It’s been a long time since I wrote our blog. Life, for the most part, was peaceful and easy and somewhat repetitive so I let the blog go. We have just finished our sixth season at Kartchner Caverns in Southeastern Arizona. Last summer we spent three lovely months in the pretty Willamette Valley in Oregon at a day-use state park. There we did tours of a 150-year-old grist mill while we lived in a flower-filled wheat field.
We are heading back to Oregon for this summer and yes, our lives are governed by the weather. We are leaving Kartchner Caverns a few days later than planned due to temperatures of 110 degrees. Our air conditioners have done a great job keeping us comfortable but driving in extreme conditions is usually not a good idea and we are headed to parts of the country that are even hotter than 110. But we know when we do hit the Oregon Coast we will miss this warmth.
So a brief recap of our last few years as we go On the Road Again:
Sadly we have suffered losses, but we carry our loved ones with us in our hearts when we so those who have recently left us join our journey as we go on down the highway.
Our volunteer work continues to enhance our lives. Learning new histories, stretching ourselves to try new things, and meeting new people along the way keeps us young and engaged. Our time at Thompson’s Mills Grist Mill last summer gave us unique opportunities. Doug used his expertise to correct and improve some ancient electrical issues while I helped with a redesign of Junior Ranger programs. It was challenging and amusing to take care of ducks and chickens. We left there feeling appreciated and valued and we asked to return in Summer 2025. That’s a change for us, since we like to try different things during our summers because Kartchner seems to be the right place for us every winter.
Gears and shafts to transfer power from turbine to millMillstone piecesFeeding the chickens and ducks!
This winter season at Kartchner Caverns started out with me being in an accident but I recovered and both of us found our rhythm again in the cave with tour after tour, some exciting and enervating, some not so good. But that’s the pleasure and dismay of working with the public. What never fails is working with the great rangers and volunteers there.
Some of the season’s excitement included Star Parties, Junior Ranger Experiences, a Bat Walk and a once in a lifetime Eclipse Party. We had many wonderful Flamingoes – our outdoor evening get-togethers around the firepit. The food has definitely gotten better, the conversations kept us going and with more and more rangers attending, the camaraderie is warm and lively.
We did make two trips to Philadelphia – both to bury the ashes and memorialize our loved ones. Both trips were filled with the warmth and comfort of family.
Last April, our daughter Becky, her wife Paola and our grandsons Benjo and Mati stayed at our park. We shared our beautiful caves and local attractions. A special day of Cowboy Fun was had in Tombstone. This year, our NJ friends, Genni and Sal, visited us and we had a great time with them – rekindling our long friendship and showing them some of the best of Southeast AZ.
At the Benson Visitor’s CenterSan Xavier Mission
So now our next adventure to Oregon begins. We’ll revisit some reliable and convenient RV parks and add a few new places to our itinerary. Follow along with us as we travel north, leaving the desert in our rearview mirror and pointing the motorhome towards the Pacific.
Our first two stops after leaving Kartchner Caverns were Gila Bend and Needles. Both of these RV parks are familiar to us and have been frequent stops coming and going from Arizona. Our one-night stays there were happily uneventful.
We spent two nights in St. George, Utah at Hurricane KOA. KOAs are usually easy for us – close to the highway we are traveling on, usually pull-thrus so we don’t have to unhitch our toad and have stores and laundries if we need them. This one was a little odd. At check in we were told we had to unhitch because it would be too tight to pull into our site while pulling our car. That was true. The sites were barely long enough, and our car had to be parked diagonally in front of the RV. With our four slides out we were very close to our tiny neighbors in their R-Pod. And these were “buddy” sites – our door faced our neighbor on the other side. They were nice people but it’s not always a comfortable set-up.
We happened to be there during the International Ironman Competition in nearby St. George which presented a massive traffic problem so on our second day we just relaxed until later in the day when we drove into Hurricane (pronounced “Hurricun”) to explore. We visited the small but very interesting Pioneer Museum and talked to the friendly docent there. We learned about the history of the Hurricane Canal which made the city possible. It took a daunting 50 years to hand dig the canal. It doesn’t exist now because of an earthquake. This is the kind of tourist stop we enjoy – local history and strange artifacts. I even got to see two dolls that I loved – Honey Baby and a pretty Ginny doll. We added a stop for a Mother’s Day dinner at Mekong Kitchen for great Thai food (Red Curry for Doug and Spicey Drunken Noodles for me). We ended our day stopping for essentials at Walmart.
As with the rest of Utah, St. George and the other smaller cities near there are spotlessly clean, beautifully landscaped and, of course, have the advantage of spectacular red mountains in the background.
FILLMORE, UT
We left early to get ahead of the wind on Sunday, May 8th. The drive was short and easy with a short rest stop to stretch our legs. The owner at this perfectly manicured KOA was nice enough to not charge us for an early check in. The cottonwood trees were barely moving in the gentle cool breeze when we arrived. We had time for a nap after lunch, some phone calls from the kids and then the wind hit. The gusts are ferociously moving the cottonwoods and making lots of noise. We are facing in a good direction, so we haven’t had to bring in our slides or worry too much. Hopefully, things will quiet down before we leave tomorrow for our last stop in Utah.
Well, the wind shifted directions and one of the cottonwood branches started hitting our slide, so we brought that one in. A little cozier but still our comfy home. Then the rain came and lasted most of the night. And it got cold! We woke up to snow on the nearby Cedar Mountains.
Just a short ride today but we have to figure out the logistics of leaving at check out – 11 am and arriving at the State Park at check in – 3 pm when we don’t have far to go.
WILLARD BAY STATE PARK
This is such a pretty park. Each site is huge with its own covered ramada over the picnic table. We got here just a few minutes early and drove right to our site. Still haven’t met the hosts. It’s really chilly here – and overcast.
The drive today was beautiful. For many miles we drove along the San Pitch Mountains in the Wasatch Range. The largest and highest spot is Salt Creek Peak. Our highway alternated by aiming right at it or positioned this magnificent peak just to our right. The Wasatch were covered with snow and sparkling in the sun. We even had a few snowflakes hit our windshield.
Those flakes were pleasant unlike the aluminum cans that were flying out of an un-tarped recycling truck ahead of us. A flying can hitting our rig sounded like a gun shot. Hope it didn’t live a dent!
Safely and warmly tucked away in this quiet park for our last night in Utah.
The beach at Willard Bay
TWIN FALLS, IDAHO
We have made numerous visits to Twin Falls and love it here. Our past blogs relate some of our Twin Falls adventures. The Perrine Memorial Bridge gave us a look at those brave souls who jump and parachute into the river. The waterfalls are spectacular: Twin Falls, of course, and Shoshone Falls, deemed to be the “most dazzling waterfall in the state.” There are also the Perrine Coulee Falls.
Looking into the Snake River Canyon explains why I have so many photos of it. This steep canyon with its winding green river is famous with stunning views. Anyone remember Evel Knievel?
I had a strange adventure doing the laundry. I was happy to see a spotlessly clean laundry room. Everything was shiny and bright but there was a small puddle on the floor around the drain. It was a narrow room, but I easily skirted the puddle and took two of the 4 washers to do my clothes. I sat outside reading and when I went back in the puddle was a bit larger. I put my clean clothes into two large dryers and left to go back to the RV. Upon returning, the puddle was considerably larger but not near my dryers. I put my dry clothes from the top dryer on the immaculate stainless steel folding table. I went to get the second load and that dryer was icy cold and the clothes were wet. I transferred them to a different dryer but that one refused to let me put quarters in. So, I went back to the good dryer and used that one again.
Another woman came in with 4 loads of laundry. I directed her to watch out for the growing puddle, showed her the two dryers that were malfunctioning and left to report the problems to the office.
As I started folding my clothes, a manager came in – she was surprised that the washer that seemed to be leaking was the one marked “out of order”. She opened the front door – out gushed an entire tub of water. The flow hit the opposite wall. I had just moved two steps in the right direction so only a few drops hit my legs but now the floor had about 2 inches of water and the drain was obviously not working. The other woman was trapped but dry on the other side of the puddle.
This manager was asking me about the dryer problems when another manager came in the back door with a string mop and bucket – so inadequate for this mess! The first manager had her back turned talking to me and trying to mess with the bad dryers when the second manager opens the broken washer and another onslaught of water rushes out. He got soaked.
My clothes are still dry on the table, so I get my first load out of there and back to the RV. When I returned for the second load in the dryer, the water is now rippling along the floor in little waves.
In spite of the problems, both managers exhibited excellent customer service – helping us get our clothes out without the clothes or us getting wet. They managed to disconnect the evil washer (finally!) and were valiantly attempting to soak up gallons of water with the pathetic mop.
I left with clean dry clothes, and I guess that’s all I can ask for. But it certainly was not the usual time in the laundry.
CALDWELL, IDAHO
Just a one night stay at the perfectly manicured Ambassador RV Park. We’ve been there before also, and it proved to be an easy site to shelter in during the evening’s rain.
