Arizona Wild West Adventures…Part 1
02/08/2024Words & Images by Shane Boocock
It was just after midday when we pulled into the riverside town of Parker, Arizona – a 270 mile (435 kilometre) journey from downtown Los Angeles via Interstate 10, State Highway 177 and State Highway 62. Our annual recreational vehicle (RV) trip using one of Cruise America’s 30 feet (9 metre) long home-from-home on wheels was underway.
The first priority with my fellow travel writing buddy Mark, was to shop at a Walmart Supercentre, where we stocked up the RV with essential supplies that would last a number of days. A Supercenter is many times larger and carries way more stock than a regular Walmart. The campground we had in mind was the Blue Water RV Park, where we had a site right on the banks of the Colorado River. Over drinks and a magnificent Colorado River sunset I prepared dinner, a staple campsite meal of homemade spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread.
The next day after topping up our tank with gas, we headed east on four different state roads – 95, 72, 60 and 74 – a 150 mile (240 kilometres) day with a backdrop of Arizona desert on either side. The further east we travelled the higher we rose in elevation until Saguaro cactus started appearing.
In a small roadside town we stopped into a Dollar roadside store to buy a range of cheap kitchen utensils that aren’t supplied by most RV companies; a vegetable peeler, ice trays, table cloth, wooden spoon, basting brushes and potato masher. Once inside we were surprised to find a good range of sauces and canned goods, wine and beer and a host of other items all priced much lower than in the Walmart grocery store section. Dollar stores, it turned out, are located all over Arizona and are variously named: Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Dollar Green, Family Dollar and Value Dollar.
There are lots of small things that can go wrong when renting an RV, and on our first night we found out that all the electrical plug sockets and USB ports were not charging our laptops or phones – in other words there was no electrical current from the batteries to the source. By reading the Cruise America Renter Assistant Guidebook, I discovered that one of the plug sockets had a reset button, but which one? We knew where three outlets were and none of them had a reset button, however the last place I expected to find a fourth plug socket was in the toilet, hidden away underneath a cabinet – and yes it had a reset button that immediately activated every socket in the RV – we were now fully charging our equipment via the campgrounds electricity hook-up.
Our second campsite was a delight to behold. Lake Pleasant Regional Park had two big camping loops – A and B. At the entrance we chose site B-18 as we were told it had great lake views, and were weren’t to be disappointed. It was a stunning campsite with Lake Pleasant below us and mountains rising in the distance! Unfortunately the lake was fairly low and too far down a steep, cactus-laden, slope that looked very much like a perfect place for snakes! Just so you know, Arizona is home to 20 venomous snakes (15 species are rattlesnakes along with three sidewinders, an Arizona coral snake and a desert Massasauga). On good advice we decided to forgo fishing, so instead I prepared a dinner of marinated steak and spicy sausage with mashed potatoes and peas, accompanied by a bottle of Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon.
In the morning we reluctantly departed our picturesque campsite to tour a nearby visitor attraction; the Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum. It’s a rather strange amalgamation of 1870s, 1880s and 1890s western heritage buildings that are scattered across a cactus-encrusted wilderness area. This touristy recreation of pioneer life started in the late 1960s and now includes 21 original and reconstructed buildings from a white painted wooden church, various outhouses, sheriffs jail, a brick opera house, blacksmith cabin to everything in-between. However, the site is fast being surrounded by the urban city sprawl of vast tract-housing developments pushing north from Phoenix.
Later that morning we caught southbound Interstate 17 to find a desert campground in Catalina State Park Recreation Area, just north of Tucson. It is a popular location for hikers, mountain bikers, outdoor enthusiasts and horse riders – as they also have a dedicated equestrian centre on site. At the entrance the sign read ‘All Campsites Are Full’. However, with the help of Mary from Visit Tucson, we had pre-booked our site and we were firmly on the list for a prime campsite spot. Note: from May onwards in the USA it is worth booking in advance all your State Park campsites especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
Seis Kitchen (Seis is translated as Six in Spanish) relates to the six different culinary regions of Mexico (Baja, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Jalisco, Oaxaca and Yucatan) that this award-winning restaurant takes their inspiration and food menu items from. It was here we had booked in for lunch to taste the honest integrity of great Mexican cuisine – and it didn’t disappoint. Crispy Avocado Tacos, Crispy Fish Tacos, Smoky Chipotle Chicken Tacos, Mexico City-style Quesadillas and of course a huge Beef and Black Bean Burrito. This locally, family-owned concept started life as a food truck in 2012 and has since opened in three static locations across Tucson with a fourth location on the horizon – it is definitely worth seeking out if you’re in the Tucson region.
