Day 42 - City of Rocks State Park NM

Yesterday was day 42 or our planned 84 day RV trip (1/2 way) prior to moving into our newly purchased townhouse in Victoria on April 12^th.

 We were at the City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico – a park recommended by several friends and other RVers.  It is characterized by an unusual rock formation – vertical tower like rocks in the middle of desert country.  There are ten campsites with electric and water hook up and then 45 “dry” camping sites.  It is at an altitude of 5200 feet.

After Las Cruces we firstly visited nearby La Mesilla Historic town. It was established as a Mexican town after the 1848 treaty of Guadalupe that ended the Mexican-American War. However after continuing disputes about the border with Mexico, soldiers raised the U.S. flag in the Plaza on November 16^th 1854 marking the signing of the Gadsden purchase – the last major territorial acquisition within the contiguous United States.

We then traveled further east to spend half a day at the White Sands National Monument which was established by president Hoover in 1933.  A remarkable formation of sand that is composed of Gypsum (anhydrous Calcium Sulphate).  In one area there was a Jamboree of many Cub Scouts and their families from the region. It was good to see the children having such a great time playing on the sand as if it was snow and tobogganing down the dunes. 

This was our furthest point east.  From this point we are heading west and to-day crossed the continental divide again (6500 feet) from the east to the west.

We then spent two nights at the Leasburg Dam State Park.  This is adjacent to the Rio Grande and the site of a dam established first in 1908 to divert water from the Rio Grande and enable the development of a rich agricultural valley.  On the second day there was a major windstorm and dust storm and each night the temperature dropped to below the freezing point. However with clear blue skies it only takes an hour or so for the temperature to rise rapidly as high at 70F later in the day.

We decided to take a scenic byway to get to the City of Rocks Park and travelled through Lake Valley, Hillsboro and Kingston. Hillsboro was originally established after the finding of gold. We had not realized that the route took us through Emory Pass at 8228 feet. It is in the Gila national forest and the Mimbres mountains. Amazing views from the pass and interesting to be in a forest of fir trees.  There was a fair amount of snow on the side of the road from the weather system the day before.

At the City of Rocks we enjoyed a day of hiking and bird watching. We identified Gambel’s Quail, White-Crowned Sparrow, Canyon Townhees, Bendire’s Thrasher, Blackthroated Sparrows and a Cactus Wren. The early part of the day was great for hiking before the wind got up.  

Now we have moved on and are at Lexington Pines RV Park at Safford, Arizona where there is Wi Fi and a chance to do some laundry.

On the way we visited Silver City (5900 ft) where there was an excellent museum showing the extensive mining that has occurred in the area starting with silver in the 1880s. To-day nearby is the second largest copper mine in the U.S.   

We are heading in the direction of the Grand Canyon which we hope the weather will permit us to see at this time of the year.

Who goes RVing?

As relative newcombers to RVing in North America it is fascinating to see who is on the road.  The vast numbers of RVs you see here particularly in Arizona and New Mexico is amazing. The best book I have found on the subject is “Frommer’s exploring America by RV” by Shirley Slater and Harry Basch. 

Firstly you see all sorts of modes of transport and camping from tenting, to VW Campers, to Type B (Van conversions), Type C (like ours – a truck chasis with space over the cab) to Type A (bus like vehicles that can be up to 50 feet long and be towing a car or trailer). And then there are separate trailers (caravans) and fifth wheels towed by the appropriately sized truck.

All have their pros and cons and listening to people many have owned several sorts over the years. We started with tenting in the 1960s, then a tent trailer in the 1970s and a 16 foot trailer (caravan) in the 1980s and now in 2013 a 26 foot Type C Motorhome on a Ford chasis with a 6.8 L V10 engine.

The Frommer book defines 12 different types of people who go RVing.  One they call Garbo Gourmets ‘They like to be alone together luxuriating in the best life can offer. They dislike tiptoeing through creaky B&Bs or suffering second-rate food and service at expensive hotels and resorts preferring to carry their own wine and food, sleep in their own beds, and select their own surroundings by serendipity”.  Penny agrees some of this applies to us.

