March 19, 2023
Our neighbor, Lowell, has been working the last couple of weeks for a gentleman by the name of Dell. Dell has the 4 Ever Ranch in Benson and has planned on starting a music festival this weekend at his ranch. Because of all of Lowell’s hard work he was able to obtain passes for Nancy and I for the Cochise County Music Festival. The festival will host various vendors and food trucks, beer sales, and of course music. Various local artists will perform all throughout the day and then there will be headliners. Friday was Joe Nichols, Jake Jacobson, and Kentucky Headhunters. Saturday Tyler Haverson, Bri Bagwell, and Sawyer Brown. Tonight we are going to see The Cole Trains, Doug Stone, and Clay Walker.
Before the show, we walked around and found some very nice items. We did not buy anything but saw some nice stuff. Of course, it was dinner time so we had to scope out the food trucks. We saw one, Big Tex, and have had their BBQ at their restaurant in Wilcox. It was good. Then one of the security personnel, whom I had a conversation with early, saw us and pointed us to Bam Bam BBQ. He said they were the best and he had eaten their 3 days in a row. We viewed their menu and they had a few dishes on display. Then I noticed that they were selling and using Killer Hog products. Killer Hog is one of our favorites for rubs, seasonings, and sauce. They are made by Malcolm Reed who has the YouTube channel HowtoBBQRight. We chose two options, the Cowboy Sundae and the STFU Nachos. Nachos had a choice of pulled pork or brisket. Of course our choice was brisket. The Cowboy Sundae was a bowl of potato salad, with baked beans, cole slaw, brisket, and drizzled with BBQ sauce. It was tasty but I would prefer not to have the potato salad in the mix. The STFU Nachos were nacho chips smothered in cheese, cole slaw, baked beans, brisket and topped with BBQ sauce. It was extremely good. Some friends of ours were working as volunteers there and had a couple of beer tickets. I just had to get an age verification bracelet. So I had a Barrio Blond Ale.
We didn’t know what to expect so after walking around for a while, Nancy ran home to get our chairs and a blanket and sweatshirts. It tends to get cool after sunset but we had a great time. We sat with Lowell and his Mom, Val, and saw a great show. The music was great!
March 18, 2023
The plan today is to head south and cross the border. Shortly after we arrived here in St. David, AZ, another couple came in to spend the winter. After talking with them for a while we found out they spent a week in Fort Welikit in Custer. They came to Game Night and we found some new friends. Their names are Jane and Dennis. We made plans to cross the border into Mexico. We had heard of a gentleman in Douglas, AZ that would do tours into Mexico. He was highly recommended. We called him to arrange a tour. His price was reasonable but because of his vehicle, he could not take 4 passengers. He did suggest a safe place to cross was Nogales. He also recommended that you stay in the “tourist” area. It encompasses about 2 or 3 blocks in and about the same from side to side also. That area is dependent on the “tourist trade” to stay in business. We felt comfortable so we decided to leave around 9:00 AM. We got to Nogales, AZ a little after 10:30 AM. We had been on the road about 10 minutes when Dennis and Jane had an epiphany, they forgot to pick up their passports. So we turned around to get them. We had no clue of what to do or where to go. We thought that there would be a large parking lot at the Port of Entry and we could just walk across. We drove around for a few minutes until we saw some workers renovating a building. We pulled into the parking lot and talked to them.
The workers were from Texas and weren’t sure about the local area. They did offer us to park there. They were going to be working until 5:00PM. As it was only around 11:00 AM and our plan was to spend just a few hours in Mexico, we thought it might be the best idea. Jane and Dennis handed Nancy some cash and she took it to the workers. They were hesitant to take the money but Nancy was finally able to give it to them. From here it was about a 10 minute walk to the crossing. On the way we had to take a one block detour to the McDonalds for a restroom break. We talked of getting some food but decided to get something once we crossed.
