December 3-5, 2022
We returned from Death Valley to Lake Mead on November 20. Laura stayed one night. We had a huge campfire! The next day, she flew from Vegas to Asheville, to spend Thanksgiving with her Mama, her two daughters, and other family members. She invited me to go as well, but I opted to stay out west, at Lake Mead. She and I talked a few times while she was back east. We decided that, when she returned, we would travel together in Arizona, including stops at Sedona, the Phoenix area (where she had family to visit), and Tucson (more family there, too). She also wanted to go to Petrified Forest NP, and I wanted to go to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. From there, the next stops would be White Sands NP and Carlsbad NP in New Mexico, then Guadalupe NP and Big Bend NP in Texas. After that, we'd see what the timing was, as I would be heading back to Connecticut mid January. The only other sure thing we planned to do was end up at Gulf Islands National Seashore, where I reservations already set. I mapped things out in a loose time-frame. We discussed the options and met the day after she returned (December 1 ) at Dead Horse Ranch State Park near Sedona.
From Dead Horse Ranch, we went to the Phoenix area to watch kids of cousins (John and Julie) play flag football. Then we went to her cousin's house and visited with them and her uncle and aunt. From there, we went to Cave Creek Regional Park.
From my journal ...
We arrived around 6PM at the Cave Creek Regional Park campground. We came from Laura’s cousin’s house. Her aunt and uncle were there, too. They seemed so nice and to be terrific people. It was a good experience. The drive from their house to here was relatively short. It is kind of amazing to see so many cactus plants growing wild along the way, especially those Saguaros. We were told they are a protected plant. They cannot be transferred from place to place without a permit, even if they are in your own yard.
It was raining all the way here, and it continued on our arrival. It was also getting dark, so we did not do or see a lot. We did find the bathrooms and after that, we talked with a person from REI. There was another REI bicycle trip here, like the one we saw in Death Valley. The guy we talked with was on both trips. That seemed quite the coincidence, no? He talked up the job and the opportunities REI had for people who wanted to do such trips.
I heated up pasta for dinner. Laura made some beans and other stuff and put it on a Pita and Tortilla, I can’t recall which. She’s here now eating, and we are listening to Estas Tonne’s Song of the Butterfly. It is wet and kind of chilly outside. I am planning on sitting here and writing or reading for the next couple of hours. She’s always welcome to stay here, too. It is supposed to rain to some degree all night and up to noob tomorrow. Looks like much of tomorrow will be a wash. I would like to go for a ride. I have had enough days off. I need to ride some.
Sunday, December 4, 2022
It is raining. I hear it on the roof on my van. I would prefer it not be a rainy day. The good news is, the weather forecast has changed. Yesterday, last night that is, the forecast was for rain through the morning. The forecast this morning says it will stop by 7. Only time will tell for sure.
I like traveling with Laura, and not just that, I like being with her. She’s good. She is warm, kind, and comfortable to be with. Another day awaits us. I hope it is a day of good hiking for us, and I’d like to take a ride, on my own, as I want to push it some. I’ll see what the day brings.
It is 8AM. Laura came over around 7. We sat and talked, she having strong coffee, me having tea. We talked about the farm in Illinois, about family, about the conflict I found with the Churches, and about possible travel to other countries. She called her Mom, but she did not reach her, so she left a message.
Laura and I went for a nice hike. I have lost track of time, so I don’t even know what time it was, but I think we left right around noon. We walked about five miles, I estimate, doing an out and back on the Clay Mine Trail and the Overton Trail. On the way back we detoured to the Nature Center. It was nice and the couple staffing it, I think they were volunteers, camp hosts, were very nice. We learned that there are javelinas in the park and they are aggressive. The javelinas with which I am familiar are those down at Big Bend NP. They were not aggressive if you just let them be to their business. They had a Gila Monster and a few snakes there, some rattlers and one constrictor.
After that, we walked back to the campsite. I had some food, then I got ready for a bike ride. I left around 3PM, and I did 1 hour 45 minutes. It was the first ride since last Monday. It felt really good. I did repeats of a loop in the park, where there was very little traffic. The loop was about 0.43 miles with an up/down terrain, gaining and losing about 130’ in one part and losing it in another. The high point registered at 2104’. There was 1,641’ total climbing. I pushed it, standing up, on about 15-16 laps, getting my heart rate in the 160-165 range. I did several other laps at a slower pace, warming down after that. When I was done, I came back to the campsite, talked briefly with Laura, and headed off to the shower to get “squeaky clean”, as I told her. She had been drawing for the entire time I was gone. I told her I wanted to see her drawings, but we did not get to it later. So, I’ll have to see them tomorrow.
