Settled in Picacho Peak

We haven't done any sightseeing per se since I last blogged, just enjoying the abundant sunshine and warm temperatures. We did pick up our son-in-law's parents yesterday and went to two casinos, run by the Gila Indian Reservation in Chandler - about 8 miles from where Jill lives. We first went to the Lone Butte Casino and lasted 5 minutes - the smoke just drove us crazy and they did not have any non-smoking area. We learned that their second casino has a non-smoking area and quickly drove down the road to the Wild Horse Casino and lasted about 4 hours there. The non-smoking was there but it didn't matter - you were breathing in that nasty smoke anyhow - just couldn't filter it out. The casino was packed - lots of older folks and many women - we wondered why? Yudit and I got settled into the slot machines and Dave and Itzhak ran to pick up the grandgirls from day camp since both their parents were sickies - Jill with a bad cold and Erez had hurt his back and couldn't move. After the guys got back to the Casino we drove back to Jill's house to pick up the three granddaughters and the four of us old-folk grandparents plus the 3 girls went out to eat. Fun time, the girls are amazing, if not typical girls vying for your undivided attention. We got back to Picacho by 8:30pm. Lots of driving yesterday!

We have also spent time the last couple of days looking at other RV campgrounds, looking at how they are laid out, what the fees are if we choose a park model home to sit for 6 months in the winter, what a park model would cost if we purchased. We have been sorely disappointed with what we have seen - these campgrounds pack the winter RVers in like sardines and your view out your window would be looking right into your neighbor - they being about 5 feet from you! Picacho Peak is looking more and more favorable every day. We also want to look in Apache Junction which is due east of Phoenix. What I have seen on the Internet we will again be disappointed. Tucson is out because it is typically 10 degrees cooler and night time temps here in Picacho are averaging 40. With being say 30, we would have to disconnect the water since it would freeze at night. And, Tucson is farther from Jill so - we will not look at all.

Sunday Dave and I are cooking a big meal at Jill's house for all. Should be fun - right now the headcount is at 19. Turkey, stuffing, and all the makings - should be yummy.

Meteor Crater

Since Tuesday we have been visiting in Chandler (Jill's house). The girls' last day of school was Wednesday and we were invited to attend the Jingle Jog party at 1pm at the school. Dave went to the function while I stayed back and helped make dinner for later in the day. We made arrangements to pick up our son-in-law's parents Friday morning and the four of us would drive to Winslow to see the Meteor Crater. We had been to this in 1986 and we remember that all that was there was the crater and walking trails around the rim. No explanation, no buildings, no nothing. This facility and it's educational components has been run privately by one family for over 100 years and it was amazing as to what they have done - very informative, lots of hands-on exhibits, and well designed. We had a back-up plan if we couldn't get to Winslow since blizzards had been in the area since Monday and there was a winter driving cautionary for yesterday. Back up plan? Of course - a casino. There are 9 in the Phoenix to Flagstaff corridor so what ever the day would bring, we would still have fun.

We got on the road about 10 and drove up into Flagstaff where there was plenty of snow and the temp had dropped to about 34. The roads were clear even though we could tell that within hours of us coming into Flagstaff, there was fresh snow on the ground about 3 inches deep, so we kept on going and got to the site about 1:30pm. About 50,000 years ago an iron-nickel meteorite, estimated at 150 feet in diameter and weighing several thousand tons, crashed into the plains near Winslow and with the impact, the immense shock waves sent out over several miles, pulverizing and vaporizing anything in it's path. A giant bowl shaped cavity was formed, 700 feet deep and over 4000 feet wide. There have been many meteorites that have crashed into earth but this site is the best preserved and first proven meteorite impact on Earth. Very impressive. This terrain so closely resembles the moon and other planets that NASA used this site as it's officially Apollo training for the astronauts. On our ride back home (south) it was fun to watch the temp gauge in the car steadily climb back up to a balmy 54 by the time we got back to Phoenix by 7:15pm.

Rain!

What is this? We are supposed to not have any bad weather until next summer - winters here are to be dry, in the 60's and 70's, and sunny! Saturday evening rain came in and rained until late yesterday afternoon. This weather system is the same one that is causing all the havoc as it travels through New Mexico, Texas Panhandle, and into Kansas and Nebraska and on with heavy snows, blowing snow drifting and low temperatures. Just glad we didn't have to shovel anything. As I look outside now it's sunny and about 57 and that's good. We traveled to see the family Saturday and spend time with them - fun. Helped them decorate for the holidays and I spent most of the time with Lia and Emi - doing nails, straightening their hair, listening to music, just hanging out. Dave's time was with Zoe - she commands alot of attention. Sunday we just bummed around the RV, catching up on emails, watching the rain, etc.

Monday (yesterday) was spent running into Casa Grande for some shopping after Dave got into see a doctor because he felt run down. One thing that we discovered and will do something about after the holidays - our family doctor (who just retired) was in Vermilion - and we do not plan to be back to Ohio any time soon. What do we do about doctors? Dave was recommended a family practice right in Casa Grande - and we both agreed that Arizona will be our base for some time in the future so it makes sense to establish doctor(s) here, making it easier to get a checkup and prescriptions filled. Later in the afternoon I drove us into Tucson to go to Camping World to pick up some parts that broke, and on our way back, we spotted an Airstream RV dealer. We will look into this dealer after the holidays to see what they have in stock.

We will have a fun day tomorrow - we are invited to Emi's school at 1pm for a Jingle Jog where the student and their parents/grandparents can jog with them around the track and then have a holiday cookies and snacks afterward. We will then go to the grandgirls' house afterward for dinner and more visitation. Fun being this close!

Woodpeckers and Ruins

We are allowed hummingbird feeders here at the park so the other day we picked up a cheapo feeder and a hanger to put outside our RV. What a treat we got. Within 5 minutes of Dave setting up the feeder we were treated to not only hummingbirds (didn't get a picture yet) but woodpeckers. Those birds are big! These two are called Gila Woodpeckers, found in southern Arizona and into Mexico, spilled alot of the nectar out while trying to get their beaks into the holes. We got one picture showing the woodpecker's tongue thrust into the little hole. This morning we also saw the Gilded Woodpecker - will have to get some photos to share. We have now decided to get more hummer feeders - they didn't put a limit as to how many!

