Tuesday November 8, 2022 - Chiricahua National Monument to Bisbee AZ

 

Today we closed up shop and headed home. We kind of skipped breakfast, but nibbled at all of the extra food we brought. The plan was to stop on the way home at Whitewater Draw and have lunch. Deb N did get the percolator going this morning so we all had morning coffee. Dave has been the fire builder and had a nice fire started first thing. We loaded everything up and then we all walked to the Visitor Center one last time. We saw the deer and turkeys again on the way. Deb V bought a park passport since we hope to hit a bunch of national parks in the next few years.

A Vermont rig pulled in last night and I walked over to see if they were out and about, but they left early this morning.  The bathroom thermostat must have been broken because it was like a sauna in there all weekend. It must be electric because I saw no propane anywhere. This campground has no electric hookups but the campground host has power and there is power in the bathrooms. 

The van so far has been a perfect balance of simple but enough. The battery reported 53% this morning after two days without any sun to speak of since it's very shady here. The main loads are the refrigerator and the heater. Shady works because most of the year it is so sunny that you would want shade. This campground, like most here in the southwest, are open year round because the weather is so nice. It gets cold at night but as soon as the sun comes up, it is warm again. So the van with its heater ensures year round use.

An older couple were trying to figure out the constant beeping in their Winnebago. I poked around inside the cabinets and found the inverter complaining that the batteries were too low. Once they knew that, they simply pushed a button to turn the generator on which would recharge the batteries. These big rigs are complicated.

We all pulled out around 11:00 and drove the hour plus to Whitewater Draw. Carmen has camped here before and there seem to be about 4 sites for overnighters. Not sure who maintains it but there isn't any ranger station on site and I don't think they charge anything to stay. We pulled out all of our lunch stuff and had a nice brunch/lunch. Then we walked the loop to see the Sandhill Cranes which migrate through here. There were quite a few there today. 

We said our goodbyes and headed back to Bisbee. Deb and I unloaded everything from the van, drained everything that needed to be drained and refilled everything that needed to be refilled so we'd be ready for the trip next week to Kartchner Caverns State Park. This trip helped try out our outdoor cooking setup  and group camping. Next week it will be just us.

Deb had chorus rehearsal tonight and I decided to join our regular Taco Tuesday group at Thuy's, the Vietnamese place (Thuy's Tuesday?). This is the last time we see Pam as she moves to Prescott for the next year. We will miss Pam and Katie.