Day 71

August 18, 2017                                                                                                               Day 71

Though I woke up freezing again I actually got some sleep last night.  When I opened my door it was already bright outside and since it was still really cold out I made coffee and oatmeal in my sweatpants and jacket.  As I sat in my chair, eating the oatmeal out of the pot and sipping on my coffee, I was really content and just happy.  When the oatmeal was gone and I had cleaned out the pot I began doing my exercises again on my yoga mat.

When my workouts were over and I had everything packed and locked up I sat in my vehicle, turned on the ignition and the low tire pressure warning light was back on.  So I got out and checked the tire pressure on all my tires and the rear passenger tire was low again.  I made some phone calls and was directed to Discount Tires in Flagstaff, AZ which was only an hour and a half away.  So I changed the route in my maps on my phone from Red Rock to Discount Tires.  The drive there was beautiful and I was in great spirits listening to the country radio station and watching the world fly by me.  Around 10:00, I arrived at Discount Tires and the guy there was super nice as I gave him my keys.  In less than an hour they diagnosed the problem as a nail in my tire, removed the nail, patched it up and put it back on my vehicle all for free!

From there I drove to Home Depot to buy wire crimpers and the plugs for attaching my grounding wire for my trailer lights.  Then I drove to the UPS store to drop of someone’s belongings that I no longer needed.  Finally, once I had refilled my tank I was headed to Red Rock State Park that my older brother told me was a neat place to visit in Arizona.

Passing thru Sedona, it was a nice town and I would have loved to stop and investigate it but parking was limited for my camper and I knew everything would cost money and I didn’t want to be tempted.  Also, it was getting to be late afternoon so I wanted to get to Red Rock to hike.  Pulling in I had to pay $7.00, which I would come to find out was not worth it.  The hikes were small and the entire loop was only 2.5 miles but the lady at the center was very sweet and the center did have a cute hummingbird patio area. 

While I was out on the loop I called my older brother to ask if he was sure it was Red Rock State Park but then he said he wasn’t really sure.  So I will have to call him back later to find out for sure.  When I left the park I went and found free camping at Loy Butte Dispersed USFS land.  Pulling into the dusty, open landscape I called my mom and dad to tell them where I was located and to ask a question about my battery.  While we spoke I fixed the wiring for my trailer and prepared some food.

The earth here is a deep red and so dry that with every step dust billows up and covers my legs with a layer of dirt.  When I remove my shoes there is a pile of sand in them and removing my socks reveals even more sand!  I would take a shower but I don’t want to use my drinking water to fill up my solar shower nor do I feel like setting up the shower tent just to take it back down again especially since I will be hiking some more in the morning.