Tag Archives: camping

Picking Up My New Old Trailer

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I take delivery of a new used cargo trailer for my mobile jewelry shop.

My October trip to Tacoma, which I cover in another blog post, was the first half of a two-part trip. The second half was a stop in Yakima to pick up a trailer I’d seen there back in September. I’d told the owner, a guy named Mike who owned the local Lance dealership, that I’d be there around 11 AM on Monday. It was Sunday afternoon when I finished my business in Tacoma.

Researching the Trip

I’d originally planned to spend another night behind TMAC, but since there was nothing really appealing about the place as a campsite, I figured I get started on my way to Yakima that afternoon and camp along the way.

I did some homework. First, I checked out the most direct route which, I as expected, had me going through Chinook Pass near Mt. Rainier. Chinook is usually the first pass to close every winter. WADOT reported that it was still open with no restrictions. There was a slight chance of snow that day, so I knew I’d have to check again later.

Then I looked for a campsite. I have an app (Ultimate CG) that lists all public land camping areas. I didn’t want to be too close to the pass because I didn’t want to have to run the heater all night with the cooler temperatures at altitude. It took time — a surprising number of campgrounds were already closed for the season. I found a campground near Naches called Cottonwood that was open year-round and picked that as a destination.

After class, I walked Penny, secured loose items in the camper, and climbed into the truck. I checked Chinook Pass again; it was still clear with no restrictions. It was nearly 5 PM when I rolled out of the parking area and started on my trip to a destination 73 miles away.

The Trip to Yakima

It was freeway driving until I got off of Route 18 and headed toward Mt. Rainier. Eventually, I passed through the last town and started climbing on a two-lane road that wound through the forest. Although the weather was overcast and the light was disappointing, I enjoyed views of autumn colors all around me, especially the bright yellow larches. Unfortunately, the road was full of frost heave bumps that forced me to drive 5 to 10 miles below the speed limit. Google Maps kept adjusting my arrival time. When I still had cell service, I asked Siri what time sunset was at Yakima. 6:15, she reported. Google told me that I would not arrive until 6:45 PM.

I passed a few spots where I knew I could find a campsite in the National Forest. I was eager to get over the pass that day in case it snowed overnight. I didn’t want to have to start the next morning by backtracking to a different pass. So I kept going.

Clouds hid Mt. Rainier at a view point I passed. Soon I was climbing up into those clouds. The fog got thick on the narrow road. The pavement was wet. The outside temperature was only 39° then 37°. I slowed down even more. The guy in front of me speeded away and the guy behind me got closer, but there was nowhere to pull over to let him pass.

I didn’t realize I was near the pass until I saw the sign for the parking area for the little lake up there. I couldn’t see the lake or the mountain peaks I knew were beyond it. I couldn’t even see the parking area. Then I drove under the underpass right at the top of the pass. I knew there was a parking area to my right and I pulled into it so the guy behind me could pass. The air was already clearing; the clouds were mostly caught up on the west side of the mountains. The guy passed and I got back on the road, now able to see quite well.

But it was getting late; sunset was only minutes away. I still had 30 miles to go. As I came down the east side of the mountains, I began looking for an alternative place to spend the night. I passed a few closed campgrounds and then came upon an area where gravel roads led off to the left or right. There was a bridge over a creek and a road just before it. I slowed down but was going too fast to stop. It didn’t matter; there were people camping in there anyway. But on the other side of the creek was another turn. I stopped just past it, backed up a little, and drove in.

The Perfect Campsite

There was a flat area just off the road that would have been okay to camp in — if I didn’t mind being right next to the road. But beyond that was a short steep hill with an empty campsite beyond it. I got out to take a look. If I could get the truck up the hill, there was plenty of level space for me. I got back in and drove up the incline. It was no problem for my big 4WD truck. I spotted a perfectly flat area cleared of all forest debris that looked as if it had been occupied by a very large tent. I turned the truck around in the relatively tight space and backed in.

Perfect Campsite
This was, by far, one of the nicest just-off-the-road campsites I’d ever had the pleasure to spend the night in. Level, quiet, private.

With nothing but forest out my back door and a rushing creek off to one side, I had found the perfect campsite. I shut down the truck and got out with Penny. I took a picture of my truck parked against the woods. It reminded me of why I’d bought a truck camper instead of a pull trailer and how glad I was that I did.

It was already getting dark, so we didn’t spend much time exploring. I was hungry and it was getting chilly. We went inside. I turned on the heat, gave Penny some more food, and made myself dinner. With absolutely no cell signal to distract me with web surfing, I spent most of the evening writing this blog post. Then I climbed into bed and read for a while on my iPad. I saw the moon rising through the trees through the window by my head. It was dead quiet.

Later that night, I woke up and spent some time listening to the sound of the rushing creek and watching, through my big plexiglas skylight, the full moon peeking down at me through the trees and clouds. It really was the perfect campsite.

Moonlight thru the Trees
I know it isn’t a great photo, but it was a great moment. The full moon as seen through my camper’s sunroof, poking through scattered clouds and evergreen trees.

Picking Up the Trailer

American River
The American River separated my campsite from the one I’d seen the night before.

The next morning, I made coffee and spent some time at my table writing the first part of this blog post. It didn’t get light until around 7 AM. That’s when I let Penny out and made some breakfast. I took a photo of the creek next to my campsite — actually, the American River — before going back in to do the dishes, strip the bed, and secure loose items for the last day of my trip.

I had a minor “black ice” experience not long after getting on the road. It was about 31°F outside and the road was just wet enough to have a thin layer of ice on it. I was driving along at about the speed limit when I realized that I was sliding ever so slightly. I took my foot off the gas and complete control came back quickly. I drove slower until the temperature topped 35°F.

I had no internet connection so I couldn’t use Google to navigate. It wasn’t a big deal; I figured I could find Yakima easily enough. But I also wanted to check out Cottonwood Campground for future reference. I found it about 20 minutes after leaving the campsite. It was a nice little campground with a few campers in it. I stopped to dump my garbage. If they had a dumping station, I probably would have used that, too.

Internet came back with a flurry of text messages and notifications. I pulled over for a moment to see if I’d missed anything important. Mike had texted me to see if I was still coming that morning. I checked the time and realized I was right on schedule to arrive at 11 AM and texted him to let him know.

Eventually, I rolled up at the Lance dealership and pulled around in back. Mike greeted me and spent some time showing me the trailer again. The only other time I’d seen it, it had been parked in a fenced in area that made it impossible to get the back ramp down. We got the ramp down all the way. I was pleased to see that the door lock was not only there but it actually worked. So did the lock for the front toolbox. The lights inside even worked. It was spotlessly clean — he’d washed it inside and out. He’d even checked the tire pressures and the torque on the lug nuts.

Resized952019101295165139954891 Trailer Ramp
My new old cargo trailer. It’s a 2013 (I think) and in amazing condition. The names painted with the flowers on the front are the original owner’s dogs’ names. (I can’t make this stuff up.) I know it has only one axle and I know a lot of people think two axles is a lot better. But a one axle trailer is easier to maneuver for parking and that’s what I wanted. I also wanted the interior lights and ceiling vent. The only thing I didn’t want was the ramp door — I wanted barn doors in back — but I know ramps are better for resale. I don’t expect to own this more than a few years.

Mike spent a lot of time looking for a spare tire for it. He thought it had one but his co-owner brother said it didn’t. They’d owned the trailer for a long time; Mike had bought it for personal use and never actually used it. In the end, he didn’t find a spare. I was okay with that; I’d buy one at the local tire shop. I’d gotten a good deal and didn’t mind spending a little more to make it perfect. I knew I’d be spending about $300 to install E-Track in it within the next month or so anyway.

We did the paperwork and I gave him a check. Then he guided me to hook it up behind my truck with the camper on top and the extended tow hitch on back. After we had it all hooked up, he stood back to admire it. I think he was tickled that the color of the trailer kind of matched the color of my truck. “Nice looking setup,” he said.

I thanked him and got on my way.

The Trip Home

The trip home went smoothly. The trailer towed like it was nothing — probably because it was empty. My truck, which had been giving me some engine cooling issues on the way to the Seattle side a few days before, didn’t give me any trouble at all on the way home. Although I was really hungry and wanted badly to stop for lunch, I motored through, stopping in George for fuel.

At home, I played my parking game. I dropped the trailer in my gravel driveway and backed the truck and camper onto the concrete apron. Then I used the front tow hitch on my Jeep to move the trailer into position beside my truck. Eventually, everything went into my cavernous garage. That’s where I’d prep the trailer and camper for my winter trip.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you might recall that I bought a cargo trailer very much like this one in January. It was kind of beat up and I never really liked it for a variety of reasons so I sold it a month or two after getting home. I know I’m going to like this trailer a lot better, mostly because of how clean and new-looking it is. I hate buying old crap; this is not old crap. I’m looking forward to customizing it for my travels.

Snowbirding 2019: At the “Old Fogey Hot Springs”

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I make a short visit to a favorite hot spring and meet up with a friend.

Note: I started this post back in March and just finished it today. My blog has been having permalink issues that made it difficult to keep it up to date. I think the problems are mostly resolved; I hope to catch up a bit and share a bunch of new content.

Posts in this series:
• The Long Drive
• At the Backwaters Campsite
• In Mesa and Gilbert
• A Quick Stop in Wickenburg and Forepaugh
• Off Plomosa Road
• Camping at the Big RV Show
• A Trip to Organ Pipe with the WINs
• The Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows
• Wickenburg Gold Rush Days
• Constellation Park Interlude
• White Tank Mountain Park
• Bumming It in Phoenix and Apache Junction
• A Dose of Civilization
• Return to the Backwaters
•

One of my favorite snowbirding destinations is a hot springs right off I-8 near Holtville, CA. On BLM land and maintained by the government, it’s a pair of concrete tubs beside a palm-lined pond that are all fed from a tapped natural hot spring. Although I’ve always known this place as Holtville Hot Spring, some nasty asshole has apparently renamed it on Google Maps as “Old Fogey Hot Springs,” apparently referencing the fact that most people at the spring are retirees camped out in the long term camping area across the street.

I was supposed to meet my friend Janet, who was showing and selling her artwork at a weekend show in Casa Grande, AZ, on Monday. We’d planned to do some hiking out at Borrego Springs, CA before she attended an art show there. (Sadly, although I applied I didn’t get in; too much jewelry already.) Since Casa Grande is on I-8 and the hot spring is on the way to Borrego Springs, it made sense to meet up there. I figured I’d get there a day early to enjoy the hot spring a few times before Janet arrived.

So that’s where I headed after leaving .

The Drive

I stopped in Blythe (or Blight, as we often call it) for groceries on the way, then let Google Maps guide me along mostly back roads south and west. I drove through mile after mile of farmland before leaving that behind and entering unirrigated desert with sparse vegetation and many hills.

There was little traffic going in my direction on the way — at least for a while. There were many RVs — mostly toy haulers passing me going north. That all changed when I approached Glamis.

is the site of an enormous sand dunes area that stretches northwest to southeast from Tortuga, CA to over the U.S. border with Mexico at Los Algodones. The road I was on, state route 78, cut right across it at Glamis. That’s where all the toy haulers were coming from. Glamis is a playground for dune buggies, sand rails, and other four-wheel-drive vehicles. From that point on, I was driving with departing off-roaders, who were calling it quits early on a Sunday and taking their toys home.

After crossing the dunes, I descended down out of the desert and into the irrigated farmland of the Imperial Valley. Google directed me on a zig-zag path through the farmland to my destination: the Holtville Hot Springs just off of I-8.

“Old Fogey” My Ass

Holtville Hot Springs Map
I’d like to kick the guy who changed the name of the hot springs on Google Maps. I’ve been trying to change it back ever since.

The Holtville Hot Spring is adjacent to the (LTRA). This is a kind of special BLM camping area where you’re allowed to stay more than the usual 14 days — if you pay a fee. The previous year, I’d paid the fee with the idea of staying there for a while and then moving over to another LTRA near a lake in Arizona. But worries about electrical issues (which turned out to be non-issues) on my camper sent me to Quartzsite in search of repairs instead. So I’d only spent a few days there.

This was actually my third visit to the hot spring, which I’d learned about from another seasonal camper somewhere back in the winter of 2016/17.

The spring has two tubs — one large and deep and the other small and shallow — a weird shower head to rinse off before getting in, and a hose you can use to fill jugs with “clean” spring water. It’s cleaned once a week by the BLM (I believe) who drain the tubs, power wash them, add bromine (a spa chemical), and allow them to refill from the source. Access is free, dogs and glass containers are not allowed, and I think it closes at night but reopens very early. I’ve never seen it closed. It’s adjacent to a beautiful palm ringed pond where water birds can be seen swimming. I shared a photo of that back in 2017 in a postcards post.

The jerk who added the springs to Google Maps with the name “Old Fogey Hot Springs” was likely motivated by the simple fact that the vast majority of hot springs users are retirees who are living seasonally at the LTVA across the road. So yes, there are a lot of older folk in the tubs. But I’ve seen people of all ages there, including kids.

A Couple of Soaks

I parked alongside the road near the hots springs parking lot. It was midday and the outside temperature was in the low 60s. I put Penny on her leash and walked her down to the area to take a look. There were about a dozen people in and around the tubs — about my limit for a crowd. I went back to the camper, put on my bathing suit, grabbed my towel and went back. A while later, with Penny tied up at the other side of the fence, I was soaking in the big tub, standing with water right up to my chin.

The temperature of the water in the big tub can be pretty hot. I’m guessing at least 105°F. It’s common for people to soak for a while, then get out and sit at the edge of the tub or on one of the block stools nearby. That’s what I did. Then another hot soak. Then I decided to give the smaller tub, which is fed from the large one and is usually much cooler, a try. In that one, I sat on the bottom to get the water halfway up my chest. It’s a lot shallower.

While I was there, I chatted with the folks around me. I’ve come to realize that the best way to learn about new destinations is to talk to other travelers. While I was in the small tub, I chatted with a woman who was staying in the LTVA area with her husband in a small motorhome. They were full-timers — people who don’t have a regular home and travel all the time. They spend half the year on the road in the motorhome and half the year on their 47-foot sailboat, which is moored at San Diego. We got to talking about my upcoming cruise up the inside passage from Bellingham, WA to Ketchikan, AK and the boat I’m thinking of buying when I sell my helicopter.

Eventually, she asked what I considered an odd question: “Is your husband as adventurous as you are?” It never ceases to amaze me that people assume I’m traveling with a spouse even though I don’t wear a wedding ring. “No,” I told her. “One of the reasons my husband is my ex-husband is because he isn’t adventurous at all. In fact, I’ll bet that at this very moment he’s sitting on a sofa somewhere watching television.” We both had a good laugh about that and then she started telling me about how great cruising the inside passage in a small boat is.

