An Evening with Curt and Max

Thursday March 1^st

Another pretty slow day; went out for some odds & ends at Walgreens and Fry’s Grocery and then had an early supper at Pizza Hut.

When we got back to the trailer our next door neighbor was also returning. He is a widower from Mill Valley, WA and travels with his miniature Schnauzer, Max. He has a small homemade trailer with the bare essentials and also has a small motorcycle that he hauls around for economical side trips. We invited him over for a drink and spent the evening sitting at the picnic table telling our ‘stories.’ His wife passed away in 2009. In 2010 he and Max made a 13,000 mile tour of the US while reading John Steinbeck’s book “Travels With Charlie.” In 2011 he made his first European trip, to Italy. I think this is the first winter he spent in Arizona but he said he will probably do it again because the winter weather where he lives is just too depressing. We enjoyed talking to him and enjoyed meeting Max too. Max is blind and occasionally bumps into things but he manages to get his leash wound around things as well as any sighted dog!

Weather was perfect today. 70 degrees and only a light breeze; for some reason it didn’t cool off as fast this evening as it usually does. We were comfortable outside until about 8:30.

A Day Off

Wednesday February 29^th

I guess it was a “Day Off;” never ventured forth until about 4pm and then only to the laundry room to catch up on laundry.

Day Trip to Roosevelt Dam

Tuesday February 28^th

We were up and out pretty early today so we could do a day trip to the Roosevelt Dam about 40 miles NE of here. We stopped for breakfast, a cooler and for gas and finally got out of town about 1030. I thought the road we took (STH-87) would be two lane and possibly gravel but I was wrong on both counts. The highway was four lanes and of recent construction – all the switchbacks in the mountains are gone and replaced with big cuts and sweeping curves. Not the same but a much more enjoyable experience. The scenery was gorgeous; there was a little new snow on the tops of the mountains and everything below is green and budding.

I really enjoy the altimeter function on the Magellan GPS. So we learned that the Saguaro disappear from the landscape at about 3500 ft and the other brush then gets thicker and there are some additional varieties of brush.

We had our picnic lunch at the viewing area near the Roosevelt Dam (inside the Suburban since the temperature was around 50.) The dam is constructed of blocks of stone cut from the canyon walls. It was started in 1904 and completed in 1911 and was the largest masonry stone dam in the world when it was completed – don’t know where it ranks in that category now. I thought it looked like concrete and according to Wikipedia the dam was entirely resurfaced with concrete in the early 1990s. During that renovation the height of the dam was also raised by about 90 feet to a total of 357 feet and other changes were made including the arch bridge and new power house. The dam is on the Salt River, which originates in the White Mountains near the New Mexico border and eventually flows through Phoenix. The purpose of the dam was to reduce flooding and provide irrigation water for farming in the area around Phoenix.

I had planned to return from the dam on a road that comes directly back to Apache Junction, but the road was gravel for many miles and my better half convinced me that returning through the Globe area was the wiser route even though it added a few miles. No end of great scenery on this trip even when we got back to US-60 we got to see several copper mines and the old towns of Miami and Superior.

When we got back we grilled some hamburgers on the charcoal grill. It took hours because of the old charcoal – I think. Anyway it was dark by the time I was done cooking and getting cold fast, once the sun went down.

Windy Day in the Valley of the Sun

Monday February 27^th

Discussion amongst the two Kowalski halves last night and this morning as to when Tony gets to go exploring in the mountains and when Cathey gets to get her hair fixed. So we decided today was for nearby exploring and beauty shop business. Cathey made an appointment at a beauty salon in Gold Canyon, which is a few miles east of here, but that wasn’t until 4pm so we first went to a shopping area in Mesa. I found an istore there where I bought a wireless mouse for my Macbook (fed up with the track pad). Also a brief stop at the Barnes & Noble there and then we discovered an AJ’s Grocery/Deli in the same area. AJ’s was a favorite place for lunch in Tucson on our visits there. This one is very similar but the outside seating area isn’t as nice as the one in Tucson.

I got Cathey to her appointment a little early and then had a little over an hour to do some exploring. I drove E on US-60 to a side road that went to Queen Valley, which looks like a resurrected Ghost town. There is a golf course there and an RV Park as well as a few houses. There is a dam outside the town (on Queen Creek, I assume) but the road up to the dam was locked off so I wasn’t able to see if there was any water behind the dam. Later I looked at the Google map of the area and it looks like there is very little water back there, but it’s hard to tell how old the Google map picture is. Also drove up a dirt road closer to Gold Canyon but didn’t have time to get to anything interesting.

Back to Gold Canyon and picked up Cathey and headed back to the trailer. We were going to cook on the charcoal grill tonight but the wind was blowing pretty briskly and by the time I was ready to give up on getting the charcoal lit, Cathey said we could eat leftovers. It was a very windy day today and you could tell there was a lot of dust in the air. When we got back to the trailer there was a thin coat of grit on every horizontal surface, courtesy of the wind and open windows. Temps still in the mid 70s but tomorrow is supposed to be cooler.

A Day of Rest

Sunday February 26^th

Not much exploring today, mostly a rest day; late in getting up and never stirred out of the trailer until after 3pm. Went out for an early supper to the Dirt Water Springs Restaurant just west of here on “Old West Highway.” This area has a lot of trailer courts and RV Parks full of retirees. So the only people we saw at the restaurant that were under 50 were the waitresses.

The number of manufactured housing units and trailers around here is amazing; I wonder how many of the people around here are year-around residents. Apache Junction is about 30 miles E of Phoenix and about the point where the housing density begins to thin-out. The Superstition Mountains are just a few miles NE of here, very imposing and oddly enough they have a green tint this time of the year, probably spring growth.

After supper we bought a few groceries and headed back to the trailer. The weather today was absolutely spectacular; sunny with a high of 77.

Loooong Trail to Apache Junction

Saturday February 25^th

So, after a discussion of how the trip was going and what we wanted to do, we decided to head for Phoenix area instead of Tucson since we will be going there to meet Terye on the 7^th of March. So it was a much longer drive than I had anticipated. Winds laid down today, which was very nice for driving and it was a delightful sunny day to be driving across NM. Stopped for lunch and gas in Lordsburg and bought Cathey a “truckers’ blue tooth headset.” She has a hard time having people understand her when she is talking on the iphone in the Suburban; I don’t think that the Suburban is exceptionally noisy but I hope this thing helps.

Then off through AZ; doesn’t look as though anything is blooming yet but you can see buds on a lot of the cacti getting ready to bloom.

We stopped at Cathey’s favorite rest stop along I-10 E of Tucson. The area is very rocky with gigantic boulders all over and looks like the set of a western movie.

I was sad to by pass Tucson but we will be back and I will be able to go to our favorite deli that has outside seating. I can’t remember the name of it but quite sure I can still find it. It is in the foothills on the N side of town and looks out over the rest of Tucson.

We didn’t pull into the KOA of Apache Junction until after 8pm. They helped us get the trailer backed into our site and then we had a light supper and hit the hay. New places to explore tomorrow!

Last Day in Las Cruces

Friday February 24^th

A little cooler today, high only got to 61 and was down to 38 last night. Also windy again but not as windy as yesterday when the highest gust was estimated at 44 mph, hope it settles down a little for our move tomorrow.

Pretty slow day, did some shopping at the Mesilla Mall, had lunch at Applebee’s after failing to find the Olive Garden and then home for a nap. Lots of stowing and straightening up to do before we are ready to roll out of here tomorrow.