Chapter 33 – Eastbound from San Diego
13 February, 1999
1/26 We're on the road again, headed toward Florida. It feels good to be going somewhere, as we've been in California over two months and we're ready for new scenery. We've had two weeks of lovely weather in San Diego, but that ended two days ago.
Since then, we've had two days of almost continuous rain and cold in San Diego (dropping to 45 degrees at Mission Bay), and another storm is forecast for tomorrow. It snowed six inches in Bakersfield, causing the county road officials to do some scrambling to figure out where they stored the snow plows after they were last used, 25 years ago. (Yes, they actually do own snowplows). A 100-mile section of Interstate 5, down the central valley, was closed for a few hours, almost all the way to Los Angeles. So it seemed like time to leave.
Packing up to leave always takes much longer after we've settled in one place for a while. Everything seems to migrate out of its appointed place and spread out throughout the trailer and the campsite. The roof racks and canoes were off the truck (to enable us to get into some of the parking ramps). The patio awning was deployed, toolboxes and filing crates dug out of their usual storage place deep in the back of the truck, and many smaller things have to be stuffed back in their hiding places. Fortunately, the rain stopped for a couple of hours early in the morning, and I rushed out to get most of the outside things done. I almost made it. Just as I was about ready to install the hitch bar and begin hitching up, low clouds closed in and a gentle drizzle began. Simultaneously, Lew Anderson, our favorite San Diego traffic cop (Internet acquaintance and fellow RVer), showed up to say hello. We keep missing other Internet friends around the country by a day or two, so it's wonderful that this time we didn't miss Lew, by a margin of about half an hour!
We pulled out of the RV Park at about 10 A.M., and headed east on Interstate 8. We had to make a brief detour up I-15 to Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription that had been called in late, and to stock up on groceries at the adjacent grocery store. While there, we noticed that the southwest corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot is remote and empty, and had an RV tucked away in the far corner. Something to keep in mind for the future.
Back on the road by 11 A.M., we continued East on I-8 through steady rain and dark, low, clouds. An hour East, as the highway climbed past the 3000-foot level in the Cleveland National Forest, we started seeing snow along the roadside and on the mountain slopes. As we neared 4000 feet, the rain turned to sleet, and the windshield wipers began to struggle. The temperature dropped to the low 30's, but the road surface remained merely wet, never icy. Then the fog closed in, the trucks passing us disappeared into the murk only a few hundred feet ahead of us, and we slowed and turned on the flashers, hoping the traffic behind us was also slowing. Fortunately, we soon crossed the second of the 4000-foot passes, and began to descend. Shortly thereafter, we dropped under the clouds and regained good visibility (and the sleet changed back to rain).
We had originally planned to turn north into Anza Boreggo Desert State Park to spend a few days. The weather changed our minds. The radio informed us that it was snowing in Julian, and wet and cold down in the desert. So we just kept pointed East, hoping to outrun the storm. Somewhere around El Centro, the clouds began to break. By the time we crossed the state line into Yuma at about 2 P.M., the sky was mostly blue. It seemed early to stop, and we find Yuma a depressing place anyway, so we kept driving. The scenery through this area is always interesting. The flat lands along the highway varies from very arid desert – dotted with sparse creosote bushes and nothing else – to lush irrigated farmlands. We frequently saw truckloads of carrots, lettuce and cabbage on their way to distribution centers. In the distance, we could always see more than one mountain range – craggy volcanic peaks climbing abruptly out of the flat sea-level desert. It was amusing at one point to see a huge water storage tank along the road, with a painted line labeled "sea level" painted about fifty feet up on the side of the tank.
At Gila Bend, we began to run out of daylight and pulled into the first RV Park that we had seen in 100 miles, the Wheel Inn RV Park, right in the middle of town. Nearby, there are several very large vacant lots that were being used for overnight parking by 18-wheelers, and would be suitable for RV's as well. In early evening, I took a walk around town and discovered that Gila Bend is a rather sad little town. Main Street has several abandoned gas stations, and a couple of fast-food restaurants, and various other buildings that once held large enterprises and are now occupied by tiny subsistence-level businesses – marginal bars, fix-it shops, warehouses, etc. Many lots are vacant, showing only the foundations of long-gone buildings. There are several not-very prosperous motels, the parking lots containing mostly work trucks of itinerant tradesmen.
