Chiricahua National Monument

Today we drove 71 miles to the Chiricahua National Monument which is east of Benson. This monument was established in 1924 to protect the rock formations in this valley. Swedish immigrants Neil and Emma Erickson settled here in 1888 and their daughter Lillian and her husband Ed Riggs later established the Faraway Ranch and built trails and led guests on horseback through the rock formations. After their death the property was protected and later the Civilian Conservation Corps built the 8 mile scenic drive road and lookout areas.

We started our visit with a stop at the visitor center to learn some of the geology and history of the monument; after that we took the scenic drive up to Massai Point. As we drove up the canyon we entered the zone where the recent snow is still on the ground, we also climbed higher than the cloud ceiling which cut visibility at the Massai and Sugerloaf lookout points. The snow made the trails at these two points to slippery for our enjoyment so we descended to the Natural Bridge trail head.

The drive up to Massai Point.

Looking back at the road up the valley.

The view at the top was limited by low clouds.

KoKo enjoyed the snow on the Sugarloaf trail.

We didn’t intend to hike the entire 4 mile trail back to the natural bridge viewing area so we walked up the trail far enough to see some of the rock formations along the trail and down the valley. We probably went about a half mile up the trail before we turned around; other than crossing the stream the trail was well marked and passable despite a couple of fallen trees.

This formation is called Sea Captain.

At the head of the Natural Bridge Trail Sandy waits for John to splash down.

He made it!

Big rocks along the trail.

Some of the rock formations along Natural Bridge Trail.

We then drove down to the Faraway Ranch and had a picnic lunch. We walked around the remaining buildings but the scheduled talk about the settlement had been cancelled. We decided to take the long way home and drove the remainder of Hwy 181 to 191 which was marked as a scenic road on our map (which it was), this route was a little longer and we did run into another Boarder Patrol Checkpoint but we did make it back to Cochise Terrace.

The homestead at the Faraway Ranch.

A number of these guys watched as we ate lunch.

Work Day in Benson.

Today was a work day for us but we still had time to relax a little. We started the day making calls trying to settle some health insurance changes and payment arrangements and trying to answer a couple questions about John’s retirement annuity. We also sorted the mail we received yesterday and dealt with some of those issues. After paperwork we cleaned and vacuumed the mothership, Sandy has also been catching up on laundry.

We have a nice spot here at Cochise Terrace, we have a location with a view and we are close to the pool and hot tub, and the dog run area is just around the corner. We used all the above today.

Our site at Cochise Terrace.  Can you find Koko?

Our view of the valley from inside the mothership.

KoKo had two trips to the dog run to play ball, John took her this morning and Sandy took her this afternoon; we met a couple and found out he is a retired Provincial Police Officer from Ontario. John unpacked the bikes and we took a short ride around the park to look at some of the permanent sites and homes that are for sale. After that we visited the hot tub which felt good as it was a little cool today.

Our view of the valley tonight.

Drive from Deming to Benson Arizona,

We drove 175 miles from Deming, NM to Benson, Arizona making one fuel stop on our way. A large storm covered most of New Mexico but no snow fell in Deming but it was raining hard this morning so we got pretty wet disconnecting our water and electric, then hooking up the CRV. We had rain for most of the drive but it got lighter and more sporadic as we got close to Arizona.  

We arrived at Cochise Terrace RV Resort at 1:00PM and started setting up for our one week stay.  Our site is gravel but it is water logged so as we continue stepping on the gravel it is bringing mud up through the gravel. The weather forecast says sun and 60s’ for the next few days so that may help dry us out.

After lunch we finished our setup, took a walk and then drove into Benson. We stopped at the Post Office for our first mail delivery and then did some shopping at Wal-Mart. John got the CRV washed as it was very dirty after towing it in the rain today. Tonight we will sort our mail and plan some things to do this week in the Benson area.

South of Deming

We drove south today about 30 miles to the Mexican border and walked across to do some shopping; our goal was to stop at Farmacia Express to price some of John’s medication to see if we could save money. We bought a six month supply of two asthma medications and saved $993.38; in looking at John’s insurance and deductible situation we felt this was best for us at this time. We also stopped at the Pink Store which sells tourist items, pottery, jewelry, alcoholic beverages and a restaurant; unfortunately we were there to early for lunch and didn’t partake in the free drink that was offered.

In Mexico looking south at the Pink Store.

In Mexico looking north at the border crossing.

After shopping we walked back across the border, presented our shinny new passport cards and declared our purchases and were allowed to proceed to our vehicle; we had more questions and a quick vehicle check at a Border Patrol checkpoint about ten miles north of the border on Hwy 11.

Five miles south of Deming we entered Rockhound State Park, as the name implies this park is for people who know one rock from another and want to collect and take samples home (up to 15 pounds); we were there to to see the park and walk a trail. We walked the Jasper trail which was a healthy one half mile, either that or we were tired from yesterday’s walk.

Sandy and a Yucca, this little guy followed us for quite a while; the Florida Mountains are in the background.

The view of Rockhound’s campground and beyond.

Back at the mothership we had lunch and then drove KoKo to Voiers park for a walk, we walked her for about 45 minutes . Tomorrow is moving day so back at the campground we caught up on some work and started packing up for the morning.

KoKo walks at Voiers park in Deming.

Voiers has a variety of walking trails.

Tour of Deming NM

Today we decided to take a drive up into the hills north of Deming to see some ancient petroglyphs; the campground had directions to a nearby site. We drove out of town and then took an unimproved road about 10 miles up into the hills. We hiked up to the site but were very disappointed that the site had been defaced and vandalized with graffiti engraving to the point that we could not recognize what was ancient and what was done by the class of 2009 although the new engraving seemed to be oriented toward space aliens visiting the site. We did have a nice drive and hike to a place where there wasn’t another person within eyesight.

Our drive into the hills.

Our view from petroglyph peak, the road in is visible on the far left

The Florida Mountains.

After we got back into Deming we visited the Luna Mimbres Museum which is housed in a red brick building that was built as an armory in 1917. The exhibits were all related to Deming and the area, the amount and variety of items is incredible. We started the tour in the doll room and ended it in the transportation area, in between there were Indian artifacts, household silver and china place settings, crystal and glass work, war memorabilia, western hats, saddles, a chuck wagon, minerals and rocks, artwork, farming and blacksmith tools, and a huge collection of decanter bottles. I’m sure I am missing some of what is in the building, as one person put it “this is amazing”, it’s free and worth a visit at twice the price (donations are accepted).

Some of the Indian artifacts in the Luna Mimbres Museum.

Deming, New Mexico

Today’s drive was from Van Horn, Texas to Deming, New Mexico, a distance of 230 miles. We didn’t make any fuel stop but we had to drive through El Paso; we thought we were driving through just after 10:00AM but neglected to take into account the change to Mountain time so it was just after 9:00 and traffic was pretty heavy, not Chicago or Atlanta heavy but it was busy.

Because of the time change we arrived at the Dream Catcher RV Park just after 12:00 noon and checked in. This is the first Escapees RV Club park that we have stayed in so we wanted to make their social hour at 4:30PM; there were a few people there and we were the only new ones to make the meeting so we had a nice chat getting to know people. We did learn that Gila Cliff dwellings are closed due to flooding from the storms that came through here so we won’t be able to drive up there. We had planned to spend several days here but that will depend on the weather.

Our site at Dream Catcher.

Before social hour we got set up and then took KoKo for a four mile walk to Voiers city park and back; the park is actually a hole in the ground but there is an Amphitheater and a variety of walking trails. This evening the temperature is predicted to get down to the high 20s’ so we have rolled up the water hose for the night; ah Deming, where the altitude is high but the temperature is low.

Snow on the Florida Mountains near Deming.

A Roadrunner at Voiers Park in Deming.

Van Horn, Texas

Today we drove from Big Spring to Van Horn, Texas a distance of 230 miles. This is west Texas, lots of oil pumps, drilling equipment and related businesses along I-20; Van Horn is about 120 miles from the New Mexico border but only 27 miles from the Old Mexico border.

We left Big Spring at 8:15AM and we were parked at the Eagle’s Nest RV Park in Van Horn by 12:45PM which is the earliest we have ever parked for the day. We left early to avoid the wind, we did have some but we were driving into it today so it wasn’t that bad and we were parked by the time it really kicked in this afternoon.

Our site at Eagle’s Nest.

The Eagles Nest is nice but located between Interstate 10 and some busy train tracks so we will see how the noise factor is tonight. Once we were set up it was KoKo time so we got her to the dog run and chased the ball for awhile. The plan for tonight is watch the playoff games and get some sleep.

KoKo and the ball.

KoKo goes for the ball.

City Tour – Big Spring

We started our day with a free pancake breakfast at the Texas RV Park, we saw the owner at the pool last night and he told us they have a pancake breakfast for guests every Saturday morning. After breakfast we did some work around the mothership before exploring the park’s nature trail. The trail is short with lots of elevation change but there are a few benches along the trail to sit, observe and listen; unfortunately there was road noise from nearby US highway 89.

Our very long site at Texas RV Park.

Sandy and KoKo on Cactus Ridge along the RV park’s nature trail, we are looking down on Highway 89.

After walking the nature trail we drove a short distance down 89 to Comanche Trail Park. This is a large park that contains a golf course, community center, baseball fields, Lake Comanche Trail and the Big Spring. We walked around the spring and along a trail to the lake; after our walk we drove through the park where there is plenty of space for walking or picnicking.

The Big Spring that the city was named for is in Comanche Trail Park.

Sandy and KoKo check out the spring.

We drove into downtown Big Spring looking for the Post Office and the Potton House. The Potton House was built in 1901 and is one of the oldest homes in Big Spring; we saw the house but due to a confusing system of one way streets downtown I don’t think we could actually get there from where we were.

We then drove out to the airport as we wanted to check our route out of town tomorrow. At the airport we stopped at Hanger 25 Air Museum. This is a restored WW II flight hanger that contains a collection of exhibits about the Big Springs Bombardier School and Webb Air Force Base. The hanger and training facility were in use through the Vietnam War; it sounds interesting but unfortunately it had closed about a half hour before we arrived.

Hanger 25.

Along highway 700 we turned into Big Spring State Park and drove the loop road which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp. The road winds it’s way 200 feet up onto, around and down a bluff. We met a few people walking the road and felt it would be a good hike but unfortunately the wind was really kicking in and we could see the afternoon dust storm coming so we did not stop.

You can see the red dust storm heading for Big Spring.

On our way back to the park we stopped at Wal-Mart for a few items, by the time we came out the dust storm had arrived. Back at the park we took another swim in the indoor pool which is nice and warm; we then hooked up the CRV and disconnected our water system as we are going to try to leave early tomorrow but it is already 10:30 PM and wind is still roaring outside so we will have to see how the night goes.

Big Spring, Texas

We drove west from Denton to Big Spring, Texas today a distance of about 300 miles. This should be a pretty easy drive but the wind was a problem all day; it wasn’t bad around Fort Worth but as we drove it became a strong cross wind from the south up to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. By the time we reached Big Spring John was driving about 55 mph fearing that if he drove faster the mothership would start shedding parts like awnings, antennas or those really cool air horns on the roof; it was kind of like riding a bucking bronco all day.

We are staying at the Texas RV Park; we spoke with the owner after we were set up and he highlighted some of the improvements that have been made to the infrastructure of the park. The park has an indoor pool and a small hot tub which we did put to use.

It was windy when we arrived so we plugged in and hooked up to water but didn’t bother to open the slides or level until after dark when the wind settled down. We had taken KoKo for her walk and were sitting outside in the 80 degree afternoon sun when a cold front came through in the form of a dust storm that obscured our view of the area for an hour or so.

We did take the CRV into Big Spring to celebrate 10 days on the road with supper at Pizza Hut; the wind is predicted to be strong tomorrow so we are going to stay here and check out the local attractions.

Cleaning Day

Not much to report today as we remained at the campground and did some walking, cleaning and getting ready for moving day tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to drive to Big Spring, Texas which will be about 300 miles, John will be sure that no emergency brakes are on before we leave.

Sandy had  KoKo (boots) out early and the little dog walked for about an hour, John didn’t even join them until their third lap around the campground. Later we had our first cleaning day, we did the usual vacuuming, dusting and scrubbing; in addition we did some organizing and cleared out a few excess items.

We did have time to get boots out for a ball game followed by some hot tub time for Sandy and John. After supper we had the little one out for another forty minute walk, she is sleeping soundly right now.

We Visit The Grassy Knoll

The CRV went to the doctor this morning to replace the rear brake rotors and shoes. We arrived early despite the fog in Denton and were back on the road by 11:30AM. The bill was less than we had expected but was more than our annual maintenance budget allowed; we are thinking of adding a budget line called “stupid mistakes”.

