Happy Thanksgiving!

To All Our Family and Friends

We are thankful for each and every one of you. 

Not just today but every day!

Thank you for being part of our journey through this life.

Heading Further East

After five nights at Quail Ridge we pulled out Thursday morning and continued our trek East. After two travel days we are presently, Friday (March 1, 2024), parked at the Walmart in Ft. Stockton, TX.  Thursday night we spent the night at the Las Cruces, NM Overlook Rest Area, or what we like to call it the Roadrunner Rest Area.

Looking out out door towards Las Cruces

Our last two days at Quail Ridge RV in Huachuca City, AZ

Tuesday, February 27. 2024

We had a surprise today when Kim and Ken, Journey with Ken and Kim, showed up for one night at Quail Ridge. Why is there story to tell but we did get in a last short visit for this winter and that was a great surprise for us. A picture would be nice to add here but again there is none. When ever I am enjoying the company of friends I just never think of a picture. Glad we got in one last visit Kim and Ken, be safe as you travel, and we are looking forward to the next time we cross paths. 

We made one last trip over to Tombstone.
Is that a snake in the clouds just over the hill in front of us.

We enjoyed a late lunch at Big Nose Kate's Saloon.
I tried a "I'm Your Huckleberry Margarita"
very tart and fun to try one time. 

Leaving Tombstone we continued south on AZ-80 then 
turned on to AZ-90 towards Sierra Vista. 
Another snake cloud?

Stopping in Sierra Vista we picked up an Amazon Order at a locker and then a few groceries at Fry's before heading back home. 

Wednesday, February 28, 2024.

Today Tom took care of filing our Income Tax and I drove over to Sierra Vista to do some last minute shopping. I was hoping to complete my shopping and miss the predicted rain that was coming our way. Except for a few drops here and there I did just that. That is until I was in the Jeep headed home then the sky opened up and it came down. I lucked out again as it was just sprinkling while we unloaded the purchases. Though it did rain more during the day.

I stopped to take some pictures of the sky before the 
rain came down.

Again I stopped to take a picture of what would usually be 
the Whetstone Mountains in front of me at this point. I 
could just barely make them out through the rain.
Bottom picture is what we usually see along here.

You have probably heard me mention how much I do love the Ocotillos we see out here so I did some research and found out that you can plant them in a pot. I have a feeling it needs to be a bigger one then this but I decided to try anyway. I also read it does not hurt the Ocotillo to take cuttings from it. 

These three cuttings are already losing their leaves but I did expect that to happen. So now we wait to see if they will root; from what I have read it can take several months. Fingerscrossed they do take root if not there is always next year to try again and maybe in a larger pot.

Thursday, February 29, 2024 (Traveling Day 1--244 Miles)

It was somewhat chilly as we finished packing up and pulled out of our site at Quail Ridge RV Park. Our first stop was to top off our propane tank. While that was happening I took the pictures below. We then hooked up the Jeep, (side note: it slipped right into tow mode) and Tom drove over to the office as I walked over to take care of the bill.

The second picture down is of the Stinger "B" parked in front
of the office while I walked over.

Today's ride started on AZ-90 going north and when we reached I-10 we turned right to continue our trek East.

The Whetstone Mountains are on our left as we travel north.

This was a surprise we have not seen this open in awhile.
They pretty much waved us through. They were looking in
the backseats of the cars in front of us. 

Another picture of the Whetstone Mountains.

\

After topping off the diesel tank we have merged
on to I-10 heading East. 

Coming up on one of my favorite parts of today's ride

the Texas Canyon.

These three vehicles, all towing, went speeding by us only
to slow down as we started into the canyon.

It is always amazing to drive through here and see how these large boulders are balanced on each other and stay up there. I take quite a few pictures every time we drive through this beautiful canyon. Today I looked for other things besides the precarious balance of the boulders if you do not see what I see that is okay. I hope you enjoy the pictures just the same.

This is honestly the first time I saw this heart outline.

You may have to click on this picture and enlarge it to see the
face towards the right of the center of the picture.

Again clicking and enlarging can you see the bird pretty much
in the center of the picture.

We pulled in to have lunch here and this was our view.

This was also in our view. I know what I see what do you see?

Lunch finished we are on our way.

This semi passed us and I just liked what was on the back of it.

Views of our ride. The upper right is in Wilcox.

We saw a lot of these guys today and I am not sure what they

are. At first I thought Century Plant but they also look a lot
 like a Joshua Tree on the bottom. 

Again I liked the look of this semi. I mean it has the name
Stagecoach on it and I think that is perfect for out here in the west.

More views as we continue east.

Then we left Arizona behind and New Mexico's beauty
was in front of us.

I do like seeing windmills along the way.

I looked up just in time to see this sign and get the picture.

Today Tom steered the Stinger "B" pass six vehicles.
I think that is more then we passed our entire last Adventure...LOL

We can see Las Cruces ahead of us

;

and we are almost to what we hope will be our stop for the night.

Parked for the night.

We went around the circle twice then parked and waited. In no time the semi in front of us pulled out and we moved up. We then got out and took a walk and watched. Then as luck would have it a truck parked in the best spot, in our opinion, pulled out and Tom pulled into it and we are settled for the night.

Pictures I took while we walked and hoped the truck would move.

