Category Archives: Spyder

Spoonbills, Alligators and Horses

We jumped on the Spyder Monday and headed east from Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville on highway 14 past Delcambre. Our destination  was Rip Van Winkle’s Gardens. We weren’t that interested in touring the gardens – our intention was to visit the rookery to see the birds and look for alligators.

Click to enlarge

The rookery is a favored nesting ground for roseate spoonbills, ibis and egrets. The birds congregate on the three islands in the pond created by water recycled from the gardens. They prefer to nest in islands where alligators keep snakes, raccoons and other predators away from their eggs.

A little hard to see, but these trees are full of birds

Donna and I walked the path around the pond – it’s about three quarters of a mile around. As we reached the far side of the pond, something thrashed in the water. There it was – an alligator – eyes and head popped up looking at us. Then I saw a much larger ‘gator swimming in the channel between two of the islands.

We continued our walk and met a woman from Baton Rouge who was visiting the area and photographing the birds. She warned us about taking I-10 into Baton Rouge. She told us there was construction before the bridge into Baton Rouge taking the interstate down to one lane. She said there are crashes reported on a regular basis as an inattentive driver slams into the suddenly stopped traffic. It’s always nice to have local knowledge – we planned to avoid the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi.

As we made our way around the pond, we heard a sound. It was almost like someone snoring. We moved slowly toward the sound. The sound stopped. A few more steps and there he was – an alligator just a couple of feet from the shore. I estimated him to be between five and six feet long.

Alligator snoozing

He didn’t pay any attention to us and only opened his eyes a couple of times.

Zzzzz

We rode into Rip Van Winkle Gardens to visit the gift shop and look around. We found several peacocks and hens by the gift shop.

Peacocks and hens

Peacock in a tree

Donna bought a couple of items and we headed home. I got busy stowing things in the trailer and getting us ready to move. We had our final Betty’s Famous Happy hour – until next time. The name Betty’s Famous Happy Hour comes from an app called Untapped. On this app, people check in and rate the beer they’re drinking. Someone checked in and put their location as Betty’s Famous Happy Hour! So now, if you open the Untapped app at Betty’s, you can check in and it’ll give that name for the location.

On Tuesday morning, I finished making us ready for travel. I moved slowly as it was hot and very humid. I kept the air conditioners running until the last moment before I unplugged from the 50-amp pedestal. Once I had the trailer hooked up, I started the generator and turned on the front roof air conditioner for the drive to Baton Rouge.

We took a roundabout route that took us up US167 to Lafayette and up to Opalousas where we hit US190 east. The road surfaces were atrocious, but I figured I-10 probably wasn’t much better and we would cross the mighty Mississippi into Baton Rouge on the US190 bridge avoiding I-10 altogether.

The drive through Lafayette and Baton Rouge wasn’t much fun, but metro areas never are in a big rig. We found our way to the BREC Farr Park Equestrian Center. This is a large park on the east bank of the Mississippi River. They have 108 RV sites with water and 50-amp electrical pedestals. We squeezed our coach and trailer into site A4 – a pull through site – and left the trailer a little crooked to make us fit without hanging into the road.

Site A4 – a tight fit

After setting up and showering, Donna and I rode the Spyder to town. We went to Tin Roof Brewing for a cold one. It’s about five miles away from the park. Donna had a beer called River Rosé – it’s a mild ale like a Gose but it was brewed with beets. She liked it and said it was refreshing.

River Rosé

On the way back, I rode up on the levee of the Mississippi. We saw a large tow of 28 barges behind a couple of freighters. I wrote about barge tows here. The river is very high right now and there are flood warnings in effect. The levee here is so high, I don’t think we have any worries.

Barge tow behind the freighters

Later, we sat in the shade of the coach. I puffed a cigar and we watched a group of girls riding horses.

Girls horseback riding

It was very quiet and peaceful last night. However, Ozark the cat didn’t let us enjoy a restful night. For some reason, the cat kept waking us up. This morning, I thought I could hear a rooster crowing. When I stepped outside at 6:30am, it turned out to be a horse whinnying. He was kicking up dust prancing around the pasture and making a racket.

Feeling his oats and kicking up dust

Today will be another hot one. The forecast calls for a high of 90 degrees. Donna and I want to explore a bit and go to the Old State Capital Museum. Tomorrow we’ll head out and make our way to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Tail Lights and Cajuns

Saturday was Cinco de Mayo. It also happened to be our wedding anniversary – Donna and I were married on the fifth day of May, 2006. We usually go out to dinner to celebrate – this year we celebrated with dinner at Shuck’s – The Louisiana Seafood House – a day early on Friday evening.

We both started with a cup of seafood gumbo, followed by a crab cake plate made with locally caught blue crab. Donna had hers house style, served with a dill sauce over the cake. I had mine smothered with crawfish etoufee. Crawfish etoufee is a Cajun dish  with crawfish meat in a gravy-like sauce. It was delicious. I had a bottle of Abita Amber beer to go with it. It was a rich and very filling meal!

The forecast called for thundershowers on Saturday. I started the day by changing the tail light housings on our coach. I found replacement parts on Amazon and they arrived on Friday. The tail lights used by Western RV on our Alpine Coach were original equipment on a Ford Econoline van from the 1990s. Our tail lights were hazy and had cracks in the lenses where someone previously over-tightened the mounting screws. The replacements I bought were made in Taiwan and are an exact copy of the originals. Installation was easy. First I removed the four tail light housing mounting screws, then gave each bulb holder a quarter turn to release them.

