Sat. Dec. 13th to Fri. Dec. 19th – A Week In Review – Travel From Junction, TX to Las Cruces, NM to Green Valley, AZ to Mesa, AZ

Sat. Dec. 13^th

We left Junction, TX about 7:40 AM and continued our drive west towards Las Cruces, NM.  We knew it was going to be a long day so we hunkered down on cruise control.  The only issue we had was going through El Paso, TX where there was a ½ hour traffic slow down due to a car accident. 

Raw Cotton in a round bale.

Following our lunch break we found ourselves parked beside an 18-wheeler that was hauling large roles of raw cotton.  There was a piece that was underneath the trailer that I picked up for show and tell before it blew away.

View from the Ti

We gained an hour on this trip so we arrived at about 4 PM at the Las Cruces KOA, which overlooks the city of Las Cruces.  Wonderful view and awesome moon rise at about midnight and sunrise at 6:30 AM.

Sun. Dec. 14^th

Well, what a difference a day makes!! We have been used to waking up to 58 to 66 F temperatures.  Today we woke up to 39 F.  While the views from our site is awesome, however being at a slightly higher elevation also brings the winds.  Diane went out to take some pictures of the sunset on the mountains and there was almost no wind, not 5 minutes later the Ti was being pushed and rocked around by the wind.  Not a place to leave your awning out at all.

Today we went to historical downtown Mesilla, NM that is less than 5 miles from Las Cruces.  The small historical town has obviously some very old buildings and has been kept in that era in any of the improvements and modernization that have been accomplished. 

Inside La Posta

Inside La Posta

We ate at the La Posta restaurant that did not look that large from the outside, but was much bigger once inside.  It was made up of numerous quaint rooms all done in Mexican/Spanish themes with bright colours and decorations.

Mon. Dec. 15^th

Out the back window of the Ti

Monday morning brought some really chilly temperatures (32 F!!), which sure gave you some motivation to break camp quickly.  But before we did that we saw a very nice sunrise that deserved getting the tripod out and take some pictures.

Las Cruces from the back window of the Ti

Our trip continued west to Green Valley, AZ.  One knows when one arrives in Arizona; there are Saguaro cacti lining the hills and Papa Murphy Pizza joints are almost as plentiful as Tim Horton’s back home, oh yeah!  J

Uneventful trip and arrived around 3 PM to warm weather and slightly overcast.

Tue.  Dec. 16^th

Early to rise this morning as we wanted to be at the post office when it opened, need more stamps.

Control Panel, note the key slot in upper
right of the picture.  That is where one
of two keys go to launch the Titan II missile.

Hallway between Control Room
and Missile Silo

We walked back to the Ti and then took the truck to the Titan II Missile Museum just up the road.  We took the “Crew Tour” which basically means that it was a past Missile Crew Member that conducts the tour.  Lt. Colonel Margie Humphries who was a past Crew Commander at this facility led us through the facility.  There was nothing secret and we could ask her any question, as anything that was secret back in the eighties sure is not secret anymore.

Side of missile - where Star Trek
filming took place.

Top looking down the silo.

 The inside tour lasted about an hour and thirty minutes and following a question and answer session we were free to roam the facility above ground.  They had both first and second stage engines on display as well as some of the security items, communication antenna’s and a glass-covered opening that you can look down on top of the missile – cool, yes but the best was inside.

Our cell phones have more computing
power than these computers in
the control room!!

The inside tour took us down three floors into the facility and included the control/launch room and a simulated launch procedure as well as the missile itself.  Believe it or not I recognized the missile area; this is where parts of the movie “Star Trek Next Generation – First Contact” were filmed – Mike: Impressed, Diane: Oh that’s nice

We spent about half an hour on the surface after the inside tour and then it was time to head to the town of Tubac which is about 15 miles south of Green Valley towards Nogales, MX.

Tubac is a small artsy type community that was established in 1752. It has over 100 shops and galleries that I think has something for everyone in the southwest/Mexican décor.

We spent about 3 hours strolling around town, taking pictures, and going through the small shops. Very nice items, some prices weren’t too bad while others 

were very expensive! On our drive to and from Tubac we were surprised to see the highway signs were noted on both miles and kilometres.

On our way back to Green Valley we stopped at a campground in Amado, AZ to visit with Ti friends Bob and Anne from Ontario.  We visited for about an hour and a half and then continued back to our Ti to finish a very productive day.

Wed. Dec. 17^th

This morning we woke to showers and chilly temperatures.  We had planned to head out to Kitt Peak Observatory but due to the current weather and forecast it was not to be.  The only pictures at the observatory showed minimal visibility in rain, maybe tomorrow. 

