Cloudy, Windy, Dusty Day

Pretty painted bench between shuttered windows

No grass here but patterns made with different colors of gravel

Blue door in a residential area

Another cloudy day! We didn’t have any real plans for today so after the usual walks this morning and checking out the usual blogs after breakfast, I lay down to read, fell asleep and woke up about 1:30 p.m. I’ve had an aching shoulder for the past couple of days so took ¼ of a muscle relaxant last night. Hate to think what would happen if I took a whole one.

Anyway, when I woke up, I got the laundy done.

It’s been a blowing dust storm all day today but still reached 71F. The skies were brown for most of the day. My plan had been to go to Old Mesilla today and walk around the shops some more but the day just wasn’t conducive to that.

Still have to find a campground in Alamogordo. We’re scheduled to move on Monday!

Photos today are ones I took on my walks this week.

Happy St Patricks Day!

Edward Jones office

Giant Roadrunner Replica

Beautiful Southwestern Architecture

It’s turned cloudy today but the good news is that it was 57F when I got up to walk this morning. I walked around the area, there are some restaurants and shops near here and they are quite interesting. The doors and window trim have been aged. I took a photo of the Edward Jones office for Sandy. There is also a huge roadrunner in front of one of the restaurants that I photographed. Then I crossed the street into a residential area and took photos of some of the houses. We both love the southwestern architecture!

Bib didn’t want to go out this morning. Not sure what he’s afraid of here although there is some construction going on across the street. Eventually Gordon caught him and we took him out.

Gordon got an email from a full time RVer that we met in Wawa last year. They are in Las Cruces today and are heading over to White Sands and then leaving tomorrow. If they get back from Alamogordo in time we might get together tonight, otherwise we’ll probably see them on the road again. Unfortunately that didn't work out but I'm sure we'll meet again down the road.

After lunch, Gordon really needed a haircut and I wanted to check out the Mesilla Mall, the only large mall in Las Cruces so we headed over there. The anchor stores are-Sears, Dillards, JC Penney and Barnes & Noble. The only thing I bought was some BioSilk for my hair. It’s been so dry the last few months that this stuff has been a lifesaver. I started using it about five years ago but probably didn’t really need it till I got here. It’s a great detangler too! On our way back we took University Ave all the way to the end just to see where it goes and it comes out just south of Old Mesilla not far from where we’re parked. So we got home about 2:30 p.m. My back was very tired so I lay down to read and took a nap. I did wear a green T-shirt today even though I’m not really Irish!

The photos today are of the Edward Jones office with it’s blue door and window trim, a giant replica of a roadrunner and a beautiful house just across the way from us in the residential area where I was this morning.

Our Trip to El Paso, TX and Its Mission Trail

Ysleta Mission

Socorro Mission

San Elizario Mission

Located in El Paso’s Lower Valley are three stately adobe churches that remain as living testaments to the faith of our Spanish and Indian ancestors. The Ysleta Mission, established in 1682 is the cornerstone of the Ysleta del Sur Indian Pueblo. Two miles east on Socorro Road is the Socorro Mission, first built in 1682 and currently under renovation. Six miles farther east is the San Elizario Chapel established in 1789.

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It was 66F by 9:15 a.m. today! It just felt like it was going to be a hot day!

When I got up this morning, after I walked Bib, I asked Gordon if he wanted to go to El Paso today as we had planned to take a day trip from Las Cruces rather than camping there. We decided we’d go after lunch and come back after sunset.

We left for El Paso at around noon and stopped at the Information Center just on the outskirts of the city. We got some literature on the area. Gordon is interested in the old missions and there are three of them in El Paso so we drove to the three missions, Ysleta, Socorro and San Elizario,.

From there we took the Border Highway to downtown El Paso. Not seeing anything of interest there, just another big American City, we decided to head for home. We arrived back at Las Cruces at about 4:30 p.m.

Don’t get me wrong about big American cities, I’m sure if you live there, they are very interesting and there’s lots to do but for someone just driving into the city, there wasn’t anything outstanding to ooh and aah over.