After a while, I’d had enough soaking. I rinsed off at the funky shower, wrapped my towel around me, and headed back to my camper with Penny. I dried off, had some lunch, and spent some time catching up on email and other tablet things. Then I took a short nap.

At about 4:30 PM, the parking lot looked pretty empty. I figured I’d go for another soak. I wrapped my damp towel around my bathing suited body and walked down with Penny, parking her outside the fence on her leash again. I’d obviously underestimated the crowd, most of whom probably walked over from the LTVA. Although there weren’t many people, a lot of those people were kids.

I soaked in the big tub. I got into a conversation with the man who was there with his wife and three kids. They were full-timers — they lived on the road in a bumper-pull trailer and home schooled their kids. Then I got into a conversation with a man who happened to be a pilot. He turned out to be the husband of the woman I’d chatted with earlier in the day. We talked about flying and why he stopped: his twin engine plane burned 25 gallons per hour of fuel. Ouch.

After about an hour, I’d had enough soaking. I showered off again, wrapped the towel around me, and headed back to the camper with Penny.

First Night Campsite

I knew the area pretty well. I knew that if I camped north of the road, I’d have to pay for a long term spot, even if I just stayed a day or two. If I camped south of the road within about a half mile of the hot spring, the story was the same. But if I went beyond that half mile, I’d be out of the LTVA and I could camp for free for up to 14 days.

I had already scouted out the area on Google Maps satellite view. I realized that if I followed a canal road south and turned at a certain place, I would probably find a decent site for the night. I wasn’t picky. All I wanted was a place to park that was easy to get in and out of and wasn’t close to anyone likely to run a generator.

Google Maps got me there. I made the turn and found the spot I’d seen in satellite view empty. It was good enough for me, despite the fact that there was a motorhome parked a few hundred yards away. I pulled in and killed the engine, then climbed back into the camper to put on some dry clothes and start thinking about dinner.

The spot turned out to be so quiet that all I could hear was the occasional bee flying by and my tinnitus.

I enjoyed a great Internet connection that evening for the first time in a while. I also slept great. I think the hot springs really sucks a lot of energy out of me.

In the morning, after breakfast, Penny and I went for a walk. That’s when I found a better campsite about a half mile farther down the road. I thought it would make a good site for that night when my friend Janet would be joining us in her camper.

Movie Matinee

After the walk, we left the camping area and headed west on I-8. My destination was a movie theater in a mall in El Centro where I planned to see Captain Marvel. Oddly, I’d been to that theater the previous year, although I can’t remember what I saw.

I left Penny locked up in the camper where she had food, water, and her bed.

The 9:40 AM matinee cost just $5 and there were only eight of us in the theater — just three days after this record-breaking movie was released. My popcorn cost more than the movie ticket.

And it was a good movie, although I can’t understand how a superhero can be that powerful.

I made a few other stops in the area: Michael’s, a craft supply store, where I picked up a texture plate for the precious metal clay work I plan to do when I get home, and Best Buy, where I picked up a 4-port 12 volt USB recharger for my truck or camper. I was tired of dealing with 1 amp rechargers; this one had four 2 amp rechargers so I could charge four devices at once.

Trailer Trouble

Getting Penny out of the trailer, I accidentally knocked the crank handle on my trailer jack. Just my luck: the handle fell off.

I picked up the handle and the screw that secured it. The nut was nowhere in sight. I couldn’t see how to fix it then and there so I just stowed it in the truck. I’d deal with it later in the day.

The trailer had other ideas. I was about 200 feet short of my parking spot back in front of the hot spring when I went over a bump and the hitch jack leg dropped and started dragging. I stopped in the middle of the road to check it out and realized immediately what was happening. Shit.

I managed to pull the hitch jack leg up enough to continue driving and secured it with a bungee cord. Then I eased into my parking spot.

The jack leg was bent and could no longer be cranked back into its sleeve, even if I was able to secure the handle. This meant two things: (1) I’d have to remove the jack since I couldn’t drive on the highway with the leg only inches from the ground and (2) I would not be able to unhitch the trailer from my truck until the jack was replaced.

Okay.

I put Penny on a leash and let her stretch out in the sun. Then I got out my toolbox. Miraculously, I had all the tools I needed to remove the hitch jack. It took about 45 minutes, mostly because one of the three bolts was tough to get out. I tossed the jack into the back of my truck.

That done, I had lunch.

Another Soak

I changed back into my bathing suit, grabbed a towel, and walked down to the tubs. I tied Penny up to the outside of the fence, as I’d done quite a few times before, and went in. After a shower under that funky shower head, I was back in the hot tub, soaking with a few other people.

More conversation, although at this point I can’t remember what it was about. (I’m finishing this blog post two months after the fact. Oops.) I do recall that the hotter tub was super hot and I’d decided to soak in the smaller tub, which was cooler but not crowded. A while later, Janet walked up in a bathing suit and towel, went through the shower ritual, and joined us in the tubs.

I think we soaked for another 30 minutes or so. By that time, it was late afternoon. Janet had spent the day packing up from her show in Casa Grande and driving in on-again, off-again rain. We were both ready to find a campsite for the night.

Another Night, Another Campsite

Janet followed me back down the canal road to the spot I’d observed that morning on my walk. After some discussion, we decided that I’d back in and she’d nose in. That accomplished, we went about setting up camp and making dinner. She put out her awning, which turned out to be a good thing because it started raining.

We called it a night early; we had a relatively long drive ahead of us the next day and were hoping to get another soak in the tubs before we left the area.

Cleaning Day

We had a nice walk along the canal in the morning. Janet really wanted to cast a line into it — she loves to fish — but she didn’t have a California fishing license.

As I suspected, the soak was not going to happen. Tuesday is cleaning day. Although we arrived back at the tubs after the BLM cleaning guy had done his thing, the big tub was only half filled. There were a few people soaking in it anyway. My first year out there, I’d been one of those people and had walked around with the stench of bromine or chlorine all day. We could smell it in the air. Neither of us were interested in soaking in chemicals.

So we left.

I led the way out of town, following Google’s directions to an RV supply shop in Brawley. I still needed a jack for my trailer. Once I had that on board, Janet took the lead. I’d follow her through empty dessert into the Anzo-Borrego State Park, where a superbloom was in progress.

More on that in another blog post. Maybe.

Snowbirding 2019: Wickenburg Gold Rush Days

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I spend a week in Wickenburg, showing and selling my jewelry at the Gold Rush Days Art Fair.

Posts in this series:
• The Long Drive
• At the Backwaters Campsite
• In Mesa and Gilbert
• A Quick Stop in Wickenburg and Forepaugh
• Off Plomosa Road
• Camping at the Big RV Show
• A Trip to Organ Pipe with the WINs
• The Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows
• Wickenburg Gold Rush Days
• Constellation Park Interlude
• White Tank Mountain Park
• Bumming It in Phoenix and Apache Junction
• A Dose of Civilization
• Return to the Backwaters
•

After Tucson, I headed up to the Phoenix area for lunch with a friend, my annual FAA flight physical, and some shopping. You know: the usual socializing and errands. From there, I headed to Wickenburg.

At Sophie’s Flat

It was Tuesday and I was supposed to meet my friend Janet in Wickenburg on Wednesday morning. It was late afternoon when I got into town, after stopping for a moment to get a pollo asado burrito at Filiberto’s on the outskirts of town. From there, I decided to try the campground at the rodeo grounds (Constellation Park) for a campsite for one night. I didn’t even have to pull in to realize that it was already packed.

