Razor Ride

The other day I got a cool opportunity in that I was invited to go with Rick, one of our QV RV friends, on a Razor ride into the mountains that surround Queen Valley to the north. I know little of this area and even less of Razors, so I jumped at the chance. Wow, these vehicles are FUN! They can go almost anywhere you point them and climb hills I could never hike up. 

Our group consisted of three Razors, four humans, and one dog.  Bob and Star, his dog, led the way followed by Barry and his brand new Razor, with Rick and his newest best friend, Me! At this point, I would love to tell you where we drove, but I have no clue.  All I know is that we drove about 50 miles on 4X4 roads.  Stopped at an old jail made out of rocks that were used to hold prisoners during the stagecoach days, and finally, we climbed up to the top of some mountains. I had a great time and took as many photos as I could.

Selfie of Rick and I in his Razor.

Barry and his brand new machine.

The old stage coach jail house.

Barry, Bob and Star, and Rick.

Casa Grande

It was laundry day and I also needed to get a couple things for maintenance on the camper so Linda and I grabbed old Stinky Jeep and headed into the nearby town of Coolidge.  As Linda loaded the clothes into the washer, I walked to a nearby Farm Tractor Store and found the two items that I needed.  Then I went to the nearby Walmart and exchanged my propane tank and filled up with gas.  All this took about an hour and a half and when I returned I helped Linda fold the clothes and we were off to explore.

On the north side of Coolidge, the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is located at the corner of Hwy 87 and 287. This ancient building was built by the Hohokam people and was completed around 1350. In the 1800s scientists worked to get the structure protected but that took about 92 years for our government to make it happen. In 1992 Casa Grande became the nation's first archeological reserve. Information on this structure and its history can be found at www.nps.gov/cagr.

After we explored the monument site we had lunch in Florance at a small Mexican food eatery called Grace Place. We both had burritos and we took them to go and ate in a nearby park.

View of Queen Vally RV from a hill to the south.

Climb Every Mountain

If you look at a Google map of the Queen Valley area in Earth view, you will be able to spot the RV park and the surrounding geographical features of the Valley. To the west of the park is a ridge that runs north and south. On top of one of the peaks on that ridge is a tall rock outcropping. Some of the RV Park residents have placed an American flag and a light to illuminate it during the night. I hiked up to the top of the ridge and got a picture from that area of the east side of the ridge, the west side of the ridge, and a selfie at the top of the rocks.  It was a good hike and it took me about an hour and a half to climb there.

Misc. Days

The Days Begin

Each day we are a bit more settled into our spot at Queen Valley. The tempo of the days has slowed and most of the duties that needed to be done to complete our setup have been accomplished. A good example of this was the hooking up of the park's water to our camper. We received some sage advice from Earl Anderson prior to leaving home. Earl called me up and told me to come over to their house and pick up a hard water filter that uses osmosis to soften the water. He said that the water in Queen Valley was so bad that it could eat your pipes up in one season. He graciously gave me a system that he used while down here. Earl has sold his big motorcoach and he said he had no use for the system.

I took the tank home and cleaned it up, purchased new resin and salt, and then stored it all in the Jeep for transportation to our park spot.  When we arrived I went about setting up our water filter and Earl's tank to get the water to the proper condition so we could use it in our camper.  I really had no idea how this all would go together, so I googled the possess and watched two videos demonstrating how to set it up.  

On the day after we arrived, I set everything up and gave it a test. It all worked! Well, sort of.  I had leaks and drips.  I checked things out and found that one fitting was cracked and another pipe was cross-threaded.  Thus the drips.

The next day Linda and I drove into Mesa and I bought the fittings I needed. We also replaced a small space heater that we had owned for about 10 years. Linda felt it was way overdue to be replaced so we found a nice one while we shopped.

Next, we went shopping at a Walmart nearby and bought some food items that were on our list. Finally, we stopped by an In-N-Out Burger joint for our first ever In-N-Out burgers.  Our neighbors, Jodi and Steve, rave about these burgers and so we had to give them a try. They were very good and just what we needed.

We drove back to our little spot and I put the water system together without having a single leak.

Razor Tripping

Rolly Jurgens stopped by and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride on a trail up Hewitt Canyon past a rock formation they call Elephant Butte to a spot where we looked for pottery shards left by the native inhabitants many years ago.  Rolly likes to look for the shards, but he never takes them. I am in total agreement with that thought process, and really like the idea of leaving things where they are and using your imagination to recreate the place and past events.

Another Hiking Group Adventure

It is Wednesday and Linda and I joined the QVH (Queen Valley Hikers for our second desert adventure. On this outing, the group met at the clubhouse and caravaned up the road that Rolly Jurgens and I Razored up leading past Elephant Butte. The entry trail led into the top of the drainage where we viewed the Spanish Cross and this hike took us to within a mile and a half from connecting those two hikes.

The group was a large one with 35 hikers in attendance. Mark Gilbart counted us up and Steve led the way into the drainage.  As we hiked, we were told that this drainage was usually overgrown so thick that it was almost impossible to hike down the entire distance. The rains and flooding had opened it up quite nicely so hiking was very easy for our group.

We hiked past some pictographs placed on the rocks by early peoples and enjoyed speculating on the history of the area.  The total distance of this hike was 6+ miles and both Linda and I returned to our camper tired, but not so tired that we could not move. This is always a good sign.

Camping Out with Rolly

Later that evening Linda and I jumped in Stinky Jeep and followed Rolly and Jeannie Jurgens out of town and into the desert. Rolly had planned an overnight campout so that he could set up a truck bed tent and spend the night under the stars.  We met some of their friends, Nadine and Jimmy, at Rolly's campsite and where we all gathered wood for the night's fire. When the sunset we sat around the fire pit and cooked a great dinner of hotdogs and beans. We talked and laughed. Occasionally we could hear the restless songs of the coyotes and the hoots of owls, making it a very memorable experience.