Sometimes plans turn on a dime. I had planned on staying at Marshall Lake for another week. We had 3 straight days of cloud cover and intermittent rain. Fortunately, there was not enough rain to turn my campsite into a mud pit, but the forecast for the coming week was heavy thunderstorms. With the cloudy weather, my solar batteries were down to 50%, and there was no sun in the forecast until late in the week. With heavy rains coming, I knew I’d once again be dealing with serious mud, and lack of sunshine meant the need to restrict electricity usage, so I decided it was time to move. I looked for a campground with electricity and found one in Camp Verde, AZ and it was very cheap. They had water and electricity, laundry, showers, pool and even a hot tub. I decided it would be a couple days of vacation for me.
I stopped in Camp Verde at a grocery store I was unfamiliar with—Basha’s. It is a chain, and although things were expensive, the produce section was pretty nice. They also had a section of prepared foods which I avoided due to my tiny refrigerator. Having been trying to eat more healthily, I stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables. After grocery shopping, I stopped and filled my gas tank, and headed just a few minutes down the road to Krazy K RV Park. I knew it was a crap shoot to book one night here, but figured with a pool and hot tub, showers, and laundry, if I hated it, I could pull out the next morning. I LOVED it. The man who took my reservation by phone is named Bill. He couldn’t have been nicer, offering me a spot in the overflow lot. He said it might be nicer for a van, was adjacent to the pool and laundry and bathrooms and was $10 cheaper than the regular spots. He warned me that it was closer to the road and said there was a wall separating the space from the interstate (I-17). He said he didn’t mind the traffic sound, but wanted to be sure that I didn’t mind. Then he added “If it’s not suitable, we can always move you.” He told me he would be off on Monday, but that Jim and Nancy would be here. He said if by chance no one was in the office, to just call the number on the door and someone would come right up. Bill went so out of his way to make me feel like they’d take good care of me. When I arrived, I parked and took Cosmo out to pee. Jim came out as we were heading to the office and said “Oh. Have you been waiting here long?” I assured him I just got here and he said “Come on in. I’ll go get Nancy and she’ll check you in.” Then he added “You’re Scott, right?” They were expecting me. I got checked in and Jim hopped in his golf cart and led me up the hill to my spot. On the way I got the picture: This was a senior RV park. Most of the residents were year-round, and the ones who weren’t were here at least seasonally. I suspect they don’t get many one-nighters. When we got to the top of the hill, Jim hopped off the cart and guided me as I backed into my spot. He asked if I had levelers and said he could find some if I needed them. I assured him I hade enough for the slight tilt to the passenger side. He showed me the 30-amp connection and asked if I needed anything.
My spot was 5 feet from the pool and hot tub gate. The place was clearly a 55 plus community, so I didn’t worry about having kids coming and going. In fact, NOBODY was coming and going. I got settled in and jumped in the pool which was on the cool side, and then into the hot tub which was above warm, but not so hot that I couldn’t stay in for a long time. I did stay in for a long time. I leaned back against a jet and looked up at the clear blue sky. I could see my van from the hot tub and could keep an eye on Cosmo. Since I was plugged into electricity, I turned on the air conditioner. It was heading toward 98⁰, and I was in full sun. The AC kept it at about 80⁰ inside, which was fine. I did two loads of laundry and then Cosmo and I took a walk to explore. The place was tacky, but in a very warm, grandmotherly way. There were garlands of fake fall leaves and tiny pumpkins decorating the pool area, along with artificial blue and pink daisies and yellow sunflowers.
At a point in my life, I would have cringed, but somehow this all seemed quite charming. There were public areas set up with a small metal table and matching chairs, under an umbrella, or small gazebo overgrown with bougainvillea.
