Like everywhere, the State of Arizona has been hit hard by economic setbacks, and the state has announced the closure of thirteen of its 22 State Parks in the next few months. The parks on the closure list are Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow, Lyman Lake State Park in St. Johns, Riordan Mansion State Historic Park in Flagstaff, Fort Verde State Historic Park in Camp Verde, Roper Lake State Park in Safford, Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, Tonto Natural Bridge State Park near Payson, Alamo Lake State Park in Wenden, Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, Picacho Peak State Park near Tucson, and Red Rock State Park in Sedona. Four State Parks, Jerome State Historic Park, McFarland State Historic Park in Florence, Oracle State Park, and San Rafael State Natural Area were closed previously due to budget cuts.

We have visited many of these parks over the years, and I’m really sorry that this action was taken. It is a real loss to the people of Arizona and visitors to the state. However, do I wonder if the attitude of the folks at the State Parks might not have been a least a tiny part of the problem.

I can’t help but remember that three or four years ago, we stopped at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park and wanted to do a story on the park for the Gypsy Journal. Usually when we tell whoever is on duty at a place like this what we’re up to, we get a warm welcome and often a lot of extra help, such as pointing out behind the scenes details that most people overlook. After all, we’re giving them free publicity that will reach thousands of potential visitors.

But not at Tubac Presidio, a Spanish mission dating back to the 1600s! When the very officious Ranger on duty learned that we planned to do a feature story in the park, he demanded we surrender our cameras, and took away the park brochure I had picked up, because State Park “policy” forbade anyone from using photos of or information from the park for commercial purposes.

When I could not get anywhere with the Ranger on duty, I asked to speak to a supervisor, but he told me that would not be possible. In a follow up call to the State Parks headquarters in Phoenix, I was told that this was indeed the policy, but that if I were to submit a request in writing, weeks ahead of our visit, it would be reviewed and they would get back with me. I had a better idea – we drove a few miles further south and stopped at Tumacácori National Historical Park, another historic Spanish mission from the same period, where the folks on duty welcomed us with open arms and went out of their way to give us enough information for two or three feature stories!

Two years ago we were staying at the Thousand Trails preserve in Camp Verde, Arizona and made a day trip to Jerome. Sometime in the afternoon, as we were headed back to the campground, Miss Terry suddenly needed to make a pit stop. We were right in front of Jerome State Historic Park, so I pulled in and Terry went into the Visitor center to use the bathroom. The Ranger on duty stopped her and told her that the bathrooms were for park visitor use only, and demanded that she pay the $5 entrance fee or she could not use the bathroom, which was right there in the Visitor Center. She told him that it was rather an emergency, but he did not care one bit. Pay the money or go find a bush someplace!

So while I hate to see the parks closed, I keep thinking that what goes around comes around.

On another note, Bad Nick had to act like a grownup and play disciplinarian yesterday. You can read about it in the Bad Nick Blog post titled Bad Nick Plays Censor. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Thought For The Day – Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet, and they will forward dumb e-mails to you forever.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

For a week or so now, we have been up early every morning, and that’s a habit we really need to break. It’s ruining my bad reputation. 

We left the Escapees Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming, New Mexico a little after 9 a.m. and drove west on Interstate 10 to Lordsburg, where we stopped at the Flying J for fuel, and then took U.S. Highway 70, the Old West Highay,  northwest into Arizona. We had never traveled this route before, and it is a nice two lane road that is a more direct route to central Arizona that taking Interstate 10, which dips south first before going north toward Tucson and Phoenix.

There were a few hills, but nothing serious, and we had to slow down through small towns like Safford and Thatcher, but we made good time. When we entered the San Carlos Apache Reservation, it was like going into a Third World country. The small Indian communities we passed through were depressing places where the yards of the houses were littered with trash, and the people we passed didn’t look very friendly.

We had planned to stay at the RV park at the Apache Gold Casino, a few miles east of Globe, which would put us within about a 90 minute drive north to our daughter’s home in Show Low, perfect for a day trip. But when we arrived, the convenience store that is also the office for the RV park was closed for several days, and when I went inside the casino to inquire about an RV site, nobody seemed to know anything, or offer much help.

This attitude of indifference reminded me of what I had come to know as the norm on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, which is the neighbor to our old hometown of Show Low. The Apaches are never rude, they just let you know that you’re welcome to come to their casino and spend your money, or pay to fish in their lakes, but don’t expect much in the way of hospitality.

I finally found a security guard who told me that they were “probably” full, and even if we could find an open site, he had no idea if we could stay or not, or how much it would cost us. He did say we could dry camp a night or two for free out by the highway in several long spaces reserved for eighteen wheelers, but when I asked him about security in the area, he just shrugged. We just did not feel comfortable leaving the motorhome unattended there while we went to Show Low. I guess that’s a holdover from our burglary last month. We have no fear dry camping anywhere within reason, but leaving the rig like that, with no RV neighbors nearby, just didn’t feel good.

We were only about 70 miles from Apache Junction, where Terry’s parents live, and our ultimate destination, so we decided to just drive the rest of the way in and find an RV park where we can get a monthly space, and then drive the van to Show Low in a day or three.

There was a lot of road construction on U.S. Highway 60 between Globe to Miami that was pretty much stop and go  traffic, but once we got through that it was an easy drive the rest of the way. The Winnebago performed well coming through the mountains, and the 7% climbs and the trip back down into the Valley of the Sun was no problem with our Cummins diesel engine and exhaust brake. We arrived at the Elks lodge in Apache Junction and took a dry camping spot with several other RVs, and a beautiful  view out our windshield of the Superstition Mountains. 

Once we were settled in, we drove over to Terry’s parents’ house and had a nice reunion with them, and I  know they were sure happy to see her. It had been a long day, so when we left them, we stopped for a quick dinner and got back to the RV tired and ready for bed. Before we began our fulltime RV adventure, Arizona was our home, and it’s good to be back.

We have a lot of friends and subscribers who want to get together, and by the time we got back to the Elks lodge, I had eight e-mails from people wanting to get together today or tomorrow. We’ll try to do some visting once we get caught up a bit. But the next few days will be devoted to finding an RV park, washing a couple thousand miles of road grime off our Winnebago and van, and then family time. We’ll be in the Apache Junction area for over a month, and we’re looking forward to some down time.

Thought For The Day – Live in the possibility rather than the probability.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally