This blog now has a Nederlands vertaling
A visit to Jamestown the first English colony in the US established in Virginia (Nederlands Vertaling)
Arizona desert and the art of boondocking
Arizona desert and the art of boondocking
During our long trip through Canada and the USA my in-laws kept talking about boondocking which is essentially camping without any facilities. My introduction to boondocking was in the Arizona desert. Essentially, you drive into the desert and set up your RV using just generator power and what water you have on board. The place to boondock in Arizona is near Quartzite. The town of Quartzite is on the junction of Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 95 in the Sonoran Desert and the Colorado River is 18 miles to the west of the town. The town gets 2 million visitors annually and can probably claim to be the boondocking capital of the world. The town is devoted to RVs with annual fairs, shops and a huge flea market selling everything you want as well as some tasty food.
Thousands of RVs descend on to this town between the months of November and March. We were there in January and it was overflowing. The best part of it was relaxing and enjoying the sunsets and stories around the camp fire.
Desert sunset
I imagined boondocking with no one around us and the silence of the desert. I am sure there are places like that but Quartzite is not one of them. I enjoyed my boondocking experience and hope one day to do it again if only for the sunsets and open fires at night. We met with a group of Joe and Inga’s friends and shared dinners and wine. One gentleman, Gerry was 92 years old and still RVing so for those of you who think you’re too old to RV, it is never too late.
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- Enjoying a beverage or two
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- Setting up camp in the desert
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- Joe and Gerry with 164 years between them not all RVing
Given the thousands that do this every year it is amazingly well organised and people do clean up after themselves. It is a great experience and if you ever get the opportunity do give the Arizona desert and the art of boondocking a go.
Old Tucson where the old west comes alive and Sabino Canyon
Old Tucson where the old west comes alive and Sabino Canyon
This week we visited two great places.
Old Tucson
Our next stop was near Tucson where we spent a few days visiting Old Tucson and hiking at Sabino Canyon. I really like Westerns so Old Tucson was for me like being a small kid in a candy shop. It was like stepping back in time to the wild west but without the dirt, smells and danger of being shot. I grew up watching Westerns and one of my favourites was the High Chaparral and it was great to wander the set. All day there are activities with actors playing gunfighter’s, saloon girl dancing and singing, stagecoach rides, silly rides in gas operated cars or just wandering around the town and the old sets of movies and tv series. We had a great day out at Old Tucson. It cost $17 each and it was money well spent. At the beginning of the day you get a piece of paper listing the times of all the activities with something happening throughout the day for adults and kids. My wife also paid to do a horse ride for an hour.
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- Heading for the High Chapparal
It was a walk down memory lane for me seeing all the movie sets used in backdrops for hundreds of westerns that I had seen at the movies and on tv growing up. The movie sets ranged from the Three Amigos to Rio Bravo. Throughout the day are several performances at the saloon with saloon girls singing and dancing. You can also do a short Stagecoach ride for $3. There is also a quaint little train that circles the town. I enjoyed the stunt show in the afternoon and learnt a little about some of the tricks when acting in fighting and shooting. My advice is to come early. We got there at 10.30 and ended up staying for the last show at 4.45 pm.
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- The gas jalopies
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- Old Tuscon
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- Me and the saloon girls
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- Entrance to the High Chapparal set
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- Train from 300 westerns
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- Great shows and stunts
Sabino Canyon
The Sabino Canyon is near Tucson. Sabino canyon is a popular park for hiking, swimming or just sight-seeing. The cactus we saw on our hike made my day with all the different shapes and sizes. We paid $8 each to take a tram from the car park to the end of the road to tram stop 9. It would be good if the tram had a one way ticket but they do not and Tram 9 stop is where it turns around and returns to the visitor centre. It’s a nice noisy ride with a narration about the history, fauna and flora as well as geology of the canyon. You can get off and on the tram at several stops.
We decided to do the 5.3 mile hike back to the visitor centre. The trail takes you up high and you follow back along the canyon wall with great views down the narrow canyon. Loved all the cactus and surprisingly we had the trail mostly to ourselves. People seem to just walk a few hundred metres up the track from Tram stop 9 and then return to the tram stop. There also are shorter hikes around the visitor centre.
It was well worth the effort to see the scenery. Make sure you have good boots or runners and water to drink.
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- The tram ride
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- Sabino Canyon
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- On the trail
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- Loved this Saguaro cactus
Pink Flamingo's in Palm Springs
The last thing I expected to see in Palm Springs.
Roadrunner
Finally got to see a roadrunner
A visit to Tombstone and Gammon Gulch in Arizona
A visit to Tombstone and Gammon Gulch in Arizona
After New Mexico we made a visit to Tombstone and Gammon Gulch in Arizona. We camped at the lovely Saint Davids RV campground nearby to Benson. From here we visited Tombstone and Gammon Gulch. I always wanted to visit Tombstone so another childhood dream came true. We really liked the campground we stayed at near St David’s.
