Somewhere outside of Wickenburg, AZ. Daytime.
TBG and ME are tired and irritable as they head north from the Chihuahuan Desert through the Sonoran Desert toward Wickenburg where they are scheduled to meet up with several good friends.
ME (sighing)
It's hot. Why does the RV cab a/c have to be busted?
TBG
At least the coach a/c works.
ME (sighing again)
Yeah, but Escapees North Park is 30A only.
TBG
That sounds about right.
ME
You should see the cactus garden here! I think it rivals any we've seen anywhere. And a few of the cacti are blooming -- we won't completely miss it!
Earlier that week, via text.
The Lowes chauffeur TBG and ME to The Banks' home, where they spend a laughter-fulled evening enjoying Flintstone-sized slabs of takeout prime rib froma favorite local joint, The Onery* Hog.
ME
These pictures are going to come out terrible, but I don't care! Can I give Lewis some prime rib?
ML
Don't point! It scares the birds. This is how we point in the Phillipines.
ML puckers her lips and subtly directs the pucker at the target of her "point." The group laughs collectively, all trying out ML's Filipino Pucker-Pointing. Hilarity ensues.
SUE
What kind of bug is that? Is that a bad one?
DAVE, STEVE, & TBG
mmmmnommmmnomnom
ML (teaching the group another Filipino mainstay that has no real English equivalent but is somewhere in the neighborhood of "you there! watch it!")
HOO-ee!
Sophie's Flat Trailhead. Early morning the next day.
ME
Hey, your poles match your pants, and mine match my shirt!
ML
This is where we saw a Gila monster.
STEVE
It's probably too hot for one to be out right now.
Half the planned distance later, the group calls it good and retreats to their respective abodes to freshen up before lunch.
Later that afternoon. Nichols West outdoor patio surrounded by fragrant orange blossoms, butterflies, and a resident cat.
ML
Calamari Salad, please.
TBG
Brie and Avocado Burger, please.
STEVE
Grilled Chicken (or was that pork?) Caesar Salad, please.
ME
Shrimp and Avocado Quesadillas, please.
EVERYONE
DELICIOUS!
Wickenburg, The Lowes' home. Monday mid-morning, potluck brunch.
Wow, I look fresh and young! Your stylist is the best!
Earlier that week, via text.
Finding no package, several members of the group begin a search around the premises and into the desert lest it had possibly been displaced by the wind. A call is placed to the P.O. during which it is confirmed by very eerie and precise technology that said package was delivered. On her daily rounds, the delivery person is grilled by the group, but her memory is foggy. It is determined that the deliveree will just have to cry over the loss. Driving home, the deliveree thinks perhaps she's given the P.O. employee the wrong tracking number, and calls again. The incorrect number was at play, however upon giving the correct one, it is discovered that the package was delivered to the address of a nearby vacant house. Being the best people in the world, the Lowes drive over, find the package in the open mailbox of the house for sale, and The Mystery of the Missing Pants is solved!
Golden Valley, AZ two days later.
TBG
My belly doesn't feel good.
ME
Shoot. I knew those leftovers were out too long. Did you heat that last batch up really good?
TBG
No.
ME
That sounds about right.
Very early the following morning.
TBG
Ow. It's in my back now, too. OW!
ME
Well, I no longer think it's food poisoning. Here's the warm beanbag.
TBG
Ow. Ow. Ow. OOOWWWW!!!
ME
All right. You ready to go in now?
Kingman AZ Emergency Room
TRAVELING NURSE JACK
I think you have a kidney stone, my friend.
An hour or so later, after all the requisite tests are done and some I.V. pain meds are administered, which unfortunately do little to alleviate the pain.
DOCTOR
You have a 3mm kidney stone. It should pass, though it will hurt like this off/on as it travels. We can give you opioids or you can continue OTC pain meds as needed.
Choosing OTC meds, they are discharged another hour or so later. TBG is in alternate bouts of pain the rest of that day. Wondering how they'll know if and when the stone passes, and what this means for traveling, ME offers up the smallest kitchen strainer to serve as a stone-catcher.
The following morning.
TBG
It passed! It passed!
