Figuring Stuff Out at a National Forest Service Campground

 Approaching the White Mountains

Four days ago, we left St. Johns, Arizona, where we'd unexpectedly spent a full week at a pleasant private RV park.  It's a good thing we hung out there--the first prescription of antibiotics I'd been given at the local clinic didn't completely make me well, so I was able to get another round of stronger meds before leaving town.  Now I am really feeling much better.  

We drove only about 60 miles to our next destination.  We want to check out the Show Low, Arizona, area this summer.  This part of Arizona, also known as the White Mountains and the Mogollon Rim, has at least three contiguous National Forests:  Sitgreaves, Apache and Cococino.  All of these have established campgrounds, and all allow dispersed camping (boondocking).  There are also city and county campgrounds, State Parks, and many private RV parks. 

Entering Sitgreaves National Forest

Somebody told us a ways back in our travels to go to the Lakeside Ranger Station out by the Show Low Walmart and there would be a good campground close by.  Wow, they weren't kidding!  Right across the street from the Ranger Station is Lakeside Campground.  

This is a very interesting place to camp.  The sites are large and wooded, so you feel like you're out in the boonies.  However, just outside the campground entrance is a bus stop, where you can catch a little bus that drives all through Lakeside-Pinetop, two communities a few miles south and east of Show Low, as well as out to the Hon-Dah Casino on the White Mountain Apache (Fort Apache) Reservation.  So you can have the best of both worlds here--a spacious, inexpensive campsite that's close to everything you might need or want.  

We can also take the Lakeside-Pinetop bus to its northernmost stop (Walmart) and transfer to another bus that loops through Show Low.  We haven't done that yet.  So far, we've been satisfied with finding groceries, the post office, and a bookstore on the bus route that goes by our campground.  

In fact, a lot of stuff is within easy biking distance.  I've been needing a new bike, so we took the bus up to Walmart the other day and got me an inexpensive 26" ladies 18-speed mountain bike.  It's much easier for me to ride a bike than to walk long distances, because a bike has zero impact on my knees. 

 My new bike!

We are experiencing very good and somewhat disappointing aspects of staying here at Lakeside.  The good part is, as mentioned, the sites are big!  Even though we're close to Highway 260 (I mean, we can walk to the other side of the campground and eat pizza and wings at a franchise), it's quiet in the evening.  Last night we watched a great horned owl hunting for field mice. 

The Beluga in our lovely campsite.

What's not working for us is the lack of electricity.  We have a generator, but it makes a troublesome burning smell when we use it, so we're not using it until we find out what the problem is.  

We do have a small solar panel with us, but it doesn't gather as much electricity as we sometimes need, given that I am not yet retired and need to keep up with my online business.  If it's cloudy for very long, I can't do my work.

We had been counting on being able to run the generator to have a little air conditioning during the hottest part of the day (it's about 95 degrees in the tin can...I mean, the Beluga right now).  We thought I'd be able to iron the scarves I sell on eBay while the generator was running, too, and maybe do a little sewing. 

So, much as we love this campground and the price (just $6 per night with Steve's Golden Age Passport), we did some research today and we'll be moving to a private resort on Friday, or possibly sooner if something opens up before Friday.  We're going to stay there about a month, which brings the nightly price down to about $10, which is a really good deal, considering it includes electricity, as well as some services we might not use, such as cable TV.  And we'll still have access to the bus, so we don't have to uproot our home every time we want to get groceries.  

So that's pretty much what we've got figured out in our nearly three weeks of summer travel.  We like driving a short distance and then staying a while, and we're enjoying the balance of woodsy camping and urban life.    

Two Weeks in T or C

T or C Post Office, built in 1939, along with a lot of other great WPA projects

I'm feeling very good about my move to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. I can honestly say that I already have some good friends here. I had one, Brian, before I moved here. And since then I've met a lot of great people in and out of AA.

Last Saturday morning, I went to the farmers market for the first time, and I bought some local organic produce as well as a fantastic green chili salsa. I thought about stopping at Black Cat Books for a cup of coffee on my way home, but decided against it because it was kind of late in the morning and I didn't think there would be anybody there that I knew. However, just as I passed the doorway, my friend Dhultky popped out and said, "Hey, Sue, come and have some coffee!" So I did, and then moments later, Stacy and Dick showed up, too. A few minutes after that, Barbara and Joe were at the next table.

