Day 18: It’s an Oprah Day: Benson, AZ to Tucson, AZ

Great night sleep in Kertchner State Park. Up early so I could get my walk in before my 0900 cave tour.

Morning walk was great. Did the Foothills loop trail intentionally. Did not get lost. Trail had some significant elevation changes and interesting substrate. But it was a really nice walk. Here are some views and a screenshot of the satellite view.

After walk time I had my usual toast for breakfast. I make toast like this. The YouTube Channel “Sailing Soulianis” turned us on to the great toaster.

The cave tour was great. You are not allowed to take pictures. It was very different from Carlsbad Caverns. Many younger looking stalactites and a lot of “soda straws”. The tours are guided and the guides did a wonderful job. I stayed far away from the woman that coughed a few times! Well worth the experience. Is it better than Carlsbad? No. Do both!

After the tour we went on a hike with Amy down part of the Foothills loop. It was nice to do it at a slower pace and look at some stuff.

Pack up. Time to go to Tucson.

We departed Kartchner Caves state park right a check out time of 1200 on way to Tucson. The short drive was uneventful and wind free. It was an Oprah day! We might have had a tail wind as our fuel economy yet. A pickup truck with Ontario plates passed us and honked hello. We stopped at Costco a few miles from our destination. We fuelled up (Arizona is the most expensive state yet) and grabbed a few supplies in Costco. We may be eating Caesar salad for days again. Our fridge is amazing large for a stubby little fellow.

We are living the highlife at an RV “resort”. We checked in at 1402, a few minutes after checkin time. Amy has her own fenced play area. Mrs Milddogs sat in the shade in the play area under the grapefruit tree while Amy relaxed outside her play area. It was kind of funny.

The nice early arrival gave us a chance to just relax. We pulled out the chairs, a Dos Equis or two and just hung out. We talked to some neighbours. Our little van is dwarfed by many of the huge class A motorhomes in this place. They have a pool at this campground and Mrs Milddogs hit that while Amy and I hung out at the van. No puppies in the pool area.

Mrs Milddgos returned and we did pretty much nothing. Back to the pool she went. Just before she returned a roadrunner came within a few feet as Amy and I sat in her dog area. Our first roadrunner and Mrs Milddogs missed it. Also in the most urban area we have been too in roadrunner land. Dinner was Costco Caesar salad and Costco rotisserie chicken.

Shower!

A good, relaxing day!

Plan for tomorrow: I have to pick up an RV accessory and there are 3 major RV dealers within walking distance so I shall procure said accessory. We are staying at the same place tomorrow night but moving spots. Amy has to give up her dog area that she probably doesn’t like anyways!

I’ve been pondering picking up an eBike for running about to fetch things without moving the van. One of the challenges of #Vanlife is that if you have to run an errand further than convenient walking distance, you are packing up and moving the van. This place is full of eBikes. Usually mounted to the back of the jeep that is towed by the massive class A motorhome. Problem for me is that there are very few that can safely fit on our factory supplied bike rack. The preferred one is rarely in stock. Other challenge is that I have yet to encounter the use case I think I need an eBike for. If I change use case and get super cool fat tired eBikes, I need a new rack, a trailer hitch re-enforcement installed and… So, we shall see.

I like the part of #vanlife that forces you to only bring the essentials. You don’t have room for other stuff. It’s kind of like the minimalism you strive for when motorcycle touring or canoe tripping.

Some warm weather is on the way. Might be time to do that trim on Amy we have been talking about.

Au revoir!