Gilbert Ray Campground, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Añadido: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]On this week's episode of On the Move, we're leaving [music] Catalina State Park after 1 week stay and heading over to the west side of Tucson, about 25 miles to [music] the Pima County Rampart Gilbert Ray Campground. While there, we'll be exploring [music] the Sonoran Desert Museum. On the way, we make a bad decision and have [music] kind of a scary ride in and then experience some mechanical failures when we go to leave.

[00:00:26]So, here we go.

[00:00:28]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Hello, I'm Michael. And I'm Sylvia and we're on the move. And if you're new to our channel, welcome and we hope that you'll continue to follow along with our journey. Yes, Sylvia and I are both recently retired and we're on a pretty epic RV journey from Indiana to California and back, going through 14 states over the next 5 months, about 8,000 miles. And uh we put out a video once a week uh documenting our journey.

[00:01:24]We hope that you'll tune in, subscribe to the our channel and continue to follow us. Thank you very much for tuning in and with that, we'll start today's episode.

[00:01:33]So, day 40 of our 140-day retirement trip. Uh you're just tuning in. I'm Michael and Sylvia's behind the camera and uh we're in Tucson. We're leaving um Catalina State Park where we spent a week.

[00:01:50]We're traveling through Tucson where we only got like a 25-mile trip today, which is super quick and short.

[00:01:57]We're going over to a county ramp park run by Pima County, the Pima of the Tucson sector of Gilbert Ray.

[00:02:05]And um so we're just kind of trekking us across town, but again short trip about 50 minutes.

[00:02:11]Uh about 25 probably about 25 miles and uh we'll be uh at our next stop for another 7 days here in Tucson. So, looking forward to that. We're going to while we're there we're going to visit the um the other the west side of I should say the other side the west side of the Saguaro National Park.

[00:02:31]And uh we're going to visit the Saguaro National Desert Museum.

[00:02:34]And then who knows what else we'll get into.

[00:02:41]>> [music] >> Hey.

[00:02:54]>> [music] [music] >> Hey.

[00:03:06]You're rolling is what you're doing.

[00:03:08]Okay.

[00:03:09]I'm I'm aware.

[00:03:11]Emmy, he's aware.

[00:03:13]Let him drive.

[00:03:15]Most most men can relate to uh >> [laughter] >> You know she [laughter] started this.

[00:03:27]So, somehow when she's not with me I somehow like drive and don't run into stuff.

[00:03:35]>> [laughter] >> I know she got I don't know how.

[00:03:38]>> She she can't quite comprehend that. But I have I was going to say I somehow managed to go to the store and go to places, but It's it's it's a mystery to me how you survive. I can tell. I can tell. She's like, "You need to stop. need to slow down. You're a little close." Like I love when you imitate my voice.

[00:03:58]>> [laughter] >> So, yeah, uh 36 going on 37 years of marriage.

[00:04:05]Um we know each other pretty well.

[00:04:08]And And the most But >> But she apparently still thinks I'm going to hit something.

[00:04:12]>> That is true. That is true. But But in my defense, you are an aggressive driver.

[00:04:20]You You roll up really close to people.

[00:04:23]You stop at the last minute.

[00:04:27]>> My brake pedal over here doesn't work when you're driving.

[00:04:31]>> god. I'd be [laughter] through that windshield multiple times. So, we are on Gates Pass Road.

[00:04:37]>> Are you kidding? We are.

[00:04:40]So, we're going to probably have to turn around and find another route.

[00:04:45]Cuz we can't Yeah.

[00:04:48]Interesting.

[00:04:50]Not good.

[00:04:53]Yeah, there's another sign. Gross weight limit.

[00:04:58]12,000 lb.

[00:05:02]So, we got to figure out what's going on here.

[00:05:07]So, that was hairy.

[00:05:10]Yeah, I think you were too uh nervous to even know Yeah, I I was gripping the >> It It was ridiculous.

[00:05:17]>> sides of my seat.

[00:05:18]>> as we're like needing both lanes to go around some turns and wait for cars to come through, two bicyclists decided to like blow past us on the >> Going down a steep hill. on your left.

[00:05:27]I'm like Like we're supposed to hear that.

[00:05:30]>> clearly. I barely heard him. Yeah, as they as they were already passing. Yeah.

[00:05:35]>> Just insanity.

[00:05:37]Little bit.

[00:05:39]So, yeah, I messed up bad. I should [clears throat] have never been on this road. Um if you're coming to Gilbert Ray Campground, do not take Gates Pass Road if you have anything of any distance or weight. The maximum weight is 12,000 lb. I'm close to 40,000 pulling the Jeep. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to turn around, so I had to push through. Luckily, it was a very short distance. There's a quick grade up and down. The worst part is a couple really bad S turns that are really tight, and I had to use the whole road to make the turns and wait on traffic. Um unfortunately, Sylvia got so scared and nervous, she stopped filming, and so we didn't even capture that. This is one of those where um I messed up and should have did better homework, and thank God we made it through everything okay. It's horrible. That was so horrible.

[00:06:26]You did good.

[00:06:28]You did a good job.

[00:06:29]>> just Oh my gosh, that view is like I was in first gear and just just moping down that hill. It was I don't know what that grade was. It was horrible. Puckered up the whole time.

[00:06:42]>> up the whole time.

[00:06:45]All right.

[00:06:46]>> should have came from this way. Yeah.

[00:06:48]>> Or something.

[00:06:48]>> Maybe. I don't know. Is there a good way? Is that >> There's got to be a better way than that. Def- definitely avoid Gates Pass Road.

[00:06:57]Some of the turns I had to use the whole road.

[00:06:59]I had to use the whole road.

[00:07:02]Somebody rolling out.

[00:07:03]>> Yep. Or no, or maybe rolling in. Oh, coming from maybe yet a different direction.

[00:07:08]>> Y'all, we're going to be turning right here. Yeah. Well, somebody who apparently mapped it better than me.

[00:07:12]>> [laughter] >> And didn't come through the park. Came from that way. So, it looks like maybe you come from that way. I don't know.

[00:07:19]He came from that way. We'll definitely be doing better research for for exiting the park.

[00:07:30]Here we go. Gilbert Ray Campground.

[00:07:35]Man, I'm going to need a drink.

[00:07:37]>> Yeah.

[00:07:38]My stomach is in knots right I'll bet.

[00:07:42]That was freaky. I kind of dig it.

[00:07:45]This is definitely like totally different than what we had.

[00:07:47]>> Mhm.

[00:07:48]Yeah, we're way back here.

[00:07:51]Just dodging the vegetation. Yeah.

[00:07:55]So, our site I know is over 45 ft and it's real real wide, so we should be able to park the Jeep, I think, next to us.

[00:08:03]We have arrived at our site at Gilbert Ray in A33. The roads are a little narrow, but the the spot's pretty awesome.

[00:08:15]So, good morning from Gilbert Ray campground in Tucson. We're right outside Tucson or part of attached to Tucson Mountain Park.

[00:08:24]And uh we're just walk doing a walk with the dogs this morning.

[00:08:28]Let you kind of see some of these sites.

[00:08:33]This campground is very different from where we came from.

[00:08:37]So, you can see the road through here is paved.

[00:08:40]And um unlike where we had a um paved site, these are gravel sites, but they're hard packed and they're like river rock and pea gravel, so they're real comfortable.

[00:08:55]They are 50 amp.

[00:08:57]Of course, 30 and 20, but no water on site. There's water spickets everywhere, but you are right in the middle of the desert.

[00:09:03]There are cacti, squirrels all through your sites, which makes it a little interesting and definitely different than uh Catalina State Park that we just came from, so very uh very unique. We're real close to the west side of uh Saguaro National Park, which we're going to visit here this week, and we're real close to the Sonoran Desert Museum.

[00:09:25]Um which we're going to visit probably today. So, looks like there's a bath facility over there and I rarely go in those. We we like you we like being self-contained, but it's a beautiful morning. It's about 56 this morning.

[00:09:39]It's supposed to get up to like 75 today, but just just Saguaro's as far as the eye can see.

[00:09:46]Gilbert Ray is a very clean, nice >> [music] >> campground settled in the middle of the Sonoran Desert.

[00:09:52]Um it's a Pima County ran campground and is part [music] of the Tucson Mountain Park.

[00:09:59]Um they're back-in sites, only electricity on site. There is water and a dump station on grounds. Um however, there are no shower facilities uh on grounds, which I found interesting, which [music] worked okay for us um as we're fine using our motorhome. But um it's a 7-day stay maximum. We paid $32 a day at the time we were there, um which worked out to be $252 roughly with taxes and fees.

[00:10:27]And it's a great base camp for visiting the west side of Saguaro National Park, the Sonoran Desert Museum, and you can technically take a hike over to Old Tucson Studios. It's that close.

[00:10:40]So here we are in site 33, loop A.

[00:10:45]Don't hold me to this, but I believe this was listed as a 45-ft site. So not a ton of extra room, but we got everything in here. There was a little pitch in the back, but we were able to level it out. Um again, vegetation in between sites definitely a lot different than coming from Catalina. Um different vegetation around us. It's right in the middle of the desert.

[00:11:05]Again, a gravel site with asphalt roads through the park.

[00:11:13]>> [music] [music] >> Hey!

[00:11:27]>> [music] >> We're pulling into the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum.

[00:11:32]And Michael saw some school buses, which is always like Yeah, bring back some memories, but [music] that just means there's Yeah, there's >> It's going to be a little crowded. It's not like being anti-kids. It just means [music] uh It's going to be busy. It's crowded sometimes.

[00:11:46]When I worked at the zoo, like there's [music] only two. There's only two bus Okay.

[00:11:50]>> get like 30 buses there and it's just like Yes.

[00:11:55]It's like everywhere you went there were mobs of kids.

[00:11:58]It's like It's next to the national park that's just right down the road. Which we will check out later this week.

[00:12:05]>> Yeah.

[00:12:06]Pick a day.

[00:12:08]And they go back more than once since we're so close. And then we're out. We got our our America the Beautiful park pass.

[00:12:16]Yep. Which would Yeah, see RV and bus parking. Okay, here we go. Here's where we need to be.

[00:12:25]All right, we're here at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. So, been wanting to come here for a long time. Pretty excited.

[00:12:32]So, uh got a little bit of wind today, which is actually going to help with the heat. It was hot yesterday, even though it was only like 74, it felt a lot hotter.

[00:12:39]So, this is actually an AZA accredited zoo. So, though it's called museum, it's basically like a living zoo. Uh the whole ecology of the Sonoran Desert. So, we're excited.

[00:12:50]That looks like an organ pipe up there.

[00:12:54]That's that up there.

[00:12:55]>> Think it might be.

[00:12:57]I think it is.

[00:13:00]Think it very well could be.

[00:13:02]You look very patriotic today.

[00:13:03]>> Yeah.

[00:13:06]I got my uh got my matching uh red, white, and blue flops on today.

[00:13:13]The desert ark, huh?

[00:13:19]Hey, we'll get to see some javelinas.

[00:13:21]Yep.

[00:13:22]Finally, huh? Which is kind of sad, huh?

[00:13:29]We're going to go >> Two adults please.

[00:13:48]Thank you.

[00:13:54]So that's Yeah, exactly. So again, slightly over here in the California, but mainly mainly in southern Arizona.

[00:14:04]Yeah. And down into Sonora.

[00:14:06]But if you want to see saguaro cactus, got to come to Arizona.

[00:14:15]So it's not something you think of when you think of a desert, but there are waters.

[00:14:26]It's kind of cool.

[00:14:28]Native fish of Arizona.

[00:14:35]Uh-oh, she's heading to the gift shop, folks.

[00:14:37]Here she goes.

[00:14:41]I mean I mean it's right here.

[00:14:43]It's right here.

[00:14:46]So what are you looking at here?

[00:14:48]Well, you know, we A shot glass.

[00:14:50]>> Yeah. That one's a cool one. That one's a really cool little shot glass.

[00:14:53]>> is. So that It's not what you thought.

[00:14:56]Pop back in here and grab that on the way out.

[00:14:59]This one's 50% off.

[00:15:00]I wonder why. I don't know. I don't like that one as much as that.