PENDLETON, OREGON
We have driven through Pendleton, but never explored it. With a 3 night stay we had a little time to check it out. Pendleton is famous for its Wool Mill, producing beautiful wool blankets with Native American motifs, and the Pendleton Round-Up – one of the best- known rodeos in North America. We weren’t there for Round-Up days and the Mill was closed for tours.
We found an even better place to check out – the Museum at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. The main exhibits take you through 10,000 years of native culture. The Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla tribes have a rich history in this area and are currently thriving with agricultural and casino enterprises.
The temporary exhibit was my favorite. Native women re-created their childhoods, their traumas, their dreams using mixed media inside antique metal doll houses. Each display takes you into the mind and heart of the creator and by using the iconic houses of our youth, they etched their histories in small, contained rooms that exposed their souls. It was eerie, real and touching. One house, done in mostly white designs, showed the devastation diabetes has had on tribal lives. The structures in the house were all done with sugar crystals – the stark and sharp evidence of this deadly disease. Other houses had many small beds representing the awful history of the Indian Training Schools where young Natives were sent to learn English and American ways but were indoctrinated in ways that were intended to destroy their culture. An eye-opening experience for us. It was the last day of that exhibit, and we are grateful to have had the luck to see it.,
Artwork outside Tamastslikt
We stayed the extra day here to avoid the rain, thunder and wind that had been forecast. This meant that we arrived a day late to our new job but our supervisor, Jeff, agreed that it was better to arrive safely.
HELLS GATE STATE PARK, LEWISTON, IDAHO
So, on Monday, May 16th we got to Hells Gate State Park. We met up with Jeff at the Discovery Center. He has given us carte blanche to develop our own interpretive programs. He gave us a broad outline of expectations and offered his support and the support of the staff and other volunteers. We have a few programs already done, but we have to re-design them a bit to work here. It’s a challenge that I think we are up to.
Swallow’s Nest Rock across the Snake River from Hells Gate State Park
After dinner our first night, we took advantage of the late-setting sun here and strolled along the Snake River path. It’s about a half mile walk from out site in the Volunteer Village to the Discovery Center and depending on what we do with our programming, that might be a nice commute. We will spend the next few days getting acquainted with this beautiful park and the people we will be spending our summer with.
It’s May the Fourth be with You Day – our day to get on the road and we are hoping for good energy forces to travel with us. “Life Is A Highway” and although we won’t be riding it all night long, we are excited to be in the travelling mode again.
Today we left Kartchner Caverns heading towards our next volunteer job in Hells Gate State Park, Lewiston, Idaho. We will travel at our favorite speed – slow.
Our season at Kartchner was especially busy this year. I jumped right in doing both tours while Doug trailed and drove tram. Then Doug took the Lead Guide course and was signed off on the Rotunda/Throne Room Tour. This was a bit of a surprise since he has always said he didn’t want to lead tours. As it turns out, Doug is an excellent guide and enjoys his tours.
I took a two week break from Kartchner in January to fly to Julie in Colfax, WA where she had broken a rib shoveling snow. I loved my special time with this energetic and loving family, even though the weather was cold and snowy.
Three of our grandkids
I feel like I did more cooking than ever. I made baskets of biscotti at Christmas and experimented with many new recipes for appetizers. My little propane oven got a little harder to light the pilot but otherwise kept up with hours and hours of baking. I conquered the uneven bake with a ceramic tile, and I no longer burn my creations. I still count on my small crock pot for recipes like chicken cacciatore, meatballs and Thai chicken. I’d like to get back to bread baking – the only problem with that is we eat every crumb of every loaf (often smeared with lots of butter). I don’t cook much while we travel so this is a much-needed break.
Speaking of Christmas, we received a special gift from Amy and Julie which was a labor of love. For Christmas of 2020 we had received an assignment from them – for the next 45 weeks we would be writing the story of our life. Each week we received a writing prompt about some aspect of our life. We were then to write a brief story about it – perhaps what high school was like or what was our favorite vacation. Of course, we did this separately and we did not share our stories with each other. Once we finished (in November), Julie and Amy went to work editing, assembling, and illustrating what turned into a book. We thoroughly reading each other’s stories!
This year Ranger Nancy instituted Movie Nights. We all hung out together watching classics like Pirates of the Caribbean, Ghost Busters, Rocky Horror and Jurassic Park. Rangers and Volunteers shared a meal and a movie giving us even more time to socialize.
Doug and I had some great outings with family and friends. Lunches and dinners with Amy and Brodie (and we loved meeting his mother, Cindy), Josh, Liz and Sawyer, Sarah and Ann, Crystal and Sally, Kim and Steve, Jean and Bob, Rocky and Chris, and Terri and Bill. We said farewell to our friend Jase (Crystal’s husband) at his peaceful and loving memorial service.
The Gem Show with Sarah was a lot of fun this year after not being able to go the last two years. We are already planning our visit next year. We never buy much but we touch all the pretty rocks and talk and talk the whole day. We have to find something better to eat next year than the greasy curly fries!
Picking up Bob from his medical treatments in Sierra Vista on Mondays gave us time to share stories and enjoy his company during the drive.
There is always some project or event at Kartchner and this year we participated in two days of crafts at Cave Fest and a busy day doing outreach at Tucson Festival of Books. I won first place in the Pi Day Contest with a Key Lime Cheesecake Pie (by the way, thanks, Carol Mueller, for this yummy recipe!).
We enjoyed a community theater play called “Rumors” with Ranger Jake in a starring role. We went to two weddings! Our Ranger friends are falling in love and getting married, and we were thrilled and honored to have been witness to both of these loving ceremonies.
Some of the Kartchner crowd!
The furthest we ventured was to Biosphere 2; we had a picnic in Patagonia and tried for the first time and loved a Mexican restaurant in Benson – Mi Casa.
Biosphere 2
We took a road trip with Amy and Josh to nearby Texas Canyon and also explored the Amerind Foundation museum in Dragoon.
We socialized at many Flamingos – gathering at night, together, sharing stories of our tours and adventures, getting to know some new Rangers and Volunteers. This is what makes this lifestyle so rich and rewarding. This year, in spite of a long cold winter and way too much wind, we met and flamingled almost every week. With high winds, we rarely enjoyed a campfire, but hats, gloves, warm jackets and blankets made sitting outside together tolerable. We love each and every one of these remarkable people we call our friends.
We added something new to our list of volunteer experiences. Doug and I initiated a Nature at Night program on weekend nights in the Amphitheater in March and April. The Bat Talk drew in more folks, but the Campfire Safety with Smokey Bear had decent attendance also. With lots of help, this program is now entrenched and will continue over the summer. We’ll pick it up next fall when we return. We shared safe campfire practices and dispelled myths about bats to over 230 campers.
After almost a year of facilitating the Adopt A Bat Program, it is now in the hands of very competent Ranger. I will miss my daily checks to see the new subscriptions and make sure they all got their Welcome Email, Adoption Certificate and monthly email. The program by any measure is a success – over 840 subscriptions, from 43 States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, South America and America Samoa. I am most proud of the many classrooms that are adopting bats and learning about them.
I spent time revising and improving my tours. I love meeting my groups on the patio and getting them excited about seeing our beautiful caves. Once in the cave, their oohs, aahs, and wows make my day. I love the underground beauty Mother Nature has created and hidden inside the Earth and I never get tired of admiring Her artwork.
In December, Doug started mentoring in the Rotunda/Throne Room and was signed off as a Lead Guide in January. Since then, he has led many tours and enjoys taking people through the cave. Because he is now a guide, he does not get scheduled to drive the tram much anymore. He make take the class to lead tours on the other side of the cave when we come back later in the year.
We were excited to go on a staff and volunteer’s photo tour in the Big Room cave. We took lots of pictures and had a great time with all of our friends. Thanks to Ranger Nancy for organizing it!
#kartchnercaverns #kartchnercaverns
We expect to return here in October. We are hoping for better weather next season. This year was so cold, rainy and windy that we never just sat outside. We miss the warm sunny days we usually experience in Southwest Arizona in the winter months.
This year our schedule was great. We worked full days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. We worked hard – usually three tours a day plus our extra duties of opening the cave on Tuesdays and closing the cave on Thursdays. We came home exhausted but grateful that we can still do this.
Getting ready to open the cave pandemic style! Getting ready to open the cave pandemic style!
Our tours are either 1 hour and 20 minutes or 1 hour and 40 minutes. I estimate I did over 200 tours this season. This year due to staffing issues, we usually were alone on the tours without the benefit of a trailer. We are responsible for up to 20 people on each tour. Often being responsible means dealing with emergencies. Doug had a young girl faint and we both had to escort guests out of the cave for other issues. Each tour is only a ½ mile walk but includes inclines, and we are talking for almost all of the tour. So, we are proud our brains remember the information and we can still think on our feet and field dozens of questions each day. And while we are tired after a day of Cave Tours, we love that we can still do something we enjoy that is so physical.
