Roving Reports by Doug P: February 2018

Saturday, February 3, 2018

2018-5 Tucson Arizona, Fort Huachuca and Garden Canyon

2018-5

A favorite shot from our day trip
to Fort Huachuca

Tucson AZ

Campground: 2761 West Ajo hwy, Tucson AZ 85746. Allen Anderson compound. 520-975-5433. $500 month rate includes full hookups, electric included. Well maintained private property with a few Rv sites, one MH and the owners House.

my campsite views for the next month or two

the owners motor-home is to the right and his house

my patio view

Campground: Casino Del Sol. Free parking lot camping

Casino Del Sol

getting ready to pull out, I was able to use the
large parking lot to adjust my Trailer breaks as well

Distance traveled: 6 miles

I enjoyed my stay over at the casino, for free and even won $50 in free play and came out with $28 cash in hand. After my 4 day stay, I was able to move to the private gated compound over on Ajo Highway.

The next day I drove over to Desert Trails campground and started the weekly “Travel Club”. We had a great group of folks and filled the main activity building to capacity. I enjoy sharing my Rv tips and discussing all the great places to explore and visit in each state. We spent the whole afternoon on the state of Arizona and barely had time to finish.

The afternoon concluded with a happy hour over at Ruth-Ann’s place and we ended up having a large crowd for an impromptu get-together.

a spontaneous happy hour at Ruth-Ann's

Fort Huachuca

base housing, Fort Huachuca (Army)

At the end of the week Tom and Christine took me over to Fort Huachuca for a day trip to see the forts museum and hike up Garden Canyon to the Pictographs along the canyon walls. Purely by accident we took a more scenic route through Sierra Vista and past the Empire Ranch, a place I plan on camping at this coming spring. Speaking of spring, it is currently in the 79-80 degree range all this week, hardly feeling like the winter months at all.

a large semi-truck went off the road
and through a guard rail

front end messed up

love love love these views

ahhhh, what views to come

nice having Tom drive so I can take pictures along the way

too awesome

it's like the grasses have captured sunlight and
reflecting it back

we are close to the Mexican border, check points on all the roads

thanks Tom and Christine for stopping
so I can take pictures along the way

Getting back to the drive over to Fort Huachuca, along hwy 82 and 83, through Sonyta, we picked up elevation, bordering some great mountain vistas, cattle ranches and vineyards. The scenery is simply awesome, the dried yellow prairie grasses against the darker mountain ranges. The two lane roads following the natural contours of the land.

Once at Fort Huachuca we were able to learn about this once western outpost which guarded the territory from Apache Indians and incursions from across the Mexican border. Along with learning about it’s “Buffalo Soldiers” the Black American Army soldiers who were deployed out here. As well as learning about it’s newest mission as a training ground for Unmanned drones (planes).

a couple of the very first Unmanned Drones

Buffalo Soldiers

The highlight though would be driving up into Garden Canyon, that is after we finally found the right road leading into the canyon. Had a nice picnic before exploring the canyon. It wasn’t so much of a hike as it was a drive in Tom’s new Ram Truck, then touring the cliff overhangs that contained the Pictographs on both sides of the canyon. They are protected by a chain link fence, even though they are on military grounds. Thankfully little damage has been done and the colors of some of the pictographs are still quite vivid.

Garden Canyon

we'll find that canyon, it's that way

road leading to Garden Canyon

a water falls for
LaVon

Garden Canyon

now here's a canyon wall

pictographs in reds, blues and black and white

I’ll be in the Tucson area for the next couple of months and will post another update if I come across anything interesting to report on. Until then, I hope you're journey is filled with new discoveries around every corner.

can you see why I enjoy traveling out west????

This journey, to be continued.....

more photos:

Fort Huachuca and Garden Canyon

a shot of downtown Tucson

Favorite Camping Resource Books

Camping on a Shoestring, 3rd Eastern Edition by Don Wright (Great list of free and cheap campgrounds eastcoast, lists many city and county park/campgrounds)
Camping with the Corps of Engineers by S.L. Hinkle (a complete guide to campgrounds owned and operated by the US Army Corps)
Coleman, National Forest Campground & Recreation Directory (A detailed list of all the campgrounds in National Forests)
Don Wright's Guide to Free Campgrounds, Western Edition (Great list of free and cheap campgrounds, lists many city and county park/campgrounds)
GOOGLE SEARCH (Don't forget to use the Internet to search: use (city name, campgound, camping for your search)
Military Travel Guide USA (Lists all the Military campgrounds for DoD and retired military)
Passport America book (lists all the half price campgrounds)
RV Camping in State Parks, D.J Davins (A listing of all state parks)

Camping Club Info:

CAMPING CLUBS:

Joining the various camping clubs can be a great help. Each makes their own mark on camping and building communities within the camping world.

