Update on the Benson House

Today is Friday, March 5th. We forewent (is that a word?) the drive on the Apache Trail with the Cuatros folks to come into Apache Junction and take care of business. We have been proceeding on the Benson house. Sydney, our agent, emailed us copies of all the legal documents, disclosure forms, well and road maintenance agreements, etc., and it all looks good. We are trying to get ahold of her to set up an on-site meeting with the builder so we can get more info about how all the solar stuff works, warranties, and so forth. We've contacted a lender, and, while we haven't formally applied for the loan, it looks like we won't have any trouble qualifying. Our plan, if it works out, is to drive back to Benson and meet with the builder on site Monday, and, if things still look good, make an offer soon after that.

Sadly, Chris and Sharon had made other plans for this weekend and won't be able to join us for a reprise of the Boulder Canyon hike. However, we offered to lead any interested Cuatros Estados folks who want to come, and it looks like we may have a few takers. That will be tomorrow, as Sunday we hope to be leaving for Benson.

Hiking in Boulder Canyon

Today is Thursday, March 4th. I got up this morning and met Edith for our birding walk around the campground loops. We saw quite a few birds, including some Lesser Goldfinches, lots of cactus wrens perched atop saguaros, a couple of cardinals, a White-Crowned Sparrow, a beautiful hummingbird with an irridescent red throat, a Gila Woodpecker, and tons of grackles. We watched one of the cactus wrens fly into his (or her?) nest in a cholla, and, with the binoculars, could see his tail sticking out and his head peeking out to look at us. Very cute! I will try to get back and take a picture with the sort-of-telephoto and see if I can get a decent one.I also learned to identify the chattering call of the cactus wren.

Afterwards, Steve and loaded the dogs into the Samurai and set off to find a trailhead. I remembered seeing by Canyon Lake as we drove in yesterday. It was about 2 miles back up the highway, right across the road from the marina. We parked the car and set out. What a beautiful hike! Good trail, varied terrain, and gorgeous views in every direction. At one point, a huge saguaro cactus had fallen over and was blocking the trail. Luckily, it had fallen a LONG time ago and has lost all its spikes--climbing over it wasn't as crazy as it looks! We talked to some people we met along the way who have hiked it before. They said it goes on for miles and miles into the Superstition Mountains. We hiked for two miles, to a little spring and pool, before turning around. With all the rain the area has had lately, the desert is really green, and there were lots of little wildflowers everywhere. Too early for cactus blossoms, though.

Back at camp now and heading out of the canyon back to Apache Junction to check on phone messages and post this. I’m going to call Chris and see if he and Sharon are interested in driving up on Saturday or Sunday and doing the Boulder Canyon hike with us.

Tortilla

Today is Wednesday, March 3rd.We left Chris’s this morning and drove to Tortilla Campground in the Tonto National Forest, on the edge of the Superstition Mountains, home of the famous Lost Dutchman Mine. The campsites are huge, with nice views of the canyon and the rocky cliffs. There’s sewer and water at each of the 70 or so campsites, but no electricity. The campground is tiered in three levels, so if feels much smaller and more intimate than it really is. The price is right--$3 a night.

We’re here for a rally with Cuatros Estados, one of the FMCA Rving groups we joined. This is our first outing with them. We got here around noon, and welcome festivities and potluck happy hour didn’t begin until four, so we quickly set up camp and, with directions from John and Mary, the campground hosts, set off for a little hike. We waded across the creek at the edge of the campground and found the trail that eventually led to the tip top of “The Boot”--a big rock formation that towers over the camp. The views from up there were stupendous in every direction. The lake is called Canyon Lake, and it’s about two miles from the campground. Can you pick out the Royal Palms in the campground? We’re in the center tier of campsites, about in the middle.

There are 12 rigs here for the rally. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Most of the people are long-term members and know each other pretty well, but there are two other new couples besides us. There are different activities and sightseeing in the area planned most days, but tomorrow is a free day until happy hour and fajita dinner. I’m meeting one of the other women, Edith, at 8:30 a.m. for a birding walk around the campground. She doesn’t claim to be an expert, but others say she is very knowledgeable, and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot. There are lots of birds here; I’ve already spotted several cardinals, which we don’t have in Utah. After that, Steve and I are planning to take another hike, probably from a trailhead we saw as we drove by Canyon Lake this morning.

