December 27, 2005

December 27, 2005

Yuma to Organ Pipe National Park, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 193

 

Today was sunny and very warm again.

At the moment ( 6:30 P.M. ) I am sitting at the picnic table, drinking a beer, with a lantern beside the laptop, in our unserviced campsite in Organ Pipe National Park. The sun has just set behind the mountains and is casting an orange glow in the sky. I have a campfire burning beside me, with potatoes baking on it. When they're done, I'll put a steak for me, and a pork chop for Joanne, on the barbecue.

This morning we prepared for departure from Kofa Co-op SKP Park after a 3 week stay. Yuma is one of the nicest places we've stayed in our travels, and is definitely a place we will consider when it comes time to select a "winter home". I did preventive maintenance, refilled the fresh water holding tank, drained the waste holding tanks, then began to hitch up. Joanne took care of departure preparations inside the trailer, then went to the office to pay our bill. Our electricity bill was higher than we expected. This was one of those parks that charges a daily fee, plus metered electricity. Whenever we have that arrangement in the future, I think we should run the water heater on propane rather then electricity. The water heater was the only reason that I can think of that would have caused such high power consumption. We chatted for awhile with the man from Quebec camped across the road from us, then pulled out.

We drove through Yuma to Interstate 8, then got onto the Interstate heading east. After about an hour of driving we stopped at the town of Dateland, which grows, of course, dates. We sampled about half a dozen different types of dates, then selected a bag of Honey Dates, which are slightly smaller, and softer, than Medjool Dates. We bought 2 date milkshakes, and hit the road again. The date milkshakes were so filling, we skipped lunch. We stopped again at the town of Gila ( pronounced "Heela" ) Bend to buy gas and groceries. At Gila Bend we got onto Hwy. 85 headed south towards Mexico. We drove through the towns of Ajo ( pronounced Aho ) and Why before getting to Organ Pipe National Park just north of the Mexican border. We stopped at the Visitor Information Centre to pick up some information before registering at the campground and setting up on our assigned campsite.

This is as far north as Organ Pipe Cacti grow, and is the only location in the United States where they can be found. I'm glad I decided to come here and see Organ Pipes. This park is filled with Organ Pipes, Saguaros ( Sah wharos ), Chollas ( choyas ), and Ocotillos ( ocoteeyos ). There is a warning on the bathroom building to beware of the 6 ( count 'em ... six ) different types of rattlesnakes here. We have our very own personal Organ Pipe Cactus growing in our campsite right beside the trailer.

When I unhitched the truck from the trailer, and moved the truck forward, I noticed some drips on the ground behind the truck. I crawled underneath the truck to take a look, and sure enough, the rear differential is leaking. !)@(#*$&%^ ! ! ! Why can't people fix things right, even when given a second chance to do so ? ? ? ! ! ! I'm going to have to waste more time trying to find an Aamco shop in Tucson or Benson ( not likely to find one in as small a place as Benson ), and have the rear differential resealed AGAIN ! To add insult to injury, a few minutes later when I went to start the truck, the starter failed to engage AGAIN ! I had to tap it with a breaker bar. Just a very light tap is enough to loosen whatever sticks, and the starter engages. I set up our little solar panel to keep the trailer "house" battery charged up. The solar panel was a gift from my sister and brother-in-law, and works excellently to keep the battery charged when we're in an unserviced campsite like this, with intense desert sunshine. Thanks, Sharon & Bud.

We drove back to the Visitor Centre, and went on a short hike around the desert, with a guide book corresponding to the numbered markers along the trail. One of the interesting things I learned was why their thermometer is on a pole 5 feet above ground. It's because the temperature here reaches 175 degrees F. at ground level, but only reaches 118 degrees 5 feet above ground. WOW ! In addition to finding a Cactus Wren nest in a Cholla, we also saw a dead Cactus Wren tangled in and impaled on the needles of a Cholla. I wonder how the hell the poor little bugger managed to screw up like that ?

We returned to the campground as the sun set and the temperature plummeted. It was 82 when we arrived, and the temperature here drops over 40 degrees when the sun goes down. The potatoes are finished baking on the campfire, and the steak and pork chop are almost finished cooking on the barbecue. Just about time to shut off the laptop and go inside for supper.

We had supper, then I did today's accounting. When I went outside to clean and put away the barbecue, I noticed how clear and bright the desert night sky is here. I guess that’s why there is an astronomical observatory nearby.

DSK