Many of the camping clubs I've listed are 1/2 off clubs. By joining, you get 1/2 off the camping rate for one night, a week and some are unlimited stays at their campgrounds.

Also, most everyone who plans on camping for part of the year or is thinking about full-timing get either the Motor Home or Trailer Life magazine. Both offer tons of helpful hints and trips to take throughout the year. Good Sam’s has Highways magazine which you get free with your membership.

I joined a number of clubs and magazines the first couple of years before I became a full timer, just to get an idea of what the community was like out there. After a couple of years, I’ve kept my favorites and dropped the rest. Listed in no particular order.

TIP: Always call ahead and inform them you are a member of a particular CLUB. Sometimes campgrounds drop out or change their policy. It's always good to call ahead and confirm they are still members in the club you've joined.

Escapees: It’s one of the best communities of Rv’ers you’ll ever find. With great support groups and individual clubs with just about every interest and hobby a person could think of. They own a number of campgrounds that you can get really great rates for camping and they provide a 10-15% discount at other campgrounds throughout the country.

http://escapees.com/index2.asp Membership: $60.00 + $10 enrollment fee.

Good Sam’s Is good, but personally I haven’t had much need for them, and their 10% off campground fees has not been much of an incentive. They do have lots of Rally’s and caravans if you have the inclination and are willing to pay for the trips. The trips can be very pricey.

https://www.goodsamclub.com/Membership: $29.95

Passport America: My favorite club!!!!!!!!

It’s a 50% off camping club that gets you 50% off the campgrounds that have signed up with Passport America, (1,800+ campgrounds) good online web site and book for browsing campsites.

If you join, please let them know your were recommended by:

D Palosaari C-271417

http://www.passport-America.com/main/default.asp

Membership: $44.00

Happy Campers: Another 50% off camping club and mirrors Passport America with perhaps a few different campgrounds than what Passport has. Their camp book is small and doesn't have good maps for directions.

http://www.camphalfprice.com/Membership: $49.95

Camping Club USA: recently merged with Passport America

Recreation USA:

I found this club on the Internet and it advertises that all of it’s campgrounds go for $10.00 a night. They also have a half/off section as well. I have been a member for two years, and though I've stayed at a couple of campgrounds on their list, many are no longer available or haven't heard of Rec. USA and I end up not being able to use the camping club discount. Always call ahead on this one to confirm that they are still participating. I've met the owners of the club and they are nice, it's just that they don't seem to keep up with the campgrounds who are supposed to be participating.

http://www.campingandcampgrounds.com/member_updates.html Membership: $44.00 per year.

Brief History

I grew up in the Copper Country's Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I started working from age 13 at the Copperama during the summer as a dishwasher. I remember being so small that I had to stand on two wooden pepsi crates to put the dishes in the dishwasher. After highschool, I attended Suomi College (a Finish oriented college) renamed to Finlandia University a couple years ago.

I had a chance when I was around 20 to travel to Florida with a co-worker from the Copperama (after our usual layoff in the fall) and upon arriving in Fla, I sent a letter home the second day and said, "I'm Staying". My Mom wrote back and said, "Stay, it's the best decision you made in your life.... and when you get settled, we'll come visit".

It worked out well, having moved from one peninsula in the U.P. to Florida, another peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. I love water.

Mom gave very little advice, but reminded me that no one would ever be able to take care of me after I left home, that I could not come back home after I left (except for a weeks vacation), and that I should never ask for a loan, because they didn't have the money.

What she did give me though, was some advice. And that was to look at the years my Dad struggled with making a living. Getting layed off from his construction work every winter until he finally got a job with the State of Mich. at MTU as a maintenance worker. Life was good after that.

So when I got to Florida, I got the hint and after a short period of working at 7-11 and a couple other small jobs, I started to apply for any Gov. job. City, County, State and Federal.

I finally got a job with the Navy starting out as a GS-2 temporary part time not to exceed 90 days putting cans of beans on the shelves at the commissary. My foot was in the door and a career that eventually spanned 31 years ending up as a Logistics Manager.

my desire to travel was realized after years of camping and enjoying the great outdoors. I got started camping just to save money and it became a lifelong source of joy.

Hint to those just starting out in the working world: Every job has it's fringe benefits, some are written down, some aren't. Learn what they are and take advantage of them.

Example: If I got on committees that required travel, I could travel at the Goverments expense. Plus, I could extend my stay after the work as vacation. The Gov. paid my way out and back for my job and for my vacation!

Dreams do come true. Stay focused and keep working on them and one day, yours will come true too.

Roving Reports by Doug P

Saturday, February 3, 2018

2018-5 Tucson Arizona, Fort Huachuca and Garden Canyon

Tucson AZ

Distance traveled: 6 miles

Fort Huachuca

Garden Canyon

Provinces traveled in w/camper

States traveled in w/camper