Southern Arizona

[Tom&Shelly]

Shelly's medical issues seem to be in remission for the time being, we lost our cat on Christmas day, and a series of Winter storms were scheduled to hit our lonely cabin along with the rest of Cedar Crest, so around the beginning of the year, we decided to take our teardrop to someplace warmer. We looked at Texas (where I have relatives) and rain was forecast, so we went the other way. Even Southern Arizona wasn't necessarily looking too warm that first week in January, so I looked hard at the elevations of various state parks, as well as availability of electric sites (we have an electric heater), and we decided on Roper Lake



We hear there is an observatory on that mountain, but we had no intention of going up there to find out!

Roper Lake has a few hiking trails, and we would have liked to relax and simply camp. But, the weather was a bit cold for us to do that so we did what we always seem to do: Instead of "camping" we went sight seeing. We tend to spend more money that way, mainly by eating out, but we have fun. We weren't sure how long we would be out on this trip. We initially planned on three days, but brought two weeks of clothing and intended to see if the weather didn't warm up as we went; which it did. We booked three days at Roper Lake, which is in Southeastern Arizona, and then looked for (warm) things to do. We booked a tour of the Titan missile museum, a tour of a silver mine in Tombstone, and a tour of Karchner Caverns, and there goes our three days, into holes in the ground!

Assuming we would have at least some weather warm enough to sit around the fire and crack pecans, we bought a 5 lb bag on the way down. (Big time crop around these parts.) Shelly was concerned that we forgot to include a nut cracker in our galley equipment, but a well stocked toolbox is an essential item for a successful teardrop camping trip.



Tom

[tony.latham]

Shelly's medical issues seem to be in remission...

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

A little south of Tucson is a museum to the Titan II Inter-continental balastic missile (ICBM), active back in the good ole bad ole days of the Cold War.



The original US ICBM was the Atlas, which had to be fueled on the surface before being launched. That would be bad if the Soviets had managed a first strike, as the US missiles would have been destroyed before they could be launched. Once the Soviets had that capability, we needed the Titan II, which remained fueled and ready at all times, each in its own hardened silo. (The atlas missiles were converted to launch satellites. I had a friend in the Air Force who was on the team that did that in the late 1980's.)

The accuracy of the US ICBM's in the 60's was such that they needed large thermonuclear warheads to ensure destruction of their targets, so the Titan II warhead was probably the largest ever intended to be lifted by a missile, at least by our side. The Minuteman missiles that replaced the Titans had better guidance systems, and multiple reentry vehicles, so they carried multiple smaller thermonuclear warheads. Perhaps a more humane way to fight a nuclear war, if that's even possible.

If the calculus sounds a bit insane, welcome back to the Cold War, and to a bit of my world. As an ROTC cadet I toured an active Titan II site, and some of my friends and classmates went on to become crew, while I spent some time working with Strategic Air Command (SAC) to develop communications systems to support the doctrine. I guess it's worked (so far) as we're still here.



The control room in the museum looks very much as I remember it. The rocket is a cylindrical aluminum tube with lots of important looking stuff around it, just as it was back then. Arms control treaties insisted that most sites be destroyed. This one is allowed to exist as long as the Russians can verify, with satellites, that the blast door is stuck open, and the missile is inert. (The glass roof is part of that.)

On the surface are static displays of various Air Force systems to support the missile squadrons





That last picture is of the alarm system on the surface of these sites; a small radar. If anyone knows where I can find surplus antenna horns like that, please let me know. I need them for a (non-nuclear) project!

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Our next day of "camping" we went and explored Tombstone. We bought tickets for a mine and trolley tour, which one can take any time of day in either order. Turns out, we were the only two on either tour.



(Some of those displays are for gold mining, but this, and the other mines in Tombstone, were silver mines.)

We walked around Tombstone (it was in the low 50's, not too bad considering it was in the 20's back in Cedar Crest NM.) We did not see the reenactment of the shootout, although the Earps and Clantons were in the street enticing visitors.



The old courthouse in Tombstone is now an Arizona State Park, and museum, which is worth a look, especially if it's a bit cold and windy. We also toured Boot Hill, with some well known, sometimes witty, grave markers.




In my mind, I still hear Johnny Cash reading that last one!

A little touristy, but IMHO Tombstone is worth a day if you're in that part of the country.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

On January 6 we took the "Big Room Tour" of Kartchner Caverns. Unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed. We couldn't get reservations for camping at Kartchner Caverns State Park, but made a day trip from Roper Lake SP. My notes say there are electric sites and showers at Kartchner Caverns. (Should've mentioned above, there are good showers at Roper Lake as well.)

On January 7 our reservations were up at Roper Lake, but Cedar Crest was getting a big snowstorm and we weren't ready to head home. We had stayed at Catalina State Park near Tucson before, but that was booked. We learned later that you have to make reservations for Catalina a year in advance, so I guess we'd gotten lucky and someone canceled last time. Anyway, we did get reservations at Picacho Peak State Park, between Tuscon and Phoenix. I was nervous about how close it is to I-10, but that turned out not to be too bad. Found an electric site and the best showers of the trip.



(Note the Saguaro; Roper Lake is too far east for those to grow there.)

We drove through a hard rain in Tucson and it was just clearing when we reached camp.

The next day we went to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, a museum of American Indian art and artifacts. Well worth a morning. We spent the afternoon in a large indoor flea market in Mesa, where I resisted the temptation to add to my antique telephone collection. (No must have tools.)

Tom

[Modstock]

Cool trip, nice to see other winter campers.

Sent from my SM-A115AP using Tapatalk

[Tom&Shelly]

Cool trip, nice to see other winter campers.

