Overlanding – ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen

King of Arizona

16/04/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Boondocking, Overlanding, Scenic Drive, Travel

We are going to start this post with a question. Who thinks the Beast was able to navigate this ledge? We will provide the answer later in this post.

After our trip across El Camino del Diablo and up to the Fortuna Mine we spent a couple nights in Yuma. We cannot say that Yuma is our favorite town but we needed to have our bikes serviced and repaired as a result of the bike rack breaking as we crossed the El Camino. The photo below shows the Beast after we made makeshift repairs to secure the bikes and rack. Note the now oval shaped front wheel on the blue bike.

Our bikes would not be ready for five days as the misshapen front wheel was irrepairable and the new wheel was apparently coming via stagecoach.

Cafecito, which was our home base in Yuma, is on Main Street along with several restaurants, bars, mercantiles, a theater and city governmental offices. Cafecito was the perfect spot for modifying our travel plans with its excellent drinks, toasts and bowls. The space is immense with 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor seating. Please find the owners’ bittersweet story in the link below. Here we revised our itinerary to head north to the Northern Sonoran Desert and the KOFA NWR and then loop back south to (hopefully) collect our bikes.

https://www.cafecitoyuma.com/our-story.html

We departed Yuma via 95 North passing through the Yuma Army Proving Ground and the Castle Dome Mountains ( we transited the Castle Dome on a previous adventure) to our east; then turning at Palm Canyon Road. We followed the road until its terminus at the entrance to the Palm Canyon Trail.

Palm Canyon, KOFA NWR

Palm Canyon is a narrow, relatively short but rugged canyon. What distinguishes this canyon from other canyons in the KOFA is that there are California Fan Palms nestled up on the north side of the canyon. These Fan Palms are believed to be the only California Palm Trees in Arizona. In the photo below left you can see the palms tucked into the side of the canyon.

After hiking back down the canyon to the trailhead we drove back west on Palm Canyon Road to scout out a good camping spot – not to difficult actually!

Every evening and morning is a treat in the desert with spectacular sunsets, starry black nights and gorgeous sunrises.

The next morning we set out to explore the nearby KOFA Queen Canyon Trail. The road is a rocky affair that winds up the narrow canyon with jagged peaks framing the canyon on both sides. The trail itself becomes progressively rougher and narrower. At the eight mile mark the USFWS has closed the trail to make sure people do not try to proceed further as the next mile of trail across the Big Horn Pass is impassable regardless of weather conditions.

Queen Canyon

On the drive out and back we stopped several times and wandered out through several of the many washes that run through the canyon. Beautiful blue sky, a gentle breeze and total silence!

Waking up to another beautiful, sunny, blue sky day with 75F temperatures never becomes tiresome – in case you were wondering. For our third sortie in the KOFA we opted to go a bit further north and skirt the KOFA mountains and follow the Valve 2 Road eastward to the High Six. The High Six Tank is a deep bedrock water pool.

We assume somewhere in the vicinity of this road there is a Valve 2. The El Paso Natural Gas pipeline carries natural gas from the Permian Basin to a number of western states. The pipelines are buried but there are valves above ground that we observed in other parts of the desert.

From our campsite we would need to navigate approximately ten miles with the Beast to reach the trail for the High Six. If we could reach the trail for the tank we planned to make the short climb up to the tank. It appeared based on our reading of the topo map that elevation gain from Valve 2 Road to the tank was only 150 feet.

While ten miles doesn’t seem much like much terrain to cover we were not able to reach the High Six Trailhead.The photos below show the spot where we had to concede on getting to the High Six. We tried several different approaches to tackling this drop but we just did not have the clearance.

With the premature demise of this adventure we quickly regrouped and decided it was time for a cocktail! We backed down the trail until we found a spot for a 100-point K turn, headed west for the pavement and then north seeking food and beverages in Quartzite (about 20 miles north on Highway 95).

***Silly Al’s Pizza, Quartzite, Arizona***

Silly Al’s Pizza was packed but we secured a hightop in the bar. If we had thought about it, we would have realized that Quartzite would have a crowd on a Sunday afternoon as the town is a major snowbird location and home to many gem and mineral shows during the winter months. The cocktails were excellent – the pizza decent – the restaurant makes their own dough. The problem is no one outside the Northeast puts enough char on the pie!