[00:15:03]>> as pretty as that one. Nope. That that one's It's not a big seller. No.

[00:15:08]This center has a lot of stuff. Just kind of kind of do a little bit of a walk through.

[00:15:13]It's books.

[00:15:18]Yes, it does. And then it goes downstairs. And this is kind of like the kind of traditional looking part of the shirts and They even have dog toys.

[00:15:30]You got those?

[00:15:31]Yeah. The ornaments kind of cool.

[00:15:33]>> I'm going to get us a little get get us a little tree. True.

[00:15:36]Set it outside. Yeah.

[00:15:39]It's a cane brown but All right.

[00:15:43]One of my favorites.

[00:15:44]Reptiles and invertebrates.

[00:15:47]I'm going in.

[00:15:49]Going in folks. Going in Larry.

[00:15:53]That that ain't right.

[00:15:55]Oh, there they are. Uh chuckwallas.

[00:15:59]Now these are the same Esteban, yeah.

[00:16:01]These are the bigger These get big.

[00:16:02]These get huge. I've worked with these guys before.

[00:16:06]Look at these fellows.

[00:16:10]They're They're pals.

[00:16:13]So my absolute favorite animal on Earth right here.

[00:16:21]Heloderma suspectum.

[00:16:23]This is kind of a small specimen.

[00:16:27]Nature's warning sign.

[00:16:30]Yellow and black, don't mess with me.

[00:16:32]Arizona black.

[00:16:42]What are you over here insulting? I'm not insulting. I like the sidewinder.

[00:16:45]Oh, yeah. The little sidewinder. They're They're small. They have the little horns over their eyes that like stick out. They blend so well. Everything blends well. Well, their movement is so cool.

[00:16:54]>> Yeah.

[00:16:55]Maybe it got out.

[00:16:57]I don't You know, you would hope not but I'm just I'm just kidding.

[00:17:02]Oh, we got a milk snake.

[00:17:09]You think about that guy? He's cute.

[00:17:12]He's cute? Yeah.

[00:17:14]Oh.

[00:17:16]Yeah, it's a neat little exhibit. It's kind of like a in your yard.

[00:17:20]tiger rattlesnake Mexican boa.

[00:17:27]Not too exciting.

[00:17:30]The Mojave I find in the gofer.

[00:17:40]Oh boy, here we go.

[00:17:44]Oh, we got here we go.

[00:17:48]She's here all week, folks.

[00:17:52]She's here all week. Here you go, folks.

[00:17:59]Yeah, so in the desert these are what they call licking toads. You imagine licking that thing back to get high off of it.

[00:18:13]It is. Yeah, so like I said it's what they call licking toads. So people lick those, which I can never imagine like just looking at that guy and going I want to lick you.

[00:18:21]How do people figure that out?

[00:18:24]Yeah, and then you're all like out in the desert like out in the desert like tripping out.

[00:18:30]It's like Oh yeah, well if you go to eat that thing and you lick it you're like it stains your tongue a little bit.

[00:18:41]Yeah, and then you kind of start getting this weird bitter taste and you don't mess with it.

[00:18:51]Yeah.

[00:18:54]All right, she's she's going to push the button.

[00:19:00]All right, let off.

[00:19:01]Yep.

[00:19:05]Yep.

[00:19:10]Yep.

[00:19:14]It's an awesome view.

[00:19:25]I don't like that one ocotillo in our over in our campsite. It's a I think we're going to Caves and minerals.

[00:19:39]Uh-oh. Geology staff only.

[00:19:42]Can't go in there.

[00:19:47]Uh-oh.

[00:19:51]Darkness ahead to avoid falls and stop just inside let your eyes adjust.

[00:19:57]Did you let your eyes adjust?

[00:20:01]All right, there she goes pushing buttons again.

[00:20:05]Looking looking for some crayfish.

[00:20:11]I don't think the bats are in there.

[00:20:12]It's just the It's dark. Do you need to hold my hand?

[00:20:26]the loop trail.

[00:20:30]Looks like he's going for it.

[00:20:34]We been in a handful of caves. Yeah, been a lot of caves.

