Keep Movin', Eldo!

Cacti at Carlsbad National Park

From Junction, TX to Lakewood, NM, to Deming, NM....a lot of distance in just a couple of days. Saw some interesting things along the way..How about this huge roadrunner close to Las Cruces, NM along I-10? He's made of recyled garbage from a dump and appears to be about 20 feet long and 50 feet high(?) The front of him is covered in athletic shoes!










One of the things I love about full timing is seeing all the incredible scenery as we ride through the country. Yes, sometimes it's really boring, but LOTS of times it's interesting and beautiful. You certainly can't sit on a couch in a car and look out the window and see things as easily as you can through panoramic windows in a motorhome! We saw signs for dust storms constantly on the way through I-10, traveling west from Lakewood, NM to Deming, NM. "Dust storms may exist," "Warning visibility zero," "Don't stop in your lane", "Zero visibility possible" and so on...we watched carefully but we were lucky to only see them at a distance around the mountains during our travel today...whew! Guess they can come up in a heartbeat!

dust devils in the distance

Eldy was trying to avoid getting trapped by the strong New Mexico winds rolling into Deming these past few days.  Deming was a really nice Escapee Park, but the winds were supposed to get up to 60 miles an hour in gusts over and around the mountains and about as strong in the park which was totally in the open. People in the park were nervous about the winds coming, so we decided to move ahead of them and head to Benson, Arizona. Unfortunately, Benson was full and we would have had to boondock in the storm and high winds, so on we went towards Casa Grande, AZ. There are Escapee Parks in all these towns, but again, the Casa Grande Escapee park was full, and 12 people were boondocking on a waiting list until they could get a spot. With an Escapees year membership, you get great deals in their parks, but it's first come, first served. On the way, we passed through Tucson, Arizona, a beautiful city with beautiful bridges. We saw one that had inlaid stone flowers everywhere on the bridge. I couldn't whip out my camera fast enough to get that bridge but here is another one....very pretty!

I researched places to stay while Eldy drove today, away from the winds, and found a GREAT Passport America park called Arizona Hideaway RV park, which is in Picacho, AZ...between Phoenix and Tucson off interstate 10. This is an older park that honors the Passport America card for one night, then you can use Escapees or Good Sam's discount after that. Our stay is 14.00 for the first night, then 26.00 a night with other discounts. There's a little STEAKHOUSE on the premises that serves fantastic steaks for a VERY reasonable price. They cook them on an outdoor grill! Try $9.99 for filet mignon with baked potato, roll and tossed salad for their Sunday night special. The staff at the park is VERY friendly and helpful, and the park is full of mature cactus and trees, so we have shade. Couldn't get over how much more green this area is than New Mexico. It's really nice to see the trees and some green grass and very green golf courses. We're going to stay here for a couple of days, there's lots to see...see you tomorrow!