We’re now settled in for the next three months in Chisos Basin campground, and we’re connected to the rest of the world. As volunteers we’re entitled to water, sewer and electric service. We chose to add a phone line with an internet connection. Makes composing these posts a whole lot easier. When we were in Rio Grande Village campground a couple of years ago, rodents kept gnawing through our phone line. We noticed this time that the telephone installer went to great lengths to keep the line off the ground.

Although we don’t have many trees in The Basin, we have fantastic views. Looking out our back window we see Casa Grande. Since we’re on the extreme western edge of the Central Time Zone, sunrise is currently a bit after 7:30. We typically open the blinds at the back window during breakfast.

A few days ago we opened the blinds and saw clouds pouring over the mountains into The Basin. Alan took a short video; you can hear the wind howling in it.

There is only one way for water to leave The Basin, and that’s through The Window. Although we can see where The Window is from our trailer, a better view can be had by hiking down the trail which begins in our campground. Look for an even better view in a later post.

We also have a covered picnic table so we sometimes cook dinner outside on the propane camping stove or camping grill. Sunset lights up the hills out our door every evening.

We’ve now had 3 days on and 3 days off in our campground. Not only are there fewer sites here (60 individual sites, compared to 100 at Rio Grande Village) the individual sites are mostly smaller, making for a more compact campground. Because the campground is on a mountainside we have no tricycles here – Susannah’s Fitbit registers about 12,000 steps (5+ miles) every workday. The upper loop contains the largest sites. Larger trailers and RVs prefer that loop since generators are allowed up there. The three remaining loops step down the mountainside with a couple of one-way sections, just to keep things interesting. The 7 group sites are above the main campground; we drive up there because no trails connect the two campgrounds.

Our first day off we drove to Panther Junction (headquarters) to get our mail and fill our cooler with ice (10 miles). Then we drove to Study Butte for groceries and propane (35 miles) before returning to our trailer (about 30 more miles). We decided to treat ourselves to an employee (or volunteer) lunch at the lodge restaurant ($3/person + tax & tip). We choose from a limited menu and must get the meal to-go, but the food is quite good, and we certainly can’t complain about the price. Next, Susannah did laundry (washer & dryer in the firehouse about 3/4 mile up the hill) while Alan worked on his HAM radio equipment. Our second day off we hiked to The Window (5 miles roundtrip) and did our housecleaning, and today we hiked the Laguna Meadows trail up and back (8 miles roundtrip).

We’re prepared to start our second 3 days on tomorrow morning although we’re not entirely sure the government will be open for business.