Tail light housing removed and bulb holders hanging from the harness

When I first fitted the new housing, it wouldn’t fit flush. Then I noticed they had extra mounting points. There were four holes that lined up perfectly with the originals, but there were also two stand-offs molded in the plastic back plate that interfered with the body of our coach. Apparently they use a one-size-fits-all back plate on the housing and these extra points are for another application. I snipped them off with side cutters and the housings fit perfectly.

The new tail lights look much better. Along with the headlights I replaced in Mesa, we’re looking sharp on all four corners!

Old tail light

New tail light

I tracked the storm front in the forecast on the Radar Express app on my phone and it looked like it would stay to the north of us. Betty mentioned a farmers’ market in Delcambre, about 10 miles away. I looked it up and we decided to check it out. We’re finding Louisiana to be interesting – it’s culture is unique.

Delcambre farmers’ market at Bayou Carlin Cove

This market is seasonal and only open on the first weekend of each month. When we arrived at the farmers’ market at the Bayou Carlin Cove, I knew we were in for a treat. This was the first farmers’ market we’ve been to that had shrimp boats tied up to the dock selling fresh caught shrimp.

Shrimp boat

The locals came to the market prepared – many had coolers with ice to pack the fresh shrimp and crayfish for sale. We walked through the vendor area and sampled food and sauces. The owner of Brasseaux’s Hardware in Abbeville had a Traeger demo set up and gave us free pulled pork sliders! Another vendor had Creole tamales and gave us one for a sample. Creole tamales are different than the usual – these had pork and beef ground very fine to about the same consistency of the corn meal used and it’s all mixed together. They were delicious and we bought half a dozen. Donna also bought a jar of persimmon pepper jelly – another food new to us.

At another vendor, I saw a guy shucking fresh oysters. The woman there put a little olive oil and garlic on the oyster on the half shell, added shredded parmesan and then put them on the grill. Donna bought a plate with half a dozen oysters. I’m not much of an oyster eater, but after trying one, I had to have another! At the next table two ladies were mixing up Bloody Marys – we each had one with the oysters and they were the spiciest Bloody Marys ever.

Char-grilled oysters

We came home around noon, then headed out in the other direction toward Maurice a little after 1pm. Our destination was Touchet’s Bar – the locals call it Two-checks. They had a Cajun jam session starting at 2pm. It was a fun time. We sat back and I had a beer while Donna sipped a Bloody Mary. The people were all so friendly and the music was good. I couldn’t understand half of the lyrics as they sang in a mixture of English and French patois. Actually I had a hard time understanding the dialect spoken by some of the people at the bar.

Cajun jam session

Last night we sat at Betty’s famous happy hour and everyone planned a potluck brunch for today and fish dinner for this afternoon. One of the guys here, Mike, caught a bunch of redfish and our neighbor Daniel volunteered to grill 10 pounds of fresh fish filets! Yum!

Potluck brunch this morning

The forecast calls for abundant sunshine today and a high in the mid-80s. Tomorrow will be slightly warmer. I’ll need to prepare for the road tomorrow. We’ll head out on Tuesday and probably make our next stop in Baton Rouge.

 

Tabasco and Rice

Yesterday Donna and I headed out on the Spyder. We left Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville, Louisiana around 9:30am and rode to Avery Island outside of New Iberia. The route took us out LA14 through Delcambre – which I’m told is pronouned Dell-come by the locals, rhymes with welcome. Seems like a lot of letters to spell Delcome and it’s certainly not the French pronunciation you might expect.

Anyway, the shortest route from Abbeville to Avery Island took us through a lot of turns on narrow parish roads, but we found our way. Our destination was the McIhenny Company’s Tabasco plant for a tour of the facility where they make the iconic Tabasco hot sauce. I’ve been a Tabasco user for nearly 50 years.

A self-guided tour of the plant costs $5.50 for adults – military discounts are given. The walking tour starts in a small museum and takes you through five different buildings to observe the process of making the sauce – from growing the peppers to shipping the product.

Sign on the walkway to building two

We saw a small greenhouse with a variety of pepper plants. Tabasco peppers are a variety of chili pepper – capsicum frutescens.

Tabasco peppers

Habanero peppers

Jalapeno peppers

The peppers are picked by hand. The pickers compare the color of the pepper to the color of a red stick they carry to ensure uniform ripeness.

The peppers are crushed and put into oak barrels. The barrels are used whiskey barrels that are re-purposed. The coopers at McIhenny scrape the charred interior of the barrel to expose clean oak, then they remove the iron bands and replace them with stainless steel bands. The crushed peppers with a little salt added are put into the barrels to age for three years. The tops of the barrels are covered in salt to prevent bacteria from entering. By the way – Avery Island is a salt dome! The air was heavy with a pungent odor at the barrel aging buildings.

Freshly filled barrels ready for aging

After about three years, the contents of each barrel is tasted. If approved, it goes to the next step where seeds and skins are removed. Then the contents are put into a large vat where it is blended with pure distilled vinegar for two to three weeks. The hot sauce aroma was evident in the blending building.

Blending vats

The bottling process was similar to what we’ve seen in beer breweries. It’s mostly automated, but people are on station to operate the machinery and provide quality control. Once the bottles are filled, a digital camera reads the bottle to ensure it’s filled to the proper level before capping.

