Today is our son Mike’s birthday, happy birthday Mike and it was nice to talk to you this evening, glad you had a good day.
We left Tucson this morning, heading east, and the traffic was good heading out of Tucson and Interstate 10 wasn’t all that busy, so it was a nice day for driving. We lost an hour when we entered New Mexico as NM is on Mountain Time, but they observe daylight saving time, which Arizona doesn’t, so it was about 5 p.m. New Mexico time when we arrived in Alamogordo. We are staying at the White Sands Community RV park and have a nice site and it seems to be a quiet park and a lot of the trailers don’t seem to have anyone there so don’t know if it is more a weekend park, the only downside is that there is no wi-fi here so we will have to find a hook-up somewhere in town.
Pretty Rock Formation Near Dragoon
More Rock Formations
We are sorry to say goodbye to Arizona as we really do like it there, it is a state with so many faces and so many things to see and do. Driving east from Tucson it is mainly grasslands with a lot of mesas and mountains to break the monotony, there is not a lot of settlement in this area but we did notice signs for quite a few wineries and around Dragoon there are wonderful rock formations. Tucson is at a lower elevation and is a very desert area with beautiful mountains, cacti etc. but it is a big city and from where we stayed it seemed like a long ways to go any place – it is a nice place but not somewhere that we would want to spend the winter, the winter weather in Tucson is cooler and wetter than winter in Yuma.
Tucson to Yuma is mainly desert and mountains and again not a lot of settlement other than Casa Grand and of course north from there to Phoenix. Yuma is at the lowest elevation in the state and has the warmest, driest weather – that is what we like about it and there are NO BUGS. Yuma is a fair sized city but not nearly as large as Tucson.
Heading north from Yuma is Quartzsite which is renowned for it’s BML lands for boon docking and for the large flea market, RV show etc. etc. which happens there in late January and early February every year, quite the event to attend. Heading north from Quartzsite towards Lake Havasu the scenery changes dramatically again, from around Parker north to Lake H. you travel along the Colorado River and are in a very beautiful canyon – absolutely gorgeous. Lake H. is an interesting place with London Bridge etc.
Heading north then east from Lake H. the terrain again changes dramatically as you climb up to the Grand Canyon area with elevations of 7000’ and you go from desert and warmth to much colder temperatures and Jack Pine forests instead of deserts. From Flagstaff, which has snowy, cold winters you can head north to the Grand Canyon or south to Sedona and on to Phoenix. The Sedona area is absolutely gorgeous with its red rock formations and there are a number of canyons with spectacular views in this area. There are also a number of interesting places to visit and things to see and do in the Sedona area. Heading east from Flagstaff you come to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, again mainly desert areas. As I say, a very varied and beautiful state.
This morning I had a comment on my blog from Wilf and Elizabeth who live in Kirkland Lake, ON, it is nice hear from people who have checked our blog and we appreciate the comments.
I don’t know why but I always find a day on the road tiring so am pretty well ready for bed, will finish watching CSI and call it a day. And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to the mystery of tomorrow.