Because we were out early enough we decided to drive into downtown Dallas and visit Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum at the former Texas School Book Depository. The drive into downtown was uneventful and we were able to park at the museum for five dollars, another twenty-three dollars got both of us into the museum (peanuts compared to what it cost us to get out of the Honda Dealer).

No photography is allowed inside the museum.

The museum offers a lot of information; JFK prior to the presidential election, the Camelot years including major issues he dealt with, and the Dallas visit and assassination. The assassination aftermath and investigation is covered in depth including the continuing claims that the Warren Commission’s investigation was flawed and that Oswald was part of a conspiracy; the Oswald arrest, murder, and trial of Jack Ruby are also documented. The information in the museum was certainly not new to us but there is something interesting about being in a spot where such a monumental event took place.

After our walk through the museum we walked outside to see Dealey Plaza and the infamous grassy knoll. It seems odd that despite the event that took place here it is just another busy street that is part of everyday life in Dallas we even used Elm Street when we left the museum.

The grassy knoll with the School Book Depository in background.

The sixth floor window that the shots were fired from.

Find John on the knoll.

Upon our return to the mothership Sandy went for a run and John took KoKo out for her run chasing her ball. We received some rain last night and today so the ball field was a little damp, by the time KoKo finished her game we had a new name for her, Boots, it took us an hour to clean her up enough to take her inside.

Boots Byrnes

Weave, Tunnel & Jump

Sandy and John talked about two possible visits here in Dallas, visit the Bureau of Printing and Engraving or visit the 6th Floor Museum and Dealey plaza. We chose the museum even though Sandy has been there twice, she said she would be interested to see it again.

We set out for the museum this morning but along the way saw a Honda dealer and decided to talk to them about the emergency brake issue on the CRV. When we stopped at the dealer John checked the rear brake rotors and determined this wasn’t just a brake pad issue, the rotors would probably also need to be replaced. The dealer told us to come back at 1:00PM and they would check the car and see if there was a problem.

We then decided to explore an alternate route out of Denton and Dallas and then we returned to the campground to drop off Sandy. John took the CRV back to the Honda dealer and waited for their diagnosis; they confirmed what John was thinking so parts are ordered and the car goes in for an operation tomorrow morning. The cost will raise hell with our budget but good brakes are kind of important (tongue in cheek), so John will eat a lot of bologna sandwiches for a while.

When John got back to the campground we decided to set up KoKo’s agility course and let her blow off some steam. The weave poles, tunnel and jump were set up and Sandy put that little dog through it’s paces. KoKo loves to run the course and her big reward for a successful course is her ball. We downloaded plans for this equipment and John cut and assembled the PVC pipe for the weave and jump, it breaks down into a fairly small bag.

KoKo weaves while drill instructor Sandy provides encouragement.

Sandy holds the prize in her hand while KoKo weaves.

KoKo weaves toward the tunnel.

KoKo leaps at the end of a successful course.

Due to the repairs of the CRV we have extended our stay here at Denton so we will stay here for two more nights; we will try to get down to the 6th floor museum.

Our reward for a job well done, sound asleep!

Work Day (Kind Of Anyway)

Sandy promised John he could sleep in today and we both delivered so it was a late start. Our goal was to wash the CRV and possibly the mothership but we only got at the CRV which really needed it.

Sandy was up early and took KoKo for a walk and KoKo didn’t even squeak about a 40 minute hike, KoKo has not been a walking dog but maybe that is changing. After walking KoKo Sandy checked out the exercise room here at the campground and did some weights. After all that she was back at the mothership when John stumbled out of bed at the stroke of 10:00.

After John got moving we took KoKo outside and played ball with her; this little dog could play all day if we could keep up with her. After letting the little dog run John set up our basement television while Sandy worked on thank you cards for our friends back at Calumet County; John continued to entertain the  dog.

KoKo goes for the ball.

Part of the game is “go ahead take it if you can”.

Our Site at Denton and a dog that wants to play more ball.

The CRV finally did get cleaned, we took it to the vehicle wash here at the campground and were able to scrub off the road salt that had built up since that first December snow in Wisconsin. After that John worked on vacuuming and cleaning the interior which looked very similar to the exterior. The bad news is it appears we towed it 300 miles yesterday with the emergency brake on; John is to blame and feels like *%!# but as Sandy says “it is what it is and we can’t change it”.

After Sandy finished the thank you cards and John finished cleaning the CRV it was off to the hot tub and pool, what a day!