Filling bottles

Checking and capping

Labelled and ready for packing

They had an electronic counter with a digital display showing the number of bottles produced. At 11am, it was over 184,000 for the day and quickly counting upwards.

Donna peeking around a giant Tabasco display bottle

At the end of the tour, we visited the gift store where we sampled jalapeno ice cream. Donna bought a bottle of the standard red Tabasco and a bottle of the green sauce for $2 each.  You can buy Tabasco sauce by the gallon at the store here! The self-guided tour had a number of informational kiosks and video presentations. I thought it was worth the time.

We skipped the driving tour of the Avery Island gardens and headed into New Iberia for lunch. A cafe was recommended by Betty – the Bon Creole Cafe. She told us they had the best shrimp Po’ Boys around. A Po’ Boy is a Louisiana standard – it’s a sandwich made of a hoagie roll stuffed with fried seafood – usually shrimp, crawfish or oysters. It can be made with beef as well. We ordered a full shrimp Po’ Boy and split it. It was more than enough for two people. I added a couple of dashes of Tabasco to mine.

Shrimp Po’ Boy with lettuce, tomato and sauce

It was short ride from there to the Conrad Rice Mill – the oldest independently owned rice mill still in operation in the U.S. It was built by Phillip Conrad in 1912. He named his company Konriko (Conrad Rice Company with Ks substituting the Cs for trademark purposes).

The leading rice producing states in the country are Arkansas followed by California, Louisiana and Texas. The mill wasn’t operating Thursday afternoon so we skipped the guided tour and just watched a video and did some shopping instead. Konriko also owns the brand Hol-Grain which makes a line of crackers. Donna loves them and bought a box of their brown rice crackers. Did you know that brown rice and white rice are the same thing, just processed differently? Brown rice has the hull with bran intact while white rice has the hull and bran polished off. Donna also bought a couple of pounds of wild pecan rice.

Donna’s spoils from the day out

It’s been warm, humid and windy here. Today the forecast calls for a high in the mid 80s. As I type this at 9am, it’s 73 degrees with 93% humidity. We’re debating our weekend plans. We’re hoping to go to the crawfish festival in Breaux Bridge.

Rockport Rebuilding

As we approached the Gulf Coast region of Texas on Monday, we saw lingering signs of the damaged caused last August by Hurricane Harvey. We didn’t plan on coming here originally, thinking the area had been devastated and probably wasn’t fully operational. Rockport, Texas suffered a direct hit from Harvey with sustained winds of 130 mph on August 24th – just eight months ago.

We learned online that many of the RV parks were operational here and tourism was returning to normal. Northwest of our current location in Aransas Pass – just 11 miles south of Rockport – we saw many houses in rural areas with the roofs or porches missing. I saw a number of what I presumed to be FEMA trailers set up next to damaged homes.

Once we reached town, things were looking good. Many construction projects are ongoing, but so much has already been repaired. The damage from Harvey was estimated to be 125 billion dollars – the equal of Hurricane Katrina. The recovery here seems much quicker than what happened in New Orleans though.

Apartments being rebuilt outside of Ransom Road RV Park

I puttered around Tuesday. I cleaned the bugs off of the windshield, then washed the windshield cover and installed it. In the late afternoon, Donna and I walked to the marina next to the RV park and had a cold one at Mickey’s Bar and Grill.

I grilled ribeye steaks on the Weber Q for dinner and Donna served it with baked potatoes and steamed green beans.

Level, paved site 124

This morning, we rode the Spyder to Rockport for pickleball at the Rockport-Fulton High School. About a dozen players showed up – just right as we had three courts to play on. Rockport is a little more upscale than Aransas Pass. They’ve done a great job of rebuilding there also. We were told the fences around the tennis/pickleball courts were just finished a month ago. The community center where Donna went swimming when we were here in 2015 doesn’t seem to be worse for wear – I’m sure a lot work went into it though.

One of our favorite grocery stores is the H-E-B chain in Texas. The store in Aransas Pass was a little disappointing though – they didn’t have butchers on site like they do in Rockport. After pickleball, we stopped at the H-E-B in Rockport and were pleased to find the jalapeno salmon burger patties they make there – we really enjoyed them the last time we were here. Donna bought four – I’ll grill a couple in the next day or two and we’ll freeze a couple for later consumption.

The weather forecast deteriorated – now they say a thunderstorm will come in later this evening. The rest of the week still looks good with temperatures reaching the upper 70s. You never know around here – it can change quickly.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Austin Moto GP – Day One

Our last couple of days at Lake Buchanan were low-key. I got up on the roof to check out the air conditioners. The condenser coils were dirty so I cleaned them but I could’t find any faults in the wiring. I’m not sure why we had trouble with erratic operation earlier. Donna took a few hikes in the area and we fished from the park piers. The fishing wasn’t so good – the wind whipped up large swells on the lake and the water was turbid. I landed one catfish.

I should mention that Lake Buchanan was formed when a dam was built on the Colorado River in 1939. That’s right, Colorado River. This name confused me at first. When I think of the Colorado River I think of the river that flows west of the continental divide through Lake Powell and on to the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, Lake Havasu and so on down to the Gulf of California. But, there’s another Colorado River (Texas) that flows from Dawson County generally southeast for about 860 miles, then empties into the Gulf of Mexico. I’m always learning something new on the road.