He triumphantly shows ME the stone
TBG
Look at that. They could tell exactly how big it was! Does that look like the stones you saw in surgery?
ME
Sure does!
The last day of March, driving to Oatman, AZ on a day trip.
Counting hawks on telephone poles, ME wonders aloud where hawks perched before people put up telephone poles in the desert or if the poles expanded their ranges. They stop at a roadside store/souvenir shop/outhouse attraction.
ME
This place is so weird. [Looking at the tables strewn with rocks and semi-precious stones.] Do people really buy enough of this stuff? How do they make a living like this? I think I heard a donkey!
ME
I did hear a donkey! Sorry, babies, no food, only kisses and scritches for you.
Amid too many people, too much junk, and blaring music from outdoor speakers, TBG and ME are thoroughly unimpressed with Oatman. ME pays $1 to see the old town jail, but mostly to see the tortoises and help pay for their food and care, she hopes.
Mojave Desert, Amargosa Valley, NV. April 1, Longstreet RV Park
ME
This petting zoo is odd. Why is there a water buffalo in Nevada let alone in a petting zoo? None of these animals want to be petted. At least they look cared for. That pond looks pretty in the pictures, but if you go look, it's completely green. The ducks and geese don't seem to mind. This whole place is so strange.
Hoping to use the pool and hot tub at some point, TBG and ME discover that the bottom of the pool is covered by a nice layer of blown sand and the chlorine floatie is long-empty. The hot tub water level is well below the outtakes, disappointingly. The worker shortage combined with the remoteness is obviously taking its toll here.
0245 the next morning, Death Valley N.P. Badwater Basin
As TBG and ME drive into the park in the darkness, the temperatures rise, reaching into the balmy upper 70s by the time they begin their starlit walk out onto the salt flats 282' below sea level. The light from the moonless sky is bright enough to make their headlamps unnecessary. They can see the occasional red lights of other photographers scattered in the distance as they make their way, holding hands both for love and balance lest either trip on the salty ridges. The Milky Way is just coming into view over the hills as TBG gets his equipment set. It is pure magic to experience this place in this way.
0630 Death Valley N.P. Zabriskie Point
TBG
I want to walk out on this ridge for some photos.
ME
OK. Oh, look, someone is following our good idea, natch!
MAN
I dropped my camera from up there [pointing to the Zabriskie lookout.] I think I can see it from here.
ME
I'll go down and get my binoculars. I think I see a way you can get over to it from here. Hold on. [as ME returns, she sees that MAN has already made his way over to the opposite hillside, but is in the wrong cut.] Go to your right! I see it in the next one over!
MAN makes his way to his camera, and ME watches as he slowly -- very slowly -- makes his way up to the base of Zabriskie's wall where he sits for a very long time recovering from his climb. ME determines that he looks like he'll be all right, and TBG and she go for a short hike.
0800 Amargosa Valley, Longstreet RV Park
Naps.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Crystal Boardwalk
VC WORKER
Just so your aware, we did have a Mojave rattlesnack out front the other day, and one was seen along the trail out back yesterday.
She shows them a video of the employees encouraging the one seen out front on one of the parking berms to move along. It didn't like that.
TBG & ME
Neato! That would make our 7th species of rattlesnack if we find one.
Ash Meadows NWR Crystal Reservoir, late afternoon
ME
It's hot. And bugs! I forgot about bugs for a minute. They keep trying to fly in my ears!
TBG
That sounds about right.
Ash Meadows NWR, second visit "No Name Trail"
ME
It's hot. And BUGS again!
TBG
I don't think there's a spring out here like the map shows.
ME
It doesn't seem so. I'm thirsty. Let's go back and head to the next stop.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Point of Rocks Boardwalk
ME
A big, fat toad! Just sitting there!
TBG
They're invasive.
ME
They are?
TBG
That's what the display in the VC said.
ME
I don't think this is one of those kind.
They reach Kings Pool, the best place to see the critically endangered Amargosa Pupfish.
ME
There they are! So blue!
TBG
Dang, it's really hard to get a good photo through the water.
ME
It's so cool to see such tropical-looking fish out here in the desert.
