Here are two more older Posts. They are self-explanatory……
The first one is entitled…..
“On The Road Again…..”
Willy Nelson stopped by the campfire last night.
We had our usual good time just singin’ and playin’ our guitars.
Not really, I can’t sing a note as anyone in my family can attest to, and, besides, the only thing I can play is the radio.
But when “On the Road Again” popped into my head when thinking of a title for this post, well……
Today is Wednesday (4 AM as I write this) and as I put my best “Travelogue Narrator’s” voice on here,
“We bid a fond farewell to Durango and her neighbors as we drive ever Westward in search of the Perfect Walmart Parking Lot. So until we meet again, Adios! Durango, someday we’ll find our way back to you and your skyline of awe-inspiring mountain ranges.”
What a load of crap.
My daughter lives here and it is one of our Bases here in the West. Of course, we’ll be back!
But today is a Travel Day! Another “Ho-hum-incredibly-great-weather-as-usual” kind of day that abounds in this area. Our next destinations are several stops in Arizona where two of Paula’s cousins live. We have a few days to get there and luckily there is no shortage of sights along the way. The Drive itself may be rewarding enough, especially with the Gigundo Vista Visage Bug-Splattering Windshield in front of us. Our route takes us through Northwest New Mexico, past Shiprock and the Four Corners Monument, which because of an exceedingly embarrassing surveying error, is not, in fact, positioned at the precise location of the intersection of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. (Maybe Willy stopped by their campfire the night before they went to work and they all had some extra libations, et al, if you catch my drift.) Oh well, at least it makes for a good story! All of this is on the expansive Navajo Indian Nation’s Reservation or The Rez, as it is locally known. It is the largest Reservation in the nation, totaling a little over 27,000 square miles of desert, open range, and some of the largest coal deposits on the planet. To give you a perspective on how large it is, New Jersey is around 8000 square miles in size. Interestingly, and probably much to the chagrin of the Hopi Nation, the reservation entirely surrounds the Hopi’s Reservation. This issue has been around for a while, and of course the U.S. Government and their incredibly bad record of handling Native American affairs, compounded the problems. But, if you go back far enough, the Hopi’s, who still live in Pueblos, have a much better argument for living here because it is easy to trace their history back to the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) whose relics and cliff dwellings abound in this region. The Navajo where a nomadic tribe from areas much to the north of here. But, back to our route. We had planned on visiting Navajo National Monument, a part of the National Park Service, but it is closed due to the Covid Deal. It seems that Covid hit the Navajo with more severity than any surrounding populations. So we are probably going to pass that by in favor of two NPS Parks a little further south and they are Wutpaki N.P. (one of the Ancestral Puebloans site ) and its neighbor Sunset Crater N.P. (this entire area is rife with old volcano activity).
This is the area that we plan to “Boondock” in. Boondocking is the term given to just parking and staying, not hooked up to any utilities. Even staying in the aforementioned Walmart parking lot is considered boondocking. The site will be on Bureau of Land Management land, (BLM for short) which is just public land that can be used for just about anything that is legal. BLM land does have some practical regulations having to do with the likes of fires in the dry season and not destroying the Ancestral Puebloan sites, the majority of which, lie within BLM management areas, all across the Colorado Plateau. This is the geographic term given to the expansive land uprising that starts around Flagstaff, Arizona and continues northward and eastward thru Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Enough of the Geography lesson. No worries, you are all just auditing this course, there are no quizzes, and it is not even pass/fail. It is just for fun. 😊
(Same day, Later in the Evening, 7PM)
The trip today went as planned.
Ho-Hum gorgeous weather.
300 Miles of Western Desert Scenery.
Zero Traffic
And not even one Interstate Highway!
All was good until we got to the entrance to the Four-Corners Monument.
Closed.
Now I can understand how Covid has affected many areas and has wreaked havoc on many a Travel Plan. But this particular site is a giant concrete pad with the outlines of the four boundaries intersecting at perfect right angles. One does not need a Guide to interpret this. Maybe they are afraid of vandals, but really, this place could have been made available. So undaunted, we went off into the desert, I took out my phone, went on Google Maps, found the real Four Corners, drew our own State Boundary Lines, and stood in all four States at once!
Not really, but it would have been fun to try! We had kind of a schedule to keep because the place where we were planning to Boondock today is a National Forest, administered in the same way as BLM land and therefore needed some reconnoitering to find a decent (level) campsite.
Arriving too close to dark is taboo.
So back into the Whale we clambered and continued on our way. This day was the antithesis of most of our other travel days so far, so there are no hair-raising or near-catastrophic stories to tell.
Sorry about that.
But I’m not!
We arrived here in the Cocochino National Forest a little after three in the afternoon and as it turns out, non-too soon. The area is well used, and the sites scattered among the pines were many and varied. They are absolutely, slam-dunk, perfect for Camping. Especially if you have tent. Or a Pop-Up. Or a Pick-up with a Camper in theback.
Or a small travel trailer.
Maybe even a smaller, traditional RV.
But NOT a Full-Size Big-Ass Coach.
Hey! What did we know? We wandered our way in on the more than adequate graveled road and looked for sites for us to occupy. I felt like we were in Goldilocks and the Three Bears…..
“This one is too small”.
“This one is too rocky”.
“This one is not level enough”.
We tried one that looked promising, but after we tried to level and were unsuccessful, we spent an inordinate amount of time trying to extricate ourselves from the clutches of the various trees and rocks that seemed to pop up after we entered this site. Paula outside on her cell phone communicating with me inside, frantically working the controls in an attempt not to get too many scratches on our pretty baby. Well, let’s just say we finally managed to exit, and we will only need a few Band-Aids to fix her up.