Florence Junction to Tempe

After leaving our campsite in the desert gardens south of Florence, we proceeded another 40 or so miles northward to a BLM area near Florence Junction. It was listed in our Don Wright Free Camping Guide, but the directions were so vague that I was sure we wouldn’t be able to find it. “From the junction of Highway 60 and Highway 89, head past the rest area on the north, past a tree on the south, cross the railroad tracks, go south through a gate about a mile.” The highway was 79, not 89, and we saw a rest area but no tree. Just past the railroad tracks was an unmarked dirt road with a cattle guard and gate. Miracle of miracles! About a mile back were lots of nice campsites. We chose one by some big trees next to a dry wash. It had a campfire ring and a fair amount of trash; I cleaned up the trash and Steve scouted for firewood, and we had a nice spot with a campfire. There was less cactus for the dogs to pick up, but there were cows. Ellie’s herding or guarding instinct kicked in, and she patrolled our perimeter, carefully herding the cows away anytime they got too close to camp. Tex found the cows, or rather cowpies, irresistible. He would go out on patrol and come home brown and smelly from rubbing himself. We had to bathe him not once but twice. He hates baths, and felt very sorry for himself.

From that campsite, it was only about an hour and half to our son, Chris’s, in Tempe. We arrived Saturday morning, and he and Steve spent the next several days tearing apart and then rebuilding his patio roof. I played clean up crew one day, then spent another checking out the yarn shops and quilt shops in the area. On our last evening there, we went to a really fun restaurant called Oregano’s, near ASU. The food was delicious and the portions gargantuan. Possibly the best part was the dessert--a huge half-baked peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, baked in its own little iron skillet and brought to the table piping hot with a huge scoop of ice cream on top. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Even Steve and Chris, who are not normally big on sweets, ate their fair share. I should have had the camera, but, as usual, it didn’t even occur to me to bring it along.

Home Sweet Home?

Benson has been touted as a great place to retire. At about 3500 feet, it's considered high desert rather than low desert, and, while not too cold in winter, it doesn't get the summer heat the way the Phoenix area does. One of Steve's goals was to check out this area as a retirement place for us. He has developed an extreme aversion to cold and snow, and really wants to move to a warmer climate. For me, it's going to take some convincing, at least to do it as soon as he'd like. I love my life in Salt Lake, and would have a hard time leaving. My grandson, Jack, is at my favorite age, and his little brother isn't far behind. I don't want to miss that. My friends, my job at the quilt shop--these are important to me. I'm not ready to give them up and start all over somewhere else.

Nevertheless, as we often do when we travel, we looked at houses for sale, a little more seriously this time. Steve had seen one on the internet that he really liked, and, when we got to Benson, he contacted the agent and arranged for us to go see it. It didn't quite come up to his expectations, but Sydney, our agent, took us by a couple of others, and gave us a list of still others for sale. We drove around, nothing really catching our eye, until we found this one. It was one that Sydney had almost dismissed as being too small, but we were intrigued because it is a total solar home. We drove by, peeked in the windows, liked what we saw, and arranged to see the inside the next day. Both of us got pretty excited.

The house sits on four acres with gorgeous views of mountains all around. It's 1300 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and two baths, and nicely laid out. The little courtyard in front is off the master bedroom. Radiant hot water heat in the floor, heat and AC all solar-powered. Downside: no garage or storage for all our stuff. The price is rockbottom, though. they started out at $219,00, and it has dropped a couple of times, now at $179,000. It's never been occupied, and the builder apparently has several others he hasn't sold and is eager to sell before it goes into foreclosure.

It's a longshot. Steve is working the numbers now. But IF we can get the price down still lower, and IF his inheritance is enough to pay off some of our debt, we MAY be able to swing it. It would be a second home for now, that we could use a base for winter traveling while we build a garage, workshop, and storage area, and wait for the grandkids to grow up a little so I could bear leaving them. Stay tuned.

