Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the tag “Chino Valley”

27 Apr 2016
4 Comments

Camp Hunting II

This is the gatekeeper for getting to town.

This is the gatekeeper for getting to town.

A day trip into Chino Valley for assorted necessities was needed after a week of camping miles east of town, so I decided that I may as well find a new campsite at the end of it – because I now can. I’ve hopefully outfitted the Intrepid for 1-week stays, and that was technically pulled short a few days when I failed to keep tabs on breakfast items. I was having soup or kippers for breakfast, which works, but it just felt…wrong. So wrong. Water was holding out fine after 7 days out, being somewhere between 1/3rd-2/3rds full, thanks to a simple menu that doesn’t require much cooking or cleanup. And I’m still waiting to run out of the first tank of propane despite running the furnace for minimum temperature each night.

And from the rear, it looks like this! I don't have all that much articulation to play with. This is where an overly-stiff frame can work against you.

And from the rear, it looks like this! I don’t have all that much articulation to play with. This is where an overly-stiff frame can work against you.

So, I made a late start and spent the day picking up packages, buying sundries, mailing off a failed memory stick at the Post Office, refilling the Intrepid’s water tank, doing laundry, buying groceries, disposing of waste bags, and of course enjoying breakfast out. I generally don’t eat any meals out because the expense adds up, but when a great place for breakfast is available and cheap, I’m a sucker for it.

By the time that was all done, it was after Read more…

Posted in Campsites, The Intrepid and tagged ,
25 Apr 2016
8 Comments

Camp Hunting in Chino Valley

A quick stop at an "antique dealer" in Yarnell netted a closed display building and a lot of sectioned automobiles outside.

A quick stop at an “antique dealer” in Yarnell netted a closed display building and a lot of sectioned automobiles outside.

Travel is never totally predictable – which can be good or bad – but at least when the best laid plans go awry, it’s now a lot easier to deal with. A pickup truck with a box in the bed is much more adaptable to improvisation than towing a big TT with a turning circle measured in fractions of a city block.

Wickenburg was heading into the 90s for daytime temps, which meant it was past time to hunt for altitude. I’d been waiting for a shipment to arrive in town, and planned my departure on its day of arrival. Thankfully, it came in on schedule. After a cheap overnight in the North Ranch campground run by the Escapees RV Club in Congress AZ (to take advantage of every amenity they had), I headed for Chino Valley.

I left before having breakfast. Heading north by way of Kirkland and a series of small towns and almost-towns, I’d had my eye on a small home-cookin’ breakfast place in Yarnell that previously had many vehicles it its parking lot. Mid-morning on a Tuesday, I pulled in Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, Travelin' Man and tagged
03 May 2014
7 Comments

The Greener Grass Turns Brown

In the exploration for a closer campsite, this was what I expected. I got precious little of it.

In the exploration for a closer campsite, this was what I expected. I got precious little of it.

With every run to Safeway and other stores in Chino Valley, AZ being at least 14 miles each way, I decided to check out two other camping trail possibilities that practically glowed on the Forest Service’s Prescott National Forest Motor Vehicle Usage Map (MVUM), the only valid guide as to what’s legal to camp on and what will get you a citation.

Heading east out of the upper end of Chino Valley is Perkinsville Road, a paved 35 MPH road that quickly turns to somewhat washboarded dirt. It stays paved for awhile because the town’s baseball diamond is located a couple of miles out. After that, it’s meat processing centers, ranches, and a cattle auction place.

My interest was in finding a reasonably workable campsite that would cut some of the fuel cost of getting to town for supplies. Off of Perkinsville Road, NF (National Forest) 638 was indicated as cutting Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life and tagged ,
18 Apr 2014
10 Comments

Are We There Yet?

Well, besides highlighting my dusty dashboard, rearview mirror with unlucky die, GPS and expired I-Pass tollway gizmo, the other emphasis here is the rapid climb from Congress toward Prescott, AZ.

Well, besides highlighting my dusty dashboard, rearview mirror with unlucky die, GPS and expired I-Pass tollway gizmo, the other emphasis here is the rapid climb from Congress toward Prescott, AZ.

Soaking in heat is not my idea of fun times, so as Wickenburg heads toward a high of 89 today, the tiny townette of Paulden, AZ is expected to reach just 79 degrees. It’s the higher altitude. I’m just north of Paulden, parked beside a section of “Old US 89”, a bypassed portion of what is now State Route 89 that runs from Congress to Ash Fork. “What to what?” you ask? From what I can tell, US 89 used to run from Mexico to Canada. Since then, it’s been chopped, abandoned, and incorporated into other highways. Information on my little piece of it is especially hard to come by. But let me start at the beginning of the day’s journey.

As long as the pavement is reasonably smooth (and what isn't after driving in Illinois?) I find piloting the Defiant toward the next destination to be a pure pleasure. Looka that terrain!

As long as the pavement is reasonably smooth (and what isn’t after driving in Illinois?) I find piloting the Defiant toward the next destination to be a pure pleasure. Looka that terrain!

The total distance is around 100 miles and takes about 2.5 hours, in theory. The most direct way to head from Wickenburg to Paulden is to take the short stint on 93 from Wickenburg north to Congress, then just stay on 89 to and through Prescott and points north. Naturally, with the Defiant in tow, I can’t do that – just south of Prescott, 89 turns into a twistfest that takes rigs over 40 feet into nightmare territory. Such vehicles are prohibited, and articulation doesn’t matter. Fitted for intergalactic travel, the Defiant measures Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Travelin' Man and tagged , , , ,

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