Changing States

A beautiful day for driving and drive we did.  AZ89 to I8 to I10 the road was mostly straight and flat. 

We left behind the fertile Tonopah Valley of orchards, hay fields, cattle feed lots, and chicken farms,

flew past Picacho Peak,

Tucson.

The road wound and dipped through the Dragoon Mountains and the Dos Cabezas Mountains

but for the most part it ran arrow straight.

In 7 hours we stopped three times.  Once for lunch at our favorite rest stop—mm318 on I10. 

Here the hills have eroded into piles of giant rocks.

Visitors can clamber around the rocks and take pix to their hearts content.

Our other two stops were for fuel—one was here.  What is The Thing?  We won’t tell you, but we can say that we enjoyed seeing it and that this is one of the few remaining iconic roadside stops in America.  It is located at mm 322 on I10.  It is a must see for any traveling adventurer on I10 in eastern AZ.

As we entered New Mexico the mountains receded and the desert changed from saguaro and creosote bush to yucca and grass.

We are staying at Dream Catcher Escapees RV Park for the next couple of days to reconnect with friends before moving on to Texas.  We like this area a lot for rockhounding, hiking and bike riding in the mountains, and we usually don’t travel 380 miles in one day, but our time is limited now.  We have to be north east Texas by the first of March.

Check in tomorrow to see what we do when we’re resting.

Louise and Duane

PS I try to make blog titles have more than one meaning.  In this one the state changed, the state of the desert changed, and the state of our travels changed from meandering to stepped up travel because of time constraints.  I hope you enjoy my little jokes.