We pulled out Thursday morning around 10:30am. We followed a couple of numbered ranch roads that had light traffic and smooth pavement south to TX71. This highway took us east. Our first stop was at Bee Cave where I had scouted out the Specs Fine Food and Liquor on Google Earth. It looked to have easy access and ample parking. I restocked the beer supply and bought a bottle of Scotch there and we were back on our way.

Our next stop was Walmart for some provisions. In many parts of Texas, a frontage or service road runs parallel to the highway. These roads are generally one way on each side of the highway with numerous ramps to enter or exit the highway. At times this confuses Nally – our RV specific GPS. Civilian GPS units aren’t totally location accurate – they can have a tolerance of several yards. At times Nally would advise me to prepare for a right turn when I actually needed to go left ahead. I figured out that the GPS had me on the highway, not the service road and was advising me to exit the highway right, then go left from the service road. Confusing for sure since I was already on the service road. This made me miss our Walmart stop.

We drove on to the Pilot Travel Center in Mustang Ridge and topped up the fuel tank. We’ll be on generator power for the next few days at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) race track and I wanted a full fuel tank. When we arrived at the track, we had a few issues with the signage. We went the long way around the track but never saw lot N where we had dry camping reservations.

After finding a place to get our rig turned around, we backtracked and saw the entrance. Coming from our original direction, the sign and entrance was hidden behind a large tree. We found a site and dropped our trailer, then set up. The sites are not at all level, but we have easy access to the track.

Donna and I went for a walk to check out the track and find our grandstand seats.

Fast S section

Turn two – workers walking the track to check for debris

It was windy but the temperature was pleasant. We rode the Spyder to a nearby grocery store/Mexican market and picked up a few items.

Friday morning action started with the free practice sessions. We were trackside a little after 9am for the Moto 3 free practice (FP) 1. Moto 3 is the entry into international motorcycle road racing. The bikes are single cylinder 250cc machines. They’re very lightweight, the racing is close and drafting on the straights is key. Riders must move up or leave the class by the age of 28.

Next up was Moto GP FP 1. Moto GP is the pinnacle of the sport. The bikes are 1000cc and make around 250 horsepower. They’re very sophisticated and extremely fast. The most popular Moto GP rider is nine-time World Champion, Valentino Rossi – The Doctor is his nickname.

Marc Marquez – the villain of the Argentina round enters turn 16

The Doctor coming up on a slower rider at 16

The day was overcast and the wind made it feel colder than the mid 60s the thermometer showed. Before lunch, Donna went back to the coach for a warmer jacket and brought one back for me.

We had lunch at the track and walked around between the 45-minute sessions. We left around 3pm during the Moto 2 FP 2. Moto 2 is the second level of international motorcycle road racing and feature 600cc motorcycles with identical engines, but different chassis manufacturers. Honda supplies the engines.

Back at the coach, I read for a bit and took a short nap. We went back to the track for a pit walk open to premium pass holders – we had it and an invitation. The pit walk was very loosely organized. We wandered the pits and took a gander at the bikes and watched some of the teams preparing for Saturday. At the Repsol Honda garage, the mechanics had repaired Marc Marquez’s bike – he took a fall in FP 2. They also serviced his back-up bike and were test running them.

Honda mechanics running bikes to check for leaks and proper function

Here are a few of the bikes.

Valentino Rossi’s Yamaha

Working on Maverick Vinales’ Yamaha

Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati

Jack Miller’s Pramac Ducati

Cal Crutchlow’s LCR Honda

Scott Redding’s Aprilia

On the pit lane – the hill into turn one in the background is much steeper than it appears

After we left the pit lane, we walked through the MotoAmerica paddock. MotoAmerica is an American National Championship road racing series. I talked to Roger Hayden – a team Yoshimura Suzuki rider and asked about the bumps on the track a lot of the riders were complaining about. He said the back straight was bumpy and a so were a few other spots, but he didn’t think it was as bad as some of the riders were saying. Of course, he’s on a production based 1000cc Superbike, not a Moto GP prototype that’s going a bit faster.

Today we have thunderstorms in the forecast. If it happens, it may create problems for some of the sessions. FP 3 is scheduled this morning then FP 4 in the afternoon followed by the qualifying sessions. If the rain floods the track, Free Practice times will be used to set the grid instead of the usual qualifying.

We’ll dress accordingly and check it out. But if we have hard rain, I’m coming back to the coach to watch it on TV!

Gremlins and a Safe Harbor

We planned for an early departure from Desert Oasis Campground near Bisbee, Arizona Wednesday morning. We were on track to achieve that goal when trouble struck. Actually the trouble was brewing since we were in Mesa, but I didn’t realize it until after the fact.

We’ve had a small leak in our HWH hydraulic system that operates the leveling jacks and room slide-outs.  I rigged a plastic catch basin to contain the occasional drip from it. In Mesa, when I replaced the headlights, I had to extend the generator compartment in the front cap – it’s also hydraulically operated by the HWH system. The generator compartment quit moving after it extended only a few inches. I could hear the HWH pump cavitating.

I knew the pump reservoir must have been low on fluid – lower than I expected based on the amount of oil in the catch basin. I went to the auto parts store and bought a quart of Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) to top up the reservoir. I wasn’t sure how much to add because the dipstick for the reservoir is calibrated for checking when all of the rams are retracted – that means slides in, jacks up. I added about half a quart and the generator extended normally, so I thought I was good to go. While I was at it, I inspected the hydraulic leak again and was able to trace it to a compression fitting. I tightened the fitting – it was about a quarter turn loose.

