“It was a lot more fun being 20 in the ‘70’s than it is being 70 in the ‘20’s.”
~Fran Lebowitz
Monday morning, with some hesitation, I left my BLM spot and headed east to another BLM spot, closer to Tucson. I say with some hesitation, because I really enjoyed my prior spot. It was large, remote and in spite of signs warning of illegal immigrants and drug trafficking, I felt quite comfortable and safe there. I was fairly sure that I had been to the place I was headed a couple years ago, but wasn’t certain. If I was correct, it was a step up. If I was wrong, I’d feel bad that I left a good spot for a lesser campsite. I was correct. As I drove on a frontage road near Picacho Peak, AZ, I recognized the mountain peak, and driving up the road I knew to take a left instead of the right that my GPS instructed me to take in order to get an even better spot. When I turned off, the road was as rutted and narrow as I remembered. There were a few nice spots close to the paved road that were already taken. I considered turning back and crossing to the other side where I knew I could probably get a pretty good site, but persistence paid off. It wasn’t long before I found a narrow turn-off that afforded me enough space to turn around and park facing the rugged road in, and yet still being back in the Saguaro Cactus Forest and hidden from view.
Pictures don’t do it justice. It is an absurdly beautiful, fantasy-like spot, surrounded by giant Saguaros, blue skies and mountains in the background.
Having grown up in Delaware, I only ever saw cacti on TV westerns or Road Runner cartoons. To live in the middle of this cactus forest was magical. This was the view from my back door each morning:
Cosmo and I took walks several times each day. I sat outside in the sunshine in the afternoons and on Tuesday, I had a long, hot outside shower with the Saguaro forest as my backdrop.
A real grocery store would have taken me an hour out of my way, so I settled on eating a lot of the “shelf stable” food I always carry around with me (pasta, canned beans, packaged brown rice, ramen, etc.) and supplemented with a few things (snacks) I picked up at Pilot Truck Stop when I stopped for gas and water. It was far from being a hardship as I still had a bag of fresh broccoli florets and some lemons and limes and tomatoes. I made a pasta dish with the broccoli and cherry tomatoes and stirred in just enough packaged cheese sauce to coat the noodles. It was quite delicious. I made black beans and rice with salsa and a squirt of fresh lime. I was feeling pretty smug sitting in the back of my van, listening to birds chirping, watching the sunset and eating delicious food.
I stayed there three days and on Thursday, headed south of Tucson to visit Deb and Barry, my friends from when I was working on the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in central California. We’ve kept in touch sporadically, but even after 30 years, when I pulled into their driveway and they came out to help me settle in, we seemingly picked up where we left off. I love making new friends on the road; It’s quite special to get a chance to meet up with old friends from my former life.
We cooked meals together, played cards at night and Deb and I went on a couple of adventures and Barry completed tasks I started but didn’t finish (like folding my laundry, and scrubbing my rugs which I had just hosed off. The weather was cold and rainy the first day and a half, but by Saturday it was warm and sunny. Barry played golf and Deb and I played a card game they had taught me. Cosmo and I slept in the van in the driveway and it was just an all around good visit. I was to leave on Sunday, but when I said I was having some dental issues and not able to find health care easily on the road, they gave me the number of their dentist across the border in Mexico. I called and easily made an appointment for Monday. U.S. dentists either weren’t taking new patients, wouldn’t take my Medicare insurance, or said they’d be happy to see me next July. I have high hopes after talking to the dentist in Nogales. (another story for another time).
Lessons From The Road: I’m doing pretty well for not having a plan for where I’m going or how I’m going to get there. I feel pretty comfortable just winging it, and hoping my devil-may-care attitude doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. It’s hard for me at times, but I’m happiest when I settle into the “I’m home wherever I am” mindset. I have the rest of March and maybe a week or two into April to wind my way to the west coast. I have a place to stay in San Diego area, and then up to Long Beach to get my van worked on. From there? Not sure, and not worried at the moment.