As I write this driving down I-10 towards our first stop at Gila Bend, I take a long wistful look at the mountains we pass. I know the vision of the bare rock of these limestone and granite hills and the dry yellow grass spotted with bursage, acacia and mesquite will change in a few days.
We look forward to new adventures on our journey this summer but coming back to this high desert scenery always feels like we are “Homeward Bound”.
Everything worked out for us and this year instead of heading through California and taking our usual route to the Portland, Oregon area, we are taking a thousand-mile detour to South Dakota first. We got our COVID vaccines, finished our doctor and dentist appointments and then decided that it is time for some enjoyable travel.
Last year on our trip from Arizona to Portland we hardly left the RV. Just pulled into sites and holed up until we got on the road again. The joy of traveling in an RV is that you sleep in your own bed, use your own linens, brush your teeth in your own sink, and use your own shower and toilet. And we cook our own food which we eat at our own table. When we pull into a rest stop, we turn off the engine and stay in air conditioned or heated comfort. It is the perfect way to travel during a global pandemic. Except that pulling into new campgrounds, seeing people ignoring masking mandates and social distancing is unpleasant and scary. So, last year we would just un-hitch and go right back into our sanctuary.
The safety and convenience of RV travel has become way too popular. It gets harder and more expensive to find campground sites. Even in the best of places, seeing unmasked folks coming out of campground laundries kept me washing clothes by hand this entire last year. Finding ways to dry them without being able to hang clothes outside was a bit of a struggle but better than rubbing elbows in a hot humid crowded laundry room with unmasked people.
Last year’s trip to Portland and the return trip back through the same campgrounds was not fun. This winter at Kartchner Caverns was great but we look forward to a little extra scenery for our summer season. We began planning early and decided to take care of some business in our home state of South Dakota. That made it easy to plan our trek through New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska – then the Black Hills of South Dakota – swinging west to Wyoming, Montana, and Washington and finally to the Portland area.
We did have some concerns for a short time at our jobs in the Caves. The AZ Governor eliminated the mask mandate, and the director of AZ Parks issued a directive that we could not require masks in the Caves. It was obvious that neither of those two understood the atmosphere in the Cave. And we became very worried about entering the Cave with strangers who would possibly be unmasked. The Cave has a great oxygen level due to its size of about 2.5 miles. But that air comes in through a grapefruit-size hole. The air exchanges about once every 3 to 5 days or something like that. That means the air in the Cave is still – no breeze – and aerosols just hang in that humid environment for hours. Understanding this made us, and other volunteers, reconsider what we had thought was sufficient safety conditions. We stopped going into the Cave for a while. We did other jobs that didn’t expose ourselves so much until we were two weeks passed our second vaccine. We also observed that most people took the staff’s recommendation to wear a mask and only a few people went through the Cave without one. Once we felt better about our safety, we resumed our usual tasks.
By then other volunteers had left for the season so we picked up lots of extra hours. Our lives got busy, but we love our jobs, so it was fun. I am now a Lead Guide for both the Rotunda/Throne Room tour and the Big Room tour. Doug loves driving the tram and we both enjoy trailing other tours. We continued our extra duty of Opening the Cave a day or two a week and occasionally a shift at the Gatehouse. Doug and I put some Earth Day bat crafts together and although the participation was minimal, we felt good about promoting Earth-friendly crafts on Earth Day.
My work with the Adopt A Bat program has been simplified with Doug’s expertise at automating it but subscriptions still keep me checking at least twice a day. We did a little extra social media posts for Earth Day and wound up with 54 subscriptions over a 4-day period. I’ll maintain the program remotely over the summer and see what happens when we get back to Kartchner in the Fall.
We also continued our weekly Flamingo gatherings of volunteers and sometimes Rangers. Those weekly get togethers cemented our friendships during this difficult year when we all needed companionship. So, the final weeks flew by and we left on Friday, May 7th after a wonderful last Flamingo.
LORDSBURG, LAS CRUCES – HATCH!
After working so much, we immediately felt like we are on vacation!
Doug planned two short driving days to make sure our motorhome, Meriwether, and our towed vehicle, Lewis, were on their best behavior. We spent our first night at the Lordsburg KOA in New Mexico. It was a quiet night with almost no one else in the campground. Doug took care of a few things and relaxed. I painted some rocks to leave along our trip stops. (I never take or leave a rock at any State or National Parks or Natural Recreation sites, etc.) It’s just fun for me to paint something pretty and put an inspirational quote on a rock. I like to think of them as bringing a smile to someone and don’t we all need that in our lives?
The scenery into New Mexico is iconic desert. We stopped seeing saguaros and started seeing yuccas dotting the desert landscape. As we drove past my favorite rocky scenery in Texas Canyon in Cochise County, I vowed once again to put The Amerind Museum in Dragoon back on my list of must-dos in the Fall.
During that part of the trip – less than an hour from our starting place – I started to crave a Green Chile Cheeseburger. My mouth knew we were on the way to Hatch, New Mexico!
We traveled along I-10 and passed a sign for the biggest Pistachio, which we had seen in Alamogordo. The signs along the road point out that there might be “zero possibility”. That means you might not be able to see anything due to dust storms. We were lucky and the wind wasn’t too bad.
After a relaxing afternoon and evening, we took our time leaving Saturday morning. Can’t get to the next campground too early! Our second day of driving was also short. We got into Las Cruces KOA, ate a quick lunch, unhitched our car and took an afternoon drive right to Hatch. We didn’t want to delay getting our roasted green chiles.
The road from Las Cruces to Hatch is picturesque – lots of farms and pecan groves. Then you see the mountains. South of Las Cruces are the Tortugas and the Organ Mountains, which were in the distance. We traveled through the Picacho Peak area (same name as a favorite park near Tucson). Getting closer to Hatch we went through beautiful mountain peaks on all sides of us.
We found a place to purchase frozen roasted green chiles and bought 10 pounds of them. I’ll pack them into portion-size bags and re-freeze them. That should last for a while. We also bought a new ristra – our old one from Hatch was dusty and faded. And we got some Mexican oregano – we make sure it’s properly labeled because it really does look suspicious in its little baggie.
This time I got my Green Chile Cheeseburger at Sparky’s – supposed to be the best. There were lines at the window and lots of folks at socially distant picnic tables in the large blocked off parking lot. Everyone was masked and polite. I ordered the burger with wedge fries and a side of green chile queso.
Interesting art at Sparky’s
It was painful to ride home with that delicious burger and its incredible smells, but I did it. I quickly made a vegetarian turkey-style cutlet for Doug which I covered in green chiles, of course. I shared the potatoes and queso (perfectly hot and spicy!) I heated up my burger and yum, yum, it was worth the wait! I’m writing this just an hour or so later while my tummy is still smiling with satisfaction. It was certainly worth the 35 miles each way we drove for this amazing New Mexico treat.
We once again visited the little western town of Mesilla where Billy the Kid went to jail. The town plaza seemed familiar and we quickly realized we had been there 4 years ago. We strolled around the craft market at the plaza and went in a few of the stores.
BERNALILLO
Traveling the way we do, often on two-lane highways, we get to know the land better than shooting down the bigger highways. Neither of us is good at figuring out what is sprouting from the ground on the farmed land. We take wild guesses – and we will never know if that stuff is kale or onions. We do recognize pecan trees and we saw many of these well-tended orchards. We like to play music and sometimes the perfect song comes on in the perfect place. But on our trip from Las Cruces to Bernalillo that didn’t happen. At one point, Elvis was singing In the Ghetto as we drove through miles of uninhabited desert.
We did get to see lots of mountains. Some of them had the familiar limestone striations and even the balso quartzsite ridges like our Muffintop in the Whetstones. Some of these mountains are sandstone and you can see the different erosion patterns. Near Las Cruces, the Rio Grande was a large expanse of sand. It is used in that area for ATV driving. No water at all – just miles of tire tracks in the dry sand. But then as we drove along the Sacramento Mountains, the Rio Grande became the Grand River it should be.
We pulled into the Bernalillo KOA and stepped back in time to 1997. We spent time here in our pop-up trailer with Amy and Julie. It was our trip from New Jersey to the Southwest and back again. Bernalillo was the turning point for me. It literally was where we turned to head home, and it was where I officially fell in love with the Southwest. My last moments in this campground on that memorable trip were spent with our video camera taking pictures of the clouds as my voice broke narrating how much I didn’t want to go home.
It has been an enduring love for me. The Southwest holds my heart and I never tire of the brown rock-exposed mountains, the clear blue sky and the fresh hot air. This New Jersey girl really set her roots down on this part of the continent.
