age 13.  His love has always been country music and he sounded very authentic as Johnny Cash. He even resembled him in physical features and the way he dressed.
    On Friday, January 25th, the show was presented by Sarah Getto, a young woman who was born blind and with a severe cleft palate.  She has worked hard to overcome her physical handicaps, graduated from college with a degree in music education, plays keyboard and fiddle, and sings. Her show was a mix of pop, country, and gospel; performing songs by Karen Carpenter, Anne Murray, the Supremes, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and others. This was also an excellent evening of entertainment.
    Then, to end the month, we attended a Bluegrass Festival held January 25-27th at the Pinal County Fairgrounds, just east of Casa Grande.  They had two stages, (one indoor and one out) with a different bluegrass group starting each hour on each stage. It was open seating, so one could wander between the two stages and listen as long a you wanted to each group. We heard lots of good fiddlin' and banjo pickin' at this event!