We stayed around the Ti for the rest of the day and only went out to do a bit of grocery shopping.

Thu.  Dec 18^th

Another down day due to weather; not used to this in AZ!!  We checked Kitt Peak Observatory again and it was not worth going there for a visit, maybe another time.

Another day in “Casa Ti”.

Fri. Dec. 19^th

Today is moving day to Mesa, AZ and the sun has returned.  The drive is about 2 ½ hours north of Green Valley.  We left about 08:30 and headed north; we take what is known as “the back way” that takes you up through Florence.  It is a two lane highway, very smooth and 65 MPH speed, don’t need the 75 MPH of the Interstates as we don’t go that fast.  I do not like going by way of I-10 as dust storms can develop very quickly (especially around Casa Grande area) and they can be very dangerous.  I have been in one and that was too many!  I think it is actually worse than a snowstorm.

We arrived at our winter home (Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort) at about 11:15 and went to our site.  Got really lucky and got the trailer on the site where we wanted to be on the first try, and that was with someone watching!!  It does not happen often.

I think I broke a little bit of a record for me; we were busy setting up (about 15 minutes after we parked the Ti) and who shows up, UPS!! I had ordered some beads for our water softener and of course Diane was just shaking her head J.

This will be our last entry for our trip to AZ.  I will continue the blog for our return trip back north.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed my musings.

Sat. Dec. 6th to Fri. Dec. 12th – A Week In Review at Fun N Sun RV Park, San Benito, TX

Our daily highlights of our 2^nd week at Fun N Sun.

Sat. Dec. 6^th

I continued my morning walk with Tony and Sharon, twice around the park!

Today brought another wonderful day that started with a little overcast.  We started out at the park’s Garage Sale that took place in the Rec. Hall.  We could find nothing that we could live without so it was back to the Ti for lunch. 

Our visit to South Padre Island started by picking Sue and Doug up just after 1:00 PM. The drive took about 45 minutes that took us through a 30 second, 25-drop rainfall.  We arrived to sunny skies and a nice on shore breeze.  We parked on the beach and walked about 1-½ miles north up the beach and saw a few fishermen trying their luck.  One person did get lucky just as we went by him.  He caught a fish that was about 18” to 24” long.  Not sure what kind of fish it was, but the guy and his wife seemed really happy!

Following our walk on the beach we visited a Turtle Rescue Centre.  One piece of information that I did not know was that turtles are very sensitive to temperature and if the air/water temperatures drop too low (like they did last year) the turtle can end up with being Cold Stunned.  As the name indicates the turtles are stunned and are totally disoriented and cannot survive.  The relatively small Rescue Centre brings the turtles back to health with the sole intent to release them back into the wild.  The odd turtle has either been hurt by boats or has lost a flipper (or two or three), or otherwise injured to the point that they could not survive in the wild.  At this point they will keep them.

Another bit of information that I did not know was that turtles like to eat Jelly Fish (up to their own weight daily) – yea!!  I do not like those things at all – turtles are good!!

We then drove to a bar on the beach called “Clayton’s” to meet the rest of our group.  We stayed there about an hour and then moved on to our goal, a restaurant called Louis’. 

Boat Parade

At Louis’ we could have supper and then watch the Christmas Lights Boat Parade.  The restaurant was facing west, right on the inside waterway (between South Padre Island and the mainland).  Following dinner we watched the boat parade that consisted of about 8 or 10 boats and some surfboard paddlers.  We headed home about 8:30 PM and ran into some pretty heavy rain for the last 10 miles or so.  The park had been receiving rain for most of the afternoon and there were some major puddles around the park. 

We had a great day!

Sun. Dec. 7^th

Weather was warm today but overcast and showers for the day. 

Following the morning walk with Tony and Sharon, I veg’d around the Ti until about 2:00 PM when Diane and I met Tony and Sharon at the indoor shuffleboard court for some lessons on how to play the game.  We played 2 games, which we both really enjoyed and will probably try it again.

We finished the day off with a visit to the Rec Hall for the weekly Ice Cream social (our weekly indulgence).

Mon. Dec. 8^th

Well, today is not a nice day, while it is warm outside we are getting rain on and off; actually to the point of having Tony and I cancel our morning stroll.  We tried under a “Scotch Mist” type of drizzle for about 15 minutes, but we were getting pretty damp.  No sense getting a cold out of this so we stopped.

We spent the rest of the day in the Ti.

Tue.  Dec. 9^th

Resumed my morning walk with Tony, twice around the park.

.

This little snail was crossing the path, it
will take him most of the day!