It was so easy to walk across the border. No ID checks, only saw one or two official looking people and we just walked on into Mexico. You go through a long tunnel with a few gates and turnstiles and upon exiting we were in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. We were on cobblestone streets but it was limited to foot traffic. There were multiple shops on each side of the street and vendors in the middle. Each trying to sell their merchandise. The vast majority of shops were either dentists or pharmacies (farmacias). The merchants would approach and ask if you wanted whatever they were selling. We had been told that you never give handouts to anyone on the street as then everyone will prey on you. Jane and Nancy did go into one farmacia to check out the prices. Many people without insurance go into Mexico for their medications and/or dentistry. We walked a couple of blocks and saw a restaurant on the corner. We Googled it and it was rated very well. Time to eat.
We entered Leo’s Cafe and it was very clean and nice. We were seated and handed a menu. We looked at the menu at drinks and then I noticed a price, $65 next to a beer. When the waiter came over we asked him if this was pesos or American dollars. Fortunately it was pesos. I did not realize that they both used the same symbol. This particular day 1 peso equaled 0.053 American dollar. This put the cost of the beer around $3.50. Very reasonable. Jane and Dennis and Nancy each ordered a margarita and I had a Tecate, a Mexican beer. Nancy and I both ordered a Combinación Mexicana. That consisted of an enchilada, tostada, taco, tile relleno and beans (y frijoles). Everything was wonderful.
They brought us some chips and pico de gallo and some “spicy” salsa. Of course I had to try the salsa. It was good and had a little bit of bite to it but not bad at all. The pico was fresh and wonderful. And just before the food was brought out, they brought out a little tray with four shots of tequila, 4 small lime wedges. So we enjoyed a shot of tequila before we ate. It was very tasty. I have found a new libation!
After we ate we walked down the street. I had to go into a leather shop. They sold boots, hats, belts, etc. I believe it was called Cuevas. I loved the smell in there!! Nancy and Jane found a shop that had metal flower decorations displayed on the sidewalk. The shop also sold shawls and blankets, etc. While the ladies shopped and haggled over prices, Dennis and I found a bench to watch the people and traffic. A person approached us and was asking for a handout. We said no and basically ignored him. He went away. Dennis got up and walked across the street to peak into other shops. I sat there and a gentleman came up to me and started talking to me. I did not feel uncomfortable at all. We had a nice but brief conversation about Nogales. He asked me what I thought of his little town. The ladies had concluded their transactions. Nancy did not buy anything here. We decided that we had branched as far as we felt we should so we crossed the street and slowly headed back to the border crossing.
Along the way there were a few more shops to browse. Since SD, Nancy had wanted a metal lawn art piece. She saw some in Hill City, SD but the prices were very high. Here in Nogales, the prices were more reasonable. Nancy found a piece she liked. After haggling, she got the price down to $40. She called me in to the store as she needed a little more cash. As the piece was being wrapped the shop owner treated us to a shot of tequila. I like how they do business. Then Nancy went into another shop. I had mentioned that I was due for a new belt. She found one and called me into the shop for my size. I thought if the price were right, I’d get a brown and a black belt. The price started at $130 … $80….. $110…..$80…..$100….and $80 it was. He turned away and mumbled something Nancy didn’t understand :) He changed the buckles on both belts and moisturized them with oil. No tequila though. Nancy found a shop that had very colorful ceramic sinks They were very neat looking. I found a hat for her in the same shop. After Nancy bartered she wound up with the hat but not the sink. We had reached our spending limit. We continued to head toward the border. Nancy and Jane went into one last shop and wound up haggling over tumblers and Nancy got me a surprise! It turned out to be a metal stand that held 3 tequila shot glasses. Awesome.
We got to the crossing and finally found the back of the line. I think we waited in line about an hour to get back to the USA. While standing in line we saw cars that were being searched by the Federales. Interesting to watch. You could also see the wall that ran up the hill separating the two countries. Once we finally got to actual crossing, you approach the station. I handed them my passport card and they took my picture. He asked me why I was in Nogales today. I responded for lunch and shopping. Ok. All done. Dennis and Jane had crossed just ahead of me so we were just waiting for Nancy.
