15 apr Saturday, same camp, east wolf creek rd site #1 off s senator highway
woke up early. only “slept” 7.5 hours; although, per my watch it was mostly light sleep. Didn’t overdo it yesterday, but my body was still in overdrive. Like a mild version of runner’s high. I didn’t wake up stiff & sore or anything, so I’m happy with being able to hike 10 miles and not want to die the next day.
today is a rest/relax day.
tomorrow I’ll go into town for supplies and then I’m off to Mogollon Rim. The locals kept pronouncing it in a way I couldn’t parse, so I googled “how to pronounce Mogollon
Rim. And the answer is Muggy-Yawn. Said quickly blurred together. I couldn’t mimic the pronunciation with the Mogollon spelling in my head. so now I just visualize Muggy-yawn when saying it.
So after a day or two at Muggy-Yawn/Mogollon Rim, I’ll ping Uncle-in-law Mike in Flaggstaff. If he’s free to meet up for lunch/dinner, I’ll head that way. If not, it’ll be time to start heading back home.
talked w Jacqui this morning. Even if I started back now, it’d be 3-4 days of driving, plus a couple days in Maryland to see my pen pal Mark and his wife Teresa. Looking forward to that a lot. Would like to see Maryland more, and assuming we hit it off, they’d be welcome at our place too of course.
Long story short. No matter what, my first long road trip will be at least 1 month. I won’t be home before April 21st for sure. Jeff will be home tomorrow night. He was in the middle of missouri this morning, going to Erie PA. tomorrow he’ll do the last drive home via i-90
Anyway, I consider my first month-long trip a success. I’ve slept every night in the GFC comfortably. That says a lot. The shower stall tent and Geyser sponge shower have kept me clean, with shower wipes filling in on days I didn’t have time to setup the shower tent. The diesel heater kept me warm and helped dry out the sleeping area from my breathing. The electric system worked well too after the “fix”
The one bit of advice I got from Phil yesterday is to look into a bike carrier that attaches to my spare tire on the expedition one rear bumper swing arm. I’ll do that. I see Thule makes an ok one
https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Spare_Tire_Bike_Racks-pm-Thule.aspx?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlumhBhClARIsABO6p-wtxhvv2WZnAfpPk89JX_-U3azMKnkNtISk0X3qmztM1wj_OJIzBKkaAogPEALw_wcB
There’s an exceptional 1up-usa one, but it’s heavier and probably overkill. No one will want to steal my bikes. and if I’m somewhere sketchy, there’s room in the aisle in my truckbed. I just can’t use the toilet comfortably if the bike is in the truck bed area. Using the toilet with the bike in there too, would be an advanced Yoga challenge. I’ll just have to find a different spot for my trash bag, but I like the idea because it won’t ruin the departure angle of the truck like a rear hitch bike carrier would. It folds down when not in use too
speaking of buying stuff, I was a little nervous logging into my bank app, but my credit card balance is less than when I'm home. I haven’t had the temptation of Amazon Prime, nor the need to buy stuff for the truck. 5300 miles worth of gas (so far), food, occasional park fees, and 3 laundromat trips have been cheaper overall. Go figure! lol.
Anyway this morning, I took advantage of the down time, and cooked up the rest of the bacon starting with the fat from last time. I cooked the half strips until they turned into bacon crisps. I also had a package of raw lean hamburger, so I cooked that up as well after cleaning out the pan. Used paper towel to pat the grease off in both cases; although I left a bit more on the hamburger for flavor when I get around to using it. Finally, transferred each to separate quart size ziploc freezer bags. and into the cooler fridge.
i’ll use the cooked burger for chili later, I’m soaking beans now. will cook some rice for tonight too. I’ll have plenty of cooked burger leftover for spaghetti too. Will make that when the chili leftovers are used up. Probably having the nice cooking setup is part of why I’ve saved $ on the trip. While it’s been nice to dine out, I also can eat well at camp too. But I was definitely jonesing for proper restaurant food, so super thankful for Happy taking me out a couple times.
After lunch, to make sure I don’t get sore/tight, I’m going to haul my wesson oil jug of dirty dish water & pee, and a couple small shopping bags of garbage to the Groom Creek trailhead vault bathrooms. It’ll be a 1.5 mile walk round trip. When I get back, I should go explore the creek a little too. there are some short 100-200ft paths from my campsite down to the creek Most sites don’t have a creek next to them in Arizona. Yes Mom & Dad, I’ll be careful about snakes.
That’s all for today. Tomorrow, errands and driving Northeast to Mogollon (Muggy Yawn) Rim .
16 apr Sunday, Prescott walmart supply run
all stocked up now. didn’t get much seeing how I need to finish up stuff that i’ve already got
the Down2Mob video posted already. Phil’s Fast!
https://youtu.be/JGZP5CTbqOU
