Our friend Sandy lives in Salt Lake City and travels to

Arizona for a couple of months each year with her two

Samoyeds, Cody and Tasha. We met Sandy in April 08

when we were on the first leg of our trip to Dead

Horse Ranch State Park and Prescott, and have

stayed in touch since. She tows a 2006 25’ International Ocean Breeze and is a member of WBCCI (the Airstream club), so when the Dead Horse 3 Rally was official, we invited her to come on down to join us! Much to our delight, she said she’d come, so we sent her the info for the rally and put her in touch with the hosts, Richard & Jan. She was familiar with Dead Horse Ranch State Park, and was all up for it … it’s one of her favorite places in that part of Arizona … and convenient to Sedona, where she had some business to take care of. Not only did she come to the rally, but she was one of the first units there and one of the last to leave ... with us! 

Sandy had more business to take care of in the Phoenix area about a week after the end of the rally, then she was scheduled to go to Oasis RV Center in Tucson to have some work done on her Airstream (which she bought there). So we did a little research on line and looked for a few new places we might check out with Sandy in the Phoenix area to check out as we meandered toward home. We looked into the Maricopa County Regional Park system which we’d been wanting to explore. Cave Creek Regional Park is about 7 miles east of I-17 just north of Metro Phoenix, north off Carefree highway. Then there is McDowell Mountain, another park in the same park system, but further east and south … and yet another park, Usery Mountain, which is yet further east of Phoenix, and north of the Apache Junction area. These are the “developed” camping areas in the system (which means they have electricity and water and dump stations). There are several other Regional Parks that are “semi-developed” meaning that there is camping, but no hookups or dump stations. Info on these parks can be found at this link.

So we talked it over with Sandy and decided we’d head to Cave Creek first, since it was the closest park to I-17 which we would be taking south from

                          Cottonwood to the Phoenix area.  We were our own mini-

                              caravan of two Airstreams on our way to Cave Creek. A

                                  few folks waived as they passed us (we drive just 65

                                   mph so we get passed a lot on the interstate). We

                                 reckoned they got a kick out of seeing two Airstreams

                                  traveling together. We got to Cave Creek without any

                                    problems … drove right to it. Alas, when we got there, we learned that they were full to overflowing with a waiting list in the overflow area 7 or 8 units deep (dry camping) in what was really jsut a parking lot. None of us really wanted to stay there because we had no guarantee of how many days it would be before we’d be able to get in. The gal at the ranger station made a call to McDowell Mountain, and they were in the same situation, but 11 deep waiting to get into the park. Someone at the rally had told us that Usery Mountain was under construction at the moment and that we wouldn’t enjoy it just now. So we were pretty bummed and suddenly didn’t know where to go.

The ranger gal suggested Lake Pleasant, another park in the Maricopa County Regional Park system, which is about 11 miles west of I-17 north off Carefree Highway, so it was not a long trip to get there from Cave Creek. The ranger station gal called Lake Pleasant for us and they had electric sites available! So we drove through the Cave Creek grounds to check it out for future reference, before we hustled our bottoms on over to Lake Pleasant. Cave Creek was a really nice place ... plush feeling desert vegetation, nice sites and pleasant atmosphere. Hopefully we’ll be able to stay there another time. It would make a great place to stay if we were headed north on a longer trip, and a good place to stay if we wanted to do things on the north side of Phoenix.

So we headed to Lake Pleasant without delay. We didn’t want to get there too late and be turned away. We had known about Lake Pleasant but we’d never really considered going there because it’s a big boating destination for the Metro Phoenix area. We envisioned it to be a parking lot set up along the lakefront with lots of boats and not really geared toward RVers.  But at this point we were willing to take the chance. You just never know!

