February 22nd-March 31st

Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort was absolutely amazing. The resort is a mix of two and three bedroom homes (on the smaller size) and RV lots. Some of the RV lots come with casitas which can have a washer and dryer, tv or even a refrigerator in them and then other RV lots are like what we had...a gravel area wide enough for your RV and your car, plus a bit more space. Because of COVID protocol in Canada, most of the Canadians were not able to travel to Casa Grande this year, so it meant lots of places were open. In fact, the house next to our spot was vacant the entire time we were parked in Palm Creek. We did have neighbors for about a week on our other side. A lovely older couple from the DC area in their Thor Palazzo 40' but after that, it was like we had at least three lots free around us.

Robert's sister, Becky and her husband, Steve and Robert's cousin and her husband were each renting a house there for several months. The four of them are from Boise, Idaho and started wintering her a year ago. It's a great way to beat the cold and the snow of Idaho. Steve likes to fly back and get his winter skiing in if the powder is good but I think he will be calling it quits on the skiing from here on out.

There is so much to do here. If you like tennis, biking, pickle ball, swimming, golf, lawn bowling or even pottery, Palm Creek has got it going on! There were a few classes that weren't offered this year (like painting, which I would have loved to participate in) due to COVID restrictions but I know we will be back and maybe I can take a class or two.

The other great thing about being in Arizona is that there are some great OHV trails and hiking trails. An OHV is an off-highway vehicle...it can be a motorcycle, a Jeep (like we have) a truck, a quad, side by side, Razor and whatever names they've come up with but what they all have in common is that they can go off-road through some pretty rough terrain and believe me, Arizona has some pretty rough terrain.

And lastly, being this close to Phoenix brought us closer to some of our friends. I have two high school friends that live in communities that surround Phoenix and we have photographer friends that live here too! Being in one place for 5 weeks gave us an opportunity to see friends, enjoy time with family and go and do things we wanted to do.

Hope you enjoy the images and possibly some videos of our time in Casa Grande and the surrounding areas.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument has always fascinated me. When my dad was stationed at Williams AFB in Chandler, AZ I remember taking a trip over to the ruins to see them. I was in Kindergarten or First Grade so I don't know if I came with my parents or it was a school trip but the building has always been memorable. The structure itself is about 4 stories and the Hohokam Indians used to live here. It's made from caliche and over time some of the outside wall has been destroyed but the National Park Service is constantly restoring it. In 1932, a ramada was built to protect the structure and helps preserve the historical significance of the ruins.

The Domes are one of the stranger buildings around the area. Built in 1982, the Domes were supposed to house a technology company. They were built this way to keep costs down and to also keep the temperatures inside cooler due to the extreme heat in the southern Arizona summers. Unfortunately, the company went belly up and the domes were abandoned. The property was bought in 2006, but not before the ghost stories started and aliens were attributed to the area. The property is posted private but it doesn't keep the local teenagers from partying around the area. I stood on the outside and took pictures because I just don't have time to go to jail or to mess with aliens. They are a must see though!

One of the things that both Robert and I love to do, now that we have the Jeep is go off-roading. It can get pretty bumpy but running through the trails in 4 wheel drive and testing your limits of steep inclines and declines is pretty awesome...plus running your Jeep through a shallow water area is just COOL! 

While in Arizona, we had an opportunity to do two different box canyon trails. The first one we did out of Florence, AZ. It is listed on All Trails app as Box Canyon OHV Road and is listed as a moderate trail. It's about 11.5 miles point to point and has an elevation gain of 1,505'. It is a totally doable trail for a newbie and took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

The second canyon OHV trail we did was outside of Wickenburg. You can find it on All Trails as the Box Canyon of Hassayampa OHV Trail. It is 13.3 miles long and has an elevation gain of 394'. It took us 2:47 minutes but we spent a lot of time watching people go through the water at the point where we could go no further. It is a box canyon so you do need to watch for flooding. There were several deep areas of water that we didn't go into but where the water was less than a foot deep, I happily played like a little kid driving the Jeep up and down the river bed. We did get some drone footage and hopefully I can upload with this post. The trail is listed as a moderate trail but I didn't think it was that hard.

We left Silver City, New Mexico with snow on our windshield but excitement in our hearts. We were finally on the road and super pumped about getting to Arizona. Our goal was to make it to Casa Grande by the 22nd of February! After leaving Silver City, New Mexico it was finally time to head toward Arizona. Our trip there would take us to Tombstone, Boothill, the Chirachaua National Monument, Fort Bowie and then into Tucson where we visited both the East and West side of Saguaro National Park.

