Wednesday May 27th 2020

The temperature reached the upper nineties today, but it could be worse. Phoenix and the area to the south where I was last week are ten or more degrees warmer. The phrase “It’s a dry heat.” also applies. Sweat evaporates quickly and you can be somewhat comfortable out of the sun if there is any breeze.

The planned launch of astronauts from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida cut into my daily plans. Around ten this morning I started to watch the coverage on the Discovery Channel. I quickly got caught up in the event even if the program was pretty much a commercial for Space X. When it became clear that the weather was going to be an issue that the coverage wasn’t going to address, I switched to the weather channel. They had a much more realistic prediction on the chances of the weather permitting a launch today. I stuck it out until the launch was called for weather with sixteen minutes to go on the count down. I’ll be back in front of my TV on Saturday for the second try.

It was the start of the hottest part of the day when I allowed my attention to wander from the TV screen. I took a brief walk around the campground before retreating to the shade and inside for most of the afternoon. As sunset approached and the breeze picked up I ventured out for another walk. I’ll need to get up early to beat the heat for any hiking over the next few days.

Tuesday May 26th 2020

The temperature was in the mid nineties today, but it was still five degrees or more less than the temperature in the Phoenix area. The temperature trend is climbing. Tomorrow will be in the triple digits in Phoenix, but should still be in the nineties here.

Today’s focus was on getting settled into life at the Dead Horse Ranch State Park. It started with finishing the setup tasks for a two week stay and continued with a short hike to refresh my knowledge on the parks layout. First up, I got the bicycle unloaded from the car and the rack stowed under my RV home until I need it again. The rack doesn’t allow easy access to the back hatch on the CR-V. The second significant setup task was putting the foil reflector into the front window of the motorhome. It does a good job keeping the solar gain down in the front of the RV. Last up was setting up the gas grill for cooking. The last two months, I’ve been using the electric grill inside. There wasn’t a place protected from the wind to use the gas grill during my two month travel pause. It’s nice to be able to cook outside again.

I didn’t venture far on my short hike. Most of it was in the three campground loops in this area of the park. I hiked out of the campground on a couple of trails into the desert, but in both cases turned around after a few hundred yards. In the current weather I need lots of water, sun screen and a few other precautions before I take a longer hike. There are a lot of different colorful wildflowers in bloom. It was nice to see some color on the ground. I took several pictures of the blossoms and I’m sharing a few in this blog entry.

Monday May 25th 2020

Today was a travel day north to Cottonwood AZ. The one hundred and seventy miles and two thousand feet of elevation dropped the day’s high temperature close to ten degrees. That difference is going to come in handy this week. The Phoenix area is forecast to have highs over 110 degrees later in the week.

I was packed and ready to start my travels shortly after ten, but the line up for the dump station put a serious delay in my departure. This holiday weekend seemed to bring amateur hour too the dump station. The guy with a trailer at the dump station when I arrived was incredibly slow and deliberate. For some reason he got out his own garden hose out to wash things down rather than using the provided hoses. Then he spent some long minutes carefully coiling the hose for storage. Overall he was probably there for forty five minutes. I was only behind him waiting for about thirty minutes.

While I was dumping the next amateur arrived at the other side of the dump island. He stopped well away from the appropriate hole in the ground, but still close enough that a stretched out hose would reach. He didn’t stretch the hose out choosing instead to point the hose in the right direction and open the valve. Sewage went everywhere including onto my side of the island. I jumped out of the way and grabbed a water hose. Thankfully, the slope of the cement pad allowed it all to find the drain with lots of help from a good hosing down by both of us with water from the flushing hoses. The amateur (read idiot) really believed that was how you were supposed to dump your tanks.

I was on the interstate shortly after eleven. The drive north went right through the center of Phoenix. The alternative loop 101 around the city to the east had an area closed because of a fatal accident during the night. As soon as you leave the traffic and congestion of the Phoenix metro area, Interstate 17 starts to climb. There are many long climbs with a few five percent down grades. The last downgrade into the Verde River valley is a seven mile six percent down grade. Cruise control isn’t an option along the mountainous route. It took a lot of very active driving.

I arrived at the Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood AZ shortly after 2PM. This state park is busy. It is probably considered full even though there are empty sites marked reserved. I’ll be here for the next two weeks.

Sunday May 24th 2020

It was another nice day in the desert. Today’s weather was a repeat of Saturdays. There were a few clouds, some wind and a high temperature in the mid nineties.

I got out in the midday sun to look at a few more saguaro cactus blossoms. To maximize the viewing opportunity you need to be out in the desert when the sun is high in the sky. Early in the morning there are only a few blossoms open. Later in the day all of the blossoms have closed up for the night. Even with sunscreen on, I don’t want to be in the midday sun that long.

I took a lot more pictures today, but skipped the sunset. A couple of yesterday’s were so nice I didn’t want to take second place shots. Instead I took a few pictures with the setting sun at my back. The so called “golden hour” light makes some interesting pictures.

Saturday May 23rd 2020

Today’s weather was a lot like Friday. The temperature was in about normal for the season in the mid nineties with quite a bit of wind. The only difference was a few clouds in the sky perhaps indicating a little more humidity.

I did a little more exploring in the Picacho Peak State Park today. I survived yesterday’s test hikes without any significant aches and pains so I extended the extent of my explorations today. I found many more saguaro cactus in bloom along with a few more critters. Here are some of the pictures.