We got there with only one hitch … Terry didn’t make a turn he should have to enter the park off the main road and we went a couple of miles beyond the entrance before we found a place where both we and Sandy could turn around. (The road we were on heads to Wickenburg, AZ, northwest of Phoenix.)  So at that point, we were then following Sandy into the park. The lake itself is north of Carefree Highway and we caught glimpses of the lake as we got closer. It’s a pretty large lake, man-made, of course, with both private and public marinas on its shores. We entered the park, paid our fees for a couple of nights and headed to the camping areas, following Sandy. The woman at the ranger station had given us a very confusing map, so we didn’t know exactly where we were headed. We just knew that we were headed to a camping area up on a hill overlooking the lake … we just followed Sandy as she seemed to know where she was going.

As we got closer to the lake we were impressed with

what we saw, and when we got to the area we were

going, we were really quite “pleasantly” (har-har)

surprised! It was nothing like we had thought it was

going to be. In fact by the time we got situated in our

sites near one another, we all decided that this was

definitely the silver lining in the “cloud” of Cave Creek being full. None of us would have known that this place was so nice if we hadn’t ended up there by default!  It was great!

Our site was a small one (but just right for a Bambi) up a steep incline to a knoll with the front of the Bambi facing the lake. And just down the road on the other side there was a larger site that Sandy’s rig would fit into, also with a great view of the lake. This was perfect! We felt like we were the kings of the hill. One side of the hill looked north over the lake and the other side looked south into beautiful desert valleys toward Phoenix.  Each site had a paved pad, its own covered picnic table area and a fire ring. There were also nice shower/bathroom buildings sprinkled about the loop. We had really lucked out! 

We were struck with the sort of surreal scenery of desert vegetation and saguaro cacti around us with a deep blue lake in the background, complete with sail boats! We never quite got over that during our stay and it will be one of the

                                things that stick in our minds about our time there. It was

                                       really beautiful and totally unexpected.  Sandy was

                                          particularly thrilled because she is a water person,

                                          having spent a lot of time in coastal Washington

                                          state. The electric/water site area where we camped

                                          was actually one of two loops that sit on the crest of

                                            the hill. The loop we were in primarily looked out northward onto the lake, but from the higher sites (like ours) both sides of the hill could be seen. The other loop was mostly on the valley side of the hill, with some of the lower sites having a peek of the lake as well, around the lower end of the hill. Because of where these loops sat relative to the lake and the valleys, there was a good breeze in the early mornings. But by 10:30 or 11:00 AM the breezes calmed down and gentle breezes set in for the rest of the day. The host sites were great … each was equipped with a “port” that the hosts’ RV could be parked under to protect it a bit from the summer heat. Of course, at this time of year, the temps we not too extreme so the days were pleasant in the 70s and the nights were in the 40s/50s.

The first evening we were at Lake Pleasant, Tuesday, we reveled in the views from our sites and enjoyed an evening with a yummy chef’s salad in the Bambi — a combined effort between Sandy and ourselves. Sandy brought her special collection of Italian balsamic vinegars and olive oil as dressing. It was a great end to a good day. We were pleased to have found a wonderful place to camp and rest for a few days, remembering and smiling over the events of the rally.

On Wednesday, after a great night’s sleep, a relaxed morning and a couple of walks with the Girls to further explore their new digs, we decided to do a little exploring. The first stop was the visitor’s center beyond the loop where we camped. It sat at the east side of the hill facing the dam and a private marina on the opposite side of the lake. There were great views in three directions from the visitor’s center. Of course, it gives a good run-down of the geology and history of the lake, as well as a great lighted relief map of the entire area to help identify various areas.

Just down from the visitor’s center there was a path that led back toward our campground, and from that path another short trail took off to a small peninsula with a steep hill at the end. When the water in the lake is higher and the low “neck” of the peninsula is submerged, the peninsula will become an island, maybe 100 feet off the lakeshore. We just had to take the short hike out to the end of the peninsula and climb to the crest of the hill and sit for a bit near the couple of saguaros that were there. It was a great view of the lake and our campground sitting on the crest of the hill.