According to Nancy, she had a tougher time to get back home. “Where are you going?” um um um um “St. David” …”you don’t know where you live?” “I’m a tourist I’m just staying there!”……”And you came to Nogales?” “well it’s the closest crossing to where we’re staying”……”But Nogales?”….. “Have a good day”. We finally walked up the hill to our truck. We stopped for a potty stop and a drink at a fast food place in Nogales, AZ called Filbertos.
Earlier in the day Dennis complained about being short of breath but we kind of chocked it up to the hill climbing we did. As I was also breathing heavy. Once we crossed back into the States and started walking toward the truck, Dennis was again complaining about being short of breath. Nancy and I went to get the truck and Jane stayed with Dennis as we were going to pick them up. On the ride home Nancy quizzed Dennis and felt his pulse. She was not comfortable with just going home. She recommended that Dennis go to a hospital. As I’m driving and listening to this I kind of stepped on the right pedal a little heavier. Our route took us to a crossroad where Benson was a left turn and Sierra Vista was a right turn. Dennis and Jane decided that a left turn was necessary. We dropped Dennis and Jane off at the Benson Hospital. Later that evening Dennis was air lifted to Tucson to a larger hospital. He spent 5 days(?) in the hospital with the first 3 or so in ICU. He had multiple pulmonary emboli in his lungs. Nancy picked Jane up from the hospital and we waited each day for an update. Fortunately he is doing very well and they used a vacuum to remove the PE. All in all, today was a very interesting experience.
March 17, 2023
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!! Happy Friday! There is an event planned for this evening, a pitch-in dinner and an entertainer. Down the road about 2 minutes is the Holy Trinity Monastery. The grounds are very nice with lots of trees, ponds, wildlife, benches, and trails. There are multiple peacocks on the grounds. Holy Trinity is a Benedictine Monastery. The purpose is to provide a place for retreats or for people to find a peaceful setting for reflection. I sat on a bench for a while also and it truly was a peaceful experience. On Fridays they hold a bake sale from 10:00 AM to noon. They also do lunch from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. We figured that today would be a great day to visit.
We got to the bake sale and they had several homemade items for sale. We purchased a few items. One of our favorites was Benedictine Bread. Very healthy and very good. We also found out that they no longer serve lunch. It was a monetary decision. They had some good days and some not so good. We strolled the grounds and went into the Chapel. Small but beautiful. We had been debating on what to take to the pitch-in so we bought an extra loaf of Benedictine Bread.
The pitch-in started at 5:00PM. The park provided corn beef and cabbage. Had I thought earlier, I should have picked up a Guinness to celebrate. There were lots of great dishes and everyone walked away full. Nancy and I both wore green shirts and I had Nancy paint my beard green. She even put a couple of green streaks in her hair. Of course I had to wear my top hat! At 6:00 PM a young lady, Lacy Antonio. Lacy dressed the part and entertained us until 8:00 PM She has a very good voice and is a very good entertainer. She is actually starring in a local theater production of Destry, a Gal, and a Bad Guy. Should make for a fun evening. I hope we get the chance to check it out. On a high note, we won $30 in the 50/50 raffle. Usually at these events, they have a raffle and the money goes towards activities at the park. All in all, it was a fun evening with good friends and good food.
March 16, 2023
Tonight is Karaoke Night at the Clubhouse. We decided to go tonight. It was a lot of fun. I had never entertained singing karaoke. I don’t feel I have a good voice. We were sitting there listening and Nancy wanted to know what song I had sung the other day as she thought i sounded good. I could not remember the song. I searched the books and finally relented. I decided to try and sing Boot Scootin’ Boogey by Brooks and Dunn. I can now say I have done karaoke. Then Nancy got up and did Momma Mia by Abba. It was a fun night. Additionally a resident, Janice, was having a birthday. We helped her celebrate.
March 15, 2023
We decided today we would take a ride to Wilcox. The first stop was the Rex Allen Museum / Wilcox Cowboy Hall of Fame. It was a neat little place. Across the street is the Wilcox Park. They have a statue of Rex Allen there and it is the burial ground for Rex’s horse Koko. They also have a really cool swing!
The museum is dedicated to a hometown boy who made it big in country music and the old western movies and TV shows. He was an interesting individual. The museum held a lot of his outfits, posters, and other artifacts. It was nicely laid out. They give you a guide so you can walk through and it explains each section. At the back there is a large room which is the Wilcox Cowboy Hall of Fame. There are pictures on the wall and each is numbered. There is a large book with facts about each picture. I found it very interesting.
After the museum we went to Big Tex BBQ. It was rated well. We found it okay but not outstanding but good. Still much better than Puny John’s BBQ. We chose a combination platter, The Big Tex Super Barbecue Plate, so we could try each of the meats. It consisted of smoked sausage, pulled pork, bone-in chicken, brisket, and pork rib. It also came with 3 sides. We chose potato salad, pinto beans and corn nuggets. Corn nuggets are little pieces of creamed corn, breaded, and deep fried. Very creamy and very good. Again, we brought a little bit home with us.
We had picked up a magazine from the Benson Visitor’s Center on attractions in the area. The magazine suggested two other places to visit in Wilcox. The first was Bakester’s Pastries. We picked up a cannoli and a couple of cookies, a cupcake and a pecan cinnamon roll. Our last stop is Apple Annie’s. They were supposed to have the best apple pie. They have 3 locations. Two of them are the farm where you can pick your own apples and tour the farm. They were closed until the summer. The last place is right off Interstate 10. It is a quaint little country store that sells pies and many other local gifts and food items. Mostly local. We bought a frozen apple crumb pie as they did not have any fresh slices. They only thing they had was a strawberry / rhubarb pie. Besides, we had goodies from Bakesters for tonight.
March 14, 2023
We have been invited to Lowell’s house for dinner this evening. Lowell lives in a rental house that sits behind us. He has a wonderful Great Dane, named Grace. He and Grace walk each night to get the mail. We’ve befriended them and enjoy talking to him. Nancy will take Grace out if Lowell is going to be late or gone for any length of time. Lowell’s mother, Val, is in town and they have invited us to dinner. Venison ribs is on the menu. Baked potatoes and salad and several other goodies were on the menu. It was a very enjoyable evening. Lowell has spent about a week working for a gentleman who is putting on the Cochise County Music Festival. Lowell will check to see if he can get some tickets for us. It is a three day event with major names highlighting the end of each day. Friday is the Kentucky Head Hunters, Saturday is Sawyer Brown, and Sunday is Clay Walker. Time will tell.
March 12, 2023
This afternoon we attended a small gathering at Ron and Sally’s. I smoked some Shot Gun Shells to take. He had a cookout with burgers and dogs and lots of great food. I also made a batch of brownies. Everything went over very well. Only brought 2 brownies home. Met a lot of nice folks that Ron rides bicycles with. There were also a couple of folks there from the Lakes. We sat and talked for quite some time. Then it was time for us to go to work. Plans were made to head south of the border with Jane and Dennis.
March 11, 2023
Today’s event is a tip and a chair concert by Vital Signs. Vital Signs is Michael and Christi and Tanya and Rod. They played New Year’s Eve. Very good. The show was going to be outside on the patio but due to being very windy it was moved indoors. Had a great afternoon of listening to music.
March 8 & 9, 2023
The first day we traveled through Texas. Our first time. We left Carlsbad, NM and headed toward El Paso, Texas. From El Paso, we headed north west and spent the night in Las Cruces, NM. We had a pull through site which was fairly level. We never unhooked. Put the jacks down for stabilization, hooked up water and electric. Makes things a lot easier in the morning. We did take some photos of scenery along the way.
We arose wrapped everything up and hit the road. By 3:00 PM we were back at the Lakes at St. David RV Resort. We’ll be here now until the 15th of April. Then we will head west to California to see friends. Then back to Grand Canyon to spend more time with friends. Then somewhere around the first of May we are due to report to Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We are supposed to work camp there for May and June. We will only be about 30 minutes from our daughter and four of our grands. Sometime in July the plan is to visit some friends in Colorado and then work our way east. We should be home around the first week in August.