Gold Rush Days is Wickenburg’s big annual event and has been for more than 50 years. A completely made up event — it’s not associated with any historic “gold rush” in the town — it’s a big draw, especially since it hosts Senior Pro Rodeo over the weekend. Wickenburg, which had become an old ropers’ town since I moved out in 2013, took its rodeo seriously and the place was overflowing with the horse crowd.

Since the campground there was full, I continued down Constellation Road. I figured I’d pull over on BLM land and just park for the night. Unfortunately, there was no place to pull over. So when the road forked, I took the left fork onto Blue Tank Road and followed that all the way out to Sophie’s Flat, which I knew from my horse owning days. It had been a stop along the Land of the Sun Endurance Ride I volunteered on every year and my friends Janet and Steve had stayed there with their horses one year long enough for a BLM ranger to chase them off.

The site had changed. It looked bigger than I remembered it and it was surrounded by welded pipe fence. There was a pit toilet in a trailhead parking area. There were already about a half dozen RVs parked, including one horse trailer with living quarters that had set up a fence for their two mules.

I found a level area away from anyone else and pulled in for the night. My burrito was cold by the time I ate it, but it wasn’t worth getting out the generator to run the microwave to heat it up and heating it on the stovetop would have taken too long.

Camping in Town

Janet and I were planning to camp with the other show vendors in the downtown park walking distance from the show. The goal was to get their early enough that we could set up next to each other.

Of course, I’m an early riser so I was heading back into town by 8 AM. I stopped at a gas station in town where I could dump my tanks, top off my fresh water supply, and refill my propane tanks. I was early enough that there was no line — there would be a week later — and got everything done by a little after 9 AM. So I went over to where I was supposed to meet Janet and waited.

When Janet came, we shuffled around our campers so she was at the end and I was in front of her facing the opposite way. The idea was to have enough room between us for her to park her truck and enough room behind my trailer to park my truck. That worked, at least that first day. Unfortunately, someone took up half my truck spot the following morning when I went to set up my booth and didn’t move until Sunday evening. I got creative with my parking and, fortunately, no one seemed to mind.

I had more socialization to attend to later that day: lattes at the airport with airport friends and dinner (which a shower first!) with my friends Jim and Cyndi and some of their friends. I also managed to get some grocery shopping in; my cupboards were bare and my refrigerator was empty.

Setting Up for the Big Show

The Wickenburg Art Fair was the first outdoor event I attended where it really mattered what my booth looked like. I’d been at a county fair the previous summer (which I didn’t even really count as an event because it was so dismal) and had been at a rock show in Mesa in early January. Neither of those had any rules about booth appearance. But this show was different. It was juried and had serious artists. My booth had to look good if I expected to ever come back.

Setup day was Thursday. I offloaded my tent and tables and a lot of my display material from the trailer into the back of the truck and drove it over. I backed into a spot near where my booth would be and got to work setting everything up. I did it by myself, despite the fact that there were other people around to help me. The way I saw it, I had to know I could do it myself and the only way I’d know that is if I actually did it.

I was baffled about how to set up my tables inside the booth and asked Janet and Steve, who were setting up their double-sized booth nearby, for advice. Since my booth was on the end, I could be open on two sides so she recommended that I put my three tables around the outside of the booth so people didn’t have to worry about walking in. So after a few trials and errors, I figured it out and set everything up except the merchandise. I’d do that in the morning, before the show opened.

I buttoned up my booth by dropping the sides and fastening them down for the night.

In the morning, I ran another load over to the show: my merchandise. It was early when I arrived and I got a parking spot. I offloaded everything, tucked it into my booth, and then ran the truck back to the camping area. I took my electric assist bicycle back to the show after securing Penny in the camper with food and water. Unfortunately, artists were not allowed to have pets in their booths.

New Pendants
Four of the pendants I’d made just for this show. Clockwise from top left: Sonoran Sunset, Evans Mine Turquoise, Chinese Turquoise, and Campitos Turquoise. Since taking this photo, three of the four pendants have sold.

The vendors who hadn’t set up the day before showed up and worked quickly to get everything set up by opening time at 10 AM. I worked mostly inside my booth, utilizing a few of the new displays I’d made. I’d also made some new turquoise, chrysocolla, and azurite pendants, which I put on display on the seven-piece “neck.” I set three trays of cabochons for custom piece orders out on the side table which was less likely to be seen. When I was finished, my booth looked respectable, if not downright professional.

Wickenburg Booth
My booth in the morning sun on Friday. You can see my bike parked in the little alley to the left. The building behind my booth is the library.

First Place
I’d like to think the prize wasn’t really for my natural wood display, which Janet had given me.

I took a moment to enter my Heirloom Rosary in the Art Show Contest inside the library. It wound up winning First Place in the jewelry category. To be honest, however, I’m not sure how much competition I had. But you can be that I’ll show the ribbon with the rosary at future events.

My booth was cold, although it did warm up a bit when the sun finally hit me. Arizona was having a cold spell that would stick around for a few weeks. My booth was wonderfully warm for the two hours when the sun hit it and much cooler for the rest of the day.

The Art Fair

Shoppers began arriving even before setup was complete. It wasn’t long before I was making sales. That day — Friday — was the best of the three days. I sold a lot of earrings and a handful of bracelets and rings. I also sold a few pendants.

Janet had a great first day: she sold a very large painting to a repeat customer.

Saturday was supposed to be the big day of the show, although no one expected things to get busy until after the parade. Unfortunately, Saturday was also overcast and cold so the crowd we were all expecting never materialized. Still, I did reasonably well, fueled, in part, by a woman who bought 12 cabochons for her daughter, who is just getting started with wire wrapping.

For my own comfort, I’d planned ahead and brought my little electric heater into the booth, along with an extension cord. I’d spotted an outlet on the side of the library building and I plugged in. With the heater under the table pointed right at my legs, my bottom half kept warm all day.

It was lucky for me that Janet had Steve with her. In the middle of the day, he’d go back to the campers to let out his dogs and would also let out Penny. I really hated cooping her up for three days in a row like that, but although I do have paperwork showing that she’s an emotional support animal, I hate to play that card. So she stayed in the camper, warm and cozy, while huddled in my tent in front of a heater.

The weather improved on Sunday, but it was still chilly. I think I did a little better than I had on Saturday. The woman who’d bought the stones came back to buy more. I sold a few pendants and more earrings.

I also had some visitors: my neighbors from home who were staying in Scottsdale for a few weeks. They stopped by to check out my booth and take in the show but decided to skip the rodeo.

For me, the show was all good. I’d covered my booth fee on the first day so there was no stress. I was very pleased with the show and decided to do it again the following year.

Shutting Down

The show ended at 5 PM with a mad rush by the vendors to pack up their booths. Rather than get my truck and fight them for a parking spot, I packed everything up, took down the tent, and got everything ready to move. Then I took the bike back to my campsite, locked it up, put Penny in the truck, and brought the truck back to the show grounds. I got a relatively close parking spot and made about 10 trips to load the truck back up.

Meanwhile, Janet and Steve were working hard to get their big booth with its wall panels taken apart. They didn’t need any help, despite the fact that it was getting dark. In fact, Janet returned to camp before Steve, telling me that he’d sent her away so he could finish alone.

Before it got fully dark, I needed to offload the truck and store everything neatly inside my trailer. It had gotten to the point where everything fit inside like pieces of a puzzle. I finished up in the dark, with a lantern stuck to the ceiling of the trailer.

Then I pulled out the bottle of champagne I’d been saving for the end of the show out of my fridge and brought it over to Janet’s camper. Steve made it back in time to join us for the last round.

