More Park Adventures

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Sorry no pics, the wifi isn't very hot here in the park.  :(

Finished up last night with an episode of Twilight Zone before hitting the sack.   Very cold last night, got down to -3C.   I woke up at 5:30 this morning because it was so cold.   I had left the heater on low and I didn’t put on the little fan for circulation.   I’ll make sure I do that tonight although they say it won’t be as cold. 

This morning we had some things to take care of and first on the list was laundry.   Not anything exciting to read about except for the way they manage the park and charge for things.   Laundry is laundry and sometimes it’s cheap and sometimes it’s not.  At Park Services at the Mather Campground it is $1.75 to wash and $1.00 to dry.  They have wifi in the laundry room but they wifi is $3.75 an hour.  You can walk across the street to Market Village and it is free.  

We purchased a bottle of wine at Albertson’s somewhere along the road for $5.99 and here at the Village Market the same bottle is $13.99.   What a rip off.  I worked in Sequoia Natl Park as a kid out of high school for the GSA.  I got how they work this.  The reasoning is multi-fold;  trucking in merchandise, employee housing and benefits, concession fees and taxes, well, the list goes on.  B.S.  There is a Mexican restaurant in Tusayan and we looked at the menu.  Enchiladas, a burrito supreme both served with beans and rice for a whopping $13.99.  We can make enchiladas for seven people for the price of one and I guarantee they are much much better!

Funny isn’t it, there is a Texaco station in Tusayan.   They have a big sign in front but they have forgotten to put the prices up.   Out of curiosity I pulled up to a pump to check the price, a whopping $4.49 a gallon.  However, in Valle just 20 miles south it is $3.99.   Don’t get me started on McDonald’s for wifi, it stank and there is senior coffee, a cup of joe goes for $1.99.  Yikes.   Needless to say, we gassed up in Flagstaff, have used the car very little, brought all our own groceries and we don’t buy souvenirs unless they come from the Dollar Store or Walmart.   

Oops, guess I got carried away but you get the idea.   Tourist trap!   We were having problems finding the cats at home on the cameras.  It rained last night in Monterrey and we were checking the views this morning.  No cats, or at least that’s what I thought.  What was a puddle of water on the pool deck was one of the cats.   We finally saw him running after something in the backyard.  We called the gardener and asked him to turn the patio furniture around because Little Bit sleeps out there during the day and we can check on him.

Did some scouting around in town, headed back for a great lunch.  We prepared chicken salad, tostadas, and we split a beer.   Lunch was outside in the great wilderness.  We listened to the trees for awhile and then took a good nap.  After, we went walking here in the forest hoping not to get too lost. 

Tonight it is one more sunset before going to bed early.  Tomorrow we head for Las Vegas and we will spend a little on an rv park.  I called Road Runner in Las Vegas, same place Croft and Norma stayed just a two weeks ago.  $16 a night.  We need to do some serious vacuuming and cleaning before we get to my sister’s house in Reno and we want to walk the Strip before going to bed.  Then it will be off to Tonapah, I found a good BLM site we want to check out.   We should arrive in Reno eary Monday afternoon.  My sis is fixing crispy tacos and lots of conversation.