Sweet Rolls, Swap Meets, and the Blues--Ajo AZ to Needles CA

Roadsign seen near the Carefree Highway 

A couple of days after Steve went home to Why, I headed back out on my trip to Seattle, this time solo.  With Steve's help, I had reorganized the rig a little bit and offloaded things I wasn't likely to use when traveling by myself, such as the small propane barbecue.

Nope, I'm more of a "I think I'll find a bakery and a thrift shop" kind of gal.  And, in this, I've had a most satisfying week.  

Some petroglyphs at Painted Rock near Gila Bend, AZ

For the first few days I was back to traveling solo, I went very slowly and stayed on remote BLM lands, kind of rerouting my itinerary.  I spent a couple of nights on Darby Well Road outside of Ajo, then I headed up to Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, which is west of Gila Bend, AZ, off of I-8.  There is an 11-mile paved road that goes up to Painted Rock.  The campground is just desert land with some picnic tables and fire circles, but it's also inexpensive ($4 I believe with my Access pass) and quiet, and the rocks are interesting.  I stayed one night only, because it was hot during the daytime, and I wanted to escape the heat by continuing north.

 Shorebirds just a few feet off my stern at Lake Pleasant Regional Park north of Phoenix

One thing I am really trying to do on this trip is rely on my intuition.  There are tons of websites that provide information about where to camp, but sometimes I like to just figure it out by myself.  That's what I did for my next stop.  I was looking at my road atlas and saw that there was a nice big lake north of Phoenix called Lake Pleasant, but there were no markings on the map about parks.  But I had a hunch there must be something nice there, and when I looked it up online, there was a Maricopa County park there with campgrounds ($20 to $30 per night) and dry camping right on the beach ($12 per night).  Yay!  I spent a night there parked about 20 feet from the water, enjoying the cool breezes from the lake.  The following morning, though, the breezes had become a really big gusty wind, and I had to wait for that to die down before I could safely pull out of there.

A fabulous sweet roll at Bedoian's in Wickenburg, made by the barista's brother; he makes a fresh batch every morning

I took the Carefree Highway (AZ State Highway 74), named for a small town and immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot, from Lake Pleasant to Wickenburg where I found a wonderful little cafe, Bedoian's Bakery & Bistro, that had great coffee and probably the best cinnamon roll I've eaten in my lifetime.  And that's high praise from a Minnesota girl who grew up with the good stuff.  I spent a few hours in Wickenburg, visiting the art museum which was showing a yearly Cowgirl Up! exhibit that I found inspiring and delightful.  I also visited the Soroptimists Thrift Store a block or so away.  

I haven't listed anything on eBay for quite some time, but I am collecting what we in the antique business call "smalls" to mail to my friend January to sell in her consignment antique store in Truth or Consequences, NM.  Along the road, I have completely filled up a Flat Rate Priority Mail Medium Box which will ship for $12.65, and I have stuff to start the next box or two.  

 My campsite at White Spar Campground

From Wickenburg, I drove north on Highway 89 to the White Spar Campground in the Prescott National Forest, about three miles south of the town of Prescott.  It's a nice primitive (no hookups) campground, very cool at night, and I rested there for a couple of days.  

 A very nice almond croissant from Pangaea in Prescott

The morning I left, I stopped in historic downtown Prescott and found another fabulous stop for coffee and pastry, Pangaea Bakery & Cafe, where I had a remarkable almond croissant and a nice dark fair trade organic house roast.  If you're one of my early blog readers, you may remember that I have a passion for almond croissants and have reviewed them whenever I come across them in my travels.  Pangaea's was a little dry on the outside, perhaps from reheating, but Lord Almighty they know how to put the good stuff inside.  Many bakeries scrimp on the almond paste, but Pangaea's bakers add so much paste that the inside of the croissant has an exquisite custard-like layer.  

Bob Wells, leader of the pack

On leaving the bakery, I went to the Salvation Army for a few trinkets, then took quite a long drive to my next campsite.  I continued up Highway 89 to catch I-40 at Ash Fork, with stops at several thrift shops in Chino Valley.  And an awesome coincidence in Chino of stopping at a Circle K, only to find Bob Wells there, getting some water!  I've known Bob online for years, but this was my first opportunity to meet him in person.  Bob runs a helpful website called CheapRVLiving, and he gathers up people each year for the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, where there is community and an exchange of useful information for living on the road.  He was also featured in a film about mobile living, along with my friend Christine Carrington and other full-timers.   

