Sierra Vista

Lone Tree at Sunset

Gordon ran out of paper sleeves to house our DVDs yesterday so today after walks and showers we headed into Sierra Vista, about 30 miles away. We were told that Sierra Vista is the closest shopping place. Indeed it does have WalMart (not a Superstore), Target and a small shopping centre with Sears and Dillards as well as a Staples where we were able to purchase the paper sleeves.

On our way, the clouds to the east were very black and it started to rain. It rained all the way to Sierra Vista and most of the way back until we were about 10 miles or so south of our campground. Doesn’t look like this area got much rain at all. In fact when I was in town, one of the ladies in a store said that the town of Benson hadn’t gotten any rain.

After lunch I drove myself into the town of Benson. We didn’t stay at Sierra Vista long enough to do any shopping as the wind had come up and we had to get home to make sure the satellite dish hadn’t taken flight. Benson doesn’t have much – a 99¢ store, a Safeway Grocery, Radio Shack and a Family Dollar. There were some other stores like a Western Wear and various other small stores. I wandered around for a couple of hours, bought a few small items and got home in time to feed my dog, read my book and take a nap.

At sunset we went out and took some photos along SR90 which is the highway that runs by the RV Park. I tried to upload a photo of a lone tree but for some reason the server won't accept it so will have to try another time.

Despite the threat of rain, the temperature today got to a respectable 69F. It was 57F when I got up this morning.

The Grandchildren

L to R-Faith, Caden, Grace
At Caden's 3rd Birthday Party
Thanks to Michelle for sending all the photos.

Grace

Faith

Caden

Lillian

Comments Now Posted!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Moved to Benson, AZ

Today we moved from Tucson to Benson, AZ, only 48.8 miles from the Prince of Tucson to Cochise Terrace. We left about 9:45 a.m. and arrived just after 11:00 a.m., got checked in and set up, went and got showers and then went for a drive to see what was in Benson. Benson is a small town with not much there so headed toward Tombstone, 23 miles away.

While we were setting up camp, we chatted to the guy behind us. He has a huge Newmar motorhome. He was outside with his dog, a two year old mastiff. He said that this one was small only about 180 pounds. Then he told us that they travel with four adult mastiffs and they also have a mastiff puppy. The adults range in size from 180-230 lbs. I can’t imagine! Maybe I’ll have a photo later in the week if they are still here. They are huge animals but very docile. They are from Buffalo, NY and the mastiffs are show dogs. They have such cute faces!

Tombstone is a neat little town, named “the town too tough to die”, very touristy and still has the original western street, wide and unpaved. One of the photos today shows the stagecoach which goes up and down the street and for a small fee, you can have a ride. They also have shootouts every day at 2:00 p.m. I expect we’ll be going back so we can stay longer. It was quite hot 81F and the dog was in the truck so we only stayed about 45 minutes. I expect that Gordon will have a more detailed account on our Nomads News webpage.

When we got back I called my sister who has just returned from Spain. She had called as we were packing up to leave this morning. We had a nice chat. They are leaving for Florida soon and then heading out on an Amazon cruise. What great lives we have!

The other photo for today is of our site at Cochise Terrace. Much nicer and more spacious than Tucson and no smell of sewer gas!

We both thought that we would like Tucson but I found it quite old and dumpy. There were parts that were okay but we were glad to move on. The smell of sewer gas in the campground and the area around was too much sometimes. I think there must have been some industry in the area that was providing the odour. At first I thought it was the RV next to us that didn’t have his sewer hose hooked up properly, but I guess it was just the general area. Glad we weren’t there longer than a week!

Saturday in Tucson

Since I finally got my letters for our plaque yesterday I decided to get busy at it this morning. I painted the outside border dark green and then sponged the face of the plaque with the same dark green, white and a lighter green. By then it had warmed up enough that I could sit at the picnic table outside to trace the letters onto the plaque and paint them. The photo shows what I’ve done so far. It was very difficult painting as it’s so dry here. Every time you pick up paint you have to pick up water too so I guess I won’t be doing my one stroke flowers until we get to somewhere with some humidity as you don’t use water when doing one stroke. By the time I finished the plaque it was nearly 2:00 p.m. so I tried sitting outside to read for a while but the breeze was pretty strong so I went inside and lay on the couch to read.

Gordon then asked if I was coming with him to take some late day shots so we wound up going to the St. Xavier Mission south of Tucson and then into Saguaro National Park. I didn’t take many photos today, wasn’t in the mood. When we got home, I prepared my hamburger stew as we’re going into a cooler climate tomorrow.

Now we’re watching Panic Room with Jodie Foster.

Choices

Sample plaque

Today, Bib didn’t want to go out at all. I managed to drag him out but he wouldn’t go to the doggie park. Every morning when we go out there are trains blowing whistles and he’s decided he’s scared of that. What a phobic dog!

