2018-8
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| Happy Easter |
Fort Huachuca
Arizona
Sierra Vista Arizona
City of Rocks st Pk,
New Mexico
Campground: Apache
Flats at Fort Huachuca. $22 full hookups, Military, D.o.D.
employees. Kind of high priced for a military base, but guess they
are all increasing their rates.
Campground: City of
Rocks State Park, New Mexico. $10 dry camping. $14 electric sites.
Awesome rock formations, best sites are the dry camping sites. Elec.
sites are mostly pull-thru sites and are fairly close together. ($225
for out of state seasonal pass= free camping for an entire year)
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| City of rocks state park, New Mexico |
Distance traveled:
43 miles
After enjoying a
week at Empire Ranch and doing a shake down cruise with the generator
I’m heading to the campground at Fort Huachuca to join friends
Kathy and Randy for a couple of days.
Generator Update:
After testing out
the generator and going through it’s break in period, I had run out
of propane and installed a new tank. After that, it wouldn’t
start. Working various scenarios trying to diagnose the problem, my
friend Tom, mentioned that one of his BBQ grills won’t start if too
much propane is flowing through the system. After multiple tries
reducing the propane flow to the generator, I have found that
“starving” the propane after initially opening the propane valve
does the trick and the generator will start. Quickly turning the
valve back open and the generator runs just fine. This may be
required after installing a “full tank” of propane. We’ll see
as I continue to learn the best way to perform the start up
procedures.
The fix that Tom recommended did work but in the
end after bringing the generator into Home-Depot, they recommended
that I return it for a refund and re-order a new one. Which I ended
up doing. The Home-Depot and the Westinghouse tech reps both felt it
should function properly with the propane tank opened fully from the
start. Possibly something wrong with the auto-choke feature.
I’ve ordered the
new replacement to be delivered along my travel route and will pick
it up in about 10 days in Las Lunas NM
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walks along the riverbed and cottonwood trees with Kathy
and Shelby (the dog) |
In the mean time,
I’ve enjoyed my stay at Fort Huachuca next to good friends Kathy
and Randy. I’ve been able to get acquainted with the town of
Sierra Vista outside of the base and have found it to be a delightful
town with all of the necessary shops and stores. The area sits about
4,500 ft high, which means it is a bit cooler than the Tucson area.
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| on the Army base |
We traveled up into
a canyon that Kathy and Randy hadn’t been to before. Discovered a
few mining claims, old stone walls from previous mining adventures
and practically stumbled a Catholic Shrine near the entrance to the
canyon. How appropriate as we toured the shrine overlooking the
valley below on Good Friday. I’ve always enjoyed doing something
special and different on the various religious holidays and this fit
the bill perfectly. As we climbed the hillside to the chapel, people
were in groups reading passages as they passed the 12 stations of the
cross. Our own journey was a bit backwards so as not to interrupt
their procession. I would have like to light a candle for those who
have passed on ahead of us, but they did not have candles to light in
the small chapel.
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| Exploring Ash Canyon |
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| a gatcha shot |
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| public land where small mining claims are still permitted |
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| an old mining road, we walked along a short way |
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the same day we explored the canyon
we visited a Shrine (on Good Friday), how perfect |
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the small chapel, not sure why the statues were
all covered |
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| overlooking the entire valley |
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| a small community surrounds the Shrine/Chapel |
And thanks to Kathy
and Randy, I’ve enjoyed some excellent local restaurants in the
area.
Distance Traveled.
231 miles
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what remains after a new interstate highway bypasses
the small towns |
A bit further than I
normally would travel in one day, but I was eager to get to the City
of Rocks State Park, as it has some awesome campsites. The drive
along I-10 was uneventful, though I did notice the right hand lane
that I stayed in has gotten rougher with each passing years and the
patchwork quilt of repairs hasn’t helped all that much.
I stopped in the
tiny town of Howie at Dwayne’s gas station, rv park ($15 a night)
and pecan shop along with other locally made goodies. Such a pleasant
worker behind the counter, that if I wasn’t planning on going all
the way into Deming that day, I think I would have stopped here
overnight.
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| next door to Dwayne's gas station and Rv park |
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| Pistachios and Pecan farms in the desert area |
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| and as always tourist gift shop |
And I had to walk
back to the old gas station next door, in all it’s run down
abandoned glory and take a few pictures before getting back onto
I-10. So many places end up like this once a new highway goes in and
by-passes the original roads and small towns along the way.
City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico
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| even with overcast skies, the scenery is still awesome |
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| one half of a double mesa |
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| views from my first night at City of rocks |
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| secluded campfire spot |
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| not a bad view out the front door |
It took all of three
and a half hours to get to City of Rocks State Park. I would have
stayed at the dry campsite, but an electric site opened up the next
day and I couldn’t refuse, especially after purchasing their yearly
state park pass for $225. Which lets me stay in any New Mexico state
park for free. The area is just stunning desert scenery with the
wonderful rock formations.
Life is good,
wonderful spring weather…. Till my next report
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