Tag: Cougar RV

Hiking Cochise Trail – March 2019

Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Wednesday March 7: It is windy and overcast at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains where we are camped in the dispersed area. After breakfast I send texts with photos to family, review a memoir that I’m editing, and fix snacks for our hike. About noon, Clifford, my brother Rollie, and I head to the campground to meet up with our friend Jimi, the campground host.

Today we are hiking the Cochise Trail to the Half-Moon Tank, about two miles up the trail. There are lots of stops as we hike, catching our breath and me taking photos. Except for the white murk in the sky, it is a beautiful day for hike.

First Creek Crossing

As we begin the upward climb, we notice the rock formations beside the trail as well as those on the slope across the creek from us. We can see many places where caves could provide homes or hiding places for people or wildlife.

  • Jimi looks through a rock formation…
  • alongside the trail
We spot an interesting formation and a cave on the opposite slope
Another crossing of the creek

We stop at the spring, about a mile in, taking a moment to enjoy the lovely creek. As we head onward, Clifford goes ahead of the rest of us. Unfortunately, he has my water bottle. Luckily, Rollie was carrying a spare, so I was able to keep hydrated on the uphill climb.

The creek at the spring
  • Rollie and Ninja….
  • and Jimi relaxing

Beyond the spring, the trail winds around the mountain, revealing the fantastic boulder formations.

Near the tank, Clifford waits for us so we all arrive at the tank together. There is no doubt some history as to why a tank was built here, but we can only guess at what that would be. We find a spot on the nearby sliprock hillside where we can have our picnic. It is a pleasant time of relaxing before we head back down the trail.

Half Moon Tank

At the spring, we stop again, giving ourselves a little more time to be here in this magical place.

  • Cochise Trail

Back at camp, it is already time for dinner, so I make nachos – quick and easy. Other than washing the bean pan, I let the rest of the dishes go for tonight. Rollie is too tired for cribbage, so I go back to editing until my laptop battery is used up. Clifford and I are both kind of tired out from the hike, so early to bed for us. Hardly anything on the to-do list got done today, and that is okay, as what we did was much more fun.

Cacti Forest to Tombstone – February into March 2019

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Wednesday February 27: What a switch from Atlanta back to Cacti Forest, from millions of people to a mere handful within walking distance of our campsite at Cacti Forest, where Clifford has been camped this past week while I was in Atlanta visiting my daughter Becka. It is good to be back “home,” but I do miss the fun and comradery I had with Becka.

Back to Cacti Forest
Artistic rendition of Cacti Forest

We make a trip out to get a few supplies and when we get back to camp, we begin packing up, as we will be leaving tomorrow. In the evening we sit out and watch the sunset. This has been a good place for us and maybe one day we will return.

Watching the sunset at Cacti Forest

Thursday February 28: We finish packing and leave Cacti Forest, heading to Benson, east of Tucson, where we will stay at SKP Saguaro RV Park. Dry camping is limited to three days, but only $5 a night. We are lucky to get a campsite at the back of the lot with the desert behind us and a small cacti garden beside us. While Clifford naps, I walk through the grounds of this place, mostly comprised of streets of tiny homes and RV’s, with beautiful desert landscaping. Very civilized.

SKP Saguaro RV Park
Carol, Clifford, and Cougar at SKP Saguaro RV Park.
Metal javelinas look almost real in the small cacti garden

In the evening we go to the laundromat, which is in the centrally located Community Center. It is necessary to get the laundry caught up before our next destination, and I also make good use of free wifi while I am there.

Sunset color on Dragoon Mountains

Friday March 1: Today is our Tucson day – taking care of errands in the big city. I am still trying to figure out the FB issue, as, at this point, I no longer have access to my FB account, my Quiet Walk Photography page, or any of the groups that I was admin for, on either the phone or laptop. It appears that the problem is not related to the phone per se, even though that is where the problem started. Nothing is resolved at the Verizon store. Other errands include Bookman’s, Trader Joe’s, and Southwest Strings. Then back to our campsite at the RV park in time for the Mardi Gras parade, a big community affair with much honking of horns, and candy and colorful strands of beads flung about.

Bookman’s in Tucson

Texts with my siblings include plans for a July sledding party, since they still have lots of snow and more on the way. They figure there will be enough left in July to go sledding. Haha.