The following day we made our last foray into the desert before returning to Yuma to collect our bicycles. We opted to head west towards the California border and check out some old mining sights.

We visited the abandoned Gold Eye Mine, which was owned by Lehre Erdman. This not much history other than Erdman started this mine and worked it for 63 years. Erdman died in 1996. The remnants of the stone cottage he built and lived in are still standing at the mine sight.

There are a number of mines in the area we explored. Many are abandoned but there are a fair number of claims being worked on a small scale. If you are interested in mining for gold call the phone number in the photo above!

Our next post will provide a glimpse of our visit to Phoenix.

Be seeing you!

El Camino del Diablo – The Devil’s Road

07/04/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Camping, Overlanding, Scenic Drive, The American West, Travel

***El Camino del Diablo, Sonoran Desert, Arizona***

We departed Tucson (future post) on a southwesterly course heading for Ajo Townsite. The journey took us through the large and mostly desolate Tohono O’Odham Nation. The reservation is about the size of Connecticut with an on reservation population of approximately 9000 members. There are 28,000 enrolled members of the tribe. The Tohono O’odham Nation sits on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

Ajo has been the site of copper mining since the 1840’s. Copper has been extracted by Native American, Spanish and Euro-Americans. By the early 1900’s the production of copper in Ajo caught the attention of Phelps Dodge, the largest copper mining company in the United States. Phelps purchased the mine in 1921 and continued to operate the mine until 1985. During those years the mine employed several thousand people and the town boomed. An employee strike in 1983 ultimately led to the permanent closure of the mine in 1985 . Today, all that remains is a very large pit just outside of the town center.

The town’s attractive square and architecture was built by Phelps Dodge to make working and living in town more appealing. The year round population in Ajo is 3300. The town has become a popular snowbird destination during the winter due to the delightful weather. There is also a small artist colony living and working here.

The photos below are two notable murals that have been painted in Ajo since our last visit.

We decided to camp and relax for several days in an area of the desert south of Ajo known as Darby Well.

On our second day of camping at Darby Well we drove south on Route 85 to visit the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM). After stopping at the visitor center and speaking with the rangers we opted to drive the Ajo Mountain Loop as the best way to take in the OPCNM in an afternoon.

Ajo Mountain Road, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

The Ajo Mountain Loop is a 21 mile road which provides a great sample of the variety of terrain and vegetation in the monument. The loop starts on the desert floor and winds up into the Ajo Mountains. We took a short hike into the Estes Canyon (photos below -note the arch in the photo directly below).

OPCNM does not receive many visitors relative to other National Monuments and National Parks. The remote location, extreme weather (heat) and proximity to the Mexico border are all contributing factors.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2017/09/organ-pipe-cactus-sonoran-desert-treasure

https://www.nps.gov/orpi/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

After several days camping in the Darby Well and our visit to OPCNM we decided we were ready to tackle the El Camino. The El Camino is a 142 mile trail through the Southern Sonoran Desert. It starts south of Ajo from the Darby Well Road and then follows an east/west route through a portion of the Organ Pipe Cactus NM, the Cabeza Prieta NWR and finally the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range.

This overland adventure does come with risks. One of the risks is captured in the photo directly above. The other risks are inherent in any extended overland trip – adequate fuel and water, mechanical breakdown, flat tire and, finally, getting stuck in sand or mud. Fortunately, other than a damaged bike carrier and the obligatory addition of more desert pinstriping we did not have any issues.

Our first stop was at the Bates Well Ranch which was owned and operated by the Gray family from 1935 until 1976. The operation consisted of 15 cattle ranches and line camps across the Southern Sonoran Desert.

The ranch is inside the boundaries of the OPCNM. The National Monument was established in 1937 but the Gray family was allowed to continue to ranch the land (many national parks consist of land appropriated from private owners). The National Park Service does not allow cattle grazing but in this case made an exception. Harry Gray, the last member of the family made maximum use of the “exception” raising cattle on the ranch until his death in 1976.

