11/18/2021 - Benson, AZ

 Well, I hope my reservation rant didn’t offend anyone, but I needed to get it off my chest.

I left GUMO on Monday, simply because there were predicting high winds for Tuesday. When I fueled in Del Rio, TX I had calculated that I had enough fuel to get to GUMO and then take the direct route around El Paso and fuel just north of El Paso. Well, Sunset Reef Campground was 30 miles north of GUMO, which was a 60 miles round trip that I had not factored into my calculations. Also, there is a huge climb from the valley floor coming out of Van Horn to GUMO. 

The climb from Sunset Reef Campground isn’t that bad but it still burned more diesel than flat land driving. As I crested the peak passing GUMO, my low fuel light flicked on and off, not a good sign. I was over a hundred miles from El Paso and not much in the way of fuel stops along the way. Van Horn was 50 miles away, lots of fuel, but 50 miles out of my way and it would mean I’d be traveling I-10 through El Paso, rather than the scenic northern route which includes the bypass around El Paso. I turned and headed back to Van Horn and within minutes the low fuel light was fully on, no flickering. I made it to Van Horn, took on 85 gallons in a 100 gallon tank and was thankful I didn’t try to push it to El Paso. 

On a related note, I have owned the Moho for 11 years and never forget to replace the fuel cap after fueling. On this trip, I did it twice. The moho is now equipped with two brand new fuel caps. There are two fuel fills, one on each side the Moho, oh well, the caps were hard to find but cheap enough.

The rest of the drive to Deming was uneventful. El Paso has really grown, I-10 has more lanes than it did 10 years ago, so it wasn’t that bad getting through. I arrived at Dream Catcher RV Park, at 4pm, paid $16.99 for  two nights of dry camping and settled in. Deming hasn’t changed much, I visited my land, no change there, drank some wine at the local winery, of course now they charge for tastings, and bought two nice bottles of wine.

Wednesday, I headed west again for the final 175 miles to Benson, AZ and my new winter home. In May I bought a bare lot, 50amp full hook-up at the SKP Saguaro Co-Op, lot 294. Nancy & I spent a month in the park ten years ago. After getting settled onto the lot, I got to thinking that it looked familiar. After checking my journal, it turns out this is exactly the lot that we rented for a month, ten years ago. There are approximately 300 lots available for lease and I unknowingly leased the exact same one. The universe is strange.

                                                            My lot with morning sun

Yesterday I met my neighbors on the left, I met some more people at happy hour, including a guy who is an avid hiker and today I’m taking the tour. Friday and Saturday night there are live bands in the clubhouse, and a bunch of other stuff going on. I had forgotten how many activities this place has. 

I think I’ll be happy here.

Tight lines and safe travels.

Guadalupe Mt N.P. and my reservation system rant !!!!!!!!!!

Before I begin my reservation rant, I’ll fill you in on the events since my last blog. 

I did in fact drive the 381 miles to Guadalupe Mt National Park. I arrived at 1pm local time and saw signs that the campground was full. What the hey, it’s a holiday, so I drove 30 miles north, towards Carlsbad, NM, to a free BLM campground, Sunset Reef Campground. I stayed here a number of times last winter when I was at The Ranch so no big deal. It is actually a very nice boondock campground with covered picnic tables, fire rings, trash and clean vault toilets. If you have been following my blog, you have seen pics of this place before, so I won't bore you.

The next day, Friday, I drove the truck back to GUMO and hiked 6.8 miles round trip on the El Capitan Trail to Guadalupe Springs. It was a very pleasant hike through the desert and only saw a total of 5 people. Plus, it was a hike I had not previously done. The spring was dry, but looking up at El Capitan from below was impressive.

El Capitan on the left with Guadalupe Mt Ridge on the right

Saturday, I hiked McKittrick Canyon to the Pratt Cabin and then to the Grotto, 7 miles RT. This is a very popular hike in the fall and one I have done numerous times. But for the first time in all my visits, the cabin was open. It was in great shape and looked like it could be lived it today, sans electricity, which was removed years ago and sans plumbing. But, I sat in the rocking chairs on the porch for an hour and enjoyed lunch and conversation with other hikers, including a group of Rhodes Scholars. Go figure. The fall colors were pretty and even with the crowd, it was a beautiful hike. 