The campground seems about the same, but different owners. The sites are close, but we have a patio site. This upgrade is simply a square of artificial grass just big enough for a small picnic table with a little room for our chairs. We have a short pine tree which litters the ground with little round pinecones. I think it’s a Pinon Pine. There are lots of shedding cottonwoods here too. The temperatures are much cooler here – mornings in the 50’s and midday in the 70’s (maybe the low 80’s). There is a new addition to this campground. On the other side of the wall there is a ramshackle beer brewery, the Kaktus Brewery, that also serves some food. It wasn’t open our first night, but I will keep checking. The menu is intriguing: German pretzels; Curry Wurst, Affogato (sea salt and caramel gelato) and a selection of pizzas with some really unusual toppings. Looking forward to tasting something different.
ALBUQUERQUE
We did make a quick trip to Old Town Albuquerque on Wednesday, May 12th. But the day started out at Stewart and Stevenson’s transmission repair facility. Doug thought he found a transmission fluid leak and this place was nice enough to get us in to check it out. We had to be there by 7:30 am. I followed Doug in the car, got lost on the crazy interchanges in ABQ but finally got to the facility. We were entertained by another couple who are on the road too. They told us stories of camphosting, Viking Cruises and tornadoes in Missouri. The time in the waiting room passed quickly and we weren’t there long – the news was good – no problem. So, we hitched up, drove back to our campsite on the other side of ABQ, had a quick lunch, watched a really bad (good?) Godzilla movie and then headed to ABQ for an afternoon in Old Town. We stopped in a few of our favorite stores, checked out a few new ones and sat on a bench. Doug has not been feeling great – a bit of a stomach problem. We decided it had gone on too long, so we stopped at Urgent Care. Then to a lab for tests. Hopefully we will get this under control.
We got home and Doug thinks there is a propane leak – not in the tank but in the hose. We have to leave tomorrow morning – we will just not use the stove until we get that checked out. It will be a quiet night of rest and hydration for Doug. At least we have a microwave so we will not starve.
The Kaktus Brewery with the cool pizzas doesn’t open until Thursday so we will miss out on their gourmet pizzas. I am consoling myself with the thought of all the calories I didn’t eat these last two days – no German pretzels, no Mexican food in ABQ, no yummy pizza. Oh well, I’m sure we will find something fun to eat when Doug feels better!
On to Raton. Pronounced “Rat Tone”.
RATON
Just one night in Raton. The ride was a little longer today – over 200 miles. No more desert. It was at first mountains covered in Rocky Mountain junipers and pinon pine trees with an occasional Blue Spruce in the Sante Fe Forest. We saw the flat tops of mesas mixed with more pointy peaks. Then we hit a very long expanse of grazing lands. Not many cattle to be seen but miles of yellow-green flat pastures. We stopped for a quick lunch at a rest stop.
The Raton KOA is an oldish style KOA undergoing some building construction. The sites are much larger than the newer KOA’s where you practically touch your neighbor. These sites are also very long. Not much to comment on – dusty gravel but level sites with sparsely placed tiny trees. But nice owners and a perfectly fine stop for our one night stay. We didn’t unhitch – just hooked up electric and water and pushed the slides out. We are set.
New Mexico proved to be the best in mask wearing. Every store, outside and inside, even just walking through the campgrounds, people wear masks. The signs say “by order of our governor” and it seems that New Mexicans are proud of that. We’ll have to see what other states do. For sure, this is a complete change from Arizona.
We have been living in our RV full-time for five years! Our official anniversary is January 13th. It has been the best decision we have ever made. We love our lifestyle of living simply, enjoying our families when we can and experiencing the joys of traveling and exploring this amazing country. Once in a while, we check in with each other to see if we are still okay living this way. The answers every time have always been: we wouldn’t change a thing. We love doing this!
It’s been a cold winter here in the Whetstone Mountains. At about 4600 feet of elevation, we often get a little sprinkle of snow. This year we saw the ground covered for a day or so and lots of white on the mountain we call Muffin Top behind us. Snow like this is just pretty and because it’s so rare we all enjoy it. And we even had a snow day when the Cave Tours had to close because the tramway was icy.
But I’m writing this while our neighbors in Texas are suffering with catastrophic cold weather conditions, leaving most of them without water, without electricity, without food, gas and horribly without heat. We wish for them the warm days coming in our weather forecast.
We are only two months into 2021 and maybe because 2020 was such an awful year, we thought 2021 would be like a beautiful sunrise – the dawn of a new era.
The tragic seditious takeover of the Capitol on January 6th shook us to our core. Seeing a Confederate flag and anti-Semitic themed shirts parading through what is a sacred space to us was horrifying. For me, it was the nightmare that I worried about for the past five years. It isn’t a great feeling to have a nightmare come true. But Democracy won. Biden’s in office and the news is mostly good. My obsession of watching CNN every day is starting to ebb – the virus is still awful, but vaccines are coming; there seems to be an end in sight. Schools are not all opened yet but there is some hope that they will be soon. Businesses are open and slowly, very slowly, the world seems to be edging towards a new and maybe even better normal. I no longer wake up with the fear that something terrible happened in DC while I was sleeping.
For Doug and me, the first two months of this year have been fine. We are able to continue working in the Cave because the precautions taken here help keep us safe. But we also take our own extra precautions. Now we wear two masks – a K95 and a cloth mask over it. I’ve been doing tours through the Cave – talking for 1 hour and 45-minute tours – with two masks and not having any problems. Guests can hear me, and I feel safe. We also help with the extra sanitation of the handrails and often wear gloves in the Cave.
At work we feel in control, but we are still washing clothes by hand. The drying becomes more difficult on cold days that are overcast and we often bring them in damp. We hang them on a tripod dryer in our shower. They are always dry by the next morning. So now no public laundries.
Grocery shopping is almost exclusively done by curbside pickup. Our order is usually correct and complete with an occasional surprise. But it keeps us out of harm’s way in the stores. Unfortunately, our local stores do not enforce their own mask mandates and only about half of the customers are even attempting to wear a mask. There is a lot of bandanas and masks below the nose here.
In spite of all our precautions we were exposed, but we tested negative. Yeah, masks!
I love doing tours – it’s a chance for me to show off our beautiful cave and I love to see our guests become entranced with its wonders. Their exclamations of awe at the magnificence of Mother Nature’s underground artwork are thrilling to hear.
Doug is enjoying driving the tram and trailing tours. Recently he was able to trail my tour and doing that together was a great experience for us.
We are catching up on doctor and dentist stuff as we usually do when we are in Southeastern Arizona. All is going well.
I was in a Golf Cart accident, but I survived with only the tiniest cut on my arm. The Golf Cart was driven away, after the Maintenance Crew cut it out of the mesquite tree, with only cosmetic damage. I was incredibly lucky. I kept a piece of the mesquite tree that almost got me as a reminder that my Guardian Angel still has plans for me.
We have had a few cheerful outings with friends and family. We had bagels with Amy and Brodie at a Tucson park. Jayne and Paul came with us on a great day in Bisbee where we once again enjoyed the food at Santiago’s. Jean, Jayne and Sylvia and I spent a perfect morning at the Mini Time Machine Museum in Tucson, followed by lunch at Beyond Bread. Our Friday night Flamingo gatherings are weekly warm moments with our fellow volunteers around a fire.
Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee
Kartchner Caverns is part of 2021’s celebration of the Year of Karst and Caves. There is a greatly reduced number of guests allowed on tours because of COVID. A total of 60 guests are allowed on tours each day. In non-COVID years we see anywhere from 450 to 650 people per day at this time of year. This year, though, we enhanced our on-line visibility with weekly social media posts. This keeps Kartchner Cavern’s presence more viable even with restrictions and keeps us an integral part of Karst and Caves.
On January 23rd, Kartchner Caverns State Park launched its Adopt A Bat program. I’ve been very much involved in getting this program off the ground and it did just that – it went off like a bat out of hell! Over 100 people from 20 different states adopted bats within the first three weeks of the program’s existence. All ages are involved and lots of classrooms and homeschoolers. It’s plenty of work for me but our mission of getting out information to help protect bats makes the world better. Doug is doing the hard background work of turning this into a much more technically savvy enterprise. I don’t know what I would have done without his help.
Adopt A Bat Display
We have had some sadness. First our friends Jayne and Paul lost one of their dear basset hounds. Sweet Abby had gotten old and had some problems, leaving Sammi behind missing her sister. Then Jean and Bob had to put their Bear down. Bear was an adorable loveable little guy we often walked with his much more rambunctious brother Rusty. Soon after losing Abby and Bear, our daughter Julie had to say good-bye to her pretty little dog Rosie. Doug and I always tried to give Rosie a little extra love and peace when we visited. Rosie lived with lots of worries, fears and nerves but she was our little darling.
BearRosie and Selena
We are planning a small, safe and socially distant outdoor gathering to celebrate Sawyer, Josh and Amy’s birthdays in March. So that is fun to look forward to.
There are a few subtle signs of Spring here in the desert. No giant azalea bushes bursting into pink and white blooms. No tall trees leafing out. But we will have pretty wildflowers soon. The mesquite, palo verde and ironwood trees get first yellow and reddish fuzzy stuff and then teeny tiny green leaves. The cacti – prickly pear, saguaro, cholla and barrel – will all start to get their flowers and fruit. A little color in our brown dusty desert is always a welcome sight.