Our drive to Tombstone was a relatively easy one. Once we got away from Silver City, the weather started clearing up and the snow melted off the RV. And before you know it, we were driving into the RV park inTombstone, Arizona. The park was reminiscent of Boothill with the site numbers being tombstone shaped. After getting set up and getting Bruce Wayne situated in the RV we headed out to discover what cool things we could do in Tombstone. And sure enough...we did all the touristy things you can do there. The first thing we did was head over to have lunch at Big Nose Kate's Saloon. Big Nose Kate was Doc Holiday's girlfriend/prostitute and we got a quick history lesson about the town. Then we checked out some of the local stores and window-shopped till it was time to head back to our RV spot. We stayed at the Tombstone RV Park and Campground right outside of Tombstone proper. It was 5 minutes to just about anything we wanted to do in town.

February 17th-2nd day in Tombstone, Arizona. We started the day by heading over to Boothill to see the graveyard. Talk about a resolute waste of land. It was pretty cool though walking through the graveyard and seeing how the people of the times made their living and even learning about how some of the more famous ones died!

Unfortunately, this was also the date that we found out from my sister that my Mom and Dad's house had been flooded by the extreme winter freeze that they had in Texas (right after my Dad had his knee surgery too) Talk about feeling helpless. My sisters chipped right in and worked so hard on cleaning up the house over the next few weeks but it would be several months before the repair work would get finished. In fact, it was May before the breakfast room got finished and June before all the carpet was laid and the furniture moved back in.

Side note, if you are in Tombstone, you really have to experience the gunfight. It's a self-guided tour till you get back to the gunfight area and then the gunfight is staged about  three times a day. Before and after the gunfight, the actors will walk through the downtown street and let you take pictures with them. At least the good guys do!

February 18, 2021-Today was a down day so we decided to go check out the Chiricahua National Monument and Fort Bowie. Chiricahua National Monument is about 66 miles from Tombstone so we decided to make it a road trip and find something to eat along the way. Sandy's RV and Cafe was a perfect place to eat and then get back on the road. Before we made it to Sandy's though we saw two A-10 Warthogs doing low level runs over the road we were on. It happened so fast we couldn't get pictures of it but it was a total blast watching them. Robert thought they were probably doing a bombing run. I just wished I had a picture of them because they were so close. 

After lunch we headed to the National Monument. Chiricahua has some of the most unique rhyolite rock formations and is called "the wonderland of rocks". It's also called the "land of standing up rocks" and it definitely is an appropriate description of this place. Chiricahua National Monument is located in the southeastern part of the state. At the entrance station, the elevation is 5,124' and at the summit it is 7,310'. The people who lived in the area prior to European settlers or the "white man" were Apache but it is thought that they found themselves being pushed further south by warring tribes. They were mainly nomadic people and some of the more famous Apache Indians that may have moved through this area are Chochise and possibly Geronimo.

About 40 minutes away is Fort Bowie National Historic Site. It opens at 8:30am and closes at 4:00pm and it is about a 1-1.5 mile hike in to the Visitor Center and the old fort ruins. We got to the trailhead at around 3:15pm so Robert took off to go get the stamp for another national park, leaving me and Bruce to hike by ourselves. It really wasn't that bad but it was pretty cool. Along the trail in there are historical markers with a little bit of history about the area in the 1800s. At on point, you can stop at the site of the Butterfield stagecoach ambush by Chochise. The first Fort Bowie is close to Apache Pass which is the location of another famous attack.

There is so much history of the first Americans in this area and it was really fascinating to be able to learn about the culture and the difficulties both the Indians and the people who attempted to settle the land went through.

February 19, 2021-It's time to head to Tucson. It is about 70 miles to Tuscon from Tombstone so for us that is about a 2 hour drive depending on whether it's freeway driving or back road driving. Tucson is another one of those quintessential places that is typical of southwestern Arizona. Stucco buildings, desert surroundings and lots of Saguaro cactus. In fact so much Saguaro cactus that there are two national parks dedicated to it...Saguaro National Park East and West and while we were there, we visited both of them.

Our RV park was really just a parking lot with Full Hook ups in it. There was a small pool but we were so busy we never got a chance to check it out. I wouldn't recommend the park itself but it wasn't all that bad. Located in the city of Tucson, we were pretty close to just about anything we needed in the way of food. There wasn't a lot of shade but we were only going to be there three nights.

I had hoped to be able to go over to Old Town Tucson, the set and backdrop for many of the Western movies I had grown up on. The Guns of Fort Petticoat with Audie Murphy, Rio Bravo with John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson (my favorite of all time) McClintock with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara (another favorite) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman, The Man who Loved Cat Dancing with Burt Reynolds and then some newer movies like The Three Amigos with Steve Martin and Martin Short, and Young Guns II with Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland and of course, Tombstone with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and Sam Elliott (swoon, Sam Elliott is a major babe). Unfortunately, either due to COVID protocols or a lack of funds to open up safely, it was not to happen.

