Day 106 (Wednesday): October 23, 2019
Woke up at 6:30 AM, after bath house, showering, shaving, coffee and tea making, started to pack, then Lexi made good breakfast, and when our son arrived around 9 AM, we ate together under the shade of a large tree, next to our camper. We enjoyed the get together, and when we finished, hitched our trailer and pulled out from Campland on the Bay at 11 PM. Drove on I-5 and continued on I-8, went through a steep and winding section, dropped from 4000 ft to 1000 ft less then 20 minutes, then passed the stone desert of Jacumba Wilderness Area, and drove on I-8, through well watered agricultural fields at El Centro area. Continued on I-8 and looked at the nice Glamis and Cactus Ogilby Sand Dunes until Winterhaven at Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. The sand dunes were nice with deep blue sky in the background, but unfortunately we were not able to come off from I-8. We found few small roads, but we were not brave enough to try with the trailer. Passed the California / Arizona state line in Yuma, then continued on I-8 to Cactus Garden Camp, where we had reservation for tonight. Set up our camp in 92 oF… then we immersed ourselves into the refreshing swimming pool. Later Lexi started to cook for dinner and I went to the camp’s Library to load my 4×5 film holders. We ate together dinner, then we came back to the Library for better WiFi access. We had beautiful deep orange afterglow, then was dark at 7 PM. We had clear, starry night, 80 oF. We are happy.
Day 107 (Thursday): October 24, 2019
Up at 5:30 AM, 68oF, no clouds, the shrinking moon was visible and the orange color of dawn just started to light up the horizon at the mountains. After a shower, started to pack and organize our stuff, worked on Saguaro National Park maps and hiking trails, then after breakfast, left the friendly camp at Yuma, AZ. Drove to the local Fry’s food store for few food supplies then continued on the boring I-8 to Tacna, Dateland, then Gila Bend, where the Mojave Desert expanded to the southern AZ region, then turned to I-10 east and continued in heavy traffic to Marana, Tucson, then on very complicated back roads to our Snow Bird Nest private desert land camp, next to the Saguaro National Park, where we set up our tiny house. Around 4 PM, we drove to the nearby National Park Visitor Center, received good maps, location directions, and watched a nice video from Saguaro National Park. The West side of the Saguaro National Park is very picturesque, filled with large Saguaro cacti and many other desert plants. We enjoyed the late afternoon light and the desert vegetations, then drove back to our camp, where Lexi fixed our dinner and I took few sunset shots with Saguaro cacti. Those cacti are huge, their massive body stands in all weather conditions and holds a lot of water, many birds carve safe nesting holes in them. At 6:45 PM, was a completely dark, clear sky, starry night. The wind picked up, a little bit colder now, 66 oF. After dinner, we read few books and relaxed, refreshed our memories of the great day. The Saguaro cacti are huge and surrounding us at our camp. This is a great, very quiet place, the local guard dogs and the increasing strength of the wind made some sound, but we liked that.
Day 108 (Friday): October 25, 2019
Got up at 6 AM, still dark, windy, 38 oF, starry clear sky, no clouds, the Milky Way was visible and the Big Dipper was standing on its tong, looked like flipping over the carriage. The strong puffy wind is blowing from the east, but the Saguaros are standing still. After bathhouse, made strong espresso, tea, worked on files, relaxed, read the book, then around 9, AM we ate breakfast. The Sun was up at 7 AM and the temperature slowly increased to 78 oF. Took few pictures from backlit cacti and desert plant formations, but because of the strong wind, no large format photography at this moment. After breakfast, we drove to the nearby Saguaro National Park. Drove on Sandario Road to the Bajada scenic, unpaved, dusty, dirt road, then on it to Signal Hill Petroglyphs. Parked, then hiked to the top of the hill to the Petroglyphs. We got a nice view of the mountain slopes filled with Saguaro cacti. Continued on the dirt road then on Golden Gate dirt road to Sendero Esperanza Trail trailhead, where I took few pictures and large format photography too. Stopped at the nearby Ez-Kim-In-Zin ruins, then back to the Sandario and Kinney Roads, where we turned back to the Bajada scenic loop to Hohokam narrow, dusty, one-way dirt road, where we photographed the scenery. Completing almost twice the loop, we drove to Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which is a huge educational center, showing live desert animals in Warden Aquarium, several species of rattlesnakes, tarantulas, scorpions, Gila Monster, and other desert animals at the Reptiles, Amphibian, and Invertebrates Hall, then we enjoyed the exhibitions at the Cave and Earth Science Center, and prehistoric Arizona exhibitions at Ancient Arizona a Sonorasaurus Hall. We walked to the Mountain Woodlands area, Desert Grassland, Cat Canyon, and Riparian Corridor. We enjoyed the nice Cactus garden and the Hummingbird aviary and the art exhibitions at the Art Center. We spent a great time there, then drove back to the Saguaro National Park Visitor Center, walked the nearby trail, and enjoyed the desert cacti-filled surroundings. For sunset, we drove to the Desert Discovery Nature trail and photographed the Saguaro and other desert plants filled land before and after sunset. Drove back to our camp at dusk and worked on tomorrow’s maps, journal, and picture files. Ate a good home-cooked dinner, then relaxed, and recalled the memories of the great day.