The one advantage of the ranch property becoming public land is that is protected and overseen by the park service. Much of the property is intact and provides a great example of a frontier ranch.

We pushed on from the Bates Well past the Camp Grip Border Patrol Outpost where we could see four border patrollers on a hill scanning southward with their binoculars while the electronic gear above them whirred away.

The next section of the trail brought us into the Pinta Sands. The Sands area was undoubtedly the most enjoyable segment of the trip from a pure driving perspective. Soft sand —deep but not too deep—smooth riding and higher speeds!

Prietza National Wildlife Refuge, El Camino del Diablo

From the Pinta Sands we transitioned to a dramatically rougher environment as we began transiting through the Pinacate Lava Flow. We decided that this area would be good for camping as it was reasonably level and provided a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and unobstructed views for stargazing.

Pinacate Volcanic Field

On day two, we continued west until we arrived at the site of the Tule Well. In the 1840s many Mexicans from the state of Sonora were traveling north to work the gold diggings on the Colorado River. One of them decided to dig a well (by hand) and to sell the water to his fellow countrymen as they traveled north. Some accounts claim that the well digger was killed by a traveler who refused to pay for the water. The well fell into disuse between the 1860s and 1890s as this route was all but abandoned due the frequency of deaths from dehydration.

After visiting the Tule Well and the Circle 8 Gravesite we continued west towards the Tinjas Atlas Mountains. We were hoping to follow a trail that would lead us to the remains of the Fortuna Mine. As you can see from the video below this area has numerous narrow washes. Ultimately, we were foiled by a wash too deep and steep for the Beast.

Tinjas Atlas

We worked our way back until we found a route that took us in a northeasterly direction to the town of Wellton. This route took us through the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. It is most advisable to stay on the road if you choose this route as it is an active military gunnery and bombing range! Fortunately, we had obtained the necessary permit and pass to transit through the range.

We exited the desert in Wellton driving through the encroaching housing subdivisions spreading east from Yuma. We spent the evening in Yuma; in the morning , we decided to head back out into the Sonoran Desert and visit the Fortuna Mine using a route from Yuma. The road out from Yuma was extremely rough and rocky but were committed to going out to the mine as part of our completion of the El Camino del Diablo.

As so often appears to be the case, gold was discovered accidentally – in this case by three men looking for stray cattle in the foothills of the Gila Mountains in 1894. They filed land claims and gold was mined here from 1896 to 1904. The story of Fortuna is similar to many of the old west mining scenarios – boom and then quickly bust. The mine was productive – producing 125,000 ounces of recorded gold during its short run. The vertical shafts are still visible (photo below). The remnants of the town that quickly blossomed above the mine are still accessible by foot.

One other item that we wanted to share relates to the photo below. Periodically as we crossed the desert we would see blue flags placed within sight of the trail. The blue flags are on 30 foot high poles so that they are visible from a great distance. At each of these sites there is a 55 gallon drum of potable water. These drums are placed and maintained by an organization called Humane Borders. The organization has obtained permission to place the water drums along the border (the El Camino is within sight of the border for much of the route). You may read about the Humane Borders organization in the article linked below.

https://www.humaneborders.org/

Our two day journey across El Camino del Diablo was an exciting adventure. This is a trip we have wanted to do for some time and we recognized that in the context of our OTR story arc this was the time to make the crossing. There is a point where the physical rigors of this trip would be beyond our capability.

After resting for a couple days in Yuma we will be heading north to explore the Northern Sonoran Desert and the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge.

Be seeing you!

El Paso to Silver City:Desert to Mountains

02/06/202312/06/2023 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Camping, Hiking, Overlanding, Travel

After our three day stop in El Paso we continued our journey west driving through the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico. Our plan was to cross a good portion of the state via the desert—intersecting with Route 11 before turning north and exploring the western portion of the state.

Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico

As part of the crossing we wanted to find the KIlbourne Hole. The Hole is a volcanic crater estimated to be between 24,000 and 100,000 years old and in the middle of the Petrillo Volcanic Fields. The crater is 1.7 miles long, a mile wide and from 300 to 400 feet deep. The crater was caused by a massive volcanic explosion which occurred when the underlying magma heats groundwater to the point where the resulting pressure literally blows the ground upward hundreds of feet into the air.