Mid morning we got our first Arizona visitors - our son-in-law's parents drove from Chandler to the RV to see it and us. After a nice visit we drove to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Casa Grande about 20 miles north of Picacho Peak. The Ancient people, Hohokom - meaning 'all gone' or 'all used up', lived in this arid desert sometime around 300 CE until the early 1400s. The structures that are left from these people are quite impressive. The main building which is 4 stories high and 60 feet long is a wonder to see. A roof so to speak has been built over the main building to try to protect what is left after hundreds of years of erosion and the sun's harsh rays. You can see people standing to the left of the building to get a perspective on how large it is. The Hohokoms knew where to place windows to capture the summer solstice and winter alignment, placing windows to exactly pick up the alignment and then all people gathered inside for worship and contemplation. What is mind boggling is how did they build this thing without today's modern conveniences (engines, cranes, etc.) During the time the Hohokom lived in this area, it was very different from today's environment - water was abundant then, they harvested crops, hunted in the adjacent areas for wild animals. Very interesting place - want to go back there and spend more time going through the exhibits inside the visitor's center.

Rainy Days

The folks in the office here said that this is the dry season - we should not see any rain until April. Well, we were about to build Noah another ark - we have had heavy rains for the last 2 days and nights, this morning finally seeing the sun peak through. We heard that north of Phoenix got very heavy snow - glad we are sitting here! We also can see snow on the mountain tops when we look south towards Tucson. Yesterday we were astounded at seeing a beautiful rainbow. Dave jumped outside and took some pictures - but with the heavy clouds, you cannot see Picacho Peak. You see a small Park Model to our right - against the Peak, but we know we will not have anyone between us and them. Also - there is a huge saguaro cactus right out our backwindow. We have great views - cannot complain about this at all! The office said that rains bring abundant flowers - so we'll see. It is so nice to walk outside and not have a coat on - daytime temps for the next 10 days is in the mid 60's, the nights cool mid 40's. We like this weather! We have lots of trees and bushes and cacti right behind our RV and we are hoping that when the blooms start, we will have a showcase to view. We also need to go get hummingbird feeders - these little birds are everywhere! According to a birding site for Arizona, there are 18 different kinds of hummers here - you will have to wait for Dave to get some pics after we put up the feeders. Every morning we have been serenaded by the Gila Woodpecker and her two babies - driving Grace nuts - she wants them!

We have had our 6 month dentist appointments done, clean shiny teeth for the next 6 months at least. Casa Grande, the next largest city, caters to the winter RVers - the town has every kind of store you need, so traveling 20 minutes north on Interstate 10 is a very easy drive. Casa Grande even has quilt shops, yeah! Casa Grande has 9 major campgrounds but we chose this one because of being away from people and being out in the wilds, so to speak, and the cost. We have to pay for electric - typical when you are staying more than 30 days. The only complaint we have for this place is that they do not have free WiFi for the internet. We bought the one they suggested and it is really fast - we will try it for 30 days and then see if we continue it. For the next couple of days we get caught up on stuff, and then hopefully this weekend we will get another grandgirl fix.

Settled in Picacho Peak

We moved Saturday, about 92 miles north of Benson, to Picacho Peak RV Resort, a 55+ community right off I10. We are about 55 minutes from the three granddaughters, so this is a great place for us. No problems getting here, took us some time to decide which site we wanted - wanted to back into a spot looking out over wash area where we thought that a) the cats would be busy watching the birds and wildlife, and b) we are up close to the base of Picacho Peak Mountain away from all the people coming in or out. Stunning view out our windows to see the sun rise over the mountains on our left and then have the sun set on our right side, pass right over the peaks of Picacho. We see saguaro (sah-war-o) cacti, palo verde trees, mesquite trees, many different kinds of desert fauna - should be pretty in a couple of months when things start to bloom. We even have our own saguaro right behind our unit! And, yesterday as we were settling in, Chip and Grace saw a mommie woodpecker and her 2 babies crawling around the saguaro yelling at each other. Lots of hummingbirds - will have to go out and get a feeder or two. We just realized that since the end of August we have been camping in view of some mountain range. Today as we look south towards Tucson, we can see the Catalina Mountains are snow capped. Pretty cool. We will be here for about 2 plus months, not sure what the middle of February and on will bring if we decide to move north.

Yesterday we drove to Mesa, AZ which is about 20 miles east of Phoenix, where our middle granddaughter Emi had a soccer tournament. Her team did great - came in first place at the end of the day. After the game we all grabbed dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Arizona - the Sweet Tomato. Our son-in-law's parents just arrived the day before for a 6 week visit and we will plan some fun things to do with them during their stay. We said our goodbyes and drove the hour trip south to the campground. Jill is thrilled we will be this close to them for a couple of months. Will be a fun couple of months!

Whitewater Draw

We spent these last 4 days huddled inside the RV - and waiting until the warmer weather came. It did yesterday and we got through the 21 degree nights without any damage. We did have snow flurries on Monday, thankfully no accumulation, and found out that we are 20 degrees below normal - all of Arizona is suffering with this cold. Enough! We needed to get out and decided yesterday to drive to a place called Whitewater Draw, a wildlife refuge for birds flying south into Mexico. It is located about 25 miles southeast of here, not far from Bisbee. We were about 10 miles from the border of Mexico - again, lots of Border Patrol out. Dave has wanted to take pictures of birds and wildlife with his different camera lenses and he had great opportunity yesterday. We have no idea how many cranes we saw but the log where we had to sign in said that this past March 2011 - a count was done and 20,958 were seen. How they counted them is beyond us! Needless to say - we saw many. The picture on the left shows gray splotches - these are the cranes and as far as you could see in all directions. Some sleeping, some talking, some doing a mating dance, some chasing each other. This Draw had a nice walkway and two different decks out over the ponds with observation scopes where you could get great vista views of these magnificant birds. This past winter we saw sandhill cranes at South Padre Island, as well as Whooping Cranes on a separate tour on the Island, when we walked on the boardwalk of a nature preserve near the ocean. These sandhill crane birds are big, and noisy. We also saw them flying overhead when we walked Tent Rocks National Monument while we were in Santa Fe, New Mexico. What we know is these birds fly south from as far away as Siberia! and upper Canada down through Nebraska, with a stop over on the Platte River (there's that river again), and then on to New Mexico, then south into Arizona - stopping here, and then moving on into Mexico. The migration starts around the beginning of October and they start the return migration in March back to upper Canada for the summer. Adults are about 5 1/2 feet tall, weigh about 10 pounds, and have a wingspan of about 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet. Big. And noisy. We could hear them calling to each other while in flight as we turned down the dirt road near the entrance to Whitewater Draw. Spent about 2 1/2 hours just staring and looking and being in awe of these birds. We also saw different kids of hawks, ducks - waders and divers, eagles, small woodland birds, we think we saw Snow Geese. Dave had a great time taking photos, and I just watched. I could not believe I saw that many in one place. In January there is a Sandhill Crane festival the the town we were in sponsors and many people come from all over to watch and have fun. Glad we were able to be there without the people - I am sure people noises would have scared them away.

The cranes were quiet for a couple of hours and then, like a bell going off, about twenty to thirty would rise and fly away south. Wait a minute and another thirty lifted and flew off. And another thirty, etc. Amazing to see. Today, Friday, we are doing our cleaning, laundry, packing up, we leave in the morning to head to Picacho Peak RV Resort, about 50 miles south of Phoenix. We plan to stay there until the beginning of March. We will also be close to our 3 grandgirls, they will be a short 55 minute drive from our RV. We plan to check out many other campgrounds, looking for a best-fit for next winter. And of course get our grandgirl fixes, do many sightseeing things - we know this area really well since we have been in Phoenix every 3 months or so for a couple of weeks over the last 8 years. And, we want to catch up with our friends Phil and Sandra who we met last winter in Texas, and again in September when they were working the dude ranch in Wyoming. Since this is their first winter in AZ, maybe we can show them some fun things to do. The neat thing about this wintering south of Phoenix - we do not have the constraint of time and now can take our time to see and experience.

Copper Mine Tour - Bisbee, AZ

Yesterday we went to Bisbee which is about 40 miles south from us and 10 miles from the border of Mexico (saw lots of Border Patrol out). We had been in Bisbee 5 years before but did not get to go on the copper mine tour, the world's largest and richest copper mine yielding over 8 billion tons of copper,2.8 million ounces of gold, 77 million ounces of silver and much more in less than the 100 years of production. This mine also had 2500 miles of tunnels. The discovery and production of these metals made Arizona. Five years ago we came here with our 2 granddaughters and we got lost on the way and missed our tour time. The weather here is really lousy - threat of snow for the next 2 days so we dressed warm for the tour, the temp inside the mine is a cool 47 all year. However, 47 was warm compared to the 39 outside! We have gone on tours of ore mines, iron mines, diamond fields, forestry (lumber) industry, copper mines - but this particular mine - wow. Our guide worked in the mine for over 17 years up until it closed in 1975. He knew his history of what and how the copper was extracted. He was born in the town, lived across the road from the mine and saw first hand the boom Bisbee experienced. Today the town has thrived not only on this tour attracting people, but birding is supposed to be great in the spring/summer months, Tombstone only being 12 miles north and artists have established themselves with lots of craft stores.

We first had to sign a waiver that if we were injured while inside the mine - they were not liable. Should that tell you something? Dressed in yellow reflective coats, hard hats, a belt with a battery that has a light attached - we boarded an electric small train and moved 1500 feet deep inside. We stopped at various times to get off and go into shafts where the room we were in showed how the miners worked at extracting the metals, another room (stop) was to show how the men loaded up the cars of stone to be either pulled out by man or by mule, how the miners bore holes in the wall to load up dynamite, and so much more. Even saw a portable toilet - a two seater! Having spent many years in a steel mill, I am attracted to heavy industry and always in awe of how things were done. But this tour really made me glad I didn't have to work in a place like this. It was never said but I googled that 125 men lost their lives while in the mine, explains all the orbs that show up in my pictures (guess I am still a ghost magnet).

Dave and I were frozen by the time our 1 and 1/2 hour tour ended. We had dressed in layers but the cold, dampness really seeped into our bones. Can you imagine working like that day in and day out? After our tour we drove about 1/4 mile down the road to the Lavender Pit - an open/above ground mine pit - how they do it now. Did a little sight seeing, stopped in the town and got refreshed by coffee and pastry, then toured the Historical Museum which was originally the general offices of the Queen Copper Mine Company. A good day. Now we sit inside snug and warm waiting out the two days of snow and cold nights. We are shocked that more RVs are not stopping to pass through on their way to ? we passed campgrounds on our way to Bisbee and they are not even half full. Wonder?

Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate, Tombstone, AZ

Yesterday we drove to Tombstone to hike the Presidio ruins trail. This presidio is part of the San Pedro Riparian Nature Area that we hiked the other day to the ghost town of Fairbanks, under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. Presidio is Spanish for fortress, and was built as an outpost for the Spaniards in 1776 but abandoned in 1780 due to numerous Apache Indian raids and the harshness of the area. Amazing to us is that after centuries of wind, rain, hot sun - harshness of the environment, that there is anything left of the adobe structures. This picture to the right is the walls from the chapel. To put this into perspective - when we visited Taos, NM the guide said that the adobe structures had to be repaired and replastered every year to be maintained. The walk was easy and went quickly - we saw scat of animals but didn't see any, saw birds flitting in the distance, saw holes where it could have been snake holes or mouse or rabbit or some other small animal, but when we stopped to listen and look, only heard the wind rustling the bushes nearby. Again - have to say how barren this area is. As far as you could see - small green bushes, dirt, mesquite trees, washout areas. Saw the San Pedro river again, and knew we were near it because we saw the tell-tale sign - yellow cottonwoods standing in a row like a ribbon into the distance. With no rain for the past 2 weeks we were amazed that water was still flowing in the river. Off in the distance we could see an abandoned railroad track. Eventually we had to walk along this track and I was waiting for the whistle of the train to tell us to get off!

While walking around the ruins and reading the plaques as to what we are looking at, we came to a wrought-iron cross with the names of the 3 captains that died in battle and of the 39 soldiers who also lost their lives during the 4 year period. A bench was set up right neat this memorial overlooking the San Pedro (if you look close you can see the river). This whole area was so 'out there' in no-man's land, it is a wonder anyone survived at all. Barren, the threat of Indians, starvation, venomous predators, etc. Wow. The ruins were well marked as to what was there, how the people lived, how the structures were built, etc.

The road into and out of the ruins - well, let's say that Dave should look at all the nuts and bolts of the truck - we shook, rattled, got our teeth jarred from the raw road. Even a sign that said - not maintained. We traveled on a road like this when we went to the Organ Mountains in Las Cruces and was not happy - and there we were again, getting beaten up. Truck is dirt caked, and making sounds now from loose bolts and nuts.

Kartchner Caverns State Park, Benson AZ

One of the main reasons for coming to Benson, Arizona was to go to Kartchner. Five years ago we came here with our two older grandgirls and their Brownie troupe and I was able to take the tour with Lia (the older) while Emi and Dave sat it out - she got to freaked out with the darkness. I had explained to Dave that this cave was unlike any we have gone in - we need to go on our own some day - and today was it. We were not allowed to take pictures, weren't even allowed to carry anything or have jackets on - they don't want anything touching the sides of the cave due to dirt, lint, etc. being introduced into this living cave. We saw where bats roost, saw where an 80,000 year old skeleton of a sloth was found - they don't know how it got in or why, saw so many different formations and colors, just truly astounding. And this cave discovery is new - was discovered by two men back in 1974 and kept it a secret for a couple of years while they tried to figure out how to keep the cave pristine and not let vandalism take over. They contacted the family (Kartchner) who owned the property and explained what they found and the family decided to get help financially to formalize the cave and allow the public to view it. In 1999 the first of the two large rooms was opened to the public and the second room (Rotunda) - we did not see this one because the bat colony was active in there and they don't allow tours while the bats are active - was opened in 2003. Some day we will come back and see the Rotunda Room. We said in South Dakota when we visited Wind Cave National Park and was very disappointed in that cave and the tour guide that enough caves already! However, Dave agreed with me that this cave was definitely interesting, amazing with colors and shapes, and worth the time to come. I think also our tour guide was so interesting and informative, and he kept encouraging questions - made our tour well worth our time and money. We will come back some day when the Rotunda room is open and do that tour.

Afterward we decided to hike the trails of this state park. We are in the desert so it is not pretty per se this time of year, and the trail was rated as moderate to hard - and they were right. Again, we had to keep a lookout for rattlesnakes and for tarantulas - thankfully we didn't see them. Did see lots of scat (deer poop) and bugs and cacti and vegetation, but we stopped half way through because it was really steep and hard to climb and we were loosing the daylight and didn't want to get caught hiking in the dark. Ended the day with a great Mexican dinner right near our campground - and paid for it with indigestion from the spices and peppers. But was still good food. A very good day in Benson! We still have lots to do before we leave on the 10th of December. Weather has been good - daytime about 74, nights in the low 40's but we have heaters and furnace when it gets a tidge too cold. Campground is still not full - they said by the 1st a large group will come in and then another the 1st of January. We are waiting.

Grandchildren Fix in Tucson

This Thanksgiving weekend was busy for us. We had a nice turkey dinner here at the campground at 2pm, six turkeys and 3 hams were cooked for the residents and we all brought a side dish to share. I wish I had many of the recipes of these side dishes - very yummy. Then we all came back together at 6pm for dessert and more friendship. Nice day. Jill and Erez and the 3 grandgirls had planned to a 3 day get-away in Tucson, traveling down from Phoenix, and we planned to drive up from Benson to Tucson to meet up with them. Wasn't planned - but almost exactly the same distance for each of us to travel to get together. They stayed at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Resort, lovely place which was nestled in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The parents did not tell the girls we were coming, so it was quite a surprise Friday night when we got to the Hilton and they came down to the lobby with the pretense to go out to dinner and we were sitting there. After many hugs and kisses we went to a really nice Italian restaurant and had a great time talking and getting re-acquainted. The original plan was that Zoe, the five year old granddaughter, would come back with us and spend the night, but we got 40 minutes into the ride south and Zoe wanted to go back to Mom and Dad. Turned around, got her back to the hotel and started the trip home again.
Saturday we drove back up to Tucson and had planned to go swimming with the girls in the outdoor heated pool. Between the heated pool and the jacuzzi, the girls had a great time and Dave and I got a great granddaughter fix! A very fun day. After getting back to the room and showering, we again went out to dinner and had more fun time with the girls. Today, Dave and I are recouping - resting and just catching up. It's really hard becoming a kid again! Here are pictures of the outdoor pool with the mountains in the background and another with Jill, Erez, Lia, Emi and Zoe on the bed. And one with me and the three girls at dinner last night. How I love interacting with them! And yes, my face is sunburned - I spent the entire time in the pool with all three girls while Dave, Jill and Erez hoovered on the sidelines. Cold out of the water where I think it was about 68 degrees and the wind off the mountains was fierce. And, if you got into the pool - you didn't get out! BRRR.

Tomorrow Dave and I have reservations to go to Kartchner Caverns State Park, a park we went to 5 years ago with the two older granddaughters (Lia and Emi) and their Brownie troupe. I was able to go on the tour but Dave was not - Emi got scared before they entered the cave and had to be escorted out. Tomorrow I hope Dave will be impressed with this as much as I was 5 years ago.

San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area

Yesterday's weather was beautiful - clear skies, 72 - so we inquired about hiking trails and drove to an area just west of Tombstone to Fairbanks - a historic town, but a ghost town. This town started in 1881 and was quite a boom town, with the rapidly growing Tombstone down the road, three rail lines came through and quickly became a supply and transportation hub. Fairbanks had an elegant hotel, schoolhouse, restaurants, bars, post office, several businesses and of course homes for the residents. By the mid 1970's the last residents left town and the buildings were left abandoned. Most have been razed but a few still stand. There was a warning to not enter the buildings because they were infested with rattlesnakes. Fairbanks is located on the San Pedro River and when we drove from Benson to Fairbanks we crossed over this river and it was dirt dry, so naturally when we walked through the town to view it, there were many trails to go, one of which was to the San Pedro River. We opted not to walk there since it was a dried up until we met an older lady and a teen with an ancient dog walking back from one of the trails. The woman said that the river goes under ground in St. David (where we crossed over the bridge of the river) and that indeed, the river is flowing if you take the trail, you will see it. Also, she said that her friend grew up in this town and lived across the road at the horse ranch, and as kids her friend and brother used to play in the abandoned school house. She also said to go to the Presidio (down the road a bit and gave us directions) where the remains of an old Spanish fort was located. She thought it was very interesting.

We walked to the old cemetery - was very quieting to the soul. I could picture the procession of the funerals up to this mountain and then with rituals of the burial's service, then placing of the stones on the grave. Someone had visited one of the graves recently and placed a small stuffed bear on it with beads and a plastic dinosaur toy. My mind was so active in seeing these visions that we didn't stay long. I said a prayer for all these people and we hiked back down. Walked to the
river and found it to be a lovely, peaceful area. And the water was so clear, did not go in it though. A bench was set up so you could sit and watch the world go by. Next week we will go to the Presidio ruins and see what that is all about. One last thing - as we neared Tombstone on our way to San Pedro Riparian Area we noticed a Border Patrol check point on the north side of the road. We didn't have to stop but on our way back to Benson, there were Border Patrol cars out everywhere watching the roads. We read on the news this morning that Arizona wants to put a fence up across the entire length of the border between Mexico and Arizona. Private donations have been coming in since July to fund this project. Maybe Arizona ought to look at what Texas does and take lessons.

Heavenly Camping Experience

We decided the other day that Benson is not a fit for us in the winter months, so we drove to Sierra Vista to look around and do some shopping. This town is about 25 miles south of us, very easy ride. On the way back we looked for 3 different campgrounds to review - just in case something really hit the mark. And we found one - in Tombstone. Very lovely, looks like it could be a great match if we have trouble finding a park after the end of January's stint near Phoenix. The other factor is that maybe next winter this campground would be the place to start our winter stay.

Once we got home I did laundry and decided that last night would be a great night to go to the campground's observatory for their free star gazing show for resident campers. They charge to the public if not camping here. Little did we know that Butterfield RV Resort (where we are) is the only campground in the US that has an observatory within the park. People are now coming from all over to camp one night to see the show. Sad for them if they come and it's cloudy, or the moon is out - too bright to see other constellations, or windy (the opening of the observatory cannot handle the stress). The show started at 7pm. Had to dress warm since the top of the building opens up to the sky. As the gentleman set up each viewing - we took turns gazing into the telescope - he gave us background as to what we were viewing, how far away (trillions of light years), saw various constellations outside our universe, viewed open cluster (bunches of stars), a closed cluster where gravity held the planets together, a dying star and a new star, and other views, then got the wowed at the very end. We saw Jupiter and it's four main moons through the telescope. Jupiter is the brightest star you see at night and right now it is rising out of the south at dusk. Here's what it looks like - not our picture but from the internet.... And this picture doesn't do it justice - there are two bands of gray around the planet that we could see. While I was up and viewing through the scope I saw a shooting star but was told that in all likeness, it was probably a satellite. Still, pretty cool.

Pretty special day - how many of you all have been to an observatory and looked directly through a telescope into outer space? Seen a new planet beginning or one that was dying?

Benson, Arizona

We packed up Saturday morning in Las Cruces, New Mexico and drove 250 miles west to Benson, Arizona, our home until the beginning of December. We have paid for the month and we will move before that, it is much cheaper to pay for a month versus paying by the week. We had no issues with the brakes on the trailer, thank goodness. Dave still has to tweak the disconnect while we are here, it is still a tad too short on sharp turns. We have signed up for Thanksgiving buffet dinner here so at least we will be some sort of 'family' on the holiday. They have so much food that they split the meal up to two different times - one sitting for the main meal and then you come back at 6pm for dessert. I signed up for home made cranberry sauce - a recipe from my maternal grandmother - I think it was one she passed down from her grandmother from England. This is a really nice campground, has everything we could want and level sites. Our view out the living room area is the mountains.

Benson is a small town but has 9 campgrounds. We have already checked out this one as to staying here long term in the winter and decided it is not a fit for us, price is right - but there are train tracks about a mile from here and at times it gets too noisy. There are 5 more campgrounds right in this vicinity - and another 3 up the road are club-type campgrounds meaning that you have to be a member of that particular camping club. We are members of one of them - Escapees - and did check out that place yesterday, they have a 6 to 8 year waiting list to buy a lot which you can either park your rig on or put a small one-bedroom park model. However, it has a great view being tucked into a side of a mountain and you look down into Benson. We do feel that Benson is a tad too far out of the way - if we had to fly back to Cleveland we would have to travel to Tucson or even Phoenix to get a decent flight - too far.

There are hiking trails, birding trails, caverns, copper mine tours to see while we are here - so we will be busy for awhile - until we get bored and want to more closer to Phoenix.

