Kerrville, TX-November 30, 2011

We had a tiring day today but arrived safely in Kerrville this afternoon. We happened upon an accident with a pick-up truck pulling a travel trailer crossing to our side of the road and flipping over taking up both lanes of I-10. That meant we had to drive down the dirt median to go around it. That was not a safe feeling, but we were far better off than the couple standing on the side of the road looking at their trailer on its side. Then we had to drive through some heavy duty road construction here in town. But we pulled in here and were greeted with open arms. We are so glad we were not later because we got the last 50 amp space they had. A man who appeared to be the manager told us all that there is to do here and then had us sit in a Gator while he drove us around the entire place. This park is beside the Guadalupe River but they have a bridge across it so that tent campers stay on the other side on a little island in the middle of the river. We walked over there tonight and it is very serene. The water is so clear and clean and it sounds wonderful. They tell us we will wake up to deer and turkeys eating outside our coach. We would enjoy seeing that. Things are still green here because they have not had lots of freezing temps yet. It is such a welcome change for us. There's a fun Christmas thing happening in Fredericksburg on Friday, so we may stick around for that. It is a German celebration and Jerry being full blooded German will really enjoy that. I will like it as well.

Fort Stockton, Texas-November 29, 2011

We arrived in Fort Stockton, TX late this afternoon. This is merely a place to sleep tonight. It is in the middle of nowhere. We will put in a longer day tomorrow to get closer to a nice park in the middle of civilization with lots of fun things to do.

"Dog" and Farm Museum-November 27, 2011

For three days we thought about a "dog" we saw in Old Town Mesilla. We went back and got it today. Please see picture. So why did we do this? Everywhere we stay, people in coaches have lots of dogs. We always have to say we do not have one. Well, now we do. Meet Pepe Rocky Las Cruses Coseo-Hoffman de Mesilla. We'll call him Rocky for short. We do not have to house break him, take him for a walk or buy him food. He's solid as a rock. Isn't he cute? Now for our first stop this morning. We went to the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. It was the story of farming and ranching in New Mexico for all of its history. The museum is on 47 acres. We walked all we could handle. It is very spread out so we got more than our fair share of exercise today. The story of how chiles were started here was the most interesting. Christopher Columbus thought he had found pimento when he saw these plants. Pimento is Spanish for pepper. Peppers and chiles are not the same. Confused? Don't worry. We didn't know the difference either. They serve everything with green chiles and they are delicious. I am not a pepper eater but I love the chiles. Great flavor and not hot. Oh, the museum. They demonstrated how the early Indians managed to irrigate their crops without wasting a drop of water. They were extremely intelligent with water. We were able to see their homes on the inside. They looked a bit like an igloo but covered with mud. The museum traced every group of people who moved in here and what they contributed to make New Mexico what it is today. Parts of New Mexico are very impoverished and depressing. Not here. This is a vibrant area. They raise some beautiful cotton. We have seen pecan trees, pistachio trees, alfalfa and dairy farming in addition to the cotton. Being married to a retired farmer helped me enjoy all of the antique farm equipment on display. We also saw a century plant in full bloom. We have not see that before. We drove past New Mexico State University and were very impressed with the beauty of the campus. It is growing, too, and construction was in process. It was a very interesting day. We ended it with a pizza from a local baker. We found out about him while we were in the middle of the candy aisle (at Wal Mart) listening to a man get on his soapbox about prices. Don't ask. The story is too long but it was wild while it was happening. This is long and I apologize for that. It was a busy day! And a fun day. We move on down the road tomorrow. I'll report where we landed tomorrow night.

Shopping-November 26, 2011

After lots of rain and some wind, we decided to do some Christmas shopping today. We slept too late to get to the Farmer's Market downtown. We still did a lot of walking which we always enjoy. We did find some neat things, but the best of all was lunch. We ate at Double Eagle Steakhouse. It is a 150+ year old adobe home with original oil paintings and Baccarat crystal chandeliers. It had an open courtyard in the middle. It was so pretty. The food was delicious. I forgot to say the house is haunted by two ghosts. Neither of them visited our table. It was so crowded I doubt the ghosts were interested in roaming around. I suspect they prefer for it to be empty. Tomorrow is our day of rest. I wish you a peaceful and pleasant Sunday.

Rain and more rain-November 25, 2011

It started raining at midnight last night and continued until late this afternoon. In this part of the country people go completely ape over 1/10th of an inch of rain. At 1/2 inch everything floods. We waited til it cleared a bit and then just went out for a few minutes. We were going in Sam's when the car door closed on Jerry's thumb. He smashed his finger and I cried. That's teamwork! We have spent some time this afternoon looking up all the things we have overlooked so we have our list ready for tomorrow. It's only supposed to be a few degrees cooler but no more rain. We'll see what adventure appears in front of us tomorrow.

Alamagordo and White Sands-November 23, 2011

What a fun but exhausting day! We headed for Alamagordo to the space museum and a highly recommended pistachio store. We found both. But before we got there, we drove through the White Sands Missile Range and past Holloman AFB. It was intriguing. We also had to go through one of those illegal alien check points. We passed and were allowed back on the road! Then we stopped at the White Sands National Monument. Neither of us was prepared for what we saw. In the middle of the desert was miles and miles of sugar white sand, almost identical to what you see on the Gulf Coast. When the pavement runs out, the road is then packed sand which resembles snow packed roads in Colorado. It was absolutely fascinating. We both are sorry that we did not know about this place when Derrick was little. He would have really had fun there. We just parked and watched the kids sledding down the mountains of sand. The sand is very cold and very dry. It is only a little coarser than coastal sand. Gulf Coast sand is made of quartz. This sand is gypsum.  Pictures make it look like snow but there are cacti growing out of it. If we had been a little braver, we would have hopped on a sled and screamed down a sand mountain. In Alamagordo the space museum taught us what an immense role New Mexico played in the growth of our missile and space program. New Mexico's terrain is so similar to the moon that Neil Armstrong spent time on a ranch here learning to walk on the sandy soil and rocks. And we learned that the Space Port I questioned yesterday is very real. It was built during the race to build a private aircraft to go into space and back with private passengers. The $10 million contest was won in 2004 by a group from California. The Space Port is still being used but not for the same purpose right now. There is so much more that we saw and did today, but this is already long enough. I could write pages for just today's adventure. It was so interesting. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Las Cruses, New Mexico-November 22, 2011

Not a word has been said, but I think on this date in 1963, Pres. Kennedy was assasinated. That was quite a while ago. Ok, we had a good trip from Elephant Butte. This park in Las Cruses is very nice though a bit dusty. Las Cruses is a very busy city. It's clean, too. And it is not depressing like E.Butte. We will be here at least a week. The mountains east of here are quite jagged and very unique. That means they are young, comparatively speaking. We've not seen any quite like these. They look blurry through the front window. We went to walk around Old Mesilla Village and found so many fun items. But we don't have room to store them. We ate dinner at La Posta de Mesilla. It was just delicious. We may go back there again before we leave. On the way here we passed an exit for the New Mexico Spaceport. Have you ever heard of that? Were they going to launch people into space from there? That was a surprise to us. We also saw, on the other side of the road, Border Patrol agents going through every car, truck, van, motorhome, anything on the road. Might we assume they were looking for illegals? That really caused a backup. We are glad they were not on our side of the interstate. We have so many places we could hide somebody, but would not. I think we will find some very interesting things to do here. Stay tuned..............

Elephant Butte Lake-November 21, 2011

For two days we have had horrendous wind. During the night the wind quit and first thing this morning, the rain started. I think this was a stop to simply provide us with rest. It was not an adventure to see what's here. So, we will head on down the road tomorrow morning. We did go out today for lunch and drove to the dam at the end of the lake. We were stunned at how low the lake is. And it is not because lakes downstream are always lower in the winter. It is because this area is in a drought. The weeds in the picture were once water. It's depressed and depressing enough here even in good times, but to look at that gigantic hole just makes this a really sad place to live. How I hope these people find better times in the future. We did meet our "next door neighbor". He is from Maryland. We enjoyed our talk until the rain increased and we all ran indoors. We will be to see another part of New Mexico tomorrow. For the record: Jerry was right. This is not Elephant Butte, it is Elephant Butt!

Elephant Butte, New Mexico-November 19, 2011

Jerry has called this city Elephant Butt all day long. I just can't handle staying at a Butt. It does end in "e"! Butte. It is very close to Truth or Consequences. It is fortunately off the beaten path in a town of 7000 people at about 4000 ft in elevation. So far so good. But the wind is blowing terribly hard and has for most of the day. That's why we stopped early. We have not even put out our left side slides yet because of the wind. The terrain between Albuquerque and here is hard to describe because I can't choose which word is more accurate: drab, brown, boring, barren, uninhabitable. You choose which you prefer because it is actually all of them. It is not fit for rocks, much less humans. How sad. However, around this little city there is so much history rich with silver mining. We had planned to stay here only 2 days but we may have to stay a few days longer just to see it all, or at least part of it. As we typcially do, we take Sunday off. So, tomorrow will be a day of rest for us. I hope it is for you, too. Monday will either begin our adventure in this area or we will be on the move again. We reach a point in Las Cruces where we have to go east through El Paso and on into Texas or go east and head toward Tuscon, AZ. We enjoyed AZ so much farther north that we may go east. We'll see which way we are lead.

Great dinner-November 18, 2011

We had dinner tonight with the girlfriend of one of Derrick's close friends. Beth is attending the Univ. of New Mexico on a golf scholarship. We went to Little Anita's in old town Albuquerque. Let me back up a bit. We left mid-afternoon so we could drive Route 66 into town and to also have time to walk as much of old town as we could. I will tell you I have looked at more turquoise jewelry than I needed to see or ever will need to see again. And I suspect it was not all native made. It is sad to see what has become of Route 66. It was really something in its hayday. Anyway, we stopped in at the Candy Lady shop to see what candy she had. We were waited on by the owner. Before we got out of there we had a map of New Mexico with several routes we can take and sights to see, all highlighted! We have met some of the most unique people on this journey. This was one more to add to the list. She was a riot. Dinner with Beth was a delight. The food was good, the company was terrific and our waiter was a complete dimwit. Overlooking him, it was a fun evening. We have decided not to go north. We do not want to try to figure out how to wrap pipes to get through nights that are in the 20s. Sadly, that means no Thanksgiving with Derrick this year. We still don't know where we will go tomorrow, but we will be on the road again.

Albuquerque, NM-November 17, 2011

We arrived in Albuquerque this afternoon after a drive through so many terrain changes we lost count. About every 30 miles or so the scenery drastically changed. When we crossed into New Mexico (our 21st state on this trip) we were facing the painted cliffs. We almost squealed with surprise. They were just fabulous. I tried taking pictures but through the front windshield they were blurry. We also went through about 20 miles of solid lava rock on both sides of the road. In fact, they had to blast through it to build the road. See picture above. It is so easy to see the rolling turbulence that took place while this planet Earth was being formed. It is just written on the face of the land. And we are so thrilled to have been able to see all of this. We did venture into the hectic world of the city of Albuquerque for dinner tonight. We successfully found a great Mexican restaurant. We have been looking for such a restaurant for weeks. We never did find one in Arizona anywhere. So we are truly happy campers. We planned to stay here for two days and then decide whether to go north or not. The Colorado weather is iffy right now. We'll see. Oh I forgot to mention the goats. Outside Gallup, we stopped for a break. Thankfully we do not have to go into a rest area, but we still sometimes walk around outside. So, we did today. In the field next to the rest area there appeared a herd of goats, all white except for one big black one. He was the leader. Those goats all marched like a marching band. Left, left, left-right-left. I'm not kidding. They were in complete lockstep with each other. Two broke away to eat some weeds. They quickly joined the group and fell right back into perfect step with the rest. We just stood there and watched in awe. It was such a sight to see and we were having so much fun I forgot to take out my cell phone and video it. You would have enjoyed the sight as much as we did.

Painted Desert/Petrified Forest-November 16, 2011

We made it to Holbrook, Arizona today, connected everything quickly and jumped in the car to go to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. The Painted Desert was beautiful and reminded us of the badlands of South Dakota with more red color. The Petrified Forest just blew us away. It was so spectacular. Looking at tree trunks that were 200 million years old was just stunning. They have crystalized with many different colors yet still contain some small pieces of wood. A petrified log has an incredible feel to it. There were places where the volcanic ash was mixed with tiny pieces of petrified wood. Such a sight. Jerry said this was one place he always wanted to see and had never had the opportunity. So, today was a special day for him. I honestly don't think I ever thought about the desert or forest when I was growing up but I am always happy to go see anything pretty and awe inspiring. I loved the forest. It was positively breathtaking. We have been so blessed to have so many days on this trip that left us speechless with the beauty of this country. How I wish everyone could see what we have seen so far. What a a trip!

An RV that sparkles!-November 16, 2011

We were delayed in going out today by two guys who came to wax the land barge. They used a wax that was developed in Arizona for this climate. It is fabulous. They did a terrific job and we are very pleased. Now we can see the glittery finish like we never have before. How delightful to have such a clean coach. Poor little Cute Red Vehicle needs cleaning now. It's against the rules to wash the car in this park. We did make a quick trip into Cottonwood this afternoon for a Christmas gift. Yes, it's just around the corner. We will be moving down the road tomorrow. Not sure exactly where we will end up yet. Will let you know tomorrow. We're going back through Flagstaff so we will be climbing some wild and crazy mountains. We do think we will come back here again next year. It's just a great place to stay. The scenery is so pretty, people are nice and the weather is great.

A clean RV!-November 14, 2011

We stayed here today to have our coach professionally cleaned on the outside. It surely does look nice. The top of it was dirty and everytime it rained, the dirt ran down the sides. Neither one of us felt the urge to climb up on top and scrub it with a brush and hose. So we paid someone to do it. It was worth every penny. Then we decided it looked so nice that we would have the guy come back tomorrow and wax it. We walked around it and thought he had made us a deal at twice the price. It would take us at least two or three days to do what he can do in part of one day. So tomorrow may not be a wild and exciting day. We'll see. We're studying where to go next. Happy Birthday to my mother!!

Tuzigoot Monument-November 12, 2011

We have seen more dwellings of so many different Indian tribes that I do not think we'd pass a test on all of them. Today was a pueblo dwelling of the Sinagua ("without water") Indians just outside of old town Cottonwood called Tuzigoot ("crooked water"). These Indians built 120 feet above the Verde River on a very tall hill (called a mountain here). Each family that moved in built a room attached to the others. So, at one time there were 77 complete rooms in this pueblo. They were built in the 1100s and abandoned very mysteriously in the 1400s. Some believe they are ancestors of the Anasazis in the Four Corners area which mysteriously disappeared in the 1600s. I'll stop with all the facts and tell you this valley was so gorgeous, but today was very windy. We walked every place we could and tried to imagine how ingenious these Indians were. They used every available resourse to make a way of life. Their fulltime jobs were simply surviving from one day to another. We are amazed at what they could do and how strong they were. This southwestern part of our trip has taught us so much history and so much compassion for what difficult lives these people lived. It is truly amazing. Tomorrow is Sunday so I wish you a restful and enjoyable day.

Sedona-November 11, 2011

Yesterday was consumed by a sewing project I was determined to complete. I did and it feels good. Today we decided we wanted to see the movie, J Edgar. It took some time to find a theater. The only one we found was in Sedona. So, we made our first trip there. We are both so glad we had to go there. We would not have wanted to miss Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek. I can't begin to describe it. It was beautiful, too beautiful. It came close to looking like someone carved the mountains and then painted the layers. Then somebody else had to plant all the dark green trees. The houses are a lot like Santa Fe. Few colors are allowed. All buildings, residential and commercial, were of the adobe style. However, the way they situate the buildings into the hills is very unique and very appealing. As you go through the valley to get to Oak Creek and Sedona, it's just typical desert. Then suddenly you are "slapped" in the face, figuratively with this spectacular scenery. It was another one of those days where we ran out of adjectives. This area saves money on traffic lights by putting in roundabouts. The theater was at the 9th roundabout!! We were dizzy by the time we found it.  Now a word about the movie. The theater was packed with old folks like us. And that's because you have to be this age to understand what a devious and powerful man J Edgar Hoover was. And the rumors that surrounded him were true. The acting was great and the makeup was incredible. It is definitely a must see. Like all Clint Eastwood directed movies, it is long, but well worth sitting through.

Alcantara-November 9, 2011

I did not post a blog yesterday. I assumed you would not want to hear about housecleaning! Today we went to the Alcantara winery in between where we are in Camp Verde and Cottonwood. It was way off the beaten path, down a long dirt road all the way to the Verde River. It was a beautiful location. We met the owner who also calls herself a farmer. In fact she was on her way to an Arizona Farm Bureau meeting. It was fun to listen to how she takes care of the plants which today are brittle and brown from the past few nights of very low temps. We enjoyed the stop but did not buy anything.  If it were not for the intense summer heat in this area we both can see how someone would want to live here. It's really a great place. The scenery is not just beautiful, it is also soothing. We'll stay a little longer and then check the weather to see if we can go back to Derrick's for Thanksgiving. An interesting note: Alcantara is the owner's mother's family name and it means "the bridge". I really like that.   

Montezuma's Well-November 7, 2011



It makes sense that after we saw Montezuma's Castle we would also need to see Montezuma's Well. It is what it sounds like. It is a naturally occuring, continously refreshed open pit well that stays at 76° year round. The Sinagua Indians found where the water could be taken from the bottom of the well and run through an irrigation ditch to their crops which included beans and cotton. The construction of the mile long, 3 foot deep canal was way ahead of its time. These Indians lived in three different kinds of homes around this well. There were cliff dwellings, homes on top of the cliff and pit dwellings which were houses built only half way into the ground. All of these houses were built to stay naturally warm in winter and cool in summer. All of the native plants provided food, dyes, fiber for clothing and baskets and medicines. It is amazing to see how they carved out a way of life using all of the natural things around them. And they did it without cell phones!! Seriously, it is really an amazing sight and the well is beautiful. The trail around it was fun to walk. But before we made our way back to the parking lot, it started raining with grauple mixed in it. It was a cold rain, but the temperature actually rose 13° while it was falling. No, I cannot explain that. As soon as it quit, the temperature dropped again and we were ready to leave. The sun is out now and it's another nice day. We are so glad that Arizona has gone to such great pains to save all of this history so that we can see it and enjoy it.

Jerome, AZ-November 5, 2011

Today we went to Jerome, a very old copper mining town that sits high on a mountain 3000 feet above the Verde Valley floor. There was a fresh dusting of snow on the higher peaks, but the weather was still tolerable. Cool but windy, 49°. The State Museum was the best museum we have seen so far. First of all we knew very little about copper mining, but we know alot now. Zinc, silver and gold were also mined here but the lifeblood of the economy was copper. The mines are closed now so only about 50 people still live there. And they are all hippies. However, town was crowded today. We had to wait for a table at the Mile High Grill at lunch. There was some fabulous copper jewelry in the local jewelry store. One store had nothing but kaliedescopes. They were fabulous with price tags to match. I can just see us trying to protect a $1500 kaliedescope as we bounce down the road. That would be a hoot! Jerome sits on top of two fault lines that are quiet for now. However in the early 1900s there was a quake that moved the city jail 225 feet down the mountain side. It's still there but definitely not in use. Jerome has as rich a history as any gold mining town, but is not as well known because copper was not the bright shiny stuff the 49ers were looking for. A walk through the museum and then through town shows us what incredibly strong people lived in this city over 100 years ago. The museum did have a video to watch showing the history of Jerome. It was 27 minutes long. We thought we'd watch about 5 or 6 minutes of it and then leave. We sat for the entire 27 minutes and enjoyed every minute of it. The story was told by a "ghost" who walked us through history with an indepth look at many buildings and all the purposes they served. It was such a unique perspective we just had to see it all. This was a wonderful experience completed with breathtaking views from the top of the city. It was a bit cloudy for most of the day so the pictures did not turn out as well as we would have liked. But we have great memories.

NOTE: Don't forget to change your clocks tonight before you go to bed! We don't change here in Arizona and we love that.  

Montezuma Castle-november 3, 2011

Montezuma was never in this area. However, his descendants and followers moved here from Mexico. Therefore this castle has his name. It is not a castle in the sense we know. These Indians (or Native Americans), the Hopi, lived just as the Anasazi Indians in Mesa Verde, Colorado. They built their homes into the side of the mountain. This one is slightly different in that it is 5 stories high, all of it inside the mountain. They built walls on the outside which made it look like an adobe house. This dwelling was so large and so elaborate they call it a castle. So, of course all we can see is the outside wall and holes in the side of the mountain. It is incredible to think these people figured out how to engineer their dwellings in the sides of a sandstone mountain. They used every plant and tree in the area for every conceivable use including food, tools, shelter and fabric. Some trees are a harder wood than others. Those were used for tools. The river below was used for irrigating their crops by means of canals that moved the water out of the river into the fields, basically the same way farmers irrigate today if they lack sprinklers. This dwellling faces south which gave this castle solar heating all year round. These people left this area in the 1400s. It is easy to say they were way ahead of their time. We had no idea when we drove in that Montezuma's Castle was actually a cliff dwelling. It is a beautiful area that is very well maintained by the National Park Service. It was an interesting and informative day.

Verde Valley-November 3, 2011

Today was one of those unfun days. We had to go grocery shopping, something neither of us likes to do, but it is quite necessary. As we drive around and study maps and websites we find we are in the middle of a number of cities and sites. We are very close to Cottonwood, Sedona, Jerome, Dewey, Prescott, not to mention the city of Camp Verde. We are close to Montezuma National Monument, two national forests, two ranches that are open to the public and more! We may be here a while or we will come back next year to see what we miss this year. We did grocery shop in Cottonwood, just a few short miles down the road. This is certainly nothing to blog about, but we are excited to have access to all of this and eventually be able to share it with you. We have not a clue what we will choose to do tomorrow. Today was an absolutely beautiful day. For the last two days we have had nothing but clear blue skies, not a cloud in sight. Today we had those wonderful ice crystal clouds. It was such a treat. No wind today. Our pomegranate bush/tree is once again very happy and has put on a little tiny pomegranate. It's so cute. Hopefully we will not knock it off before it matures.

Camp Verde, AZ-November 2, 2011

It was quite a ride from Williams to Camp Verde. The wind came up just after we left Williams and it really got strong. We just had to slow down and take it easy. We went up from 6700 feet in Williams to 7000 feet at the Arizona Divide. Then we came down to 3200 feet  here over some very steep grades. They even have runaway truck ramps here. When we went through Flagstaff, we came through a forest. Now we are in the high desert. It is quite unique. We both agreed we may stay here for an extended length of time. This is so peaceful and it is really hard to describe. It is on an Indian Reservation. We loved the last one we stayed on. People are friendly. The wind has died down. It is wonderfully warm, but not hot. Very, very nice. And we have a tiny little lizard who seems to be annoyed with us because we disturbed his home. He's about 2-3 inches long. No problem. We will study the internet to see what things we can find to enjoy while we are here. The pictures I took along the way are not nice enough to share. Sorry.

Bearizona-November 1, 2011

I say it every month-where did last month go? It is extremely windy today. We are so happy we were lead to stick around here another day. Traveling in this would not have been pleasant. And I suspect it will not be a fun night of sleep. However, these days happen now and then. We will just hang in there and travel tomorrow. Today we went to Bearizona. It's a wild life park that you drive through. I believe there are a number of these around the country. This one is being vastly upgraded so down the road it will be fantastic. It was fun and we did enjoy the animals. We did not open our windows in the bear exhibits and we did not feed any of the animals. We saw white bison, Dall sheep, black bears, bighorn sheep, wolves, and American bison. They had an area that we could walk through with baby animals in exhibits. The bear cubs were great entertainment. Then we went to a raptor show. The birds were beautiful. They were allowed to fly across the audience. I was brushed on the head twice and Jerry was hit once by the feathers at the end of the bird's wings. We were asked not to duck because it decreases the amount of wind the birds fly on, so we sat very still. It was so unique. Susan who conducted the presentation was excellent. She made every moment extremely interesting. It was such a beautiful day, if you ignore the wind, that it felt great to get outside. I'm having a hard time deciding what picture to attach. There are so many. What a nice day!