Right now, our plan is leave here by the end of April. We are heading to the Portland, Oregon area where we will again spend time with family. We were putting off making a decision on our end date here because we were trying to get our COVID vaccines before we left. It was a struggle to get appointments, but I’m able to get mine at the University of Arizona and will be done on March 21st. Doug just scheduled his appointments at CVS so with that in place we can make definite plans for the future.
Since we can leave by early May we decided to head to South Dakota. Our driver’s licenses are expired, and we have temporary permits due to COVID. We are planning a leisurely trip to our home state, stopping in Rapid City to get our licenses. While there we will tour through areas we haven’t seen yet. We love South Dakota and the trip there through New Mexico and Colorado is just beautiful. Maybe we will even get to stop in Hatch, New Mexico and stock up on green chiles!
When we leave South Dakota, we aim the RV for the Portland, Oregon area. Another beautiful trip through some of our favorite landscapes. We hope to spend time in Montana again in the sweet town of Missoula.
We are scheduled for a new volunteer job at the Visitor Center at Champoeg State Park for July and August. We are waiting to hear how the park is doing after a devastating windstorm took down many trees. If the Visitor Center is open, we will do Interpretative tasks there. If it is closed, we will help with maintenance and tending the historic garden. We will work two days on; four days off. We are looking forward to being there.
Champoeg State Heritage Area Visitor Center
While at this job we will be helping out with Doug’s dad, Creighton. Dad turns 99 this August but lives on his own with a little help. Doug’s sister Beverly and her husband Barry take care of things for him and visit him often. With us in town, Bev and Barry will take a long overdue vacation in their RV. And we will be near Julie and Jake and our three grandchildren. Time spent in this area is always busy and we just love the family connections.
We just took on another position at Valley of the Rogue State Park. This one is just for the month of September. This area, around Medford, OR and the Rogue River is beautiful, and we have a lot of new experiences to look forward to there. We will work 5 four-hour days at this job. We will still have plenty of time to explore, especially since we don’t know anyone in that location.
Waterfall at Valley of the Rogue State Park
Then we head back to Kartchner Caverns for another busy winter in the Caves! What is not to like about a life like this? New people coming our way; new adventures to enjoy; lots of family time; and back to our winter home with friends and family. We are so lucky!
We love being back at Kartchner Caverns. This volunteer job meets our needs. We are spending the winter months in beautiful Arizona. Yes, the mornings and evenings here at almost 5000 feet of altitude in the foothills of the Whetstone Mountains require jackets, long pants and even socks! But the skies are usually bright blue with plenty of sun. The middle of the day brings warmer temperatures.
The view from our motorhome
We are close to our children and grandchildren but the COVID virus numbers here are outrageous, so we don’t see them much and only outside for short periods of time. That’s hard – being so close and not spending time with them. But just being nearby feels good.
Our work here is satisfying. We only work 20 hours a week – 3 full days. Doug drives Tram, and does Gatehouse, Portal and is working on some major projects with the Cave Unit Staff. I just got signed off to be a Lead Guide on the Big Room Tour, and I work at the Gatehouse, Portal, and Front Desk. I am also working on the soon-to-be-introduced Adopt A Bat Program.
Adopt A Bat mascot that Amy created for usAdopt A Bat Donation Box that we made
Both of us are facilitating a new communication tool for staff and volunteers: Cave Solutions. Questions and issues come in; we forward them to appropriate supervisors and then publish the answers and clarifications in an email publication called Cave Solutions.
The safety precautions taken at this park make us feel safe – at least as safe as anyone can feel these days. The Park requires masks, social distancing, hand sanitizing. The tours are limited to only 6 people at a time. With so few guests on a tour, the big open spaces in the cave give us plenty of room to keep apart.
We continue to do most of our grocery shopping using curbside pick-up. I am still having difficulty shopping this way – forgetting items and not being able to concentrate to get the order right. Doug is much better at it. Sometimes we can’t get the pick-up time we need. Sometimes we can’t get the items we need. But for the most part it is a convenient service. We sit at our table in our home while we use the app to order our food. We drive about 20 miles to Sierra Vista, pull into a spot (usually at Walmart) and someone comes and loads the groceries right into our trunk. It works and I try to get better at it – it is absolutely worth the effort.
Our friends here at the park wear masks, respect our safety and concerns so we still have a social life – outside, of course. Most of our fellow volunteers have dogs so someone is always walking around and it’s easy to have a conversation. That is a huge benefit.
We are trying to do something fun one day a week. We took a trip to Apple Annie’s in Willcox. It was a nice day right before Halloween. We grabbed some great sandwiches from their Country Store and ate them on their patio. We only saw a few other couples there. The produce area was a little more crowded, but we were the only ones in the freezer while we picked out some beautiful fresh veggies – the variety of peppers were delicious.
On the way back we stopped at Texas Canyon. The rocks there are incredible – huge boulders in strange positions, bizarre shapes. We’ve seen this area before and it always is a great place for photos and reflection.
Texas Canyon along I10 east of Benson, AZTexas Canyon
We recently finally ventured into the Nature Conservancy’s Ramsey Canyon Preserve. A place we have been meaning to visit for a few years. We hiked through a colorful woodsy area which runs along Ramsey Creek, a tributary to the San Pedro River. Living in Southern Arizona doesn’t often give you the beauty of crisp walks through brilliant fall colors. But this lovely place gave us the pinks, reds and yellows, the tall, white-barked sycamores next to the smaller pink-leaved maples. One of the Arizona Sycamores on the trail dates back to 1760. We were even graced by a small herd of white-tailed deer. The Preserve is famous for butterflies and birds. We will definitely explore this place again – we would like to hike the full trail next time.
View from Ramsey Canyon
We decorated our RV for the holidays – first Halloween and Thanksgiving and now Christmas, Hanukkah – and Festivus. Colorful lights and banners and just a few treasured ornaments bring us holiday cheer. Our tiny tree blinks on and off and our stockings are hung on our fireplace. We don’t know if we will see family this holiday season, but our hearts are comforted that they are staying healthy during this awful pandemic. We trust that our future holidays will be spent together, and we will look back at this rotten year knowing that we survived together.
We look forward to 2021 – it will be hard to overcome the bad, the sad, the anger, the pain, the economic devastation and most of all the knowledge that our world has lost so many souls. We look to the next few years to recuperate and rejuvenate. We hope our future brings us in contact with some of you and that we rejoice together in health and happiness.
We lost people that made our lives better: C.T. Vivian, John Lewis, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. We lost people that entertained us: Jerry Stiller, Alex Trebek, Eddie Van Halen, Kenny Rogers, Sean Connery (my heart broke!), Olivia de Havilland, Max von Sydow, Fred Willard, Kirk Douglas, Orson Bean, Kobe Bryant, Wilford Brimley and Little Richard (and, of course, many more). And while we mourn the loss of these lives, these faces that were so familiar to us, the heaviness in our souls, the grief that is impossible to deal with, is for the millions of victims of the global pandemic. Our world is bereft of the good, the talent, the skill that we lost when these lives were ended.
We embrace the love our family has shown and especially celebrate the very wonderful event in our 2020 – the birth of Beckham Daniel. If I focus on his chubby cheeks, his deep soulful brown eyes and his drooling gurgling, the Year of Horror recedes into the black night where it belongs.
Adios, 2020 – we will look back on you as the Year That Will Live in Infamy.
We are a little nervous being on the road during this coronavirus pandemic. It is especially hard because we felt very safe while we were at Kartchner Caverns. It was just the two of us in our RV. The other volunteers and Rangers we were with were being as careful as we were. The only possible exposure was grocery shopping and even that was done with gloves and masks and as much social distancing we could make happen.
Our trek from Kartchner Caverns to McMinnville
GILA BEND
So we left with some trepidation. But it was comforting to see that our first stop in Gila Bend went well. When we arrived at Gila Bend KOA the gate was locked with lots of signs on it. Only self-contained RVs were welcome. To enter we called the posted phone number and the attendant was on his way. He came in his golf cart – masked – talked to us only through the driver’s side window. He was efficient with his information – and led us to an easy pull-through site. That was the last we saw of him. The restrooms were closed; no laundry; but the pool was open – just had to bring your own chairs. There was almost no one else there and it was too hot to walk around so we were happily isolated for the two-night stay.
NEEDLES
Needles KOA was pretty much the same. And we only stayed there one night. The heat was the highest we’ve ever seen it – 107 degrees at 7:35 am. It only got hotter. The weather forecast for Needles was 120. I guess it got that high but it’s probably a good idea not to actually see the thermometer when it gets up there. It just makes you feel hotter. Of course, it’s a dry heat – exactly like putting your head into an oven. This is not the first time we’ve stayed in Needles. Every time the lack of a breeze of any kind is memorable. Maybe it’s because we got so used to the constant wind in Arizona that the absolute stillness is just remarkable. The campground has huge cottonwoods and I looked up a few times and it’s eerie to see that not one of the thousands of leaves up there even wiggle a little.