March 7, 2023
Today we are visiting Carlsbad Cavern National Park. We have a 1:30 PM. We have one hour to start our tour of the cavern and have until closing at 4:00 PM to finish. We arrived at the Visitor’s Center and checked in. We have two options to reach the big room. The first is to take an elevator down 750 feet to the Great Room. The second option is to walk a paved trail that is 1.25 miles long and drops down the 750 feet but at a 20% grade.
We decided to have a look at the nature trail down to see if we wanted to try it. We could always walk back up an take the elevator. As we were taking the trail down to the opening we came upon a ranger and a worker. After a brief conversation we were told the trail down into the cavern was not much steeper than the one we were on. We later found out that was wrong! We arrived at the entrance and had to sit for a few minutes and listen to the safety talk by a ranger.
We descended into the earth! It seemed very long and very steep. Towards the end of the walk, my knees were feeling the burn. It was a very neat trip down. Several very cool things to see and a few descriptions. Also, along the way there were places to sit and rest. Most of the descent had handrails which made it a little easier. I think it took us about 2 hours and a little bit to finally reach Great Room. Once we arrived we found out something that we were not clear on. The decent on the Nature Trail is 1.25 miles long. Once you reach the Great Room you still have a couple of options to walk around the Great Room. The shortest was 0.4 miles and the longest was 1.25 miles. I asked the ranger if the Great Room looked similar to the area we were in. She replied that it did. My knees said No Mas! We walked about another 100 feet and rode the elevator up. We explored the gift shops and walked back to the truck.
I decided that we did all that walking and nobody was cooking, we would head to The Lucky Bull. It was suggested as a must eat place in the campground reviews. I figured we earned a good BBQ meal and a beer or two. The first thing I did was order a local cold beer. It was delicious. For dinner I ordered the Hand Battered Country Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and white gravy. As another side I ordered Dirty Chips. The chips are homemade chips topped with quest, K.A. Chili, bacon, cheddar cheese and jalapeños. They were wonderful. Nancy got a Bohemian, which is turkey and bacon on ciabatta with swiss, orange cranberry chutney, spring mix and red onion. She got a half order of Pecos Valley Poutine. Poutine is french fries topped with gravy, bacon, green chile and cheddar cheese. She enjoyed her meal also. The first beer was so good that I needed another one to finish our meal. We went back to the RV and was very tired. Tomorrow is another travel day. We will be heading back to St. David, Arizona.
March 6, 2023
Today is an easy travel day. We only have to drive a couple of hours. Carlsbad is fairly close. We didn’t have to check out until 12:00 noon. We took our time getting hooked up and made the short trip to Carlsbad. I must say we have been staying in some really nice campgrounds. We’ll have to give them some good reviews. We use RV Trip Wizard which is part of RV Life. When planning, we read the reviews and tips that others post. We arrived at our destination and just relaxed for the rest of the day. We had to plan our trip tomorrow and make the necessary reservations.
Happy Birthday to our son Phillip. Our youngest is 44 today. Time flies.
March 5, 2023
Sunday morning is here so off to the grocery store to get our supplies for today’s cookout. I was short an ingredient so I could not make the brownies last night. That is my priority this morning before going to Patty and Toms. While at the store Nancy and I talked about a possible icing for the brownies. She wanted a peanut butter icing. I found a recipe online and we got the needed ingredients. We rushed home and baked the brownies. We opted to only put icing on half of them. The icing turned out really good. A keeper recipe.
Off we went to Patty and Tom’s with all of our supplies and a bottle of pear wine we bought at Prairie Berry Winery in Hill City, SD. Even I enjoyed this wine. It was called Gold Digger. We arrived and played a game of cards. After the game it was time to cook. We cooked the steaks and made the mac and cheese. We all sat down to a wonderful meal of steak, mac and cheese, salad, and wine. Absolutely delicious. After dinner we played some more cards and then had dessert. It was so relaxing and so very nice to see friends. We had a wonderful time. After dessert it was time to go. Tomorrow morning we are leaving Roswell and traveling to Carlsbad.