Other types we have encountered and some partly apply to us : Sportsmen – golfers, fishermen etc,  Weekenders,  Ecotourists (birdwatching, hiking, biking etc), Relatives,  Retirees and Empty Nesters,  Pet lovers (it seems at least 1/3 of RVs have dogs!), Special event attendees  (We have seen RVs towing trailers with their Harley Davidsons, Nascar race cars or ATVs), Snowbirds and Full-timers.  We would also add those who like being nomadic whether it is on a sailboat or in an RV. We  know a number of them.

You can get all sorts of information from RV  magazines and web sites but I would recommend the Frommer book to anyone contemplating RVing or who is intrigued buy the amazing spectrum of people who are on the road.    

Day 40 Las Cruces New Mexico

After Tucson and area which we really enjoyed we carried on heading east.  Amazingly before leaving Tucson I was able to see at the local cinema near the Catalina State Park  Live Opera from the Met in High Definition. The opera was Rigoletto by Verdi and the setting chosen was Las Vegas in the 1960s. A great performance.  The following day we had tickets for Verdi's Requiem performed by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at the new Tuscon Music Hall.  It was the final concert in the two week "Tucson Desert Song Festival". This year was the inaugural festival and it is planned to repeat it each year. The performance included four soloists all who had sung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.  I am putting this festival on my "Bucket" list in case one might be tempted to go to it in future years. There is even a direct flight to Tucson from Victoria.
We have just spent three nights at Rockhound State Park near Deming in New Mexico. State parks in Arizona and New Mexico are impressive - it is so nice to be at a park where there is space between the sites. At commercial sites you are often quite close to other vehicles. Most of the state parks also seem to have electrical and water hookups but not sewer.
The only trouble with the last week is that the weather is breaking all records for being cold. Yesterday the high was 47F and the low 26F. We were however at an altitude of 4550 feet. The water input hose has frozen solid on several nights and we have to wait for the sun to come up for it to unfreeze.
We are now in an RV Park in Las Cruces, New Mexico to do laundry and catch up on Emails etc.
This is probably the farthest east we will go but we do hope to visit White Sands National Monument before heading in a westerly direction.
Shaun, Penny and Lucy.

Day 31 - Catalina State Park, Tucson

It is day 31 and we have now been five nights in Catalina State Park in the Coronado National Forest only about 30 miles to the North of Tucson. The contrast between staying in the Voyageur RV resort is striking. At the Voyageur which is about 10 miles south of Tucson we experienced a retirement community of RV’s and manufactured homes that many Americans come to for the winter. There were multiple organized activities and very friendly people.  As well as visiting the Gem show, I went to the Air and Space museum and then the separate “Boneyard” storage space for all US Military Aircraft.  There are more than 6000 mothballed aircraft – some in a state that can be put back into service or sold to foreign governments. The Museum had an amazing number of different aircraft from the second war onwards. One has a greater understanding of the military might of the US air, army and navy air forces and of the influence of the “Military Industrial Complex”. There was continuous jet plane noise, during the day, at the RV site as the “Warthog” (twin jet single seater aircraft whose principle purpose is to deliver the firepower of a powerful rapid firing cannon).

Here at the Catalina State Park we find we can do many of the things we do at home!

On the way here we took the tram up the Sabrina Canyon and did about a 2 ½ mile hike in the desert amongst the Saguaro’s - many of which are more than 200 years old. As the educational pamphlet says “The Saguaro has been called the monarch of the Sonoran Desert, supreme symbol of the American Southwest, and a plant with personality. It is renowned for the variety of odd all-too-human shapes it assumes – shapes that inspire wild and fanciful imaginings.”

Yesterday, which was a clear cloudless day I went on a 10 mile hike up the Romero Canon Trail. From chats with other hikers it seems many people come to this area for the hiking. Penny did a couple of short hikes with Lucy – a birding trail and a nature trail.

There are a remarkable number of small birds in the camping area - we have identified a Gila Woodpecker and a Mourning Dove but our birdbook is not comprehensive enough for the identification of several very colorful small birds.

It rained one day and so we found that we were ten minutes from a large shopping area with a movie theatre complex so we went to see “Quartet” with Maggie Smith and Tom Courtney. Greatly enjoyed!

We will be here for another two nights, then to hear Verdi’s Requiem in Tucson and then we plan to head into New Mexico!

Shaun, Penny and Lucy.

Day 21 Tuscon

From Buckeye we headed for Tucson to meet up with friends Christine and Hugh (from Victoria).  Hugh had flown back to Victoria for a week to deal with some medical issues.
On the way to Tucson we spent half a day at the highly recommended Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  Included in the museum are examples of all the desert flora and fauna, a hummingbird display, a live flying raptor exhibit, several animals (like mountain lion), a cave exhibit, an aquarium etc. There were many visitors who come back frequently and it is a privately supported Museum with many volunteers, docents etc.  On the way to Tucson we passed by Old Tucson and may go back and visit this movie set which is now translated into a tourist exhibit "where the spirit of the old west comes alive".
We are now at Voyager Hotel and RV Resort for a week parked besides Christine's 5th wheel and appreciating her orientation to Tucson. The annual Gem Show is on and visits are being made to this huge international annual event located at several sites south of Tucson. 
This resort has about 1500 sites - mostly "manufactured" homes but also RVs which are either visiting or permanently here. What is impressive is the many activities that occur on a daily basis. There is a woodworking shop with the latest equipment and special rooms for multiple arts and crafts. This evening we are going to  be playing duplicate bridge. It will be the fifth time we have played bridge on this trip. (We were fortunate to find people to play with at two previous RV parks) They have a weekly get together here for Canadians (also for several US states) and even a discussion group on Economics and World history that I might go to. 
At the end of the week we will go to another Arizona State Park called Catalina just north of Tuscon.  On Sunday 17th the Tuscon Symphony and Chorus are performing Verdi's Requiem which we have tickets for.
The weather is clear - up to 70F during the day but cool at night.
It is nice to relax a bit and spend a week in one place.
Yours in pursuit of continued RV Adventures.
Shaun and Penny and Lucy. 

Day 17 Buckeye Arizona

From Needles we crossed into Arizona traveling through dry desert county. The first surprise in Arizona was the price of gas was at least a dollar cheaper per US gallon than in California. We paid $2.99 per US Gallon which by my calculation is 80c per liter! 
We stopped in Lake Havasu where a developer created an instant city in about 1964. It is where the London Bridge was rebuilt and is of course a tourist attraction. We walked across the bridge and bought a couple of post cards.
Historically it is of interest that the damming of the Colorado River made such a difference to the opening up of this area and of southern California. The Hoover dam was built between 1931 and 1936 as part of the New Deal program initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt. The Parker dam which created Lake Havasu was built between 1934 and 1938.  The dam provides drinking water to areas of southern California by using Hydro electric power generated to pump water up to enter an aquifer that then flows downhill. Of special interest was that the agreements for the water require that the dam maintain the level of lake Havasu between 440 and 450 feet.  From the boating facilities we observed there must be large crowds in the summer. The water temperature reaches over 80F and the air temperature can be 100-120F.
After four relaxing days at Cat-tails Cove RV park, with some great hiking along the lake and through the desert we moved on.  The RV park which is an Arizona State Park is is highly recommended and has received a number of awards - including a recent one for the maintenance of their sewage treatment plant!
We needed to be at an RV park with good internet so we are at Lake Verde RV resort at Buckeye Arizona. The overall impression here is that our little 26 foot Class C Motor home is completely dwarfed by the extra ordinary 5th Wheel and large Class A Motorhomes.
It is bright and sunny still but cool for this time of year in Arizona.
We were relieved to-day to find that the selling of our house all went through without a hitch!
Best wishes to all,
Shaun and Penny and Lucy.