We finished our repairs, upgrades and family visits and moved across the mountains to East 96 Ranch Road. We stayed here a couple weeks last year and loved it, so we’re back. This year seems greener and more lush than last year. Maybe it’s the time of year. Maybe there’s been more rainfall. Whatever the reason, things look great. We even got our same campsite. It’s taken some time and effort but we finally got our landscaping looking the way we want!
Cathy had a morning routine of watching the desert wake up and spying on the birds while enjoying her coffee.
Of all the places we’ve camped in the desert over the last two years, East 96 Ranch Road has the best sunsets.
Superstition Blues and Blues Festival
A nice thing about East 96 Ranch Road is it’s proximity to Phoenix. It’s an easy drive if there is an event there we want to see, like the Superstition Blues and Brews Festival. It’s an afternoon of Arizona’s best blues artists, 30 of Arizona’s craft breweries, arts and craft vendors hawking their creations, plus a ‘mother lode of food trucks’. ‘Mother lode’ is a bit hyperbolic but we definitely didn’t starve. One of the best acts was from Australia, 25 year old Aaron Pollock. Great guitar picking and an amazing voice. Check him out (and no, I don’t receive a commission or payment for you to click on the link).
The Best Laid Plans. . .
Our tentative plans were to stay here until the weather warmed enough at the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert for a visit. While we were there we would check out nearby Holbrook, AZ, the inspiration for the town in the movie Cars. After that, we planned on stopping at White Sands National Monument and then spend some time at the beach on the Bolivar Peninsula in Texas. Last time we were there, we got chased away by a severe thunderstorm and tornado warning. We want to stay there again and leave on our own terms. However, unforeseen circumstances necessitate us cutting our trip short and heading home.
On the way back, we passed through the Salt River Canyon on US 60. It’s a nice twisty road down into the canyon and then up the other side. It’s the kind of road made for motorcycling. Pulling a 34 ft. travel trailer, not so much.
We also passed by the Wildorado, Spinning Spur II, and Colbeck’s Corner wind farms near Amarillo, Texas. Combined, these three farms can power 158,000 homes in Texas and remove over 1,000,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s a pity we had to cut our trip short, but in the silver lining category, I have some extra time now to get my motorcycle ready before the weather turns warmer and we head off for some motorcycle adventures. Stay tuned.
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