One of the coolest places on earth, plus a disclaimer!
First, a disclaimer! I apologize if this post is not as humorous
as the past two have been. Dave – the
source of much fodder for my past two blog posts – has been behaving himself
and hasn’t had any “Hey, watch this!” moments lately. That is both good, and bad. Uneventful is good, but it also means no good
belly laughs at Dave’s expense this go-round.
We left Patagonia Lake after
seven glorious days. We got in two most
excellent days of kayaking during our stay, and would certainly go there
again. Our next destination was to the
Whitewater Draw Wildlife Management Area, near McNeal, Arizona, where we were
fortunate enough to experience one of the coolest things either one of us had
ever seen. Up to 20,000 Sandhill Cranes
roost there every year, some coming from as far away as Siberia. The birds spend the night standing in
Whitewater Draw’s shallow waters to evade predators, and then each morning fly
out to feed and socialize in the surrounding fields. They return to the draw in the late afternoon
and early evening hours. The sunsets and sunrises at this 1500-acre preserve,
set to the cacophony of thousands of Sandhill Cranes jabbering with each other,
is really something quite special.
We got up before sunrise
each day to witness the incredible sights and sounds of these cranes, and made
sure to plan our days around being out at dusk when they returned for the
evening. They make a constant chortling
noise which is incredibly loud when multiplied by the thousands of cranes
present. Sandhill cranes are beautiful,
graceful birds and it was truly breathtaking to experience this place and these
birds firsthand. Beautiful sunrises and
sunsets just put the frosting on the cake!
We also visited Tombstone,
famous for the shootout near the OK Corral between the Earp Brothers and the
Clantons. While there we visited the
BootHill Graveyard, where the five victims of the OK Corral shootout are
buried. Tombstone was a roaring mining
town in the early 1880’s and there were many violent deaths. Outlaws, and their victims, are buried in the
BootHill Graveyard as well as suicides and hangings (legal and otherwise),
along with the hardy citizens and refined element of Tombstone’s first days. There are about 250 gravesites, many of them
marked “Unknown.” When authorities could
not identify a person who had died, they would lay the body on a piece of sheet
metal, with ice underneath, and prop it up in a store window. If, after two days, nobody had recognized and
identified the body it would be buried at BootHill in a grave marked “Unknown.”
We had burgers and fries
at Big Nose Kate’s saloon whilst listening to an old cowboy and his country
western music, and then toured the old Courthouse. Tombstone was the county seat of Cochise
County from 1881 to 1929 (when the seat was moved to nearby Bisbee) and the
original Cochise County Courthouse has been restored to its former glory. The Courthouse was built in 1882 in the shape
of a Roman cross; the two-story Victorian structure still stands tall and
proud. The building stood vacant from
1929 to 1955, when it was rehabilitated and developed as an historical museum
that continues to operate to this day as a state park. Fascinating exhibits, including a replica of
the original gallows, and thousands of artifacts tell the story of Tombstone.
Our stay at Whitewater
Draw was memorable not only for the sunrises and sunsets and fabulous birds,
but also because of the cold and, once again, the fascinating people we met. The last evening we were there, the
temperature dropped down to 27 degrees, and the wind absolutely howled. We were packing up to head out when a fellow
camper came over to chat. He and his son
had spent the previous evening in a tent, and another fellow’s motorhome pipes
had frozen. It had been a very cold
evening! We got to talking with him, and
learned he was Chris Decker, a retired school principal from Maine who was
providing chase support to his son, Corey Decker, veteran of the 82nd,
who is riding his bicycle across the country to raise awareness and support for
the war against veteran suicide. They
began their journey in San Diego and it will end when Corey reaches Fort Bragg,
North Carolina in a few months. Chris
shared with us that he was blogging their cross-country journey and how the
school kids back home were following his blog. Corey’s cause is called Mission22, which is
representative of the 21.5 deaths from suicide amongst veterans each and every
day in this country. There is a facebook page – “Decker – The Ride” where you
can follow Corey’s trip across the country and you can support the mission at www.mission22.com. Chris’s blog is http://www.campahedu.com.
After three days at
Whitewater Draw (the maximum; and it was free!), we headed to Quartzsite in
search of warmer weather. Quartzsite is a
small town in western Arizona, just 20 miles east of the Colorado River. With a population of only 3,677, it attracts
more than 2 million visitors a year and January and February are the prime
months, when the temperatures are typically in the 70s and the sun is full on
fabulous. It may very well be the
“boondocking” capital of the world.
There are thousands of acres of BLM land open for long-term visitors and
you can literally park wherever you want as long as you are
self-contained. We paid only $40 for a
14-day stay and for $180 you can stay six months although I don’t think anybody
does that. After March, the temperatures
are categorized as “extreme heat” and some of the businesses close down from
March to September. Summer temps in
excess of 120 degrees are not uncommon.
One of the advantages to this kind of RV’ing, living “off the grid” is that if you don’t like your neighbor, no problem. Easy enough to move! We had a great spot and had been there a couple of days when some yahoos moved in nearby, commencing to run a very loud generator almost constantly which unfortunately was not quite loud enough to drown out their voices. We put up with that for a day or two, and then we just packed up and moved to quieter environs. Easy fix!
Many retirees come here
each winter for the huge RV show, swap meets, and a 2-month long gem and
mineral show. The Sonoran desert
setting, just 879 feet above sea level, holds its own mystique. The surrounding Dome Rock Mountains on the
west and the Plomosa Mountains to the east add a mystic beauty to the landscape
as well as playing an Oscar-worthy supporting role in the fabulous sunrises and
sunsets.
Quartzsite is the burial
place of Hi Jolly, an Ottoman citizen of Greek-Syrian parentage who took part
in the experimental US Camel Corps as a camel driver. The US Camel Corps was a mid-nineteenth century
experiment which was abandoned when it was interrupted by the Civil War and the
camels were sold at auction.
Situated on the Arizona
Peace Trail, Quartzsite will be a major hub in an OHV trail which, when
completed, will link Quartzsite with Bullhead City to the north and Yuma to the
south, and will be one of the longest signed and mapped OHV trail systems in
the country. Immediately surrounding
Quartzsite there are old mines to explore, petroglyphs to wonder at, and miles
and miles of trails and roads perfect for Off-Highway vehicles.
When we first arrived
here in Quartzsite, the entire country was experiencing colder than average
temps and Quartzsite was no exception.
The wind was howling so hard one day it was insane. We were over browsing at the RV Show, trying
to find refuge from the wind, and had taken a break to enjoy a quick hot dog
lunch. While I was waiting for Dave to
return with our lunch, I had observed a fellow nearby wearing only a shirt and
no jacket at all. I was in a down jacket
and was still cold so I thought to myself that this must be one tough guy from
Minnesota or somewhere equally frigid. Dave was wearing a BPA jacket and on his way
back with our lunch, this gentleman walked up to him and said, “I know you!” The
fellow was Jim Nelson, whom Dave had worked with for many years when they were
both PSC Craftsmen at BPA. It is a small
world! Jim and Dave got to catch up on
all the folks they knew in common during their careers and we plan to meet up
with him and his wife to go do some desert exploring nearby.
The cold weather has
passed and we are now enjoying the weather Arizona winters are so famous
for. Yesterday we got in a nice long
bike ride on dirt trails, in shorts and t-shirts. It was a fine day under beautiful blue skies
with a few wispy clouds. I believe the
high was about 75.
This is just one of the sunsets that God had painted the sky with for us.
Life is good.
More later.
Diana