Camping in the Boondocks

We’ve been slowly making our way from Holtville up towards Tempe and our son, Chris, where we’ll end up tomorrow. First came Benson, which is worth a blog entry of its own (see “Home Sweet Home?”). Then we headed to the town of Bowie and Fort Bowie, which was a favorite place of ours several years ago when we did our first “Tour de Arizona” to celebrate our retirement. Fort Bowie, in case you don’t remember, is a National Historic Site that can only be reached by a 1.5 mile hike each way. It was built and occupied in the 1860’s to protect mail routes and emigrants from Cochise and his Apaches. The hike itself follows the path that the soldiers took to the fort, and includes an old cemetery, ruins of a stagecoach stop, and the site of a battle between the army and the Apaches for control of a spring in the area. Once you get to the fort, there are foundations and partial walls of buildings as well as many photographs and artifacts from when it was operational. We found a great campsite at Indian Breadrocks National Recreation Area , about halfway between the trailhead to the fort and the town of Bowie. I have no idea why it is called “breadrocks,” but the rock formations there are truly unique and beautiful.

Our next stop was Florence. There were no boondocking sites listed in our trusty free camping guide, so I dug out our Arizona atlas. The area map showed some state trust and BLM lands off highway 79, about 20 miles south of Florence, so we set out to find them. We turned up Freeman Rd., a very good dirt roads, and soon found smaller dirt roads branching off it. We chose one at random, and struck gold! Although I had never thought of using the word “lush” to describe a desert, that’s exactly what this place is. I’ve never seen so many cactus and desert plants in one place--all huge and healthy. We were there two nights. The only downside was that the dogs attracted cactus like red flowers attract hummingbirds; they’d pick it up on their legs, feet, and pads, and then get it stuck on their noses, chins, and in their mouths when they’d try to pull it out. Naturally, neither of them liked us “helping” get the spines out. Ellie bore it with a fair amount of patience, but Tex, as soon as he saw us coming at him with the hemostats, took off in the opposite direction.

Today we drove north from Florence to Florence Junction and found another good boondocking site. We’re camped by a wash, under some trees. The desert is still nice and green here, but there seems to be less of the “jumping cholla’ that plagued the dogs at our last camp. Or else they’ve finally gotten smarter about where to step.

Adios, Mexico

Thursday was our final day in San Felippe. I had a mocha fria and homemade cinnamon roll at Baja Java and tried to post the blog entries I’d written, but the internet was very slow today, and just didn’t seem to want to upload my photos.I saved them to post when we’re back in the states with better service. Jim and Janice took their Hobie kayak out on the sea when the tide came in, and then I took a turn with Jim as well, Steve being in the middle of “Master and Commander” and content to sit on the beach and read. We paddled out quite a ways, and saw a couple of jellyfish pulsing along. In the evening, we drove into town for dinner at a restaurant on the malecon. Everyone but me has tired of seafood at this point--they all had various Mexican dishes; I had “Governor Tacos”--chunks of shrimp with grilled onion and melted cheese folded into corn tortillas and topped with the chef’s special sauce. Oh, and a couple of pina coladas to wash the down.

Yesterday, we crossed back into the U.S. at Mexicali. Border crossings have always been pretty much ho-hum for us, but not this one. After questioning us as to where we’d been, how long we’d been there, and what we were bringing back (all very politely), we were told to move our RV to the side and wait. After about 15 minutes, they brought out the canine squad. The handler and the dog checked everything inside and out of both our vehicles pretty thoroughly, and left. We thought that was that, but no. Two more border guards came over and spent another 10 minutes re-inspecting our Samurai, again, inside and out. They felt around all the padding in the doors, upholstery, and window visors. They peered down the door frames with flashlights and poked and prodded up under the chassis, the wheel wells, and any other crack or hole they could find. Eventually, they appeared satisfied that we were not smuggling in guns, drugs, or undocumented Mexican nationals; they handed us back our passports and said we could be on our way. Jim and Janice got the same treatment, although perhaps not quite so thorough. Once back in the states, we speculated on why. Do they do this to all RVs? Why here and not when we came through Nogales a few months ago? Did we fit some kind of profile? Maybe retirees are smuggling drugs across the border to make up for lost pensions in this economy? Enquiring minds want to know.

We spent last night at the short-term BLM area near Holtville, and introduced Jim and Janice to the joys of a long soak in the hot springs. This morning, we went our separate ways. Jim and Janice were heading to Quartszite and then home to Salt Lake. We really enjoyed traveling with them again--it’s been many years since we’ve done that--and hope to plan another trip with them this summer. Steve and I are headed to Benson, which is east of Tucson. Steve has heard that it’s a popular place to retire, and wants to check it out. We are currently camped out in the desert at a county park about 20 miles west of Casa Grande. I found it in my Don Wright Free Campground book, and yes, this one is actually free.