Golf, Chores, and Turning East

Wednesday, 20 February 

As we mentioned in the last post, we were able to get a tee time for this morning at the golf course in Wellton, a course we have played three times before.  Waking up this morning, it was 31 degrees, so we expected a frost delay.  No need to be early.  When we arrived, the line up was very long.  However, with the chilly weather, there were a lot of cancellations, so we got off at about our assigned tee time after all.

Both Darrell and Kris hit good drives on the first tee, and both parred the hole.  Nice start.  On the second hole, Darrell made par again.  And again on the third.  And again on the fourth.  And again on the fifth.  He made the turn at one over par thanks to a birdie on the 8th putting him up by 6 strokes.  He continued to have some good shots to par the first four holes on the back nine, and then a birdie.  But the pressure got to him and he made two pars and two double bogeys in the final four holes for a final score 75 on the day.  Unfortunately, Kris had to settle for a rain check on Starbucks as we decided not to drive to 20+ miles to Yuma just for a Starbucks.

Thursday, 21 February 

With rain forecast for most of the day, we made today another chore and catch up day.  Catch up on some of our subscriptions, YouTube videos, and magazines.  Defrost the refrigerator, started on new front door window covers, small repairs, and other little items whose procrastination time had expired.

We also received notification from our other bank that one of our debit cards was being replaced due to the bank’s concern it had been compromised as well.  With all the places we have been, it is hard to determine where the compromise happened.  But mulling it over for quite awhile, it is likely that it occurred at a gas station in Quartzsite the morning we left there at the end of January.

One of Darrell’s replacement credit cards arrived, and our mail package from Green Cove Springs is expected tomorrow.

Friday, 22 February 

The plan we come up with yesterday was to start heading east today after we got our mail package.  When we got up, we checked the current weather for where we hoped to adventure today and spend the night.  Then we re-checked the weather where we are.  With snow in Phoenix and most of the area surrounding Phoenix (Flagstaff getting the record setting snow), Tucson getting snow, gusty winds, low temperatures expected near freezing, and flood warnings around Phoenix, we decided we would just stay put for another day.  We read books, streamed some golf, and walked into town (1.4 miles each way) just to get out and walk.

Out mail from Green Cove Springs arrived as planned which included the renewed registrations/tag decals on all our vehicles including Sprinty.  Needed those as the tag on Sprinty expires at the end of the month.

Google Photos sent us a reminder yesterday - two years ago we were on our way to Boise, ID to adopt Sprinty.  And two years ago today, we officially adopted Sprinty.

Saturday, 23 February 

The picture is from two years ago at the hotel in Salt Lake City the day after we adopted Sprinty.  We spent two nights there because of road conditions.  It was a good opportunity to get familiar with Sprinty before we set off on the National Park tour.

After an overnight low temperature of 33 degrees, we woke up to a sunny morning.  After dinner last night, a horse trailer with three horses arrived.  Who knew horses enjoyed camping too.

After breakfast, we broke camp, stopped by a salt-free water dispenser (5 gallons for $0.50) and headed east on I-8.  We turned south at Gila Bend and made our way south of Ajo, AZ and Why, AZ to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the heart of the Sonoran Desert.  On this stretch of road, the odometer turned over 50,000 miles

At the Visitor Center, we got some suggestions for visiting the park, and learned that this is the only place in the United States to see large stands of organ pipe cacti growing naturally.  

After reviewing options what did not require 4WD and/or high clearance vehicles, we decided to do the 21-mile Ajo Mountain Drive.  

It is almost all a maintained gravel road and the guide suggests it takes 2-3 hours.  The scenic loop crosses the Diablo Mountains to the base of Ajo Mountains and returns through Sonoyta Valley.

At about the half-way point, there is a pull-off and a trailhead below Arch Rock, although the trail does not go all the way up to Arch Rock.

The road conditions varied - at times, Sprinty was able to bounce along at 20mph, somexperietimes less than 5mph, and mostly about 8-10mph.  Sprinty drew on his experience on gravel roads from Louisiana, Saguaro National Park West, Alabama Hills, and Death Valley.  In fact, the loop drive was a lot like the drive we did at Saguaro National Park West.

Learning from the literature that there was a video at the Visitor Center, we returned to the Visitor Center to watch the video we missed the first time.  We then headed for Ajo to check out the community golf course.  It is a typical small town municipal desert course.  The greens were nice, the fairways had some grass, and the “rough” was rocky sand.  The fairways were narrow rewarding good tee shots.  And with a 440 yard par 4 and a 570 yard par 5, it was quite the challenge.  Arriving just before 3pm, we decided to walk nine holes.  Cost was modest, $9/person walking.  Kris led until the final hole where the water feature right in front of the par three green snagged her ball twice.  Still, we had fun.

Another feature of the Ajo Community Golf Course is they have free overnight parking for RVs - no Harvest Host membership required.  So we decided to dry camp at the golf course so we would be driving to our next destination tomorrow during the chilly part of the morning.