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Winter trip- New look at old places- Part II


Although Gila Wilderness was absolutely beautiful and I was enjoying every second of being Amon majestic ponderosa pines, it was too cold in late December and I was looking for a place so I can comfortably relax. Arizona was close and I know many great campsites in southern Arizona. So off we went to Safford, AZ.













And this odd hole in the bread bag fits perfectly with someone's teeth size, Twyla, have you been trying this bread?

After a couple days of relaxing, I was ready to explore around this area. Indian Bread Rock is a great spot, well was I suppose. With these places put on public more people try them out, and this is fantastic but also brings in people who bring in giant RVs, a Jeep attached to tow and electric bikes on rack. I never understand the desire to carry all of these. It adds cost, maintenance time and more stuff to take care of and leaves an ugly scar behind. 






This time one night was enough in this majestic land. I took the off-road/gravel road towards historic Apache Pass.





It was nice, long and with many historic points, most notably Fort Bowie. I continued all the way to Chiricahua National Monument, although I am not a big fan of touristy places.




The search for the next campsite was a real adventure. I spent almost whole afternoon driving off-road, and sure those dispersed mountains in the middle of desert proved to be a big driving challenge in Coronado National Forest. Finally I made it to a beautiful campsite but the idea of cooking an elaborate food wasn't smartest move after a long tiring day driving off-road.








Next day, I left this beautiful but overcrowded campsite to find another one of my favorite campsites gone wrong. This campsite near Tucson was one of my all time favorites. I spent about a week here last year. I have even multiple job interviews (online) from this very campsite, but in my disbelief everything was changed, new ATV trails all around me, shooting noise has turned to explosion noise, I literally saw smoke coming off explosions near the shooting range, and the only friendly face was my great companion Twyla.



I was in midpoint and I had to start heading back home, as I have job to do and bill to pay.

The way back home was mostly long drives. The main event was the oxygen sensor failure near Roswell, NM. Fortunately I found an exact fit and replaced the sensor in Muleshoe campground and the check engine error went away. Gila Wilderness was definitely the main highlight of this trip. Any variety of cypress and juniper is my favorite tree and sure I saw a lot of them in New Mexico.
















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