#40 – Coveys Great Adventure – Dec. 2017 to early Jan. 2018 – Jojoba Hills CA, Yuma, Organ Pipe and Benson AZ

Jojoba Hills CA, Yuma, Organ Pipe and Benson AZ

Dec. 2017 to early Jan. 2018 

We got lucky: Jojoba Hills SKP RV Resort near Temecula CA had a site opening up a few days after we arrived that we could stay in through Christmas. Like all of the sites at Jojoba, #317 was spacious, close to the shop and the laundry, with easy access to lots of places to walk the dogs. Lucy and Schroeder recognized the park as soon as we pulled in and seemed excited to be back. Unfortunately I got distracted while pulling into the site and cut a corner too close to a large bush. We now have 20 feet of scratches on the side of the coach that I need to try to buff out. If there is nothing to work on I’ll invent something. Damn it.

As much as we love staying at Jojoba the 50 mile round trips to Hemet to visit with the family and take part in all the Christmas events wore us out. Next year I think we’ll swallow hard and stay at a large commercial RV park in Hemet. It costs roughly twice as much as Jojoba but the reduced wear-and-tear will be worth it.

Liesa was able to get time off from work and flew into San Diego on the 23^rd.  Traffic was almost eerily light and her flight was actually on time, so we arrived in Hemet hours before we were expected. Christmas at Paul and Brenda’s was very nice, capped off by a terrific dinner. Liesa’s cousin, Ed Wiklund has recently returned to the LA area and we were all pleased to see him, again.

Anxious to get moving again, we packed up and pulled out of Jojoba on the 27^th to visit the dentist in Los Algodones, Mexico, just over the border from Yuma. 

Sunset at Organ Pipe

Organ Pipe Cacti

We originally intended to go directly from Yuma to the SKP Saguaro Co-op in Benson AZ, our winter home for the past three years. On the spur of the moment we decided to spend a few days at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Why AZ, right on the Mexican border. We’ve wanted to see Organ Pipe since we met the head ranger at the Quartzsite RV show in 2014. He was recruiting camp hosts and spreading the word that the campground had reopened after a long closure.

Camping at Organ Pipe requires a little forethought. It is about 25 miles from anything resembling a town, so checking provisions and doing a little meal planning is a must. The campground

has no power, water or sewer hookups at the sites, but water is available and there is a dump station to empty tanks. Ordinarily we don’t think about power because we can run the generator to recharge the batteries, but OP restricts generator usage to two hours, twice a day. I didn’t realize that was a problem until the batteries were not fully charged when it was time to turn off the generator. We discovered that we use roughly 160 amps of battery power during the evening “quiet hours” from 6 PM to 8 AM. The problem is that we can only replenish 120 amps during the two hour generator period.

There is no way to recover this deficit, so it compounds. The math is irrefutable: we will kill the batteries in four days unless we significantly cut consumption. Luckily we planned to stay only three days, but I want to figure out the best way to eliminate that limitation on our independence.

The power issue aside, Organ Pipe was well worth the effort. The setting is one of the most unique desert landscapes in the world. The eponymous cacti are, to me anyway, pretty fascinating. We have been all over the deserts of the southwest and haven’t seen anything like it. The night sky is truly spectacular, maybe the best I’ve seen since our visit to Kodachrome State Park. There is no light pollution at all and the stars are impressive. The best time to visit the monument is supposed to be late February through mid-April when the wildflowers and cacti of all kinds bloom. The pictures at the visitor center are beautiful, so we want  to return one day.

No lots were available when we arrived at the SKP Saguaro Co-op in Benson, but the staff assured us that one would open up soon. We pulled into the dry camping area and prepared to wait it out. The next morning just after breakfast we were pleasantly surprised to be told that a lot had opened up and we could move in as soon as we were ready. An hour later we were right at home on #298 where we plan to stay until early March. While Lucy and Schroeder seemed happy to return to Jojoba; they were clearly excited to be back at Saguaro.  And so are we.

I’ll update our plans in the February edition. By the time that comes out we should be crossing Texas, headed to Florida.

More soon.