Ready to roll

Good morning, Campers! It’s Silver Cliche’ with you again... still at Catalina State Park, Tucson.

On this trip it’s rare for us to set down for three nights, but this is one such stop. It was planned that way.

The thought was to use one day to see Saguaro National Park and one to do city stuff in Tucson.  In reality, we found plenty of Saguaro cacti right behind our trailer, so we did two days of civilization. Each day we’ve been here we’ve seen the truck’s thermometer top 100. The National Weather Service might not agree with that high. They test the air somewhere people don’t go. They rightly say that it’s a dry heat here. I get that. 95 degrees in the shade here at 15% humidity is like 75 in Florida with 80% humidity. The problem with the first part of that comparison is the assumption that there is shade here. The reality is that it’s cool now at 6:00 AM (53 degrees outside according to the Silver Cliche’ weather station). However, the sun will soon blast directly on the shiny skin of the Airstream. Despite the reflective nature of polished aluminum, the rays heat the trailer beyond what the rooftop AC can expel back into nature. In plain terms, we live in a 200 sq ft solar powered oven for 12 hours a day.

We hail from the flattest state in the Union. #50 of 50. We are not trained to think like western folk think when it comes to temperature. Fortunately, they are a sharing people and happy to educate. When Floridians get too hot they go north... maybe to Maine or Minnesota or one of those “M” states. When Arizonans get too hot they go up... as in higher elevations... as in the mountains. So, rather than going from hot Tucson to hot Phoenix (today’s high forecast 95) today as planned, we are going from low Tucson (elevation 2,560) to high Flagstaff (elevation 7,001). You pilots may recall the “lapse rate” which says every 1,000 feet vertical reduces the temperature by 4 degrees Fahrenheit... right? So, 7,000-2,500=4,500. Times 4 and divide by 1,000 says 18 degree break just from the altitude effect. Flagstaff here we come!

We’ll stay in Flagstaff for two nights then head due west. Tuesday morning should be the first time we get to put a sticker on our map... Nevada... since we plan to stay at either Laughlin or Cal Nev Ari, Nevada (cute, eh?) depending on the weather and availability of a campsite at Big Bend of the Colorado State Park (Nevada State Parks do not take camping reservations... I think that’s in character... it’s a roll of the dice whether you have anywhere to stay after driving “x” hours to reach your destination).

So a quick wrap up on yesterday. We did errands including Marshall’s, Home Goods and Whole Foods. We are going through the transition where the Airstream isn’t our conveyance... it’s our home. That brings on a new set of domestic needs. Some are practical (hooks, holders, utensils)  others are decorative. We returned to the campground to stow and admire the morning purchases then headed out for round 2... with the dogs. We stopped at “Rosie’s Barket”, a do-it-yourself dog washerie. Romeo and Zachery were not convinced they needed to get the dust our of their fur... but since they both sleep in bed with us, we were convinced.

I wrapped up with a stop at WalMart after dinner for essentials. It’s just like your Walmart... see:

Except when you come out to get our car the view is a bit different.

Next post from Flagstaff. I hope you’ll come along with us.

Later...