Natchez Trace

Teresa left early this morning to return to Indiana before the nasty weather arrives there.  There is a winter storm warning for freezing rain and up to 12 inches of snow.  This is bad enough that it may result in widespread downed trees and power lines... she did let us know she arrived safely just as the snow was beginning. 

As she was heading north, we high-tailed it south!  We found the Natchez Trace Parkway south of Nashville and drove that to just below the Arkansas/Mississippi border.  This is a very nice road, limited access, well groomed, clean bathrooms and picnic areas and points of interest along the way, and this time of year hardly any traffic!  We had a similar experience when traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia a few months back.

It's been cloudy and drizzly all day.  We had hoped to drive out of it and into some nice blue sky and sunshine, but no luck.  We are spending the night at Tishomingo State Park in the northeast corner of Mississippi.

Good road, well groomed.

An old tobacco barn

Tobacco hung to dry

A nice picnic area

This is where we are camped tonight, at the Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi.

Clarksville, TN

That white stuff on the ground next to that holly bush is snow!  Time to head south!  Actually, we will be going south again tomorrow as there is a weather alert for the northern states that we want to run away from.  Teresa needs to head back to Indiana as there is forecast for possibly 10 inches of snow headed her way on Monday night into Wednesday.

Today we went to this park, it has a nice little riverwalk.  Teresa went for a run and we walked.

We wanted to visit the Dunbar Cave but it, and many other caves in the country, are closed because the bats that live there are getting White-nose Syndrome....a new disease that is causing the most precipitous decline of North American wildlife in the past century.  It has killed more than one million bats in less than four years and threatens to devastate bat populations across the continent.  Nearly 100 percent of bats have died at some sites.  It's a fungus that grows on their noses.  Circumstantial evidence suggests humans may inadvertently carry this virus from infected sites to clean sites.



We couldn't see the cave, but this area is a state natural area so we hiked around for a while.  This tree has been here a while, the roots have adapted to their environment.



Interesting tree roots here.  And this tree trunk was filled with carvings.  No, we didn't carve our names into the tree.

Teresa

Beachaven Winery.  We stopped here for a tour of the winery and some wine sampling, yummy.

Teresa found a wine she liked.  Perhaps these grapevines were the source of the grapes used in that bottle.

Clarksville, TN

Following Bernie

We were not happy with where we were camped so we put our heads together and decided to go a bit further north to Clarksville, TN.  Bernie drove the RV and Teresa and I followed in her car, stopping at a Chili's restaurant for a very good lunch.  Where we are now is lovely.

I think this is as far north as I care to go.  As we were walking to the office to check into the new RV park I saw a small pile of............ SNOW!  The high temp for the day here was 57, and the low tonight should only be 34.  At least there was blue sky and sunshine.  We'll be here at least two nights.  We'll figure out what to do with our time tomorrow.

Memphis, TN

Green Stuff!!!

This is the bridge over the Mississippi River and the Memphis skyline.

The free app I use on my smartphone has a bug in it...I think the gas prices it showed me yesterday for Minnesota were actually for diesel, not regular.  It did it to me again today.  Even so, it now shows regular gas anywhere from $3.08 to $3.19 in Minnesota.  But around here it's $2.75 to $2.99.  And we have been burning a lot of it the last few days.

Our daughter, Teresa, drove down from Indiana to meet us in Memphis, Tennessee.  We are so pleased to have her with us for a while.  Tomorrow is her birthday, we'll have to think of something fun to do.  We met up at a campground east of Memphis.  It's not a great place, we need to find a new spot tomorrow.

Dallas, TX

All we did today was drive again... around 437 miles.  Get me out of the desert!!  I need civilization. hahaha.  We're in a Walmart parking lot somewhere in Dallas, TX. 

No pictures today, I couldn't find anything interesting enough to photograph.

I've been checking gas prices on the internet with my smartphone while Bernie was driving.  It looks like Minnesota is really getting the high prices.  I saw everything from $3.13 to $3.45 in Minnesota.  We were able to buy gas in Texas today at $2.99.  I guess we can kiss that price goodbye if there will be an upward trend.

Fort Stockton, TX

The drive back thru west Texas is not very exciting.  The mountains fade away and the terrain becomes dull and boring.  Just drive.  We drove 346 miles today, ending up in Fort Stockton, TX.  The most exciting part of the day was returning to the Central Time Zone!  Gas prices are going up. We have been seeing $3.09/gallon.

Entering El Paso, TX, from the West.

You can see Juarez, Mexico from I-10 for a few minutes.  There is a border fence, but I didn't catch it in this picture, it's behind and down from the guard rail.

West Texas

Deming, NM

Before we left Mesa this morning I just had to get a picture of this cell phone tower.

This was a rest area at Texas Canyon in New Mexico.

We saw this at the Texas Canyon rest area.  It's probably the biggest load I've ever seen.  Bigger than those wind turbine blades truck loads we see everywhere.  The truck parking section of the rest area was closed because this was parked there and took the whole area.  There were no people around so we couldn't ask what it is.  It is amazing how they can get this up the hills in this area.  I wonder if they are waiting until the middle of the night so they can close the road to get it further down the way.

Tonight we are in Deming, New Mexico, in the Walmart parking lot.  There were seven RV's in the lot when we got here, and I have heard more drive up.  I've seen the police drive by, and the Border Patrol trucks drive by, and the Walmart security car keeps driving around us.  I feel pretty safe, but it's just kinda creepy.  On the other side of the parking lot there are eight semi-trucks parked waiting for a man in a small white car with "National Security" on it to check them out.  What's that about?

Quartzsite

Inside the Big Top

It's a good thing we got a good start at the RV show this morning.  It soon became very crowded.  Our first stop was at the Big Top.  Then we looked at several brand new and some used RV's they had on display.  If only we had the money... wow... some really nice rigs out there.  Next it was on to the Sell-a-Rama (Flea Market).  I could spend several days there, but we decided we had enough and went back to our own humble RV. 

We have also decided we have gone as far south and as far west as we want to go at this point so we turned around and headed back east.  We are back at Towerpoint Resort with Dad and Shirley tonight.

At the RV Show

Water Tanks

Funny

Quartzsite, Arizona

Quartzsite

Oh boy, what a sight!  Quartzsite is a very special experience.  In the summer it is just a small town.  You will see flat desert, some roadside businesses, tumbleweeds and that's about it.  But in the winter it goes crazy.  RVs by the thousands camp in fairly primitive desert conditions.  There are several RV parks in the town, but most of the RVs are parked in public lands for miles in all directions from the town, bringing the winter population to well over a million people.  In 1965 the Pow Wow rock, Gem & Mineral Show began the rockhound winter migration to Quartzsite each year. Most people came in RVs and so RV vendors noticed this and the show evolved into a Sports, Vacation & RV Show as well as Arts & Crafts, and a Rock & Roll classic Car show, Hobby, Craft & Gems... and flea market... you can literally shop until you drop.  It is said that if you can't find it in Quartzsite you probably don't need it anyway.  The shows run all thru January and February.

Quartzsite

We were concerned it would be too crowded to find a spot, but actually we had no problem finding a place to dry camp (boondocking) along with everyone else.  There are no designated sites on the public lands, just drive around until you find a spot you want to be and set up camp...for free.  We selected our spot, unhooked the car and took a little drive around to see what was happening.  The sun was low so the pictures weren't so great.  Maybe tomorrow we'll get better pictures.  We sat for a while and watched one RV after another came to find a spot.



Public Lands Boondocking



I was surprised to find that we do have internet, and cell phone service, but we are unable to get any TV at all.  Of course, there are no hookups, so no electricity.  We can run the generator if we need it, and our water tank is full, and our waste tanks are empty. We'll stay here a few days and see how it goes.  Free is good.  We have seen vendors driving around among the RVs such as RV Awning Repair, Cracked Windshield Repair, water tank trucks, and sewage disposal trucks.  There is also RV dump and water available in the town, which we would need if we stay here very long.

Shopping!

There are about 2000 vendors!!!

