Where: last week of vacation before starting our seasonal jobs for the year. Current stop: Southeast Arizona and Central New Mexico
We’ve met a ton of new-to-RVing folks who are super excited to see the world. They plan to travel all the time, see new things constantly, and try out a different job with every season. That’s a valid gameplan but it comes with a huge caveat: it demands a ton of energy to keep up that pace, particularly when it comes to new jobs. JJ counted our unique jobs a couple years ago, and we had held about 19 at that time, 19 separate seasonal jobs over about 8 years! Yes, being in a new place to explore can be fun, but you know what’s not fun? Learning a new seasonal job over and over. (Especially filling out online applications, where you have to attach a resume, then fill out a hundred pages detailing each job, which is already on the resume!) And that would be why we decided to return to 5 weeks at a job situation that’s not our favorite.
The real-time update is that we’re now at Three Rivers Resort in Almont, CO for 5 weeks of spring cleaning for 50-some rental cabins. We worked here in the summer of 2018 and for spring clean in 2019. The work is fine, we love our boss and co-workers, but the Rockies just aren’t my mountains so I’m feeling quite homesick after being away from the Sierra for a couple months. Also, it’s a major downside to be in Colorado in mud season. For about 4-6 weeks, all the forest service roads are gated to prevent vehicles from tearing them up, what with the fact that they are nothing but several feet deep of pure muck. So, we’re here during the period where there’s just not much to do. To add to our grump, our household has been under the weather with long lasting colds and sinus infections. We are thrilled to have access to the superb county Library system, because after a day of hard cleaning while feeling sick, we just want to sit and read!
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But back to the travels to get here! Southeast Arizona has long been a favorite winter haunt for us, with so much great geology to explore. Indian Bread Rocks is a wonderland of textures with tons of little nooks to explore. We came across metates (Native American grinding holes), a spring, and a little stream that disappeared into the desert sand. We boondocked here years ago, with only a couple other rigs nearby, but the place was packed with new roads, new spaces, and tons of vans and RVs.
We’ve been to Chiricahua National Monument a couple times, and it’s well worth repeat visits. The most interesting thing is how few visitors actually get out and hike. The parking lots will be jammed full, but as soon as you get 1/2 mile down the trail, you hardly see a soul. If you’re up for it, we highly recommend the Big Loop to see all the sights. This time we hiked an out and back lollipop starting at Massai Point to the Heart of Rocks Loop. It’s really easy to take way too many pictures here!
My folks traveled through New Mexico years ago in their Lazy Daze, and I remember that the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge was one of their favorite stops. We agree! The main event is December-February, when about one gazillon birds come down to spend the winter and you can see 10,000 sandhill cranes in one place. We were a bit late to the party but we still saw a huge variety of birds, ducks, turkey and javelina. There’s tons of hiking, a great visitor center, and there was basically no one else there. Highly recommend!
In a little over 2 weeks, we head back to the Sierra to gear up for our summer job at Crystal Crag Lodge, where I’m thrilled to report that an average snow year is now being followed by a good spring melt. We’re hoping for the least amount of shoveling possible!
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