It appeared that two couples were the groundkeepers/office workers. Jim and Nancy checked me in, and I found out later that they volunteered on Mondays and Tuesdays. Bill and Sue worked full time Wednesday through Sunday. My first full day there, I saw Jim come from farther up the hill than I was. He came down with his dog and entered the pool area. I was busy making coffee and doing my morning routine, but I could tell he was skimming leaves off the pool’s surface, and I suspected checking chlorine levels, etc. When he left, he got on his golf cart and drove down the hill. Around 8:00 a.m., I was in the gym (very small and limited equipment, but also quite nice to use a treadmill and have some weights to lift) and a woman came in to get the vacuum. I asked if she was Sue. She said she was, and I introduced myself. She went into the laundry room and vacuumed and when she came out, we chatted briefly. I went back to my van and I saw her enter the men’s room, prop the door open and take a hose inside. I could easily imagine myself owning a small RV park when I get too old to drive, or when my van gets too old to be drivable.
I saw only a few residents. For the most part they all stayed inside, but the few I did meet outside (usually walking dogs or watering their own potted plants) were polite. It was such a contrast from living in the forest all summer. The scene was much less natural, with walkways and railroad tie stairways leading from one terrace to the other, and gravel roadways, but there were no woo girls screaming in a drunken stupor, and no Razor’s kicking up the dirt as they raced down nearby dirt roads. The owners and I suspect the tenants take very good care of the property. There was no chance of me coming across broken beer bottles or piles of trash at any site.
I also discovered a new assortment of “wildlife” at Krazy K. I saw my first tarantula. Although it was intact, it was dead. Sue explained that it was attacked by a Tarantula wasp which injects it with a paralyzing sting before laying eggs inside it. When the eggs hatch out, they eat the live, but paralyzed from the inside out. That’s an unpleasant thought. I also was warned to check my shoes for scorpions as this is “snake and scorpion and black widow season.” I paid close attention to where I was walking. I also saw a real road runner and a coyote. So far I have not spotted any tunnel openings painted on the sides of any mountains, but I’ll be sure to use caution when driving toward a tunnel.
The week passed quickly. It was very hot most days, so I enjoyed the comfort of my air conditioning in the van, took walks in the early morning and late afternoon, and around sunset each day took a dip in the pool and sat in the hot tub. The forecast for the coming week south of Prescott Valley where I’ll be staying next week is for highs in the mid-70’s. It’s a perfect time to leave and head back to BLM land.
Lessons From The Road: Being plugged in to, and using only electricity from the park gave my lithium batteries a chance to recharge from the abundant sunshine, but it did take three full days for them to top off at 100%. Normally I am quite conscious of electric and water usage. There is a limited supply, and I’ve grown adept at turning off my inverter (changes the DC solar power collected into AC power to run appliances) when I’m not in need of microwave, Vitamix, or charging my laptop. I use my mini-air fryer quite sparingly. It takes some getting used to for me to remember that I always have AC power, and that I don’t need to turn the water pump on or off since the water is flowing directly into my faucet from the hose hookup, not from my storage tank. I’m surprised how it affects my thinking. Part of me feels extremely affluent to have as much electricity and water as I want; the other part feels a bit guilty and wasteful if I think I’m running my air fryer for 15 minutes instead of 10 to get my eggplant wedges extra crispy.
Taking daily showers and soaking in a hot tub also feels quite luxurious. I take trash to the dumpster every morning, instead of separating and saving my cardboard to use for a campfire at some point, and throwing organic scraps out into the forest for some creature to enjoy and only putting cans or glass in the garbage. The dumpster is at the far end of the park, but Cosmo and I walk there each morning.
I’m not sure I’d enjoy this place so much if I were in the main park. There are large rigs parked very close to each other. I’m perched up on the hill with the swimming pool and hot tub, and gym, laundry room, and restrooms separating me from the year-round people. It’s a nice set up for me.
Aside from the two couples that manage the property, I’ve only talked to two people. They were a couple coming down from Idaho and going back south to Yuma, AZ for the winter. They were here for a night or two, so they were guests like I was. The permanent residents would wave politely if I passed them walking Cosmo, but I was not one of them, so they didn’t expend much energy on me.
At the beginning of the week, I was excited. I thought several times I could live like this, in my van, hooked up to water and electricity, with so many luxurious amenities. By Saturday, I longed for a forest, or a desert, or river and the solitude that comes from being out on my own, not hooked up to anything. I was ready for the next adventure.