March 27 - 29, 2024:
News Flash - Twinkles and Slick have purchased an RV and are back on the road ! It’s a barely used 2023 Entegra Odyssey 22C class C. This will be used part time for various trips yet to be determined. We took it out for a shake down run on March 27th and 28th to Willcox, Arizona where we boondocked for two nights at the Willcox Playa BLM area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willcox,_Arizona
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| A stop in Willcox is always good, a very cool historic small town |
The Willcox Playa is a popular destination for birders during the winter when the Sandhill Cranes winter here on their migration journey. The Cranes are long gone at this time of the year however, the lake has receeded, the area is now vacant and we have it all to ourselves. The Playa is a huge flat area which collects water forming a lake in the winter period. There is a trail around the perimeter of the lake and a fence to keep people from the birds. We walked the trail, not very exciting without the birds, but the terrain and views are interesting. I had hoped to see more spring flowers, but it’s a little premature here, things are just starting to green up now. It was a cold night in the RV although we could have run our generator for heat, but didn’t.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willcox_Playa
http://www.azheritagewaters.nau.edu/loc_wilcox_playa.html
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| The lake is off to the right |
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| Sand dunes |
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| The surface is soft and spongy, in places you sink into mud |
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| Ranch land with mountain views |
In the morning, we fired up the generator and gave it a good test, it passed with flying colors. We then decided to drive about 35 miles away to the Chiricahua National Monument, it was an interesting drive through mostly cattle range country. We checked in at the visitors center to make sure that we were able to take the RV up the Bonita Canyon Road to Massai Point at 6,870 foot elevation. We are close to the max length limit for travel up the curvy, uphill 8 mile road. The park attendant assured Sue that the road was not too scary, she had some trepidations over that. We did have some issues with tree branches hitting the top of the RV in a few places and on the way back down lost a plastic cover on the awning, but nothing serious.
At Massai Point, we took the Hailstone Trail for about a 4 mile roundtrip hike hike. It was a beautiful forested hike with incredible views of the uplifted and sculpted rock pinnacles. On the return out of the park we stopped at the historic area where the original settlers lived and ranched for several generations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiricahua_National_Monument
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| Snow still remains in shady areas |
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| Fire damage in recent past |
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| The RV awaits |
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| Ed Riggs did much to promote and develop the National Monument |
We then returned to the Willcox Playa for night two which was much warmer and
relaxing.
On our return to Tucson, we made at stop at the Amerind Museum and did a hike in Texas Canyon. I used to drive past Texas Canyon on I-10 and wonder why it was closed off, so glad to see this recently being opened as a part of the Amerind Museum. The rocks formations here are also spectacular but different, not as wild as those at Chiricahua. Lots of photos were taken, it was great. The museum at Amerind is also a must see, it's great !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Canyon
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| The trails all sort of meander around the rocks |
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