Sent from my SM-A115AP using Tapatalk

We were trying not to be! But dodging Winter in January is..um, dodgy!

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

On January 9th, we drove up Mt Lemmon, near Tucson. Some nice Winter scenery (there is a ski slope up there). Rather similar to the drive up to Sandia Crest from Albuquerque, back home, but with more Saguaro near the base.




We had nothing else we wanted to do in Tucson, having seen the Pima Air Museum, a doll house museum, and Saguaro National Park (East) on a previous trip. Shelly had mentioned wanting to see the Ikea in a suburb of Phoenix, so we ended up doing that for the afternoon, followed by a cafateria dinner featuring Swedish meatballs. It was an eclectic camping trip!

I even bought a bullerskydd that I think goes well in our cabin.



The motif for rugs in a New Mexico cabin should either be something made by nearby Indian tribes, or someone you went out and killed. I was surprised to find the latter at Ikea. In this case the deceadent is a thousand recycled water bottles. Sure hope it doesn't shed!

The next day we went back to Phoenix to see the Phoenix Art Museum. Started to get warm that afternoon, and so I wanted to show a sunnier picture of Picacho Peak SP.



We wanted to keep going. We talked about the Salton Sea (which we understand smells a little like sulphur), or Joshua Tree, which doesn't have electric sites and might still have been cool in the evenings, but we were surprised we were able to find a space at Carlsbad State Park on the beach near Dan Diego, even for a weekend. I'll show some pictures of that in a separate folder (since I already called this one Southern Arizona).

Tom

[tony.latham]

So... you guys are down there camping and I'm up here plowing snow???





https://youtu.be/3Pue3AHpIOA?si=kuHcuqHkYj0dzcfB

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

So... you guys are down there camping and I'm up here plowing snow???

Tony

Clear a path for that teardrop and come on down Tony!

Our last stop was in Elephant Butte State Park NM, just 2 1/2 hours down the road. 60+ on the beach Thursday afternoon.





I was in shorts and a short sleeve T-shirt. (Somehow that picture got lost.)

Only $14/night for an electric site!

We stopped there the last night to see if we REALLY wanted to come home, or find a laundromat and then head for Texas. We came home and were pleasantly surprised to find enough snow had melted to get the tear put away without shoveling. Made it to 50 today, but two more storms in the forecast for this week.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

We had booked Carlsbad State Park on the coast in California to Sunday morning. We figured we would have no trouble booking something at Salton Sea for a few days starting Sunday night, with the idea of camping at the lowest elevation possible and seeing commensurate warm weather (highs in the mid 70's?). We could then take a day trip to Joshua Tree. I think our mistake was forgetting it was a three day weekend, and Sunday night sites were not to be had. We looked around for other possibilities within driving range, when I noticed a state park way off the beaten path, in west central Arizona. The weather forecast looked good, and so we decided to save Joshua Tree and Salton Sea for another trip and booked one night at Alamo Lake State Park, "the best kept secret in the Arizona Park System."



A great choice, and we should have stayed another day or two, enjoyed the warm weather, and really camped. It's too far from anything to go sight-seeing. The options are hiking the wild burro trails or fishing, and we don't fish much. Problem was, they don't have cell service and we hadn't booked our next stop. No problem if we booked at the park, but they couldn't book us for other Arizona state parks. So we left the next morning, drove the 30 miles to the nearest town, and booked the rest of our trip there over a diner breakfast.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

It had finally warmed up enough that we decided to stay three nights at Chiracahua National Monument in Southeast Arizona. It's a "mountain island" of trees in the desert, and a bit colder than the surrounding terrain. The campground has no electricity (we had an electric heater, but also a few extra blankets). It does have flush toilets, but no showers. If we'd noticed that latter point, we would have taken a shower at Alamo Lake that morning before leaving! Oh well!

Late start, after a 30 mile drive out of Alamo State Park and breakfast at a diner, driving through Phoenix and Tucson traffic, and a quick stop at Walmart to buy some clothing (faster than a laundramat), and we arrived at the campsite well after dark. And boy, was it dark! We pulled the rig far enough off the road and climbed in for the night, straightening things out in the morning. And a cold morning it was! The campsite is in a bowl and the sun didn't reach the site until after 9. We perked some coffee and climbed back in the tear, with some Krispy Kream donuts we'd found at the Walmart the day before.



We were happy to share the campsite with a herd of relatively tame dear. Slightly less so with the resident Mexican Robber Blue Jay's. The latter were willing to land on the galley counter. After setting up the camp, we took the Bonita Canyon Scenic Drive. I'd never even heard of a Coati before seeing a picture at the visitor center that morning, and there he (she?) was, running across the road behind us at a scenic stop!



Nice drive up the mountain, with lots of scenery. Who do hoodoos like Brice Canyon do? Chiricauha do too! (Sorry!)



It warmed up to short sleeve shirt weather back at the camp that afternoon, and we baked a dutch oven lunch and then a dutch oven blueberry shortbread for breakfast that next morning. Finally real camping!

The next day we took a mile hike from the campground to a historic cabin.




A wonderful place to camp. One minor nit: There are no fire rings, so we couldn't stay up warming ourselves (and cracking pecans) at a campfire. (And, of course, it got cold again as soon as the Sun set.) Instead, it has grills, so the dutch oven meals were no problem.

Tom

[RJ Howell]

We stayed outside the Park in the National Forest. They mention they're about to get National Park status? I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.. bt it's an awesome place to visit, as is the Coranado National Forest. We drove over from Portal by forest roads and what a drive! Lots of really nice boondocking along the way (mostly closer to Chiricahua National Monument (soon to be National Park).

Safe Travels!