Saturday March 2: Today is Tombstone Day, as it is much easier to get there from Benson than from Cochise Stronghold, which is what we have done in the past. This time we go to Boothill Cemetery, which reveals a way of life with many violent deaths.

  • Fight at the Okay Corral
  • Prompt justice

Then on to the old town, parking in our usual spot. We browse our favorite clothing store awhile before I buy a skirt and Clifford buys a top for me.

We have lunch at the Longhorn Saloon, a great burger and sweet potato fries.

Lunch at the Longhorn Restaurant; stage coaches wait for passengers

At the honey store we learn more about the history of the area from the old-timer there, and a lot about killer bees. Killer bees are aggressive, but they are also resistant to the toxins and disease that are killing regular honey bees… and they produce honey. I buy a pint of killer bee honey. We walk to the courthouse, but decided to skip going in this time and go instead to the Rose Museum. This museum boasts the largest rose plant in the world. The trunk is huge and gnarly, the branches supported on a trellis covering 8,000 square feet. It is not in bloom now, of course, but a post card shows off this incredible rose bush when it is covered in blossoms.

The huge gnarly trunk of the largest rosebush in the world at the Rose Museum

Clifford is engaged in an extended conversation with the owner, whose grandfather was a settler here. The museum owner has written numerous books about the area, so is a source of information – the “inside scoop,” so to speak.

Rose Museum rooms

Then a trolley ride around town, always learning something new, but I prefer the horse and stagecoach version. We finish out Tombstone Day with homemade ice cream and then head back to the RV park. I make notes of highlights of the day and will write in the journal later. It was a fun day, but long, and soon time to head to bed.

More Cacti Forest – February 2019

Carol Carnicom1 Comment

Thursday February 14: I am up too late for sunrise color, but make coffee and get ready to go walking. Since I am walking in a place that I am not familiar with, I take a radio for communication and the knife my son Tye made for me. First I walk north, keeping an eye on the tallest saguaros. The thick growth of cacti is very disorienting and within minutes I could have been totally lost. It is certainly much different than walking in La Posa South where I walked in the desert every day, never losing my sense of direction. I continue walking, keeping a close watch on the tall saguaros, until I arrive at a large wash with lots of animal tracks in the sand.

Walking north

I have no desire to attempt to cross the wash, so make my way back to camp and then, crossing the road, I walk south, a gradual downhill with fewer saguaros to use as landmarks and more cholla… and javelina tracks…. so I don’t go all the way to the thicket ahead.

Walking south
Cholla in the forest

Back on the road and walking west, I go beyond the point where Clifford and I had walked together when first looking for a spot to camp. The cattle tank and the highway are to the east, so I skip that for now.

Walking west

Back at camp, we open our mutual Valentine Day card and then I make smoothies for breakfast. I stay busy with email, writing blogs, editing, and playing viola while Clifford works on his projects.

Afternoon in the Forest with clouds moving in

In the evening it starts to rain and we have a chance to try out our collapsible water-collection buckets, filling them all with rain water.

Friday February 15: The morning is overcast with mist and drizzle; temperatures are in the 50’s all day.

Morning mist in the desert

In connection with his research, Clifford is making contact with a lab in Phoenix today. The drive with all the traffic and the rain is stressful and I have to remind myself to breathe easy. Once we arrive at the lab on the far side of Phoenix, Clifford talks to a lab technician there and comes away with an idea for the next step of this aspect of the research.

Heading back to our campsite, we decide to stop at Cracker Barrel in Casa Grande, south of Phoenix, and after lunch we take my defunct cell phone to a Verizon store. It is verified that it did not get wet, but just died, and a replacement will be sent to me. That is good news!

Back at camp, we sit out in our little “patio” area and relax before I make nachos for dinner. The day was a bit stressful, so having this quiet forest is especially appreciated.

Relaxing on the “patio”
Quiet evening in Cacti Forest

Back to Bass Creek – September 2018

Carol Carnicom4 Comments

The week of September 12 through September 18: We move from our great spot at Seeley Lake, returning to Bass Creek in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana.

Cougar and Clifford back at Bass Creek
Living in a forest

We make a couple of trips to Missoula for errands and shopping, including picking up the new cell phone that I ordered. I am hoping that photos taken with the Moto Z2Play will make it easier to share photos via the net and cell service, since that is the primary way of sharing nowadays. I will be comparing photos taken with the cell and photos take with the little Canon. I see that many really outstanding photos are now being taken with cell phones, even by professional photographers. I have been reluctant to make a cell phone my primary means of taking photos, but it is certainly easier to carry a cell phone on a hike, which was a determining factor in putting my money toward a new cell phone (which I needed anyway) rather than a new camera.

