A Couple of Stops in Arizona and Onto New Mexico

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a International Biosphere Reserve in the Sonoran desert. Twin Peaks Campground is within the Monument and has around 200 sites. There are pull thru sites with lovely desert landscaping. We stayed here for the Puerto Penasco pre rally in 2012 and will do so as part of next years rally. We decided to spend a few days here before heading north. There weren't many other people here.We seem to be in the time between winter snowbirders and spring breakers and the busy summer season, though summer may not be too busy because of the heat.

We went into Ajo one day to replenish our food supply. Another day decided to check out Darby Wells Road, a BLM free boondocking area that is popular in the winter. We didn't see anyone at all there. Getting too hot I guess. Part of the area is now restricted as it was discovered that some of the land actually belongs to the mines in the area.  So there aren't as many sites for larger rv's it seems.

We were originally going to go to Parker for Michael and Casey's hydroplane races. Then Michael emailed us that he had a trailer problem and he wasn't sure they would be able to go. As we needed to decide which direction to head, we decided to head to Tucson instead. Parker is a little out of the way and suppose to be in the 100's and so we decided to head directly north instead. It turned out to be a good decision as the weekend we would have been in Parker Joe had a stomach flu and wouldn't have been able to watch the races anyway and that heat would be no fun when you are sick.

So, Our next stop was a new one for us. Catalina State Park is a high desert campground just north of Tucson. It is very, very popular site in winter and you need to get reservations way ahead of time. We usually stay at Gilbert Ray as it is a first come first serve campground. We were easily able to get a site. It is at the base of the Catalina Mountains and  is a different look from Organ Pipe. This place doesn't have the typical desert plants but lots of nice shade trees. 

Love the coloring on the mountains in the late afternoon.

We had more shopping to do, with our Trade Joe fix included. We also took care of some other  business in Tucson.

Well, it is getting pretty hot in Arizona and so we will start heading north to hopefully cooler weather. Santa Fe is on the horizon with a stop at City of Rocks, near Deming, New Mexico.
Stay tuned.