While it may sound funny, finding the hole required Maria’s expert navigation skills. Yes—the hole is over a mile long and wide—but driving on the flat desert floor provides no landmarks or rises from which to visually identify the crater.

Kilbourne Hole

The crater is impressive for both its physical size and the sense of complete isolation that you feel while gazing out from the rim. The force of nature required to create this crater boggles the mind.

From there we continued west along the boundary of the designated wilderness area. As mentioned earlier, we were hoping to cross the desert until we intersected with Route 11 which is the north/south route from Chihuahua. The road became particularly rough and we opted to find a route south to connect with the pavement of Route 9 — so we fell about 20 miles short but had no regrets about our decision.

After reaching Route 11 we turned north for our night’s destination. Having worked up a thirst in the desert we decided that a bit of hydration was required. Fortunately for us, the Luna Rossa Winery is located in Deming along the way.

Paolo D’Andrea emigrated to the United States in 1986 from Italy and founded Luna Rossa Winery in 2001. The winery specializes in Italian varietals, and currently produce about 8000 cases of wine per year. In addition to the winery, they own and operate a pizzeria in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

We enjoyed a tasting of a number of their wines (purchasing several) and meeting some fellow travelers from Louisiana before departing for Rockhound State Park.

***Florida Mountains, Camping with a View!***

Rockhound State Park sits at the northern end of the Florida Mountains and in the foothills of the southern end of the Little Florida Mountains providing impressive views across the canyon in between. The Florida range is only twelve miles long but nonetheless quite impressive with peaks that sit at 5000 to 7000 feet above sea level. The surrounding flatlands serve to accentuate their prominence. Our campsite provided us with a spectacular view of the northern most peaks in the range.

The next morning we drove across the valley floor to access the Spring Canyon Trailhead. The Spring Canyon Trail winds its way up through the canyon until you reach the spring. But alas, the spring was already dry for the season. Nonetheless, it was a good hike providing solitude and great views to the north on the return back to the trailhead. The site of the spring where we stopped climbing is at approximately 5700 feet above sea level. Breathing hard!

Our next stop was in Maywood at the City of Rocks State Park. The City is just one square mile in size and sits at 5200 feet above sea level in the northern reaches of the Chihuahuan Dessert. This area surrounding the rock formations is more reminiscent of grasslands than what we usually think of as desert. The rock formations are the result of volcanic activity 35 million years ago and the subsequent erosion of the rocks creating the pinnacles that exist today.

This state park offers primitive camping among the rock formations. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and night sky before turning in for the night.

***The Beast Sporting Desert Pinstripes***

The following morning we traveled to Silver City – as the name infers, this area is a mining district. We spent the afternoon at the Tranquil Buzz Coffee Shop drinking coffee, meeting local folks and listening to live music. Eventually, we made our way outside of town to boondock in the Burro Mountain area of the Gila National Forest.

Dispersed Camping—Gila National Forest

In our next post we will chronicle our stay in Silver City and our journey northward in scenic Western New Mexico.

Be seeing you!

Three Nights in the Backcountry: Big Bend National Park(BBNP)

10/05/2023 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Camping, National Park, Overlanding, Travel

In March of 2020 OTR made our first visit to BBNP. Unfortunately, our timing was bad — the Covid Pandemic had finally made its way to Texas and the park closed the gates. We needed to leave the park after just two days.

BBNP was created in 1944 by Congressional Act and signed by then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The deed for the park covered 700,000 acres of Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande. Today, the park encompasses a little over 800,000 acres.

The park is one of the least visited National Parks, although it had its highest visitation in 2021. We can only surmise why this would be when this park offers so much stunning beauty – the Chiso Massive, desert, canyons and dark sky. There are probably several reasons – its remote location in Far West Texas abutting the Mexican border, the heat for much of the year and a lot of terrain accessible only by very rough roads.

Day one

Because we were entering the park from the north we decided to immediately drive the backcountry loop out to see the Dagger Yuca Forest. Fortunately, our timing was perfect— the Yucca were blooming.

From Dagger Flats we needed to secure our permits for camping in the backcountry. Backcountry camping in BBNP requires traversing rough 4WD drive roads and means that you will be on your own and in some cases in a very remote area of the park.

For our first night of camping we selected an area deep in the southeastern area of the park which is the desert floor (1700 feet above sea level). We followed the River Road East to its terminus a few miles north of the Rio Grande; the 25 mile journey took about 2.5 hours (slow going but exciting).

Our journey took us past an abandoned (but still toxic) mercury mine and provided phenomenal views of the Chisos Mouontains. Additionally, we encountered a herd of horses that we thought were feral but later learned are horses from Mexico that wandered across the border.

Day two

Our camping perch was a short distance from the Mariscal Mountains so we were able to get an early start hiking in the Mariscal Canyon and avoid the afternoon heat where the temperatures reach 95F this time of year.

We also learned that in addition to horses plenty of cattle from Mexico have found there way across the Rio Grande. When we later asked a ranger about the cattle he indicated that there are over 1000 head of cattle from Mexico in the park.

After our hike we retraced our route back east on the River Road until were back on asphalt and then motored north to drive up through the Chisos and into the Chisos Basin.

After taking in the views of the Chisos from the basin we headed back south to our camping spot for night two. We had another great camping spot in the shadow of the Chillicotal Mountain. From our camping area we had a 360 degree view – the views to the south were of mountains across the Rio Grande in Mexico.

Day three

Our campsite at Chilicotal was only about four miles from the Pine Canyon trailhead so we again got an early start to be off the trail before the worst of the heat.

Pine Canyon Road, BBNP

After finishing our hike up into the spectacular Spring Canyon we circled up across the northern section of the park to connect with the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. The scenic drive connected us to southwestern area of the park along the Rio Grande.

The four photos directly above are the of the Rio Grande. The far shore is Mexico. The canyon in the final photo bottom right is Saint Elena. The left canyon wall is Mexico while the right canyon wall is the United States.

After cooling off in the Rio Grande we connected with the Maverick Road to head north for our final night of camping at a site nearTerlingua Abaya. Terlingua Abayo is an abandoned town on the banks of Terlingua Creek. The town was at one time a thriving agricultural community supplying produce for local ranchers and miners employed by the Quicksilver mines in the area. The town existed from 1900 until around 1930 when the mines ceased operations.

Terlingua Abaya Road, BBNP

day four

On day four we traveled north on the Maverick Road to exit the park and make our way north for a two day stay in Alpine. Before heading to Alpine we spent part of the day in Terlingua Ghost Town — home to Espresso Y Poco Mas — our coffee hangout from our previous visit to BBNP.

We hope y’all enjoyed this post. Be seeing you!

BBNP: 26–29 April 2023

ctsprinterlife: OTR 8.0: Mississippi Part One

08/05/202208/05/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, camper van, Dining, Overlanding, road trip, Scenic Drive, Sportsmobile, sprinter van, Travel, van life

TransAmerica Trail (TAT)

The TAT is a 4200 mile transcontinental route comprised largely of dirt and gravel roads. The trail is the creation of Sam Carrero, an avid off-road motorcyclist with a passion for exploring and tackling challenging terrain.

Sam began the process of mapping out this coast to coast off-pavement adventure in 1984. It took him 12 years to put the route together. The route utilzes only publicly accessible roads and trails, however, it is not intended for standard vehicles or standard motorcycles. Many portions of the route require 4WD and high clearance and significant portions are single lane only at best.

County Road 738

We had a blast driving the Mississippi portion of the TAT. Several nights of rain made some portions of the trail muddy but still passable. The notorious County Road 555 was partially washed out (see video below) and after a driver/navigator consultation we retreated to find a road in better condition and then rejoin the TAT!

County Road 555

County Road 555, Lambert, MS (pop. 1296 – size 544 acres)

The Mississippi portion of the TAT is relatively short at about 300 miles but it provided us with a fun overlanding experience and the opportunity to travel through some very rural areas of Mississippi. The majority of the trail takes the traveler through large swaths of pine forest, some farm land and the occasional cluster of homes and a small church.