SIERRA TRAILS
We just spent one uneventful night at Sierra Trails RV Park. We were starting to see less and less masks. But we just stayed on our site or in the RV. We wore masks and gloves to throw out the garbage. Yes, we are being careful.
COALINGA
Our next stop was a two night stay at Almond Tree Oasis in Coalinga, CA. We didn’t see much of Coalinga. Our campground is 0.3 miles from a truck plaza which really came in handy. We were running low on food and tired of the same old sandwiches and dinners every night. After we got set up, I walked over to the plaza because we didn’t want to unhitch our car. It was hot – searing hot – but actually cooler at 100 degrees than we had been living in. The plaza employees were all wearing masks and gloves and I was one of two customers in the whole building. I ordered dinner from Baja Fresh and foot-longs from Subway for lunch the next day (and the next day). The food was great and a nice treat. The following afternoon we both walked over for a lemon icee and a few snacky things.
Our air conditioners are holding up, but we are helping by keeping the shades drawn and tolerating higher than normal inside temperatures. We also are not really moving around much. It helps that the temps are going down – slowly, going down. There was a wildfire near us. Our car was covered with the evidence of ash.
Up to this point, the traveling situation was better than we thought. California was seeing a huge spike in virus numbers but we were in the Central Valley where we thought it was calmer.
LODI
Flag City RV in Lodi was our stop for the next two nights. Good site, better weather – even a little coolness. We unhitched and had breakfast takeout at Burger King where now Doug can get an Impossible “Sausage” Sandwich and I had a great bacon crescent. We did some food shopping and later went to Carl’s, Jr. where they now sell Beyond Beef so we both had burgers. It was nice not to do so much cooking. Lots of masks in sight.
Our confidence in our safety took a big hit when we watched the local news. The virus numbers were horrible in Lodi and in fact, federal medical personnel were flown in because the Lodi Medical Center was completely overwhelmed while we were there. We became even more vigilant!
REDDING
On Friday, July 17th we got into our site at Redding Premier RV Resort. Just a one night stay. It was a nice concrete pad but very narrow. It was right next to a huge waterpark where unmasked people were frolicking in the pools and on the waterslides. We stayed inside our RV to make sure we weren’t exposed to the people who think being that close together in a raging pandemic was a good idea.
The trip itself, mostly along Route I-5 has been mostly uneventful. We stop for gas, DEF, and at rest stops to eat lunch in our RV. The scenery is beautiful! We love going through the Rogue Valley. Someday we will find time to travel and sightsee around Lassen Volcano and Mt. Shasta. The golden grass covering the rolling hills and the huge evergreens is always a serene sight. And then, we saw a metal sculpture of a cow and a calf, followed a few miles later by a dragon. We get a big kick out of public art appearing unannounced in the middle of nowhere.
Mt Shasta in the distanceQuail Sculpture
CANYONVILLE
Two Feathers Casino and RV Resort in Canyonville, OR was our next two night stay. Although at registration we were offered all the perks of being next to a casino – players’ cards, discounts and a free shuttle that seemed to pass our RV every half hour – we almost never left the RV. Even sitting outside we wore a mask and tried to look unfriendly. The casino parking lot was filled; there was constant pedestrian traffic over to the resort pools; and lots of bike riding, dog walking and just people every where – NO MASKS! The signs say to wear a mask when you enter the buildings, but I guess social distancing doesn’t matter???!!
MCMINNVILLE
Last stop until October – Olde Stone Village in McMinnville. We’ve been here before. It’s one of the cleanest places we have ever stayed. There is beautiful landscaping all over and perfectly groomed grass between the concrete pads. Doug says the sites are large but it seems crowded here to me. Maybe I’m just not used to having so many neighbors! It is a very busy place – after check-out you might see a site or two open up but it is invariably filled by dinner time.
The landscapers are here about every other day – riding lawnmowers, followed by manual lawnmowers, followed by edging and then a huge street cleaner truck that doesn’t just wash the street once, but goes over it a second time. All the trees are nicely trimmed and it’s rare to see a stray leaf anywhere. The picnic tables are unique – they can either be in the form of a regular table with two benches or they can be split apart and form two park benches with backs. We know they have breed restrictions here so we don’t like that one of our favorite dogs is not welcome here. And I am sorely missing the clotheslines at Kartchner Caverns.
Our site at Olde Stone Village, McMinnville
We are planning to keep to ourselves in strict quarantine for 14 days. We want to be sure we are not bringing germs to our daughter’s family and we just don’t know if there was any exposure during our travels. Julie is having her third baby in September. It’s been a difficult pregnancy, complicated by being in isolation with Paisley who is 4 and Griffin who is 3 and Jake, her husband, who is the best husband and father, but whom, we are sure, just wants to do something fun.
We took our first full day to get all our errands done and stock up on food for 2 weeks. That’s it – we will be fine in our RV where we are totally self-contained. I am continuing to do our laundry by hand. It’s a bit of a challenge to dry it since I can’t hang clothes outside but if a do a little bit every day or so I can make this work. We have a tripod rack which I put down on top of plastic and towels in the bedroom and keep the ceiling fan on. It takes most of a day to dry the clothes but that works for us. The laundry facility here is actually top-notch. But I keep seeing folks returning to their RV with laundry baskets and they are not wearing masks. So for these two weeks, I’ll manage by hand and then I will have the use of Julie’s really big and efficient laundry machine. Of course, in order to use them for our laundry, I have to get her laundry done first.
We have plenty of food so we certainly are not going to starve. In fact, we try to go for walks because we are eating too well. Our interactions with fellow RVers here so far has been a few waves. This is not a good time to reach out and make friends.
So we are fine. Yes, fine. It’s Day 2 and Doug is bored.
We’re back! Yes, we’re back to our blog and now back on the road. Did you miss us?
We spent the last nine months at Kartchner Caverns State Park in Southeastern Arizona. From the moment we arrived, we were busy! We did our usual jobs – Gatehouse, Portal, Trailing, and Tram – 20 plus hours per week. We took on new tasks – the Interpretive Desk for me where I told guests about rocks and formations; pelts and skulls and plenty of information about bats. Doug worked on some computer projects for the Park – a scheduling program, a button training video, and data organization and storage for the Cave Unit. We continued to close the Big Room one or two nights each week – our favorite job. I took the Lead Guide course at the end of January and started an intensive period of mentoring. I was about to be signed off to Lead by myself when things shut down.
Rosie
My brother Danny and wife Lisa camped in their Roadtrek at our site for 10 days. We were able to take them into the dark cave and give them a special tour. We showed them around Benson and the surrounding areas. We had a great day of wine tasting in Sonoita and Mexican food in Patagonia. Mostly we just hung out together which was special for us. Our daughter Amy came for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we loved the time we spent with her and her little dog Selena. We also got to spend some time with her friend Brodie whom we took on a tour of the Big Room. Later we went with them to explore the ghost town of Fairbank and a quick trip to Tombstone for ice cream. I went to the Gem Show, once with my friend Crystal and once with my granddaughter Sarah. We met up with other friends from Tucson and friends we connected with on the road, enjoying our time catching up.
We helped with Special Events like Halloween and Cave Fest. We attended every Potluck and party – Jim’s Retirement, Curtis’ Good-Bye, quiche on Pie Day and many more. Doug came in first place in the Cookie Contest on Christmas Eve.
Saying goodbye to Jessica, James, and Lindsey
With my new friend Jayne, we helped re-organized the attic. We spent holidays with family and our volunteer friends. We entertained with lunches and dinners in our RV. We socialized with new and old friends on walks, at movies, in restaurants and at local attractions – finally getting to see the museums at Fort Huachuacha. We enjoyed many nights of sharing food and conversation at Pink Flamingos. We went on Dr. Sarah’s Science-y Tour and our minds expanded with new knowledge. We met with the local Democratic folks. We went to parties hosted by staff and volunteers who lived in the local area. We fit in all our doctor, dentist and eyeglass appointments. Yes, busy!
And then on St. Patrick’s Day, the Cave Tours closed down and we were suddenly sheltering in place with no work to do. I learned how to sew a mask and made 130 of them – giving them to Rangers, Volunteers, mailing them to family and handing them out to anyone we met without one.
We took the stay at home order very seriously and only ventured out about every ten days to get groceries. We purchased a small manual washing machine and a tripod clothes dryer. I began to do all our laundry by hand, avoiding the public laundromat. To offset the increase in water usage this caused, we started buying gallons of bottled water to drink and cook with. Within about a week, I was discovering ways to successfully limit the water I used. I truly enjoyed feeling like a pioneer woman on the prairie as I hung up our laundry in the bright Arizona sun. I experimented with new recipes and started making loaves of white bread and banana bread in our small crockpot. I found that I could tip out the finished loaf without touching it, so I made lots of loaves and gave them to our friends and family. But I completely failed with my sourdough starter.
