Apr 17, 2013 - Wilcox AZ - Autozone parking lot

Well, we finally got on the road again today, but it turns out it just isn't all that easy to get out of Arizona! We left Buckeye with the intent of spending the night in Deming NM, but the travel gods had other plans. Just before Benson, we saw a highway sign (the kind they use for amber alerts, traffic updates, etc.) that said Interstate 10 was closed at the New Mexico border. Seems there were high winds and bad dust storms between the AZ/NM state line and Las Cruces NM. Deming is right in the middle of that! We kept going, though,...

Apr 17, 2013 - Land of standing up rocks and Chochise

It was not a very restful night of sleep. Seems the train go by about every 40 minutes as they come thru they blow the horns!!!!! Anyways we were up early and took off about 9 and headed out to the Chiricahua National Monument. Our drive took us pass Fort Bowie which we did not venture off to see as it is just ruins. It was quite the fort in it day. Anyways at the park we decided to take a 3 1/2 mile hike with the winds blowing. Very beautiful we had to cut it short. This national park was home to home to the Chiricahua Apaches. Of the four...

Apr 16, 2013 - New horizons for us

We left today at 8:00 am and arrived at the Elks lodge in Willcox,AZ at 12:30. The town has a lot history and the surrounding areas too. Will fill you all in as we check out the areas. Nice lodge and campground area too. Only $15.00 a night. Plus were not too far from the railroad either, one just when thru had to be a mile long! We will see how it goes tonight! ha ha Had a great time meeting my cousin and found a lot out about the family on Marges mothers side. And of course the cousins were as always great hosts too! The wind was blowing...

Apr 5, 2013 - Westward Bound

Hello again .... Well we got away from Mission, Texas right on time and had an uneventful drive for 1 1/2 days, then a wheel bearing on the trailer rear axle broke and just about caught on fire .... A truck driver from US Express flagged me down and helped us get off of the Interstate safely ... This all happened on Interstate 10 between Ozona and Fort Stockton ... (more or less between somewhere and nowhere) .. We got back on the road Thursday afternoon and spent the night at a KOA camp in Van Horn, Texas .... Tonight (Friday) we are...

Apr 2, 2013 - Willcox, Arizona - Day 1

We left Tacna and drove east for 279 miles to Willcox, Arizona, for our first of 10 stops before we reach Tampa, Florida. Willcox is in the eastern part of Arizona, just off of Interstate 10. At 4000', this area has had summers with temperatures above 110 degrees, and we are told, a winter that dropped to -15 degrees about 30 years ago for a few days. Primarily, this area is mostly ranches, and farms, with a re-furbished downtown with a few restaurants, museums, businesses, and many antique shops. Overall, Willcox will be a nice 2 day stay....

Mar 31, 2013 - On the Road Again (Willcox, AZ)

You can sure tell when we haven’t traveled for awhile. We become complacent after nearly seven years on the road and, in spite of a checklist, things do not always go the way we want them to go. We took out time this morning and had everything ready to go by a few minutes after 8:00. Marilyn had completed her checklist and then went back to get a bottle of water from the fridge. As we pulled out from our Site I noticed that the camera wasn’t working and I seemed to have no trailer brakes. I fooled around with the electrical connection and...

Oct 8, 2012 - Owen Is Amazing!

Very disappointing that the little cafe at the Fort Stockton RV Park is closed for remodeling. They offered free coffee ( very weak) and "pastries" ( prepackaged yukky sweets) as a consolation. I wasn't consoled! We got an early start - around 9:30 - and gained two hours by crossing into Mountain Time and then into Mountain Standard Time. Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states that do not change clocks. Therefore, when we pulled into the RV park in Willcox, AZ at 5pm it was really 7pm old time and except for stopping at a truck stop...

May 11, 2012 - On Our Way to Phoenix

We often contemplate all the beautiful natural wonders that exist in our country and hope to be able to see as many of them as we can in our wanderings. But, let me tell you that they are NOT in West Texas! Except for oil wells and now wind mill farms, I don't see much reason to keep it! It is simply a barricade to be crossed to see the good stuff. I imagine there are a few things to see if we stayed for a little while, but it is just too d..m hot! So we will press on to Pecos for a night at Escapees Tra-Park. We left Waco on Saturday, May...

Mar 29, 2012 - Willcox AZ

Well, today was an easy day. Jeanne went to Green Valley to see Bobbie and then they went to see Bobbie's mom. Jeanne and Bobbie had lunch, of course, after their visit. We left Desert Diamond Casino about 1:45 and had a leisurely drive to Willcox, AZ., (about 90 miles). We don't like to drive too long in one day. We are staying at the Elks Lodge in Willcox, and as the pictures show, we kind of have our own RV Park. It's a nice facility with water and electric hook ups, gravel driveways and sites, and for only $15 bucks a night, (that's...

Mar 7, 2012 - I Saw The Light!

Last night, the weather guesser in Las Cruces said severe wind warnings were being posted for this afternoon, starting from noon on and that there would be zero visibility from dust storms by evening in the Las Cruces area. Needless to say, we wanted to avoid that so I told John to get me up really early, before daylight. Well, I was up and I actually got to see the sunrise this morning! I saw the light! We were on the road by 6:30 am, just as it was light enough to see without headlights. We made a quick stop for gas and were on the road...

Mar 1, 2012 - Willcox

After leaving Tucson, we headed towards New Mexico and got as far as Willcox. Now Willcox seemed colder than Mt Lemmon so you can imagine how Lily and I felt after living in the tropics. We stopped there anyway, mainly because of the famous names that were in the area. Bowie, Cochise and Apache Pass. When I was a kid (yes I can remember back that far) Jim Bowie was my hero, as opposed to the kids of today whose heroes are Gillard and Peter Garret. There is a place called Chiricahua National park which is really well worth a visit. The...

Oct 31, 2011 - Chiricahua Nat'l Monument

During our travels, we’ve come across a few places that we have really enjoyed and felt worthy of a repeat visit. One of those places was Chiricahua National Monument about 40 miles south of Willcox, Arizona. We first visited the park about 8 years ago and just loved the hike we took through the fascinating rock formations. Well, we were not disappointed on our return visit there this week. Since the campsites at the park are not large enough for our trailer, we stayed at the Elks Club in Willcox and drove the easy 40 miles to the park. We...