While we were in Mesa, I had to extend the left rear jack to the end of its travel due to a small sink hole right below the jack. In hindsight, the jack must have been leaking fluid past the seal from over-extending. The dirt where the jack had sunk in was wet and dark when we left.

In Benson, our first overnight stop, everything worked fine. When we got to Bisbee, trouble started. The passenger side bedroom slide didn’t extend  normally. I had to push it open after it moved slowly about halfway out. I thought maybe there was air in the hydraulic line from running the pump low on fluid. While we were in town, I bought three more quarts of ATF. I checked the catch basin to see if we still had a leak and it didn’t appear so. I added fluid to the reservoir.

When we were getting ready to leave Bisbee, the bedroom slide wouldn’t retract. I had to push from the outside while Donna worked the switch for the hydraulic pump. The living room slide retracted to within an inch of fully closed and stopped. I retracted the jacks, then checked the reservoir dipstick. No fluid showed. I added a quart of ATF and saw fluid near the minimum mark. I added more fluid and checked the level again – no fluid showed! I figured air was bleeding from the lines and dropping the fluid level. I ended up adding two and half quarts and I still couldn’t get the living room slide to fully seat – it remained about half an inch open.

We hit the road and I hoped the air would work out of the system as we drove. It was mostly an easy drive on AZ80 through Douglas then into New Mexico where the road designation changed to NM80. We had a tailwind most of the time, so I was hardly aware of the wind. At Hachita, we turned north to catch I-10 and then we had a crosswind. It was fairly windy but not too bad.

We stopped and shopped for a few items at a Walmart in Deming, then pressed on. We stopped for fuel at the Pilot Travel Center in Las Cruces. We thought we would boondock for the night at a scenic overlook on US80 before we hit White Sands. The overlook was at the top of a steep grade at San Augustin Pass. It wasn’t level and the wind was whipping through the pass. I got out to look it over and could barely close the door once the wind was blowing against it. We decided against staying there.

We moved on to Alamogordo where we had a few options including an Elks Lodge.  We ended up stopping at an abandoned shopping plaza Donna found in the Escapees Days End directory. There were a couple of tractor-trailer rigs in the lot, but everything was boarded up and no one else was around. I parked us close to one of the boarded up store fronts to get a little shade and shelter from the wind.

Then part two of my tale of woe began. The HWH situation is worse than before. Now I can get enough pressure to lower the jacks, but it won’t generate enough pressure to actually lift and level the coach. I only put out one bedroom slide while I tried to see what I could do to fix the problem. After messing about for an hour, I think air entrained in the system was wishful thinking. I think the cavitation of the pump damaged the pump rotor and it won’t deliver sufficient pressure. To make matters worse, I don’t think I can get just the pump. I think I have to get the complete assembly – reservoir tank, pump and motor. It’s doubtful I’ll be able to get this fixed anytime soon because parts will have to be ordered and we’ll have to figure out where to have the work done.

Next, I couldn’t get the roof air conditioning units to operate on generator power. The generator output was fine – I had 120 volts, 60 hertz and all other 120-volt AC powered appliances worked. I haven’t run the roof air on the generator in months and I don’t know what’s up with it at this point. The air conditioners worked fine in Bisbee on shore power.

On Wednesday evening, we received severe weather warnings for south central New Mexico. The wind on Thursday was forecast to reach speeds in excess of 35 mph in Alamogordo and the mountain passes we were planning to head for had warnings for wind gusts up to 60 mph from late morning Thursday until 9am Friday morning!

On Thursday morning, Donna and I were up early. After sunup, the wind was calm, but the severe warnings were still in effect. We discussed heading out right away to get over the mountains ahead of the wind, but thought better of it. The wind was coming from the west-southwest. We’re currently parked on the east side of a large building complex – we have safe harbor on the leeward side of the closed shopping plaza.

Our sheltered spot

By 9:30am, we knew we made the right decision. The wind kicked up and even here in our sheltered spot, the coach was rocked several times. That kind of wind is not something I would want to drive our rig through on a mountainous highway. And it’s increasing by the hour.

Just before noon, a bunch of FedEx trucks pulled into the lot. Apparently they use this lot as a staging area. Five trucks backed up to a larger truck in a spoke-like pattern and they offloaded boxes from the large truck into the smaller ones. I’ve never seen that before.

FedEx transferring packages in the parking lot

Around 12:30pm, I got the Spyder out of the trailer and we rode into town for green chile cheese burgers. I didn’t want to ride the Spyder on the highway in the gusty wind so we went the slower way through town. We had lunch at BZ Rockin’ Burgers. They had great reviews and a unique method of ordering that consists of a printed sheet of paper with boxes you check to to build your own burger. Next time, I think I’ll stick with Blake’s Lotaburger – their green chili cheeseburger is hard to beat.

We made a stop at McGinn’s Pistachio Tree Ranch before we headed back. Donna posed in the wind for a photo.

Donna in a wind blown photo

We went inside the store and had a look around. They had some interesting flavors of pistachios and nut brittles as well as jams and other gift items. We didn’t find anything we had to have, so we headed home to see if our coach was still where we left it.

The wind blew harder and rocked the coach into the night. It’s a little past 7am now and a cool 55 degrees out. The forecast calls for a high of only 60 degrees today – it was 87 degrees yesterday. The weather service extended the wind advisory through this afternoon. After breakfast we’ll make a decision – sit tight or move on?