Our washing machine that we nicknamed “R2D2”Out on the “Prairie”Crockpot Bread
Doug and I learned to relax. We started taking afternoon naps. Doug ordered toilet paper, tissues, cleaning wipes and yeast. We settled in and isolated.
Then Cave Tours resumed on June 1st. We learned to be Railers – disinfecting the stainless steel rails in the cave between tours. We took on the job of Opening the Cave a few days a week too. We chose not to be in the Cave with strangers, but we felt safe just the two of us in the dark with our headlamps (plus double masks and double gloves). The Park limited the number of tours and guests, bringing daily totals to no more than 30 people – down from about 250 this time of year. With the reduced numbers, I continued to take shifts at the Gatehouse and Portal and Doug still drove Tram. We were always masked and gloved, always distanced, always cautious.
Getting ready to clean the railsReady to go!
Meanwhile, we had planned to spend this summer at the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, South Dakota, doing a volunteer job of interpretation of the historic buildings there. With a stay at home order and AZ having (at that time) a very low number of COVID-19 cases, we worried about spending our time mingling with the 500,000 bikers expected to be at the 80th Anniversary of the Sturgis Rally. We spoke to the Volunteer Coordinator and explained our concerns. Although we were looking forward to spending the summer in the beautiful Black Hills, we decided to postpone this job. We stayed in our safe place with the friends and Rangers we love.
Then Arizona’s numbers skyrocketed and the state became a hot bed of virus outbreaks. We took all possible precautions and continued our careful existence. On the only two occasions we met with our children and grandchild after the virus hit, we avoided any touches and all wore masks while we spent a few minutes outside together. It is so hard not to touch our loved ones! We also learned that the weather in the Black Hills during the early part of the summer was scary – they were plagued with severe thunderstorms, huge hail storms and sometimes tornado warnings.
Given all this information, it was easy to change direction – especially since our daughter Julie told us she was expecting again. In spite of enjoying our friends at Pizza Nights at the Flamingo get-togethers – where there is plenty of room to sit apart, with each couple having their own box of pizza and keeping our masks on – we made plans to head to the Portland area to be there for the birth of our seventh grandchild. Doug’s sister and family and his dad are also in that area so we can be with them too – carefully.
We were concerned about traveling. COVID-19 numbers were spiking all over but we had learned how to be careful. We planned twelve days on the road, staying one to two nights at each campground. Then we get to McMinnville, a short drive from Julie, where we spend the first day shopping for groceries and stuff and then complete a 14 day quarantine. After that, if we are all symptom free, we will feel safe enough to integrate with Julie and her family. We look forward to days of playing with our darling toddlers and helping all of them to get ready for Baby Beckham in September.
Before we left, we had a few family Zoom meetings. Doug and I produced a short video for the Park’s website. We volunteered for some new projects we can work on from a distance: a staff and volunteer newsletter and the Adopt-A-Bat program. I organized a small but much needed (for me) protest on the Fourth of July. Meanwhile, the temperature at the Park was getting hotter and hotter. After living in Arizona for 18 years, we knew what to expect at this time of year – oven-like heat, a little humidity – often coming with lightning strikes and flash floods, and bugs flying through the air, snakes (lots of rattler sightings) and then just before we left, three tarantula visits – luckily some distance from me but still enough to freak me out. And then, for sure, it was time to pack up and get on the road.
We are very grateful to Kartchner Caverns for allowing us to stay in place. We had the full resources of the Park, a caring staff, and lots of friends while we all tried to figure out where life was going to take us. For over two months, we stayed in our beautiful sites with full hooks up and no fees while we did no work for the Park. We felt loved and protected and can’t wait to return next October to see how everyone fared and catch up on new processes in the Cave we love.
Time is passing swiftly and now we have to think about leaving Kartchner Caverns State Park.
The caverns are under these two hills which are part of the Whetstone Range
The view of San Pedro River Valley from the cave hill.
Before we arrived, we speculated on how we would adjust to the change from relocating our home about every five days to staying put for almost five months. Well, the change has done us good. We loved our time here and have decided to return – in October 2019.
While we were here we took care of a few years of delayed doctor visits – making the 60 mile trip to Tucson at least once a week. We have new eyeglasses, new wedding rings, new legal documents, and for me – new front teeth. While in Tucson, we ran all kinds of other errands and spent time with family and friends. We made sure to eat in some of our favorite restaurants – Tucson Tamales, Chipotle, and Rubio’s to name the most frequented – all Mexican, of course.
Getting to see our family while we were nearby has been great. Our daughter Amy, her friends Amanda and Chloe, camped with us one night in their tent on our site. Amy has also come by herself for overnight visits. Our granddaughter, Sarah, stayed overnight a few times and Sarah and her mom, Ann, also visited us one day. Our friends Crystal and Jase spent a day with us here also. We’ve seen Josh, Liz and Sawyer for lunch a few times. I only got to have lunch with Jodi Tucker once but it was so good to be with her. All this visiting back and forth feels great after missing them so much and it gave me a chance to cook for my favorite company.
Two family events stand out as highlights for our stay. Sarah’s Spring Concert at her high school, Tucson High, gave us a chance to hear her sing in the choir and we were so proud of her lovely soprano voice. And we managed to celebrate Josh and Amy’s birthdays with a joint dinner at Olive Garden. Being on the road means we are often on the other side of the country when these important family events occur, so being able to celebrate together is a wonderful thing.
In between all the other things keeping us busy we still had to take care of mundane things. We grocery shopped at the Safeway in Benson where the cashiers accepted me as a regular and I learned about their families and their health problems. The Benson Post Office was another place that recognized me after many shipments of holiday and birthday envelopes to grandchildren. The Walmart in Benson saw quite a bit of business from us but we never got any individual greetings there.
About every two weeks we drove the 20 miles into Sierra Vista to get our laundry done at Sierra Laundry on Wilcox Road. The proprietor was ferocious in her constant attempts to keep a clean facility.
We watched that small lady yell and complain when someone tracked in dirt or left the door open. Yet she was sweet to us – giving us small gifts like flowers and a calendar. She also would instruct me on the proper techniques of laundry. This laundry facility was always clean and the machines always worked. For us, it was a way to do five or more loads of wash in less than two hours. A luxury to have endless huge dryers to quickly get those clothes dry. We always had time to stop for lunch at the Pizza Hut Italian Bistro where Doug could get a gluten-free crust. We are hoping the next place we land for any long length of time will provide us with convenient and efficient facilities and shopping.
Our work at the Caverns has proven to be satisfying – it has added a unique dimension to our lives and has given us a new miracle of nature to appreciate and learn about. Doug has spent much of his time being a trusted Tram Driver.
After a long full day of transporting 15 to 25 tours of guests up and down the tramway, he is tired. Doug also works as a Trailer – assisting our Lead Guides with their tours. I too work as a Trailer and I spent my Sunday mornings at the Portal of the caves, standing by in case of emergencies and acting a bit like a traffic controller. I enjoy my shifts at the Gatehouse where I greet and give instructions to countless visitors.
I also work at the Front Desk. And to round out our amazing experience here, Doug and I have now been trained by the Cave Unit to clean and close the caves two nights a week. This new job means that after the last tour leaves, we enter with only the light of our headlamps. We check the reports of touches in the cave and spray those with cave water. We set up the foggers and lock all the doors and gates. We love this particular task – it’s a rare privilege to be alone in the cave – in complete cave darkness – and we relish those moments. We turn off our headlamps each time we are there to experience the deep darkness and absolute quiet – except for the occasional sound of a water drop – the heartbeat of the cave. What an amazing experience this is!
A huge part of the fun here at Kartchner Caverns is being an integral part of the community. We live in the Lower Volunteer Village with fellow travelers. Between the Upper and Lower Volunteer Villages we have about 18 to 20 rigs camped here. There are also four to six campground host couples. Our Village has 3 to 4 Rangers living in FEMA trailers. Across from our site is a covered ramada with picnic tables and a fire pit. We all meet there at night to enjoy each other’s company and the mesquite fire’s warmth. It’s perfect for sky-gazing since this is a designated Dark Sky Park. So – interesting company, snacks and drinks, beautiful sunsets – makes for pleasant evenings. We call these get-togethers Flamingos because the call to gather is a plastic pink flamingo stuck on top of a tall pole.
The State Park also provides us with events. The staff and volunteers were honored for their contributions at an Appreciation Dinner. We are now wearing our Volunteer Pins proudly. We also attended the Regional Volunteer Venture which gave us an opportunity to mingle with volunteers from the state parks in the southeast region of Arizona. We’ve helped with other events – Cave Fest, Star Party and ate great food at multiple pot lucks. Can’t help but have a good time with these dedicated co-workers.