Loud explosions surprised us several times during the evening. From the map, we discovered that we're on the edge of the huge Barry Goldwater Air Force Range. They're probably bombing a mockup of Baghdad, out there in the desert somewhere.
1/27 We turned south on SR-85 and drove down 80 miles of good quality "red" highway to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We had heard rumors that the campground would be crowded, so we arrived shortly after noon. In fact, there was plenty of room. As I write this, in late evening, there are still perhaps 20 empty sites, (and the campground continued to have at least 20 empty sites every night we were here – through the weekend.
The campground at Organ Pipe is excellent. It is built on a hill, looking out over the desert to mountains to the south and east. The 208 campsites are all pull-throughs, mostly about 75 feet long and spaced 50 to 100 feet apart. The park enforces a 35-foot RV length limit. The campsites could easily handle larger rigs, but the access roads are narrow, and getting a bigger rig into some of the sites would require skilled driving.
We pulled in here on my 62nd birthday, so I celebrated by buying a Golden Age Passport, which requires that the purchaser be at least 62 years old (and a citizen). This has to be one of the worlds greater bargains - it costs $10 and is good for life. With the Passport, admission to the park was free and campsites are half price - so we're camping for $4/night.
We're in the surprisingly diverse vegetation of the central Sonoran Desert. The trailer is parked a few feet from a 20-foot tall Saguaro cactus (Helen first noticed it while looking up through our open ceiling vent). Around us, we can see many other big Saguaros as well as big clusters of Organ Pipe cactus, chain-fruit Cholla as big as small trees, several other kinds of Cholla, Palo Verde and Mesquite trees, Beavertail Opuntia, and assorted things we haven't identified yet. Gambel's Quail, hidden among the bushes are calling loudly.
The campground is up on a little hill, giving us a long view across the desert from our campsite. At night, we can see the twinkling lights of the Mexican town of Sonoyta, at the base of a range of high mountains seven miles to the South.
There are no hookups here – but our solar panels provide all the electricity we need, our propane supply will run the refrigerator and cookstove and catalytic heater for a couple of weeks, and our water and sewage tanks are adequate for several days – longer if we are careful (and we can dump sewage and get fresh water here in the park).
The only radio station we can get is Radio Sonora, so we listen to traditional Mexican music and take a Spanish lesson for a while, then put on a CD – Debussy's La Mer - finding a little humor in listening to ocean music in the middle of a desert.
1/31 We're leaving Organ Pipe this morning, after four days. As I write, a curved-bill thrasher is serenading me with a series of improvisations and imitations, from a conspicuous perch on the arm of a tall saguaro in the adjacent campsite.
We've driven over two long scenic loops in the park – both dirt roads, maintained but currently washboardy. The park literature apologized for the condition of the roads, and explained that they could only grade the roads during the brief period that the soil is damp after a rare rain, and that they didn't have the manpower and equipment to get more than a small fraction of the roads graded after each rain.
One loop is west of the campground, 57 miles long, and winds through a variety of desert and foothill terrain, eventually turning south to follow the Mexican border for many miles. On the border, we stopped to explore Quitobaquito springs – an oasis surrounding a surprising one-acre fresh water lake The border here is marked only by a couple of strands of rusty barbed wire. The park road runs parallel to the fence, about 50 feet away. On the other side of the fence, Mexican Highway 2 runs parallel about 150 feet away, busy with a continuous procession of large trucks. This trip took over five hours, including many stops and short walks. We got back to the trailer just at dark.
On another day, we drove a shorter loop east through the edge of the Ajo mountains. The road climbed enough to give us excellent views out over the desert. The foliage changed as we climbed – creosote bush gradually giving way to jojoba, cholla being replaced by agave. At one point, we rounded a tight curve and dropped into a little arroyo, and were startled to find three coyotes standing at the edge of the road, not more than 50 feet in front of us. We stopped and watched, remaining quiet inside the truck. The coyotes ignored us and went about their business, systematically sniffing their way up through the arroyo. They remained close long enough for us to get out the camera and the telephoto lens and shoot a whole bunch of pictures.
