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.