Undaunted (and we really liked it here, plus we did not want to be the guests of Walmart of Flagstaff ), we tried the other direction.
Nope.
Nope.
Nope.
Ahh…. Maybe?
I exited the coach and looked around. Level looked good. Trees spaced nicely. Exit without backing even appeared ok. So, in we went and held our breaths as the leveling process began. It’s not that we can’t park in a spot that isn’t level, it’s just that we need to be level to put the slides out, which makes it way nicer to be inside walking around, cooking , bathrooms, etc.
There is an Auto-Level System aboard the senses our attitude and adjusts accordingly. But it does have its limits, so finding a spot that is fairly level to begin with is a necessity.
Finally, after many big tweaks, and then some tiny tweaks, the Leveling Lady decided that we were good!
We went for walk around and to check out our new neighborhood. We found that there were other like-minded folks in the area and that made us feel good. They are probably looking over at us and wondering who the big jerks are that drove a Giant Class A Coach into the woods. Spying our Jersey license plates, I am sure they just shook their heads in understanding. Can’t wait to get the Texas tags on!
Back inside, dinner, some cards, and now some Zzzzzz’s.
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Now for the Second One, and it is entitled ……
“Deep In The Heart of Texas!”
If California is a State of Mind
Then
Texas is a State of Being.
There are other States that started out as independent countries: Vermont, Hawaii, Oregon, and several other entities, most of them relatively short-lived, but by far the most famous and successful as an independent country is Texas. Texas, as a republic, was in existence for about twelve years in the mid 1800’s. California’s flag has the words California Republic emblazoned on it but, in reality, the “Bear Flag Revolt” lasted only 25 days in 1846. I’ve seen (more than once) the Texas flag flown here all by itself. No American flag above it. Nothing disrespectful mind you. Texas is as patriotic as any state, just a tad more “independent” as it were.
So, why you are probably asking yourself, is he giving us a stupid history lesson on Texas and random Statehoods?
I can answer that my friends.
It is because of a Gas Station.
Not just any relatively ubiquitous, monotonous, stale breakfast sandwich, and dirty restroom convenience store gas station. I am talking about the Holy Grail of this genre,
Buc-ees
It seems to me that after visiting one of this Company’s wonderful entities, that the reason that they exist is because of Texas.
Big.
No, that does not do it justice.
How about Massive?
Now we’re getting somewhere.
The phrase “Big as Texas” is not just a local slogan. It is a mentality that seems pervasive down here. By rights, this State is big! It can take days to get across it. Alaska is larger but no one lives there. California is long, but no one remembers that they live there.
The Buc-ees mascot/logo guy is a caricature of a beaver (with buck-teeth) that looks like he could be a relative of Rocky the Flying Squirrel from Rocky and Bullwinkle. His face is on everything that you could possibly market and it is all done with great success.
A Buc-ees would probably do well in other states also, but its genesis probably could have only been in Texas.
Let us start with the obvious.
Gas Pumps .
Back East we have Quick Check, Wawa, 7-11, Sheetz, Raceway, Exxon, and a host of other national chains that have enough pumps at them that you can feel comfortable enough to leave your car there and go inside for a purchase or two.
Buc-ees has over 70 pumps.
You could park there all day and probably no one would notice!
Bathrooms.
Some of these establishments do a better job than others in this department. But, it’s a crapshoot, sometimes good, sometimes (well you know what the other side is here).
Are they “one-holers”?
Is there a line?
Are they even clean?
Squeaky-Clean?
Buc-ees has 35 urinals in the Men’s Room separated by walls. I know this because I counted them.
How about stalls?
No flimsy partitions here.
Solid masonry walls with doors separates you from your neighbor. This is also the configuration in the Ladies Room. I do not know this as an eyewitness fact, but I do have it from reliable sources. No waiting here ladies, there are just as many “sites” in your room as is the Men’s Room, all with the same solid construction.
Clean?
You bet!
Crazy clean!
Now let us step out into the Retail and Food Area.
You can do your Christmas Shopping here and get a delicious, home cooked, truly Texas-Chef Inspired meal. I had a pulled-pork sandwich (because I always have that wherever I go) and it was as good as any roadside, authentic, Big Bubba’s BBQ places that I’ve been to.
Prices.
More than fair, especially when you get all these other extras at no charge. Get a load of the drink prices in the photo! Everything else is competitively priced, and the fuel prices are the starting point. I even bought the DEF Fluid (used in diesel powered motors) for about half of what I was paying elsewhere.
And get this,
NO TRACTOR TRAILERS ARE ALLOWED!
Just cars and RV units
Not there is anything wrong with 18-wheelers, it is just that they have their own truck stops. This is like a truck stop for cars, lets call it a Car Stop!
Would you like a giant Fire-Pit?
How about a large BBQ or Smoker?
Yep! Got them too! Texas Sized!
Hopefully, I have painted enough of a picture for you to see how this business is Texas born and bred. As crazy as this seems, a stop at Buc-ees is a must when you visit here and apparently the go-to place for the local population also.
Can you imagine having visiting relatives over and saying to them, “I’m going to bring you to Quick Check! Wait ‘til you see this!”
Nope.
Cannot even imagine that.
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Thanks for reading these Oldies, I hope that you are enjoying them!
Just yesterday we visited a Buc-ees on our way back from Trader Joes. Somehow it is impossible not to stop at one of these Perfect Petroleum Palaces and get something, anything…. it’s that good!
Everyone in favor of having a Class Trip to Buc-ees raise your hands!
Yes! Just as I thought!
Permission slips will be in your backpacks when you leave today!