White Sands National Monument

Yesterday we drove to White Sands National Monument, the world's largest gypsum dune field at 275 square miles of blinding white - looks like sand, dunes. Amazing. We had been to the sand dunes in Michigan but this was awesome. The surrounding San Andres and Sacramento mountain ranges, part of the original Rocky Mountain range of 70 million years ago, have gypsum within it's peaks and the ranger who talked with us showed us the white band in the mountains of where the gypsum lies. Weirdest feeling, this sand. It is so soft. And hard! We drove around the park, stopped here and there to take pictures and walk on the dunes, watched kids on saucer sleds sliding down dunes, walked the Alkali Trail for about 2 miles then headed back to get to the area where at 4pm there was a ranger guided sunset walk. Very informative. She explained different aspects of how vegetation grows, or dies, pointing out tracks in the sand, showing us how the dunes move in feet every year. One of the amazing things is you could dig about 4 inches down and find wet/water. When it rains, the water has no where to go and just sits in this basin. Did you know that gypsum is the major ingredient for dry wall? It is also in tofu, beer, shampoo, fertilizer for crops, to name a few. The 'snow plow' guy is out every day plowing the sand off the roads. Sometimes 3 times a day if it's windy. Looks like snow from a distance. The tracks in the sand typically are gone by the next day. It is amazing that most of the vegetation we saw survives - the ranger said that most have a root base of 30 to 40 feet deep to get at the water. This picture is a sumac that has roots down 30 feet and when the dunes are moving, the plant will adapt and grown deeper roots to survive. Many animals will burrow into the base to live. We were on land that belonged to the White Sands Missile Range and were treated to a number of (we think) Air Force jets flying overhead. At times you could here when they broke the sound barrier (boom!). Fortunately there wasn't any missiles or target shooting going on that day, when there is the park is closed. The sand, feels like talcum powder.

Still in Las Cruces

Has been a quiet week. We got the RV in last Monday to the dealer and they had the brakes fixed and we were back at the campsite settled by 1pm. I think until we pull the rig any distance will I feel more relaxed, still a little scared of what happened. Since last Monday we have putzed around town, Las Cruces isn't a place that we would come back to for any length of time, only for a night or two as we pass through going east or west. Very steeped in Spanish culture and everyone speaks Spanish as well. We are only 15 miles from the border of Mexico, and fortunately there isn't any problems.

We tried a couple of nights last week to catch the full moon rising over the Organ Mountains near Dripping Spring but with the fading light, this is the best I was able to capture. What struck us the most was the quietness of the area at sunset. A few birds came out but nothing else. We had to watch for rattlesnakes, thankfully didn't see or hear any. Still very dramatic. To see the lights come on over the city to the west as the sun was setting and the darkening purple/pink of the night to the east - breathtaking.

This town is very easy to get around and by the third day here we did not need a GPS. We drove down to El Paso couple of days ago to look at RVs just to get a feel of what other options we may want if we park this rig somewhere. Nothing looked appealing. Have managed to get to some great Mexican restaurants - Dave got his hot chili pepper/jalapeno breakfast fix. We will definitely do this one more time before leaving. We have sat tight since Friday since it's been overcast and dreary, catching up on things. We plan to go to White Sands National Monument tomorrow since it's the best weather day of the week. We will be leaving here hopefully by the end of the week, about 1 1/2 weeks earlier than we thought, to head to Benson, Arizona to do sightseeing. We are bored here, not alot to see or do. When we do get to Benson - about 4 hours west of here - we will be close enough to Jill and family that we could spend the holiday with them, if they will be home.

Organ Mountains and Dripping Spring

Friday we decided to go hiking, to get out of the funk of having this rig broken and knowing we cannot move until fixed. The Organ Mountains which sits on the east side of Las Cruces has an interesting history. Back in the 1870s a General Van Patton set up a mining camp and built a hotel near a spring (called Dripping Spring) for those drawn to the mountains and fresh air. A large hotel, picnic area, and even a roller skating rink was built. Then he sold it to a doctor who turned it into a sanitarium for tuberculosis patients of which his wife was afflicted. We understand during a rainy time this spring is really dripping - but all we saw was ruins of the reservoir and a slight drip-drip of water. Amazing how the buildings are still standing after all this time. Long story short, the doctor ran into financial difficulties, the sanitarium closed and the land passed to a rancher and then another. When we started out on the hike we knew it would take us up 1000 feet but what we didn't know was how hard it would be to walk this path 0f 2 miles. This area is run by the Bureau of Land Management and these folks have paved the roadway with large stones making it very difficult to walk up and very uneasy and unsteady on the way back down. Thank goodness for our walking sticks - we slipped and slid on the way down. Never the less, we did it, walked around the ruins, got some neat photos, and then rewarded ourselves afterward with a trip to Si Senor restaurant about 2 miles from our campground, one of two run by the same family, the other in Chandler, Arizona near where the grandkids live. Food was yummy but Dave suffered big time afterward because he enjoyed the hot sauces a tidge too much - many Maalox's later he finally had a settled stomach. Saturday our legs were very sore from the walk. We said we would not go back to the other walking paths there, the stones made it too difficult to comfortably walk. We have some other things on our to-do list before we leave here so we may stay for the month, or not.

Missing the Sunsets

While it is nice to be in a more southern area of New Mexico, we were spoiled with the awesome sunrises and sunsets of Santa Fe. We haven't come across these colorful skies anywhere else we have traveled. Truly amazing. Needless to say - words cannot express what you see. Here are a series of photos taken on the last night spent in Santa Fe - spectacular! I have kept these photos because some day I want to make a quilt with all these colors to remind us of this enchanted area.

Las Cruces, New Mexico

We packed up and left Santa Fe by 9:20am yesterday and the temp was a whopping 37! Brrr. Dave's fingers almost got frost bit. Drove the 280 miles south on Interstate 25 - a lovely drive but we decided we didn't want to drive that road again. Road surface was great, traffic very light, but the scenery was kinda boring. A set of mountain ranges on one side for awhile, desert conditions, then that mountain range went away and the next set of mountains appeared on our other side. We followed the Rio Grande again all the way down, crossed it a couple of times. I am still amazed that this river flows all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico and for the most part -is a shallow wide river, you could wade across it. Visible were many flash flood washouts.

We made a quick stop in Truth or Consequences - New Mexicans call it T or C - (the town was renamed to this from Hot Springs because a game show host said that he would host the show from the first town that renamed itself after the show). This town is quite small and it is right near the huge Elephant Butte State Park which is New Mexico's largest - 200 miles of shoreline. You can see the lake from I25 but from what we saw was quite muddy and very low. New Mexico is experiencing a drought and we saw it via the Rio Grande and also some of the dams and reservoirs we toured while in Santa Fe.

Got to this campground, Sunny Acres, just west of the town and registered and pulled up to the site to see how we would back in. And got into trouble. Our emergency brake system for the trailer locked up and it caused the tires to freeze. Could not budge the thing at all. Dave ended up cutting the wires just to get us in the sight. Can you imagine if this would have happened while on the road going 60 miles an hour? We were lucky we were in a safe place and could still maneuver the rig into the spot. We have since put a claim into our Jayco dealer and on Monday we will limp into the dealer about 1 1/2 miles away (thankfully that close). The good news is that it was 76 when we got here at 2:30pm. I saw where Santa Fe had a temp of 18 last night - are we lucky, or what? Our plans are to get this rig fixed and stay until the beginning of December, then we will move to Picacho Peak north of Tucson and south of Casa Grande for about a month, or two?

White Rock and Bandelier National Monument

With yesterday a clear blue sky and temp about 60 we decided to go exploring again. We drove to White Rock, a small community near Los Alamos, and walked the Blue Dot Trail of the White Rock Canyon. This canyon was carved out by the thousands of years of erosion of the Rio Grande. Can't say the colors were spectacular, but the scenery was magnificent. Black lava rock and dirt made up the entire walk and we saw the Rio Grande's full-force on how it carved out the area. It was too steep to crawl down and walk along the river so we just took the rim walk. From this walk we decided to drive towards Bandelier National Monument in Los Alamos and just do a drive tour. The fire from June which destroyed over 60% of the park and it's surroundings was evident everywhere we looked. In order to visit the NM you had to take a shuttle in - the parking area was also destroyed not only from the fire but the flash flood in August that took out many roads as well. Los Alamos is known for it's leading role in coordinating and leading the development of the atomic bomb back in the early 1940's and this complex is still going strong and has diversified. We had to pass through a security check at one point. We wonder how they managed to escape the fire - we could not see any damage to the buildings.

After driving around Bandelier and Alamos, we started back on the road towards Santa Fe when we passed a sign showing Tsankawi Prehistoric Site Trail of Bandelier National Monument and decided to stop and see what this was all about. I had read that there were ruins and a hiking trail that showed hieroglyphics. What a neat trail! We saw cliff dwellings, ancient ruins where the ancient Pueble Indians lived, cave dwellings and some of the hieroglyphics. And did we get filthy dirty in the process. The trail is carved out of white tuff ash and over the centuries you can see the foot prints of people as well as animals that traveled on the cliffs. If you look closely at the picture you can see one of the ladders we had to climb. making the hike a little hairy. I am not sure I would hike this trail again - we had to wrench our legs and bodies in places just to move forward. At the end of the trail we heard alot of birds and thought they were nesting inside many of the caves we saw. However, after the first wave of birds calls died down, they started up again in another direction. It was snow geese flying south for the winter and their calls were echoing off the cliffs. We saw hundreds if not thousands of these birds overhead. How cool!

Cochiti Dam and Tent Rocks National Monument

We survived the storm, thankfully only got spurts of snow flurries but lots of rain. When the sun finally peeked out on Friday morning there was snow again on the surrounding mountain ranges. Yesterday we had cabin fever and with the sun shining brightly and the promise of a nice day, we took a drive about 15 miles south of Santa Fe to the Cochiti Dam which is one of the Army Corp of Engineers' dams built to help ease flooding of the Rio Grande River. In the visitor's center we watched movie clips and learned alot about this river which originates in Creed, Colorado and flows all the way to the Gulf of Mexico by Brownsville. Amazing that last winter we not only crossed this same river in Los Ebanos, TX but we biked along the same river in Bentson State Park near McAllen, TX. We hiked one of the trails around the visitor center which eventually takes you to an overlook of the reservoir made from the dam. Very pretty area, a small Hobie cat sailing out on the lake and we saw camping on one side of the reservoir. The camping area is run by the Corp but it only has electric, not water. We don't like living like this in the RV so unfortunately while these campgrounds are very pretty and cheap ($10/night), we would not go there because we don't want to have to worry about getting water into tanks and then dumping when we leave.

From Cochiti Dam we drove about 5 miles south and stopped at Kasha-Katuwe (which means white cliffs) Tent Rocks National Monument, on the Cochiti Pueblo Indian Reservation and run by the Pueblo and the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. And again, we are glad Dave has the pass into the National Parks because the fee is waived if you have the pass. As we got within 1 mile of the monument we were awed by what we saw. Cone-shaped tent rock formations are from the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred over 7 million years ago and left ash, pumice and tuff deposits over 1000 feet thick. Pretty cool cones and way on top of the mountain - looks like a basketball sitting on a cone. We walked the cave loop trail which took us by a cave that was dug out by early man and you can still see the smoke stains on the cave roof. Signs said to beware of snakes which we didn't see but we were alert at all times. Large black crows flew overhead making strange muted sounds and their 'caw-caw' to each other was a treat to watch and hear.

Red Sky In Morning...

For many years Dave and I had a sailboat which we sailed on Lake Erie and we knew this saying by heart, and followed it's warnings....Red sky in morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailors delight. Which means red sky in morning, there is bad weather coming soon. Red sky at night - a beautiful day tomorrow. This is what we saw this morning at 7am out our dining window, looking west towards the Jemez Mountains. Oh boy are we in for it! The forecast for today is falling temperatures, rain throughout the day, turning into snow showers by 8pm with temps dropping into the mid 20's overnight. But, tomorrow the temps raise again to the mid 50's and this front will be long gone. We also saw a double rainbow not long after this picture was taken, Dave ran outside to take photos and bam - the rain started.

Right now, noonish, the sun is out, the wind is howling, and the outside temperature has dropped 10 degrees from a high of 56 at 10:30am and falling steadily. We are prepared for winter even if it's a quick 24 hour stint. This campground has sights for 150 rv's and right now about 25 are left. As I said the other day - mass exodus to south. One couple we talked to on Sunday said they were leaving on Monday to go to Durango - well, we hope they made it because Colorado is being hit with a winter storm and they were driving right into it. We also can see snow on the mountains now where it wasn't there about 5 hours ago. Better on the mountains than here! We make it through the next day or so and we are good. We have decided to move to Las Cruces which is 40 miles north of El Paso, TX sometime early next week. Distance is 270 miles south - and we are amazed that just this small distance will make our life more easy.

