Jul 3, 2012 - Kinishba and Home Again

Just before we departed the White Mountains, Gary and I did another side trip to the Fort Apache area. Just a few miles from the Fort lies an ancient community ruins named Kinishba; permission to visit this site is provided by the White Mountain Apache tribe (as part of our visit to their museum). Due to rainy weather (and dirt roads to the ruins, we had postponed our trip to Kinishba. Returning to visit Kinishba was well worth the second trip! Unlike ruins we visited earlier on this trip, we were the only people there! The ruins had been...

Feb 8, 2012 - Tucson...... we have lift off

We have left Tucson's TMM parking lot and have a number of things to talk about as we are head SOUTH. What? After packing up, we killed three birds with one stone. We got diesel, went to the Botanical Gardens and brought groceries from the SAME parking lot. The gardens are behind a shopping center with a gas station attached to a food store. Obviously this beautiful place was some one's mansion years ago and was turned into a botanical gardens. It was fantastic. Multiple themes and the beauty of the desert. Hard to beat. We only hope we...

Feb 4, 2012 - Madeira Canyon

Enjoyed a lovely hike in Madera Canyon with Ken and Ginny. Hiked about 6 miles with about 1000 ft elevation gain. Brother Mark joined us for dinner at a local restaurant on his way to Organ Pipe Nat'l Monument. Enjoyed beautiful desert sunsets from Crowders' deck.

Aug 7, 2011 - August 7, Sunday

I know this is late, but . . . Jim and I got up and got to the RV about 9:00 - Way too late in the day here for heavy work. We are in Monsoon now so it is humid AND hot. Nice in the morning, great in the afternoon, but hard work will hurt you. Anyway, We unloaded a lot of stuff from the RV. All the fridge, bathroom, bedroom and part of the living area. We still have another load or two to go. You always take more out than you put in, because you get to clean things to put back in. I did 4 loads of laundry yesterday and still have some to...

Aug 6, 2011 - August 6, Saturday - HOME

HOME! We started hitching the 5er about 7:30 plus or minus then went to the storage yard and had to back the 5er up to the trailer, exactly and get that hitched up. We left the RV park at 8. It was a beautiful morning. The weather was great and the colors were spectacular. I should have written the times down when we went thru places but alas, did not. All I will say is that we got into Sahaurita (Green Valley) at about 12:30. We drove straight to the Storage spot, unhitched the auto hauler, pulled around again and unhitched the 5er. We got...

Aug 6, 2011 - August 6, Saturday

Last Day? I got up at 5:30 - Could not sleep. I was up until 11 last night, but we are all packed. All the food (non refrigerated) are in bags grouped together. Nothing is in cupboards where the slide out will cover them. Everything is accessible. I hope! Anyway, dishes are done; packed; counters cleaned; etc. I will come back and do a better job when we bring it home but right now, that is how it is going to be. Way too much stuff. But we learn every time we go on a trip. I think it might only take two or three trips in the explorer to get...

Jun 18, 2011 - June 18, Saturday

As most of you know, Jim, Billy and I are off on a great adventure. We left Green Valley this morning at 7:15AM. Those of you who REALLY know me, knows that was really a hard thing for me. Up, showered, dressed, Billy taken care of, etc. I had to load the cold food this morning, unplug all the electronics, etc. AND all while having a panic attack. I was, am, is, very concerned about dragging the car along behind the 5th wheel. I will say that for the most part, it is working well. Jim even said that I had not yelled at him to much today. We...

Feb 22, 2011 - Titan II Missile Museum

Today we took a very interesting tour of the "Titan II Missile Museum". The Titan II is the largest ballistic missile developed by the United States. It can carry a warhead of over nine megatons, or the equivalent of nine million tons of TNT and deliver it within 5,500 miles in less than a half an hour. The amount of TNT to equal the explosive power of the Titan II warhead would require a train of 90,000 boxcars. The train would be 1,534 miles long, not counting the engines or caboose and would stretch from Tucson, AZ to Lexington, KY. The...

Dec 20, 2010 - Green Valley, AZ

Dec. 20-27. Green Valley RV Resort, Green Valley, AZ. We were about 7 miles from Colleen's sister (Bess & Larry). Colleen's brother (Jim & Sandi) were staying with Bess & Larry. We had my birthday (Dec. 22) and Christmas there. We all went to Tumacacori Mission, Christmas Eve for the luminaries. There were a lot of people there. It was very pretty and calming. This is an old Mission that's in the National Parks system. It was also a great night for it. We had hot chocolate and cookies and a nice drive home. We had a relaxing week. We did a...

Jan 17, 2009 - Missile and Church

Our first stop of the day was at the Titan Missile Museum. The silo became operational in 1963 and was deactivated in 1982 as part of President Reagan's policy (announced in 1981) of decommissioning the Titan II missiles. All operational Titan II silos throughout the country were demolished except this one near Green Valley which is now a National Historic Landmark. The Titan II was the largest operational land based nuclear missile ever used by the United States. The missile had one W53 warhead with a yield of 9 Megatons (9,000...

Oct 18, 2008 - Green Valley, AZ

Arrived in Green Valley on Thursday, Oct 16 to continue our quest for the "perfect" place. The housing market here is very confusing. New houses are selling for a lot less than existing houses. There are loads of existing houses. Hmmh! We are enjoying the great weather and the RV park has a pool and hot tub. We are meeting friends for breakfast at Coach's Sports Bar. You have got to see it to understand.

Feb 12, 2008 - More Cousins

Continued visiting relatives seeing Charlie's cousin Trisha and her husband Brian Ascherin south of Tucson in Green Valley, AZ. Last time we had visited them was about 13 years ago when they lived in Utah. We continue to find this project of locating and visiting cousins very enjoyable. Oh yes, found some more trivia for you. On Interstate 95 south from Tucson to the Mexican border all the highway informational signs have distance displayed in "kilometers". This is the only area in the US that has this feature