Today we visited the Saba Palm Sanctuary and the Historic Rabb Plantation House and did about 2-½ mile stroll around the sanctuary.  We finished a tad early before dinner so we (Tony, Sharon, Diane, Sue, Doug and I) went for a brief stroll around Kohl’s.

It was then to Dirty Al’s for a gourmet dinner (sarcasm).  A group from Fun N Sun Park arranged the dinner, the meal was excellent, however, the staff was a little overwhelmed due to the size of our group (about 60).

We then visited a Christmas display that was made up of small displays that were is about 10'x10' "cases", there were about 20 of them in a semi-circle around a local park across from the Zoo.  Very nice.

Wed. Dec. 10^th

Golf this morning with Diane, Paul, and Doug.  Maybe my game will improve?  Definitely NOT!  Not a good round.  Oh well, I don’t think I could have done much worse, should have walked with Tony ;-).  However, on a positive note, we found that Diane came in the money for low puts; she placed third – way to go, a whole dollar!  Diane also won another dollar the previous week!  Wow, big bucks, and a star golfer.

We were scheduled to meet some other Ti owners at Victoria Palms RV Resort (about 35 minutes from Fun N Sun) for dinner tonight.  Prior to the get-together we (Diane, Sue, Doug and I) went to Don Wes, which is essentially a large Flea Market.  Unfortunately they were closing fifteen minutes after our arrival so we could not get a real good look at the place.  I think there would be lots of stuff there I could not live without – maybe next time.  We still had some time before dinner so we just had to go to Costco, it was close, awe, and I had to be dragged there of course.  We picked up a few things and then continued on to Victoria Palms for dinner.  Dinner was very good and inexpensive.  We had some great conversation with Don, Leslie, Anna, and Peter.  Very enjoyable evening.  We got back just after nine PM, way past my bedtime!

Thu.  Dec 11^th

Around the park with Tony (almost sounds like a mini series), continued for the last time at Fun N Sun today as we continue our trek west tomorrow.

Diane and I hosted an informal Happy Hour at the Ti in the afternoon that John, Dave, Myrna, Tony, Sharon, Sue, Doug, Jane, and Paul attended.  We had drinks and tried “Bake Apple” Liqueur that we purchased in Newfoundland, nice taste.

Following Happy Hour it was time to go to the Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum for their annual Christmas tree showcase.  This is where both businesses and individuals can decorate Christmas Trees and have people view them and pick their favourite.  There were many trees that were beautifully done. 

We also had the opportunity to enjoy wine, beer, and small sandwiches and a self guided tour of the museum.  The focus of the museum was the beginnings of Harlingen in the late 1800’s.  Outside the main buildings they had the original buildings of the founder of Harlingen as well as the Hospital, Paso Real Stagecoach Inn and Santa Rosa School Bell that I believe had been dismantled and brought to this site for re-assembly.  Very nice evening.

Since we were leaving early in the morning we bid everyone a fond farewell after the museum.  We had a great time and Fun N Sun in San Benito, thanks goes out to Tony, Sharon, Paul, Jane, John, Carol, Dave, Myrna and especially Doug and Sue who toured us about introducing us to the different places in the area – great time and a big Thank You to all.

Fri. Dec. 12^th

We woke to an overcast but warm (67 F) morning that is very good for driving.  We got away about 7:30 AM and started north then west towards New Mexico and then Arizona.  We arrived at the North Llano RV Park about 3 PM and set up.  This is a smaller park; well kept and very nice sites.  It was a KOA until 2011 when it went private and Good Sam, we would definitely stay here again.  Diane went for a walk and got some pictures of Sparrows on a fan fern type shrub and deer at a local feeding station at dusk.

Sat. Nov. 29th to Fri. Dec. 5th – A Week In Review at Fun N Sun RV Park, San Benito, TX and Area

Rather than posting to the blog daily with details of our day-to-day activities, I will give you daily highlights of our week’s activities.

Sat. Nov 29^th

We started by a little walk around the park with friends and met the balance of the current and alumni Titanium owners that are staying here in the park.

Our Unit with Suns Rays in Background

We found that the park does not have Wi-Fi service to the individual sites unless you contract with a service provider like Time-Warner or Tengo, and it is not worth it to do this for the short time we are here.  So it is off to the Internet Room to collect

email and update this Blog.

Sun. Nov. 30^th

Started the day with a walk around the perimeter of the park with Tony and Sharon, which is about 2 miles.  Nice stroll, a little humid but we enjoyed it.