This part of Mississippi is known as the Pine Belt. When we think of the timber industry we tend to think about the massive timberlands of the West and forget that Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia are still major producers of timber. Timber is the second largest agricultural commodity in Mississippi (poultry is number one).

Another observation from our trip across the state on the trail is that there is significant poverty in rural Mississippi (Mississippi has the highest poverty rate of the fifty states and DC). While we only passed through a small number of rural communities, we saw that people are living in very impoverished circumstances. A number of these small communities appear to be segregated and that the most impoverished of these communities are inhabited by Black residents.

The photos below are from a small town that we crossed through while traversing the state. The town has a population of approximately 448 people and is predominately Black (85%). The poverty rate for Blacks is 52% and for males 60%.

The balance of this post will provide a brief recap of our experiences in the towns we visited that are not along the TAT.

Corinth —- home of the slugburger

Corinth is a handsome town (pop. 14,000) in the northeastern corner of Mississippi and was our jumping off point for the TAT. We had planned on visiting Corinth even before our decision to tackle the TAT. The town is steeped in Civil War history (First Battle of Corinth and Second Battle of Corinth) and has 18 structures or locations listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

But alas, the charm and history of Corinth had not driven our desire to visit the town — we must confess it was our (well, honestly, for just one of us) obsession with eating a Northeast Mississippi specialty – the Slugburger. Additionally, we needed to try the Slugburger at Borroum’s Drug Store and Fountain because Borroum’s has the best Slugburger in Corinth. Borroum’s is the oldest drug store in Mississippi and still operated by the same family (the business was started shortly after the end of the Civil War when Jack Borroum arrived after being released from a Union Army prison camp).

What is a Slugburger, you ask? Slugburgers are a mixture of ground pork, soy flour, and spices. The mixture is flattened into a patty and deep fried in vegetable oil. The patty is placed on a hamburger bun with a garnish of mustard, onion, and pickle. Developed during the Great Depression when money and meat were both scarce, slug burgers were made with a mixture of beef and pork, potato flour as an extender, and spices, then fried in animal fat. Mrs. Weeks, credited with creating one of the first, found the “burgers” were a way to make meat go a little farther at the family hamburger stand. Selling for a nickel, sometimes called a slug, the imitation hamburgers became known as Slugburgers.

New Albany-or-the crash

We popped off the TAT to visit New Albany and cycle the Tanglefoot Trail. The Tanglefoot is a 44 mile paved bicycle trail that was formerly a line of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad (which still operates today as a subsidiary of the Rock Island Rail). As an historical aside, the railroad was founded by Colonel Willam Clark Faulkner, great-grandfather of author William Faulkner. The line was conceived as a way to move timber to the Gulf. The trail is named after the steam locomotive Tanglefoot which was used during the construction of the line.

The Tanglefoot is an award winning trail – noted for the scenery and small towns that can be visited directly from the trail. We set out from the trailhead in New Albany heading due south. The ride was delightful – forest, farm fields, numerous creek crossings and lots of wildlife.

Unfortunately, our delightful ride became less so when the smarter, wiser and better looking member of this partnership crashed after getting sideways in some loose gravel at the edge of the trail. Maria managed to finish the remaining 15 miles of the ride but was unable to walk on her own power once off the bike.

Fortunately, after a visit to the local urgent care and a consultation (and more xrays) with an orthopedist the next day in Oxford, it was determined that Maria did not have a fractured patella, just a severe contusion. So we purchased crutches, swallowed some pain meds and got back on the road two days later. Ten days later we were back on the bikes! Phew!

Oxford —- or everybody loves ole miss

We were fortunate in one sense that Oxford was a short drive from New Albany and is home to the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and Specialty Orthopedic Group. After Maria received the good news that there was no fracture, we decided to stay in Oxford for several days and let Maria begin her recuperation.

Oxford worked well for us as our time there allowed Maria to get rest and stay off her feet for several days. So, perhaps needless to say, we spent most of our time in Oxford drinking coffee and tea, drinking beverages other than coffee and tea, and dining. The good news – as home to Ole Miss – there are plenty of choices from a culinary perspective.

