Mesa/Usery Mountain, AZ: New Year, New Destination in Our Own Backyard!

In the past, we've driven thousands of miles to get to beautiful RV camping spots, but for three days around New Years Eve 2015, we stayed close to home at Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa, AZ.  Our favorite travel companions, the Weed Family, joined us for the occasion.

It was really nice to forgo a longggg drive and park our rig just 27 miles away from Phoenix.

Phoenix is that-a-way!

Usery Mountain Regional Park is 3,648 acres near the Goldfield Mountains, adjacent to the Tonto National Forest.  It was named for King Usery, a cattleman running stock in the area from 1870's-1880's.  "King" was his first name (not his title), although his life was far from royal, with a tough struggle to survive and a penchant for unorthodox activities which would eventually land him behind bars. One of many examples has King being part of a stagecoach robbery where he took two bars of silver bullion (value: $2,000) which he (unsuccessfully) buried in swampy ground near the Salt River, a crime for which has was sentenced to seven hard years in Territorial Prison in Yuma.  Moral of the story:  apparently even if you are a hardened thug, you can still get a mountain and a regional park named after you.

Usery Pass was also a major sheep trail leading from north of Mt. Baldy south to the Salt River valley.  Flocks of sheep, led by Mexican and Basque shepherds and their dogs, made a picturesque sight in spring and fall as they moved through.  Today, although you are driving through populated areas and fancy subdivisions to get there, once you enter the gates of the park, you are a world away from civilization, with peaceful, quiet solitude all around.

Buckthorn Campground in Usery Mountain Regional Park

A half-mile nature walk included identifiers and a summary for 17 different Sonoran Desert plants.  We were lucky to have a live narrator in 7-year-old Kate!

Four different cactuses (cacti?) in one shot: ocotillo, barrel, saguaro, cholla!

Although the cactus are beautiful, the droppings from the chain-fruit cholla are all over the ground in the area. Each little growth in the photo below represents the birth of yet another prickly little ball of hell.  They were totally unavoidable and very annoying, particularly to the puppies who kept getting them in their paw pads.

Philip and I enjoyed hiking the Wind Cave Trail, a popular 3.2 mile trail up the volcanic granite of Pass Mountain (known as "Scarface" to the locals).  The higher hillsides were covered in a beautiful, bright-green moss.

Along the way there are tiny rest stops ....

...and at the top of the trail is the biggest rest stop,

a mountainside alcove with breathtaking views from 2,840-foot elevation ...

... complete with super-cool bee hive hanging from the rocks above our heads (though luckily the bees themselves are in hiberation this time of year).  Not so in the summer, according to the locals.  You've been warned!

No Arizona camping trip would be complete without amazing sunset shots.  Kate (age 7, remember) grabbed my camera and spent a good hour documenting the beauty of the evening.  A budding future Ansel Adams, perhaps?  We think, "YES"!

New Years Eve dawned cool and clear and we enjoyed delectable shisk-ka-bobs on the grill, 

fun times around the fire and celebratory sparklers.

Philip did the traditional "White Man Fire Dance" to bring good luck for 2016. 

(click play in bottom left & turn on your speakers for seven seconds of classic Philip)

The Lucky Charm got a facelift of sorts for the New Year.  We installed lightweight tin ceiling tiles to make a fancy headboard of sorts.  Never ones to miss exploitation of a theme, we chose a "Lucky Charm" pattern in the tiles.  

Before, because of low-hanging cabinetry over the bed, we couldn't even sit up straight with our morning coffee and newspapers.  And, just climbing into bed was cause for much cussing as we frequently whacked our heads on the cabinets.  We raised it higher and converted to a shelf for easier access to blankets etc., and also added individual reading lights.  Ahhhh ... love the changes!

BEFORE ... PHILIP HAS TO SLOUCH AND LEAN SIDEWAYS

AFTER ... THE CANINES APPROVE OF CHANGES TO "THEIR" BEDROOM!

Our 2016 travel plans include more new (to us) Arizona locales, including Dead Horse State Park in Cottonwood, and a repeat visit to our perennial favorite, Picacho Peak State Park. 

 During our six-week Summer 2016 trip, we will be heading north to Canada ... Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, and Calgary for the famous rodeo, the Calgary Stampede.  Happy 2016 from The Millers!

Apache Junction, AZ: Desert Downtime in Lost Dutchman State Park!

Some RV trips are all attractions and sightseeing and going and doing, and some are just the opposite ... downtime, relaxation, lots of sighing and oohing and aahing over nature's bounty.  A visit to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, AZ, is just that ... an oasis of desert beauty just 30 minutes from Phoenix, where visitors can kick back and decompress from life's busyness.

The campsites are set at the base of the Superstition Mountains, which are beautiful by morning's first light ....

As daybreak turns into morning ....

At dusk ...

And as night falls!

And don't EVEN get me started on the gorgeous desert sunsets!

  

We enjoyed the special treat of a rare "lunar halo" over our campsite.  We learned from Google that halos come from high, thin cirrus clouds 20,000 or more feet above our heads.  Tiny ice crystals in the Earth's atmosphere cause the halo by both refracting (splitting the light) and reflecting (sending glints of light) at the same time.  The sky inside the halo is always darker than the rest of the sky.  These pictures do not do it justice ... it was so magical!