March 4, 2023
We spoke with Patty (Kaplan Barresi) last night and her and Tom have offered up their services as tour guide. Sounds great to us. They came to pick us up around 10:00 AM. We gave them the 30 second tour of our RV, as they have been RVers. We sat and had coffee and talked for some time. It was decided that our first stop would be the International UFO Museum.
We arrived at the museum just before a talk was being given by Dennis Balthasar. He is probably the Number 1 researcher on the subject of the Roswell UFO siting. And it just so happens that Patty knows him through his wife. We sat and listened to his talk and found him very interesting and amazing. He spoke with us afterward also. He was a neat individual to speak with. It gives one pause. After the talk, we toured the museum. I think touring the museum created more questions than give answers. There were a lot of interesting articles and artifacts. They also displayed several of the movie items used in various Hollywood productions.
Once we finished at the museum, Patty and Tom took us to lunch at Antiqua Covina Mexicana. We were treated to a wonderful meal. It was time to get back to the RV as we needed to feed Bree and let her out. Patty said she made a cheesecake. Don’t have to ask me twice. After taking care of Bree and Nancy getting her afternoon power nap in, we went to Patty and Tom’s house. It was only about 15 minutes away. We had talked earlier in the day we discovered they enjoyed playing card games as do we. We arrived and got a nice tour of their home. Very nice. Then about the next half hour or so, Nancy and Patty talked about sewing, etc. We finally got to the card playing. After the game we had a fabulous cheesecake.
We discussed our plans for tomorrow. We found out the two or three places we thought we would visit would be closed as it was Sunday. So it was decided that Nancy and I would get some steaks, and I would grill them at Patty and Tom’s. I was also going to make stovetop macaroni and cheese and make brownies for dessert. Patty was going to make a salad.
Since it was late we would have to go to the grocery store first thing tomorrow morning. Great night!
Meanwhile back in North Carolina, Phillip and a few of our neighbors came to handle some of the issues with the downed oak tree. Greatly appreciate their assistance. There were a few widow-makers and limbs hanging in precarious positions. Those were neutralized. Still a lot of clean up to go. I’m sure I ‘ll get to do some of that when we get home. Phillip did say that the fence would need repair. The only casualty other than our beautiful tree. I hope the carpenter ants went into the woods and not up toward the house.
March 3, 2023
Today is a travel day to head to Roswell. We have been in touch with Patty and will see her and Tom at some point this weekend. Since it is a very short trip to Roswell, we decided to check out the New Mexico Space Museum in Alamogordo. It was only 2 miles from our campground and after a check of Google Maps, I decided they had two big parking lots that we could easily get in and out of. So we packed up the RV and hitched up and headed up the hill to the museum.
We had time to take in one of the movies playing at the IMAX Theater and tour the museum. It was very interesting. They also had two tour buses of middle school children from El Paso, TX. Of course they had a tour guide so we kind of followed them and listened to what the guide had to say. Great information and overall the children were pretty good.
I never realized it until this tour that New Mexico is so tied to our space program. It started with research of rockets and the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, NM and then extends to White Sands Area for rocket testing, missile testing, etc. And Holloman Air Force Base is an alternate landing site for space shuttles. One of my favorite areas is when you stood on a platform, you could choose a rocket and you could feel and hear the power of that rocket from a certain distance. The floor shook and you felt like you were there. Pretty cool.
We left the museum and arrived at the Town and Country RV Park in Roswell without incident. On the way we passed 3 casinos and wished we had more time to stop and explore. Our route took us through the Mescalero Reservation. Mescalero are Apaches. Again, we wished we had more time to explore.
While we were enjoying ourselves, our son had to deal with an issue back home. Around December 30th, we lost about half of our big, old white oak tree. We loved that tree. Hawks would perch up there to look for food in our yard. We have rabbits and other small critters that they might enjoy. Since half of the tree was down, we were talking about the best way to handle the situation. Well, another big storm came through and took care of it for us. Fortunately, it came down and did absolutely no damage to our cottage, the shed next door or any vehicles anywhere. It did create a few widow makers.
