Desert Trails, Tails and Tales!

We’ve spent the last week in the Sonora desert in Arizona near Tuscon and the Mojave Desert in California near Palm Springs. Besides experiencing the desert and all of the types of cactus and desert "critters", we also toured the “Boneyard” - where the US military stores 4,000+ aircraft, the Biosphere 2 experiment, the only Titan II missile silo left in the world and Tombstone- the site of the famous gunfight at the OK corral. It was fun to have such a variety of things to see!


On the road....

A first on this trip....we "camped" at a truck stop and also at 2 casino parking lots - great price (FREE) and lots of fellow campers for company! Notice the truck snuggled up next to Rose - the truck pulled up next to us during the night. What a surprise we had in the morning when we looked out the window and all we could see was the side of a truck!

The weather has been absolutely fabulous – sunny every day and thankfully it is still cool! Can’t imagine being here in the summer when it’s 110+ degrees…. A view from the casino in Palm Springs

One of our many border patrol inspections...

We've seen some beautiful desert sunsets while driving and at the "campground"

Highlights:

Tombstone

• The authentic western town from the mid 1800’s with all of its “colorful” history

• Re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK corral and other historical events in Tombstone

• Boot Hill

Saguaro National Park


• Seeing the giant cactus ( Like you see in the movies!)

•  Learning about the Sonora desert and how the animals and plants adapt to the harsh environment

Tour of the “ Boneyard” at the Air force base in Tuscon and the Air and Space Museum

• Seeing ALL of the 4061 military planes that are “parked” in the desert ( including MANY F4s that Gary used to fly!) and a great display of all kinds of aircraft - Gary was in heaven!

Titan II Missile Silo and Rocket – the only one remaining after the SALT treaty with Russia

• Tour inside the silo with the Titan missile

• Simulation of a nuclear attack on the US and what the officers at the missile site were trained to do

Visiting  Biosphere 2 

• Learning about how the Biosphere2 facility ( Biosphere 1 is our earth) where 8 researchers lived in a completely sealed environment for 18 months to simulate if it would be possible to sustain life on Mars

Joshua Tree National Park and Palm Springs

• Learning about the Mojave desert and the Joshua trees

• Seeing the San Andreas fault line and 1,000's of windmills

Next stop: The Pacific Coast from Morro Bay to Monterey! It’ll be great to see a lot of green trees, nice green grass and the pacific ocean ( thankfully the tsunami warnings have been canceled!)- my favorite color is green! Molly can't wait to have nice soft green grass again to "do her piddles" - she just can't get accustomed to the crunchy straw and dirt! Our plan is to drive around Los Angeles..Rose gets claustrophobic in big cities and we all prefer the countryside ( Gary and I have both been to LA and don't need to see it again) !!!



Exploring New Mexico!

On the road…..

Rose is doing great on the trip so far! We have already traveled 2,469 miles through Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, all the way across Texas and New Mexico and no mechanical problems at all! You go girl!!!

We traveled from Big Bend National park north to the Texas/New Mexico border and hiked at Guadalupe National Park. The mountains are made out of a 280 million year old fossil reef from an ancient sea. It’s the largest fossilized reef in the world. There’s some human history here too. The first cross country mail delivery and stage coach service went through here. The trip took 25 days and traveled 2,700 miles from St. Louis to San Fransisco. What a rough and dusty ride that would have been – we REALLY appreciate Rose!

Our next stop not far up the road in New Mexico was Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It is absolutely amazing – we walked for 4 miles inside the cave and only saw a small portion of the 30+ miles of passage ways!

Next we stopped in Roswell to visit the “International” UFO Museum and learn first hand about the UFO sighting in 1947. It was fascinating to learn the perspectives of both sides – the government (non believers) and the locals ( believers). It makes you wonder - are we really alone in the universe? We searched for UFOs that night but the lights were too bright in the Walmart parking lot where we stayed to even see the stars!

Our last stop in New Mexico was Alamogordo. On the way there we drove through Billy the Kid’s old stompin’ grounds and learned about the life of America’s most famous and colorful outlaw. In Alamogardo we went on a ranger walk at White Sands National Monument - beautiful white sand dunes made of gypsum. We also drove up into the mountains to the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico. What an amazing place- huge multi story telescopes and researchers focused full time on studying the sun’s changes and effects on the earth!

At the campsite…

Well it was Walmart parking lots every night. The price is right and it’s easy to do grocery shopping while you’re there! Plus Molly loves to look out the window at all of the activity in the Walmart parking lot.

Next stops: Tombstone and Tuscon, Arizona! We’re learning lots about the wild, wild west!

Westward bound in Rose - our version of the covered wagon!

