Second Week at ORPI

A week has come and gone at ORPI. R and I have been busy learning the “ins and outs” of our new “home”. It takes a while to get comfortable at a new location. There are 11 sites that are provided for volunteers. While the roadway is gravel each trailer pad and adjacent patio is concrete so parking is flat and sturdy. All of the RV spots are spaced far apart and have full hook-ups. The day we arrived it was 63 degrees but the next day the temperature started to drop. By the same time the next day, the temp was in the forties with the night dropping to around 25 which is unheard of in this area. It will take a couple of months to see just how the cacti in this area were damaged. This is the northern-most range of the Organ Pipe and Senita Cactus so they are not used to such low temperatures.

Our work days are Sat, Sun, Mon and Tuesday. The park wants 32 hours of volunteer work for the RV space. The thirty two hours can be split between married couples. So R and I will probably be splitting our workdays in the future.

Both of us worked on our presentations today. There are two types of presentations here at the park. Short ones last fifteen minutes and are used for ranger talks that occur at the visitor center at various times thorough the day. Longer presentations last 40 minutes and are done at the evening programs that are given at the campground amphitheater nightly. So my short presentation compares the Desert Tortoise to a perfect RV. R’s short presentation explains how the Saguaro Cactus is adapted to living in a hot dry environment.

Next week will be interesting as we give our first presentations.

Quitobaquito

It’s 4:30pm and I am sitting here writing this down while it still in my mind. Today was quite a day.

In an area where the rainfall level is less than 8 inches a year, is a pond that is over an acre in size. It is located in the southwest corner of the Monument about 20 miles west of the main highway (Hwy 85). This oasis is called Quitobaquito. The low hills surrounding the area contain about a dozen springs that supply the pond. In a place where the desert plants are in stress do to the lack of any significant moisture, lies a body of water. This body of water is surrounded on two sides with bull rushes. Swimming on the surface were 8 or 10 coots and a common merganser. During migration lots of birds use this place for a stop over on the way.

So today we went there. It was a major operation because Quitobaquito is located in the Red Zone. There are three alert zones here in the park. The white zone is the area around the visitor center, campground, and maintenance area. The blue zone requires more security. The public is not allowed and employees may not go into the area alone. The most restrictive area is called the red zone. Going into the red zone requires permission and accompaniment of law enforcement. Today, of group of people, including three rangers, several park resource people, and twelve volunteers were escorted into the Red Zone from 9am until 2 pm by two armed law enforcement rangers.

The entire entourage were under the control of the LE ( law enforcement) for that time period. The park resources people conducted the training for us, telling us about the history, prehistory, geology, and biology of this unique area, but the timing and even the trip itself, was under the control of LE. It was very interesting trip and an amazing place, but the danger was always in the back of your mind.

The road to and from the site was rough. Part of the time the caravan which consisted of LE vehicle, two vans and then two pickups traveled on Puerto Blanco Road which was very dusty and wash boarded. The other part of the trip was traveled on the road that travels along the fence that right next to the US/Mexican border. In the picture to the right, you can see the road in the distance assending the hill. The entire section of the border from Lukeville to the southwest corner of the park is “adorned” with a fence, for five miles it’s a twelve foot high steel fence with barbed wired on the top. The other thirty some miles of border is dominated by a strong steel fence. It was very odd to be 20 plus miles west of the highway by rough road, to get to this remote area and, across the border, very close, is the busy Mexican Hwy 2.

Weight

Today, Wednesday, was our first day off, so while R was cleaning and dusting the trailer, I emptied the storage area underneath and cleaned and rearranged the storage boxes. When you begin camping you start to accumulate items. A tool box, flashlight, rope, tarp, etc. Before long the underside storage area and maybe the toolbox of the truck is full of boxes crammed with every “do-dad” and “widget” that Camping World stocks in their catalogue. So, from time to time, it is necessary to purge the items. Before we left home I downsized a couple of boxes of items that had not been used in a long time. So when we left town there was empty space in the storage area. With that in mind, there still is too much stuff. I still want to get rid of unneeded gear, but I find it difficult because there is always that “I might need this some time” theory. So as we spend more time out traveling, I continue to try to eliminate extra items. Fewer items mean less weight and more space, both good things.

All in all we are quite satisfied with our living conditions. The truck is a great puller. I would, of course, not turn down a new vehicle, but I cannot justify an expenditure of $60k. There’s no way a new truck is worth that. The Ford could use some more power and a new chip would help that, but then the transmission would be in jeopardy so I hesitate. On the other end of the scale, if I could afford it an exhaust brake would be my next purchase. The only time you need it is when you are heading down a steep mountain road with a 12000 pound trailer hitched to your pickup. Then you learn to pray very quickly. The trouble is that the cost of getting one installed on my truck is about $2000. I’m not sure why it is so expensive, but it prevents me from installing one on the Ford.

Quartzsite 2011

Quartzsite, AZ a place where the population goes from a couple of thousand to nearly a million back to the original number in a matter of months. Approaching Q from the east you come over the hill and see white specks scattered all over the desert as far as the eye can see. Each one the specks is a motor home, travel trailer, or a fifth wheel, etc. It is interesting seeing what ingenious ideas each owner has come up with to live out in the desert without hook ups. Some have multiple solar panels, some have wind generators, most everyone has a generator or two of various brands with Honda being the most prominent. A thousand watt generator is ok if you just what to recharge the batteries on your RV, but two thousand or more watts are needed to run the TV, other appliances and electric lights, and even more if you want use air conditioning. The picture is taken in the morning while folks are in line to use the dump station before they head out.

My generator is a older 3500 watt unit with a Briggs and Straton engine. But because it is over 10 years old is not as quiet or as easy to start as the new ones. It is quite a bit heavier than the new ones as well. But it came along when I bought the pick up from my brother in law, so I have used it, though sparingly, for several years. For the last week I have been using my generator to keep my batteries charged while we are parked in La Posa South, one of the areas that the BLM has set aside for use by RVs. By running my generator for an hour in the morning and in the evening I have kept, or tried to keep the batteries charged up. I have discovered that no matter how careful you are, twelve volt batteries are not as good for boondocking as 6 volt ones. The latter hold the charge longer. So when it is time to replace batteries, it will be two gold cart batteries.

Unfortunately, the generator is getting harder and harder to start. The only way to get it running is to spray starting fluid into the carburetor before I pull the starter cord. This works but is not the correct thing to do. So I have two choices. Get a new generator ( $800 - $1000) or repair this one. It does not seem smart to spend that much money for a product that be used infrequently for only about two weeks a year. So when I get to Ajo, I am going to see if there is a small engine repair shop that can tune it up and make it more “user friendly”. Ajo is a small town so I may have to wait until I return home in May to complete this task.