A Day in Bisbee

After a leisurely breakfast Tuesday morning, we took the Spyder out of the trailer and headed to Bisbee. From the Desert Oasis Campground, it’s about an 11-mile ride although Bisbee is about six or seven miles due west as the crow flies. We headed out on Double Adobe Road then up AZ80 to town.

We hit the historic district exit and followed the main thoroughfare which becomes Tombstone Canyon Road. Historic Bisbee is situated in a narrow canyon – a gulch. On either side of Tombstone Canyon Road, the canyon walls immediately climb. The side roads are narrow switchbacks and the houses are built on terraces – many of which are accessible only by climbing concrete stairs.

House terraced on the canyon wall with stairs for access

The main commercial area occupies about a mile of Tombstone Canyon Road and is geared toward tourism. There are a number of eclectic shops and galleries along with a couple of bars and restaurants. I bought a hat in one of the shops – it’s a western cattlemen style hat with an upturned four-inch brim made of Guatemalan palm.

They hold an event every year in Bisbee called the Bisbee 1000. It’s a 4.5-mile course including more than 1000 steps up the stairs connected by winding roads. Some people enter to run the course competitively while others join in to walk/jog the course and take in the scenic views.

Bisbee 1000

Not for the faint of heart

Another thing they do at the Bisbee 1000 is hold a special competition called Ironman Ice. To compete in this you must carry a ten pound block of ice with old-fashioned tongs up the stairs.

Ironman Ice – look closely, there are three sets of stairs before you reach the top

We figured to get lunch in Bisbee and were told that the best Mexican fare would be found at Santiago’s on Brewery Avenue. When I bought the hat, the gal in the store said Santiago’s was good, but if we wanted the best Sonoran food, we should go to Contessa’s Cantina. It’s been family owned and operated for five generations and she said it’s where the locals go.

We ended up at Contessa’s Cantina and weren’t disappointed. Later, we walked past Santiago’s to go to the Old Bisbee Brewing Company. The bartender there confirmed that Santiago’s was where most tourists were happy to go, but the locals go to Contessa’s. Donna and I split a flight of samplers at the brewery and unfortunately found it lacking. None of the beers were anything special – in fact I found the brewer to be a bit heavy-handed. The IPA had a bitter aftertaste, the Mayan stout had too much chocolate and coffee lending it a bitter aftertaste too and the vanilla porter was so forward with the vanilla, Donna commented that she felt like she just drank vanilla extract.

Stairs between two businesses with beautiful murals

Bisbee is a funky little town – especially in the historic district. It was founded in 1880 and the economy was fueled by mining. The Copper Queen mine was the most successful. In the early 1900s, it was the largest copper producer in Arizona. Small amounts of gold and silver were also recovered from the mine along with a turquoise called Bisbee Blue. The population of the town topped out around 10,000 people and there are 6,000 or so here today.

There are three distinct areas of Bisbee today – the historic district, the San Juan district which is more modern and has shopping centers and the Warren district which was the first planned community in Arizona. It was originally conceived as a suburb for executive and management level people in the mining industry. There’s another area called Lowell that’s now reduced to just a a few streets as the area was dug out by the Lavender pit mine.

The Lavender pit was named after Harrison Lavender – vice president of mining giant Phelps Dodge in 1950. The pit produced 86 million tons of ore and covers 300 acres. The pit has steep walls and is 900 feet deep.

View of Lavender pit from AZ80 looking southwest

Looking east at the Lavender pit

After two nights here in the desert, we’re ready to move on. Our plan is to head into New Mexico on AZ80 which becomes NM80 as we cross the stateline. We’ll lose an hour as we enter the Mountain Time Zone. We have a few options for our destination for the day – we plan to put in 200-250 miles and find a place to boondock for the night.

Our last Sonoran desert sunset – until next time

We should see warm temperatures and clear skies. The wind is forecast to come from the southwest, so we’ll have a tailwind component and hopefully no worries about crosswind gusts.

 

Dynamite Town

We talk a lot about being flexible in this lifestyle. One thing we’ve learned by being flexible is that we can find something of interest no matter where we are at the time. Here in Benson, things seem really quiet and not so exciting. So, we looked for things to see and do.

Donna went for a 5-mile hike Thursday morning. There’s a water tank on a bluff to the west of the SKP Saguaro RV Park. Donna found a trail that led up the bluff.

Water tank at the southwest corner of the rv park

Once up on the bluff, she had a great view of the area and took some photos.

Trail on the bluff

View of the SKP Saguaro park and the San Pedro River Valley to the east

She saw a large coyote and a snake on her hike along with a variety of desert plants.

Large ocotillo plant

Pencil cholla cactus

View to the southwest – Apache Peak and Karchner Cavern State Park

On Friday, we rode the Spyder into town and had a look around. We had a treat at the Old Benson Ice Cream Stop. The town of Benson was founded in 1880 when the Southern Pacific Railroad came through Arizona. Benson was a shipping point for the booming mining towns to the south – such as Tombstone and Bisbee.

There was some agriculture and also cattle ranches. The San Pedro River provided water. In the mid to late 1800s, the Chiricahua Apaches in the area engaged in warfare. Their most well-known leaders were Geronimo and Cochise. In 1885-1886, the American and Mexican militaries rounded up the Chiricahua and they were relocated to Florida.