Great campsite beside a small lake
Tombstone
Tombstone was great fun. The highlight was seeing where Wyatt Earp and his brothers with Doc Holliday had the West’s most famous gunfight. To see the orignal site of the OK Coral gunfight you have to pay $10. This includes a live reenactment of the gunfight with actors, exhibits about the time period, a historama and entry to the Epitaph museum. The show is around 25 minutes with the actors playing some scenes to give background to the fight. I enjoyed the show and watching the Historama. The Historama is 24 minute long with a Vincent Price narration giving background to the history of Tombstone. I also enjoyed wandering around the stables, old sets, prostitutes crib and visiting the various exhibits as well as the original site of the OK coral gunfight. Afterwards we wandered up and down the main street soaking up the atmosphere.
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- Main street of Tombstone before the gunfight
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- The Gunfight
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- Meeting the good guys
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- Meeting the bad guys
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- It did not end well for them
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- Cowboy bath day
After working up an appetite we had lunch at Big Nosed Kate’s Saloon. We were recommended when we were in Tombstone to eat here and were not disappointed. I had a large serving of the dinner beef brisket. The atmosphere was great with waiters dressed as cowboys or saloon girls. Live music and the prices were reasonable. Enjoyed my coffin experience too. There also is a shop downstairs.
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- Outside Big Nose Kates saloon
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- They take paying your bill seriously there
Gammon Gulch
We visited Gammon Gulch after several recommendations from people at our campground. You do need to book ahead to make sure it is open or check the website for opening hours.
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- Blink and you will miss the turnoff
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- Main road
The attraction is North of Benson along a sealed road except for a short drive after the Gammon Gulch sign down a short dirt road. The site has lots of buildings and backdrops for western movies and is still used today. The last movie was a zombie cowboy western. Gammon Gulch is operated by a friendly and colourful character called Jay who gives you a personal tour of the town. It was well worth the $7. As you can see I made a couple of silly pictures below.
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- Main road
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- Plays the piano well in the saloon
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- Jail time
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- Loved the scaffold
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- Crime does not pay
Entering the desert – New Mexico and Arizona
‘The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.’ – Alfred North Whitehead
City of Rocks, New Mexico
We started this week in a state I’ve little knowledge of – New Mexico. We were only here one night, but we took advantage of a little local knowledge and went off exploring to a place called City of Rocks – a beautiful park/campground with gorgeous rock formations in the middle of the desert. We, also, discovered some lovely outdoor Hot Springs at Faywood – where clothing is optional, so you can watch the sunset over the desert and stare up at all the midnight stars.
Faywood Hot Springs – Sunset
City of Rocks, New Mexico
Faywood Hot Springs
The rest of our week has been exploring some interesting and fun places in Arizona. Our first stop was near St. David where, once again, had some local suggestions which came up trumps and we discovered an old Western Movie Set called Gammons Gulch
Gammons Gulch – movie set
run by a very fun loving and interesting person.
That same day we saw Tombstone
Tombstone, Arizona
where the infamous OK Corral
OK Corral, Tombstone, Arizona
is – the place where Wyatt Earp and brothers with Doc. Holiday killed the McLaury/Cantons.
Boothill – graves from Tombstone
Then to move slowly west, we headed out towards Tucson where we had a few days to explore. Our first day, was at the old MGM film studios of Old Tucson
Old Tucson, Arizona
– a kinda movie theme park, but a lot more fun than my description. All of us had a great time watching the live shows, riding the rides (I even got to go horseback riding in the desert!) and soaking up the atmosphere of where so many famous Westerns were filmed.
Shooting my first hand gun at Old Tucson, Arizona
Then we had another day to do a hike through Sabino Canyon
Sabino Canyon, Phoenix, Arizona
and really enjoyed the desert’s beauty close at hand. I love the saguaro cacti and I was able to get up close and personal with this beautiful and majestic plant.
What is your favourite plant and have you seen it in person?
Saguaro Cactus, Sabino Canyon
Love
Debx
New Mexico visit and magical City of Rocks State Park
New Mexico was one of the states we passed through on our way to California. We spent only a couple of days there at a place called Deming at an RV campground. We were lucky to visit a nearby state park called the City of Rocks. The geologic formation cover around 1 square mile. The rocks are up to 40 feet high with pinnacles and narrow paths between them you can wander around. The rocks were formed around 35 million years ago from a volcanic eruption.
If you ever are driving down the I-10 take the short detour from Deming of around 30 miles and visit the park. It is not a large park and is breathtakingly beautiful with its rocky landscape. Even better if you are able there are places to camp which if we had known we would have done. The City of Rocks State Park has a visitor centre, toilets and places to camp in among the rocks. I wish we could have camped and looked up at the stars. There is a gravel road to drive around the rocks and lots of tracks criss crossing it for walkers. It cost $5 to visit the park per vehicle.
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- Arriving in New Mexico
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- Loved this small park
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- Wandering around City of Rocks State Park
Just down the road is Faywood Hot Springs which we also visited after walking around the City of Rocks park. The hot springs are on a small hill-side with three pools in the clothing and non clothing areas. The highest one was the hottest. There also are campsites and cabins as well as private hot pools to hire. It costs $12.50 each. Do not expect luxury. The setting in the desert is magical and only wished we could have soaked in them at night under the stars.
Hot springs detour
Another Arizona sunset
Arizona desert sunset
Nice evening sunset in the Arizona desert
