BYE BYE MARCH!

In Like a Lion and Out Like A Lamb?

Well, I'm not so sure that applies down here in southern Arizona but I am sure of one thing: "If you've made it this far and we are still friends then you must be a keeper!"

I apologize for that last post in that it was so long & so boring for many of you. You see I had some requests on "How we go about doing this BoonDocking thing? Suffice it to say, you are safe it is now over! 

These posts will be much shorter and besides, Barb made a point that I like to talk to much? Whatttt!!!

So, back to our Travels!

Since our last post we spent a few weeks in the greater Phoenix area.
I have to emphasize that the Parks (County & State Camp Parks) are very well organized and kept and we really love that when we are not Boondocking. We spent our time here at 2 different parks:

1. Lost Dutchman State Park.
(Apache Junction AZ.).

As evening sets in...

Loved this site @ Lost Dutchman! (Looking south).

You've heard about this park before in past posts. 

The Superstition Mountains from our Campsite

We love it and it's easily in the Top 3 Parks in Arizona for us. I won't bore you with any more details. (We came here two times this time around).

2. USERY County Park. (Mesa AZ.)

Usery County Park

Look close at the mountain.. Turn left for Phoenix!

Nothin like a nice hot day in the desert sun!

The Phoenix area sunsets have always been awesome!

It's like this every night unless some rare clouds show up.

Some good friends from back home came for a much needed visit too!
Some of you will recognize them!

We've driven by (Usery County Park) many times over the years and sadly never stopped. Boy are we glad we finally stopped this time. 

Actually we had to come here because we couldn't get any more time at Lost Dutchman Park.  😁

Usery Park is now within our Top 3 Parks for the Phoenix area!
Like Lost Dutchman, it is close to the city (in this case North Mesa) and easy to get in and get supplies and groceries. 

Like the other parks the staff are fun and friendly. 

After we got finished at Usery we ended up going back to Lost Dutchman again for a week. We just couldn't get enough of the scenery with the Superstition Mountains on our doorstep.

One of our favourite parts!

CALIFORNIA BOUND!

It wasn't a Gold Rush but we decided to head over to California and we stayed about a week or so at Joshua Tree National Park. 

This was about a 5 hour drive. Joshua is almost straight east of Palm Springs & just south of the town called 29 Palms if you know where that is?

You can see Joshua Tree National Park on this map.
Other places we recently went to are circled as well.

If you are ever down this way it might be worth the drive for you if you like sightseeing. If you are RVing the area like us then you MUST stop here if you are ever in the general area! 

GAS PRICES

As you know... Sadly Russia recently invaded Ukraine and gas prices have skyrocketed as a result. 

Don't let the gas prices scare you though!
In California (usually a dollar more per gallon than in most spots in AZ) the current high is about $7.00 USD a gallon! 

Thankfully that price was in Beverly Hills and there are no campgrounds there or Barb might wanna go? 

The areas we went to in California were around $5.65 or so a gallon.
The current average in southern Arizona is about $4.65 a Gallon.
We later found a place that was ONLY $4.50 in Parker AZ!  😁

A smokin cheap deal in AZ in days gone by.
Compare them to the below noted chart.

Today's (2022-03-30) Average Prices in California
Thanks to www. GasBuddy.com

To finish up the Gas Price part of the story, that's not our biggest fear.
We had hoped we would never see this day... Let it be known that we pray for the people of Ukraine on a regular basis! 😞

BACK TO JOSHUA NATIONAL PARK.

Our 1st night was in a Casino Parking Lot.
It was called the "Tortoise"

We loved it there. We got some minor Hikes in and toured around a bit as well. Caution though as you might not find a camp spot big enough if your RV is over 34 feet in length. 

You can check it all out on a Google Search. This is why Barb kept us small when we were shopping for our motorhome last summer. Man when I think of great parks like this it is worth staying small! 

We are 33.4 feet long (about 54 feet with the tow car). I always wanted a huge motorhome maybe even a diesel pusher, now I am very satisfied with our current Class A, it's perfect for us and what we like to do.

In the camp site - Enjoying the heat & sun!

Our site was an awesome spot here!

The rock formations were like Fred Flintstone!

On a clear day one can see Mexico from here.
The Salton Sea in the background & Palm Springs to the right.

We loved the rocks, geography and so much more!
Ohh & the Joshua Trees & other vegetation too.

Our site was like a much needed oven!

A LEISURELY DRIVE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN!

Call us crazy, we've done way more crazy drives than this. We decided we needed to go visit Jim's long time (since we were kids) buddy & friend "Fred!"

Sadly we only had one day to do this! We couldn't let our batteries die and were worried about the fridge/freezer as well. So better than nothing, we made it a quick visit with all the fun that the Los Angeles traffic can bring you.

We left the motorhome behind and jumped in the CRV and off we went. We made it into Huntington Beach (Surf Capital of the USA) in time for a late lunch and a quick visit!

Even though we had gotten together 2-3 times in the last year, it's pretty darn hard to not take advantage of an opportunity. If you know Fred and you likely already know Jim then you'll probably know why these things happen - we are crazy!

Here we go!

We made it to town!

Downtown on the Beaches.

We get to his house and here he comes....

Hi Fred!!!

To HQ's for a quick visit & a great lunch!

Downtown Huntington Beach.

Now its a quick GoodBye & a long drive back to Joshua Tree!
Left to Right: Jim, Barb & Fred!

There is a whole lot more that we could share and tell you about.
We don't want to bore you too bad so this is a thumb nail sketch up to March 16th when we pulled up camp and headed to Parker Arizona. There we found an awesome spot right on the shores of the Colorado River at Buckskin Mountain State Park. The temperatures were in the high 90's Fahrenheit for several days and the cool ones averaged from one day as low as 75F and others in the mid to high 80'sF.
You can do a Google Check to convert these numbers to Celsius.

Now.. as I sit here on my patio today (near Parker Arizona several days later) & while writing this (March 30th) the thought of Joshua still makes me smile!

Last day in Parker @ Buckskin State Park

Sorry for my BIG Thumbs and spelling errors!
Til Next Time!

Barb says Bye Bye too (March 30th, 2022).
Next Stop - Tomorrow = Laughlin AZ!