Days 142, 143 & 144

20131119. Day 142. Tuesday

Were on a mission. Well, going to one anyways

Morning arrives rather quickly again, for some reason it happens every day. Were use to it, and brew up the french press very quickly. Then its egg scrambles. Then we shower. Then we gear up to go. What a great habit we have here in our lovely campah. 
Todays destination is Tumaccacori National Park. About 40 miles south of us, within 10 miles of Nogales, Mexico. We cruise out to the Interstate 10, and head west. Were heading to Interstate 19 south. Its about 10 miles to the split. We get onto I-19 south, and traffic thins out quickly. I twist it up, and we get to hauling the mail. Again. Traffic moves out here. Speed limits are 75mph, so 85 is the normal speed. If your in the hammer lane, its 90+. I try not to stay in the hammer lane. No need to get a certificate now. 
I-19 is measured in KM. Kinda odd. I have to keep a running calculator in my head till finally, I just say screw it. We will see a sign for where we are heading. It takes about 45minutes, and were there. Exit 38, Tumaccacori National Park. Off the exit, left, and a left. North on the Frontage road. About 2 miles and were there. We park under the shade tree, and head on in. 

We save $3 each. Because of that spiffy pass we have. The lady volunteer tells us a tour is going out in about 5 minutes, if we go now, we can catch them in the courtyard.

My Beautiful wife waits impatiently for me!

Away we go. The fellow there is another volunteer. He certainly knows this place, and this area real well. We talks about the history of the King of Spain, and how he sent people here to convert the Indians to his religion. And there I go, A.D.D. kicks in, I’m lost to whatever he says. Religion is not exactly my favorite subject. One might even consider me a bit hostile to all that nonsense. But, we hang in there, and listen him up. 

He takes us on a tour, explaining that a “mission” is not a church, its a full blown settlement to convert people to there religion. Its interesting in the sense, they built a small community here, there, and everywhere. Converted those that they could, and cast away those they couldnt. Called them traitors, turned them into enemies. Its crazy. I have little interest in that nonsense, and pay little attention to it. In fact, my disdain, might have perturbed one or two of the other tourists. Go figga. Serves them right, they need a wake up call now and then. DOH!

We finally get outta there with any rafters falling in the old church, so I figured were safe for a few more decades. I dont think this impressed me at all. Done
Lets find a ride back to the camper anyways. We headed south down I-19 to exit 18. Followed River road over to RT82, Thats taking us on the fun ride, up by Patagonia Lake. Another Damb Dam out here. To save water for the population, who chose to live in an area with little to no water. Yes, indeed. We taxpayers bought them a damb dam, so they can live in an area without water??? Huh
Anywho, were motoring right along, at a nice pace. Up towards RT83. In the Coronada National Forest. We get there and head North, thru the cool hills, till we get back into the scrub desert. It sure is flat out here, and a tad boring. 
We get back to the Fairgrounds, pull up to the RV, and were done. Another day in the desert, with a mission. 
Dinner was grilled ham-n-cheese, with a salad to follow
Weather today was sunny, in the 70s, tonight its cooling off, into the low 50s
Total miles today, zero on the RV, 145 on the bike

Tomorrow we head east a bit, to the next state park. kartchner Caverns. 

20131120. Day 143. Wednesday

Heading East? And up? 

Time to move it along. Enough of Tucson. We have seen what we wanted, and been able to spend some time soaking up the warm weather. Hopefully, soaking up some in reserve. We might be needing it. 
Were up around the usual times, and I am a bit motivated this morning. I want to go get a couple scissor jacks for the back of the RV. To much movement during certain events. We need some stability back there, all that twisting and turning at bedtime. I also want to get a new light for the main area in the RV. I need LED lighting, low amp draws, and they last forever. We seemed to have drained the Coach battery kinda low somehow, something is draining it, slowly. Its my next challenge to find. I love electrical stuff. Um, yea. 
So, after a morning french press full of thanksgiving blend I move the campah over to a regular site, with water and juice. I need to get the batteries charged up, and Lauren needs to use the water. The fresh water tank was empty, after 4 days. Not bad, considering all the use. So, I gear up, and head towards the Air Force Base, about 10 miles up I-10 west. I get off exit 265 and go north on the industrial road towards the base, and take a right on contractor way. There are a bunch of auto salvage yards, and all I need are 2 scissor jacks. As long as there in working order, I am good to go. 1st place said nope. Aint got none. Hmm, ok, go to the 2nd place. He said sure, $23 each, plus tax, umm, ok, show me what you got. He comes back with two pieces of shit, rusted, no handles, total junk. I walk away. 3rd place said, he tosses them all into the scrap pile, scrap weight is UP. 4th place says sure, $60 bucks for the pair, but it will take an hour or more for the helpers to pull them. Fahgetaboutit. I was planning to go to Camper World anyways, I will just get the new ones for $70 a pair. I pull in, and of course I spend way more then I expect. But, I needed a couple thing, so thats just the way it goes, eh. I strap the stuff onto the bike, and cruise back to the Fairgrounds. 
Lauren has the wash mostly done, so I load up the bike, and get everything ready to go. She warms up some pasta for me, and were good to go. We head outta there and go north on Houghton Road again. First stop is an RV park, we wanna fill the propane. Its not low, but were still learning about the gauges and there accuracy. 2.9 gallons, and were done. Not bad, $10 worth of propane for 2 weeks. Not bad at all. Then we go get some Petrol, uggh, this is always painful. 21 gallons. It has been a while since we filled it. When we were just south of Phoenix. A week ago. Then to the Starbucks for some freelicious coffee, and an hour or so of internet. Finally we get back to traveling.
Were on I-10 west, were going to exit 302. Were at 275. This is easy. A nice ride upwards. Destination is the town of Benson. Were gonna hole up at Kartchner Caverns State Park for a couple days. Its suppose to rain friday, and saturday. So we will go towards Bisbee and Tombstone on Thursday. The sun is sinking low when we get to RT90 south. Its 10 miles from the interstate to the State Park. We heard a couple strange noises as we were traveling on the Interstate, but just figured it was stuff shifting around.