The shower was great, good hot water. There was push-button mechanism, which is good to conserve water. The water stays on for about 60 seconds, then you need to push the button again. The first push has mostly cold water, but it warmed up near the end. After that, oh yeah, it was nice and hot. I came back, and shortly after that Laura went to take a shower. She took a beer with her! The only other person I know, who ever mentioned something about having a beer in the shower, was Wes Brown.
Now I am having peanut butter and Townhouse crackers. I’ll have some pineapple cottage cheese after this, and I might have a bowl of Cheerios or some apple cinnamon oatmeal. That should fill me up.
I felt really good after this bike ride. It was energizing. I hope Laura felt just as good after her time drawing here at the campsite. She seemed to have a glow about her, I thought, she looked quite happy. I am looking forward to more riding, and I hope she does more drawing, and we both glow.
We talked about the next several days. We decided to stay here, at Cave Creek, another night. We were able to reserve a site, the only site available it was, #25. We’ll move over to there tomorrow night. Laura is meeting with another family member Tuesday morning at Apache Junction. We will stay at a Lost Dutchman State Park that night. She is going to Petrified Forest National Park on Wednesday, and will probably stay at Homolovi State Park. She knows it is going to be cold there, but that is what she wants to do. I am going to either stay another night at Lost Dutchman or head to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It is down southwest Arizona on the US-Mexico border.
We had a --- perfect --- campfire tonight. Laura put it together and started it, and it burned just right. The moon seemed to peak through with just enough light, into the mostly cloudy skies, that it illuminated them, making it appear to be somewhat dusk-like, even around 8PM. We sat chit-chatting some, with comfortable periods of quiet. I saw dancers in the tree branches, like one sees objects and living things in the clouds. The fire was meditative, contemplative. This was a very good day.
Monday, December 5, 2022
It is another Morning. But there is no grind, no regimen, and no protocol to follow. The days have the same names as always, but they have become placeholders for a schedule of places to visit. Of places in which to be. This is meant in the context of the phrase, the “purpose of life is to be.” We are staying here in Cave Creek tonight.
I was only up once during the night, around 12:15 AM. The moon came from behind some clouds. It is getting close to full, perhaps full in 2-3 days. There were many coyote sounds, which was also the case earlier during the campfire and when I went for a walk after that. From the campsite, they did not seem to be too close, but when I walked to the bathroom, they did seem close, as I was wondering do I want to even go there. But I did, all was fine.
Later: it is almost 9PM. Laura has gone to bed, and I am up writing, having chocolate, and listening to HOS (Hearts of Space music channel). I’ll recap some of the day’s highlights. We were domestic this morning, going into town to Safeway to get groceries. I got milk, yogurt, black beans, rice, shredded cheese, raisin bran, granola, and butter. We got some firewood, too. After shopping, we took a drive through town. It looks to be a pretty hopping place. I say this because there were many restaurants and small businesses along the main drag. We just drove through, turned around, and went back to the campground, because by then it was 11:30, and we had to check out by 12 and move to site 25.
After we set up, we drove to the trailhead for the Go John Trail. It is a 5.9 mile hike. It was a great hike. Although we did see a few other people, it pretty much felt like we were the only ones out there. It was kind of an intimate setting and environment, having all this back country to ourselves. We took our time, three hours, with plenty of stops to take photos. We talked a lot. We talked about many things, but I feel at a loss to recount them all. I know we talked some about her kids. Kids. Kids? They are adults. But I will tell you one thing about yesterday’s hike. I looked into her eyes, asking what color eyes she had, because I had not previously seen if they were green or brown. It was like electrifying, the feeling I had, in a good way. I had not expected that!
After our hike, we came back to the campsite. Within minutes, Laura had her bike off the car and said she was going for a ride to the loop where I had done my ride the day before. And she was off. I went for the shower. It was good. There was hot, hot water, but not too hot that one could not stand it. After my shower, I got a photo-text from Laura from her ride of the sky and the sunset. She ended up doing 6 loops. I texted her back that I was impressed. She certainly does impress me in many ways.
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