A Change of Scenery
~Tuesday, February 22, 2022~
Ay 618 (Travel Day)
Cheers to today being a Palindrome Day 2-22-22 which in some cultures is considered to bring good luck. If that’s true, then I guess our luck as the day would have it was being able to watch the magic of the snow fall at our campground this afternoon. Or maybe it was the luck of reading something that got our day off to a wonderful start……..to our friend Gianna, thank you for posting the Holstee Manifesto to remind us of what true happiness really is and the values that we strive each day to uphold. It rings so true, I had to share it with you………..
I think our favorite quote is of course………“Travel Often; getting lost will help you find yourself” since it’s pretty relevant at the moment.
A bit of a strange feeling hitting the road again today after being in one spot for so long. Sadie was definitely ready!
Tucson was great, but it’s time to move on. Even though we hadn’t done the routine breakdown in 4 weeks, we did pretty good with our checklist, though we almost forgot to dump what was left in our freshwater tank. It’s hard to believe, as of today, that the only direction we’ll be heading the next 7 months is north until we’re just south of the Arctic Circle. The more planning we’re doing, the more excited we’re getting about exploring so many unknown sites and territories. And speaking of “getting lost”, we’ll certainly have some challenges that will pull us out of our comfort zone. Hopefully we’ll rise to the challenge.
About 45 minutes into our drive on our way to Cottonwood, AZ, we saw a big rig tire blowout about 4 cars ahead of us (thank goodness we weren’t directly behind), followed by a different hazard 10 minutes later……some old tire shrapnel in the slow lane (where we like to cruise). Jeff was driving and luckily spotted it early enough to dodge it. But with another semi in the fast lane, Jeff had nowhere to go but the narrow shoulder to the right. “Think thin everybody!” He missed the debris by a few inches.
When we arrived at Dead Horse Ranch State Park, after a 200+ mile day, we knew we were in for a good time. The park is in a lovely setting with spacious sites, and splashes of low lying shrubs to help screen your neighbors. And NO cactus. But, it appears we exchanged one hazard for another. Instead of jumping chollas, we now have goat heads and javelinas. Goat heads are those nasty thorny balls that wreak havoc on a pet’s paws and your bike tires. And the javelina? To be honest, we didn’t know what one was, until one of our neighbors walking his dog described it. They look similar to a wild boar and are not afraid of humans nor their pets. If cornered or threatened, they can inflict serious harm on either. It wasn’t more than 10 seconds later, that Jeff and Sadie encountered one and boy did Sadie get riled up standing on her hind quarters and growling. But the javelina was curious about Sadie too, so Jeff decided to escort her in a different direction. Evidently these animals have poor eyesight, but a keen smell. So when they see a dog, they smell “coyote”, not “dog” and ready to defend. So we’re packin’ the bear spray from now on.
What a cold, blustery night in the desert. There is a big weather system affecting much of the U.S. with Arizona expected to get snow during the night. Our camp host informed us that we were on a freeze alert and were kindly asking everyone to disconnect their hoses during the night, so as not to break their pipes. But Jeff was sure that the temps weren’t going to drop below freezing, so decided to stay connected even though disconnecting them wouldn’t be a big deal since we could just store water in our fresh tank and use the pump. We’ll reevaluate again tomorrow. After we got all settled in, we had an amazing dinner of Mushroom Risotto…..the perfect dish on such a cold night.