ME
A chuckwalla! A chuckwalla! See him on that big rock out there?
As TBG and ME pass another group of visitors along the trail, ME shares the chuckwalla sighting with them, telling them where to look when they get there.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Devils Hole
ME
Good thing I brought my binos because I can see the pupfish in there, too. Hey, there are the people we saw on the Point of Rocks Trail. Hi! Did you guys find the chuckwalla?
ANOTHER GROUP OF VISITORS
Yes, we did! That was so cool you told us where to look.
Amargosa Valley, Longstreet RV Park
TBG
The left rear tire on Hond is completely flat.
ME
That sounds about right.
Ash Meadows NWR, third visit, Peterson Reservoir
ME
Hey, look at those birds! Oh, they're hard to see. They're pretty colors, but I can't tell what they are.
After downloading the photos at home, it is clear the birds are American Avocets in their breeding colors. ME has seen them before, but not with their beautiful sepia heads.
Ash Meadows NWR, Longstreet Boardwalk
ME
It's hot. I'll bet it's, like, 90.
It's really only in the mid-70s. Near the end of the road, which is the NWR border, ME pauses in the shade of a sign while TBG continues to the fence by which the map indicates Fairbank Spring is supposed to be.
TBG
Well, I don't know where the spring is because there's no damn spring here.
ME
That sounds about right.
Great Basin Desert, Winnemucca, NV, New Frontier RV Park, four days later
TBG
Hond's battery was dead again.
ME
That sounds about right.
As soon as they're settled, TBG goes off to have the tire fixed and the under-warranty-but-no-one-answers-the-phone battery checked.
There is some confusion and disagreement over where the trail is exactly, and after climbing up a big hill that was definitely not the trail, pictures were taken of the very pretty view, but the hike at that point was a bust. Hoping to salvage the day, TBG redirects to a third choice.
Winnemucca, NV, Water Canyon Recreation Area, early afternoon
TBG
This will be better, pretty easy mostly following the creek.
ME
Jeez, I feel like I could lay down and fall asleep right here. What the heck? Is it the altitude? We're not that high, are we? Maybe it's because I didn't have my coffee.
TBG
From sea level to 6,000'. That could do it.
ME
Hey, look, a Spotted Towhee! Phooey, no pic, it jumped down. Do you think there could be Himalayan Snowcocks here? Probably not, but I think there should be.
TBG
This butterfly is a really pretty brown, if it would just hold still. There! Your camera will do better than mine.
TBG
Hey, there's a structure over there.
ME (looking through her binos)
It's a yurt!
The yurt turns out to be the perfect destination, and after exploring the surprisingly well-stocked interior, the pair sit on the wooden porch steps while they have some refreshments and affirm their gladness at having pushed through earlier disgruntlement and sleepiness.
Winnemucca, NV, New Frontier RV Park, final day/night in Nevada
ME
Did you see that the forecast at Malheur for Monday changed from a chance of snow to just plain snow?
TBG
That sounds about right.
ME
The cold spell is hitting exactly for our week there, good weather before and the day we leave. The timing is amazing. We're so lucky!
TBG
Baby, we are lucky.
ME
That sounds about right.
****************COMMMENTS***************
What better way to leave the hot dry desert than to go into a week on cold and snow? We are getting it too. Odd to be starting our garden seeds with snow flying, but that is why we do it indoors. 😁. Soon you will be were the weather is nice and mild again.
It seems that we’ll be in the winter weather vortex for the next little stretch no matter which way we go, so we just have to make the best of it! (I just realized your screen name is missing the “r”!)
LOL! You are such a good storyteller! Sounds and looks like you had a great time with the Wickenburg posse. Love your very cool Milky Way photos in Death Valley. I would like to do that, but I probably wouldn’t end up doing it because I would think I wanted to do it right up until it was time to get out of bed at 2:30 a.m. 😂
That Mourning Cloak butterfly looks like it’s wearing a lacy petticoat. And so cool that you went to Ash Meadows. Aren’t those ponds the most stunning and surprising shade of turquoise? Are you still going to Malheur? We’ve been there when it’s been cold, and it’s REALLY cold.
Thank you, my friend. We did have a great time in Wickie. It would be impossible not to with that crew.
You would get up for the Milky Way. Some experiences just have to be sacrificed for — like getting up to see First Light! LOL Butterflies are always so beautiful and especially close-up. I wanted to get in those warm springs at Ash Meadows, and we didn’t believe the sign in the VC that said Native Peoples didn’t get into them — OF COURSE they did!!
Seriously, yes, of course they did!!! And sigh, yes, I should have gotten up for First Light. What is wrong with me?? But I did get up for sunrise at Mono Lake! Only because Eric made me. Because I said I wanted to and he held me to it.
This is going to show up out of order…
Sunrise at Mono Lake — see, you can do it!! You’re lucky to have Eric to keep you on track. Now you have a great reason (like you needed one) to go back for First Light.
What a great visit to Wickenburg with friends. Lots of laughs and yummy food. You hit so many neat spots in a short time. Isn’t Oatman a unique town with all the burros!
Good friends and good food — not much better than that. No, Oatman was terrible! We loved the donkeys, and they are 99% of the reason we went there, but the town itself is a cesspool of sad, tacky commercialism. I felt bad that the donkeys had to live there, too, with the the crowds and cars and blaring music. Just awful!
Wow, drama is right! This post features all the highs and lows of travel in one thrilling episode. Highs are of course things like meeting up with good friends and having incredible experiences like seeing the Milky Way over Death Valley. But along with that comes the lows: medical issues on the road, mechanical problems, unexpected bad weather, destinations with poor signage / bad directions, etc. For us the pros outweigh the cons, but we think RV travel is simultaneously more amazing and more difficult than you would ever guess from following #rvlife.
At least the medical problem resolved very quickly and the mechanical problems were manageable. Yeah, those influencers are full of crap LOL!! We’re really looking forward to when RV travel becomes vacation again and not full-time life. Obviously, we’ll miss some things about it, but maybe all these last-minute annoyances are just helping us affirm our decision? Is that too Pollyanna of me?
Is there a “Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Missing Pants”? Because if there’s not, there should be! Fortunately, good detective work and on-the-scene analysis do the job once more and all is well!
Our sympathies to TBG on that stone. Kevin has gotten a couple of those and wowza! – they are not fun. When Kevin was in the hospital, they put him on Flowmax – not sure if they give that anymore, but it seemed to help move things along. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but if it does, it might be worth an ask.
Like Shannon said, this post nicely captures the highs and lows of fulltime RV travel – spending fun times with good friends while simultaneously wondering what exactly is going to break next, seeing mind-blowing sights (like the Milky Way – another stunning set of photos!) while having all your best laid plans wrecked by the weather…again. Highs and lows, all the time. it is the way of RV life.
Stay well, friends!
OMG I *love* the Nancy Drew computer games, and there should totally be one called The Mystery of the Missing Pants! I’m just glad we found them because with both REI and the P.O. showing they were delivered, I had no recourse. The Lowes need a new delivery person, though, I have to say. TBG, who will probably cringe that I post this, is already on stronger prostate meds, which probably account for how quickly the stone passed once it was symptomatic.
I know what’s going to break next — my spirit! LOL, naw, but there are days…
love this post not because we are part of the story but it is so diverse! From laughter to pain, to a mystery thriller to donkeys, to great milky way photography and some nature tripping! RV life is full of adventures and like you said gave you more reasons as to why you are ready about ready to face another kind of thrilling and stressful adventures in the next few months.
Pls tell my hairdresser, im loving my new Do. too bad he was busy with my hair that he forgot to f
Give me a tutorial on Milky way photography 🤪
Well, I love that you’re part of this post, but I’m really glad you liked the variety! That’s a good way to think of it and nice to see it through your eyes that way. We had such great times with you, as always, and I hope and pray there are more to come in the future. I’m glad my stylist could help you out when your salon was too busy. Now you’ll have to make a trip to Sequim for the crab, a hair cut, and a photography class — what better incentives could there be?!
Oh we can’t expect you to wait that long. Let’s set up a video call and we can go over the set -up.
Oh thanks, i am currently here in CA. I will let you know when im back 😊