Sunday, I realized I was more out of shape than I thought. I had considered repeating  Guadalupe Peak, but settled for a very short hike to Smith Spring near the Frijole Ranch, 2.4 mile RT. I arrived at the spring around 11:30, had lunch and just sat on the stone bench for 45 minutes listening to the sound of the water. I had the whole place to myself. Walking out I met 5 people heading up the trail. This is probably the most beautiful place in the park and it gets very few visitors. The first two photos below are looking out from the spring, the third is the spring itself. It's hard to believe this is West Texas.

                                                                 Smith Spring

MY RANT

It appears that the entire federal campground system is being converted to reservation only camping and there will no longer be first-come, first serve sites available. If you recall, I first encountered this at the Army Corp park near Texarkana at the beginning of my trip. But GUMO, which has always been entirely first come, first served is now 100% reservation only. I know the campground hosts. Last year we often chatted during my numerous visits and they remembered me. They informed me that the change occurred on October 1, 2021 and many nights, there are no-shows, but they have to turn people away because they can’t give a site away unless the reservation is cancelled and often times people don’t bother to cancel. Even Dog canyon, which gets very few people is reservation only. The people working at the park, don’t think it's the best process, the cost of camping has increased, and recreation.gov is paid a fee both by the camper and the park. WTF!!!!. This is public land

Here is an except from an article online:

"We do see recurring complaints about how the system is overrun by bots," said Rick DeLappe, a Park Service employee who manages recreation.gov for the federal land management agencies that use the site for everything from reserving front country and backcountry campsites to tickets for scaling Half Dome at Yosemite National Park or going underground at Mammoth Cave National Park.

"We have a very active security team," DeLappe continued. "We have eyes on the screen watching for suspicious activity. We’ve incorporated the CAPTCHA features for making reservations. There are algorithms that they use to recognize people who may have built a bot or something to improve their access. We’ve got an extensive security plan to protect against this and all the other factors of security that you would think of for protecting private information.”

But more than a few people who use the site believe it's been taken over by bots or some other nefarious blueprint for dominating the reservations platform.

"I am so sick of trying to plan trips and make reservations in our national parks!!! It is a totally ridiculous situation," Rick Leroux wrote in a comment to a Traveler story back in January 2020. "They spend paragraph after paragraph describing the parks and all that you can do, but good luck when it comes to making an actual reservation."

More recently, on February 12 of this year, "rb2" vented his/her irritation with the reservation site in another Traveler comment:

"This is a totally frustrating situation. I have tried for weeks to reserve at spot at Many Glacier in Glacier. I've hit 'Book' a second before the time, two seconds before, right at that the time, and all the available campsites are reserved within five seconds, and there could be up to 20 available."

"I'm done with this reservation system and national parks," Rick Weber added in a comment on February 21. "Only the federal government could screw this up so bad with a multi-million dollar contract. I do not make the foregoing statement without cause. ...You see, I'm a federal employee. I'm rather convinced that savy PC hackers have a backdoor into the system."

Quoted from: Rush To The Outdoors Has Challenged Recreation.Gov 

By Kurt Repanshek - March 3rd, 2021

Maybe we need to organize a camp-in at every federal campground, where hundreds of campers all show up on the same day and just camp in the middle of the road and block access beginning at midnight when the parks have minimal staff on duty and stay there until we get forcibly removed. If someone has a reservation, we will let them into their site, I don’t want to infringe on their rights, of course they might have trouble leaving once the tow trucks show up.

Okay, maybe we should start by writing to our ineffective, elected representatives. If nothing else, they should develop a system, such that if you make a reservation and don't cancel, you either pay a fine before you can make another reservation or maybe you are just blocked for a year or LIFE!! 

Maybe this is the issue that unites both the Left and the Right. GIVE US BACK OUR FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED CAMPSITES !!!!!!! 

WARNING

If you plan to camp at any federal campground, be sure to check the website, Don’t assume your little piece of heaven will be available. 

11/10/21 - Westward bound, Benson or bust.

 It’s been awhile since I blogged, so I'll try to catch you up, as of today, it's been a month since I left CORA and I have driven approximately 2,500 miles.