For the next two nights we parked up our Cruise America RV and instead of a campground we had arranged to stay at White Stallion Ranch, which boasted 3,000 acres situated about 20 miles (32 kilometres) west from downtown Tucson. These type of ranches are colloquially known as ‘Dude Ranches’ in the USA. It’s where ‘City Slickers’, (just like the movie with Billy Crystal and Jack Palance), join in and get to grips on a working cattle and horse ranch to experience all the wild-west can throw at you. (See the separate article in this issue for additional information and a review).
On Monday morning we hit the road early and by 12:30 pm we were pulling into the Tombstone RV Park about two miles (3.2 kilometres) from the infamous wild-west town of the same name. This is a lovely, privately owned RV park that Rick and Janice (the owners) have upgraded and installed some well-tended features; with a friendly office manager, and a small, but adequate sized swimming pool for cooling off in the 90 degree Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) temperatures. This is a franchised RV Park under the ‘Good Sam’ branding, which you can join for US$ 35.00 (NZ$ 57.00) a year – the benefits are that guests receive upwards of a US$ 00 (NZ$ 32.60) discount off regular campground fees.
Sometime in the afternoon we drove into Tombstone and parked up our RV rig. In the sweltering heat we visited the Tombstone Epitaph Museum, and the Bird Cage Theatre Museum. To cool down we wandered down the town’s boardwalks where the daily reenactment of a cowboy gunfight takes place. It’s a very fake back-lot Hollywood theme park-like enactment – Wyatt Earp, I thought, must be turning in his grave.
We slipped into the once-famous Crystal Place Saloon where we sidled up to the long bar and bought a couple of beers. Across the street is Big Nosed Kate’s Saloon, where tourists are welcomed by western-dressed dudes and dance-hall costumed bartenders. After paying US$ 11.00 (NZ$ 18.00) each for a frosted-glass of beer we knew it was time to leave. Having visited this very-touristy town about 20 times between 1980 and 1984 as a USA tour guide, I was more than disappointed – even Boothill Graveyard had a newly painted facade and signage. I therefore had some pity for the underground inhabitants who decidedly had no say in the matter.
The next morning we headed east to the once ghost town of Gleeson, a now rejuvenated community where new homesteads dot the cactus- covered landscape. After 17 miles (27 kilometres) of rutted, corrugated unpaved road we stopped briefly in the historic settlement of Pierce, a former silver mining town – but now just a place of dilapidated buildings, an old 1900s general store, that was for sale, and a 1909 jailhouse surrounded by acres of land covered in weathered 1880s covered wagons, old jalopy’s and unidentifiable rusting agricultural machinery.
We had to forgo visiting historic Fort Bowie (a former historic, military wild-west outpost) as it was closed to traffic, and instead dropped into the lovey Arizona town of Willcox – housing the last remaining railroad depot on the Southern Railroad Line. Arizona’s involvement in railroads began in 1877, and this was originally known as the Southern Pacific Line, striking eastwards from Los Angeles stretching all the way to New Orleans – a corridor, which became famously known as the Sunset Route. Today freight trains pass through Willcox on a regular basis hauling shipping One bright and interesting place to visit is the Rex Allen Museum – he was a former well-known B-movie actor and country singer in the early 1950s, born in Willcox.
About 30 miles (48 kilometres) north of Willcox we pulled into Roper Lake State Park where we camped and fished, but to be honest with little success with the line and reel…I only caught one good-fighting freshwater blue gill. Where were all the rainbow trout they had supposedly stocked the lake with? We did however, barbecue rib-eye steaks one night and fat pork chops the following night with baked potatoes, corn on the cob and peas.
After our two-night stop we carried on driving along State Highway 70 northwest to the town of Globe where we visited the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park and Museum. This is where visitors can see the partially restored ancient ruin of the lifestyle of the indigenous people who occupied this region between A.D. 1225 and A.D. 1400.
