Last Day of 2018 -- First Day 2019

December 31, 2018

The sun was shining as we pulled out of the Walmart in Deming, NM, where we had spent the night, at 8:05 this morning. The sky was a beautiful blue with out a cloud in sight as we drove onto I-10 and headed West.

The Stinger "B" is merging onto I-10.

The road ahead.

I think I have mentioned it before, I do love windmills.
I wonder how many times I have taken a picture of this one.

I know it is blurry and you cannot read the words but believe me
it is the Continental Divide.

By the time I got a picture he was quite a bit ahead of us but with a lot of
cropping I got the picture...lol
That is snow in the truck bed.

This vehicle passed us twice. Unless there is a fleet of them.
Traveling dog groomers.

A warning of what could be ahead.

What to do.
We have been lucky and have never experienced a dust storm on the road.

Yes, the windshield is still very dirty!

Closer and closer.

Driving through.

Then up ahead I could see a familiar sign.
One we were not sure we would see this year.
Then we crossed into Arizona and New Mexico was behind us.

If we are in Wilcox Tom is stopping for Apple Pie.
No tumbling tumble weeds this year. But an interesting cloud over the mountains.
We stopped in Wilcox for lunch and by the time we came out it was getting cloudy.

We love riding through here and I always take to many pictures.
We could see some snow in here.

Leaving the Texas Canyon and here the wind picked up.

No Saguaros yet but I can see Ocotillos. 

Driving through Tucson and this is where the rain started.

They really do a nice job of decorating the overpasses, entrances and
exits on the Interstates in Arizona. My favorite today though, upper left,
 was in Deming, NM as we turned onto the ramp for I-10.

We saw the top two signs quite a few times today.
The bottom one is hard to read through the dirty rain drop filled windshield.
I just loved that it said use the "Sunshine Exit".

We have turned onto I-8; it is cloudy and raining. We, of course, could see
Saguaros to the right and left but between the rain, windshield wipers, and
the clouds I couldn't get a good picture with my phone.

We ended the day in Gila Bend, AZ where we pulled into the Holt's Shell Station, parked in their large parking lot, and shut down the Stinger "B".  It was raining and dark when we pulled in. We had a frozen pepperoni cauliflower crust pizza for dinner and there was Annie's Apple Pie with whip cream for dessert. We also had a couple adult beverages and ended the night playing gin. It was a nice quiet New Year's Eve.

We ended 2018 living our retirement dream. Not a bad statement to be able to make. We are grateful for every day we get to do this and never take any of them for granted.


January 1, 2019

Tom opened or front curtain this morning to sunshine and blue skies. We slept in knowing we only had about 109 miles to our destination. Around 9 o'clock Tom made a call to Westwind RV and Golf Resort to see if we could get a site there for 3 nights. They are a Passport America Park and we have stayed there a couple of times in the past and have always enjoyed our time there. Happy to say they had a site available, this was a last minute decision we made yesterday, so that was good news and we were soon on our way. The Stinger "B" needs to get organized and needs a major cleaning inside and out. Tom cannot wash the outside here but we will get the inside done and the basement organized. Plus, hopefully the outside of the windows will get cleaned. It will feel good to have this all done before we head out in to the desert.
This is a very clean park with a lot of residents that are permanent or seasonal. Like most of the RV parks in the area there are a lot of scheduled activities. Plus, there is a golf course, restaurant and lounge on the premise. One of the reasons we like it here is the close proximity to a Fry's , Walmart, and Walgreens. The other reason is everyone who works here is friendly and accommodating. We feel welcome the minute we step out of the motorhome.

While Tom put diesel in the Stinger "B" I took a walk to snap some
pictures of the dinosaurs. 

We have joined the other RV's going west this morning.
Though just as many were headed east.

 's

The road ahead.

I finally got the camera on my phone open in time to snap a picture of a train.

Then the distance we could see Telegraph Pass.

We are going up and it is a beautiful ride through.
I think Tom would agree except today there was a strong crosswind .

Off to our right we can see the vehicles making the decent going East.

Then we are headed down and in the distance we can see Yuma.

Flat ground.

Our exit is coming up then a left and a right and another left and
we are driving towards the clubhouse.

After getting registered and unhooking the Jeep they lead us to our site. While Tom got us hooked up I made a run to Walmart. We needed some cleaning supplies. Mainly we needed rug cleaner. We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and I started catching up on our wash.

HAPPY 2019!!!

We are glad you stopped in. 

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