Joshua Forest Parkway

Wikieup to Phoenix, Arizona:

Today we finished our trip to Phoenix, Arizona. From Wikieup, Arizona we headed south on US 93 to Wickenburg, US 60 to SR 74 and headed east to Phoenix.

Our scenery today was pure Arizona desert; scenes directly from a magazine I used to look at called Arizona Highways. Saguaro, cholla, ocatillo, prickly pear, yucca, teddy bear, and barrel cacti covered the landscape. 

A beautiful saguaro cactus on Hwy 74.

Desert landscape -- Hwy 74

Prickly pear cactus starting to bloom. Don't fall in this one!

More desert landscape with mountains north of Phoenix in background.

At one point the highway was named "Joshua Forest Parkway" because of the Joshua tree cacti growing along that stretch of the highway. I have been to Joshua Tree National Park in California where they describe Joshua trees as "a Dr. Seuss kind of a tree."

On our route south, we passed through the town of Wickenburg which looked so interesting that we want to go back to explore and learn about the history. Today wasn't the day to do that as we want to visit Bob's Aunt Sally and Uncle Skip.

Tonight we planned to camp at Walmart in Anthem, Arizona. I was the scout vehicle so I went ahead and scoped out the Walmart parking lot. It looked very difficult for a 33' 5th wheel with truck to navigate. I found an area I thought we could maneuver the 5er through.

I will spare you the gory details but the 5er is fine, no light poles were damaged and no cars were hit. Once the 5er was parked, Bob went in to Walmart's Customer Service Desk to ask permission to camp for the night. Hmmmm...Anthem's city ordinance prohibits overnight camping. Note to self: Call Walmart BEFORE we get there to verify they allow overnight camping, thus eliminating numerous headaches getting the 5er in and out of the parking lot. 

We got back on I-17 and went south to Plan B: Desert Shadows RV Resort. This is a nice resort on the north side of Phoenix. Internet access is in the lobby and library only. [Here I sit in the lobby attempting to finish up two blogs (for today and tomorrow) before 10:00 p.m.]

After setting up the 5er and getting the kitties settled in, we headed to Carefree, Arizona for dinner at Skip and Sally's house. As soon as we walked in the door, Skip said, "Hurry up, come in here." (the den)  We complied. The first thing I noticed were a number of quail eating in a tree outside their window, but that's not what he wanted us to see. Just beyond their back wall in a wild area was a white-tailed deer.

After our nature sighting we all hugged and said, "Hello." Drinks were handed out and we relaxed in their living room, chatting and catching up. Then it was out to the front patio for chips and dip. I expressed interest in the different types of cactus. Sally took me around their yard and I had a lesson in cacti. Skip brought out a placemat with all kinds of cacti identified and gave it to me to keep. 

Sally pan fried yummy chicken which had been marinated in a mixture of raspberry puree, pineapple juice, fresh basil, rice vinegar, garlic and onions. We also had rice and a green salad. Too soon it was time for us to head back to the 5er. Tomorrow, they will visit us to see our rig and we'll go to lunch.

It's almost 10:00 p.m., witching hour in this RV park, so I'm packing up my laptop and immediately leaving the premises.