When we arrived at Organ Pipe, it was unusually cold for this area – temperature dropping to near-freezing at night, rising into the low 60's during the day. The atmosphere was unusually clear – very deep blue sky, with distant mountains showing up clearly. Since then, it has gotten a little warmer and a little hazier each day.
Yesterday, we hiked from the campground to the edge of the low mountains to the southwest, to the Victoria Mine. This was a gold and silver mine which operated intermittently from about 1900 until the 1940's, never very profitable. About all that is left now is the remains of a small stone building, a few mine shafts, and bits and pieces of trash (how old does trash have to get before it becomes "artifacts"?) The park has installed several signs explaining the history of the site. Not a very exciting destination – but it was an excuse for a pleasant 4.5-mile hike through interesting desert.
One evening, we walked over to the amphitheater for the evening talk – where we heard interesting tidbits of information about bats while looking at high quality pictures of these interesting mammals.
1/31 Today, we drove across Highway 86 from Organ Pipe to Tucson - a narrow state highway that goes through almost uninhabited territory, mostly straight across the desert. The only town we went through was the central community of an Indian Reservation.
For much of the distance, this highway is the closest highway to the Mexican Border (although not real close). Several Border Patrol vehicles passed us, and at one point, we passed two of these vehicles stopped at the roadside, with lights flashing and several little brown men sitting disconsolately alongside. Later, one of the Border Patrol vehicles passed us again, this time with the little brown men packed tightly in the back. The policy, when illegal immigrants are picked up, is just to bus them back across the border (where, of course, they just try again another day).
At Tucson, we rejoined I-10 and continued another 55 miles to Benson, where we stopped for the night at Saguaro Co-op, an Escapees park. No sites with hookups available, but we were able to spend the night dry camping in pleasant surroundings, for $2.50. We exchanged an armload of books and picture puzzles at their extensive library, and left a couple of unneeded items that were too good to throw away on their bargain table (sales of these items benefits the activities of the local Escapees club chapter.)
Last year, we complained that Saguaro Co-op was not modem-friendly. This has changed. They have just installed a phone jack, at a convenient desk in the recently remodeled and expanded activities center. The lady in the office volunteered that information before I even had a chance to ask.
2/1 After an uneventful drive along I-10, across more desert that looks about the same as yesterday, we're in Deming, New Mexico, at Dream Catcher RV Park – an Escapees Rainbow Park. This park is open to the public, but still had plenty of nice pull-through full-hookup sites available. I'll have to call this place "semi-computer friendly". They don't have a modem hookup, but sent us next door to the Holiday Inn, who allowed us to use a phone plug in the office. Our cost, for full hookups, was $7.96, including 8 kWh of electricity at $.10/kwh (every site has metered electricity). It also cost us (or gained us – depending on your point of view) two hugs, one when arriving and one when leaving – an Escapees tradition, although the tradition is honored unevenly.
2/2 I awoke to an unpleasant surprise – no water. The temperature outside was 29 deg., and our hose had frozen. No damage – bringing the hose inside for an hour or so thawed it out, and pouring a cup of boiling water over the outside faucet started it flowing again. This is the first (and hopefully, the last) hard freeze we've been in this season.
Today was a short drive – about 100 miles to El Paso, where we stopped early to see the El Paso Art Museum. We thought we had lost an hour when we crossed into Texas, but were then surprised to find that the time zone splits Texas, with the western portion of the state still on Mountain Time. When we got to the museum, we found a sign on the door stating that the entire museum was closed while they transferred the collections to a new building.
We then stopped at a Dodge dealer that we stumbled across, to get the Texas annual vehicle inspection. Our inspection sticker expired long ago. This was no problem as long as we stayed away from Texas, but has to be renewed within 48 hours of re-entering the state. This is the first time we've had to do this, but it turned out to be quick and easy – they did it without an appointment, and we were on our way again in 45 minutes, poorer by $10.50. Later, Helen went out to find a place to get her hair cut. We're staying at Roadrunner RV Park, a quirky park located behind an RV parts and service establishment. It's conveniently (and noisily) located just a block off I-10, in the eastern edge of El Paso. Not modem-friendly – they referred us to a Mailboxes Etc., not far away.
2/3 Another day, another 200 miles. At this rate, getting across Texas will take a long time. We drove I-10 to I-20, and up I-20 to Pecos, where we pulled into Tra-Park, another Escapees Rainbow Park. This is one of the newest, acquired two years ago. It was acquired as a very run-down mobile home park with a small RV-Park addition, and the mobile homes were moved elsewhere as a condition of the purchase. The park is slowly being renovated. It has the usual Escapees friendly atmosphere. In spite of only having a single phone line, they have installed a convenient phone plug in a corner of the office for the computer users.
Pecos as a whole is run-down. It grew up around a World War II Air Force base used for training B-29 pilots. The base closed long ago, and nothing significant has taken its place. I was told that 70% of the non-residential buildings are vacant.
A roadrunner ran across the road close in front of us on I-10 today – only the second time we've seen one. They look just like the cartoon character. This one mistimed his run, and flew the last few feet off the road to get out of our path, proving that these birds actually do have wings.
The desert has been flat, brown or grey, and ugly for the past two days. Occasionally, we saw mining and mineral-processing operations, some of them marked by a huge plume of whitish dust drifting downwind.
The only other thing of note along the way was a huge tandem truck/semitrailer crumpled upside-down into the ditch, with police and wreckers swarming around it. No idea what happened.
The wind was very strong today, but fortunately, it was a tail wind for us. Our fuel mileage for the day should be very good. The park assistant manager said that three Chevy pickups towing trailers west into the wind were towed into Pecos this week, all with defunct automatic transmissions. The fairly large trailer next to us was being towed by a 1/2 ton Chevy pickup, with no auxiliary transmission cooler, and the transmission is now toast. The young couple is stuck here while the local dealer obtains a replacement transmission.
2/5 An interesting day of "red roads" – 233 miles of traveling generally southeast on US-285 from Pecos down to the border, then US-90 along the border to the Amistad National Recreation Area near Del Rio. The country started out as flat, desolate desert, supporting only a sparse scattering of creosote bushes. Later, it became hilly, cut by occasional shallow canyons, and the foliage became more diverse and interesting. We saw occasional cattle – it's a wonder that they can find anything edible out there. Other than Ft. Stockton, where we crossed I-10, there are no significant towns in the entire distance. Sanderson was the biggest place we went through – it is about six blocks long, no traffic lights, no stop signs, and is the county seat of Terrell County. One of the very few business here is a propane dealer, and we stopped to fill an empty tank. Cost was $1.00/gallon – the cheapest we've seen since we started traveling.
Amistad is a large reservoir (around 30 miles long) on the Rio Grande River, built jointly by the U.S. and Mexico. The American shoreline is managed as a Recreation Area by the National Park Service. Now that we have our Golden Age National Parks pass, we're setting new lows for camping fees - $2.00/night at this place (for a paved pull-through site with a covered patio and picnic table, and a nice view out across the lake. This is one of three campgrounds in the Recreation Area. We're near the highway, but the other two are much more remote, and might be nicer for a longer stay. For some reason, neither the Recreation Area nor its campgrounds are mentioned in the major campground directories – we just saw the attractive campsites from the highway and pulled in to investigate.
2/6 The Gulf of Mexico is reaching out to us. Yesterday, while we were driving, the temperature got up to 78 degrees. The low, last night, was about 63. Sometime during the night, it clouded over and began raining lightly. This morning we still have a heavy overcast and high humidity. A few days ago, a net friend currently in the Brownsville area, complained of the heat – getting up to 83 – and said they might move a bit further north to get back to nice weather.