Day 109 (Saturday): October 26, 2019
Woke up few times during the night, we had a clear, starry sky, heard few coyotes nearby. Enjoyed a warm shower at 6 AM, at the simple, rustic, wooden bathhouse, then started my morning with coffee, tea, then packing. Lexi made a good breakfast and few sandwiches for the road. After breakfast, we finished the packing, talked to neighbor resident campers, then pulled out from Snow Bird Nest Camp at 10 AM. Drove on dusty unpaved backroads to I-10, then to Tucson, Benson, Wilcox and turned north to Hwy 191 to Safford, Solomon, Guthrie, where we turned to the narrow, winding, steep but beautiful Hwy 78 mountain road and drove through the mountains, Apache and Gila National Forests (passing the Arizona / New Mexico state line and another time zone, losing one hour) to US-180 and drove to Buckhorn, to Silver City direction. Set up our camp, then Lexi cooked a good dinner, I worked around the trailer and car. After dinner, we enjoyed the quiet time at the camp, read few books, starry night, 42 oF at 10 PM. We were tired after the winding mountain road, but relaxed and happy.
Day 110 (Sunday): October 27, 2019
Slept well, the temperature dropped under freezing point, 28oF at 7 AM. The light of dawn just appeared, the rooster crowed and the guard dogs barked the hanging around coyotes. The old timer’s bathhouse was cold enough, so we skipped the shower… After my strong espresso and morning recuperation, as a sign of close to the end of our epic photography trip, I started to think more about my coming soon exhibition, programs, calendars, and our new photography books. Lexi woke up later, after sunrise, she made good breakfast then we started to pack and left our camp around 10 AM. Drove on Hwy 180, passed the nicely restored Silver City and several small towns, then at the I-10 junction, continued our journey to La Hacienda Camp at Las Cruces, NM. After check-in and set up our camp, we drove to White Sands National Monument, and took a great hike, and photographed nice backlit images from the grass with long shadows and textured sand dunes. We stayed till sunset, then drove to Las Cruces to one of the oldest brewing companies called High Desert Brewing Company, where we ate good food and drank fine micro-brewed beer. Drove back to our camp, worked on files, journal. Dark at 7 PM, clear, starry night, not too cold, 58 oF at 10 PM.
Day 111 (Monday): October 28, 2019
Got up at 6 AM, then after morning duties and strong espresso, started to pack, went to the nearby store for missing food supply then after breakfast and camp closing, left around 10:30 AM. Drove on I-10 to El Paso, then to Sierra Blanca, Van Horn (we arrived in Central Time zone and lost another hour), finally we made it to Hwy 17 and from there to Kiko and Tina’s RV park at Balmorhea, which was quiet but similar to a boondocking spot. We had a huge ant pile next to our camper and unfortunately, I had to treat them with a good dose of Amdro… all died… and Lexi added to it: so no one can come to the funeral… We checked Balmorhea State Park’s natural pool, but the lately reopened State Park closed again and they continue to do major renovations and hopefully, it will be open in the year 2020. Drove to the nearby Balmorhea Lake, looked around, had a nice view of the nearby mountains, and in the far back to the Davis Mountains. We were happy to see more than ten Common Loons on the lake. Drove back to Balmorhea’s famous La Cueva de Oso (The Bear Den) family restaurant and ate a good dinner. Back to the campsite in dark, worked on the journal and read books. Clear sky, starry night, a small gurgling creek runs next to our camper, 52 oF at 10:30 PM.
Day 112 (Tuesday): October 29, 2019
I did not sleep well, woke up few times during the night, finally got up at 5 AM, pitch dark, mostly clear sky, 38 oF. Made coffee and tea, since we camp at the primitive site, shaved in our camper. Lexi woke up at 7 AM, both of us slowly recuperated, then after breakfast, packed and left our Kiko and Tina camp. Drove on I-10 to Fort Stockton, then to Ozona, and finally to Sonora, where we stayed at Countryside RV for one night. We are closer and closer to home, will arrive two days later. Stopped at a few rest stops on the road, it was a cold, windy, rainy, foggy day, boring drive, the trucks were fearlessly speeding. After setup our camp, as an afternoon trip, we drove on I-10 west to RM 1989 junction road to Caverns of Sonora. When we arrived there, we just realized they have an RV and campground in a nice natural setting, but unfortunately, we already left our trailer at Countryside camp in Sonora… next time we will camp there. When we went to the office for registration for a cave-guided hike, we were lucky and got a spot for the 3 PM tour. We made a strenuous, 160 stairs and 2 miles long, 150 feet deep, narrow passage, but well organized and guided cave tour. We enjoyed the beauty of nature, experienced one of the most beautiful and rare, drip by drip actively growing formations. After the 2 hours tour, we drove back to Sonora, ate a huge, well-made stake, then when we arrived at our camp, worked on files, journal, very slow WiFi, so we read books.