Saguaro National Park West has over 25,000 acres and the East has over 67,500 acres. The West has about a 5 mile loop to drive and the East has about a 8 mile loop to drive. The Wide side has the younger and more prolific cactii and the East has the older, and higher elevation cacti.

Tucson is also the home of the Pima Air and Space Museum and no pilot worth his salt would miss a tour of this place. I will say, plan to spend the entire day here. We probably spent about 5 hours walking around and checking out all the exhibits and planes that were out on the flight line. It is one of the world's largest non-governmental funded aerospace museums. It features more than 300 aircraft, over at least 80 acres of space. 

What an excellent and spectacular way to wake up in the morning. Of course, for family and friends in Texas, temps were dropping to record lows (12 degrees is just unheard of in south Texas) but we were actually warmer than they were. The morning came with a moderate downfall of snow and continued for a little while. It was enough snow that we had to put on our coats, boots and gloves to enjoy walking around that day. We did have one pipe freeze but with a hair dryer and our heater on, it didn't take long for it to thaw out. We knew the temps were going to drop so Robert decided to unhook our water line which was extremely helpful!

I can say we stayed pretty toasty all day long and I don't worry anymore about temperatures dropping to the 20's as long as it is not for a prolonged period of time, I think we will be great!

The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is just about an hour drive away from where we were staying in Silver City. The road distance is about 45 miles but the road is windy and there are so many places to pull out to take pictures, that it will take you a good hour to get there. The road that you will take into the park is called the Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway and it is breathtaking! The temperature was beginning to drop so we made sure we brought our coats, hats and gloves. Today, we left Bruce at the RV because dogs are not allowed on the trail up to the dwellings and he was just fine hanging out at the rig.

Some things that you might want to keep in mind when visiting the Cliff Dwellings...wear layers. It can be cooler in the forest where the cliff dwellings are located but by the time you climb to the top of the hill to walk inside to see where the people lived, the temperature can change and you might want to take your jacket off. We were there in February so we were expecting cooler temps. The access trail can be moderately strenuous one mile round trip and it can take you up to an hour to an hour and a half depending on whether you have small children with you. Definitely wear hiking shoes or sturdy shoes. You will need it to go up the trail. When we visited in February, the National Park Service did allow us to go into the cave itself and walk through some of the rooms but you will need to check the National Park Service site to find out what their regulations are at the time of your visit. 

It is thought the the early ancestors of the Puebloan people were the ones that built the Gila Cliff Dwellings around 1275-1300 AD. This group of people were farmers rather than hunters and gatherers, but as time went on the descendants began to rely more on hunting. When the Mogollon people migrated out of the region, nomadic people, the Apache took their place and lived in the cliffs for a time. The Gila Cliff Dwellings NM is the only monument with the Mogollon ruins. This site protects 5 cliff alcoves and there are about 40 rooms of various sizes in the cases. The caves are about 1/4 mile up about the canyon's confluence with the west fork of the Gila River. The area close to the cliff dwellings is heavily forested so finding game and having water would have been no problem until the time of what was considered the Great Drought. At that time, things began to change and the settlements were abandoned to find better living conditions.

The history is incredible and is such a testament to the fortitude of early Native Americans. I can't wait to explore other cliff dwellings across the United States. 

Silver City, New Mexico..... Yay, we arrived into Silver City, New Mexico in the early afternoon! This makes our 13th state that we have visited and our second new state in our 2021 Go West Adventure.

Arriving in early afternoon means we can get set up rather quickly and then look for a nice little hike so that we can get our walking in for the day. With that in mind, we found the Dragonfly Loop Trail that was about a mile away from where we had parked the RV. The trail was a nice 3.6 mile hike with an elevation gain of about 230 ft. It's a great biking trail too and offered some level of difficulty if you are a mountain biker. It took us about and hour and 25 minutes. The coolest thing was at one point there was a nice patch of ice over a little pool of water plus a little bit of snow on the ground. We met another couple on the trail who wound up at the same brewery that we went to after our hike. 

After finishing up our hike, we decided to head to the local brewery in town. Robert likes to use an app called Untapped to find breweries and distilleries around the country. Little Toad Creek Brewery & Distillery was just perfect. Robert wound up with a flight of beers to try and I think I tried their local cider. The food was delicious and you MUST try their Toad Coffee Sundae. It's vanilla ice cream with their coffee liqueur poured over and then chocolate sauce, strawberries, pecans and whipped cream are added on top! SO GOOD!

The nice thing about this particular brewery was that we could bring Bruce in with us and he just slept under our table. We absolutely love breweries that allow our furbabies.

We hope you enjoy this part of our day in Silver City, New Mexico. Tomorrow, we head over to the Gila Dwelling National Monument. Can't wait to share that experience with you.