Breaking Camp

It wasn’t until after 8 AM the next morning that we all hooked up and pulled out. By then, about half the vendors had already gone.

I had some aerial photo work to take care of from January that required me to get photos printed and mailed to a client who didn’t have a computer. Janet had paperwork to do for other shows she was planning to attend.

We both pulled out of the camping area and wound up meeting a short while later in the parking lot next to CVS and the post office. After jumping through a few hoops, I got my photos printed and mailed. I also mailed in my application for a show in Borrego Springs in mid March, which was longer than I’d originally intended to stay south. Janet did her paperwork and got it in the mail. We went for lunch at a Mexican place in the shopping center and then went our separate ways. We planned to meet up again for camping and hiking near Borrego Springs before that show.

I had one more stop before my next destination: that gas station to dump and fill my tanks. From there, it was more off-the grid camping, but close enough to civilization for more socialization and conveniences.

Snowbirding 2019: The Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows

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A quick overview of my experience with the craziness that is the Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows.

Posts in this series:
• The Long Drive
• At the Backwaters Campsite
• In Mesa and Gilbert
• A Quick Stop in Wickenburg and Forepaugh
• Off Plomosa Road
• Camping at the Big RV Show
• A Trip to Organ Pipe with the WINs
• The Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows
• Wickenburg Gold Rush Days
• Constellation Park Interlude
• White Tank Mountain Park
• Bumming It in Phoenix and Apache Junction
• A Dose of Civilization
• Return to the Backwaters
•

It rained almost all the way to Tucson from Organ Pipe National Monument. I got into the outskirts of the city before noon. I’d used Google Maps to direct me to a laundromat and it’s probably a good thing that I did. When I went into the camper to fetch my laundry, I saw that my roof was leaking.

Pots and Pans
I stripped the bed and set up pots and pans under the leaks atop a rubber-backed mat. My goal was to keep my bed dry.

It looked bad. Water was pouring in around the big skylight over the bed and through seams in the sealing slightly forward than that. My comforter was catching most of it. I moved quickly, fetching pots and pans out of the drawer under the stove and positioning them to catch the water. This was not a good situation, but I admit that I was surprised. I’d been in the camper in heavy rain before and had never had a leak.

That’s when I noticed that the skylight wasn’t fully closed. It was open just a tiny crack. I pulled it down the rest of the way and latched it securely. Could that have anything to do with the leaks?

Once the situation was under control, I brought my laundry in and sorted it into two washers. Then I went back out to pull my comforter out from under the pots and see how much water had soaked through. I was lucky; very little water had gone through to the blanket and sheets, which were pretty much clean. I brought the comforter into the laundromat and threw it in a dryer.

Then I went back into the camper with Penny and heated up a can of menudo for lunch. Nothing like hot soup on a cold day.

First Shows

Not my first time

I should clarify something here. This isn’t my first experience with the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. I’d been to the show once before, in 1995. That’s the winter I lived in Yarnell, AZ to get away from the cold winters at home in New Jersey. My future wasband flew out to join me and the two of us drove down to Tucson, badly damaging my MR2’s front bumper in an accident along the way, to meet up with my future wasband’s cousin, Rick. Ricky believes that certain crystals have certain metaphysical properties that can make your life better. He was in Scottsdale visiting his aunts — really long story there — and met up with us to go to the gem and mineral shows. We were late (because of the accident) and he was pissed.

I honestly don’t remember much about that trip except a general feeling of being overwhelmed. I don’t know what shows we attended, although I don’t remember any of them being big. And I don’t remember what, if anything, any of us bought. I don’t think a trip could be any less memorable. Maybe it’s because I was still stewing over my accident and that nasty dent in my bumper.

After I had lunch, empty and repositioned the pots and pans under the leaks, and got my clean, folded laundry stowed into the dining area of my camper, I headed toward my first show. But before I tell you about that, let me tell you a little about the Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows.

Every year, from the last week or so in January to the second week or so in February, Tucson is basically taken over by at least 50 individual gem and mineral shows. They range from small shows in the lobby of a motel or the parking lot of a shop to huge, multi-tent shows spread out in big parking lots and expo centers. There’s an app to keep track of them, but it isn’t very well designed; it just tells you where each show is and lists each show’s vendors. You basically have to know which show you want to go to to make the best of the situation. I didn’t know where I wanted to go. And worse than that, I was driving a truck and pulling a 12-foot cargo trailer that I would have to park at each show.

Penny on the Table
While water dripped into pans on the bed, Penny’s bed was relocated to my dining table. She didn’t seem to mind.

But while I waited for my laundry to dry, I did some research with my friend Google. I knew I wanted to go to the show at the Kino Gem & Mineral Show because that’s where a friend of mine was showing his lapidary work. I also wanted to go to the JG&M Expo, which was a wholesale show. I had a list of possible shows and I separated them into areas. I figured I could hit at least two of them that first day, which was a Sunday.

So I headed to the Kino Sports Complex. I found a parking spot not far from the main area, near a few other large vehicles or trucks that were towing trailers. It was still raining on and off and there weren’t many people out and about. That’s probably why parking was so good for me. I put Penny in the camper and adjusted the pots and pans on the bed. The dripping had pretty much stopped, but I left the pots and pans in place. I made sure Penny had plenty of food and water and left her alone, locking the camper door behind me.

The Kino show was mostly smaller tents, although there were a few large ones with multiple vendors inside. Very much like what I’d seen in Quartzsite the previous month. The very first vendor I found was Nadri Gems, my source for about 90% of the cabochons I bought in Quartzsite. The guy I usually worked with was there, too, and he remembered me. (How could he not, considering I’d spent about $500 so far?) Knowing this would be my last chance to buy the kind of stones they sold, I filled a tray and made another big purchase. He took about $20 off the total for my purchase.

I walked around the rest of the show, looking at various merchandise. I bought some cord to fix a wind chime I have and a bunch of beads from another vendor who had been in Quartzsite and had already pre-qualified me for wholesale pricing. I was looking for turquoise and certain tools — that was my main reason for coming — and wound up buying a few small turquoise cabochons from a vendor in a big tent that had water running over the astroturf on the ground beneath the booths. (I was glad I’d worn my hiking shoes; the soles were thick enough to keep me above the floodwaters in various places I walked.) I got into a conversation with him about Sonoran Sunset, a stone that had been in high demand from my customers. He told me “there’s a guy set up behind the Howard Johnson who sells that.”

I kept walking around. A lot of the booths were closed because of the rain. I never did find my friend’s booth. There was just too much to look at but it was the same stuff over and over. After my long drive, camper leak situation, and laundry, my internal battery was down to 50%.

I went back to the truck, let Penny out for a run around the wet parking lot, and got into the truck with her. Then I told Google to take me to the next show, JG&M. I was very surprised to find that it was actually quite close by. In fact, I could have walked. Instead, I parked outside the gate where there was room for my rig and walked around the fence to the main entrance.

This was a huge show — actually three shows: Gem Mall, Holidome Show, and JG&M Expo — set up in multiple huge tents. I had to register and because I have reseller information, I could get a wholesale buyer badge. This is a huge benefit to me because it saves me the cost of sales tax. (The jewelry I make is taxed when I sell it.)

Inside the tents were mostly beads. Honestly — I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many beads in my life. All kinds of beads, all kinds of prices, all kinds of gimmicks and sales to get you to shop at one booth rather than another. There were “bead shows” in Tucson, too, but I couldn’t see any reason to go to them after seeing all the beads at this show.