March 2, 2023
So glad to be in New Mexico today. The weather is sunny and will reach the 70s. Why you ask? Easy, in St. David, Arizona where we just left, they had 4 inches of snow! Very unusual and by 5:00 PM it was all gone, but still. We are going to go someplace today that looks like snow. We are headed to White Sands National Park. Our RV park gave us a plastic sled to take to the dunes so you can slide down the dunes. Our first stop was the Visitor’s Center. We watched a short video on the park, its location and how it was/is formed. Very interesting. As we exited the Visitor’s Center, we saw an owl sitting in the tree just outside the center. Cool. We had Bree with us and dogs are allowed on some trails. We used the National Parks app to take the audio self-guided tour. We stopped at a few of the stops and took a stroll through and on the dunes. Very weird in that it feels like sand but looks like snow. It is actually gypsum. We found a spot and decided to give the sledding a try. We had seen several people sledding but wanted to find a place where people wouldn’t laugh at me.
I tried first. I climbed a dune with the sled. I chose this dune as it wasn’t too steep and I didn’t need to mess up my body any more than it already was. I got to the top of the dune and found two things that wouldn’t work. The first was that the sled was very small for my very large body. Second was that the dune was not steep enough. I decided to call it quits.
Nancy came up the hill to assist me in getting up and discussed the facts that I just figured out. She went a little further up the dune and over to the edge where it drops off almost 90 degrees. She waited for me to get back into the truck so I could video her run. She did great! About halfway down she decided that if she continued at her current speed to the bottom there might be a sudden stop so she put her feet out to slow her down. It was an interesting experience. After all of this, we could not dust ourselves off enough. There was some white sand in our clothes, truck, etc. Its like going to the beach.
We got to see some beautiful mountains and scenery. It was a very fun day.
March 1, 2023
We head for New Mexico today. Since we are this close and we have no real desire to visit in the middle of summer when temperatures are much higher, we decided to take a little side trip. Today our goal is to reach our first stop which is in the area of the White Sands National Park. We are staying at the Alamogordo KOA. Its only 20 minutes from the park. For the most part it was an uneventful day. When we first entered New Mexico we saw a series of signs warning about dust storms and what to do if you encountered one. Very interesting. It was also very windy but usually is here from what we found out later. The biggest excitement was when we turned off the highway to fuel up at a Love’s Truck Stop. There was a line of trucks waiting to get fuel that extended back to the road and almost up to the Interstate. I also noticed two tank trucks that appeared to be unloading, so I’m not sure if that was an issue in the process also. We waited in line for a few minutes and then followed a few semis that went into a side parking lot and turned around. We got back on the Interstate and found another truck stop to fuel up at. Just about a mile from the entrance to White Sands National Park we had to go through a Border Patrol Check Point. No problem.
February 26, 2023
Today’s adventure is going to the Boot Barn to pick up my boot which I had to have stretched. While we are there we decided to eat lunch/dinner at Little Anthony’s Diner. It is a 50s themed diner. Outside they have several old cars. The one that caught my eye was a 1964 Volkswagen Bug. It reminded me of the 1963 Bug I had when Nancy and I were dating. I had the Blue Plate Special of open-faced roast beef sandwich with gravy with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. Nancy had a Rueben sandwich that came with french fries and had a side order of Fried Mac N Cheese. We shared a “Full” milkshake. The food was very good and the shake was wonderful. They also offered some exotic shakes that looked extremely decadent. They also offer up car shows, live entertainment on certain days. Very cool place. Check it out here: Little Anthony’s Diner
February 24, 2023
We awaken early this morning to make our 1 hour 20 minutes drive to make our 11:00 AM appointment. Where you ask. The Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, The museum tour is led by a guide and lasts about 45 minutes. It was awesome. The tour starts in a room where you watch a short video about the silos and the missiles. You are told you must descend into the silo by 55 steps. I’m not sure where they started their count but it seemed like a lot more than 55 steps. You had at least 15 steps just to get to the silo entrance. You get to see how thick and heavy the doors are protecting the silos. There were 4 men on duty at all times for 24 hour shifts. The two officers had 3 minutes to go through the launch process which included at least three verification steps. The other two enlisted men were there to fix anything if it malfunctioned to ensure that the missile did launch.
