2018-8 Fort Huachuca Arizona to City of Rocks New Mexico

2018-8

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)

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

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.

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.

Exploring Ash Canyon

a gatcha shot

public land where small mining claims are still permitted

an old mining road, we walked along a short way 

the same day we explored the canyon
we visited a Shrine (on Good Friday), how perfect

the small chapel, not sure why the statues were
all covered

overlooking the entire valley

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

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.

next door to Dwayne's gas station and Rv park

Pistachios and Pecan farms in the desert area

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

even with overcast skies, the scenery is still awesome

one half of a double mesa 

views from my first night at City of rocks

secluded campfire spot 

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

Fort Huachuca, Arizona

City of Rocks New Mexico