I did wind up buying some beads. I had a blue opal cabochon that was blue and dark gray. I wanted beads to match it so I went from booth to booth and pulled out the cabochon to match. I eventually found what I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay and bought them. I didn’t buy much else, though. Other than beads and imports and finished fine jewelry for jewelry stores, there was nothing much else that interested me.

Well, on second thought, that isn’t really true. One guy did have leather necklaces with sterling clasps that I use for my pendants. Good prices. He also had some display items, including a “neck” that could hold seven chains. I stocked up on the necklaces and bought a neck.

Penny on the Bed
Penny waited for me nestled into my comforter, which I’d stowed on the dry side of the bed while in transit.

When I was finished there — understand that I really breezed through — I decided to try to track down the guy with the Sonoran Sunset. I asked Google to take me to the address of the Howard Johnson. For the first time, Google failed me. It led me to an address inside the local university property, nowhere near where I wanted to be. (Yeah, I know: operator error; garbage in, garbage out. But Google should know what I want!) I pulled into a parking lot and tried again. Fifteen minutes later, I was driving on a narrow road past a handful of small motels, including the Howard Johnson. There were tents set up just about everywhere, but because it was getting late — nearly 5 PM — and the weather was still iffy, many of them were closed. But I figured that since I’d come that far, I should go all the way. I found parking in a muddy lot nearby, left Penny in the truck, and went in search of the Sonoran Sunset seller.

And this is where it got weird.

You see, the motels had been rented out to gem and mineral dealers. They had stripped the furniture out of their rooms and set them up as little showrooms. So as I walked past the doors to the motel rooms, they were all open with their front window curtains pulled aside and set up as shops. One after another with cases of stones. No beds, no night tables, no furniture at all. Just display cases. In some cases, they’d even draped the walls with curtains so the rooms had absolutely no resemblance to a motel room.

I wandered around, past the rooms and tents that were open. I looked at a few things. I never did find the Sonoran Sunset guy. He was either set up in one of the closed booths or not there at all.

Casino Del Sol

By this time, it was getting late, my internal battery was down to 20%, and I was very interested in finding a place to camp for the night before it got dark. My WIN friends in Organ Pipe had mentioned Casino del Sol so I asked Google to guide me there. It choose a weird route through a few neighborhoods but eventually put me at the entrance to the parking lot for a hotel casino complex.

Understand that Arizona does not normally have gambling. Most native American tribes, however, do have gambling. I’m pretty sure this one was for the Tohono O’Odom tribe. I call it the Indian’s Revenge — they suck us in to gamble and make money to support their people. I’m not a gambler, but I have a certain affinity for casinos — one of my favorite ways to spend a day in Vegas is walking the strip, through as many casinos as possible to see how outrageous they have become.

Casinos, of course, usually make an excellent overnight parking spot for RVers. Not only do they have big parking lots and access to restaurants and other amenities, but they also have excellent security. I’ll take a casino parking lot over a truck stop (or Walmart parking lot) any night.

Casino del Sol took overnight RV parking to extremes. There had to be at least fifty rigs parked in one of the outer lots and some of them looked as if they had been set up there for a while. This wasn’t parking — it was camping. I later found out that they had a two-week limit for free RV parking. Two weeks! No wonder so many people were camped out there.

I parked on the other side of a parking lot divider from a motorhome. Penny and I got out just as the motorhome’s owners got out. “Do you mind me parking here tonight?” I asked. I’m pretty sensitive to people parking right next to me and wanted to make sure they weren’t.

“Oh no, not at all,” the woman said. That started a conversation about where I was from and what kind of dog Penny was. I asked about restaurants in the casino. I was thinking about prime rib again. “There are restaurants,” they told me. “But they’re expensive.” They told me about a certain special on a certain night of the week that was a good deal. I don’t remember the details because I knew I wasn’t going to be around. Then they got into a car with another couple and drove away in search of a cheap dinner.

After settling in Penny, I went in for dinner. The steak place, which was supposed to be really good, was closed on Sunday nights. (WTF?) I wound up having Chinese food and sushi. It was good. It was my first meal in a restaurant in over a week. While inside the casino, I discovered that there was another gem and mineral show there, To Bead True Colors/Colors of the Stone, although it was closed until 10 AM the next morning.

Back in the camper, I stowed the pots that had been collecting water earlier in the day. The leaks had stopped — but so had the rain. I put away my laundry and made the bed, which was remarkably dry. I got everything organized.

And then I went to bed.

Breakfast and the Casino Show

I made myself coffee in the morning and took Penny for a walk. Beyond the regular parking lot was a gravel and dirt area where even more people were parked with RVs. We walked between the two areas. Then I put Penny in the camper and went into the casino for breakfast and to check out the show.

I learned a lot at breakfast. I sat at a table for two in the outer part of the only restaurant that served breakfast and they sat another woman who was by herself at the table next to me. She was a jewelry maker from Toronto who came to Tucson every year. She used her budget to cover the cost of transportation, a room in an AirBnB, jewelry making classes, and tools and materials at shows. She was having breakfast before going to the show in the casino.

We chatted for quite a while. I realized that I had the wrong focus in Tucson. I shouldn’t be buying stones and other materials — I could get that cheaper in Quartzite in January. Instead, I should be focusing on educational opportunities and seeing demos of tools and equipment I might find useful for my work. I should be building skills and getting new ideas. She gave me some names and I jotted them down. It will completely change how I approach Tucson next year.

Words of Wisdom from an Unlikely Source

Some of the few actual words of wisdom I remember from 29 years with my wasband is this: “Any job is easy when you have the right tools.” (He used to say that when we watched “This Old House” or “Yankee Workshop” on PBS.) Every time I buy the perfect tool for a task, I think of that.

I have a shit-ton of tools now and lots of jobs that were impossible for me 10 years ago are now very easy.

I got on the express line to sign up as a wholesale buyer for the casino show and, with my badge hanging from a lanyard, went in. This show had a lot more of what I’d come for: tools. I saw a few demonstrations and even got hands-on experience stamping metal the correct way (with the correct tool). I also learned the most valuable thing I learned in Tucson: how to quickly and effectively polish my wire framed pendants. (Hint: it involves a Dremel (or flex shaft) and a specific radial polishing wheel.)

One of the booths sold the full range of Wubbers hand tools and had two women doing demos — they just happened to be the founder of Wubbers, Patti Bullard, who had designed all the tools, and her daughter. Their demos gave me some great ideas for new bracelets and chains; I bought three of their tools. (You can see Patti Bullard’s tool demos on YouTube.)

Bracelet Chain
In just 10 minutes, Patti Bullard showed me the basic skills I need to make bracelets and chains like these. I’ve since made a prototype of the beaded bracelet in copper.

I also found a booth selling precious metal clay tools — I’d decided to explore that when I got home — and bought a few items to make it easier for me to get started. There were lots of hands-on classes going on and I regretted not planning ahead and signing up for some of them.

Two More Shows

I was done before noon. I took Penny for another walk and pulled out with my rig, which I’d already prepped for traveling. My destination was the JOGS Tucson Gem and Jewelry Show at the Tucson Expo Center. Google Maps guided me. I ended up at a huge X-shaped building near the freeway. The parking lot looked crammed. Against all odds, I drove in, stopping by the valet parking station to ask where I might park. The guy was very friendly and pointed to an area with a few U-Haul trailers. I thanked him, squeezed into a narrow entrance to a disorganized dirt lot, and backed into a spot next to a U-Haul relatively close to the main entrance.