This is one of our favorite rest areas to stop in for the night. The views over looking Las Cruces are wonderful and it is always clean and fairly quiet. Plus, it is were the Roadrunner made out of "junk/recyclables" lives. 

It was a good travel day under beautiful blue skies and fluffy clouds. Most importantly it was an uneventful day and those are truly our favorite type of travel days.

I am going to stop for now, so the blog does not get to long, and will continue with Day 2 in the next blog. 

 

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.

Moving into a New Time Zone

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

We are at Rusty's RV Ranch in Rodeo, NM. We have enjoyed three nights in this quiet place and tomorrow, Thursday morning, we will be moving again. We have stayed here in the past and each time have taken a ride into the Chiricahua Mountains that we can see in the distance. It is a lovely ride that takes you up through the mountains and over to the Chiricahua National Monument. We have enjoyed this ride in the spring and fall both times beautiful. 

The sun setting in the distance. It will soon slip behind the
Chiricahua Mountains.

There are three goats, a rooster and a chicken across the way.

After taking their picture I turned and took a picture of our site.
We have a firepit, picnic table and a nice clay tile patio.

Looking East as the sun set.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

We could see the clouds coming over the mountains to the southwest late in the afternoon. Dark and ominous they brought wind and rain.

Still windy we did get some pretty color in the clouds 
after the sun slipped behind the mountains.

It rained on and off for several hours and the wind lasted well after dark. Though it was quiet when we woke up Wednesday morning.

How we got here:

Monday, April 10, 2023 ( The Ride to Our New Spot)

We did not pull out of Quail Ridge RV Resort until almost 11 o'clock this morning. The good news we only have about 120 miles to our next destination. The bad news we will lose an hour today. After leaving Quail Ridge we made a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a few extra groceries. This is going to be an interesting trek back to Michigan for us without a 

"toad" we can rely on. I know we will be just fine and figure it out as we go; what we will miss is the freedom to take side trips as we travel along. The decision has been made to tow the Jeep home and take care of it there so we will not be looking back and second guessing the decision. I am not sure what "Plan" we are on now but luckily there 26 letters in the alphabet...lol

As we approached Ft. Huachuca it looked like they were
bringing the Tethered Aerostat Radar System down.

Huachuca Mountains still have some snow on them.
We are now on AZ-92.

I believe these are the Mule Mountains in the distance.

We are driving along the southern edge of Bisbee.

Still passing by the outskirts of Bisbee, AZ

Now on AZ-80, this highway will take us all the 
way to today's destination.

Cattle crazing on a sea of green.

Passing by Cochise College I spotted this semi.

We have entered Douglas, AZ and the "D" Hill is in the distance. 

Heading north on AZ-80.

I spotted a lot of these along the side of the highway today
and I have not idea what they are but they are pretty.

I am pretty sure we are now seeing the Chiricahua Mountains
in the distance.

These would be the Peloncillo Mountains off to our right.

Is that a face peeking over the hills.

We are also on Historic US-80

The Chiricahua Mountains.

A motorcycle rider pulled in just as we were going by the 
Geronimo Surrenders Monument.

A makeshift Border Patrol Inspection Station.

Then we crossed into New Mexico and lost an hour.
We are now on Mountain Daylight Time. 

Not long after the above sigh we arrived at Rusty's RV Ranch.

This will be home for three nights.

Thursday, April 6th through Sunday, April 9th, 2023

Looking back at the time we spent at Quail Ridge RV Resort there are no complaints. It is a nice stop and we have always enjoy our time here.  We had originally planned 8 nights which ended up expanding to 16 for the reasons I have mentioned in previous post. 

We did get the driver's side airbag replaced on Friday, April 7th, so that was very good news. As I mentioned in a previous post there was a problem securing one from Freightliner but Jonathan Smith the young man who did the work for us was able to find one. He and another young man, who works for him, arrived Friday morning to put it in but had an issue with one of their tools and had to go back to his shop in Benson to secure a new one. Even with this unexpected delay in about three hours we had a new working airbag. (Side note:  A few years ago we had a similar problem and ended up at a shop in Tucson where we had to have both front airbags replaced. We had to bring our motorhome there two mornings through Tucson traffic and it took two long days to replace the two airbags. We now question what they were doing all that time.) Back to the present, the work we had done was by Jonathan Smith his shop is Pitstop Auto and Mobile Repair in Benson, AZ. The really nice part was he came to us. If you are ever in this area and need work done we would highly recommend him. Plus, the price especially knowing what we paid last time was very reasonable. 

The sun setting on what was a good day. Our airbag is in and
Patsy and Bill got their truck back. Plus, we spent a wonderful
last Happy Hour with them for this Adventure.

This was our home at Quail Ridge RV Resort.

As I was writing this I realized I have no idea what we did on Thursday, April 6th or Saturday April 8th. I am going to guess they were both good days.

Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023

We woke up to beautiful blue skies on this Beautiful Easter Sunday. 

Mass was at 9 o'clock at this lovely little Mission Church just
down the road from where we are staying. We could see a
Deacon on the left and a Priest on the right
 waiting to start Mass as we walked up.

The altar area was filled with beautiful flowers.

After Mass we went back home had breakfast and we talked with our children and grandchildren. We spent part of the day packing up and getting ready to leave in the morning. 

Tom replanted the tiny Saguaros we found at a
shop in Tombstone. At the rate they grow this
 little pot will be there home for a few years. 
 

This was a good day!  

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.