Kartchner Caverns State Park

We awoke bright and early, actually dark and early, to be ready to depart at sunrise when the park gate at City of Rocks opened and we could head out while the winds were still not quite a breeze. The forecast was for 30 mph winds by 10 am and we wanted to have an enjoyable drive rather than arm wrestle the steering wheel when a gust comes along just as we are passing a wide-load semi on the interstate. After an easy drive, a stop at the travel center and the grocery, we arrived here about 10:00.

We had heard of this park by word of mouth and decided to include it on this itinerary since we missed it on our last trip out this way. What a gem of a place this is. I had a short chat with one of the four camp hosts who told us that the park is completely full from December to April, but we've caught them during low season and the campground is maybe a quarter full tonight. The only possible thing lacking is sewer hookups at each site, but there is a well-designed dump station at the park, so we are all set. Plus, the shower house/bathrooms are quite modern and clean and are conveniently located behind a stand of trees about 30 yards behind us.

We had reservations, so we proceeded to our carefully selected site, only to discover it was smack dab up against four cabins that have recently been added to the park for car campers. So we headed back to the check-in desk to see if it was possible to move. It was, but unfortunately we had not carefully looked at the nearby sites....all of them were highly sloped. After getting a new assignment further away from the cabins we then discovered that it would be a bit of a challenge to get level at the new site. We tried out the angles on a couple more sites, drove around the entire park looking at suitable and level sites, and then returned for the third time to the check-in desk, very sheepish, explaining that we usually were not that difficult, but we wanted to change sites, again. Fortunately our first (new) choice was available and our actual final site is just long enough for us, is perfectly level, near to the shower house and even has trees which provide a bit of shade.

Now here comes the serendipitous part-- I was taking a photo out the window to show the site:

See the nice trees, shady location for the picnic table? I had just snapped the picture when someone entered the frame. Now look closely at the roadway on the left, see the woman just starting out walking at the left of the picture? With her face covered by the tree branches? She was eyeballing our rig, and just as Tom came walking back she runs up and exclaims "Mr. Graham, I thought that was you!" Turns out it was Caroline Baldwin Scroggins, a now-retired teacher who had worked for Tom at Griegos Elementary. She and her husband just happened to select the site across from us for the night. We have not seen her since Tom's retirement in 2012, so it was fun to catch up with each other. They have headed out to see the caverns and will be on the road in the morning, so I may not get an actual photo of Caroline and Rick, but I will add it later if I do get one.

We're hanging around here a couple of days, our cavern tour is Tuesday morning, and there is a very nice museum with many interesting things to tell you about tomorrow night.