We left
Mexico behind on March 14, looking forward to getting home to family. We had an
easy time thru US customs, searched the freezer for disallowed food & asked
about any meds acquired, in particular Cipro. Strange question but apparently
it is the only antibiotic effective against anthrax so they keep an eye out for
any large quantities entering the US.
We settled
in Tucson for a week to do all the touristy things as we had never been there.
Of course we took the free camping option of a casino parking lot for all but one
night, when we caught up on laundry & sanitized our water tank after
dumping our Mexican water. Gas prices were pretty good - $2.219/gallon!
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| white pelicans over Laughlin |
We toured the Asarco copper mine & got to
watch the huge trucks working in the massive pit. Next was the Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum, a full day exploring the nature trails, listening to talks on
Gila monsters & rattlesnakes, complete with live animals up close, marveling at the nesting hummingbirds in the walk-in aviary, ducking as the
raptor flight show had Harris hawks swooping over our heads & enjoying many
animal & bird exhibits.
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| mother hummingbird feeding her baby |
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| Gila Monster |
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| rattlesnake |
A highlight
for us was the Biosphere 2, the site of a huge dome enclosed “world” complete
with an ocean & coral reef, a rain forest, a desert & living quarters. This
was used for a 2 year sealed live in experiment for 8 people in 1991-3 where
they grew their own food & monitored the environment, studying the
feasibility of creating dome homes in the future. It is now owned by the
University of Arizona & is used for climate & environmental research.
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| ocean, reef below |
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| desert |
Of course we
did some rock-hounding in the area, at one point ended up on a dirt “goat
trail” (not the first time) traveling for miles into the mountains, up to 8000
ft, temp. down to 10C, before we found our way out & back down to Tucson
where the temp was 25C.
We couldn’t
miss Tombstone since we were so close, took in a re-enactment of the Gunfight
at the OK Corral, had beer & burgers at the old Crystal Palace Saloon &
visited Boothill graveyard.
We had
purchased a booklet giving us 2 for 1 entry into many attractions so we also
visited the Pima Air & Space Museum. Lots of military aircraft, even a tiny
moon rock on display.
We left
Tucson & headed to Casa Grande where we swapped stories with Darwin &
Olivia & were treated to their wonderful hospitality, a great visit. On to
Phoenix area, a casino again in Mesa, close to the huge Mesa Market, 1500 shops
of “stuff”. Spent 2 days there wandering in amazement at the size of it. We ran
into 2 sets of folks that we met in La Penita, Mexico & we had previously
run into 2 other sets of people from our Mexican travels at other spots in
Tucson – small world. We tried our hand at casino bingo, a first for us. We
needed lots of help from the cashier on what we needed, but figured most of it
out & left poorer than when we arrived. We were surprised by the question
of paper or electronic when we bought our cards – you can now use a “tablet
like” device that can be loaded with dozens of bingo cards that a “machine”
plays for you – you sit there & watch idly & the screen shows “Yell
Bingo” if you win! Too technical for us, we played old fashioned paper cards.
We headed
north east after our trusty GPS got us through Phoenix to a new rock-hounding
area at Burro Creek. They have a beautiful rustic campground where we spent 3
nights, enjoying pie iron for breakfast cooked over the fire, watching
migrating birds overhead & 5 Great Blue herons nesting on the cliff above
the creek. The desert was in full color, lots of spring flowers & cactus in
bloom. We came across our first wild rattlesnake – a Western Diamondback, about
30” long, slithering along on the road. We visited with some Americans who told
us of another RVer (an American) who carries 19 firearms & 10,000 rounds of
ammo in his RV - & people wonder why we prefer Mexico!
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| Great Blue heron on her nest |
We are now
in Laughlin, Nevada across the river from Bullhead City parked in another
casino parking lot with at least 30 other RVers. It’s hot – 96-100F, hi 30’sC
& feels even hotter parked on asphalt. We are enjoying walking along the
river walk beside the Colorado River & popping into casinos to cool off. We
have been visiting with Mary & Gary & last night we got to cruise the
strip in their fancy red Mustang convertible! We took a ride on the Riverboat
past all the casinos & up to Davis dam, can’t believe the number of people
out on the river in March. We will be
leaving here in a day or two, to do a quick trip north, but we know it will get
colder so we a reluctant to leave this heat. Hopefully winter is close to being
over up there. Next blog post should be from home, sweet home.
Still living the dream!
