My season in Quartzsite this year was about “regrouping.”
Before and after. I think it looks better now. I got ride of five large Rubbermaid tubs, and lots of other stuff.
Side door. Before and after. I did not sell my passenger seat so I just loaded it up. Maybe I can sell it next season? I have very little I would have to move to actually get in there and sit at my desk and work. Hooray.
Between that and building a new cabinet for my new batteries, it has been a busy and productive season, though NOT rock ways.
Before and after.
But now… I really must get me some wilderness.
Yesterday (4/3/16), I left Quartzsite and headed east. Got to the outskirts of Tucson and could not bear the idea of driving in that traffic, so I found a sporting goods store and bought a cheap little pedometer. I want to know how far I walk each day, so I can increase it each day.
Today, I woke in Tucson, in a Walgreen Parking lot and began thinking of things that needed to happen. I tried to drive but rush hour traffic put me into a panic attack, so I found a place to park so I could work on those things. Wanted to check the balance in my bank accounts, and I normally put it on a Sticky note on the card itself. Wait, where are the other cards. Whoops, cleaned out my desk drawer last thing before I left Q… and there they are, in the baggy, in my trailer, in Quartzsite. OK, no worry, I’ll get on line and check things. That was good, had a little more “rock” money left over than I remembered.
Went to Auto Zone and yep, my Catalytic Converter is bad, Chevy said it probably would be. May need that rock money to replace it. Next, but a HOLD with my mail forwarding service and send me a list of any mail they get in. Will visit a friend from high school when I go back through Tucson and hopefully she knows a mechanic who can do the work reasonably. Hope hope.
Next, find my SPOT device. Need to park so I can unload the back and get into my backpack and find it. Whoops, it’s not in there! It’s not in my desk. It’s not in my glove box. Where is it? Think. WAIT a minute, look in my day pack. There you are you sneaky little think. Got on line and updated my O.K. message. Sent an email out to verify the people on my list want to remain on it. Emailed my sons to verify their phone numbers for 911 notification, just in case.
Check maps and see how to get out of Tucson without killing myself or someone else. A woman actually rear-ended me in front of Auto Zone… I had backed up and was taking up the whole driving space, and she ran right into me, but it only dinged the rubber coating on the hitch ball cover. No problem. She admitted she was looking down. She did a lot more damage to her front end… and had many other dings on her car. I told her to forget about it… and we went out own ways.
So made it all the way to Montezuma’s Pass. Checked in at the Visitor Center and since it was already after 3pm, I will postpone my hike to the Mexican Border until tomorrow morning. I drove down the road a bit to camp/park for the night. Saw something going up the hill near my camp, probably deer. It’s very quiet here and I don’t expect any cars tonight. An elevation of over 5,000 ft., should be comfortable sleeping tonight, and no cell signal, so I can’t get online. OK, my panic attack is over… I am back in the wilderness. Phew!!!!
Trailhead going to Mexican border. It’s downhill about 600 ft. drop in elevation, so not heavily used by anyone trying to run the boarder as they would have to make a steep 600ft climb in a short distance. Makes no sense. But two huge Border Patrol trucks are parked up there, looking down either side of the pass. Impressive.
Much safe than I would have imagined. Border patrol keeps going by.
(now for a good night’s sleep.) (Next morning… or not. They camp by all night long)
More tomorrow, about my first miles on the AZ Trail.
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Sorry about the typos. I'm enjoying the day at the Pass and will return to the same camp spot tonight. Then begin heading northwest following the AZ Trailheads as closely as possible. I will blog about todays hike later today or tomorrow. It's good to be back in the wilderness, but boy was my brain making a lot of noise last night.
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