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Published: April 10th 2018
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Our campsite in Willcox AZ ended up being very nice in spite of being so close to the interstate… the owners were extremely nice and helpful on things to do and see in the area. We had nightly visitors… one roadrunner named Eric, and a large family of Gambel Quail. The campground was very ‘bird friendly’ with feeders and water to encourage the wildlife. It was fun to see these quail scurrying across the ground seeking shelter and playing, many times we would see them running in conveys across the roads. And those sunsets… oh my gosh they were absolutely beautiful every night!!
Easter dinner was great – very different and we missed the family A LOT… but it was nice to know they were with the in-laws and having a great day. We had a quiet day, it ended up not being as windy as projected, with only periodic gusts that would flip our rug… and laundry got done in record time 😊
We took off for the day headed to Chiricahua National Monument… it was about an hour drive straight across the desert… then all the sudden you were in the mountains (highest elevation 6870 ft) with
green trees and everything! The rock formations were amazing to see. You wonder how in the world one rock balances upon the other… the views were truly breathtaking.
On the way home I wanted to find ‘Willcox Dry Lake’… I had seen this on the internet. This area is also identified as Willcox Playa (def: an area of flat, dried-up land, especially a desert basin from which water evaporates quickly). It is said to be 8 miles wide and 10 miles long – another article said it was approximately a 50 square mile stretch of land, where people see mirages, blinding dust storms and temps rising rapidly… oh, did I mention, portions of the dry lake bed were used in 1943 to conduct air to ground gunnery and bombing range practice by the US military… so naturally I wanted to go find this mysterious lake! We drove and drove… I even put it in the GPS to help us… but to no avail… that only took us to a dirt road with warning signs that we were on a Primitive Road and to enter ‘at your own risk’!!! We could see the dry lake bed off in the distance
but just couldn’t find a way in… darn it! When we got back to the campsite, I asked the owner about this crazy place. She didn’t have any information, but said it was something she would definitely look into for future quests! So the mystery is there awaiting Ann and Winston to explore!
The next day we topped our diesel off ($3.01 per gal) and left Willcox continuing on I-10, for a 4 hour drive to Prescott Valley. We were so excited to finally start getting 8.6 mpg.. but once we started getting those winds across the desert it quickly went back to 8.0! The terrain changed drastically as we traveled … going from desert with large cactus speckled across the land to mountains and vast dry wilderness. We stopped at a rest stop for lunch and was pleasantly surprised to see the spectator views – my pictures did not capture how beautiful this was. And… watch out for Poisonous Snakes & Insects (thankfully we didn’t run across any of these creatures!)
We arrived in Prescott Valley, Orchard Grove Resort, where we will be for 3 weeks. Mark’s Vietnam Marine Reunion is scheduled for Apr 18-22, so we
have a couple weeks to get some sightseeing in…
Since we’ve been here we haven’t done much… the campground is very nice – clean and well kept. Crazy it doesn’t have internet and as the picnic tables deteriorate they are not replacing them. Our campsite did not have a table. Mark, with the help of our neighbor, took one from an empty spot. I keep reminding myself that I don’t have to do or go someplace every day!! Just seems strange to sit back and relax J I have made several srubby’s and now working on dishcloths… so if you need some, just let me know!! Mark also found our first hidden rock… on the back it indicated ‘RVers ROCK’ – searching on FB it is a group you can join and during your travels when you find these rocks you post a picture of it and where you found it. I did that and surprisingly a person commented that that was her rock from Arkansas! How fun! Now I will hide it somewhere on our journey home for someone else to find! So, I have the fever, I have to go to Walmart and get me some paint
so I can make some and hide them for someone to find!
We met with Red and Evelyn for dinner the other night and today having lunch with Randy and Wendi… getting all the arrangements down for the 4-day reunion. Mark and I are going to host a BBQ on that Friday night at the hotel.
Well… thanks about it. Until next week… love you all.
Oh… I need a haircut!!! Where do I go???
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