The town of Globe was founded c.1875 as a silver mining camp. Due to Globe’s relative isolation from the rest of Arizona and its proximity to the San Carlos Apache reservation, Globe for many years remained a frontier town. The plans to incorporated Globe were established in July 1876, with retail stores, banks and Globe’s first newspaper printing its first issue on May 2nd 1878. Globe’s history is laced with many historic events such as murders, stagecoach robberies, outlaws, lynchings and Apache raids. However, mining, tourism, government and retirees are now the most important aspect of living in present-day Globe.
We carried on driving west and eventually settled into a lakefront campsite near the marina at Roosevelt Lake, Arizona’s largest body of fresh water. We made arrangements to hire a boat for four hours to go fishing the next morning in the hope of catching some large mouth bass or to be honest anything that swam below the surface. In my case I was hoping for some rainbow trout.
At 9:00 am we pointed our hire boat towards the eastern end of the lake as the sun was already starting to get hot. Here and there a few fish broke the flat surface, but within an hour the fish had moved into deep water. We tried spinning lures on one rod and worms on the bottom on another, but this was not to be a day when we could brag about a large big mouth bass catch or a big rainbow trout that would feed four people – after four hours we returned to the dock suntanned but without success.
That afternoon we drove northwest about 10 miles (16 kilometres) to Cholla Campground at the top end of Roosevelt Lake, where we choose a lovely cliff-top site but without any power or water hookups. The site was on a high bluff with wonderful views across the lake resulting in an outstanding sunset and equally spectacular sunrise.
It was a sunny Saturday as we drove through Tonto Basin with the intent to find a campsite in the town of Payson. However, we soon discovered every campsite in Payson was full as there was a sanctioned three-day rodeo event as well as a fancy car show taking place over the weekend – the town was therefore obviously buzzing, so we needed to find an alternative.
After buying some more supplies we made a few phone calls to different campgrounds in the region and found one in the small town of Pine, about 70 miles (112 kilometres) north of Payson where we secured a full-hook-up spot for the night. Unfortunately it was booked sight unseen and was what we would call a rough and decidedly dilapidated patch of ground to park our vehicle for the night – we would have been better parking (legally) outside a Walmart store for what it was worth.
With little or nothing to do that afternoon we sauntered into a local bar called the Tap Room within walking distance to our campsite. It was nothing more than a wooden shack that had about 100 picture frames nailed to both sides of the sloping ceiling and a back bar made up of old wooden beer and whiskey crates where all the hard liquor was displayed. Inside it held eight people on stools at the bar with another six tall circular tables against the back walls. Outside on a raised deck another half-a-dozen people munched away on specialty pizza and drinking local beer – cosy and very inviting is how I’d best describe the Tap Room.
So far Arizona had delivered plenty of hot sunshine, a bunch of old wild west settings and museums, a few rustic bars, cactus filled deserts and spectacular deep-blue lakes but with little fish to cook in a fry pan. However, with two more weeks still to explore this unknown eastern region, we were expecting a potential Arizona bonanza on the next leg of our outdoor Cruise America RV trip.
(Part 2 of Arizona Wild West Adventures will be published in Let’s Travel Magazine’s Summer 2024/25 Issue)
Facts:
The author was hosted by Delta Air Lines and Cruise America but paid for all his own ground services, insurance and petrol. The author would like to thank the following:
Cruise America:
Are the largest recreational vehicle operators in North America with 132 different locations to choose from and with five fleet choices for rent:
- Large Motorhome, Length 30 feet/9.1 metres, maximum capacity – 7
- Standard Motorhome, Length 25/7.6 metres, maximum capacity – 5
- Compact+ Motorhome, Length 5 feet/6.55 metres, maximum capacity – 4
- Compact Motorhome, Length 20 feet/6.1 metres, maximum capacity – 3
- Travel Trailer, Length 19.7 feet/6 metres, maximum capacity – 4 (available in 17 locations)
Delta Air Lines:
Fly daily from Auckland to Los Angeles return. The new Delta Skyway at Lax is open for return flights. When LAX customers visit the new Delta terminal, they’ll have more than just a streamlined check-in experience and gleaming new facilities to look forward to. The new Delta Sky Club at LAX, located on the departures level between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, features premium design and awe-inspiring views and promises to offer an unparalleled lounge experience for customers with Club access.
Visit Arizona:
W: www.visitarizona.com
Arizona State Parks Reservations:
W: AZStateParks.com
or 1-877-697-2757
Visit Tucson:
W: www.VisitTucson.org
White Stallion Ranch:
W: www.WhiteStallion.com