Once back to the visitor’s center we piled into the truck and headed out to check out the other parts of the park. We drove through the marina area, which was pretty quiet on a Wednesday. When we passed it later on Saturday as we were leaving it was busy with weekenders. The electric loop pretty much filled up by Friday night, and by Saturday most of the dry camping areas where busy, too.  We were glad we’d arrived when we did.

One loop is strictly for dry camping and is down closer to the water on an inlet or lagoon off the lake. It was very pleasant and inviting and we though that would not be a bad place to camp either! Opposite the entrance to the dry camping loop from the main road were 2 group camping areas that were also very nice, complete with ramadas and facilities.

Then there were another couple of loops on another hill around the bend of the lake with views facing east toward the lake. These were electric and water sites, too, if we remember correctly. All the sites had their positive points, and depending on the floor plan of a particular RV or trailer, there were some great views to be had. We were so pleased with our site because our best views are out the front of the Bambi … and in our site we had a great view of the lake.

After touring the camping areas, we drove further around the lake to a day use are and trail head. We got there late in the afternoon, so we had great views of the lake from a completely different perspective. The day use

area we visited had a couple of nice ramadas for picnics

and fire pits. This was also a trailhead leading north

from the lake. This is where the wild burros can be

spotted. There was plenty of “evidence that” they are

around! (That ain’t rabbit stuff!) The story is that the

burros were originally brought there by prospectors and

left behind. The desert in this area is quite thick and

green and filled with a wide variety of bushes and cacti. It was beautiful and quite lush … spring was imminent. A few plants were in early bloom but we could tell it was going to be bustin’ out all over soon. The brittle brush bushes were full of buds that looked like they could hardly wait to open. It was another very nice day.

Thursday morning Terry started the truck to make sure the battery was still charged. It was a bit hesitant, so Terry and Sandy took the Tacoma back to the ranger station to pay for a couple more nights, just to drive the truck a little. We decided we would stay through Friday night and go home on Saturday. Sandy also paid for a couple more nights and would decide later how long she wanted to stay.

After some more doggie time, we all piled into Sandy’s SUV to drive back toward Cave Creek and over to McDowell Mountain Park to check it out. We stopped to gas up (which turned out to be a good thing) and headed east on Carefree Highway through the town of Carefree and on east to approach McDowell Mountain park from the north. On the map it didn’t look so far, but it seemed like we drove and drove and drove. We found ourselves on the very far

                      northeast side of Scottsdale passing through some very posh

                           communities and developments before turning south to get to

                             the park. We have never seen so many Bentleys on the road in

                            one place before! (It was a bit much, actually.) It was a pretty

                            drive, though ... the desert was as beautiful there as it was in

                              Cave Creek and Lake Pleasant, but a little different in character somehow. When we got to McDowell Mountain Park we drove through it and found it to be not only pleasant in terms of the layout and space, but there were wonderful views of the snow-capped mountains to the east. None of us had every been in that part of the valley and we were all pleased with it and felt it would be a great place to go for some real R&R. And if we were to approach from the south rather than the north it would not be all that far from Mesa and Apache Junction … and of course, that’s the way we would come from Tucson.

We left McDowell Mountain Park and went south into Fountain Hills and Scottsdale. We realized at that point that it would probably have been much faster to go south on I-17 to pick up the 101 Loop to get ourselves in the general area and approach the park from the south. Well, now we know! The other route had been a long one, but it was pretty and we now know the best routes. By the time we got back to Lake Pleasant, it was almost sunset. We enjoyed the sinking sun and cranked up the grill to fix some very nice pork chops for dinner with Sandy. Again it was a group effort and a happy meal.

We were planning to leave on Saturday, so Friday was a rest day. We just poked around the campsite, walked the Girls and hung out. We fixed a waffle brunch, which was a nice treat. Sandy loved us having a waffle iron in the Airstream … it’s one of our favorite things when we are camping. That evening we moved the grill down to Sandy’s to grill buffalo burgers that Sandy had picked up. We built a fire and had a great evening at Sandy’s camp with dinner, a bottle of wine, lots of laughs, clear skies, light breezes and bright stars. The lights from Phoenix could also be seen twinkling in the distance.