An interesting, at least to me, feature about the control room is that it is built on giant springs and not attached to the walls of the silo. This was to protect the electronics in the control room from shocks and vibration if the US had been attacked first and missiles had exploded nearby. Nearby means more than one mile. We then walked through a tunnel several feet long to the actually silo and saw a Titan Missile in its home. It was aptly named as the missile was very large. From their we went back up the tunnel to the entrance and ascended the steps. Once outside we could walk the grounds as they various support vehicles and displays set up. You could also go to the missile silo and see the heavy doors that covered the missile and see a top view of the missile. This is only possible because the silo door is concreted half open and where the warhead would be is cut in half also. This lets the Russian spy planes know that this silo is inactive and abides by the treaty.
Overall, I found the tour very interesting. It would have been similar to the Minuteman tour in SD that I didn’t get to go on.
February 19, 2023
The weather turned bad today. Cooler and overcast with rain later in the day. Chris and Mitch are coming down from Tucson today. We decided that I would make Monterey Chicken on the smoker. I also decided to try an experiment, called Tater Totchos. I modified the recipe a little by adding Ranch Seasoning. Chris and Mitch brought a broccoli salad, some hard seltzer and some Modello Negro. Dinner turned out pretty good and the beer was very good. We talked and had a great time visiting. After eating we decided to play a little Five Crowns. Had a fabulous time. Then we had coffee and peach pie for dessert. Unfortunately they had to leave to get back to their fur babies. We are planning on getting together at least once more before we leave Arizona.
February 18, 2023
Today is a double treat. First is Vigilante Days in Tombstone. This is a day when throughout the day there will be gunfights, 1880s fashion show, entertainment, etc. on the historic Allen Street in Tombstone. And it is totally free. We walked around Tombstone and enjoyed the sights and sounds for about an hour. We even ventured into a couple of shops to look at hats, clothing, gun belts, and most anything Western. It was very enjoyable. Prior to this we stopped at Pancho Vega’s Guns and Leather Goods. Awesome shop. Might go back to have a new belt made.
Because this is a free and popular event, parking is not the easiest thing to find, especially in a one ton long bed truck. It just happened that the second half of our day had a large parking lot that only cost $5 and it was only 3 blocks from town.
We had purchased general admission tickets for bull riding at the Tombstone Shoot Out Arena. The weather was absolutely beautiful. There was a slight breeze, sunny, and temperature was around 68/70. The bull riding started at 2:00PM. It was really cool. The announcer was fabulous. The action was great. Saw some great action. Definitely want to go to more rodeos and bull riding in the future. My favorite part of the bull riding is the bull fighters. We used to call them “rodeo clowns”. They are fearsome, athletic and courageous. One tradition at a rodeo/bull riding involves the children. They are invited into the arena. Then they have to take off their shoes and create a pile of shoes on one side or middle of the arena. Then, while barefoot or sock feet, they go to the other side of the arena. When given the “Go” signal, they run to the pile and find their shoes and must put them on and then run back to where they started. Now that is expected. But this announcer took the children to another level. He had them warm up first, like doing push ups in the dirt. Then, he had them lie on their bellies and then roll right and then roll left. Then he told them that they should take a handful of dirt and put in their pocket as a souvenir and if they didn’t have pockets, their socks, etc. The majority of the crowd was laughing hysterically. I’m sure some parents were not.
And then Nancy made a great observation. In North Carolina, little toddlers are dressed in camo. Here in the southwest they are dressed in jeans, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. One we saw even had the belt buckle. Adorable kid. A local vendor was also on site selling homemade freezer dried candies. Nancy decided to try the Milk Duds. Not bad really.