Cheap Chinese Tires explode.

We arrive just as the sun is gone, and were pulling into a dark park. We pick a site, and find the host. Friendly people. We pay for the weekend, and were done. Settled in. Plugged in to water and juice for $25/night. Fair enough. 

We have a quick dinner of salad and veggie burgers. Done
Weather today was high 60s, and breezy. You can feel the weather changing. Lots of stars out tonite, and a bright moon with them.

Total miles today was 63 on the RV, and 28 on the bike.

Tomorrow were tourists again, going south to Bisbee, and Tombstone. 

20131121. Day 144. Thursday

Tombstone or Bisbee or Both.

We are in the State Park just outside of Benson. They have Caverns here, but, its a pricey tour. $23/each side. Ouch. Thats right, they separate the caves, and charge you $23 for each tour. So if we were to do both, its just shy of a $100 for us. Doubtful we have any interest in that. 
We wake up, get outta bed, drag a comb across my head, on the way upstairs, i forget what I was saying. French Press and Thanksgiving Blend. Now thats what Im talkin bout. Indeed. Of course, some over easy eggs is the correct follow up for that, and we manage to fulfill ourselves up. Sure would be nice to have toast with them. This hobo lifestyle can be so difficult. 
We knew the weather was turning ugly in the next couple days. Friday and Saturday forecast calls for rain. Friday some, Saturdays more. Not much fun there. Use to be we would try to ride away from it, but now that we have a campah, we figure we can kinda hunker on down, and wait it out. And test the patch on the roof all at the same time. Thats a win win for everyone. 
Todays plan is to head south and do a couple tourist things. Tombstone is the home of the OK corral. Apparently there was a shoot out there once, a long while ago. Its a restored town from the mining heydays back in the 1800s. 
We gear up, and make a break for it. Down RT90 southbound we go. Throttle open, wind in the hair, letting it rip. No need to worry about speed limits out here it seems. Everyone just drives at the speed there comfortable. We go about 15 miles, then hang a left on RT82. Easterly direction now. The wind is starting to kick up a bit now, getting rather blustery. We blast along thru the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area without even blinking. Ho-Hum. Its just a riverbed with lots of trees, and it spreads out a bit. Once we cross thru all the greenery, were at the intersection of RT80. Bang a right and were southbound again, 3 miles to go. The weather is noticeably changing here. Big clouds are rolling in, and the wind is blustery. Definitely a storm is brewing now. 
We roll into Tombstone, and park on a side street and wander into cowboy row. Its a neat looking area. No traffic on the main drag thru here.

Just a couple of horse drawn carriages, willing to take you and 3 of your close friends and a tour of the scenic area. With stops at the OK corral, and the legendary courthouse, where the hanging gallows are still there. We pass at the chance to waste $30, and start wandering up the block. The shops were open, but not busy at all. Lots of gift stores, souvenirs and assorted craft shops. Boring. We do the full loop on the boardwalks, and wonder what all the hoopla is about. This is just boring. Unless your a cowboy junkie, and have a big interest in fake gunfights and assorted fuckery, then its a cool place. If not, its why bother. So, we had our lunch on a bench near the bike, and decided to git on outta here. Bisbee is next. 
We blast back to RT80, and continue southbound. Its another 20 miles, and were banging gears and gitting gone. Before to long were climbing into the Mule Mountains. Next thing ya know, were going thru the tunnel and dropping into Bisbee. An old mining town from back in the day. Its turned into a cool little hippy town now. Kinda full off odd people, and hipsters. And artists. And what not.

We park the bike in front of the coffee shop, and head in for a cup.We decide to indulge in some dessert while were there. Coffee was great. Pie was even better.

After getting recharged with caffeine, we wandered around this little town. Nothing to see here folks. Its an OK place. But, its really not very interesting on a cloudy cool Thursday in November.

Maybe a saturday night in October, or something like that. But there was nothing going on here today. Just regular people working. Perhaps if we were into art, or antiques, we might have had some interest. But, we just dont really have any interest in it. Not at all. So we head for splitsville. 
First thing we do is head south of town and look at the, ginourmous hole in the ground. The old copper mines. Pretty interesting.

We take some pitchers, and we notice the clouds are getting darker. And closer. We are up in elevation here, probably 5800 feet. Time to go. Now.

Back onto RT80 north, thru the Mule mountains we go. Its a nice ride here. Pretty close to these mountains. They just seem to rise up off the desert floor. Unique. We get to RT90, and hang a left. Heading into Sierra Vista. We can stop for groceries there and stock up a bit. Once were in town, we see the food store, and stop and shop. About $40 later were done and stuffing the panniers full for the blast back. 
We get back to RT90 North. Its only about 20 miles to the campground. Its a straight shot up and were on the way. 
We pull in just as the sun is sinking low in the sky.

It was not that interesting of a sightseeing day today. Fun to ride, see some new stuff, but not exactly our thing.
We had a great dinner. Lauren made supreme Nachos in the Oven, and rice and beans. Wow, great dinner. No really, my wife is an awesome cook. Me so lucky.
Weather today was cloudy, mid 60s, tonight is thick clouds, maybe mid 50s, dropping into the low 40s.

Total miles today. Zero on the RV, 110 on the bike.

Tomorrow were staying home. We have some chores to do on the RV, and might hike around in the state park.