I arrived at Rainbow Plantation, in Summerdale, AL, just east of Mobile on Thursday, 10/21/21. Spent Friday night and the weekend with my sister, Lori, niece, Karen and my Grand nephew, Master Alex. Had a great time. On Tuesday I brought the Moho into Foley Auto and RV Repair. They are an authorized Cummins and Spartan repair shop. They did the stuff that didn’t need parts, but it would be another week before the parts came in, so on Thursday, I moved the Moho to an RV park that was much closer to my niece and hung out with my family most of the week before returning to the SKP park in Summerdale. The weather cooled off so I decided to rent a space in dry camp. 

Dry Camp (aka boondock) at Rainbow Plantation, with the storage area in back. Very Quiet

Things have really changed. When we first hit the road, most nights, the Escapees Park dry camp sections were full. But for these 3 nights, I was the only one in dry camp. But it was great for me, since I had the whole place to myself. After getting all my repairs done I headed west. I planned out my route with approximately 250 mile days. 

Saturday I landed in Farr Equestrian Park in Baton Rouge, LA, 240 miles. I had full hookups for free. The office was closed, there was no self pay, no phone number, the sign said to pay when the office opened on Monday. Well, I only planned on one night, and would be 241 miles down the road by Monday morning, so Free.

                                                         Hailey's Beach N Bay RV Park

On Sunday I drove to the Bolivar Peninsula, just across the water from Galveston and used Passport America to grab a 50 amp FHU site at Hailey's Beach N Bay RV Park, 241 miles. It was a very small park and the sites were tight, but only $27.00. That night I drove the truck to Galveston via the ferry and had dinner with my good friends Hugh and Dianne. 

                                            Truck on the ferry, heading to Galveston

Monday, I headed west with the Moho via the ferry, even saw a porpoise swimming while on the ferry. Monday night I was at  Goliad State Park in Goliad, TX, after driving along the TX coast. I only covered 225 miles but it was slow going in spots. I spent two nights there and visited the Presidio, the historic Catholic church at the Presidio and the historic mission. The church has been continually in use since before the Goliad Massacre in the early 1800s when General Santa Anna ordered the murder of all of Col. Fanin's men who had been captured. The Mexican solders were ordered to shoot the  prisoners including the wounded. They were held in the church before being march out and shot. On a positive note, it was here that Francisa Alavez, a very brave Mexican woman, saved a number of the captured Texicans and became know as the "Angel of Goliad", there is a statue in her honor.

This is also the birthplace of General Ignacio Zaragoza, who led a much out numbered Mexican Army during the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 to defeat the French Army. Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of this Mexican victory over the French. 

It's pretty amazing that this little spot in south Texas is home to so much history.

I had a great Water/50 amp  Electric pull-thru site for $27 a night. Nancy and I had visited Goliad a couple of other times. I had hoped to grab some Buttermilk Pie at the Hanging Tree restaurant, but it closed a few years ago.

                                                   Goliad State Park Campsite

                                   The Presidio and Catholic Church in background

Today, was sort of a long driving day, 281 miles to Amisted National Recreation Area just west of Del Rio, TX. $5 for a boon dock pull-thru site. Nice view of the lake. So far I have managed to stay off I-10. I exited I-10 at Winnie, TX, just west of the LA - TX border and it looks like I won’t get back on I-10 until Van Horn. The I-10 corridor from the eastern Texas border to Boerne, TX, which is just west of San Antonio has become very congested and worth avoiding. I have driven  a few more miles, but the drive has been much more pleasant. I also have saved quite a bit on fuel. Diesel near any of the Interstate Highways was in the range of $3.45 - 3.85. I have been paying $3.09 to 3.24 a gallon. Factor in the fact that I usually buy 70 gallons at a pop, need fuel every 450- 500 miles and that adds up to a few bottles of wine.

                       The view from my $5 site at Amistead National Recreation Area

Tomorrow, Thursday, 11/11/21, I’m gonna try to make it to Guadelupe Mt National Park, 381 miles, but should be easy going. It’s a holiday, so I’m taking a chance trying to get a campsite, but I tend to be lucky and I know a few free spots nearby if the National Park is full. 

Tomorrow is Veterans Day, I would like to thank all the men and woman who have served and are serving our country for a job well done. 

Tight lines and safe travels