I then called the campground in Benson as I hadn’t heard anything from my online reservation. She said the online system was new and it was good that I had called. So we’re booked in to the Cochise Terrace RV Resort for one week starting this Sunday. Here’s the link to their website: http://www.cochiseterrace.com/index.html

So, we got showered early and then I headed to Marana to WalMart to get groceries since we’re going to be in Benson and I know there’s no WalMart there let alone a SuperWalMart. I’ve known other RVers that have come back to Tucson to shop for groceries. While there I had a nice leisurely Cobb salad at McDonalds.

I have been trying to get Gordon to do my letters for me for our outside plaque. While I was at WalMart I was looking at stencil lettering so I phoned him and asked him if it would be easier if I just bought a stencil for my lettering and he said, yes. So, when I got home I traced out my letters and found that they were too big so I tried doing some in PowerPoint but they were too small. In the end, Gordon did the letters so now I have to get busy. When we were at Camp Verde there was a plaque outside one of the RVs that I photographed. Mine is a different shape and size but I liked this one and photographed it as a reference. I’m using it as my photo for today.

When I got back from WalMart it was still before 2:00 p.m. so I sat outside and read for a while. The wind came up a bit. It was warm when I got home – 80F so I had put on shorts but sitting outside was cool so I took my blanket out with me.

While I was outside, an RVer came in from Alberta. He was over looking at our DirecWay dish and said that he saw a Canadian in Mexico with a DirecWay dish and they had internet & TV through Star Choice. I emailed our installer in Lindsay and he says that he can provide us with the equipment for Star Choice so I checked out their programming and it really sucks so now I need to find out if we can get US programming through Direct TV. It would be so much easier choosing campgrounds (and cheaper) if we didn't have to rely on the campground having cable. The campgrounds in Canada (except for Vancouver) don't have cable so we have to rely on local programming all summer. It can be very boring!

Another night of local TV and computing! No cable at this campground!

Lazy Thursday

Today was another slow day, just reading and napping.

Gordon left around noon to go to Tucson Studios. I have no interest in seeing this so saved the $15 entry fee for me anyway. He had planned to stay for sunset but arrived home about 4:30 p.m.

While he was gone I sat outside and read for a while, came in and vacuumed and cleaned a bit back outside to read and then came in and had a nap.

It was a beautiful sunny day although cooler when I got up this morning at 47F. It did get to 77F during the day.

Tonight we’re watching TV again and I’m updating my blog.

The photo is one I took at sunset last night.

Rainy Wednesday

Today when I got up it was 57F. It was quite warm all last night and I kept waking up putting covers on and taking them off. For some reason we never sleep with the windows open. We have to try that. I was able to go out to walk with just sweats this morning.

After walking, we headed over to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. This is the last complete breakfast that we’ll be able to have on the gift certificates that I got from my co-workers at BreconRidge when I left in August 2004. That was such a great gift!

We then went to WalMart as Gordon needed to buy more DVDs to back up the photos that we’ve been taking. He also bought some headphones to block out the noise of the TV when I’m watching and he doesn’t want to hear it (or me). I also picked up some groceries while there and I managed to get out of there under $50. A first for this trip I think!

When we returned to the RV, our neighbour was gone (he of the sewer connection with no donut) however later this afternoon another huge motorhome from Texas has arrived. It started to rain a bit, just a sprinkle really so I lay on the couch and read for a bit. Then tried to think of what to have for dinner and figure out if I have everything I need. A little late since we just got back from the grocery store. So I wound up making Tamale Pie. It’s the first time I’ve made it. Someone made it at one of the potlucks we were at, I think at Catalina Spa at Desert Springs and Gordon thought it was really good. It’s made with a cornbread crust so he can eat it.

I also prepared our monthly expenses for February and I’m including a chart of our end of month expenses as some people are interested in that sort of thing. Unfortunately blogspot does not support tables so I’ve converted my table to text. It didn't turn out very well but I think you can figure it out.

February /Per Day
Campground Fees $583.35/$20.83
Groceries $439.88/$15.71
Laundry $14.25/$0.51
Wine/Spirits $0.00 /$0.00
Entertainment $2.25 /$0.08
Snacks $8.83/$0.32
Eating out $108.46 /$3.87
Fuel Truck $410.21/ $14.65
Propane $16.84 /$0.60
Dog Food/Vet etc $35.00 /$1.25
Repairs RV/Truck $38.37/ $1.37
Misc $82.51 /$2.95
Insurance $140.58/ $5.02
Internet $99.85 /$3.57
Cell Phones $97.55 /$3.48
Medical/Dental $0.00 /$0.00
Gifts $59.27/$2.12
Totals $2,137.20 /$76.33



The temperature today only got to about 66F but it’s supposed to clear up later today and be nice and sunny tomorrow and about 79F.

We’ve decided that we’ve seen enough of Tucson this week or will have by Sunday and our plans are to head east to Benson. It will be cooler there as the elevation is higher but the campground is less expensive and it has cable, that is, if they have room. I’ve sent an email reservation to them. The campground is called Cochise Terrace RV Resort. If I haven’t heard from them by late tomorrow, I’ll call.

Since it’s been cloudy and raining most of the day, I’ve borrowed a photo that Gordon took a few days ago at Saguaro National Park of the skeleton of a saguaro cactus. I thought it was very interesting.