Hey Guys! Let’s see…where did I leave you hanging?

Let’s recap just a bit… It was Tuesday and we were in one of our favorite RV parks in the Sedona area soaking up that awesome Sedona vibe, trying to figure out what was wrong with the engine of our home-on-wheels when a dealership in Phoenix called us back. If we got there that day they could get us in. Well, sweet chickens! Let’s get going! We let the office know of our early departure (no refund…we were paid up to Saturday) and we took off trying to get to Phoenix before the RV guy at the dealership left for the day.

We made it to the dealership where the RV guy listened to our engine and proclaimed he didn’t really know what was wrong with it, but that we were going to need a brand new engine. Hmmm…what? Oh, and they couldn’t even start working us in until after the first of the year. And, the RV guy made it seem like our engine was on it’s last leg. This was very new news to us since the other two dealerships we’d had it at couldn’t really find anything wrong and told us it wouldn’t hurt to keep driving.

It was Dec 19th (a Tuesday) in southern Arizona and our reservations at Lost Dutchman State Park didn’t start until that Saturday the 23rd. Well, what the hay-diddly were we going to do? Have y’all ever tried to get last minute reservations in the middle of the winter in southern Arizona? It’s nearly impossible if you’re not 55+ and you have kiddos. We called over to Lost Dutchman SP and miraculously found spots for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, you can’t reserve a spot for the same day…it’s first come…but we were told there were six available spots if we could get there. We didn’t really have a choice…we didn’t feel safe sitting in the dealership parking lot.

We chanced it. Worst case scenario we would have to dry camp for a night in one of our favorite state parks. It took us close to 2 hours to go the 46 miles from the dealership to Lost Dutchman SP.

When we got there the park office was already closed and it was getting dark. Luckily, we’d been there before and we knew our way around. Arizona gave us a pretty spectacular sunset as we were searching for a spot for the night.

We woke up in our favorite spot in Lost Dutchman. It was such a welcome sight! We’d been able to make reservations for the rest of the week until our original reservations would kick in, but we were going to have to move pretty much daily. It was going to be a week of site hopping. But, hey…at least we had a place! It could definitely have been worse. We headed up to the Ranger’s station to try and figure out what we were going to do for the three days that we needed to gap from when our reservations would run out and we could get into the dealership to get the work done. Guys, these Rangers and Volunteers were amazing. They bent over backwards trying to figure something…anything out for us and it worked. They pieced together places so that we would have someplace to stay through the end of the year.

We spent the first week spot hopping. It became a routine to get up and start watching for the people in our new spot to leave so we could move. Most days we were just a few spots over.

Let’s be totally honest here, there are no bad views at Lost Dutchman State Park. I mean, look at that view? How could anyone be in a bad mood with that view out their window? Plus the weather was ah-mazing! It was mid 70s during the day and low 50s at night. I could think of worse places to unexpectedly be stuck.

And…all of the moving made utilizing the dump station easier. The only downside to Lost Dutchman SP is that there aren’t any full hookup sites. But, geez, with those views…who cares.

It was the week before Christmas so we put engine issues on the side burner and started on our Christmas traditions. One of our traditions is to have tamales for our Christmas dinner. Some years it’s a challenge to find tamales, but this year we hit the jackpot! We ended up at a place called Old El Paso Tamales and Guys…they were soooo good!

We were able to sneak in a visit to a National Monument while we were in the Phoenix area. Casa Grande National Monument is preserving what remains of an ancient Hohokam (ho ho KAHM) farming village. Casa Grande (“Great House”) is one of the most prominent examples of the Ancestral People’s society.

In 1932 a steel and concrete canopy was built to protect Casa Grande from the harsh Arizona environment. At one time this Great House was four stories high and sixty feet long. This site is the largest known structure left by the Ancestral People of the Sonoran Desert. The builders of this Great House were very in tune with the sky. The walls face the four cardinal points of the compass and there are holes in the walls that align with the sun/moon at different times of the day/year. It took 3,000 tons of a concrete like mixture of sand, clay, and limestone to complete Casa Grande in 1350. We learned a lot at this National Monument and met another traveling family from Hawaii! Meeting other travel families is always fun!

We made it back to Burger House in Miami, AZ!! We drove 45 mins one way just to eat a Green Mix Burro Enchilada Style. I got one to eat there and one to take home. Yum!! If it’s possible my take home burro was even better!

Meanwhile, Arizona was showing off with all of the gorgeous sunsets.

We made it through our week of musical spots and settled into our original reservation spot. It was really nice to be able to stay put for longer than two days. Between all of the moving around, Christmas prep, and Casa Grande we only made it out to the trails once.

We hiked a portion of the Siphon Draw Trail one afternoon. I really enjoy this trail, but can’t work up the nerve to go all the way to the top of it. We’ve heard it takes about six hours to go all the way to the top and back. Now, y’all know we don’t shy away from a hiking challenge…the Guadalupe Peak and Harding Ice Field hikes are proof of that…but this trail has tons of loose gravel once it reaches a certain point. It’s at this point that I turn around. I stood there…at my turn around point…and watched countless people slip and slide and fall and I totally chickened out. Again. It’s hard enough to hike on loose rock as it is, but I’m carrying my camera in one hand so that only leaves me one hand to balance, catch myself, and climb. I’m looking into a solution to this. I’m determined to reach the top of Siphon Draw one day.

Until then, I’ll just soak up the views and the sun as much as I can! I’m always amazed at how green the Sonoran desert is. One day I’ll make it to the Sonoran desert during the spring so I can see all of the cactus flowers! I’ve heard it’s spectacular!

Let’s talk foodies! We ate at a few new places, the two worth mentioning are both called Taquitos Jalisco. No joke. We were at an office store getting my calendar printed out and asked someone where some good Mexican food could be found. She pointed us to Taquitos Jalisco. Problem was…there were two and we weren’t really sure which one she meant. So, of course, we had to try both! Guys, both places were so good! Very different from one another, but both very good! We will definitely hit both again next time we get back to the area!

Y’all might remember that Jerl had to have eye surgery back in late September 2017. Well, it was time for another post-op eye check and we coordinated with his eye doc (Dr. Benedett) to find someone to do the exam in the Phoenix area. We love Dr. Benedett, by-the-way.  December 28th we headed to Jerl’s check-up and found out that his retina was re-detaching. We didn’t really go into panic mode until the young doctor we were seeing started giving us conflicting information. That worried us. A lot. He couldn’t even tell us if Jerl would be under general anesthesia or local anesthesia during the process.

We spent the afternoon talking about all of our options. There weren’t really that many. I jumped online and tried to find an RV park that we would be able to stay at for 2 months in the Phoenix area and guess what…nadda. As good as the Ranger’s at Lost Dutchman are, there were no available spots. Not even for one night after our reservations ended. For several reasons we decided to chance a 1,425 mile dash back to Missouri on an engine that was acting up and through winter weather to get back to Dr. Benedett. Yup, he’s that good.

In the next post I’ll fill y’all in about our mad dash to Missouri and give you an update on Jerl’s eye and the RV engine.

See y’all down the road!

#grandwesternloop