Just west of Ash Fork, I picked up an old portion of Route 66 that wasn't paved over to become an Interstate.  It goes through Seligman up to Grand Canyon Caverns, where I spent the night and took a tour the next morning. 

A picture taken of me by our tour guide at the bottom of the Grand Canyon Caverns

Grand Canyon Caverns is really kitschy and fun.  It was a huge contrast to Kartchner Caverns, which I've toured a couple of times.  Kartchner is a live cavern, where formations are still growing and the environment is fragile.  Kartchner is owned by the State of Arizona and there are lots of rules to protect it.  Grand Canyon Caverns, on the other hand, is a very dry cavern that has been in private ownership and used for tourism ever since it was discovered and found to not have any gold, silver or other valuable resources.  So the property includes a funky old motel and a barely-tended campground, and you're pretty much over a barrel--you have to spend at least $25 a night to camp there ($35 if you want hookups), plus the 20 bucks for the tour.  But it's fun.

Having blown my budget big-time at the Caverns, I saw no reason to slow down the next day.  I drove the rest of the Old Route 66 loop to Kingman.  Just as I was pulling into town, there was a big swap meet, where I stopped for more resale fodder and also managed to get a sunburn.  It is hot on the West Coast of Arizona!  Then I continued west and crossed the Colorado River into Laughlin, Nevada, where I spent the night at Harrah's Convenience Store, a Shell station across the street from the casino.  It's $7 to dry camp, and the casino will send a van over to pick you up when you want to go eat or gamble.  

While driving into Laughlin, I saw posters about Buddy Guy playing that night at the Edgewater, another casino about 1.5 miles down the strip from Harrah's.  I bought a ticket to the concert and took a cab up to the Edgewater because it was too hot to walk.  I enjoyed the concert immensely.  Buddy Guy does a lot of talking between and during songs.  Mid-song, he'll stop to pontificate on the blues or where music is going today or why people should love and respect one another.  He's a very hip 78-year-old who has recently added more foul language into his act, because, as he says, "After hip hop, what's stopping me?"  I loved his music and his patter.  I felt so energized afterwards that I walked the 1.5 miles back to my RV in the cooler evening. 

 Gourmet treats at the Harrah's Casino Sunday brunch buffet--lox, fresh asparagus, artichoke hearts, blintzes, a mini-waffle with fruit and whipped cream

Upon awakening in Laughlin the next morning, I decided a casino buffet Sunday brunch was in order, so I got the shuttle over to Harrah's and dove in.  The choices were so numerous that I could try only a small percentage of what was offered.  I stuck to things I don't usually eat in my RV, such as blintzes, lox, eggs Benedict, and creme brulee.  Then I headed back across the river to Bullhead City, Arizona, and stocked up at the grocery store for a few days of crossing the Mojave.

I spent last night at an RV park in Needles, California, called Fender's River Road Resort.  There are some motel rooms here and a few RV sites, some right along the Colorado River.  With my Passport America membership, this campground was $14.  This is the first time I've had hookups for over a week, and my Verizon connection has been good here for Internet, too.  So I spent last night and this morning catching up on stuff--a shower, laundry, getting out my computer to do some route planning and write this blog, and I even watched a little TV online last night, too.  

Today I am heading out to the Mojave National Preserve which has a campground at a higher elevation and thus cooler temps.  It's going to be 97 here in Needles this afternoon, but the highs are in the 70s up at the Preserve.  I'll probably stay there a night or two before taking on the next leg of crossing the hot desert. 

I'm keeping in touch with Steve every day and the current situation seems to be that his lab tests from his yearly physical indicated maybe more tests should be run, and Steve is deciding which of these to have.  He'll be seeing his regular physician again soon for some medication to address the gout, and to get advice on how far to pursue other tests, imaging, etc.  Then he wants to head back over to Truth or Consequences, NM, soon where he can stay in our big Class A motorhome with air conditioning.       

