Thursday, February 22
Gunsite Wash dispersed camping area, Why, Arizona
Today is our first morning at this camp.
The crew and I wake fully rested after a quiet night. The sun shines brightly on a new day. After breakfast and a walk, I fiddle around working on a blog post. The boys want me to join them outside, so I close up the laptop, go out, and settle into a camp chair.
Reggie asks me to play a game of Fetch the Hedgehog.
I toss his toy a few times and soon the game turns into tug-of-war between Reggie and Roger.
What are we doing here? This is a nice campsite, but I feel like I’m in the doldrums. A state of suspended animation. Static. There’s nothing I want to do here. . . .
Well, gee, I haven’t unhitched yet. We could . . . .
“Guess what, guys? We’re leaving!”
In a few minutes we’re rolling northward.
At Ajo, we pull into Belly Acres RV Park.
I need to set us up for a new camp, wherever that might be. At this point, I don’t know.
What follows is a step back in time . . .
A time when the customer was king (or queen).
I park at the propane pump. Dennis, the manager, appears as I’m removing the cover from the tanks. After giving me a cheerful “good morning,” he asks if I want both tanks filled and I respond that, yes, I do.
Immediately Dennis removes both tanks and fills them. (The usual practice is for the customer to unhook a tank and set it by the pump as the attendant watches.)
While Dennis pumps the propane I mention that I’d like to use the park’s dump station and take on water.
“Sure, go ahead! It’s ten dollars.”
He hefts the full tanks into place, attaches the hoses, turns the regulator indicator to the tank in use, and secures everything. (Almost never do I encounter this kind of service.) I thank him and he says he’ll meet me over at the dump station.
Dennis signals when to stop so the tank valves are lined up with the station. I get out and am surprised by what I see.
A sewer hose is already in place!
“You provide the hose?” I ask incredulous. “I’ve never seen that done before. How handy and thoughtful!”
“I do that every winter,” he remarks with a grin.
While I empty the waste tanks, Dennis fills the fresh water tank with a hose from the spigot. He assures me it’s a brand new hose and it’s not used for anything but drinking water.
The dumping done, we chat while the water tank fills.
(I also fill six one-gallon jugs.)
I remark about the spacious dog pen he has set up out of wire fence sections. They look like the ones I own that I haven’t used in a long time.
(MidWest Foldable Metal Exercise Pen / Pet Playpen
“I like that pen,” I remark. “The dogs can go in and out without leashes.”
“Yeah, it works great. I cut one of the sections so it will go behind the step.”
Dennis and his wife have five small dogs.
One of them is a pretty little chihuahua-Jack Russell mix named Moo.
Dennis explains.
“When we got her all her spots were black. Everything that is brown on her now was black. She looked like a little Holstein cow.”
I write a check and express my appreciation for his courtesy and help.
Before leaving, I ask Dennis for permission to take photos for this blog, promising to share Belly Acres RV Park with my readers.
He hands me his card for the park. The rates for Belly Acres, located on the north end of Ajo, are: $22.50 a night, $125 a week, $325 a month.
“That includes everything — cable, electric, water, sewer, showers, trash, Wifi — everything.”
Nodding at a park resident walking past with her dog on a leash, he adds, “. . . and obviously we’re pet friendly!”
~ ~ ~
The Perfect Tow Vehicle carries us northward.
I’m so glad I decided to move camp. That great feeling of opening up the gift of a new day is BACK!
rvsue
FLASHBACK!
The original crew inspects a big stick — LaPush, Washington, September 2013
~ ~ ~
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