I went in, registered as a wholesale buyer, and walked into the show. The very first booth I saw was all tools — exactly what I had been looking for. Well, not exactly. The truth of the matter is that what I really hoped to buy in Tucson was a large jeweler’s anvil. Spoiler alert: I did not find one. But I did look at a lot of different tools for different jobs.

The rest of that show was about 60% beads and 20% fine jewelry for resale. There was another Nadri Gems booth — those guys are everywhere — and I bought two very nice azurite with chrysocolla cabochons. I bought some more beads. I bought some display pieces. Although I tried to do the building without wandering off path too much, I eventually failed, lost track of where I was, and had a senior moment: which way was out? Too many of those bead booths looked too much alike. I finally got back on track and headed for the exit.

There was a food court outside and I treated myself to Salvadorian food — a sort of thick-shelled soft taco with beans and chicken. Tasty.

I went back to the truck to stow my purchases and let Penny out for a walk. I liked my parking space and I knew that my next destination, which was closer to downtown Tucson, would probably not have such accessible parking. So rather than drive, I put Penny in the camper, locked it up, and called a Lyft.

I was headed for the Kent’s Tools Jewelry & Lapidary Tools and Supply “Show.” I put “show” in quotes because when I got there, the “show” consisted of one guy who made cabochons and did pretty basic wire work under a tent in front of the shop’s entrance. The shop, of course, was Kent’s Tools, which is like a candy store for anyone who is serious about making jewelry or working with stones. This shop has everything — although it was out of stock on the anvil I was looking for — with good prices and a knowledgeable staff. I bought some texturing hammers, a soldering tripod with screen, a metal stamp, some polishing wheels, a brass hammer, and a bunch of other things to outfit my shop at home. All my purchases fit in a big shopping bag. Lyft took me back to JOGS.

Another Night, Another Casino

At this point, I felt done. It was late afternoon and I’d bought most of what I’d come to buy. I didn’t feel capable of looking at another single bead and knew that any show I went to would have lots of them. So I decided to try Tucson’s other casino, Desert Diamond, for an overnight parking spot. It was near the airport and a lot closer to the freeway than Casino del Sol.

Desert Diamond
The Desert Diamond Hotel.

There were a lot fewer RVs parked at Desert Diamond, and that was okay with me. I found a parking spot on the edge of the lot, not far from an open area where Penny could run loose. Rather than go in for dinner, I decided to have a light meal in my rig and try to organize some of the things I’d bought.

I was asleep by 9 PM.

I the morning, I went into the casino for breakfast. I walked in through the nearby hotel entrance because it was chilly out and I didn’t want to spend more time outdoors than necessary. I got a real treat along the way. The hotel’s design and architectural details are reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright, making a pleasant walk through the space.

Hallway Door
The hallway outside the hotel’s conference rooms and the detail from a door between the hallway and casino. Nicely done!

Breakfast was okay. The only place open was the buffet, which was nearly deserted on that Tuesday morning. I had a fresh-made omelet, too much breakfast meat, and some yogurt with granola. I hate eating at buffets because I always eat too much — although I usually love the variety.

The Metal Bar

I had gotten the idea — okay, I got the idea from YouTube — that I could use a piece of railroad steel as an anvil. The trick, of course, was finding a piece of railroad steel that was only 1 to 2 feet long.

So after breakfast, I worked my phone. I called a handful of metal fabrication places in Tucson and hit what I thought was pay dirt at one of them: the guy I spoke to was pretty sure they had a piece of railroad steel somewhere “out in the yard.”

Of course, when I got there, no one knew who I’d spoken to or what I wanted. No one seemed interested in looking around the yard, either. One guy, trying to be helpful, showed me to an area where they stored rolled steel. They had these two inch square solid bars with rounded edges. I asked if they could be cut. “Sure,” he said. I saw that the price was 83¢/pound and wondered what a one-foot long bar would cost. More than $100? He laughed. Probably about $15.

Google Maps
Ugh! I missed my turn for I-10 heading westbound out of Tucson and Google Maps guided me in a convoluted U-turn. Operator error!

So I told him I’d take a foot. I went to the checkout area and chatted with them men there. One of them had a hobby of making guns and he showed me a few photos on his phone. A few minutes later, a man came in with a one-foot long piece of the solid steel bar. They weighted it: 14 pounds. With tax, it was about $13. I carried it out to my truck and stowed it behind the back passenger seat.

One Last Stop

I did have one last stop to make on my way out of town: an outlet mall just off the freeway. I needed a new pair of jeans and I like to wear Levis. So I hit the Levis store and walked out with two new pairs of jeans.

My next stop was a lunch date in Mesa, AZ. I hopped onto I-10 westbound and headed north.

Snowbirding 2019: A Dose of Civilization

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After too much time cooped up in the boonies in my camper, I get back to civilization.

Posts in this series:
• The Long Drive
• At the Backwaters Campsite
• In Mesa and Gilbert
• A Quick Stop in Wickenburg and Forepaugh
• Off Plomosa Road
• Camping at the Big RV Show
• A Trip to Organ Pipe with the WINs
• The Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows
• Wickenburg Gold Rush Days
• Constellation Park Interlude
• White Tank Mountain Park
• Bumming It in Phoenix and Apache Junction
• A Dose of Civilization
• Return to the Backwaters
•

I woke up to another beautiful Arizona day. The storm that had soaked and snowcapped the state the previous week was long gone.

I checked the map and realized that the road I was near — Bush Highway — wasn’t really close to the one I needed to be on — Beeline Highway — to get to Fountain Hills. Oops. No matter. Instead of having a 20 minute drive, I’d have a 40 minute drive. It wasn’t like I was in a hurry. My destination was the big art show in Fountain Hills where my friends Janet and Steve were showing and selling Janet’s paintings. They’d been just about rained out on Friday but Saturday had been a good day for them and that day, Sunday, looked like it might be good, too. As long as I got there before 10 AM, I’d likely find a parking space for my rig. Other than that, I was in no hurry.

McDowell Sunrise
Mother Nature treated us to a nice sunrise. That’s Four Peaks again in the distance.

My Rig
My rig in its overnight campsite. I had to make an approximately 160° turn to get out of there.

After a light breakfast, I packed up my grill, which was about the only thing I’d taken out, and headed out. My biggest challenge was getting my camper pointed down the narrow road I needed to be on; it took several moves to make the turn.

At the gate, I had to unlock it and get it opened to leave. Someone was waiting right behind me and I was very happy to see him stop and close the gate once we’d both pulled through.

Wild Horses

Rather than double back toward Phoenix, I decided to continue east along Bush Highway until it met up with Beeline and then head west from there. It was a very pleasant drive with great views of Four Peaks and other snow covered mountains.

It wasn’t long before I started seeing signs indicating that I was in a wild horse area. From road signs to signs painted on the road itself, I was repeatedly warned that there were wild horses around. I looked. I didn’t see any.

Until I did. About a mile or two short of Beeline, at least a dozen horses in all horsey colors grazed on a hillside near the road. People had stopped with cameras to take photos. If the parking situation had been a little better, I probably would have stopped, too.

Wild horses have become a bit of a problem in the west. You see, unchecked, their populations explode, with herds all over the state. I knew from flying in Arizona for so many years exactly where I could find them: along the Gila River west of Chandler, along the Verde and Salt Rivers east of Phoenix, west of I-17 not far from Prescott Valley were just three places. I’d also flown over them in remote areas of Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Washington. I’d even been hired by the Yakama Nation to help them round up horses the previous spring.