Friday May 22nd 2020

It was a very seasonal day. The temperature peak at the average temperature for the day in the mid nineties. The sky was clear and the wind was blowing steadily. Overall it wasn’t a bad day.

My exercise today was along the roads in the campground checking out all of the saguaro cactus blossoms. I took three walks around the various camp site loops. Besides looking at all the tall cactus, I wanted to check my preparedness before venturing out on the park trails. I’ve spent the last two months on relatively short walks on very flat ground. I really felt my first few hikes in late February after a similar level of exercise over the four long winter months. I’ll know in the morning by how stiff my leg muscles get.

The saguaro cactus seem to be the only type of cactus still in bloom. All of the blossoms on the other types of cacti are dried up and falling off. Most of the big saguaro have blossoms in various stages. Some have yet to open, some are open and others are starting to dry up. When they are open they are very pretty and very popular. The bees seem to really enjoy their visits.

On my third walk of the day at sunset the park was starting to fill up a bit for the weekend. Last night there were only a handful of sites occupied. Tonight there are a couple of handfuls of occupied sites. This just isn’t a popular time of year to be in this section of the desert.

Thursday May 21st 2020

After sixty one nights on the travel sidelines, today was a travel day. To ease into travel mode I only went fifteen miles down the road to Picacho Peak State Park. I spent the morning in the relatively cool mid eighties temperature finishing the packing. I pulled out of the RV park just before noon and arrived at the state park before 1PM. Along the way I stopped to add fifty five gallons of gas to the motorhome.

Despite the short distance this location is very different from the RV park. I am back among the saguaro cactus and they are blooming. The campground is arranged in loops in the shadow of Picacho Peak with good distance between sites. Interstate 10 and the railroad track are still nearby, but not as close. The road and train noise is not as noticeable. This is closer to my kind of park.

I’m settled in for the holiday weekend. If it doesn’t get too hot I’ll check out a few of the trails. There is plenty of nice scenery and lots of birds and small animals to see in the campground area.

Wednesday May 20th 2020

Today was a brief brief relief from the high temperatures. It didn’t get out of the eighties and there wasn’t much wind. Overall it was a beautiful day.

This is the last full day of my two month suspension of the Rambling Road Trip to allow the pandemic response to settle in. Tomorrow I start to slowly resume the Rambling Road Trip. I’m looking forward to resuming my travels, but I do so with a great deal of trepidation. I am less concerned with catching the virus as I am with dealing with the new normal. The expectations, rules and restrictions evolve rapidly. There are many new challenges.

I got two walks around the RV park in between all of the travel preparation tasks. There are a few more things to do in the morning. My plan is to depart shortly before noon. I only have about fifteen miles to travel to the nearby Picacho Peak State Park. Along the way I plan to stop for gas in the motorhome and kill some time in the RV parking area at the gas station. I don’t anticipate any problems checking in early, because this is not prime season at this park. It is still in the hot desert.

Tuesday May 19th 2020

The operative word for the day was wind. It started calm, but be 10AM it was blowing steadily from the southwest. The steady state wind was reported at 15mph on the noon news, but there were gusts much higher. During the afternoon the steady wind got stronger and so did the gusts. It was well after dark before the wind let up some. The good thing about the wind was it kept the temperature down in the low nineties.

It was a routine day complete with a morning and evening walk. I had considered going back to the grocery store, but the wind was a deterrent. Outside the walls of the RV park the wind was stirring up the desert into dust devils. It really didn’t look like a fun drive up the highway. I’ll make the grocery run another day.

Some of my time today was spent packing. After two months in one place, I have a lot of things spread out around the RV. Thursday is a travel day, so I got a start at putting stuff back in travel mode. Tomorrow will have a similar focus.

Monday May 18th 2020

This morning was very still. Without any real wind, the eighty degree temperature and bright sun discouraged me from taking my morning walk. By mid day memories of the calm morning were distant. The wind was blowing hard and gusting even harder. It kept the upper nineties temperature bearable.

The long stretches of hot sunny weather in the desert along with the disruption in routine caused by Covid-19 make it hard to believe Memorial day is in the future. My irrational thoughts believe it is the end of summer. Looking back to last year on this date I was just beginning my summer travels. I was in Baton Rouge Louisiana looking for a way west around the lines of tornadoes crossing the country. I spent the Memorial Day weekend in the Albuquerque New Mexico area before heading for Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah then on up into Oregon over the first couple of weeks in June.

All of this serves to remind me that there is plenty of time for more adventures this year. It may take more flexibility and patience to travel within the restrictions that the various governments put in place, but it appears possible. Most of the activities and places I like to visit are naturally socially distant. A little caution and I should be able to avoid crowded areas. The only downside is I’ll be in continuous planning mode just like last year. Unlike last year, there is the added consideration of the current restrictions in an area. They seem to change on a weekly basis.

I spent time today researching options in New Mexico for late June and early July. Many things have not reopened yet. June 1st seems to be a magic date for some things. I’ll keep researching and monitoring what’s opening for the rest of this month. The first week of June is my target to have plans in place through the Forth of July weekend.

On my evening walk around the RV park I noted another departure. I’m not going to be the last of the non year round residents to depart, but it will be close.