We would say that while the town is very attractive and has plenty of dining options, we found Oxford more touristy than we expected and we are of the opinion the hype about how cool the town is overstated. Perhaps, we just missed it with Maria being less than one hundred percent.

Taylor grocery — “eat or we both starve!”

While we were in Oxford, a number of folks we met recommended the quick trip to Taylor to dine at Taylor Grocery. Taylor Grocery is billed as the best catfish in the South, and we would not argue with that claim. The building was erected in 1889 and we are pretty certain that not many improvements have been made to the property (part of the charm – see photographs below). We also had the good fortune to meet the owners, Lynn, Debbie and Sarah Margaret Hewlett. Lynn joined us at our dinner table, making sure we sampled most of the menu items—we had a great evening! We have included our note to Sarah below. For more information on the storied history of Taylor Grocery click on the link: https://taylorgrocery.com/

Hello Sarah—
We had the great pleasure of dining at Taylor Grocery this evening (3/31/22) and wanted to send our appreciation for the hospitality and outstanding meal.
From the moment we met Lynn on the porch playing his dobro, we knew we were in a special place. We ordered an appetizer and catfish dinners from our friendly and helpful server; and we also received complimentary sides of gumbo, rice and beans, and fried okra. And we managed to eat chocolate cobbler, too! Everything was delicious.
On our way into the restaurant, we were chatting with a local gentleman who inquired about our van. When we went to pay for our dinner, we were so surprised to hear that he had already taken care of it-Mississippi Hospitality!
We are from Connecticut and have been traveling throughout the US in our van six months annually for the last four years, and Taylor, MS will always hold a special place in our hearts. Hopefully, we will we back again.
With our kindest regards to all at Taylor Grocery,
Maria & Stephen

We hope you found this post from the first leg of our exploration of Mississippi interesting. Our next post regarding Mississippi will chronicle our time in the Mississippi Delta.

Be seeing you!

Overlanding Mississippi

29/03/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Overlanding, Scenic Drive

www.instagram.com/reel/CbqnnAzjEf8/

Ctsprinterlife: OVERLAND adventure

05/11/202128/11/2021 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Boondocking, Camping, New Mexico, Overlanding, Scenic Drive, Sportsmobile, Travel

CARSON NATIONAL FOREST

After camping in Chama, New Mexico, we followed Route 17 along the Colorado/New Mexico border to access the Carson NF for our trip south. Unfortunately, the heavy snow in the Colorado mountains had reached into northern New Mexico. After testing the road we decided that prudent risk taking required that we delay our start. As a result we traveled to Taos and spent several days exploring there (see posts Taos, The High Road to Taos and Taos is Art) while waiting for the roads to dry out and harden.

The above photo is from the KML file we overlaid on Google Earth to assist with navigation as we traveled through the forest and mountainous terrain.

Overlanding is currently defined as “self-reliant overland travel by vehicle where the journey is more important than the destination.” Overlanding has gained popularity in the United States over the last several years and particularly since the pandemic interrupted standard modes of travel.

Our trips over the last three plus years have been a mix of overland adventures and standard touring. Overlanding is not for everyone due to the risks and the need for specialized gear (high clearance, 4wd, skid plates, winch, extended range, etc.) Overlanding also requires patience – it is often very slow going on rough, narrow, rutted roads and trails.

Case in point – the photo above is Forest Road 45B – after driving a number of miles down this rough and narrow route the trail became impassable. We we forced to back up the hill until we could turn the vehicle while causing the least damage possible.

EL RITO (pop. 808)

After two days on the trail we came out of the forest at El Rito on a crisp Sunday morning. We were hoping to have breakfast burritos at El Farito Restaurant but alas the restaurant was closed. We cannot vouch for the reported census – we met one person and one dog during our brief stop. We were surprised to learn that the Mars Polar Lander was designed and built here in town by a local scientist/artist!!!

Abiqui and south

We stopped in the town of Abiqui for diesel fuel and refreshments. Abiqui is the town where Georgia O’Keefe lived for many years on her ranch north of town. Many of her paintings include the surrounding mountains.

