Thursday September 21st 2017

I’m really enjoying the slower pace here at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. I don’t have a National Park drawing my curiosity all the time like I had through most of August and early September. It was another gorgeous day with a little more wind than the last few. I stayed home all day.

Part of the Verde River

One of the retention ponds in the park.

This morning I worked on travel planning. Since I decided not to spend time in Texas this winter, I’ve been struggling to figure out plan B. The Texas plan had me working my way east out of Arizona during the first half of October. Instead I’ll be staying in Arizona or Nevada for the first half of the winter. I know I can find a place to stay in the Phoenix area south to the Tuscon area, but I’d prefer to stay in another area. While I figure that out, I’ve made reservations in central Arizona through the middle of October. Finishing up with a weekend at the RV park in Grand Canyon National Park.

Bird (kind?) standing in the water.

Another view of a holding pond.

The other major activity of the day was a hike down near the Verde River in the state park. The area is so different from the desert land that surrounds my campsite, but it’s less than half a mile away. The area has many trees, birds and lots of grasshoppers. I walked from my site to the river area then along the river to the retention ponds the state park has constructed. At other times of the year the path would have been under water. The ponds are the real star of this park. They have been stocked with fish and are an oasis in the desert.

Ducks in the retention pond.

Desert north of the ponds.

When I got back to my site I had new neighbors. The park is starting to fill up for the weekend. It has been about half full during the week. My neighbors are camping in a horse trailer without the horses and a tent. It looks like the grandparents have the trailer and the three grand kids and their parents get the tent. The part of the trailer intended for horses got emptied of a sporting goods store full of paraphernalia. Everything from folding tables to the kids bikes came out. The tent is practically under my window.