[00:20:38]But it's kind of simulating one.

[00:20:42]Yeah.

[00:20:43]Oh boy.

[00:20:45]Pucker.

[00:20:46]Suck it in.

[00:20:52]Oh my.

[00:20:57]You may need to start carrying that bump cap with you. I knew it. I'd bump my head before it was all over.

[00:21:06]As long as a big stone don't come rolling out of this.

[00:21:10]Yeah.

[00:21:12]At least this part's lighted.

[00:21:14]Lighted?

[00:21:16]Lit. Lit. Lighted, lit. Illuminated.

[00:21:19]>> Illuminated. Are you correcting me?

[00:21:23]I'm not sure where I'm coming out.

[00:21:31]All right.

[00:21:32]All right, you made it.

[00:21:33]>> unique experience. It's Yeah, it's all simulated, but it does give you a kind of a It It definitely gives you the right feel.

[00:21:42]Oh my, what big ears you have. I can hear everything.

[00:21:45]>> So those are If you were a bat, that's how big your ears would be. Mhm.

[00:21:52]Ancient Arizona.

[00:22:15]I I like I like this guy. Mhm.

[00:22:19]You may not find it during the day.

[00:22:21]Those colors are incredible.

[00:22:24]It's like all those that hear us.

[00:22:27]These are some little chubby squirrels.

[00:22:43]>> [music] [music] >> Mention on the sprouts.

[00:23:00]>> [music] >> Phenomenon where the saguaro actually kind of fans out and all mushes at the top.

[00:23:28]You you you you can kind of get some lemonade with big rattles, but that they're going to they break off over time.

[00:23:34]>> [music] >> So, this one is that's the end, but when they get real flat like this one They're broken off. They don't grow back, but they can gain new segments when they shed. People say that you can tell how old they are, but not technically because they as they get older they you you you can kind of get some lemonade with big rattles, but that they're going to they break off over time. Sure. You look like you took a little bit of the Oh, no, sir. No, sir.

[00:23:56]This is mostly your stuff. No. No, no, no, no. It's It's maybe half and half. I say you're taking a little bit of the Sonoran Desert Museum home with you. So [singing] are you. You're taking a little bit of the Sonoran Desert home with you. Yeah, I got I got my little cacti. I'm I'm pretty happy with that.

[00:24:14]We'll have to get it all set up that's new little pot and home and Yeah. Give it a name.

[00:24:22]>> [music] >> What you doing?

[00:24:26]Um going to pull this try battery out here. Why? Um Yeah, because every time we go to start her she doesn't want to crank on it.

[00:24:37]Luckily, this has auxiliary starts on so I can crank on these four guys, which really are designed for the public system, but it's a big battery. It's a big battery.

[00:24:49]It's a big battery.

[00:24:51]So, um we're going to go replace this guy.

[00:24:54]How much What we looking at?

[00:24:57]Um Well, called around a lot of places, about $300 was the average.

[00:25:03]It's a Yikes.

[00:25:08]You can get like a little bitty turn on it.

[00:25:12]There we go. Should be enough.

[00:25:20]All righty.

[00:25:23]That's our ground. 1/2 inch.

[00:25:26]1/2 inch.

[00:25:38]Oh my god, it's a beast. It's a man battery. It's I offered to help.

[00:25:42]>> It's a man >> But he won't let me.

[00:25:49]Oh god.

[00:25:53]I wish I'd ate my Wheaties this morning.

[00:25:56]Oh my [snorts] gosh.

[00:26:03]I got to look at that guy. Yeah. I'm curious what it weighs. I don't know what that weighs. I think it weighs more than 100 lb.

[00:26:10]I don't know.

[00:26:11]It's basically the size of like two batteries. It's ridiculous.

[00:26:15]Um What do I need? I need um Oh my gosh, this is a big starter.

[00:26:20]Even though the battery had been replaced with a brand new one a few days after arrival, upon our day of departure, the motor home was completely dead would not start. I realized that the starter had been pulling the battery down and we needed a new starter. It took longer to locate one versus uh replacement and getting it installed.

[00:26:46]It's too small. Okay, so you need a >> a 19.

[00:26:50]Give me a 19 out there.