After a wonderful 4 months at home, we're off on a 3 month trip to spend time in the national parks in the south west after a  fun Bon Voyage party send off from our good friends John and Cindy.

It was so much simpler to prepare for this trip than it was for Alaska last year - no border crossings, no ferry rides and hopefully much better access to email and cellphone service! Our plan is to travel across the very most southern parts of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona during the colder months of February and March stopping to see Big Bend , Guadalupe, Saguaro, Carlsbad Caverns, Joshua Tree, Walnut Canyon, Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks and then travel up the California coast to Monterey and then head east to Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Death Valley and then on to the 7 national parks in Utah and Mesa Verde in Colorado before scurrying back home to enjoy the summer on the lake!

Gary did lots of prep to ready Rose for the 7,000+ mile trip out west. We were so hoping to have a really smooth start to our trip ( quite a change from last year) but is was not meant to be.  We weren't even out of the driveway when we discovered water was leaking out of the water heater onto the driveway ( not where the water is supposed to go!). Somehow during the cold winter weather  a valve cracked in the water heater system and of course the part that we needed was not in stock at the dealership near our home. So......our planned departure date was delayed a few days - fortunately it was easily adjusted since we had no reservations for this trip!

We had originally planned to spend a few days in Atlanta taking care of our granddaughters together but instead , I headed on down to Atlanta in Scooter to help out with Emmy and Lyla  for a few days while Gary took Rose to the "hospital" for her needed repairs. Rose got her leaks fixed in just two days so Gary met me in Atlanta. After a fun visit with Drew, Anna, Emmy and Lyla we headed south to Pensacola Florida for our first stops at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, San Antonio and Big Bend National Park in west Texas.

While on the road.....

Our campsite at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and Molly dog tired after a walk

Texas goes on forever - it took us two days to drive across the state - the landscape sure didn't seem to change much. The only exception was the "Buc- ees" store that advertised on billboards for 300 miles on I10 to "hold it" because  they have the cleanest bathrooms in the U.S. - we had to stop and see for ourselves! They do - plus they have LOTS of food and stuff to buy of course!!! If you are ever on I10 between Houston and San Antonio - "hold it" and stop at Buc- ees!!!

Pensacola Highlights:

• Gary and I sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet. He used a flight simulator to successfully land the jet on an aircraft carrier ( just like he did for real in the "olden days" when he was in his 20's)!   He wished it had been for real again , I , on the other hand, was thankful it was a simulation!

• Walking on the beautiful white sandy beach at the National Park

• Fresh shrimp from our favorite seafood shop - Joe Patti's

San Antonio Highlights:

• Seeing the Alamo and learning more about Texas's fight for independence from Mexico

• The river walk - a lovely stroll along the river

Big Bend National Park Highlights:

• Seeing the high desert and the only mountain range in Texas

• Rio Grande River that creates a 1,750 mile border with Mexico

• At the campsite in Marathon near Big Bend NP

Next stops will be in Northern Texas and New Mexico - Guadalupe National Park, Carlsbad Caverns and Roswell (can't wait to learn more about the UFO sightings there)!

Back home - safe and sound!

After having visited Alaska twice before on short week long trips, it has been a dream of ours for years to drive to Alaska in an RV and spend the whole summer there – taking the time to really explore America’s last frontier. We finally did it! And what an incredible adventure we had – countless and priceless memories!

It’s hard to believe our 5 month trip is already over! We are thankful to be back at home safe and sound after driving 10,305 miles in Rose and 5,479 miles in Scooter – they both did a great job in all kinds of weather and road conditions. To add to the challenge Scooter had to dodge the big bison and bull elk along the roads too – not easy when the bison and elk were bigger than Scooter - pretty intimidating!

PLUS…..

6 Canada border crossings - every crossing is different

1 lost hubcap - still looking for a replacement along the highway

3 rock chips in Rose’s windshield - bummer

11 Continental Divide crossings- that's what happens when you spend lots of time in the rocky mountains!

13 national parks - a favorite destination for us

Bears, bison and elk at our campsite - great to see from a distance

Crossing the Arctic Circle on the Ice Truckers Highway ( glad it was in the summer)

Stunning mountain scenery, great hiking trails, glaciers and more wildlife than we dreamed we would see- truly a dream come true for us - especially bears!!



Now, all five of us – Gary, Molly, Rose, Scooter and me are in need of a little “maintenance”! Then we plan to  enjoy the wildlife and beautiful scenery where we live AND most importantly, spend time with our adorable little granddaughters ( and their parents of course!)– they are coming for a visit  in 2 weeks – can’t wait!

Then we’ll start planning our next trip in Rose to the Southwest US early next year!Thanks for following along!