Camp Verde, Arizona: Oh, Dear Reader, today was one for the books. I did not mention that My Driver was sitting outside last night while I was prepping dinner, but came inside because something was biting him. Not a mosquito sting. A bite. We didn't think a thing of it until we woke this morning and found ants crawling around in our shower stall. Bugs in a shower stall are easy to clean up - spray them down the drain. But they wouldn't go away. Where they were coming from was a mystery. DT went out for his morning exercise and stopped to the office and asked if they were having problem with ants. Yes. He returned a bit later with the maintenance man who offered to spray outside our RV where the TRAILS OF ANTS were climbing aboard to get a free trip to California. He sprayed. We assumed problem solved.
Dave went on his walk, snapping a few photos for you. The first is a very famous rock formation behind our RV - Snoopy Rock.. because, well, you can figure this one out:
We had a beagle for 15 years. It is true they love to be up high. On the back of the sofa (not next to you), on top of everything. It's like they are half goat?
Dave also found a few interesting statues.
By the time Dave returned and we were showered and dressed to start our day - a visit to Tlaquepaque - and maybe a jeep tour, we felt the ant situation was over.
The weather had taken a serious turn for the worse. Thunder. Lightning. Rain. Every afternoon over the past few weeks, but today's rain was serious. Buckets. We were (again, as always) having lunch at El Rincon (ordering the same dang things we order every time), when the skies exploded. It would have been a different experience if dining inside, but we were outside on a covered patio. A poor dog a few tables over was in complete misery (we know about this from said dog mentioned above).
After the squall, we Ubered back to our RV only to find five million ants everywhere. I mean everywhere. We finally figured out they were coming in through the slide room. We think. The only repellent of any sort in our camper was a hippy mosquito spray we keep for our grandchildren. Good thing? I killed the ants. Bad thing? We spray it on our grandchildren.
We cleaned. We wiped. We stomped. They were EVERYWHERE. As soon as we wiped them from the countertop, they reappeared. Speaking again to the maintenance guy, he suggested we move to another site that was not having issues with ants. We thought about it for at least two seconds, but packed it up, headed south, only stopping to buy some RAID and ant traps.
We arrived to Distant Drums RV Resort, just south of Sedona, in Camp Verde. We stayed here four years ago. After checking-in, My Exterminator Driver sprayed the roof of the slide room with poison. Then the entire exterior perimeter of the slide room with poison. We hauled everything out of the cab above the driver area in our RV (baskets holding our bike helmets, needlepoint, and our golf clubs. Shook everything out. Killed anything moving. Wiped everything down. Opened every cabinet, cupboard. Looked under the Murphy bed (thankfully nothing there - these ants bite!). We kept cleaning, vacuuming, wiping, swiping, spraying our all-purpose organic cleaner (which seemed to kill the ants on contact as well), until we were fairly certain we had destroyed 90% of the hitchhikers.
Thing is, we don't know what these ants are looking for. We occasionally find an ant around our bathroom sinks at home in the Coachella Valley. These ants are so small, it is nearly impossible to see them. They are looking for water and have no interest in a sugar bowl. The Sedona ants ignored any food, and though they were in the shower stall - it was completely dry.
Finally, at nearly 7p, we thought it was over. Time for a cocktail and time for dinner - a Caprese Salad. I reached for a wooden cutting board in a cupboard above the cooktop and found it covered in ants. Round Three!
All better now. We hope. I don't if y'all remember, but on 20 July we were camped on the Deschutes River in Oregon and were invaded by hundreds of miniature gnats? They were pesky and messy for sure - but they did not bite. And they do not colonize. Pretty sure we will be finding a few ant stragglers over the next few days, but one thing: our RV is now as clean as they day we took delivery!
Interestingly enough, after DT sprayed the top/sides/under of our slide room with RAID, we had a doozy of a thunderstorm for four hours (and it's still going as I post this column) and it poured rain. I do not want to even think of the hundreds of dead ants floating around on the top of our slide room right now.
Until my next update, I remain, your Murder is a Crime correspondent.
Campsite Information: Distant Drums RV Resort
My skin is crawling just reading your post. Many years ago in Palm Beach Gardens, FL we were parked on a concrete pad. Woke up at 4 AM felt something biting me. The entire Beaver Marquis had been invaded by fire ants. It was horrible and it literally took weeks to get rid of them and an invasion of tiny, tiny grease ants (we had no grease). All these years later, the memories are fresh. Good luck. I have really enjoyed following along on your trip and revisiting many of the same experiences you two have had. Take care.