Jan 20-23 Faywood NM

We drove only 35 miles to City of Rocks State Park in Faywood NM. What an absolutely gorgeous place.

The scene as you enter the park

Our actual campsite

The rocks in these photos were formed 35 million years ago when a volcano erupted with 1000 times the force of Mt. Saint Helens. The rocks eventually eroded to become the columns seen today. For 3 days and nights we never ventured outside the park. We loved the immediate scenery and also the view from the park's observation point.

Our RV is middle top

This was part of the 360 degree view from the observation point.

Everyday we clamored over rocks in search of petroglyphs (ancient drawings) and found quite a few!

Here I am.

Here's Ray. It was a stretch climbing this rock.

There seemed to be paths between the rocks.

This petroglyph was about 30 feet over our heads. I used a zoom lens to capture it.

This was at our feet but we searched multiple rocks before we found it.

It was a great, relaxing stay.

Jan 17-20 Deming NM

On January 17 we drove from Benson to Little Vineyard RV Park in Deming NM. There was no vineyard in sight, just a parking lot offering hook ups and cable tv, but the sky was beautiful.

The first day we stayed close to home and visited the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. It was an old armory filled with room after room of various collections. Here’s a glance at one of the quilts and part of the rock collection.

Quilt from afar

Quilt close up

A small section of the rock collection

On the 18th we drove to City of Rocks State Park and were so impressed that we decided to camp there after Deming. (Since I’ll be describing it in detail in my next entry, I won't include any pictures here.) The following day we drove to Rockhound State Park at the base of the Florida Mountains.

Florida Mountains (pronounced Flor-eee-da)

Ray at the visitor center

While picnicking at Spring Canyon (2 miles away), we spied two Persian Ibex on the horizon. What a find!

Jan 12-17 Benson AZ

We arrived at Butterfield RV Resort in Benson AZ after a 50 mile drive and settled into our site.




Our first excursion was to Tombstone where we visited the original Boot Hill and watched a “reenactment” of the shoot-out at the OK Corral.




Our next excursion was to Willcox to view the migrating Sandhill cranes. We saw the cranes from afar, but also saw a variety of water fowl up close. The scenery as we drove was lovely.





A third excursion brought us to Holy Trinity Monastery in Saint David, just 10 miles from our campground.


But one of the highlights of our stay in Benson was the local bar, the Arena. It boasted friendly people, a fine fireplace, two resident dogs, karaoke, and an owner that bought us a round of drinks. What else could we ask for?

Jan 6-12 Tucson, AZ

On January 6, we left Ajo and drove to Rincon Country West RV Park in Tucson AZ.



The place was huge—over a thousand sites—and impeccably kept. The sunsets were spectacular.

The entry way into the RV park.

The sunset

We toured the Mission San Xavier del Bac, a church built to convert indians in the 1700’s , and Biosphere 2, the dome made famous 20 years ago when 8 people lived inside for two years without outside intervention .


Looking toward the mission

Looking from the mission

Looking toward the biosphere

Inside one section of the biosphere

We also drove through Tucson Mountain Park to go to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, a garden/zoo featuring indigenous plants and animals. We viewed many neat creatures and saw lovely panoramas, but the highlight of the day was encountering a coyote on the road.

A chuckwalla

Panorama of the Saguaro National Monument

A candid coyote

We were actually in Tucson when the mass shooting occurred at Gabrielle Gifford’s “Congress at your Corner”. Our RV neighbor was rushed on the same day to the same hospital as the victims of the shooting! Despite that event, we were very impressed with Tucson, so much so that we toured an Active Adult community in Vail, a nearby town. A house like the one below could possibly be in our future…

Jan 2-6, Ajo, AZ

On January 2 we drove to Ajo Heights RV Park in Ajo AZ, not far from the Mexican border.

We had great good luck in meeting Eileen & Ted Oswald who became our extremely accommodating and generous tour guides. They drove us around the town, showing us all the sights. We especially enjoyed the Copper Mine, the Historic Downtown, the local cemetery and the Ajo scenic loop. We returned to the loop to take pictures.

The beginning of the loop.

The open pit copper mine.

The Indian cemetery at mile 6.1 of the scenic loop.


Ray in front of a saguaro cactus. The background is the back of the copper mine.

The next day Eileen drove me to the Organ Pipe National Monument and through a 21 mile loop of spectacular desert scenery.

Here I am in front of an organ pipe cactus.


Just one example of the scenery we encountered. Do you see the two arches?

That night Ray and I enjoyed hamburgers and fixings at the Ted & Eileen’s home. Quite simply, they made our stay in Ajo super special. Our thanks to you both!

Ted & Eileen and their 16 yr old dog in front of their home.

Dec 29-Jan 2, Lake Havasu City, AZ

On December 29 we said goodbye to Las Vegas and, bypassing the Grand Canyon (which was expecting below Zero temperatures), we drove south to the Islander RV Resort at Lake Havasu.

The area, known for its water activities, was experiencing an unseasonable cold spell. Walks along the water were lovely, but they were accompanied by a fierce wind that made 35 degrees feel much colder.

This is the boat ramp at our campground.

Yes, we saw the London Bridge (dismantled in the UK and reassembled in Arizona).

The London Bridge

We also took a scenic drive to Parker Dam, claimed as the deepest dam in the world.

Above is the dam, below is the view from the dam.


But most of our time was spent with errands--grocery shopping, car repairs and laundry-- and finding good restaurants and bars.