Abiqui'u and Jemez Mountains

There is an impending snow storm coming in tomorrow night into Thursday with temperatures dropping into the 20's at night and only 40 during the day - so, we decided to take advantage of the really nice weather yesterday and ride up into the mountains west of Santa Fe. Most of the information you read about Santa Fe keeps pointing to the picturesque sandstone formations and mountains that Georgia O'Keeffe painted and we went to find out if it was true. As we drove north and west we passed numerous small towns where the remains of ancient Pueblos are and these small towns are inhabited by Native American Indians. There are 19 Pueblos in New Mexico and each Pueblo settlement has a casino within the reservation. We were surprised at how busy each casino was. We drove to Abiqui'u (AB-ih-cue) where Georgia first set up a paint studio and gallery and she stayed there until she purchased a ranch (Ghost Ranch) some 30 miles more north of Abiqui'u some 10 years later. We were wow'd big time. We stopped at the Abiqui'u Dam run by the Army Corp of Engineers. Beautiful area. We definitely saw where Georgia got her inspiration from to paint, the red rock cliffs in the background, the crystal blue skies. From this area we then drove into the Jemez Mountains which is reported as a scenic byway which winds through the mountains and the Santa Fe National Forest south into Albuquerque. Every turn - wow. At one point we crossed over the Continental Divide - and when we did - we both remarked about our hiking adventure in the Rocky Mountains. I felt sorry for Dave - asking him to pull over so I could take pictures. There is so much history in this area that we have decided that we need to come back some day and explore the area to it's fullest. What we are surprised about - we thought we would be in warmer weather, similar to El Paso, TX but we are too close to the Continental Divide and the mountains and therefore, cold nights are the norm. We will move soon to much farther south to where we don't have to worry about disconnecting our water hose at night and bringing it in, and running heaters to stay warm. For the rest of the week, as we prepare for the storm, we will just hunker down and watch the world go by.

Taos Pueblo, Place of the Red Willows

I got back here to Santa Fe from my 10 day visit to Phoenix on Wednesday and yesterday we decided to head up to Taos to see the Pueblo. The drive to Taos took us on a scenic route through the Rio Grande Gorge - beautiful with the cottonwoods and willows in their golden fall colors and a river that flows along the roadway. We noticed that snow on the mountains was still evident from the snowfall over 2 weeks ago, we were at an elevation of about 5600 feet, climbing to about 7000 feet by the time we got to Taos. Taos Pueblo, "Place of the Red Willows" is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA. Scientists have dated the Pueblo to at least over 1000 years old and the Native Americans who live there say it is as old as creation according to their oral traditions. The details of their traditional values are guarded as sacred and will not be divulged because of their past history of oppression and slavery. Today over 1000 Tiwas live in the community of Taos and of the 1000 about 100 still live inside the Pueblo. No electricity, no water, the only amenity is wood stoves and the occasional use of propane. We were quite impressed with the day, finding out that of all the Pueblos in New Mexico, we visited the one and only Pueblo that was inscribed in 1992 by the World Heritage list by USESCO as the first living world heritage location. This means that Taos Pueblo has aboriginal status to the land and the continent.

The Pueblo has it's own tribal council and its officials and warchiefs are elected every year and has the duty to protect the wildlife and natural resources as well as the civil and business issues within the village and the relations of the non-Indian world. As you look at this picture you see colored doors which is the Spanish influence of the 1600's. Over the centuries Spain has tried to rule the Tiwas but the Tiwas revolted. Then the US Government came in and ruled the area and again the Tiwas revolted and murdered Governor Bent, thinking he and his people were gone, the Tiwas were again free in following their culture. But, the Army came in and with the Mexican/American war of the 1847 New Mexico became a US territory but allowed the Tiwas their continuing living conditions in the Pueblo. The buildings are made out of adobe, a mixture of water, straw and earth and must be maintained and replastered every year. Artists and craftsmen were located inside the village and you could purchase anything from bread, pastries, jewelry, artwork, paintings, drums, flutes, music, leathergoods. It was sad to see how the economy has also hit these people - many people just looked and didn't buy any of the goods. I on the other hand - supported them. I bought some yummy pastry, got some jewelry and an ornament. Very talented people!

Santa Fe Snow!

We moved yesterday morning from Santa Rosa to Santa Fe, New Mexico - a planned move - to be near civilization, especially when I will be gone from the 10th to the 18th in Phoenix grandchild watching. I wanted Dave to be secure being close to stores if he needs it. The down side is that we are 55 miles from Albuquerquie where I fly out of Monday - the cost of airline was 5 times more flying out of Santa Fe than Albu. So be it. And, in order to be in Albu we would have paid about $70 a night since the balloon fest is still on until Sunday. Most campgrounds are booked until this coming Tuesday, we are lucky we found this one - which has got to be the nicest place we have stayed at so far in our 2 plus years of moving around the country. And the cost? Only $20 a night! We look out over the Sangre de Cristo mountain range - part of the Rocky Mountains.

When we left yesterday it was 65 and sunny but as we drove the 88 miles northwest to here, heavy clouds were abundant and the temp had dropped 20 degrees. By the time we set up and got comfortable a light rain started. By 6pm a steady rain which lasted until 1am. And then - the temperature dropped, big time. And - by 5am the frost was abundant. What we got this morning was a beautiful view of the mountains - snow covered! Tonight it will be colder, space heaters and the furnace will be working to keep the chill out.

Our plan today is to go into old town Santa Fe and walk around and look. Grab dinner then head back in time to crank up the heaters and furnace more. We don't leave these on while we are gone, the cats just curl up in sleeping bags I put on the bed and chairs. A neat thing Santa Fe does is on Friday nights from 5pm to 8pm all museums are free which generates lots of traffic. And there are over 250 restaurants to choose from. This area is a haven for artists and I am looking forward to seeing what they do. We will visit the Georgia O'Keefe museum - she was a world renowned black and white photographer. Once I get back from Phoenix we plan to explore Santa Fe more and go into Albu for a day or so and then we will head much more south into warmer weather. Texas is not in our plans anymore - we will go due south to probably Deming, New Mexico for a spurt and then?