Lost Dutchman has a variety of hiking trails leading out from the park, most notably the famous "Flatiron" trail.  While only 6 miles round trip, the last mile includes a 2,000 foot elevation gain on a steep, difficult, unmaintained trail!  Definitely out of our league, but we enjoyed a half-day hike and picnic lunch on the Siphon Draw trail nonetheless.

After all that exertion, we earned the enjoyment of luxuries like campfires and steak on the grill!

(Like anyone actually needs an excuse for steak on the grill!)

But wait!  There's more to explore at Lost Dutchman!

How about a designated place to park your cactus?

Or, forget your watch?  There's a coyote sundial for that!

But really, the best thing about Lost Dutchman is simply enjoying the stolen moments

 of bonding with your spouse ... or your dog.  :-)

LOST DUTCHMAN, we love you!  We'll be back again soon!

Madrid, NM & Meteor Crater, AZ: The Home Stretch (Days 41-42 of 42)

Our 3,116-mile journey had to come to an end, partially because we planned it that way, but mostly because we were getting a little tired of the single-ply toilet paper that RV septic systems demand.  Bring on the two-ply Charmin!  But we had two fun stops planned along the return road from Colorado: the revived-ghost-town-artists'-hamlet known as Madrid, NM (that's MAH-drid, not ma-DRID) and the world's largest and best preserved meteorite impact site, Meteor Crater, AZ.

Madrid, NM is a peculiar little place, about 30 miles south of Santa Fe.  It was formerly an abandoned ghost town, and many of the buildings in town still have that appearance, even though they are fully occupied.

Madrid has recently evolved into 305-person destination town, mostly consisting of artists and misfits who are happy walking the streets in bare feet and selling their curious wares from renovated little houses turned into shops and galleries.

Even the locals are quick to agree that they are quirky, as this poster attested, encouraging everyone to come let their "freak flag fly" in a parade, and then afterwards attend the world's smallest pub crawl (there are only 2 eatin' and drinkin' places in town, across the street from each other).

The local weather vane tells you what kind of weather to expect based on the current condition of the weather bone.

This place looks like a working diner (inside and out) but it isn't; it was actually built specifically for a scene in the 2007 biker movie "Wild Hogs" with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy.

The one and only restaurant in town, The Hollar, is actually very highly rated and we loved their outdoor patio.  The name comes from a very-old Southern Kentucky term meaning "down the road a spell," an apt description of Madrid itself.

Madrid is SUPER-dog-friendly and we wished we had brought Bella and Sprinkles to town, as they had never before had their very own menu to choose from.

The one and only bar in town, the Mine Shaft Tavern, was relatively quiet during our visit, but supposedly very rowdy on the weekends and during numerous unusual festivals held in town.

As a 48-year Arizona native, I had never visited Meteor Crater and felt great shame. The WORLD'S largest and best-preserved meteorite impact site, and I couldn't find the time to drop by?  No way.  This travesty had to come to an end.

Even though it wasn't "earth shattering" (get it?), wasn't super "impactful" (har har), and didn't "rock our world" (the hits just keep on coming, folks!) it actually was really amazing, if just for its size if nothing else.

It is impossible to properly convey the size, but you could put 22 NFL football fields in the bottom and fill the sides with 2,000,000 fans and still have room to spare.   It's 3 miles across and a 60-story building could fit inside!

Here is one side ....

.... and here is the other.  

It was traveling 40,000 miles per hour, meaning it would have been sighted in Paris just 3 minutes before hitting in Arizona.  See that "little" rock at the arrow below, on the rim of the crater?  That rock is bigger than a house.

The meteor responsible for this hole was estimated to be 150 feet across and had enough iron-nickel to make 42,000 automobiles!  They also have a huge and modern Visitor Center with a short movie and lots of science-y educational exhibits.

Here is a "picture of a picture" from inside the Visitor Center, because it is too big to get a photo of the whole thing with my camera.  You can see the Visitor Center on the lower left, another indication of the overall size.  Amazing!

Philip and I cherished our time together in close-knit quarters (although we have to give the prize to the Missouri couple we encountered in Breckenridge who is RV'ing with their EIGHT children, all in one RV.  That might put me over the edge!).  We love the RV lifestyle and love each other, while loving seeing the U.S. up close and personal!  The kids made this pillow for the RV and gave it to Philip for Father's Day present this year ... perfect!

We returned to Scottsdale and upon opening 6 weeks worth of mail, found a letter advising that this photo of the Lucky Charm (taken between Silverton and Ouray, CO) was chosen as runner-up in a national photo contest held by Motorhome Magazine and Fleetwood RV for "truly capturing and depicting the RV lifestyle!  Nice validation to continue dragging my camera as a constant companion on our adventures.

The 2015 Summer Adventure has drawn to a close, but we have so many wonderful memories to relive. Six weeks ... 3,116 miles ... and 1 gazillion beautiful sights!  Truly a Summer Adventure to remember!