Thursday May 7th 2020

It was only a couple of degrees cooler than yesterday, but there was a nice strong breeze during the heat of the day. It seemed much cooler than the 103 degree high temperature.

I didn’t get my morning walk in this morning. I started reading while sipping my morning coffee and didn’t stop for long all day long. My walk as the sun set was my only real exercise of the day. A few more people have departed for cooler climates. It is starting to look very empty.

Wednesday May 6th 2020

The triple digit temperatures were back today. The town was reported at 105 degrees during the afternoon. When I pointed my infrared thermometer at the black paved road in front of my RV it reported a temperature of 145 degrees. The bottom line is it was hot.

My morning walk was short. The sun was high enough in the sky to be dangerous, so I only made a walk around the perimeter of the RV park. My evening walk as the sun set was full length. It was still very warm, but the sun was not beating down.

Between my walks I worked on travel research and contemplation. It is interesting to note that at this time last year I hadn’t started my summer travels. I was still in Florida planning out my path to the northwest and the places I might visit. I passed through northern Arizona the last week in May heading for Utah and Bryce Canyon National Park. This year that seems unachievable because of the uncertainty of the reactions of governments and business to the virus.

Planning is a challenge. It is hard to give up my well developed plans. This is the first year that I planned heavily and made a full half year of reservations. Once I made the plans, I developed a strong sense of anticipation around the places I would be able to visit. Now I need to come up with another plan that accommodates the mitigations necessary to travel in this virus plagued world. It is hard to know what to do or to develop any real enthusiasm for the task. I want to get moving, but when and where are big unknowns. I think the best I’m going to be able to plan is a month in advance, just like I did last year.

Tuesday May 5th 2020

It was another slow lazy day. This blog entry will not have much content. The Phoenix high temperature was in the triple digits today. In this location about fifty miles south and a little east the high didn’t break the century mark, but it was still hot.

On my morning walk I was rewarded by one cactus blossom. When I first spotted the blossoms a few days ago it was a little later in the morning. With the current temperatures, I’m not going to be walking later in the morning. Driving to take a couple of cactus blossom pictures seems a bit extreme, but that may be what it will take.

On the last couple of late evening walks I’ve watched the moon get bigger in the eastern sky. The full moon isn’t until later in the week, but I went back out after dark to take a couple of pictures of the moon.

Monday May 4th 2020

I was up early enough to get in my morning walk around the RV park before the temperature started to climb. The cactus blossoms weren’t cooperating today. None of the blossoms were fully open. I don’t understand what conditions cause the blossoms to open or how many days they open before they’ve achieved their purpose. It looks like there should be more blossoms opening in the next few days, but that’s a guess.

The day passed quickly. I got engrossed in trying to re-plan my summer travels. With less than three weeks left on my stay here in the Arizona Desert, I need to make up my mind. Over the weekend I was convinced the solution was to catch up with my original set of reservations in Wyoming at the middle of June. Today I’m rethinking that approach. The ideal solution given the circumstances would be to find a place to stay for a month or two. It would have to be in an area with outdoor things to do preferably at altitude or in a northern climate. After a day of research, I don’t have an answer. I just have a few more ideas and a few more unknowns.

While I was doing my research I got a message canceling another one of my May, early June reservations. Things are opening back up but not at a consistent pace. It is also may take longer than anticipated. Bouncing my travel options against the various state travel restrictions is daunting. New Mexico has closed all roads in and out of the community of Gallup. I fear that more of that approach to limiting the impact of the virus will become the norm. It might have value containing the virus, but it makes travel into and through an area problematic.

There are still more unknowns than knowns. The result is that flexibility is required. To be flexible I need knowledge. To get the knowledge, I need to continue my research.

Sunday May 3rd 2020

It was an incredibly lazy day. I was late getting out of bed and skipped my morning walk. It was still cool enough to walk, but I just wasn’t feeling it. The temperature peaked just south of the century mark at 99 degrees.

I spent the day reading with the TV on. At one point I woke up from an unplanned nap. Hopefully, the nap doesn’t take away from my ability to sleep tonight. My only accomplishment of the day was dumping the holding tanks. I waited until almost sunset, but I’m good for another week of showers and what not.

Even my evening walk was shorter than normal. I only walked the perimeter of the RV park. Usually I walk up and down every road in at least one direction. When I’m in the mood for more exercise I walk each road in both directions. The difference is around half a mile walking just the perimeter to about 2 miles going up and down all the roads in both directions.

Saturday May 2nd 2020

The run of days with above normal high temperature continues. Today was only about ten degrees above normal at 98 degrees. The current forecast has the highs returning to the triple digits next week and the above normal highs continuing most of the month.

During my morning walk it felt like I’ve been abandoned. The turn of the month seems to have caused several more departures. In my area of the RV park there are many open sites and a few empty RVs. On my “block” there are only 3 of 32 sites occupied. The “blocks” nearer the entrance have a few more occupied sites and the perimeter is fairly full. Overall there is a lot of empty space and a lot fewer people out and about.

