We left Florence about 9am and hooked up with I-10 north of Tucson. We will most likely be on I-10 now until we make the turn onto Forest Forest Road and then onto Blue Angel Parkway on our way to NAS Pensacola many days from now.
Maggie calmed down after about 15 minutes his morning and stayed that way until the electronic device that Roger monitors tire pressure with started beeping. It made the same sound as a smoke alarm when the battery is low. Maggie was just beside herself trying to crawl all over both of us. We turned the monitor off and she calmed right down and was mellow the rest of the day. Looks as if the bed between us on the seat is working pretty well.
We stopped at a truck stop at one of the Benson exits for lunch. We pulled way to the back and parked so that we had some shade to sit in. No lunch in the truck today! Yay! It was about 80 degrees and NO WIND!! It felt so good to not be in the truck or the RV for lunch. A good omen for future lunches, we hope. |
| Ocotillo in full bloom. The edges of the truck stop were landscaped with native plants. It was well kept up, too, for a truck stop! |
Four RV rigs of various shapes, sizes, and vintages pulled in near us and we got to chatting with the folks in them. They were traveling together and came from Orange County (LA area) in California. They are headed to New Orleans and after a few days of play, will follow the Mississippi River from New Orleans to it's headwaters in Minnesota. What an interesting itinerary. We told them about some of the RV parks and places we have visited over the years along the river. They seemed to appreciate recommendations for parks and for the Mississippi River Museum in Natchez. About an hour later they went sailing past us on the highway, waving as they went by. (Remember, Roger only drives 60mph because ... well, just because - so everyone passes us even other RVs!)
We saw cowboys herding cattle, just north of Tucson. Oh, and a note about that area - it's been cleaned up. In the past when we visited Tucson we were always pretty disgusted with the amount of trash along the interstate and on the other highways between Tucson and Casa Grande. Well, Arizona has cleaned up it's act. Hardly any trash today!!
Later in the day we saw a herd of Texas Longhorns. Another thing we saw that was puzzling - miles and miles of diesel train engines lined up on a track just sitting there in the middle of the desert. Train engine boneyard? Or are they reserves?
Southeast Arizona around Bowie in Cochise County is an agricultural area. Hundreds of acres of pistachio trees and vineyards. (I couldn't tell what kind of trees they were so I googled it.) Apparently it is a huge area for pomegranate growing, too. Surprised me.
We crossed into New Mexico and lost an hour - we are now in Mountain time and will be until we get to the other side of Texas at the end of the week. This southwest corner of New Mexico has some pretty boring landscape. Lots of flatland with little to no vegetation and signs on the road warning of zero visibility due to dust storms. Fortunately today was not a problem.
We are in Lordsburg, New Mexico for the night in a KOA. Only game in town. As far as KOA's go, it's not bad. It has terrible reviews but we don't see why. It's in the desert southwest, so yes, it's all gravel, but the place is very clean, the office staff friendly, and the site we got is huge. So, no complaints from us. It's pretty empty, but every once in a while someone pulls in. It definitely is not a "destination" KOA.Now, I haven't googled it yet for the history, but do you think that having 11 churches in a town of a population of about 3,500 has something to do with its name?
Well, I just googled it. (Couldn't stop myself!) It seems Lordsburg was founded as a stop along the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880, and has the distinction of having been the site of a Japanese internment camp that also held German and Italian prisoners of war. No mention of how the name came about. I like our theory!
Tomorrow we venture into Texas. Weather forecasts look favorable - sunshine, warm, and no wind.
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