It was our day to leave on Saturday. We could have stayed longer but we’d been out about 10 days so it was time to get home and sift through the snail mail … and plan our next getaway. Check out time was 11:00 AM so we got up earlier

                            than normal and got packed to go home. We took the Girls on

                                 their final walk, said our goodbyes to Sandy and hit the

                                  road for home. Sandy liked Lake Pleasant so much that she

                                   decided to stay there through Monday when she would be

                                   moving to Phoenix to be closer to the business she needed

                                   to take care of there. After Phoenix, she planned to head

                                    to Tucson to get some work done on her Airstream at

                      Oasis, so we knew we’d be seeing more of her too. So rather than “goodbye” it was more like, “We’ll see you in a week or so!”

We headed back to I-17, got gas at the intersection of I-17 and Carefree Highway, then got on the freeway to head south. We decided to take the 101 Loop southeast to highway 60 and head east through Apache Junction and home. That was a bad decision. Turns out there was construction on south-bound Loop 101 and we got caught in the middle of it. We had to merge down from 3 lanes to one, then we all got detoured off the freeway for about 3 blocks and then back onto it. All in all, it added a solid hour to our trip home, and it was not a pleasant hour, either. People can be real jerks when the traffic is bumper-to-bumper and everyone is frustrated. We finally made it to Highway 60 and from then on the trip went smoothly. Unfortunately, by that time we were both tired and all we wanted was to get home. We pulled into the driveway about 4:00 PM. It was a five hour trip that it should have been a three- to four-hour trip. But we were home safe and sound … that’s the good part. All’s well that ends well, so they say.

It was a very full couple of weeks between the rally and our post-rally excursion to Lake Pleasant, but that wasn’t the end of the story.  We’d been home about four days when Clint & Kathy from California — whom we’d met at the rally — emailed and said they’d be in our neck o’ the woods the following weekend. They’d gone up to Show Low to visit friends and stay at Fool

Hollow Lake State — which we’d recommended to them.

They had enjoyed themselves a whole lot up in the mountains,

but were headed back to the desert to take in a little of what

Tucson and southern Arizona has to offer before heading

toward California and home. Clint & Kathy have a Bambi

almost exactly like ours … same year and everything … and

we knew they’d be able to fit in our drive way for a while

if they’d like to. We could offer them a 30 amp hookup, fresh water, and even the convenience of a dump station if they needed it … oh, and there’s cable available, too. They arrived Friday afternoon and so began a weekend with our new Airstream friends. We’re sure the neighbors were wondering what was going on, as they have the same truck as we have, only in silver … we though they might think we’d had our truck painted!

The same day, Sandy, who we’d left to enjoy a few more days in Lake Pleasant had taken care of her business in the Phoenix area and was also headed to Tucson to have some work done on her Airstream at Oasis RV Center, where we take our Bambi for service.  She was planning to stay in her trailer at Oasis over the weekend so they could get started on the work first thing Monday. In the meantime, she joined us at our house with her two Samoyeds, Tasha and Cody ... so we had a full house between the house guests and the doggies! Fortunately al the dogs got along nicely and Annie & Sadie were very gracious about sharing thier bark yard with Tasha & Cody.

It was a blast to see everybody here. We had lots of good meals, good laughs and good conversations that weekend. Clint & Kathy particularly enjoyed our back yard … it was like a desert oasis for them and they relished the warm temperatures and all the vegetation which was feeling the urges of spring coming. The orange tree was on the verge of booming, and the day before Clint & Kathy took off the first orange blossoms opened up. They were thrilled. We couldn’t have planned it better. Unfortunately Homer our desert tortoise was still in hibernation so they could get a look-see of him, but he wasn’t awake to come out to play.

