Well, we didn't.

Didn't go camping.

We left for Patagonia at a decent time, which is to say, sometime before noon on Saturday. We decided to take the "scenic" route--past Palominas off of 92, through Coronado National Memorial over the pass, along the border, and through some abandoned towns. By the time we arrived in Patagonia, it was mid afternoon. The idea was to check out Patagonia Lake State Park ("just to see") and then probably camp somewhere else in the national forest as we had done before we moved to Bisbee.

And, I thought the state park was horrid; it was overwhelmed with families and boats and thumping boom boxes (ipods?) and felt very unrelated to camping or being out in nature. We might as well have stayed in Bisbee to see miles of hills and plants and dirt than to have travelled to Patagonia for an overtired lake and concrete.

Unfortunately, the forest road we were looking for just on the edge of Patagonia was marked differently from our map. It took us multiple tries and backtracking to find (and realize it was) the correct road that led to the national forest where we could camp. After slow driving (4 miles, I think it was) and half an hour through gorgeous grassy hills, we made it to a parking lot and realized the rest of the road was meant for 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicles, not a 13 year old corolla. We had to turn around, and after some detours through the national forest, it was evening and the sky was beginning to dim. We couldn't think of anywhere else to camp where the car could make it for sure, so Snark drove back to Bisbee. And who knew? It only takes an hour or so if you don't go the scenic way.

Lessons learned: 1) Don't go the scenic way unless you truly want to be in the car all day, 2) Check the terrain on Google Earth to find out if you're car can make it on the road before leaving to camp in national forest, 3)Bring hike-in backpacks in case your car can't make it far enough, 4) Get a truck--it'll make traveling on forest roads a lot easier.

My cold came back this weekend. I didn't feel all that great on Saturday, but the prospect of two nights of camping made me feel hopeful and physically able. Sunday I just felt disappointed and lousy; I slept most of the day. Today I'm feeling better again!

Here are some photos from our trip before we made it to Patagonia:

We found tadpole-toads (bottom right corner of photo) and tail-less toads, the size of our fingernails, in a stream that crossed one of the scenic forest roads (before we made it to Patagonia).

Abandoned schoolhouse.

Decrepit building in Harshaw townsite.