It did however reach 79F in El Paso. Around 3:00 p.m. the skies clouded over so didn’t figure there was much use staying there for sunset.

When we got back I read for a while and tried to take a nap but that didn’t work so I started to get supper prepared and cleaned the strawberries that I bought yesterday.

After dinner it was just TV and internet!

Shopping!

This door leads to.......
Taken in Historic Old Mesilla, Las Cruces, NM

Sandra at Downtown Mall, Las Cruces, NM

I didn’t sleep well last night. Took forever to get to sleep. Must have been because of the long nap I had in the afternoon. Anyway, I was up at the usual time and took Bib for his walk. I decided not to go on my walk this morning as we had planned to go to the Farmers & Crafts Market in the Downtown Mall. It turned out to be less farmers and more crafts but not much of that either. All in all, it was a bust! I had planned to be there for two hours but after about 20 minutes I had seen it all. Most of the mall stores are empty and you will note from the photo of me above that the place isn’t exactly busy. I met up with Gordon and we drove over to the Rio Grande off Picacho Street then we decided to go to Historic Old Mesilla.

We walked around the streets of Old Mesilla and took photos. We had planned to buy a new coffee mug for Gordon if we could find one. We’ve been looking at most spots we’ve stopped on this trip as the one he got 17 years ago in Bar Harbor needed to be replaced. We had also decided to get a southwest type blanket for each of us to have something to remember the area. One of the first stores we went into had the mug and the blankets at a very reasonable price. So we bought three blankets, one for each of us and one for the truck. Then we stopped and had coffee on the patio of Café Don Felix, a quaint little coffee shop. We walked around going into shops but didn’t buy anything else.

When we got home and had lunch, I decided to go to SuperWalMart and pick up some groceries so after parting with $100+ there, I drove over to University Avenue and drove a ways on University then returned to the RV.

I had a short nap, got dinner ready while Gordon went and took some sunset photos, had dinner and then got the dog brushed. When I was working he got brushed every week, since we’ve been retired, he hardly gets brushed at all. Poor puppy! Just goes to show you, if you want something done, give it to a busy person!

Back to TV!

Tuesday in Las Cruces

Rio Grande and the Organ Mountains

Pecan Groves

Today was nice and sunny and about 72F. It clouded over late in the afternoon but still had a gentle breeze blowing.

After our walks and breakfast, I got busy making my stew, then vacuumed and did some cleaning. There’s very little grass around here and a lot of gravel so we keep dragging the gravel into the RV and it’s not good for the floors or the carpet but very difficult to keep outside.

By then I was all sweaty so went for a quick shower as Gordon had mentioned he wanted to do some exploring. We drove over the the Rio Grande area, then stopped at the Visitor Information Centre in Mesilla who suggested a trip down SR28. We drove through a couple of small towns and lots of pecan groves. Pecans seem to be big business in this area.

We got back in time for lunch and then I thought I’d take a short nap which turned into over two hours. It was one of those naps where you’re way down somewhere and very hard to fight your way back up. I felt groggy for most of the evening.

I mentioned yesterday that this isn’t the nicest park that we’ve stayed at, nothing pretty or inviting about it but it has very speedy free wifi so that’s what I’ve been using instead of our internet satellite. If I decide to do any banking or anything like that I plug in the satellite internet but it’s hard to resist the speed that the wifi provides especially uploading photos.

Looks like another night of TV for us!

Now in New Mexico

RV Doc's Park & Service, Site #25

When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain
(Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, New Mexico)

I was up at 7:00 a.m. this morning to prepare for our change of location. Since we wanted to be on the road fairly early, I gave up my walk and just walked the dog.

We were on the road at 9:00 a.m. and arrived at RV Doc’s Park & Service at Las Cruces, New Mexico by 1:00 p.m. We were set up by 3:00 p.m. and then went and tried out the campground’s showers. RV Doc’s isn’t the nicest campground we’ve stayed at by far, there’s no pool or spa, not that we used them very much anyway and the sites are pretty close together, much like Tucson but it’s very convenient to most things and has great cable stations!

