Kartchner Caverns Arizona State Park

Getting the heck outta Lifestyle RV Park in Willcox, AZ! There is a train track nearby that runs every 15 minutes and has to blow their horn all the way through the city. As you can imagine, very little sleep! By 6 AM decided that we just as well get up and get things packed down for hitting the road. Found an ACE store around the corner that had the screws we needed to get the skirt back in place, went to McD for breakfast and head toward the Kartchner State Park.
WOW, do we love this park! The view is unbelievable, the Camphost, Mary, came up immediately upon us picking our spot to greet us and give us any brochures we may not have got at Registration. She said that she had been told that traffic was pretty brisk so may want to get Cavern tour tickets ASAP so headed over the Dicovery to see what was what. The Big Room tour was already booked for the rest of the day so we bought tickets for the Routunda/Throne Rooms tour at 3:00. Went back to the 5er to have lunch then back for the tour and what a tour!! Our tour guide was an older gentleman, thinking probably a volunteer that trades RV site for work. Very nice and enjoyable guide. Very impressive the amount of time and expense that the State took to make sure that the Caverns were protected as much as possible and what the 2 guys that had discovered it when through to protect it. The 2 guys had found it in 1973 and kept it a secret of 14 years before deciding that there was enough concern that someone else could stumble across it and vandalize it. They thought that they were on government land but after investigating, found that it was private property owned by a teacher/rancher named Kartchner. They approached them with the find and the concern for secrecy. The family decided that they could not afford what would be required so then the decision was made to approach the State. This was also done in secrecy, it was quite fascinating the way they managed to keep this all under wraps until the time was right to protect the caverns. The caverns were something that left everyone speechless by the end of the tour. Want to go back some day to go through the Big Room, which is used during summer by the bats as a nursery.  Bruce called his Mom to see about everyone and found out that his Dad had to be admitted to the hospital due to his cat biting his hand and it was now severely infected. Hard to be away from "home" when family is sick!

Leaving Texas on Our Way West

Up at 7AM which is a feat for me!! Actually woke up around 6 but laid around until then – breakfast, packed and to the dump station and out of the park by 9am. Bruce managed to bang his poor forehead again! This time on the overhead door of the basement. Luckily, no need for stitches but was a long shallow gash and the language that spew forth from his mouth!! Oh well, I’d probably have done the same. Not sure of our destination when we left but didn’t see anything in NM worth stopping for so headed for AZ. Just outside of AZ, Bruce noticed something flapping from my side of the camper – it was the skin of the camper which had come loose from the underside. Limped along for about 2 miles until we got to an exit that had a truck stop. All of the screws from the underside of the front section of the skin had stripped out! Bruce called RV Life/Funtime RV where we had bought our traveling home.  They gave us the service number, who gave us the manufacturers number, who was on the east coast and it was after 5pm there. Bruce was brilliant and took a couple of screws from other places on the underside to screw into the loose section and thought even to use a washer to help them stay in.  We made it to an RV park we found in Trailer Life, Lifestyle RV Park, which SOUNDED wonderful in the book but…not all that. It’s just a large gravel parking lot with tall evergreens next to each tight, side by side site. I’m not kidding that we could reach out and touch our neighbors RV!  The pool/spa/exercise room…well, pool was closed, spa looked nasty and the exercise room was ok. Bathrooms doors were kept locked and had to get the key from the office, which closes at 7 pm. Needless to say, just here for the night and will head over to Kartchner Caverns State Park to see what it is like tomorrow, find some more screws for the RV and call the manufacturer to see what they will do.