We saw Clint & Kathy off Tuesday morning with fond farewells. They were heading west to visit Organ Pipe National Monument and then on north of Yuma to visit the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, then on to California and home to Colfax, CA northeast of Sacramento. These ar places we have yet to visit, and Clint & Kathy’s stays there will serve as inspiration for future planning on our part. Those of you who met Clint & Kathy at the rally may also know that they are empty nesters and at this stage in their lives in the process of joining the Peace Corps for a 2 year assignment together somewhere as yet undetermined. They are in the last stages of the application process and are simply awaiting assigment information. We wish them good luck and great adventures as they strike out on this new and rewarding chapter in thier lives. You make us proud!

The same day Clint & Kathy headed west, Sandy was finishing up her maintenance at Oasis, so she brought her trailer over to our place to settle in for a while. She has a 25’ International Ocean Breeze model, but by opening up the Bambi-port gates and backing her trailer into the port a bit, we were able to squeeze her in and get her rig comfortably off the street. We plugged her in to shore power and she was set for the rest of the week. We had to laugh when we ran into one of our neighbors that afternoon … assuring them that we were not starting up a trailer park in our front yard, so they didn’t have to worry! But they thought it was very cool that other Airstreamers were coming by to say “hey” and spend a few days at our house. After more fun times with Sandy, she left Friday morning to go and stay at Gilbert Ray Campground where we have camped many times. In fact we were there this past January for a long weekend. This was one of the places she wanted to visit while she was in the  area this year. From there she was planning to move to Catalina State Park on the northwest side of Tucson for a spell … another favorite place of hers. We stayed there once with our small motor home, but have not camped there yet with the Bambi. We must do that ... it’s just 45 minutes from our house! We’ve heard they have added another electric/water loop since we were there. We planned to visit Sandy again at Catalina before she took off for home in Utah in a couple of weeks, so we’d have our chance to check it out in person.

But there was another turn of events that allowd our paths to cross even sooner!  Janet & Leon, whom we’d met at the rally, had Greg make them some curtains. After we’d sent the curtains to them Janet let us know she and Leon were bringing their Airstream to Tucson for a 3-day work engagement. They were originally going to stay at Catalina State Park, but we suggested that Gilbert Ray as an alternative as it might be easier to get into. So they ended up at Gilbert Ray at the same time Sandy was there! (See, it’s that small world thing again!) So we headed over to Gilbert Ray one evening while they were there to say “hey” to them and to check out how their new curtains looked in their 25’ Airstream … and talk about the next phase of what Greg’s doing for them. We got to see Sandy briefly while we were there, too … she was meeting a friend of hers who lives in Tucson, so it was a quick hug and “see you in a few days.” That evening was an unexpected and fun side trip. Leon & Janet really liked Gilbert Ray, too, and we hope to see them there again sometime.

So, as you’ve no doubt surmised by this time, what began as a 4-night Airstream rally in Cottonwood turned into a marathon of separate-but-related-events that has kept us quite busy over the last month. The rally itself, followed by an additional post-rally 4-night stay at Lake Pleasant ... followed shortly by a week of friends visiting with their Airstreams ... followed by another couple of weeks of intermitant visits with others from the rally here in Tucson as they happened through. When everyone had taken off and the dust had settled from the flurry of activity, it felt a bit lonely looking out into the empty driveway. Admittedly we were tired, but it was a good tired. We knew all had enjoyed themselves, so it can only be considered a successful time all around. We look forward to seeing them all again ... sooner rather than later, we hope!

We’ve included pictures of the Lake Pleasant leg of our adventure below as well a few pics from the days following our trip as Airstream guests Clint & Kathy and Sandy stopped a spell to enjoy our little slice of paradise with us. You can click on “Other Trips” at the end of the photos to go to the trip list page to go to other travel logs if you wish. Hope you enjoy! And Happy Trails...