New ride
For some time I have been thinking of getting a larger motorcycle. I found this used Honda dual-sport crf250 while visiting family in Tempe and Mesa, and bought it. It has enough power to keep up with traffic on the highway and still take me on back roads when I camp in national forests.
Pictures and post all done on my new phone thanks to my awesome brother Don!
Selfie
Just outside Petrified Forest NP there were two Navajo gift shops with picnic tables and areas where you can park an RV overnight. It is free to park unless you want electric. I’m sure the idea is that you will go in and spend lots of money in the gift shop while they graciously let you park. Jewelry, rugs, and blankets are not my bag, so they didn’t get any money from me. This morning I drove the road through the park and stopped at a few points of interest along the way. I like to look at petroglyphs left by the ancient ones and one that interested me a lot was of a sliver of light shining through the rocks on a figure that represented the summer solstice. It was early in the morning and close enough to the solstice that the light was almost perfectly aligned with the symbol.
I drove north in the afternoon to Canyon de Chelly NM. When I was here before the campground was free, but as with most things, they charge a hefty $14 a night to stay there now. It has been a long time since I’ve paid for a campsite so I decided to splurge and shell out the cash. And it was a good thing I had cash because they don’t take any other payment. I will tourist the park tomorrow and then head over to the North Rim. There are a couple of places I may stop at on the way.
I could have used Gisele’s help today. I was walking around the campground after I set up and a couple hurried out to the road to talk to me. There was no one at the entrance when they came in and they were confused how to fill out the self-registration papers. The problem was that they only spoke French! We finally communicated enough so that they figured out the procedure. It makes you feel so helpless when words are useless.
A short while ago I saw a brand new 27’ Winnie Minnie drive by and park a few sites away. I walked over to ask if I could take a picture of their rig to send to my sister. They told me sure, but I found out that they were from Holland and just renting it for a few weeks on vacation. We talked for a bit and they even showed me inside the coach. I didn’t like the layout inside and I’m sure Donna wouldn’t either. The bed was all the way across the back pushing the bathroom and kitchen forward so there was no room for a couch or chair. The only place to sit was at the table – very uncomfortable.
The campground is starting to fill up now with everything from tents to Class As. My plan to stay here for a couple of days puts me traveling on the weekend. I’m not to thrilled about that.
Here are a few images of my motorcycle trailer:
The wheels come off so it will lay flat.
Hooked to my motorcycle
With a load:
Tanker trailer
After doing laundry, stocking some groceries, dumping tanks, and filling with water, I drove Rt. 260 up to the top of the Mogollon Rim. There is a free campground along the Rim Road I wanted to visit again and make sure nothing had changed. It is always a good feeling when you go back to a campsite that you’ve enjoyed before. When I look for a new camp there is usually a little anxiety of finding the right place to call home for a few days, whereas going back to an explored area takes some of the pressure off.
It seemed like it took longer to get here than it did last year. The winter has done a lot of damage to the road and the few miles I drove along the dirt road were at a crawl. Everything seems to be the same as it was last year. Because it has been so cold – it was 39 degrees this morning – few people are here, so I had my pick of many nice sites. I took a walk along the road this morning, and of the 30 or so sites designated for camping, only about 7 or 8 were occupied.
Back in the trees.
Where?
I chose a camp away from the exposed cliffs, nestled back in the trees away from the fiercest wind. It has a nice tree-lined driveway and a secluded area that makes a pretty little campsite. The only problem with camping in the trees is trying to find holes for my solar and dish to see the sky.
As I was writing this, the camp host pulled in behind my rig. I went out to talk to her and catch up on any news about the area. She told me that the forest service is thinking about making this a pay campground because it is so popular. She said that it often fills up on weekends. She asked if I was interested in being a host here because the previous helpers wouldn’t be back this year. I asked her what she got for all the work she does. She said she gets to stay here all summer instead of the 14-day stay limit for campers. Even though there is dump and water for free, they still have to drive 5 miles to get it. Sure doesn’t seem like a good deal to me. I’m not quite ready to settle down yet.
Raincoat
There are still a few RV’s parked here at the camping area near Cottonwood. The weekends bring a few overnighters, and once every few days, new people will arrive or leave. I’m parked beside a guy in a fifth-wheel that got here the same day I did. We had both planned to leave for new surroundings on Monday but a change in the weather has forced us to endure a few more tranquil hours of monotony. Even though it is tempting to get back in the travel mode, I have all that I need here and have no desire to drive in the rain and set up camp in the cold and wind of locations to the north.
I manage to average a motorcycle trip into town every day. There is a place to get water at the Giant gas station and I have filled my 7-gallon jug twice in the last week. There is a sign saying the water is non-potable so just to be safe I dose it with bleach and use it only for bathing and flushing. I buy drinking and cooking water from a store that sells RO water at 30 cents a gallon.
My waste tanks are still doing well. The lights that act as indicators for the state of contents of the tanks are pretty goofy. They seem to have a mind of there own and give me false indications on random days. I guess this will be a good test for the duration of my supplies and liquid assets.
My refrigerator is working great. I still use the probe on the thermometer I bought to keep track of the temperature inside the fridge. Maybe some day I will use the thermometer in the way it is intended, but I still have some trust issues related to a history of refrigerator infidelity. My propane is down about 30 percent and that is one store that I cannot let run out. I could probably use my inverter or generator to run the fridge for a day but it would not be very economical. One of the modifications I would like to make is a quick connect for an external propane tank that I could carry for a backup.
I did laundry yesterday. For being a tourist town the Laundromat was quite reasonable. Double load washers were only $2 and dryers cost me 75 cents. On the way back to camp it rained a little but not enough to wet my newly laundered clothes. Weather is one of the drawbacks in relying on a motorcycle for transportation to town, and it is also discouraging that I am limited in what I can carry. Even though I get 75 MPG, I have to make separate trips for groceries or water or laundry. I keep thinking there should be a way to strap more storage to my bike but so far I haven’t resolved the problem. I have seen pictures of motorcycles in Vietnam where it is not uncommon to see a man, his wife, three kids, a bundle of clothes, and a crate of chickens, all balanced precariously on a bike no bigger than mine. Now that’s efficiency.