Before the town was established, there was stage depot about a mile north of Benson where the Butterfield Stage Line stopped. The depot was guarded by eight soldiers. It was used as a stopover between Dragoon Pass to the east and Tucson to the west.

A smelter was built in Benson to convert silver and copper from the surrounding mines to bullion. Eventually, the overland wagons delivering the ore were replaced by a number of rail lines to the mining towns to the south. Benson became a hub city with more train traffic than Tucson!

I learned much of this history from a paper given to us at the SKP park. While were looking around in town, we wanted to stop at the Benson Museum. It closed at 2pm on Friday and we were too late, so we found the Arena Bar. It’s located on a nearly 10-acre lot on the northeast side of town and is home to a rodeo arena and several buildings. We stopped in for a cold one and found it to be a friendly place. They hold several events there. An interesting note – their liquor license allows customers to take their drinks anywhere on the property.

Arena Bar

On Saturday morning, we went back to the Benson Museum. We learned a little more history of the area including another driver of the local economy – Apache Powder Company – now called Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc.

Apache Powder Company began producing explosives – dynamite and nitroglycerin – in 1922. We were told at the museum that at one time, Apache Powder Company was the second largest producer of dynamite in the country. The explosives were mainly used by the mining industry.

Apache Powder Company display

The museum entry costs $5/person – $4 for seniors. It had a lot of items that were common from the late 1800s to about 1960. It might not have been the most exciting way to spend the day, but we enjoyed learning a little history of the area.

On Saturday evening, Donna grilled lemon-herb marinated boneless chicken thighs on the Weber Q and served it with black beans and grilled summer squash, peppers and onions. The summer squash came from a community vegetable garden here in the RV park.

Grilled lemon-herb marinated chicken and sides

This morning Donna hiked up the bluff again, returning on a different trail. Meanwhile I watched the Formula One race from Bahrain. It was an entertaining race, but it was marred by a pit lane accident involving Kimi Raikonnen and left one his pit crew with a possible leg fracture.

Later we watched the Moto GP race from Argentina. It was absolutely the craziest motorcycle race I’ve ever watched. The craziness started before the start of the race with a penalty given to 23 of the 24 riders, allowing Jack Miller to have a headstart from his pole position – he was the only one without a penalty. Marc Marquez rode like a mad man – he was fastest but he caused two crashes and was penalized twice in the race. The next Moto GP race is in Austin, Texas in two weeks. We’ll be there to see the best motorcycle racers in the world on the most sophisticated and powerful road racing motorcycles built.

This afternoon, I have to load up the trailer – we have the Weber Q out and last night I took out the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker grill to cook up Memphis style babyback ribs – a favorite. We’ll pull out tomorrow and head south through Tombstone to Desert Oasis Campground near Bisbee – a relocation of about 60 miles.

 

 

 

First Time in Benson

We took it easy on Easter Sunday. Donna wasn’t feeling well in the morning and had to cancel her kayak trip on the Salt River with her friends Audrey and Julia. In the afternoon, I spatchcocked a whole chicken (I wrote about spatchcock here), rubbed it with Sweet Rub O’Mine and cooked it on the Traeger. Donna served it with whipped sweet potato and asparagus.

Spatchcock chicken plate

On Monday morning, I played pickleball. Donna still wasn’t feeling 100% so she passed on pickleball but she did go out for an easy 18-mile bike ride. I got a start on organizing the trailer. I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a package of bungee cords and a couple of tie-downs. While I was at it, I picked up cat food at Petco. We had happy hour at Lucky Lou’s and said our goodbyes until next time to our friends there.

We had a last round of pickleball on Tuesday morning – Donna had a good time playing with the 3.0-3.5 group. Hopefully she can get enough pickleball court time over the summer and fall to stay at that level of play. Afterwards, I got serious about packing the trailer and preparing to hit the road. I now have four bicycles to store in the trailer. Donna bought a hybrid type knock-around bike to use in the park or to make a quick run to the store. She got it from a guy in the park for just $25 and it’s in great shape!

I still had a few things to put away Wednesday morning. Our friend Raymond stopped by to say goodbye and wish us safe travels. Raymond and his wife Louise gave us a big bag of grapefruits fresh from their neighbor’s tree. The grapefruits are sweet and very tasty.

I knew I was going to have an issue with the left rear jack before we left. When we set up, the jack pad sunk into the gravel. It was over a little sink hole – maybe water had leaked there before. I had to extend the jack nearly to the limit while we were there to stabilize the coach. When I put the slides in and raised the jacks to the store position, the left rear jack was stuck. Gravel had filled in the hole and the foot of the jack was buried.

I started the engine so the air suspension would raise the coach. I figured this would pull the jack free. I had a “Jacks Down” alarm screaming at me, but I couldn’t think of a better solution for the stuck jack. After a few minutes though, the engine shut itself off! I checked the jack and it was free and moving to the store position. I checked the engine control module for trouble codes and didn’t find any stored codes. I restarted the engine and all was good. I’m thinking there may be an automatic shut down after a jacks down warning stays on for a certain amount of time.

It took a little bit of jockeying around in the street to get the trailer hooked up, but we got it done without any issues. We pulled out of the site at 10:30am. We took the Loop 202 south and followed the San Tan Freeway to I-10. The interstate narrows to just two lanes between Maricopa and Casa Grande. This causes traffic to quickly build especially when a tractor-trailer rig decides to overtake another tractor-trailer but can only go marginally faster. The cars stack up behind the tractor-trailer and everyone follows too closely – it can be a little hairy.