There wasn’t a lot to see along the way here from Benson, just some mountains, some flat land, scrub and the Rio Grande just as we were coming into Las Cruces. It was a pretty straight shot east on I-10.

Weather here today is sunny and it got to 65F compared to 31F when I got up in Benson, AZ this morning. It’s actually quite pleasant.

After we got set up and showered, we took off to explore the city. We wound up seeing Historic Old Mesilla which was founded in the early 1800’s and was originally a Spanish settlement. It is now shops, galleries and restaurants. We’ll have to go back there and take some photos. Then we went to what we think was the downtown area and then headed towards the Organ Mountains where we took some photos. On the way back we stopped at Taco Bell for dinner and now we’re in for the night.

WHAT THE……?

Snow on palm trees

Looks like a winter sky and snow on the cactus

Snow at Jackrabbit Gulch

Snow on the truck

This morning I got up to……SNOW! What’s going on here? I thought the snow was supposed to be at elevations over 5000 ft. We’re at 4093 ft. Anyway, we did indeed have snow this morning but it did melt quite quickly. Some snow fell off the back of the RV this morning when it was melting and scared the bejeemies out of the dog.

Regardless of the snow and cold, Bib and I did go for our usual walks this morning. I bundled up with several layers of clothes and Bib went au naturale.

We also had problems with the internet satellite. There was a lot of cloud and apparently the wind shifted the dish a bit overnight so Gordon had to repoint it. When he went out he noticed that the rain had loosened the ground stake, lucky we had the gas can filled with water on it or if might have fallen over. After repointing, it’s working fine.

The temperature didn’t rise much today, at 11:00 a.m. it was still only 39F but I had to go out to get groceries and water. After that little job was done, I came back and took Bib for a walk and they lay down on the couch in the sun to read and of course, fell asleep.

At 3:30 p.m. it was still only 49F although it was quite warm in the sun. There was still quite a breeze when I went for my afternoon walk.

Tonight we had leftover chicken cacciatore and then settled in for a night of TV – my favorite night with Desperate Housewives and Gray’s Anatomy.

Photos are from this morning’s snow aftermath. It’s funny to see snow on cactus and palm trees!

Rainy, Cloudy Saturday

Main Street, Tombstone

Boot Hill

Today was very windy with a mixture of sun, clouds, rain on and off and about 61F. A good day for spending inside, which we did, napping, reading and doing computer stuff. I made chicken cacciatore for dinner and that’s about the extent of our day. I did the usual walks this morning – about 44F.

We signed up for another day here as it looks like Monday will be a nicer day for traveling so we’ll head over to Las Cruces then.

Photos today were taken at Tombstone yesterday.

Tombstone and Boot Hill

Today dawned party cloudy about 40F and windy. Our plan for the day had been to return to Tombstone so we left here shortly after 11:00 a.m. and headed out. It’s about a 35 minute drive from here. First stop was Boot Hill. I took a photo of the sign for posterity and also because my friend, Lynn’s husband was always called Boot (last name Hill of course). Interesting that I should finally get to see the place.

We then headed into town and I looked in all the shops on the main street but didn’t buy anything. Another case of not seeing anything I liked better than my money. Living in an RV doesn’t give you much room for buying knickknacks which is good for the budget.

Gordon had planned to go to the shootout at the OK Corral but as it was clouding up and very windy he decided not to go so we left downtown about 1:30 p.m. Gordon said he was hungry so on the way in to Tombstone I had noticed a restaurant that served breakfast all day so we stopped at The Top of the Hill and had breakfast. Again good breakfast, décor lacking. The building was quite different, the dining area that we were in was actually triangular.

We arrived home just before 3:30 p.m. in time to feed my pooch who was very glad to see us. We had decided to leave him at home so I would be more relaxed about looking around the town. I don’t like leaving him in the truck if it’s sunny even if it’s cool outside. It gets too hot in the truck. I don’t think it bothers the dog as much as it bothers me.

I mentioned when we arrived at this park that there was a motorhome behind us that housed five mastiffs and two adults. Yesterday afternoon the male adult happened to be outside with the female mastiff, so here’s the photo of the dog. I left the car in the background so you could get some idea of her size – 230 lb.!

Since it looks like we’re going to have some less than perfect weather on Sunday, we may stay here an extra few days. It’s supposed to clear up by Wednesday. The forecast is for possible snow at 4500 ft. and our route through the mountains to Las Cruces, NM goes over 4500 ft. so with the wind forecast and possibility of rain/snow, we’ll probably stay put. We have to check with the office to be sure there’s room for us but there are tons of other RV campgrounds around. I’m sure if needed, we could find a space elsewhere in the area.

Today's remaining photos were taken in Tombstone today.

Looks like a typical evening of TV and internet.

Work, Work, Work

Today was mostly cloudy but a little sun peeked through every now and then. It reached about 64F this afternoon but was only 40F when I got up this morning. We’re expecting cloud tomorrow and rain on Saturday and Sunday. We’ll see if that happens.

Gordon left to go to Mescal Studios for a tour for 10:00 a.m. I think I mentioned the other day that it was built as the Old Tucson Studio was too filled with tourists so Mescal only allows tours on certain days and at certain times. Gordon was lucky, he was the only person for the 10:00 a.m. tour.

While he was gone I vacuumed and did dishes. Ever the drudge! I also got the laundry ready and completed that little task this afternoon.

After all my work, I decided I deserved a break today so we went out for dinner at Magaly’s Mexican Restaurant in Benson. The restaurant was full and we had to wait for about 15 minutes. The food was really very good however the restaurant itself was a bit lacking in atmosphere.

Now back home to TV and internet, our usual evening fare!

Today’s photo is one that I took yesterday morning in the park. Very interesting sky.

Local Bisbee Sights

This dog walks around Bisbee with a cat standing on his back. The cat has two white mice on its back. Novel idea for making money!

Open hole mine, Bisbee, AZ

Bisbee, AZ

Our Trip to Bisbee, AZ

Today we headed toward Bisbee, AZ. Neither of us could remember why we were supposed to be going there but knew someone had told us not to miss it. While going through Huachuca City, we stopped to look at a double wide modular home that we had seen yesterday. It was VERY nice and only $109,000 US. Photo is of Gordon sitting on the front verandah.

On our way to Bisbee we were rerouted due to an accident which we later found out was a propane truck that had overturned either in the tunnel at Bisbee or near the tunnel. The report we heard is that they were waiting for it to explode!

We reached Bisbee in a roundabout way and at first couldn’t figure out why this place had been recommended. We drove further and were stopped again by Department of Transport indicating there was an accident ahead and we could not continue on SR80. They let us go through to the Tourist Information and there saw the ‘open pit mine’ (copper). The lady at the Tourist Information recommended that we go in to Old Bisbee.

Bisbee was founded in 1880 and at one time 24,000 people lived there. It is considered one of the best turn of the century towns in Arizona. It is mainly narrow streets and old buildings which are now shops and galleries and expensive! We walked around for a bit and then returned through Sierra Vista as SR80 was still closed and the information I heard in town was that the road would not be opened before tonight. We’ll have to watch local news to see what happened.

It is quite cold and windy today, only reached 52F. When it started raining about 3:45 p.m. it actually looked like ‘sneet’. Only lasted for a few minutes, thank goodness.

With the rain and sun, Gordon went off in search of rainbows. We were hoping to see one on our way back from Bisbee but the conditions just weren’t right. He didn’t have much luck this time either.

On the local news the propane truck was the lead story. Apparently the truck ran off the road and 80 ft down an embankment. It’s too far down for another truck to siphon off the propane so they have hooked up a hose of some sort and directed the propane that they are siphoning off away from the rig and burning it. They figure it will take 18-24 hrs to complete the job. Luckily the driver was not injured. The cab burned but not the tanker, go figure. What luck!

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

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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!