2/9 We moved on down to Laredo, TX. This was close to our 200-mile preferred maximum day's drive. Coincidentally, RV-Talk friends Sally and Dave Davis had mentioned that they were moving from the Brownsville area north to Laredo in preparation for going to Mexico. The only camping shown in Map'n'Go for the Laredo Area was at Casa Grande State Park, and we indeed found Sally and Dave there and camped nearby. We had no trouble identifying Dave and Sally's triple-slide King of the Road fifth wheel and huge Freightliner truck. I had previously sent Sally several Email notes letting her know that we expected to meet them here. I headed across toward their trailer, just as another camper told Sally someone was looking for her. When we met halfway across the parking lot, I greeted her without identifying myself, assuming I was expected. Sally gave me a big hug, and then stepped back and said "who are you?" (She hadn't yet received our Email.)
The campground area of the park is under construction, so camping is allowed anywhere in the parking lots of the day-use areas which are scattered along one shore of a reservoir.
It turned out that this is the gathering place for the members of Escapees Chapter 8 "The Mexican Connection", in preparation for this year's group trip into Mexico. The trip leaders were already camped here, and in keeping with an old Escapees tradition, before we had even finished setting up the trailer, we found ourselves and three other couples gathered with cold drink in hand for a 4 p.m. "happy hour". They all began brainwashing us about how great the Mexican trip was going to be.
So we stayed over for an extra day, to get acquainted with Sally and Dave in person, and also with the new Escapee friends. And after that, we stayed another day, and by then, we could no longer resist the brainwashing. So we'll stay here until Feb. 13, and then head for Mexico with the group. We've started scrambling to get prepared – Mexican insurance (no U.S. auto insurance is valid in Mexico), finding a place to store a shotgun (possession of a gun, or even a bullet, will get you locked up for years – and you really don't want to know what the inside of a Mexican prison is like), buying staples that are difficult or expensive to obtain in Mexico, preparing for serious boondocking (we won't have any hookups for the entire period), getting prepared to deal with questionable Mexican water for several weeks, etc.
The plan to drive to Florida, visit the relatives, and canoe the Everglades has been aborted, and perhaps won't happen until next year.
Laredo has turned out to be an unfortunate place to hang out for a week. The park had planned to have 70 brand new full hookup campsites by September. The contractor did something wrong, the state refused to pay until the problem was corrected, and the entire campground has remained closed for months. They have opened the entire day-use area for camping – in the parking lots, with no hookups.
This would have been bearable except that we're parked on an acre of hot black asphalt and yesterday, Laredo was the hottest place in the country by a considerable margin, at 92 degrees and 90% humidity (in early February!!!) Several of the rigs around us are running large generators almost continuously, so that they can run their air conditioning. Having chosen quiet solar panels instead of a generator, we have the worst of both worlds. We don't have enough energy available to run the air conditioner, but we have generator noise anyway, from many of our neighbors. One trailer about 50 feet from us has one of those big clunky contractor's generators welded onto a platform on his rear bumper, with no sound deadening at all. It can be heard for miles!
2/13 We're on our way this morning. With a little luck, we have all the items we need. We've gone into Mexico twice to do paperwork. The first time, with another couple who had done it before, we discovered we had left our passports in the trailer. The second time, a few days later and by ourselves, went very smoothly. Having previously driven to the two locations and walked through the several steps in the process, it seemed fairly straightforward when we did it for real. We were fortunate to get customs officials who spoke fairly good English, which helped a lot (some of them have essentially no English). We still have to go back to one of these stops this morning, when we are towing the trailer, to get the endorsements and permits for the trailer, since they have to physically inspect it.
Our apologies for the lateness of this mailing. There was no opportunity to finish editing it and get it sent out before entering Mexico, and we've not even tried to master the intricacies of sending Email from Mexico. In our group, a couple of people with Hotmail accounts successfully checked their mail in a cybercafe in Zacatecas. One person with an AT&T OneRate cellphone successfully (and very expensively) connected to his U.S. ISP. Two other people with the same AT&T service but a different brand of cellphone were unsuccessful. It seemed best to just wait until we returned.