After refueling we headed back up into the forest to continue our overlanding trip south for another day – leaving the route near Los Alamos and then traveling to Santa Fe for much needed high quality coffee and tea.

Climbing towards Cerro Pedernal

The snow of the prior week caused us to shorten our time overlanding through the Carson National Forest, but it was a good trade off as the weather and conditions were much improved by the time we started on our overlanding adventure.

Be seeing you.

Carrizo Plain National Monument

15/04/201906/09/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Boondocking, Camping, Hiking, National Parks, Overlanding, Scenic Drive

We spent three delightful days boondocking and hiking in the Carrizo Plain NM. CPNM is managed by the BLM and covers apx. 250,000 acres in San Luis Obispo County. The plain is an internal drainage basin which doesn’t sound all that appealing but it carries significant water into the 50 mile long plain which at this time of the year translates into a verdant landscape covered with colorful wildflowers. The plain runs north – south and is bounded by the Caliente Mountains on the west and the Temblor Mountains on the east. The Temblor Mountains derive its name from the spanish word terremoto which means earthquake. Uncoincidentally, the San Andres Fault runs parallel to the base of this range down the length of the plain.

The water all drains into Soda Lake. Since this is an internal drainage with no outlet the water evaporates during the spring and summer as temperatures reach into the 100F range. What is left after the water evaporates is a salt-covered dry lake bed as you can see in the photo below.

We also spent some time walking on the Wallace Trail where you can see evidence – in the form of offset creeks and channels – of how the earth has shifted along the San Andreas Fault – which is pretty cool – as long as the earth does not shift while you are there!

We had the good fortune to find a camping spot on the Caliente Ridge at 3700 feet which gave us a spectacular view of the plain and Soda Lake.

We should be at Death Valley NP later this week after a stop at Red Rock Canyon.

E8539884-8FF0-4B57-B9EA-EA6810BFACE3 — **Carrizo Plain and Soda Lake**

646B46FD-A6BD-4D20-BC07-B07BD89BC4F6 — **Sunset from Caliente Mountain**

Kofa NWR – Castle Dome Mountains

15/03/201906/09/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Boondocking, Camping, Hiking, National Park, Overlanding, Scenic Drive

After a two day pit stop in Yuma (warning – no legit coffee!) we drove north for our final Arizona segment. We camped in the Kofa NWR in the shadow of Castle Dome Peak and then journeyed overland via McPherson Pass. As we came across the pass and began our descent into the King Valley we were treated to a panoramic view of the Kofa Mountain Range. The Kofa Mountains are named after the King of Arizona gold mine (K of A) which operated in the King Valley during the very late 1800’s.

A storm moved through during the night bringing cold temperature, high winds and rain. However, we consider that a small price to pay for the solitude and beauty that we experienced while in the refuge, and of course the exhilaration of a 4WD overland adventure.

California, here we come!

7DC72F84-0FE7-46B7-A483-B53E19A38D41 — **Ferocactus**

FEEDB9AA-BC89-4965-9122-A27A36DD45BE — **Castle Dome Peak**

05EB5010-E490-4AEF-9F04-6C7E6ADF3468 — **Castle Dome Mine Road**

Chirachua Mountains

04/03/201906/09/2022 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Boondocking, Camping, Hiking, Overlanding, Scenic Drive

After three days in the Dragoon Mountains we ventured east to hike and camp in the Chirachua Mountains. The Chirachua are about twice the size of the Dragoon Mountains, 35 miles long and 21 miles wide. Chirachua Peak, at 9800 feet, is the tallest peak in the range. The Chirachua Mountain range is an officially designated Sky Island.

Chirachua National Monument, which is managed by the NPS, sits at the northern end of the range. It contains numerous rugged canyons with a spectacular array of pinnacles, hoodoos, capstones and balance rocks. The hiking is strenuous but the payoff of dramatic scenery and vistas is well worth the effort.

The majority of the mountain range lies within the Coronado National Forest giving us access to dispersed camping close to the trails in the national monument.

We left from our campsite via Forest Road 42, traversing through the range exiting in Portal, Arizona. We were treated to stunning vistas as we wound our way up through the range and down the western slope toward New Mexico.