Goodyear, Arizona

We Meet Up Again

After a nice pancake breakfast at the Towerpoint Resort with Dad and Shirley we said our goodbyes and packed up and headed west.  We are leap frogging across the country with Susan and Wally.  We caught up with them at a RV resort in Goodyear, Arizona, home of the Goodyear Tire Company and the Goodyear Blimp, and have the site next to theirs.  We spent some time sitting in the warm sun and relaxing... then a cool breeze came in and I reached for my sweater.  Susan made an excellent dinner for us and we shared a bottle of wine before going back to our own RV.

If You Build It They Will Come --- WRONG

Right behind where we are parked is a mystery building.  It is a harness racing/trotting track which opened in January 1965, but closed less than two years later. At that time, there was no I-10, or even any major roads leading from Phoenix to Goodyear to allow easy access for patrons to reach the then state-of-the-art facility.

Other than being used in the 1997 movie "No Code of Conduct" starring Martin and Charlie Sheen, the building has been idle for over 40 years. It is private property owned by the adjacent RV Park, and is not open to the public.

Lost Dutchman

Goldfield, an old mining town.

Susan and Wally joined us for a field trip to The Lost Dutchman's Mine in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix.  Well, we didn't actually see the mine since it is still lost, but we had a good time.  Near the base of Superstition Mountain is Goldfield, a small ghost town that was rebuilt and is now quite the tourist attraction.  We enjoyed the shops and seeing so much of the old mining town.  They do hold gunfights there on the weekends, but since this was Thursday we missed out on that.  There is a free museum there that includes information about The Lost Dutchman's Mine and people who have come here seeking it.


Superstition Mountain



The Dutchman was not really Dutch.  He was a German. "Deutsch".  People have been looking for his mine for over a hundred years.  There have been books and movies made about this story which involves murder and Apache Indians.

Towerpoint Resort

We joined Dad and Shirley for coffee and rolls at a monthly resort meeting this morning.  After that Bernie helped Dad with a few projects and Shirley went to a Red Hat Society meeting.  The resort sells box lunches for $5 or a hot meal for $6 so we took advantage of that for our lunch today.  The hot meal was ribs, so that's what we got.

 Dad lives on "C" street and we are also parked on "C" street.  Tonite the resort was having a C-street pot-luck party in the ballroom so we all went to that.  The entertainment was Chris Jacome, a Flamenco Guitarist.  His wife is a Flamenco dancer and they gave us a demonstration.  Then back to Dad's to play cards before calling it a night.

Mesa, Arizona

Towerpoint Resort Entrance

We arrived at Towerpoint Resort around noon today.   After checking in, being escorted to our site, and having a quick lunch we headed over to where Dad and Shirley live.  It's about two blocks.  The weather here is just beautiful, and this resort is very nice, it's a lovely walk to see them. 

The Main Plaza and Office at Towerpoint

We had a nice visit with them and then Bernie helped Dad place a new floor into his little wood shop.  Later, Shirley made supper and then we played cards for a while before going back to our RV for the night.

This is where we will be for the next few nights.  Dad lives down the street two blocks and on the left.

Daddy :)

Dad's Wood Shop

And this is where they live.

Coolidge, Arizona

We said goodbye and packed up after a wonderful breakfast at Cheri & Phil's. Oh my, what a beautiful 70 degree sunshine day.

One Big Cotton Bale

We headed west towards Tucson and Phoenix on I-10, stopping for gas at the Pilot station in Eloy, AZ.  We parked there for a bit and fixed a light lunch.  The price of gas has been pretty steady so far.  The Pilot station was selling regular for $2.85, but we have seen some other places over $3.  There is a lot of cotton grown here.  It's been picked, and we see several large bales of cotton in the fields.

Indian Skies RV Park/Resort

After checking the Passport America directory, we decided to stay the night at Indian Skies RV Park in Coolidge, Arizona.  When we got here it is actually more a resort than a park.  Very nice. We look a little out of place in between the more permanent homes, but that's where they told us to park.  We did see several other RV's pull in after us too.  We are beginning to see more and more RV resorts and parks in this area.  Very close to Phoenix, where the snowbirds go.  Resorts are more for the long term snowbirds, RV parks are more for those just passing thru.  Indian Skies a mix of both.

While checking in at the office we noticed several plastic grocery bags filled with grapefruits.  They were free for the taking, so we took one bag.  Very nice, ripe, juicy. :)