Last post.........

This will be my last post to the blog for this trip - we will be in Big Bear tomorrow, drop the trailer, pick up the mail and head to Long Beach before I have a chance to get hit by my altitude sickness.  It has been a fun journey and I hope you've enjoyed traveling with us (vicariously).  Chuck and I were looking through our pictures and deleting those that didn't make the grade - just before I hit delete I looked closely.....................

This was taken on the bridge crossing the Mississippi River from Natchez, Mississippi to Vidalia, Louisiana.  At first, I thought it was just a picture of a girder that I had snapped accidentally since I was shooting as fast as I could to catch the river while Chuck was driving at 50 miles an hour.  Looking more closely I thought I saw a reflection of something or maybe a painting of some kind - a beautiful blue sky, old historic buildings with the lush riverbank in the foreground and the waters of the Mississippi.  Now though, I'm sure it is a peek between the girders of the Natchez - Vidalia Bridge, maybe a peek back in time (just a little) to old Natchez?

Sunset over the desert last night in Tonopah, AZ

Thanks for following along - we've had fun - until next trip...

Still on the road......

We decided since Chuck had added a few vacation days to his original schedule, we could take our time getting home.  Next stop St. David, AZ.  When Jen and Bill were at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista we were surprised to find this part of South East Arizona to be cooler than Phoenix.  We also didn't expect lush green areas and vineyards in the desert.  This trip, we thought we would enjoy staying in St. David for two nights, but liked it so much we made it three.  What a treat not to have the air conditioning running and to sleep with the windows open at night (even needing a blanket in the early morning hours).  We found a great lakeside campsite where we could watch the fish jump, momma duck and ducklings swim by, and great sunsets.  We took time to explore Tombstone and Bisbee, both of which have their own unique history.  Tombstone was one of Arizona's most renowned mining camps, nicknamed "The Town Too Tough To Die".  It got its name when prospector Ed Schieffelin left Fort Huachuca and his comrades told him that he would find his tombstone rather than silver.  So, in 1877 Schieffelin named his first claim "Tombstone", and his rich strike made a boomtown of the settlement.  Bisbee shows its heritage as soon as you round the corner and see the rich copper colored hills above town.  During the 1880's mining rush the discovery of the Copper Queen Lode made Bisbee internationally famous.  The Bisbee mines have produced over $2 billion in copper, gold, lead, silver and zinc.  By the early 1970's most of the mines had closed and the town became home to more than 100 resident artists and artisans.

This Georgia wine went into two glasses, the two glasses went to the two chairs in the background and two happy people enjoyed the view and the wine.

Tombstone Courthouse built in 1882 and used until 1930 when the county seat was moved to Bisbee

The hills above Bisbee

Next leg of the trip.......................

Sunday we left Odessa and decided to only stay on Interstate 20 as far as Pecos.  We then took Texas State Highway 285 up to Ranch Road 652 and over to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, a remote rugged wilderness park located in Western Texas.  It was a beautiful drive, if we saw 20 other cars the entire day I'd be surprised.  We thought that we might be able to camp there overnight, but were disappointed to find out that there were no electric hookups.  Now, this wouldn't normally be a problem (we've boondocked many times), we had plenty of water, a generator if we needed short bursts of electricity and a full refrigerator.  The reality was it wasn't as cool as we thought it would be at 6000 feet where the campground sits, and the thought of trying to sleep in a trailer that was 88 degrees inside just didn't fly.  We made a mental note to come back in the spring sometime.  We pushed on to Anthony, New Mexico, just over the border from El Paso and stayed there instead.

The overpass at I-20 & Hwy 285 - the other side is the Texas Flag

Farm to Market & Ranch to Market roads, first opened in 1937

Guadalupe Mountains National Park - over 80 miles of hiking trails

The behinder I get.........

If I'm relaxing it means I'm not getting on the computer and if I'm not on the computer I'm not blogging.  Therefore the more I'm relaxing the behinder I'm getting on my blog :-)
I left off with the north of Dallas adventure, which actually turned out to be really nice.  We stayed on the shores of Lake Bridgeport overnight and had a delicious "fish fry" dinner.  The next day we put our destination of Odessa into the Garmin and were treated to another "off the beaten path" journey.  We took two lane roads past ranches, the town of Graham, across the beautiful Brazos river, through Breckenridge and into Albany, the oldest town on the Northwest Frontier of Texas.  The courthouse, built in 1883 out of native stone, still stands proud.  The town has a restored main street rich with historic buildings and quaint shops.  We meandered from there past Hubbard Creek Lake, back into the civilization of Abilene and Interstate 20 then to our destination of Odessa for the night.

Lake Bridgeport

Brazos River, the longest river in Texas - love the color

Beautiful Courthouse