Know when to walk away, and know when to run! That's our RV in the photo, parked right by the covered hot tub we just enjoyed. The latest information on our Colossal job [from an employee of the park]: The maintenance manager is supposedly an alcoholic, along with his wife and brother, who are also on the payroll. There is not a penny for improvement, due to mismanagement, it would seem, but we were told the manager has been tucking money into his own pocket. Were any of these allegations true? [Stay tuned.] Martie kept saying there was no money, but we'd seen all kinds of people taking the cave tour and buying things in the park. We believe Martie. She is a kind, gracious, noble person...completely dedicated to the park. So why is there no money for maintenance?
We needed to get away. A week had gone by and our host site was still not accessible, so we needed to go somewhere to empty our tanks and fill up with water. We decided to explore Benson, Arizona. We checked out our competition,
Kartchner Caverns State Park. Then we checked out RV parks, thinking we might need to live in one if we didn't have a hosting job. These pictures are of Chochise Terrace RV Resort from our site, #256. We parked next to the camp host. They usually make the best neighbors. Below is our host, and his dutiful dog.
Business had seriously dropped off. Competition is huge among the parks, We paid $33.41 for the night...but there were less expensive places down the road. But this is the only park far enough away from the railroad tracks to sleep undisturbed.
We thoroughly checked out a
co-op with very individualized lots, like the one above (which is for sale). We heard hosts complaining in this park--that either the management liked you or not. If not, it was a tough haul.
The co-op is considered boondocking because it's only $5 to dry camp on the above section. It's like a Walmart parking lot...except you can join in on the planned activities. Check this place out at
SKP Saguaro. You do have to join
Escapees to get this price, though... we discovered after parking and starting to enjoy the park. Ah, well. We found out some fellow RVers settled in at Benson on 5 fenced acres with a like-new 2,000+ sf home with a wrap-around porch and a garage complete with workshop....for...get ready.... $111,000.
No S&Bs, please.... I just want to be FREE....to run like a wild horse. Thank you.
The trails of the Sonoran Desert lure you in, hold you captive, and make you grateful that you came. Nothing is more tempting to me than a clear view of a trail. Where does it go? What will I experience? But I was distracted by the litter at the beginning of this trail. True to my Mom's training, I have my own grabber (blue) to aid my compulsion to pick up garbage, especially cigarette butts and anything plastic. Bob takes this as odd behavior, and he took the following pictures...to prove I'm wacky. Does anyone else do this?
Parks and Recreation Volunteer Naturalists Ed Bartlett and John Scheuring were prepared and ready to take a mob into the desert for a fabulous learning experience. We waited together as exactly not one other person showed up. I was not surprised, and let my new friends know they could cancel the walk...but I had a few questions about the crazy cacti I'd met on my own walk. Ed graciously said he'd take me on the walk. Later he said I had so many questions that the walk had taken twice as long as it usually did....but, boy, did I learn a lot! Again my theory was verified...you learn so much more and retain it much better if you experience your learning. Nevertheless, I was presented a gorgeous book at the conclusion of the walk to help me retain the excellent instruction I had just received. Ed deserves the Volunteer of the Year Award!
Hey, hombre... Necesitamos bebidas...we need lots of liquid refreshment for our trip into the desert in search of the world's largest cactus. It's Christmas vacation, and we want to be alive to meet year 2012.
We followed a dirt road to a rusty piece of metal fence guarded by a cartoonish Mexican pirate who took $10 to let us pass. "Dirt roads" in the area of San Felipe are really loose sand tracks, so the level of interest was high in whether we'd survive the trip. But since Mexico chopped down the biggest cactus (17 meters high and 10 tons heavy) and shipped it to Spain in 1992 for the International Exposition, Rancho Punta Estrella has become a curiosity. How did something so big grow here on this dry, dry Rancho? Time....maybe 200 years of it. How did it get to Spain? On a Russian jumbo jet.
The natives love the fruit of the Gigantic Sahuaro. It tastes like a fig and is juicy. So the Papago Indians learned to dry it, make candy, marmalade, syrup and alcoholic beverages...used as "ceremonial wine". But you have to beat the coyotes, ants and birds, who also love to feast on it. A Saguaro produces 20 to 40 million seeds in its lifetime but is lucky to get a baby or two out of it. Saguaros grow slowly and
need the protection of a "nurse plant" such as a bush or small tree when they
are young. It takes about 15 years for a young saguaro to reach one foot in
height, and 40 years to reach ten feet in height. It is about then that they
begin to bloom.