Walkabout to try out the new cell phone camera
Hillside behind our campground
Morning light on wildfowers

Another highlight of the week is a “sleepover” with my daughter Ang, with steaks cooked over a big bonfire, and then spending the night in Terry, our old camper that we gave to Ang when we got Cougar in August. Morning coffee, time spent in the greenhouse, and working on editing issues fill the next day before I return to our campground at Bass Creek.

Sleepover with a bonfire

This particular week culminates in another sibling/spouses gathering, this time at brother Rollie’s campsite, also at Bass Creek, with everyone bringing food for a potluck and a big campfire. Rollie and I play a few bluegrass tunes, but mostly it is fun to be part of the conversation and laughter as we listen to tales and almost tall-tales of our growing up years. I sure do love this group of humans and am so glad we had time together again before we go our separate ways. Rollie will be leaving Montana in a couple of days; Clifford and I will be leaving before the end of the month.

Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival – July 2018

Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Thursday July 26: Today we are leaving Lolo Creek and heading south through the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana to attend the Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival, held on a ranch south of Hamilton. We arrive about noon and are very fortunate to get a good spot, almost exactly where we were last time, on the edge of the ravine and under a big ponderosa pine tree. My brother Rollie arrives a bit later, parking in the level lot below where we are set up.

Rollie and Carol
Near the edge of the ravine
Terry at Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival
Cozy Terry home

After making lunch for the three of us, we wander around to listen to some musicians jamming and to visit with people Rollie knows – and he sure does know a lot of bluegrass musicians.

Friday July 27: Clifford and I run errands in the morning, then listen to the scheduled bands on stage in the late afternoon and into the evening. Dinner is super late, but it was a fun day.

Saturday July 28: I am up by 7:30 and walkabout to take photos while things are quiet.

I text Becka to wish her Happy Birthday. After breakfast, Clifford studies and plays his dulcimer while I edit.

Clifford plays dulcimer

In the early afternoon, we head down to the stage area to listen to the bands that are playing today. All the bands are good, but we do have our favorites. The music ends about 10:00 p.m. Back at the camper, Clifford fixes himself a late dinner and I read until after midnight.

Trinity River – a favorite band

Sunday July 29: After I get up, I go for a walk so Clifford can sleep awhile longer. After breakfast, we head to the stage area so we can watch the bands that are playing gospel music. Rollie has been jamming with a group that will be playing this morning, so we want to be sure to watch them.

Rollie (on the left) and friends

In the afternoon we go listen the last of the scheduled bands, and Clifford buys us tasty saucer sandwiches for lunch. After the last band finishes up, many people in the audience help with tearing down, including Rollie and me. Clifford is dealing with an injured shoulder, so is not able to join us. Before the kettle corn vendor tears down, I buy two big bags of popcorn for the price of one – best popcorn ever!

Monday July 30: As soon as I’m up, I start packing the outside stuff – tables, chairs, and so on. We have a quick breakfast and then finish packing up, as we are heading out this morning. Today is an exciting day for us, as last week when we were on our way to Barnes & Nobles in Missoula, we stopped in at Bretz RV on a whim. To make a long story short, we bought a newer and bigger RV. We have been considering this change for several months, looking at a few RV lots and doing research online. Bretz had a 2009 Cougar in the size, weight, floor plan, and price range that we need.

Cougar front room

We didn’t have time to move from Terry (our 30-year-old RV) into Cougar before the bluegrass festival, so today is the day we start moving from one to the other. We park Terry and Cougar side by side in the Bretz parking lot and begin moving preparations.

Tuesday July 31: We spend all day moving from Terry into Cougar, making trips out to get containers and shelving, as well as new bedding (Cougar has a larger bed than Terry). The saying that one has to scramble eggs to make an omelet sure describes the process. By evening, I have things orderly enough for us to sleep in our new bed, but there is still a lot of stuff to move.

The scramble before the omelete

Moving continues over the next couple of days, and by Friday we are ready to take Cougar on her maiden voyage. We give Terry to one of my daughters, so the old gal will stay in the family.

  • Cougar bedroom
  • Clifford’s radio station
  • Cougar kitchen