While there’s some sort of romantic notion that wild horses belong in the west, there are clearly too many of them. In Washington, on the Yakama Reservation, their populations grow beyond available food supplies, leaving them to die of hunger during the late summer and through the winter. They’re also competing with cattle for grass and water, which isn’t a good thing for the cattle industry. Although some groups are able to round up and auction off some of the horses, that’s an expensive proposition and there aren’t too many people who want a wild horse.

What’s the answer? In my opinion, population control through sterilization. I’d hate to see the horses shot — although there are apparently people who think this is a viable solution. But because all solutions cost money and money can be really scarce to fight problems like this, it’s more likely that nothing sufficient will be done and the problem will continue to plague the west.

Anyway, I didn’t stop so I don’t have photos. Sorry.

At Fountain Hills

The community of Fountain Hills seemed to be still asleep when I arrived at around 9:30 AM. I drove into town on the main road until it ended with a road block for the Art Show. Then I turned right and slid into some curbside parking on an otherwise empty street. I figured I was about 3 blocks from where I had to go.

Penny and I cut through a few parking lots until we homed in on Janet and Steve’s rig parked in a private parking lot right off the fair area. Steve was inside, getting ready to go. Janet was already at the booth. Steve pointed. We went.

Most of the booths were still closed up, although a few showed some signs of opening. The event started at 10 AM but Sundays are usually a slow start day because so many people go to church.

I watched Janet finish opening her booth. She had a single booth at this show because of its high cost. Rather than fill it with both her acrylic paintings on feathers and oil paintings on canvas, she’d stuck with her feather art, which seems to sell better anyway. Her booth, as usual, looked incredibly professional with its solid gray panel walls and other display components.

When Steve joined us, we walked the show together. It was huge. About 75% of the booths were open at 10 AM; they were all open by the time I walked it a second time more than an hour later. In general, the quality of the work on display was pretty darn good, although there were a few too many buy-and-sell vendors. (Honestly, I counted four vendors selling the same damn ceramic garlic grater under different names.) I should mention here that there were actually three shows: the main show Janet was part of and two much smaller “scab” shows that set up nearby to grab the same crowd. And there was quite a crowd; by noon the place was really buzzing with shoppers.

Fountain Hills Show
Here’s a look down the Main Street of booths. You can see the fountain in the distance.

I came very close to buying a mobile of fish made from silverware but controlled myself. I did, however, buy a refrigerator magnet of a Volkswagen Beetle for a bug owner friend of mine. I got some ideas about displaying my own jewelry at shows and a few ideas for making various jewelry pieces.

After walking the show twice, Penny and I took a walk around the “lake.” Fountain Hills is famous for its fountain, which is one of the tallest in the world and goes off every hour on the hour (weather permitting). I used to take my helicopter passengers to see it if the timing was right on one of my Salt River tours out of Deer Valley or Falcon Field years ago. I saw it shoot off twice that day. The walkway around the lake — which is really just a big pond holding water for the fountain — was 1.2 miles long and we did it at a brisk pace.

Fountain at Fountain Hills
The fountain at Fountain Hills around midday on Sunday, February 24.

Penny, by the way, had become quite a celebrity. Several people wanted photos of her. Others called her Toto. Too many asked what kind of dog she was. I finally told them she was a Quincy Terrier and let it go at that.

It was nearly 2 PM when I was done with Fountain Hills. I said goodbye to Janet and Steve and headed back to the truck.

Back to Gilbert

Meanwhile, I had been in touch with Jan and Tiffani, my friends in Gilbert. Jan was recovered from his cold. They wanted me to visit. Tiffani put out two carrots: a shower and laundry. How could I resist?

On the way to their house, I stopped at Sprouts and Trader Joe’s to stock up on a few items I was unlikely to find elsewhere. Sprouts had those Cutie oranges I’m addicted to for just $1.99/bag. I bought two bags.

Poolside
Lounging poolside. Tiffani was amazed at how good my pedicure looked after six weeks. I still didn’t like the color of my nails.

Penny & Ruby
Penny and her friend Ruby joined me on the lounge chair after a while. It was a perfect day to relax outdoors.

When I got to their place, they weren’t there. They, like so many of the people who lived in the Phoenix area, had gone for a closer look at the snow. Now they were stuck in rodeo traffic in Apache Junction. They texted me the combination to their door. I went in, checked on their dogs and cats, threw in a load of wash, and then retired to poolside where I very nearly fell asleep in the sun.

When they got back, we relaxed together and separately while watching and not watching the Oscars. Jan had gotten the 16-inch telescope we’d gone to look at during my January visit. He’d had his backyard observatory modified and a mount installed for it. Now he was working on calibration. Tiffani liked to spend evenings on the back patio, reading on her tablet. While I watched the Oscars and followed it on Twitter, the two of them came in and out, mostly to refill their wine glasses.

When it was all over, Jan bought The Favorite on Apple TV and Tiffani and I watched it. I agree that the actress who played Queen Anne deserved an Oscar. But what a disturbing movie!

The Corvette
Jan’s Corvette.

The next day, Jan went to work and Tiffani and I ran errands. We started off in Jan’s Corvette, which Tiffani told me to drive since she doesn’t like driving on freeways. We dropped Penny off to be groomed at PetCo. Along the way, the car was making a weird rattling noise, like something was banging around by the front driver’s side tire. Tiffani said she thought they’d had that fixed.

So we took the car home and she called an Uber to take us to Scottsdale. We picked up medicine for her cat, than walked a half mile to a restaurant I’d eaten in the previous year, The Mission, which is in touristy Old Scottsdale.

Along the way, Tiffani explained the difference between tourists and tourons. They were easy to distinguish; tourons act like idiots, blocking the sidewalks so they can get photos of themselves in front of things like cactuses.

Dessert
Pumpkin bread pudding with ice cream.

We had an excellent lunch at the Mission, eating outside on the covered patio. I highly recommend it, especially the guacamole made table side by someone who apparently makes guacamole all day. Tiffani tried to get the server to give her the check, telling her it was my birthday. I denied it and begged for the check since Tiffani was Ubering us all over the valley. The server compromised: she gave me the check but also gave me a free dessert for my birthday. (For the record, my birthday is in June.)

From there, we took another Uber to PetCo to pick up Penny and then back to Tiffani’s house. I promptly went into the bedroom for a nap and managed to sleep through their Chinese takeout dinner, which was okay because I was completely stuffed from my huge lunch.

I should mention here that the main reason I was staying a second day is because I had applied for an art show in Litchfield Park and the woman who was in charge kept promising she’d be in touch to let me know if she had room for me. This had been going on for two weeks now and the show’s setup date was the upcoming Friday. I’d called and emailed her several times and although she never replied to the email, she made only promises of future contact on the phone. I didn’t want to nag her, but I also didn’t want to be 100 miles away when she finally called and told me she had room for me. So I was delaying in the Phoenix area just in case she got her act together and called. But it didn’t seem like that would happen and I was pretty much done waiting.

We had another relaxing evening together and apart. Jan showed me the Orion Nebula through the telescope and I couldn’t help but wonder how incredible the view would be if he had darker skies. Tiffani read her book on the patio. I watched jewelry making videos on their ginormous TV.

In the morning, I stripped the bed and threw the sheets into the washer with the last of my laundry. Jan made us breakfast. By 9 AM, they were leaving. By 9:30 AM, the guest room bed was remade and I was stepping out the front door with my laundry. I locked up and headed out for the next stage of my travels: more roughing it along the Colorado River.