So Campy
We spent the last few days (May 23 - May 26. I was slow posting this) at Dead Horse Ranch State Park camping, hiking and the kids even got into the water. We went down Friday evening. Since I had a few things I had to take care of, I left work around 11:00am and didn’t go back. I just couldn’t deal with a day of work after my morning (a future blog topic to be sure, but not something I’m ready to write about).
We got to the park around 7:00 pm or so and started setting up camp in the rain. The wind was trying to blow the tent over the whole time we were setting up and we were all pretty well drenched by the time we got just the tent up. I was in a foul mood and the weather wasn’t making it any better. I had water running down my legs, my decent jacket was soaked through although it should have stayed dry.
The tent sites were in an area titled, “NORVS” which my wife pointed out was NO RVs with inadequate spacing. If you like spending time next to your neighbors this is the campground to pick. Site spacing is small and spaces are not especially private. On the plus side there are showers, running water in the bathrooms and all of the roads are paved. For $5.00 you can buy a banana box full of 2×4 trimmings to use as firewood (there is no wood collecting allowed) from the volunteer hosts. For $11.00 per night* for non-electric spaces the rate wasn’t too bad.
Saturday rained off and on all day. We started a fire in the morning that managed to stay lit all day despite the on and off sprinkling. I had to show J how to get a fire started with just one (box of) match. Everything was so damp the fire just didn’t want to get started. We managed to cook our meals, nap and just hang out.
Sunday, the sun came up and dried things out. We took a couple of hikes and decided to look for water to swim in. There weren’t many places that the kids could get into the water - it’s more of a boating and fishing environment, but there was one place by the edge of the Verde River in the day use area that the kids were able to wade into for a while. They were happy.
Later we ran off to Super Wal-Mart in Cottonwood to grab a card game since I forgot to bring my games. We settled on UNO since we didn’t have that one yet. (That game has really changed since I played it as a kid. The cards are dumbed down so that anyone can understand them, with a little help.) We played a few hands while dinner was cooking and then stayed up watching the fire and talking until we decided to hit the hay.
Monday was not really eventful, we packed up and left.
*Subject to seasonal adjustment. AZ Parks Fee Schedule