[00:26:54]Oh.

[00:26:55]oh oh There it is.

[00:27:00]There she is.

[00:27:05]You okay? Yeah.

[00:27:07]Is that ridiculous or what? Yeah.

[00:27:10]It's a big starter. That's a big starter. That's a big Everything on this thing.

[00:27:15]That's a big starter.

[00:27:17]So the guy you talked to said the one the replacement lighter. Yeah.

[00:27:22]Yeah.

[00:27:24]But this is a This is an AC Delco.

[00:27:26]Yeah, Cummins wants like almost a thousand dollars for this. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:30][snorts] So that's the new one but it is a different part number.

[00:27:35]>> Oh, yeah. But same manufacturer, same OEM.

[00:27:39]>> yeah, Delco Remy.

[00:27:41]But it does have some extra parts.

[00:27:43]>> Well, and then like here it's got a ground back here. See, and I was The other one was grounded right off of the one of the the mounting bolt, but it's got a dedicated ground.

[00:27:51]And then Oh, and then here it is. Here's the Or no, it's this one. Yeah, here's where you Here's your Here's your positive.

[00:27:57]Um which that's the part that broke off when I removed it. But then the starter wire goes up here. So this is totally different. Then apparently I saw this plug-in back here. I'm like, "What does that go to?" So we don't know. Uh he said it's an over um I guess so you can't over Which we don't have a plug for it, but on some of the newer models it keeps you the starter from like like overheating. It's like so you can't over If you try to overcrank it, it'll shut it down.

[00:28:22]>> Okay. Okay.

[00:28:23]So you got to get up there and look at the teeth, you said. Yeah, cuz the teeth We got some teeth damage here, which kind of freaks me out a little bit. The flywheel in there uh teeth look good on it, so it's good. So there's a spot for a We just got to make sure that this doesn't hit up into this pump.

[00:28:42]If not, I'll have to relocate it.

[00:28:47]Pull back a little bit.

[00:28:49]>> [sighs] >> All righty.

[00:28:52]Got to love finding stuff by feeling for it.

[00:28:56]Yeah, I said you got to Helen Keller could put the starter in cuz you could be blind cuz you just I can't see the bolt. I'm just up here reaching. Nice.

[00:29:05]>> And and you got to like be some kind of contortionist, too. Yes.

[00:29:10]It's ridiculous.

[00:29:19]Nothing like laying under here on the bottom side. I think my light went out.

[00:29:25]Yeah.

[00:29:25]>> out. I tried to charge that stupid thing. Yeah, I probably bumped it, so it's all good.

[00:29:32]All right, the new guy's in.

[00:29:35]No, I didn't do a very good tutorial, but I I just had to get this done, so relocated this guy on the side here, the solenoid, then now it's got a dedicated ground. Was grounding off the on the bolts on the starter. So, we got her off here, and then we got her hot wires on.

[00:29:52]So, she's all in there. She sure looks pretty.

[00:29:55]She sure looks I just hope she does her job.

[00:29:57]Hope that that all works well.

[00:30:00]So, we're going to find out. You got a little bit of dirt on me? Yeah, yeah, just a little bit.

[00:30:06]>> managed to get some? I'm not surprised.

[00:30:08]>> head or hair or what?

[00:30:09]>> Yeah.

[00:30:10]You're a mess. Where's it at?

[00:30:22]Praise God.

[00:30:25]Outstanding. Hallelujah, it was the starter.

[00:30:30]Yep. We were able to get one locally, and woo!

[00:30:35]Go.

[00:30:35]>> [music] >> Check that out.

[00:30:42]>> [music] >> Thank you so much for watching today. We greatly appreciate you.

[00:30:50]Please like, comment, and subscribe to our channel On The Move so you can continue to follow our epic RV retirement journey over the next 5 months, 8,000 miles, and 14 states.

[00:31:04]And you [music] don't want to miss next week's episode as we continue our journey into Arizona down to the southern border near the [music] town of Ajo, where we'll be getting a view of the border wall and getting to stay in Organ Pipe National Monument [music] for 3 days. Again, thank you so much for watching. We always greatly appreciate you, and God bless.