January 13-17, 2014 -- Quartzsite to Kartchner Caverns

We spent 13 days in Quartzsite, visiting with friends and getting warm.  It was soooo nice to have 70 degree days and nights well above freezing!  Our friend Bob came over from San Diego and Wayne did a top end on his KTM 400.  Wayne worked on our bikes, but mainly on friend’s bikes.  On Monday we took the coach in to get the solar evaluated.  It wasn’t working well enough for us, so they suggested a new Blue Sky controller/booster, meter and an additional solar panel. So Tuesday found us back at Discount Solar getting the work done.  We got back to our spot  around 1 pm and put out the slides, only to discover that our generator's fuel pump was running.  Hmm… so a call to Discount Solar was made to see if they knew why this would happen.  They sent their electrical specialist Clayton to check it out.  Clay is wonderful to work with.  He worked until dark, stayed for dinner, and asked us to call the shop in the morning to see if they could fit us in.  He may not have found the issue that night, but he called us in the morning with a test to do, and said bring the coach in ASAP and he’d find the problem.  And he did!  It was not anything Discount Solar did, but instead a bare wire under the bed that was being kinked when we put the slide in.  We would never have found that, until it caused a fire that is.  We were so lucky to have these guys to work with!!!  If you are thinking about solar and are in Arizona during the winter season, these are the guys to do the job.  This is the second coach we have had them work on and we have always come away feeling they did a great job for us.  I highly recommend them.
We stayed long enough to watch the Saturday Football game (Go Seahawks!!) and for Wayne to ride with the boys on Sunday.  On Monday we headed south to Yuma.

Getting ready to roll

We detoured to Wellton to pick up a package of mail, did some shopping in Yuma and then went to Sew Masters to spend the night.  We had an early morning appointment to have them make a sun shade for the windshield and side windows.  This should be the last item we need to make dry camping in Idaho more comfortable.

Wayne and Andy getting comfortable

 

After our sun shades were done we headed over into California, just south of the Q Casino on the road to Los Algodones.  We found camping right off the road, gathered our passports and walked the 1.5 miles to the border crossing.  First stop, shrimp tacos for lunch!! There is a taco vender just off the first cross street that makes the best shrimp tacos, we stop every time we are in town.  From there we picked up my medication and our ration of alcohol and we were done.  No shopping for doodads this year. In the morning (Wednesday) Benjamin’s Mobil RV Wash came to our site on BLM land and gave the coach a much needed wash and wax.  Even the trailer got a bath. As soon as they were done, we were out of there!!

 We are finally headed east!

Let the adventure begin!!!

We followed this guy for so long, I thought he was going to be our new best friend. We REALLY wanted to teach him how to use cruise control... 

Wind mill along highway 85

We planned to go as far as Ajo, but it was only1 pm when we went through, so we continued on to Tucson. As we were leaving Ajo, I saw a number of old Spanish style buildings that I would have like to look at, but it’s hard to turn the Beast around on short notice, so next time through I’ll be sure to have us stop and spend some time.  In Tucson we stayed at the Casino Del Sol, in their parking lot.  Many RV’s stay there; some for more than just a night.  It was easy in and out, fairly level, had restaurants for dinner and parking was free.  What more can you ask for??

While we were in Yuma I had made reservations at Kartchner Caverns for a tour on Friday afternoon, expecting us to take 3 days to travel and hit Costco.  Except we were running ahead of schedule; and while I was trying to decide where to spend an extra night I remembered the park had a  campground. I went on line and made a reservation for Thursday night.  It was slick, I put in the length of the Beast plus the trailer, and the app only showed me the sites that were available and would fit.  One was 78’ long and had our name on it, so I reserved it.  We arrived Thursday afternoon, after making a Costco run in Tucson.

Spot 37

On Friday I had tickets for a tour in the afternoon so we had time to kill in the morning.  We decided to walk the Foothills Loop Trail.  It is about 2.5 miles long and although not as challenging as Picacho Peak (see blog March 13, 2013) it’s still a climb in some places.

 Kartchner Caverns are under this hill

 

At 1:45 we toured the “Big Room” in Kartchner Caverns.  What an experience.  This cave is one of the best preserved show caves in the world.   

In November 1974, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts were exploring the limestone hills at the eastern base of the Whetstone Mountains. They were looking “for a cave no one had ever found” and found it. The two kept the cave a secret until February 1978 when they told the property owners, James and Lois Kartchner, about their discovery. Since unprotected caves can be seriously damaged by unregulated use, they knew the cave had to be protected. It took a lot of work, but in 1988 the Arizona Parks Department bought the land, and the park opened in 1999 with $28 million in developments.  They did a wonderful job with the site, I recommend you stop and see the wonders. Truly worth the time and money.

“What we are going to see is a living cave with rooms filled with beautiful formations.” – Randy Tufts (1988)

Unfortunately you can’t take photos in the caves, so I have nothing to show you, but check out their website at http://azstateparks.com/parks/kaca/index.html.

After the tour we headed 20 miles away to Tombstone Territories RV to spend the night and do laundry. Tomorrow we’ll go to Tombstone (home of the gunfight at OK Corral) and then on to Bisbee.  It should be fun!