Late Nov. 2018
After Phoeniz, Tucson seemed like a small town…kind of. We stayed at an RV park that is part of the Pima County Fairgrounds. There was a car raceway in one direction, a shooting range in another and equestrian events going on within the fairgrounds…interesting. And we heard coyotes quite close each night.

We went to the Pima Air and Space Museum- the second largest to the Smithsonian! Over 80 acres covered in planes with 5 big hangars full as well.

An amazing collection of historic planes and super knowledgeable guides and docents-many who were pilots in Korea and/or Vietnam. We had hoped to go to the Military Plane Boneyard- 100s of acres, where old planes go to die or be scavenge for parts, however one needs a security clearance reservation 10 days in advance to go on that tour.

Oh, and this area is where lots of Saquaro Cacti live– we felt like we were in an old western movie!

 

Bisbee, AZ- off the beaten path. There were lots of copper (and silver) mines in those whole area way back. Queen mine, a mine that produced more copper and other mineral ores that almost any still operates a mine tour into the old mine, even though it went open pit in a big way in it’s later years.

Our RV park was on a slag pile overlooking the open pit mine and beside the shaft mine we toured (one can just see it in the right pic, near the top). And our RV park owner also owns the Lavender Jeep Tours in town. Bisbee is tucked into a very steep canyon and the roads are CRAZY, narrow, windy, steep and blind; many two way, but with room only for one! The Jeep tour took us all over town through all those roads with a running dialogue of history and stories of old and present Bisbee. They have a runners’ race each year which in essentially up 1000 steps of stairs down them! Many people walk 100 stair steps a day just to get their mail as the USPS will not deliver to them! Bisbee, apparently, has been voted as one of the “quirkiest” small towns in America- and we would agree.

Boondocking- three nights, off grid, essentially on the side of the road. A roadside pullout behind a granite outcrop, BLM land outside of Las Cruces, NM, and a picnic roadside stop i in TX. Beautiful, quiet and free!

 
Our first DUST STORM! Wow! Two areas of RT 10 near El Paso were heavily marked for wind, dust and visibility! And we got the wind- it actually boosted our mpg for a while. And then we got the DUST! The dust was kind of like fog back home- our visibility dropped to about 1/4 of a mile and the highway was 75mph there!
Speaking about El Paso- Juarez is just across the border. In Mexico, the minimum wage is $8 US….per DAY!!! Many people Mexican and US, live in Juarez and cross the border everyday to work in the US. However, for US companies, manufacturing in Mexico is definitely cheaper. The whole area is massive sprawl of houses for as far as one can see.
Another best kept secret- Fort Davis TX The tallest mountains in Texas at about 6000ft. so scenic and cooler in the summer. The actual fort of Fort Davis is a partly restored fort from the calvary days of the 1860s-1890s. Fascinating history for an easterner. The Chihuahuan (we now have been in all four deserts in the US in the past month) Desert Nature Center has a botanical garden walk with well labeled native plants

and a hike up to a bluff where the geological history of the 360 view of mountains is well explained. And add in McDonald Observatory and a night time Star Party- we looked through some very large telescopes at star cluster, nebulae and the galaxay Andromeda. We have had days near 70, but cold nights- lows of 21 and 27!!! Time to move!
Headed down to South Padre Island for a few days to check out that part of the Gulf Coast.