Arizona 2024: Day 18: Eloy, AZ: Sonoran Hotdog for the win!

Sleep was good. Somewhat interesting that at this “Luxury” RV resort, full of RVs equipped with outdoor TVs, stereo systems that can be heard for kilometres and a whole bunch of freedom of expression fanatics, that we have never really been woken up by any of them.

Morning walk was around the streets and campgrounds. Noting exciting. Good pace for a change.

Had a leisurely morning before we had to pack up and hit the road at check out time. Mrs Milddogs took advantage of the pool one last time and I should have taken advantage of the showers one last time, apparently.

After departing our site 2 minutes and 38 seconds late, we headed over to the propane fill up area. I had calculated that we could take 2 gallons of LPG. Our attendant was able to get 2.4 gallons in (that’s significant as the few other times I have had it filled up, the attendants had struggled to get it anywhere near full). Don’t be alarmed, the gauge is calibrated to show 100% when it is 80% full. 80% is “full” for a propane tank. Something about PV=nRT.

Our destination today was Picacho State Park in AZ. But first some provisions and maybe some fuel.

Stop #1 was Costco. Line for gas was too long so we parked and went into the store. Did not purchase much but got the things we needed.

Next stop was a winner! We had watched JImmy and Natalie’s new post (Thanks, TF) about things to do in Tucson. They mentioned a particular Hot Dog stand. And, last night, Gwen also mentioned Sonoran Hot Dogs. I have never had such a wonderful hot dog. This is pretty much the best non-homemade food item we have had on this trip (it’s a bit of a tie with the tacos yesterday). The bun, oh that bun. And the toppings. Mmmmm. You must get one of these and we highly recommend El Sinaloense in Tucson. We might have to plan our escape from Arizona around another stop at El Sinaloense!

Next two stops were for some non-Costco sized groceries and then for fuel. We seem to have standardized on Safeway for groceries. Wish there was a H.E.B. in Arizona.

We arrived at Picacho Peak State Park just after 1400. The 80km drive took us just over 3 hours will all of our errands. Got checked in and headed to our site. We parked beautifully across the paved area giving us a nice view of our Saguaro and the peak and other cool stuff.

We saw a squirrel that looks like a mini prairie dog. There are 3 types of squirrels here, not sure which one this is.

Once set up and relaxing in site 20, a lady came upon us and asked “Are you supposed to be on this site?” to which I replied “yes”, for, in my mind, I was supposed to be on this site. I was then informed that her friends were coming for the wedding. Note that I did not omit the initial greetings nor pleasantries we are all accustomed to, that was our actual conversation. I decided I best confirm our site. The permit in our windshield clearly says 12. The name on the post of site 20 is obviously nor ours. The name on the post of site 12 is ours. Now look what I have done. I informed Miss Congeniality that I was, in fact, not on the correct site and that we would be moving to our real site. I would have thought that would earn me a wedding invite, particularly if the friends never show up. Take comfort kids, even Miss Congeniality has found some friends.

We were perfectly set up on site 20. Mrs Milddogs had calculated the optimal angle for the van, I had parked perfectly and we were at exactly the right level; level side to side and one inch low in the front (hey, no jokes about that!).

We threw our stuff into the van and moved over. Mrs Milddogs and Amy walked the few hundred meters while I drove. Mrs Milddogs selected the optimal parking angle again and I nailed levelling. For a brief moment the level gauge showed as a perfectly level. But then a quarter inch of drift occurred. So close.

We had some awesome fajitas for dinner and then went for a walk to take in the sunset.

Tomorrow we stay here, except we have to move sites. I’ll walk the 2km to the gate house to do the paperwork in the morning. Let’s hope I actually park on the correct site this time. I also get to play a game called “where can I put all this stuff I got at Costco”. Note that I can’t eat it all nor drink it all in one day, so that is not the default option.

Life isn’t a highway, but it seems to always be near one.