Wednesday May 3, 2023 - Bisbee to Cave Creek (Portal)

 

First day out on our camper van trip back east. We should be gone 6-8 weeks or so. We did quite a bit of organizing and loading stuff into the van the last couple of days so just the last minute stuff. I had a work meeting early but was done with that by 7am. 

Deb did last minute watering (good luck plants!!) but she has someone stopping by once a week to keep an eye on the irrigation system and the gardens. We pulled the van up to the driveway and filled the water tank and chemical toilet, then one last stop at the post office, cashed a check at the bank and we were out of there.

We stopped in Douglas for gas, which was 45 cents cheaper than Bisbee, and when you are filling a big van, that’s a lot of $$. Next stop in Douglas was Micky D’s for breakfast (our on the road guilty pleasure) and then a “whaat the heck” stop at the Douglas Train Station, a big beautiful building which is now the Douglas Police headquarters. Next door is the Douglas Visitor Centor which is actually pretty nice, and I learned a couple of new things about Douglas (they were making clothing for a while, and they had an airstrip that straddled the Mexican border for a while).

We were originally going to go north on Rt. 191 but we have always wanted to camp at Cave Creek/Portal, on the east side of the Chiricahuas, so a little diversion north on Rt. 80. 

We got a text from our friend Mark that there was a big accident on I-10, and that the highway was closed,  and sure enough we were met with an endless stream of tractor trailers and everything else on little skinny 2 lane RT 80, making a long detour.

Quick stop at Geronimo’s monument and then on to Rodeo, just over the NM border. Deb was looking for a gallery she’d heard of there but it was closed. Left turn out of Rodeo gets you to Portal (back in Arizona) where we stopped to find the Post Office and Library (wicked cute).

We then stopped at the Visitor Center at the park entrance and they said that there were empty spots in two campgrounds, Stewart & Idlewilde. All the camping in this area are National Forest Service campsites on a first come first served basis. We checked Sunny Flats first and it was full (as it always is with its nice paved road and paved campsites), but we had to trry. So back to Stewart which had a couple of open sites. We took the site next to the babbling stream which was perfect. We unpacked the camp gear, Milo had a nap and then we did a 3 mile walk up to a birding area and back. We heard trogons, thanks to a serious birding couple, but no luck seeing one. 

We then drove up the road to check out the Southwest Research Station, a beautiful place a few miles further up the road. Our VT friend (who now lives in Alaska) Cindy Brisson recently volunteered there for 6 weeks and loved the experience.

Back in the campground another camper stopped by who told us that 95% of the people in the park at the moment are serious birders, and we believe it!  He has a Tacoma with a camper and wants to switch to a van, so we gave him the nickel tour. He lives in CO near Dave and Matt Vans, so is thinking of heading in that direction.

Supper was soup and grilled cheese and we’re both tired… early morning.

Odo = 4973 this morning, 5070 tonight.