      

Movin' on Up: Pinetop, Arizona

 Double rainbow over the RV Sites at Blue Mountain Motel & Cabins

In my last blog post, we were staying at the National Forest Service campground in Lakeside, Arizona, a few miles south of Show Low on Hwy 260.  But we were having problems.  We'd been counting on using our generator to run the air conditioning once in a while if necessary and to keep our batteries full.  When we tried the generator, it smelled like something was burning.  We tried getting by with the small solar panel we'd brought with us, and that just wasn't enough.  The afternoons were very hot, and there wasn't enough power for me to sell on eBay.

So I called around to find someplace we could stay that had full hook-ups.  Boy, that's hard to find in this area!  Most RVers that come to the Show Low/Lakeside-Pinetop area stay for the entire summer.  A lot of RV parks only accept reservations for the whole season, and some of those are very selective:  No RVs that are more than 10 years old, or even 5 years!  

Fortunately, we'd met somebody local who recommended Blue Ridge Motel & Cabins, which also has RV spaces.  They are pretty much booked up for the summer, too, but they happened to have one space available for a month, so we took it.  The price was right--$295 per month, which includes electricity.  We moved as soon as the site opened up and have been here about a week-and-a-half so far.

We're parked very close to our neighbors, but fortunately we have quiet folks on both sides.  We like the resort.  The owners are a nice family, and they keep the place very family-friendly, so there isn't any conspicuous consumption of alcohol or anything else.  Most days the only noise I hear from other people is the happy sound of kids playing.

We're also more comfortable temperature-wise than we were in Lakeside.  We're just a little bit higher in elevation, and we are on the front edge of Blue Ridge, where we get some nice breeze.    

We're still right off of Hwy 260, so we can still take the bus, which is handy for us, since we opted not to tow a car this summer.  We've been able to take the bus to the Post Office, to various grocery stores, and to take care of some business.  Since the bus runs on a circular route that takes about an hour, there's often quite a bit of wait time, but that's okay.  I just bring a book and find myself a cup of coffee.       

 A great almond croissant and cup of coffee at "Baked in Pinetop"

Some of my readers who have been with me since the beginning of my travels in 2011 might remember that, when I started out on the West Coast, I reviewed all of the almond croissants that I found along the way.  I ate them in several places in California, but then after I took a left turn and headed through the Southwest, almond croissants became very hard to find!  So I was sure delighted to find a really good one the other day at a little shop called "Baked in Pinetop."  It had just the right amount of almond paste inside--enough to taste really good and to be moist inside, but not so much to affect the lightness of the pastry on the outside.  I'll definitely be going back there again before I leave this area.

While we have hookups and fairly reliable Internet, I'm working on two goals:  To make some money on eBay and to get some paintings done.  I've started work on a new series of paintings inspired by my travels.  They're based on road signs and they are fantasy "what if" situations. 

 "Watch for Tie Dye Cows on Road"

16 x 20 inches, acrylic on canvas

Lucky for me, right after I started working on these new paintings, I got a call from Grapes Gallery in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, asking me for some new work.  So I hope to get five or six paintings done within the next several weeks, and I'll mail them to the gallery in time for the July Second Saturday Art Hop.  

Also lucky for me, my friend Bridget immediately bought the tie dye cow picture!  I mailed it to her yesterday at her little ranch in Guadalupita, New Mexico.

Okey Dokey Smokey

16 x 20 inches, acrylic on canvas

Steve had some sad news right after we moved here to Blue Ridge.  His friend Bob, with whom we'd stayed a few weeks earlier near Ramah, New Mexico, died of a heart attack.  We had just put the money down on our month here at the resort, and we decided not to go back.  Fortunately, Bob and Nancy's grown kids, as well as other family, friends and neighbors, will all be gathering tomorrow to celebrate Bob's life.  I'm glad Steve got one last chance to hang out with Bob.

We'll be here another two-and-a-half weeks, and then we'll head a little ways west, maybe to Overgaard.  We'll probably find ourselves another place to roost for a while in the White Mountains.  It's nice and cool here in the mornings and evenings, and it rarely gets hot enough for us to need the A/C in the afternoon.  There doesn't seem to be much reason to move very far or very fast.      

Guess Where I Am?

Almond Croissant & Coffee

Haight Street Whole Foods

Did you guess San Francisco? That's right, boys and girls, I'm still here in the City of Love...oh, no, wait, that's Philadelphia. San Francisco is the City of Haight, where the Summer of Love was celebrated, just blocks from the garage where my cat lives inside of my RV and the hotel where I am living, probably until Monday or Tuesday.

