Thursday Oct 5,2023 - Bisbee to Dead Horse Ranch State Campground

No rush this morning since we have all day to get to Dead Horse. Usual closing up the house and collecting everything to take in the 27 gallon “Provisions Box”. There are 3 rigs and 5 people. Our friends Katie and Pam cancelled because one of them had a bad cold and just got back from a big trip back east. They are always a lively addition to this group but we'll try to compensate. 

We always pile everything up at the end of the driveway and then pull the van up and shovel everything in. We live on a steep one way street and can only park one vehicle in the driveway.

We left by 9:30 and stopped up at Dave and Deb’s to see how they were doing. They were almost packed up and in good shape so we left to head north. They have a 19’ camper they pull with their Chevy truck, and Carmen has a toy hauler she pulls with her Chevy truck.

We went over the divide to avoid the construction in the tunnel. They're putting new lights in and maybe something else so they have one way traffic.

We stopped at the Horseshoe Cafe in Benson for a nice breakfast and arrived there 10 minutes before the breakfast cutoff at 11:00. Onto the I-10 and then ground our way through Tucson and then Phoenix. Filled up with gas somewhere north of Phoenix ($3.99) then on to Dead Horse. We'd been here before Christmas last year, so easily remembered our way through Cottonwood and on to the park.  One nice thing about this weekend as far as packing goes is we're next door to Cottonwood which is big enough to have all the big stores, so no danger of forgetting anything.

We found our site (91) which is perfect because it has a nice shade tree in the right spot. The weather forecast says highs of 87 to 92 the next few days and lows of 49 to 55. The bathrooms here have hot and cold running water along with nice showers and dish washing stations, so luxury accommodations all around. Cost is $30 per night.

We are right on the cusp of wishing we had air conditioning, but the cool nights make for perfect sleeping.

Our friends pulled in shortly after us and we have three adjacent sites (91-93). Full hookups (electric, water, septic) but we only use electric which changes things a lot. We brought a toaster along since we have electric, which is a first for us. We have only hooked up to power a few times since owning this van because the battery power has been perfect this last year.

Dave and Deb have the bigger rig so it ends up being the party center. The other folks both have A/C, so if it gets really hot we can escape in there. But it was a very pleasant evening with a slight breeze drifting through the campground. Every site is full and kids are riding bikes around the park. 

Deb N. made potato soup and we had birthday coconut creme pie since Dave and Milo just had side by side birthdays.  Tonight we watched the stars and we can see the lights of Jerome up on the side of the mountain. Nice night for sleeping.