We've moved....

 

Our Location: Saddle Mountain, Tonopah, Arizona

 

We woke in the grasslands of Empire Ranch to a chilly morning but after breakfast and coffee it was time to pack up. We enjoyed our time there but time to move on, bad weather looks to be coming. We have wheels on our house, lets use them. We turned the Big Dog's nose north out of the Ranch and headed for I-10 West. Time 8:38 am. I looked. 

 

Sunrise at Empire Ranch. Taken through the window in my bedroom.

It has crested the mountains.

Shortly after leaving Empire Ranch heading north on AZ 83.

Very cute overpass in Tucson.

 

The drive was simple, AZ 83 north to I-10 West, past thru Tucson and joined up to I-8 West toward Gila Bend (pronounced Heela), then north on AZ 85 to connect back to I-10 West. Exit 94 to 411th street at Tonopah, left on Salome Highway and left just over the cattle guard before Courthouse Road. We are home for a while now.  A total of 220 miles/354 klm we drove on very good roads, arriving at about 12:30 pm.  Temps here when we arrived registered 81F/ 27C. A slight breeze, sunny with a few clouds. A truly nice day.

Cotton field here in Arizona.

You know you are in the desert when you see a mountain side covered in Saguaros.

Yep, definitely the desert now.

Looking out my window from my chair here at Saddle Mountain.

I called Dad to let him know we were here and all set up for a while. Lunch was a big green salad for me and the afternoon was spent just kind of resting. I didn't sleep well last night and had no energy today. Of course a text from my sister at 6:20 AM didn't help me sleep any better. She forgot about the big time difference.

We will be walking back there during our stay.

We'll drive part way back and hike some back there too.

The beginning of sunset tonight here at Saddle Mountain.

Such a fire in the sky.

Lots of photos today, all taken with my phone. 

Can you see the saddle?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Starting to fade to black. Goodnight.

Until next time....

take care, be safe, 

Deb

 

 

We've moved south and east.....

Our Location: Las Cienegas, Arizona

We woke this morning to a nice warm morning, the sun popping over the mountain to the east and a hint of excitement in our step. Today is moving day. We’ve stayed too long in this area due to weather around us but today we are moving on. 

Moving on down the highway...

 

So little traffic out here on these highways and biways.

 

Hooked up and heading out the pathway toward Salome Hwy by 7:45 AM, we motored about 3 miles to our first stop. Saddle Vista Ranch to rid us of our garbage and to empty our tanks. I know we dumped only a few short weeks ago but we would rather arrive empty than half full, if you know what I mean. We were once again on the road by 8:25 AM leaving Saddle Mountain BLM behind us for the last time this year. We pointed the Big Dog’s nose east and then north to reach the I-10 on ramp at Tonopah, making the connection for AZ 85 South Bound toward Gila Bend. We stopped in Gila Bend at the Shell station and checked out the water situation but decided against it and kept on  motoring. 

A tiny bit of construction but no slow downs or hesitations of any kind.

 

Mountains are starting to look different.

 No slow downs, no accidents, no issues and we motored right along on I - 8 until we jumped onto I -10 once more. We rolled on through Tucson, AZ and soon hung a right onto AZ 83 toward Empire Ranch. Within 30 minutes or so we reached the ranch house and there we chatted with camp hosts Nick and Jeannie who both offered us some good camp site ideas.  

A different kind of desert here along the I-8 corridor nearing Gila Bend.

Interesting vehicle. He was well packed and everything looked compact. Right hand drive as well.

We pulled into the Cienequitas campground area and although it’s pretty full we managed to find a nice little spot that we will occupy for a week or so. We had the Igloo (not the outside stuff) all set up and lunch warming up while I chatted with dad back in Ontario all around 2:30 pm. 

Such an interesting over pass.

 

Yep, it's snow on that mountain top over there.

 

It was warm here upon our arrival but as the sun fades into the western sky it cools off much faster than at the lower elevations. So we will be closing the vents, etc before the sun sets to keep some of the heat inside. The temperatures have dropped 9 degrees in the last 30 minutes. We are now sitting at 63F/ 17C with all indications of it continuing to drop.
 

Riley thought this guy was a hoot.

Heading toward Empire Ranch Road. Yep more snow.

 

This is our first time here and so we’re not sure what to expect temperature wise but we’re enjoying the change of scenery right now. Lots of mountains on our drive with a light dusting of snow on their peaks. Nick (camp host) told me they had about 10 inches / 25 cm a few weeks ago. Brrrr…glad we weren’t here then.  

 

Our spot for a week or so.

We are certainly in awe of the new type of desert we're seeing.

 

So that was our day today, we moved approx 240 miles, actual travel time was about 4 1/2 hours. We aren’t sure how long we are going to stay here but jello plans are just that,  jello plans. Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed the visit. 

These are the views from near our spot.

Such an interesting view.

Some cows on this land as well. We spotted them on our drive in.

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb