Preparing for the final leg home

I haven't updated lately as there was not much good to say. I was taught that if you didn't have something good to say...don't say it! Well, we were on our way out of Las Vegas and passing by Indian Springs (home of Creech AFB where the Predators are trained and controlled) when the engine in the RV decided it had had enough:( A dropped valve seat makes a lot of noise in a big engine.
After being towed to an AAA approved repair shop, we spent the next 2 1/2 weeks parked behind the shop while they proceeded to do even more damage to the engine. It is now at a Chevy dealer in Vegas having a new rebuilt engine installed. We will head back down next week to pick it up and continue our journey home. The return journey will be more direct than originally planned as we are both ready to end this great saga and get on with our lives. Hopefully the return will be uneventful and I'll let all know as to the final conclusion.
Yes, the journey had many bright and positive events and pleasures. We saw many beautiful sights as well as a lot of desert locations that we don't need to revisit any time soon.

Wandering again in the deserts

Wow! Real internet service from Verizon at last. It's been a while since we had really good connection to do the blog so here goes.
After 2 1/2 weeks in the desert south of Phoenix, we have restarted our journey Westward once again. Dry camping at a FREE campground for 2 weeks was really neat but showed us we were not really prepared as we don't have solar panels yet. Keeping the coach batteries happy was a fairly constant monitoring process with the occasional jumper cable hookup to the Toyota Tacoma to recharge.
We did enjoy the beautiful sunrises and sunsets as well as our travels in the area. And, I got to fly my electric plane a number of times in the campground as there were no trees, just a few saguaro cactus to dodge. All flights were successful. Translated, that means the plane was still fyable after landing:)
Last night we spent in Salome, AZ and will be going to the desert somewhere in the world famous Quartzsite area for a couple of days until our mail catches up with us at General Delivery. We will then mosey up towards Lake Havasu and Laughlin, NV and onward to Death Valley. We'll be heading homeward in a few weeks and hope the snow has gone from the RV's spot in the back yard when we get there:) The trip has been great but we are both looking forward to a larger kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Lou will also really appreciate her own laundry facilities.
Until then, we will continue to enjoy the journey. Travel routing stays very flexible as we are still considering wether to go back via Nevada or California or a combination of both. We are tracking the weather patterns and will do whatever it takes to stay out of the snow! The RV does not have snow tires!
I'll not dwell on the weather other than to say the sun is bright and warmwith a few high clods and a lot of contrails from the Air force fast movers playing in the sky.

Organ Pipes in the Desert

Yesterday we took a drive down to the Organ Pipe Cactus National monument south of beautiful (?) downtown Why, AZ. The Organ Pipe Cactus is unique to Mexico and a small part of the Sonoran Desert in the lower AZ area. The Organ Pipe will grow a stalk until a frost hits it. Then another stalk begins at the base and grows until a frost hits it. When the frost occurs, the stalks quit growing. That's why the cactus looks like a set of pipe organ pipes. They also seem to prefer rocky terrain as they grow up the hillsides where even the Saguaros don't go. The 21 mile drive on the tour is another example of the rugged terrain shared by Mexico and the US. Rugged but beautiful.
We are still in the desert west of Casa Grande and will be here for a few more days. Our mail has caught up with us and we will go pick it up this evening or tomorrow (Thank You, Mike and Eva). Then, I can get one of the DTV converters for the coach TV and see what it does for us. We will then begin planning our next move, probably north of Phoenix but not too far north:) There are still lots of "scenic drives" in the books that we want to see before we head Westward.

Desert Rats

We are in Arizona once again and parked in a beautiful County Park on a hillside overlooking a valley west of Casa Grande. The view is wonderful and the desert is GREEN! A little rain here goes a long way:) The Saguaro cactus have "plumped up" from the moisture and the Ocotillo cactus have begun to blossom. The flowers are pretty but unreachable since they are on the tips of the long spindly branches that are COVERED in thorns. Even an ant would find it difficult to climb, I think.
The valley below is flat and agricultural with a lot of farms and even more dairy farms. Thousands of cattle at each feed lot create an interesting environment for all that are downwind:) Until this AM, we have been upwind. Now we rely on the distance to reduce the effects of the fragrance:) The pictue of the valley shows lots of long white roofs. Those are just a few of the feed lots in the valley. I'm sure to the owners it smells like $$$$ but to visitors is smells like manure. Oh well, at $0/nite the view is nice, cell service and internet access is good. You can't complain too much about the air quality, can you?
The campground is a Pinal County campground that was donated by a Jim Turner several years back with the stipulation that it be used as a campground at no charge to the visitors. No hookups or utilities but FREE is very nice. It's our first opportunity to dry camp in the desert so it's a good first experience to prepare us for our western journey when we leave here.
Before leaving here, we will take in some of the scenic drives in the area, especially in the Sedona area and north of Phoenix. No details on that as yet but stay tuned. I'll have the camera on the ready.

Leaving The Enchanted Land of New Mexico

We are leaving this beautiful area of New Mexico. We visited the Mesilla Plaza which had an art festival going on at the time. The side car of the motorcycle had a Teddy Bear in it with a smaller bear in it's arm. The owner says the bear is his wife's insurance policy against other women looking for a ride in the sidecar:)
We, of course, just had to take another scenic ride that was in "the book". We took the Geronimo Trail over to Silver City. The route goes over Emory Pass at 8200' and gives a great view of the area. The road does some serious ups, downs, lefts and rights. Debs, this would challenge the Dragon's Tail easily:) But, be sure to pack a lunch as it's a long ways between points A and B here. Silver City is a very artsy town with lots of galleries. Lou was on the trail of a Fiber Arts event that is a statewide cooperative of artists using fibers in their crafts. This includes needle work, quilting, weaving, etc.
We also came upon a Fractal Arts group that was having a showing in Las Cruces. The professor doing the training and her class members had some of their images in a coffee shop. Very pretty images were created on their computers by layering rendered images from math algorithms. February is "Celebrate the Arts" in New Mexico and there is not a shortage of artists of all types in the state.
Yesterday we went on another scenic drive to White Sands National Monument. The gypsum sand is really white and the dunes are awesome. The plants and animals have adapted to the environment and shifting dunes. The picture of the Soap Plant Yucca on top of the sand dune shows the tenacity of the plant. As the dune moves forward and builds, the plant just grows faster to keep it's leaves on top. This one was on top of a dune 25-30' high. As the dune moves on and leaves the plant base exposed, it collapses and dies from the lack of support.
Afterwards we went onward to Alamogordo to see the Space Museum there. The rocket sled in the picture was the one that Col. Paul Stapp rode to test the limits of deceleration on the human body. The sled accelerated to 632 MPH with the help of 12 rocket motors on the back. It rode on rails until it hit a water trough for the rapid deceleration. The braking effect was quite dramatic on his body. The video of his facial distortion was almost painful to watch.
Today was a "getting ready to go" day with laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning. Tomorrow will take care of itself as we head westward once again with destination undecided. But, we're Retired so it doesn't really matter where:)

Blame it on Eddie!

It’s Eddies fault for getting us those great National Geographic books.

Canyons, cliffs, rivers, wild flowers, ghost towns, vistas and hoodoos are all here at the Big Bend National Park. We came here from the Amistad Recreational Area near Del Rio and just beat the cold front that was heading here with high winds and up to ¼” of ice (in the Del Rio area). Real gusty with crosswinds all the way but we arrived safely and got set up before the temp dropped and the winds picked up…significantly. By morning, all was quiet and still, chilly, but still. Today we went over to Boquillas Canyon, a short drive away. Really pretty! I saw a couple of guys from the other side of the river coming over in a yellow float. They were apparently coming to check out their stock of walking sticks and “artwork” of twisted wire scorpions that they put out for the tourists to buy. They place them on a large rock in the parking area of the canyon overlook trail. If caught, they are arrested and deported to a location 100 miles from here. Any purchases made by a tourist will be confiscated if caught. Prior to 9-11, the town of Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico was fairly prosperous as there was pretty free open trade. Tourists could go over in a rowboat and do some shopping but after 9-11 that all ended. And, the prosperity of Boquillas ended as well. Now they scrap for anything they can get.
After we visited the canyon, we took a nice drive through some absolutely spectacular country. We went to the Chisos Basin first, then to Terlingua, Lajitas and over toward Presidio, TX. We stayed on the US side of the Rio Grande River the whole way, of course. The diversity of terrain and scenery is truly breathtaking. The pictures I took do not do the area justice. Every direction is different but just as beautiful. Wild flowers are starting to bloom, as are some of the yucca plants. The coloration, formations and character of the mountains made the trip a super pleasure. The road from Lajitas to Presidio is a real roller coaster ride following the course of the Rio Grande and the natural up and down terrain of the area. A true E-Ticket ride for all those older Disney visitors Debbie and Tom would have a real ball on their Harleys on that road!
And now, we are in Ft. Davis Historic Park area because there is a scenic loop that was in the Nat. Geo. Scenic Byways book. Can't pass up a nice drive:) We'll take the tour tomorrow and then get on the road, again. Destination is uncertain at this time but it doesn't really matter. I'm Retired!!!

Westward, no Southward Ho!

We have decided to go ahead and travel down to the Big Bend National Park before continuing to the AZ deserts. We have heard too much good and read a lot of interesting stuff about it (thanks again, Eddie) that we just have to see it. Or at least some of it. So, we leave in the AM for Big Bend. We are at the Amistad National Recreation Area on the Texas/Mexico border. It's a very large reservoir formed by a dam and is world renown for it's bass fishing. Since it is a federal area, camping is quite inexpensive for us old duffers. No hookups but who cares?
I noticed that I didn't attach a group picture of the gang that enjoyed the fish fry so it's added here along with the pix of the lake and the dam. This is as close to Mexico as we'll get.
One of the pix shows Hiway 90 and the railroad trestle westbound across Lake Amistad. The dam and reservoir were built to support the close "friendship" between the US and Mexico. Unfortunately, it has become another pipeline avenue for drugs and immigrants as the large lake extends across both borders, but then, so has the rest of the border:(
It is doubtful the cell service will support calls and internet in Big Bend so it will be a few days until we return to "civilization" again:)

Stay warm and safe.