Repeat

Snow?

It was cold enough,

and we had ice form on the antenna, grill and mirror backs,

but no, it was cotton in the field.

We drove the last 400 mile leg of our journey under solid gray skies and in cold temperatures, traveling from the Midland oil fields through plains,

and into the land of deciduous trees and green grass.

The scenery was nothing to write home about but we managed to find a few interesting sights such as: 

 four two-rotor helicopters,

the Fort Worth skyline

Old Glory  adding a splash of  color to the dreary day

and  Buc-ees!

(last chance to pee happy!)

I would have liked to stop and shop, but didn't have time today.

Now we stop and take care of business for at least a month.

Louise and Duane

Miles And Miles

I 10 to ! 20, east all of the way, took us up

around, and through some hills,

but for the most part, the roads were flat and straight.

We drove past lots of desert, but not green--less water I guess.  We went around Las Cruses, spread out at the feet of the mountains in the distance,

and through El Paso, the first city over the Texas/Arizona state line, 

and through the Border Patrol vehicle check.

Interesting sights included the Rio Grande River, down to a little creek now,

and miles and miles of oil fields.

We have been this route many times but always look forward to seeing the giant roadrunner perpetually gazing at Las Cruses.

A closer look reveals that it's made of junk, mostly old shoes!

Our plan was to drive only 300 miles or so,  but since we made good time we once again ended up driving 400 miles.  With only 400 miles to go to Tyler, our home base for the next couple of months, we will probably complete the drive tomorrow.

Driving like tourists on vacation!

Louise and Duane

There To Here

Goodbye Tonopah.  We drove east past the Palo Verde Generating Plant,

past Pichaco Peak

with the popular State Park at its feet,

past the balanced boulders,

past The Thing

into New Mexico

past large tanks of water from recent rains,

until we arrived at Dream Catcher (Escapees) RV Park in Deming, New Mexico.  Then we stopped for the night.

Seven hours and 400 miles for our first day made it a loooong one, but the rest of the trip will be shorter hops.

Tomorrow we should be in Texas.

Louise and Duane

Wag

During our 5 month stay here at Saddle Mountain RV Park in Tonopah, AZ, we have met a bunch of new people--all of them very friendly and very nice.  Bill, one of the pickleball players turned out to be quite the cartoonist who made some caricature studies of some of the players.  Here are my two favorites.

Lisa, who is always cold

This is Duane and me.  Whenever one of the guys deliberately spun a ball just out of my reach, I would stop and give them a blank faced look.  It must have reminded them of their mothers or something.  They would all get guilty grins on their faces then covered them with their paddles up to block "The Look".  

Apparently it was pretty potent!

Moving day tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

One More Day

With only one more day in our stay here in AZ, we spent the day getting ready to travel.  I emptied my rock tumbler and stashed all of the equipment in the truck, then cleaned house--including sweeping, dusting, and washing all surfaces.  Duane did outside chores.  

When we arrived at Texas Roadhouse yesterday, we were surprised to find a roadrunner in the parking lot.  With all or our trips to the desert, this is the only one we've seen.

Another surprise was a snow-capped peak. 

The evening sky was  a study in pink and blue.

By tomorrow afternoon we'll be ready to roll.

Louise and Duane

What To Do?

We have three days left until we move out of Saddle Mountain RV Park,  but instead of working on getting things ready to travel, we pretty much blew off the day.  We enjoyed playing pickleball in the sunshine before heading to town with our newest friends Kenny and Lisa for one last dinner at Texas Roadhouse.   Back home I dragged my chair next door to join some of the neighbor ladies who were soaking up the sun and yakking while Duane managed to strap down some things in the “garage” before we drove back to town for a few last minute groceries.  When we returned again, we went next door and spent the evening playing card games with Gene and Barbara. 

O well, there’s always tomorrow to get things done!

Louise and Duane

Amazing!

After two nights and two days of rain, the sun returned to Tonopah Arizona, our home for only three more days.  We’ve been here since the first of October,when it was stinking hot—close to 100df, which is 10d warmer than normal, and are spending our last few days here in unusually cold weather—13 to 20d colder than normal.  The state is snow covered everywhere within an hour of where we are now drying out after our deluge of cold rain.  Arizonans, bless their hearts, are driving up to 30 minutes just to play in the snow, sometimes for the first time.  Of course, on Tuesday, our moving day, the weather is supposed to return to the normal high of the low 70’s.  We were hoping to accomplish a lot of projects when we arrived here 5 months ago, and actually accomplished all of them! 

Looking forward to further adventures.

Louise and Duane

Nasty Day

Duane and I have a running argument.  He says the weather is nasty when it is wet.  I contend that to be truly nasty the weather has to be cold and wet.  Today fit that definition perfectly.  To cheer myself  I decided to review some pictures I took yesterday on our trip to visit friends Brock and Leola (when the weather was beautiful).

Flat topped cloud

Dairy Queen curl

hot air balloons (2 of 4 pictured) heading home.

Also to combat the cold and gray, I cooked.  I always get a kick out of  red potatoes--each one has a funny face.  This poor guy looked like a boxer that had the worst of a bout.  I cooked him with corned beef and cabbage.  I kept warm by baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies (my warm taste test was very yummy!) and for breakfast,  lemon blueberry bread.    

Gene and Duane played pool all afternoon.  When I finished baking I went next door with warm baked goods and visited with Barbara for a while.  In the evening the four of us shut out the cold and dark and played cards.

Four days to moving day.

Louise and Duane

Good Day For Driving

Once again, despite sunny skies, the chilly winds kept us indoors most of the day.  We opted to drive an hour north of Phoenix for one last visit with our friends Brock and Leola.  We lingered over lunch at a Chinese buffet then wandered around Costco in search of our favorite chocolates.  No luck.  Back to Brock and Leola’s for more chat and to go over some details of our proposed summer trip motorcycling along the west coast.  On our way home we stopped to fill our propane tank, to fill the truck tank, and to buy a few groceries. 

Time to tuck in for the night.

Louise and Duane

Last Time

Three side-by-sides went for a ride today.  Duane drove Gene's while Gene guided the way with the gps.

The rugged roads led across the beautiful green Sonoran Desert away Saddle Mountain.

Along the way they explored a box canyon,

and a very deep mine

with the tailings (discarded rock dug out of the mine) strewn around outside.

Close by this rock formation 

they found a deep (10') wash

strewn with geodes.  Unfortunately none of the geodes were lying around.  They were all embedded in the rock.  This one was as big as a soccer ball.  The crystals are clearly visible in the center.

No more buggy rides for us.   The next week we plan on getting ready to travel back to Texas for our annual doctors' appointments.

Hanging loose until we leave, 

Louise and Duane

Evening Light Show

West

East

Only one week left in sunny Arizona.

Louise and Duane