Recap: If you've been following my blog, you know that I had planned to spend one night at an RV park in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco, about two weeks ago. After that I was going to visit friends in Santa Cruz and meander down the Central California Coast. However, my engine overheated on the rise that leads to the Pacifica exit and it turned out I needed a new engine. Then, about a week later when I got stuck at about the same place, we found out that the new engine was defective, so I was here a second week getting the second new engine.

Recent Events: On Thursday, I moved out of the hellish rooming house and went to pick up The Guppy at the garage. It was ready and the new engine runs so smoothly, it purrs. I drove around San Francisco, testing whether it had any trouble stalling out or with idling in low gears, at low speeds, up hills, etc. No problems! So I picked up Sonja from the deluxe cat spa and started to head out of town. Took the Great Highway south along the coast and got to the same hill that had buffaloed me on my last two attempts to escape San Francisco, and whaddyaknow...suddenly the gas pedal hit the floor and the engine was racing! I put on the brake, pulled over to the shoulder, and let the engine stall out, then called the garage to come out and tow me back to town.

The accelerator problem is a new problem, not related to the engine replacements. It's due to an old, rusted-out accelerator cable that needs to be replaced. It's a fairly straightforward job that should just take a couple of hours, but the problem is finding the part. Apparently accelerator cables for my particular vehicle aren't something you'll find at a standard parts store, and the used ones that the garage has been able to uncover at various wrecking yards are just as old and rusty as the one they removed from The Guppy. So now we are waiting for the part to come directly from a Toyota factory, hopefully on Monday.

So I'm back to living in the Stanyan Park Hotel, a couple of blocks from the garage. Fortunately the garage has paid me 100% of my expenses for the six days I was delayed due to the defective replacement engine, plus they have comped all of my tows. Right now, since the current problem isn't the garage's fault, I'm back to paying for my own hotel and other expenses. And I considered going to a cheaper place, such as a hostel, but I decided instead to concentrate on my eBay sales and just try to make enough money to meet this weekend's expenses. So I'm listing about 50 vintage designer scarves today.

I wasn't going to write another blog entry until I got out of San Francisco, because I felt like there just wasn't much to say. But My Favorite Sister Sharon said she'd looked for news of me on my blog all week and she was pretty sure everybody would want to know what I'm doing and that I'm okay. Sharon says my stay here is part of my journey, and, who knows, it may be a really important part of it. I have certainly learned acceptance, patience, and being okay with having little control over things, especially with this most recent return to the garage.

My Best Friend Helen says she thinks I'm not supposed to go to Pacifica--maybe I'm supposed to take the freeway to Santa Cruz instead of the coastal route. I dunno. I'm just taking it a day at a time, trying not to have expectations. I do know I'm a lot luckier than most of the other people who are staying at this particular hotel--it's near the children's hospital, and a lot of families are here to be close to their babies who have serious health problems.

I went to the Goodwill and a few other stores in Haight-Ashbury to buy some clean clothes and other things to make my stay here more comfortable. Now I have a real plate and silverware for the food I can purchase about a block away at Whole Foods, plus bubble bath and a small candle...might as well make the most of my stay in a hotel, I figure. I've learned a lot about what I need to keep in my "exit bag" for situations like these.

Almond Croissant Reviews: During the days I stayed at the San Francisco Guest House on Geary Blvd., I often had coffee at the Royal Ground, a coffee shop across the street. They serve a nearly mystical almond croissant. It had substantial, chewy, almost sourdough-like pastry with just a hint of almond paste in the center...just enough to keep you wanting more. So good I had it two days in a row.

The almond croissant pictured at the top of this blog entry is from Whole Foods on Haight. I don't know whether Whole Foods gets their pastries from local bakers or if they serve the same ones nationwide. The one I got here in San Francisco, I'm naming the Mucho Crustini, because it had so much edible matter (almonds, almond paste, and I'm not sure what else) spread on top. It also had more almond paste inside than I care for. Excessive on all counts. I probably would've liked it better back when I was a kid and liked gooey excessive things.

That said, I'm going for a walk in Golden Gate Park, probably to the De Young Museum for the afternoon. Then it's back to work on that pile of eBay scarves!