It's that kind of town. I see people I know everywhere I go. When I go to get my computer fixed, Dave the Computer Guy knows my friends and becomes another one of them. When I go to the swimming pool, I see people I've met at the Black Cat's monthly poetry reading. I see my neighbors whenever I go shopping at Bullocks Grocery or the CHF Thrift Store.

I have a feeling that this would be a difficult town in which to keep secrets. It's a good thing I don't have any these days!

I tell everybody I meet that I'm new here, that I'm recently divorced, that I'm in AA, that I'm building myself a new life, that I sell on eBay, that I'm a mosaic artist, that I have a transgendered kid, that I recently got my feelings hurt again, and that I'm trying to be healthy physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I have never been so transparent before in my life. There is no point in being anything else.

Imagine a picture of the swimming pool here.
I didn't dare take one, because I recently
heard about a guy who almost got arrested
when he took a photo of a municipal swimming pool.

I've been trying some new things lately. Slowly I try things out and see if they are a good fit for me. Lately I've been to the city swimming pool several times for water aerobics. I'm not sure if this is a good fit. I like the pool itself, but I don't care to have somebody yelling instructions at me all the time and the locker room is pretty gross.

Something I like better is the community garden. I met the garden manager, Paula, at the farmers market, and now I have my own 5 x 20 foot plot. It needs a lot of work. It's been well taken care of for four years, so the soil has lots of amendments, but now it's overgrown with grains and grasses. So I'll spend the next few weeks cleaning it up and then put in a fall garden. Gardening in this part of the country is completely new to me. I'll learn a lot, and I'll have to get up really early in order to get the work done before the day gets too hot for me. Last night I set my alarm so I could start getting up at 5 a.m.

Me, modeling a vintage Pendleton stadium blanket/poncho that's currently listed on eBay

My new eBay approach of selling funky Western wear seems to be working. I'm getting into the swing of hitting the thrift stores frequently so I can be the first one to see a new pair of boots or a brightly colored Wrangler shirt when they come in. I'm going to the Post Office just about every day to mail stuff that's sold.

My 56th birthday is coming up in a few days, and I decided to be proactive and figure out some fun things to do. So I've been inviting my friends from AA to meet me for dinner at La Cocina that evening, and so far there are about a half dozen people committed to do this. So that's a party! I'm also going to have coffee with Stacy that morning, because she has to work that evening, and I'm taking my neighbor Phil out for ice cream in the afternoon.

Phil with his wheels

Phil lives in the motorhome next to mine and he has been very helpful to me in many ways. He's an excellent bicycle mechanic and he's on the lookout for a good used bike for me. I also have put entry forms in at Bullocks to win a cool metallic green Schwinn coaster that they're giving away next Tuesday. Wouldn't that be the greatest birthday gift, if I win? It says Bud Light on it, but I can live with that.

There are a few odd things about this town. Well, more than a few, really. For one thing, in the 1970s when so many mentally ill people were released from institutions, some of them were given one-way bus tickets to Truth or Consequences. From what I've heard, only a few of those folks are still alive, but it kind of set the tone for tolerance of individual differences here. And there are a lot of those.

From this week's T or C Herald

Another thing is, I've never seen so many Chihuahuas in my life, and I've actually had people ask me if I need one myself. No! I don't! But thanks for asking, and don't leave one on my doorstep while I'm out, okay? Leave chard or zucchini or whatever else you can't get rid of, but no little dogs.

I've heard that T or C is the home of some sort of transitory energy vortex, but I'm not going there today.

Something I know for sure is that it's close to Spaceport America, where private companies shoot rockets into space. The first rocket successfully launched from there in 2005 contained cremains of some famous people, including James Doohan, who played Chief Engineer "Scotty" Scott in the original Star Trek series. The payload landed on the White Sands Missile Range, but for a few minutes, Scotty actually went into outer space.

So that's what I know about my new town as of today. Stay posted!