We stopped at exit 208 in Eloy and topped up the tank with diesel at the Pilot Travel Center. Donna bought Subway sandwiches there, then we drove across the overpass to Blue Beacon to get the coach washed. We ate lunch while we waited in line for the wash. Sitting in Mesa, the coach got dirty. There’s always some dust in the air and when it rains, dirt spatters up from the gravel site and coats the lower sides of the coach.

This Blue Beacon had the narrowest entry of any I’ve seen. It said it was 10’6″ wide, but I doubt it. Once we entered the wash bay I had to pass through a sprayer that was shaped like an inverted “U” – the uprights on the sides were barely wider than the coach and I smacked the right mirror. Grrr. No real damage done – just a small scrape.

We arrived at the SKP Saguaro Co-op park in Benson around 3pm. Since this was a first-time visit to this park for us, we qualified for a super discount. Our full hook-up rate is $50 for one week, plus electricity at 11 cents per kilowatt. Can’t beat that!

This park requires all arrivals to be escorted to the site and directed by a park employee. Our site is quite wide and we planned to drop the trailer and back the coach in. When I backed the trailer into the right side of the site, we saw that it was deep enough to leave the trailer connected. I pulled the Spyder out of the trailer and backed the coach and trailer into the left side of the site. Nice!

Spacious site at SKP Saguaro Co-op in Benson

The park is fairly quiet with the exception of occasional trains blasting their horns as they approach the town. We can see a large water tank on top of a bluff to our west. Donna found a trail that leads to the tower and she’s hiking it this morning as I type this. It’ll be about a seven-mile round trip.

This morning, we made a decision to change up our plan. Although we’re paid up here through the 11th, we’ll pull out on Monday the 9th. We’ll head south on AZ80 about 50 miles to Desert Oasis Campground outside of Bisbee. I booked two nights there in a full hook-up pull through site for just $21/night with our Passport America discount. We want to spend a day exploring Bisbee, but we also want to be in Austin, Texas by the 19th. We’re allowing a full week to get to Austin so we can stop and smell the flowers along the way without having to push through long, high mileage days.

The weather forecast for the week ahead looks good. At our elevation of 3,600 feet, it’s cooler here than in Mesa, but we may have a 90-degree day or two ahead. It feels good to be on the move again.

Snowbirds Heading Home

Happy Easter! April first already – we’re a quarter of the way through 2018 and we’ve been in one location the entire time. That’s about to change. I played a lot of pickleball during the last week. I’m trying to play as much as I can before we move to parts unknown. I played two hours a day for six days in a row – and I’m feeling it!

It seemed like everyone had the same thought as the pickleball courts have been full most of the time. A few of the 2.5 level players moved up to play with the 3.0-3.5 group for the last 10 days or so. Donna was one of them. The crowd is quickly thinning out though. The majority of the snowbirds here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort are from Canada.

The Canadians are going home in droves. They have to apportion their time spent in the USA. If they’re in the USA for more than 180 days in a calendar year, they may owe US taxes. Also, if they’re out of their home province for more than 6 months, they may lose their healthcare benefits. I’m guessing we won’t have the pickleball courts full tomorrow. I’ll play Monday and Tuesday, but I also have a number of chores to make us ready for the road.

On Friday evening, Donna and I went to Lucky Lou’s to visit with friends over happy hour. The weather was nice and we enjoyed a couple of cold ones on the patio.

The usual suspects at Lucky Lou’s

We’ll be pulling out of here on Wednesday, so we should have another chance to get together before we say, “See ya next year!”

While we were out, Donna had a pork tenderloin marinating in sesame chili oil with fresh ginger. When we got home, she grilled it on the Weber Q along with baby bok choy and served it with a baked sweet potato.

Grilled pork tenderloin, baby bok choy and sweet potato

Things are heating up here in Mesa, Arizona. The temperature reached 90 degrees yesterday. After six straight days of pickleball, I spent most of Saturday afternoon relaxing with my Kindle. I was feeling a little beat up – my right wrist and shoulder were sore.

Donna went to the pool to relax and read. While she was out, I jumped on the Spyder. I wanted to fill the gas tank and decided to make another pit stop. I picked up a Belgian ale – a bottle of Abt 12 from the Trappist monks at St. Bernardus Abbey in the west Flanders region of Belgium. It’s brewed in the quadruppel style – a nice balance of maltiness and bitterness with some spice flavor. It’s strong at 10% ABV, but not hot at all or excessively heavy.

Abt 12 ale

For dinner, Donna made scallops in a brown butter and lemon sauce with capers. She served it over whole wheat orzo with green beans on the side. We dined outside in the shade of our coach. We ran the air conditioners to cool the coach in the evening.

Scallops in brown butter lemon sauce

The forecast calls for another warm day today with a high of nearly 90 degrees. I plan to cook a chicken on the Traeger for dinner. Tomorrow I’ll clean the Traeger and load it in the trailer. Hopefully I can get most of the trailer things organized and battened down tomorrow. On Tuesday, I’ll put away the wheel covers and windshield cover, then set the tire pressures. Then we’ll be just about ready to go. On Wednesday morning, I’ll dump and flush the holding tanks, hook up the trailer and load the Spyder. We’ll be rolling down the road to Benson, Arizona before noon – I’m shooting for sometime between 10 and 11 am.