So now that Spring is here and the mesquite trees are getting their tiny green leaves, the ocotillos are showing signs of their orange-flamed blossoms, and the cactus wrens are making their final inspections of their nests in the prickly pears – now it is time for us to look towards our next adventure.
When we leave Arizona we head towards the Portland, Oregon area where we can’t wait to spend three weeks seeing our family, especially playing with Paisley and Griffin.
From there we head across to the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers – Ice Harbor Lock and Dam – our next volunteer placement. It is an Army Corps of Engineers Park. We begin our work there on May 15th and will stay until after Labor Day. There our duties will be similar to Kartchner Caverns – giving tours, welcoming visitors, and helping in the visitor center. We are looking forward to learning about locks and dams, fish, and Lewis and Clark history.
After that stint, our plan now is to cut diagonally across the country after Labor Day to get to our third volunteer position in Florida by December 15th. We had given up getting any kind of placement in Florida next winter – every place seemed to have long waiting lists. And then we got a call for Oleta River State Park! It’s perfect for us with similar duties and only about 40 minutes from my brother and sister-in-law in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and less than an hour from our sister-in-law in Miami. So it’s time to look forward to a warm winter in Biscayne Bay with family for the holidays.
Then we got a call for another placement in Oregon. This one is at Stubb Stewart State Park, only a short drive from our family in Portland. We have committed to working there for July and August 2019. Bringing us close to our return to Kartchner Caverns! These “jobs” are all exciting to contemplate but the timing is perfect to allow us the travel experiences in between.
For those of you wondering why we would want to “work” again let me explain: All of these jobs are in interesting parks with duties that are really enticing. We love the idea of giving back to the parks that have given us so much joy. And, certainly not the least reason, for any where from 10 hours to 32 hours per week for each of us, we get a free full hook-up site. Depending on season and state, that saves us about $40 per night. So our budget loves this! But we decided we wouldn’t do this unless we really wanted to do the tasks assigned and to be in that part of the country at that time. We are just amazed at our luck in getting these particular jobs.
The many days of travel between positions takes us through states we have not yet explored and gives us many more adventures to enjoy. This life just keeps getting better!
When you last heard from us we were driving into Willcox, Arizona, where we spent one night before we moved into Catalina State Park. As we approached that park, we realized that we had completed the loop we had started last March – driving away from Tucson, over to California, through the Pacific Northwest, then across the middle of the country to a lovely winter in the Southeast, adventures up the East Coast, a beautiful trip to Maine, lots of time with family in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, back through the Midwest, a few weeks in New Mexico and then back to Arizona. What an amazing trip!
Our two week stay in Catalina State Park, which is just a few miles from our former home in Oro Valley, was definitely a homecoming. We had camped a lot in this beautiful treasure of a state park. We remembered many family gatherings and frequent day hikes. It has always been one of our favorite places to take out-of-town guests and a place to spend some mindful hiking; We especially love to recall the weekend we spent here with Doug’s parents and some of our children. We camped in our pop-up trailer and our tent with them.
When I was out of work for a few months, I came to Catalina every morning and grew to love all the trails. I never made it up to Romero Pools or Romero Canyon and the Sutherland Trail which goes all the way to California. But the other trails became familiar territory to me. My favorite is the 2.5 mile Canyon Loop. After I pant up Killer Hill, there is a long desert walk to the edge of the canyon. Walk down many, many stairs and you are on the canyon floor. Here there are beautiful views of the Catalina Mountains, a myriad of Sonoran desert flora – ocotillo, yucca, prickly pear, cholla, agave, rabbitbush, desert broom, and the enormous stately saguaro. Sometimes there is water in the Canyon del Oro Wash but always there is the fascinating story of geology and rocks to read in the landscape.
So Doug and I hiked Canyon Loop together. Doug went for an 8 mile hike to Romero Canyon and another afternoon my friend Crystal and I did the Nature Trail and the Birding Trail – enjoying the setting sun and its shadows.
Catalina State Park
Catalina State Park
We had scheduled healthcare and other appointments while we were conveniently located near Oro Valley. Our daughter Amy slept over during our weekends and our granddaughter Sarah stay over our second weekend. Our son Josh, his wife Liz and their son Sawyer came for a barbecue lunch; Doug’s former co-workers camped next to us for a few days. It was so nice to enjoy family and friends while we reveled in our return to this lovely desert.
It was great to spend a few days with Sarah, who loves our RV. One morning we took Sarah to the Ranger Gatehouse where we were able to show her a 3-d relief map of the mountains and the trail we wanted to hike. There Sarah got to see the 2 snakes that are on display. When we got to the Picnic Area, Sarah got to see lots more snakes. The Naturalists let her hold the snakes. Sarah used to hate when I held a snake, but this time she touched it – then held it – then came back and held it again and loved it. It was a pretty chill light beige gopher snake with pretty eyes. Sarah and I even let a Naturalist put a scorpion on our forearm. (He held the stinger!) Doug kept his distance from the snakes while I avoided the photos of tarantulas. Sarah talked about the snake – “Slitherin”, the whole time we hiked the Birding Trail.
Sarah and Grandma at Catalina State Park
We ran lots of errands, went to lots of appointments, and saw lots of familiar faces. Catalina State Park gave us beautiful views, nice facilities, howling coyotes, a full moon rising over Pusch Peak and hooting owls. Then it was time to move on to our next adventure.
KARTCHNER CAVERNS STATE PARK
We eagerly set up camp in the Lower Volunteer Village at Kartchner Caverns State Park. We took a few days to get settled, check out the little town of Benson, meet our fellow volunteers and rangers and then we got to work.
We have been here now for over a month and we LOVE this park. Every night we enjoy a dramatic sunset – we are surrounded by more mountains here – the Whetstones, the Huachucas, the Dragoons, the Mules, the Chiriachuas, and in the far distance – the San Jose Mountains in Mexico. The sunrises, the sunsets, and pleasant temperatures are only a part of what makes this such a great place. On our second night, our volunteer neighbors invited us to “the pink flamingo” for a get together. Tradition in this village is putting a plastic pink flamingo on a long pole near a fire pit and a ramada with picnic tables; When the flamingo flies it’s time to hang out.
Moonrise over the Dragoon Mountains
Sunset view at Kartchner Caverns State Park
We struggled to remember everyone’s names and who went with whom and who does what, but after a week or two we felt comfortable here in our new home. We are living and working among people who love to travel as much as we do, who are living a minimalist lifestyle in an RV and who treasure nature and all it has to teach us.
Doug trained to drive the tram, which takes the guests from the Discovery Center up the hill to the entrance to the caverns. We both are now trained in other positions. We staff the Gatehouse – welcoming visitors, collecting entrance fees, and giving out information on the caverns and trails in this park. We also take Portal duties. The Portal is the airlock door all our tours go through. Portal duties include opening the door for the tours, welcoming the guests to the caves, and primarily being available there for any emergency; In our very first minutes training at the Portal, a young girl came running out of the cave and vomited over the sidewalk. We quickly learned how to deal with a bio-spill. If someone has to leave the cave – we go in to get them (sometimes with a wheelchair) and help them get on the tram which takes them back down to the Discovery Center.
Our volunteer attire
Both of us have gone through Trailer Training. A Trailer is assigned to assist with tours. The Lead Guides conduct the tours and the Trailer follows at the back of the group. As Trailers we carry a fanny pack with emergency supplies and we have to know the locations of the safety equipment and wheelchairs. If someone gets sick, claustrophobic, or just freaks out, we have to get them out of the cave. If a guest touches a formation, we mark it so it can be cleaned that night. We both enjoy trailing – each guide has their own style and there is always something new to see and learn about in the cave. There are two different tours – one through the Big Room which takes about an hour and 45 minutes and the other through the Rotunda/Throne Room which is a little shorter. We love being in the caves – the formations, the dripping water, the dark expanse is just amazing. Eventually we will also learn to help at the Discovery Center’s front desk. I will be training to be a lead guide after the holidays. There is much to learn about this fascinating natural wonder and I’m looking forward to being able to share it with guests.
Right now we are only working three days a week – a full day on Sunday, and two half days on Monday and Tuesday. We hope to be picking up more hours soon. We take our work seriously but enjoy it much more than we did in other working life. We are energized by this lifestyle. For the past two years on the road, we relished sleeping in – sometimes until 9 am. Now we set the alarm for 5:30 am – and don’t mind that at all, plus there is usually a really nice sunrise to enjoy. After a day of work, we are a little tired because this is much more physical work than we were used to. But it’s FUN! And for all this fun, we are compensated with a beautiful campsite that has full hook-ups along with the incredible views.
We weren’t sure if this kind of long-term volunteering would work for us. But it does – we think our five months here will go by very quickly. For now, we want to concentrate on learning more, enjoying our family visiting us, taking time to get into Tucson, do a little sightseeing in the San Pedro Valley we are living in and celebrating the holidays with new friends, old friends and family.
If you are planning to be around the Tucson area – contact us so we can arrange some time together. We will be here until April first.
