September 8 -- The "Costco Run"

Going to a warehouse store every so often to pick up enough supplies to last a month (at least) is part of living in a rural, semi-isolated area. The closest market of ANY kind is 55 miles away in Douglas, but it doesn't deal in bulk supplies that you can store in your pantry (which I have). The Douglas Wal-Mart is a "semi' warehouse -- but to do it right, you have to go to Costco, 179 miles away via paved roads, and about 149 miles by a dirt road before getting on the I-10. It requires planning, like before a battle. As this will be my first time doing The Run, I've printed out Google Maps of all the places I'll be visiting in Tucson -- you do NOT want to end up wandering aimlessly around, as there is a return drive of 149 miles (179 if there is rain and the dirt road is washed-out) after a long day of shopping. So -- Google Maps, a list of things I need from each place, with some printed pages of specific items I'm looking for (sometimes you can't always depend on a list that's suddenly become illegible), my iPad Mini for "real-time" maps just in case and Internet connection with my hotspot device, money, camera and binoculars (you never know), and a final lookover of Tundra Dos. Then I'm off, going north up the mostly unpaved Foothills Road that runs along the east side of the Chiricahuas. This route shaves about 30 miles from the all-paved route, which goes into New Mexico and comes back in to Arizona -- and there's more of a chance of deer getting in your 50mph way. Besides, it's a much more gorgeous ride -- green hills of cactus, ocotillo and yucca, and the wide plain of the San Simon Valley off to your right. It's about 25 miles to the I-10, then after 120 or so to Tucson; I figure I'll get there around 9:30 at the latest. First, I stop off just west of the town of Benson to get gas. Then I thought I'd treat Tundra Dos to a wash. So I drive into the automatic car wash next to the gas station -- and the system stops before the cycles are finished. In fact, it stops when the truck is still soapy. Luckily, there are workers there (usually there aren't) and one of them lets me go into the other car wash bay for free and do the entire cycle. Whew!  I thought I'd have to go into Tucson with a truck that had soap running down its sides. Then it's an uneventful rest of the ride into Tucson, and the start of the main battle plain. I went to Home Depot first as Costco didn't open until 10am -- it's now about 9:30. Luckily, I've come armed (battle plan terms once again) with papers printed from the Internet that shows the item, if it's in stock, and the aisle number it's to be found. I still have a hard time finding them, but eventually I end up with a wheel barrow I have to assemble myself (a project for tomorrow, Wednesday), a sledgehammer for breaking up the concrete in the water feature, a double-headed digging device for making the water well for the Desert Willow I'll be planting in the back -- 4 "C" batteries for the weather station the original owners had set up on the back deck. IF it works, it will be quite a system -- rain gauge, wind velocity, humidity, indoor and outdoor temps - the whole kit and caboodle. So I load up the truck then go next door to Target for the glass coffeepot for my coffee machine; I'd dropped the first one into the kitchen sink, and there were glass shards all over. After Target it was Bank of America to withdraw more money out of my account (you want to have a bit on money on hand at home, as there are no banks nearby, particularly B of A's). Then my friend Mark left a message on my Smart Phone, giving me the IPA beer he currently favored; I've invited him and his wife Lori (both from Hermosa Beach, about 15 miles from my hometown of San Pedro, and they're both EXCELLENT birders) to dinner on Wednesday, and he likes his mirobrew beer, while Lori is a white wine drinker. Mark says his BOTW (Beer Of The Week) is one called "Mojo" and is only available, as far as he knew, from Whole Foods -- and this is where my iPad Mini with the hot spot came into play. Going to Whole Foods was something I hadn't planned on initially, so I had to look up the locations on the Web and plot my course. Alas (and of course) the first Whole Foods didn't have it, so I drove further north to the second Whole Foods -- and they didn't have it, either. So I said screw it, and got a replacement craft beer that the Whole Foods gal said was a good match for the one Mark wanted. And the choice was verified by a guy at the checkout counter ("the best IPA, man!"), so I continued my Costco Run -- by going down to Costco. The Costco off the freeway in Tucson is a bit tricky to get to, if you're not approaching it from the freeway. I saw it on my right, but there was no way that I could see to get to it. I had to circle it, and hope there would be an entrance road to it -- and after several false starts, I found it.  So I got my bulk supplies, putting the refrigerated items in a large cooler I'd brought for that purpose, and threw a blanket over it to keep things cool  for the trip back --  hopefully. After having a lunch of one of Costco's famous hot dogs, I headed over to Desert Survivor, a nursery recommended by my "desert plant and tree expert" John as the best place to find trees to put in my back yard. I came there to specifically buy a Desert Willow,  a hardy tree that will grow about 15 feet tall and requires water, which will be supplied by my back hose which will be right next to it. I'd set up the extra cab to put it in, and with a bit of effort the gal helping me and I maneuvered it (a 15-gallon pot plus tree) into the extra cab that had the seats pushed up -- a nice feature that I used for transporting my hybrid bike down to Portal. The Desert Willow branches were already bent, which is why I bought that particular tree as there isn't much headroom for a tree that size. If fit perfectly. I was now shortly before 2pm -- and I was done with my Costco Run.  So  headed back east on the I-10, stopped off at the rest stop at Texas Canyon to rest my eyes (i'd been up since 1AM without a break), then (I nearly forgot to mention this one errand) I went into Willcox to try and find the tractor store that sold Stihl supplies, and where I'd ordered a harness over the phone for my Stihl weed whacker. I drove to the address I got from the Internet -- and it wasn't there, only some industrial pipe-fitting place. Hmmm...I gave up as I had no idea where it was, and figured I'd give them a call another day to get their correct address --though that meant another 50-mile trip back to Willcox. But while I was driving on Rex Allen Drive (Willcox was the cowboy star's home town) to go back on the I-10, I looked off to my right -- and there was the tractor store in question, though not where the Internet said it would be. When I went inside, I asked the guy at the desk why the wrong address; he said that they moved there 3 months ago, and the website still didn't change the old to the new address. Sheer dumb luck on my part -- but that's the way it's been lately, lucky yet through no help from myself. After yet another "final" stop at a Safeway -- it was back home. The skies were overcast, but they didn't look like rain clouds, so I took Foothills Road back to Faranuf. As it goes through many low spots and washes, you don't take that road if there is even a hint of rain, as you may find your way impassable due to floods. But the road was thankfully dry -- and before I knew it, 318 miles later, I was back at Faranuf. And now it's another day in the rural life of a former City Guy...