Today is Grey Cup Day!!  Paul and Jane have invited anyone interested to a little Grey Cup party at their unit.  We went over about 5:00 PM to watch the Calgary Stampeder's put the run on the Hamilton Tiger Cats.  There were a few disappointed people in the crowd.  The only thing is that we will have to contact the Grey Cup committee for next year so they can time the half-time show at the same time as our Ice Cream Social here in the park.  There was a conflict – the ice cream social won!!  Got back to the Ti after 9 PM, whoa, way past my bed time J

Mon. Dec. 1^st

Did a couple of laps around the park this morning with Tony, very enjoyable; hmmm is this starting to be a habit?  Oh, Oh!

Diane was off to the morning exercise class, which she really enjoyed.

Today was the first day the park office was open due to the American Thanksgiving Holiday so off I went to register us into the park.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the park and finished the day with a Christmas Tree lighting celebration at a local Senior’s facility with a local High School choir singing some traditional songs in Spanish.

Tue.  Dec. 2^nd

Similar to a Partridge from home but bigger.

Another morning stroll with Tony around the park (twice).  Doug and Sue had suggested a little hike at Bentsen State Park, which is also a bird sanctuary.  So off we went for a little stroll of about 3½ miles.  Bentsen State park is about a 40-minute drive to the northwest.  The park borders the Rio Grande River, which is also the border between Mexico and the U.S.  We did see some U.S. Border Patrol activity but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  We also came across a marker that identified a measuring point for indicating the U.S. Mexican border.  The border is typically the Rio Grande River, but since the river does move north and south, a stationary point is needed and this is the northern part of that stationary point.

3 Green Jays dukin' it out for food

Sue Doug and I at Bentson State Park near Hawk Platform - No Hawks

As it was an overcast and somewhat cool day there was not much bird activity except for the set up feeding stations.  We took some pictures during our hike and then back to the truck.

Following a stop for lunch and a visit to Costco we returned to the park.

I have to say, I did get my walking in today!!

Wed. Dec. 3^rd

Today was a pass on the morning walk as we had an 8:53 AM Tee-Off time at the Tommy Butler Golf Course.  This was part of the golf group from the park.  Diane, Doug and I did 9-holes which was perfect as this was the first time Diane or I had golfed since Kingston back at the end of May!  It did not go too badly, with a few good shots and some not so good – nothing out of the ordinary J.  We stopped in for lunch on the way home and I went for a quick dip in the pool after 4 PM.

Thu.  Dec 4^th

Another couple of tours around the park with Tony this morning (yes, this is becoming a habit!). 

We had arranged to have the Ti washed today with one of the locals that does RV washing and waxing in the park, so we stayed close.  Diane did some chores around the Ti and I did some Internet stuff, catching up on emails, etc.  Unfortunately, the RV washer did not show up, oh well maybe tomorrow.  We finished the day with supper at La Playa Mexican restaurant, which had happy hour ($2.00 Margaritas, oh ya!), excellent food!!

Fri. Dec. 5^th

Started with the usual walking tour around the park with Tony this morning and then it was off to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico.  The town is just over the border from Progresso, TX and was having a “Welcome Back Winter Texans” celebration.

A view of the road from above

Going in to Mexico is a very relaxed endeavour; you do not take your vehicle.  There is parking within 200 yards of the border that costs $2.00 for the day (better than parking in downtown Toronto!!).  There were 8 of us and we entered Mexico.  As you walk across the bridge to MX there are people below the bridge hoping you will through them some money, sorry!  There is also many “vendors” with business cards for Dentists, Doctors and Pharmacies.  Prozac is readily available at the pharmacy (right off the shelf), no prescription needed.  Just after we arrived in town Doug was interviewed by one of the local television stations, as star is born J.

Doug being Interviewed by local TV Station

Local Dancing

The “Welcome Back Winter Texans” celebration takes place on the main street of Nuevo Progresso in the first 4 or 5 blocks of the town. There were local dancing demonstrations and musicians playing Mexican music in many places along the street.  We strolled along the street looking at the different shops and vendors which also included “Garcia’s Restaurant, Bar, Canada Store, Gift Shop and Pharmacy” – interesting combination.

It was surprizing to see armed police (or military) in their flat black combat gear carrying real automatic weapons.  They were not threatening but just there, interesting, not something we are used to seeing.

Sue and Doug - after tasting a "Spicy Pepper" - Yippee!!

Angels Restaurant with the group

Following a brief walk we met up with Paul and Jane for lunch at Angels Restaurant.  Wow, $3.00 for large Margarita’s and I am not driving – cool!! 

Just enough margarita to get me to do a couple of steps on the dance floor.

Following lunch we meandered back towards the border visiting a couple of shops and stopped into the duty free shop before crossing back into the U.S.  After picking up a couple of bottles we re-entered the U.S. through the usual process.  We then returned to the campground after a quick stop at a local farmers market and Dairy Queen.  Excellent day and wonderful experience.