The focus of my internet surfing today was summer travel planning. I am working under the assumption that enough RV parks and campgrounds will be open by the middle of June to allow me to resume traveling without extreme issues. As of today travel is complicated by campgrounds that aren’t open, places that only take single night stays, RV parks that only take two week stays of longer for self quarantine and places that are only open to locals. Everyday the situation evolves. I have a theory that it might be easier to find places to stay this summer as vacationers decide to stay home. So far that hasn’t panned out. The nice places near major tourist draws are still fully booked for late June, July and August. Maybe people are waiting until the last minute to cancel like I am for some of my late May reservations.

My overall focus for the foreseeable future is to avoid crowds and focus on outside activities like hiking, bike riding and overall sightseeing. I will avoid museums and indoor activities. Ideally I’d prefer to stay in one place for long periods of time, but unless my theory of vacationers canceling their plans come to fruition, I’ll have to settle for mostly one or two week stays in more obscure locations. My goal of reaching Florida before fall remains the same.

Friday May 1st 2020

A strong breeze out of the south kept the temperature from reaching the century mark today. In the wind it didn’t even feel like the warm 98 degrees the temperature reached.

I was up early for my morning walk. My goal was to get more pictures of the cactus in bloom. The bright morning sun was successful in bringing the blossoms out of their tight closures. It was a welcome outcome after yesterday’s cloudy morning which didn’t produce any picture worthy blooms.

My major accomplishment of the day was a negative one. I successfully canceled two more reservations for seventeen days in May and June. It remains to be seen if I get the cancellation fees back since the Utah State Park campgrounds are now officially open. I still have three more reservations before the middle of June to cancel. With a little luck they may be canceled for me. The area around Yellowstone is not rumored to be opening until around the middle of June.

Right now, I’m thinking about catching up with my summer travel plans by the second half of June in Wyoming. I continue to monitor the travel restrictions in the various states and the condition of the campgrounds. Most of the private campgrounds seem to plan on being partially open by then. The state and federal campgrounds are pure guess work. Some states have rules to discourage travel and others seem to be ready to reopen to travelers. I’ll do what is necessary to keep safe and not endanger or bring fear to others. The bottom line is I still don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ll remain flexible. I’ll be here in the desert south of Phoenix for another three weeks.

Thursday April 30th 2020

A surprising layer of clouds kept the temperature from reaching triple digits today. It still reached 98 degree, but the psychological impact made it feel much cooler than yesterday’s 103.

I was up early enough to get in a morning walk before the temperature climbed into the nineties. A couple more RVs were in the final stages of packing. By my second walk of the day near sunset they were gone. Because many people have left their RVs on site, the RV park doesn’t look that empty. What I notice most is that there are fewer people out and about in the morning and evening. When I arrived last month there were a couple of groups of five or six bicycle riders circling the park every morning. Every week the number in the groups went down. Now I just see an occasional lone rider.

My day was filled with the usual mix of reading and TV. I continue to monitor the RV park situation in the neighboring states for possible travel plans. So far I haven’t come up with any interesting alternative travel ideas. The National Parks are now talking about mid June openings if the local states agree. Maybe that will create some opportunities.

Wednesday April 29th 2020

I didn’t get my first walk of the day in this morning. By the time I got up the temperature was already climbing toward its triple digit peak. Today’s temperature peaked fifteen degrees above the norm for the day at 103 degrees.

Most of my day was spent reading, surfing the internet and watching television. One of the things I watched on TV was the Arizona Governor’s presentation on re-opening the state. He is continuing the “stay at home” order until May 15th, but a lot of other things will be gradually changing. Elective surgery which seems to include most types of doctor visits including dentists restarts on May 1st. Next week appointment based service business and later in the week other types of retail can reopen if they have delivery or curb side pickup. All with the provision that social distancing must be maintained. Restaurants might open the following week if the industry develops a plan for cleaning and social distancing inside the facilities. Movie theaters, bars and anything that might produce a crowd continue to be closed.

I got my walk around the park in at sunset. It is amazing how much nicer the temperature is after the sun gets out of the sky. I went up and down each road in the park to get an extra long walk in.

Tuesday April 28th 2020

I was up early to get my first walk of the day in before the heat took over the day. Once again I started the breakfast coffee and set out on my walk around the RV park. My first stop was the cactus garden at the office to get some better pictures of the blossoms on the cactus. There were many more blossoms this morning and I got a few nice pictures to include in this blog entry.

My morning walk was short. In my rush to beat the heat, I forgot to put on a hat. Keeping covered up from the sun is important out here in the desert. After a quick loop around the park I returned to my RV home for breakfast.

Today was a bit of a break from the triple digit heat. It only made it to 98, but more important, there was a steady breeze. I prefer to spend the days in my RV home with all the windows open and the fans blowing. Running both air conditioners only gets the inside temperature into the eighties with the strong sun beating down on my RV home. The RV is oriented in the best way with respect to the sun. The front windshield faces east getting the morning sun. The drivers side with all the windows faces north. The south and west facing sides don’t have many windows. So far, with the windows open the breeze keeps the inside reasonably comfortable. After sunset I turn on the AC to get the inside down to sleeping temperature. In a humid area or if the wind wasn’t blowing I’d run the AC a lot more.

On my evening walk I tried to make a count of the number of occupied sites. I ended up doing a little bit of counting and a little more estimating. My current guess is that out of the 350 sites fifty are actively in use and another twenty or so are occupied by RVs with no residents. About a third of the occupied sites have Arizona License Plates. They are probably year round residents of this compound in the desert.