25 March 2006 Saturday

We’d love to go to the Desert Museum, but we have to do our chores first.     A cholla cactus attacked my bike while driving and Andrew had to rescue Rex, my bike mascot.  Andrew has gained a new respect for the “jumping cholla” cactus.  While we were cleaning up the site (we usually pick up trash left by other camper) Andrew got too close to a cholla that “jumped” on the tip of his shoe.  He tried to shake it off and it “jumped” onto his toe (he was wearing sandals).  He then tried to pull it off with his hands and it “jumped” up and grabbed three fingers!  I had to save him with some tongs to pull it off hinds hands!  OUCH!!  We did our laundry and stopped by several stores to gather a few supplies (Andrew bought Jasmine tea at three different stores).  We found a public library and worked on the computers for couple of hours. 

We’ve decided on a campground for the next couple of nights.  The places we can camp for free are so far from where we want to be that it’s cheaper to pay the campground than spend gas in driving.  So we’re at Gilbert Ray campground near the west district of the Saguaro National Park with all the behemoth trailers.  Thankfully, they don’t allow generators here.  The campground is about half full, lots of spaces to choose from, but not the kind of privacy we’re used to.  There’s also a good chance we won’t wake to gunfire, too.