Our Quartzsite, Az crew
Monday, March 21, 2005
South East Arizona Adventures
Early in January we celebrated our one-year anniversary of being lease holders in the Saguaro Co-op RV Park in Benson, Arizona. In 1999 our name was #200 on the "Hot List" for membership. After 5 years, we were the lowest number to bid one of the 300 lots. Our high desert location is an excellent location for Jan./Feb. When we head off for another project, we put our Lot #280 into the Rental Pool and the income earned pays for our share of the park’s yearly maintenance and operations fee. Our park family is diverse and friendly. Activities abound every day. Hiking, Bridge, Pegs and Jokers, Danish Card Making have been some of our favorites, along with evening entertainment.
Benson is surrounded by the Dragoon, the Chiricahua and the Whetstone Mountains. Cochise Stronghold, about 30 minutes drive from the park in the Dragoons, offers a splendid 3 ½ mile climb. In the late 1800’s, an Apache tribal family led by Chief Cochise hid from the U.S. Army in the boulder-strewn mountain terrain for ten years to avoid being captured and transported to a reservation in Florida. While hiking the Chiricahua National Monument one hour from the park, we were at the crossroads of four major environments. On the cooler northern slopes grow the Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir, typical of the Rocky Mountains. Sunny southern slopes have Apache and Mexican Pinion Pine from Mexico’s Sierra Madre Range. Yuccas and sotol from the Chihuahuan Desert co-exist with agaves and prickly pear cactus from the Sonoran Desert. Neon green lichens adorn the pinnacles, while ferns thrive in the shade. Towering rock formations stand as sentinels over the forest. Stories telling about the clash of cultures between the Chiricahua Apaches and the westward-moving pioneers abound. We have yet to experience the trails for off-road exploration in the Whetstones, but we were very impressed with the pristine Karchner Caverns.
Benson is surrounded by the Dragoon, the Chiricahua and the Whetstone Mountains. Cochise Stronghold, about 30 minutes drive from the park in the Dragoons, offers a splendid 3 ½ mile climb. In the late 1800’s, an Apache tribal family led by Chief Cochise hid from the U.S. Army in the boulder-strewn mountain terrain for ten years to avoid being captured and transported to a reservation in Florida. While hiking the Chiricahua National Monument one hour from the park, we were at the crossroads of four major environments. On the cooler northern slopes grow the Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir, typical of the Rocky Mountains. Sunny southern slopes have Apache and Mexican Pinion Pine from Mexico’s Sierra Madre Range. Yuccas and sotol from the Chihuahuan Desert co-exist with agaves and prickly pear cactus from the Sonoran Desert. Neon green lichens adorn the pinnacles, while ferns thrive in the shade. Towering rock formations stand as sentinels over the forest. Stories telling about the clash of cultures between the Chiricahua Apaches and the westward-moving pioneers abound. We have yet to experience the trails for off-road exploration in the Whetstones, but we were very impressed with the pristine Karchner Caverns.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Christmas Trip
Here we go again……another New Year. We can still remember just waiting to get to be 21 so we could go out and celebrate all night long… and now if we can stay awake until 10:00, we have done well. Where did all those years go? Actually we were awakened by the flurry of fireworks at midnight, made wishes for a more peaceful year in 2005, then fell right back to sleep.
Our holidays have been spent with our folks in Florida. We made the 1100 mile trek from middle of Arkansas in our newly-acquired 1989 Ford F-150. It didn’t take long to discover that loose items don’t stay put in the back of a pick-up truck, so our first Christmas gift was a work box to store our belongings in as we travel. We had a lovely week of visiting with June and Victor (90 years young now!) leading up to Christmas. Then on to Oric and Lois to make some post-hurricane repairs during daylight hours, then rousing games of cards in the evenings.
We will be heading back to the bus in Arkansas early in the week and preparing to make an 1100 mile trip west to Arizona. We have received word that The Heifer Ranch was blanketed in 5 inches of snow on Christmas Day, quite unusual for that part of the world. We will enjoy our lot in the Saguaro Escapee Motor Home Park in Benson for a week before we return to our jobs selling water purification systems at a huge RV Show in Quartzsite, on the California border. We look forward to reuniting with many friends-of-the-road who will migrate to that spot…the largest flea market in the world… for late January and early February. Great fun!
Until next time, best wishes for 2005. Love, Darcy and Wally
Our holidays have been spent with our folks in Florida. We made the 1100 mile trek from middle of Arkansas in our newly-acquired 1989 Ford F-150. It didn’t take long to discover that loose items don’t stay put in the back of a pick-up truck, so our first Christmas gift was a work box to store our belongings in as we travel. We had a lovely week of visiting with June and Victor (90 years young now!) leading up to Christmas. Then on to Oric and Lois to make some post-hurricane repairs during daylight hours, then rousing games of cards in the evenings.
We will be heading back to the bus in Arkansas early in the week and preparing to make an 1100 mile trip west to Arizona. We have received word that The Heifer Ranch was blanketed in 5 inches of snow on Christmas Day, quite unusual for that part of the world. We will enjoy our lot in the Saguaro Escapee Motor Home Park in Benson for a week before we return to our jobs selling water purification systems at a huge RV Show in Quartzsite, on the California border. We look forward to reuniting with many friends-of-the-road who will migrate to that spot…the largest flea market in the world… for late January and early February. Great fun!
Until next time, best wishes for 2005. Love, Darcy and Wally
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