We have decided on a new adventure this winter and are heading west. On November 15, the loaded motor home (with Abby on board) left Glenmore Drive on our journey to Arizona. We had planned to reach southern Illinois before stopping that night; however, about 50 miles north of Indianapolis at a rest stop, the starter decided to fail. We had to call emergency road service and have a mechanic come out to us with a new starter. So after a two and a half hour delay, we were on our way. Our destination turned out to be Effingham, Illinois which wasn't nearly as far south as we wanted to be, but tomorrow is always another day.
Our next stops included: Southaven, Mississippi; Mt. Vernon, Texas(cement truck arrived next to us at 6:30 a.m.); Abilene, Texas; Van Horn, Texas; Lordsburg, New Mexico and finally our destination--Canyon Vistas RV Resort, Gold Canyon, Arizona. Let us tell you--the state of Texas is FOREVER! On our last day of travel (11/21), the wind was ferocious and we got to experience dust storms. Not nice traveling in this "beast". We had planned to stop prior to coming to Canyon Vistas, but while fueling up at a Flying J in Eloy, Az., the NEW starter failed us! After some exasperating minutes, Roy crawled under the coach with his trusty hammer, gave the starter a couple of taps and voila--it started. He said we were not stopping until we reached Gold Canyon. Now we are able to see the sun setting over Superstition Mountain and it is truly breathtaking.
Canyon Vistas is a very nice park. We have been walking every morning, but have been waiting for the temperatures to rise a bit! It seems that when we arrived in Arizona, a cold front came through and brought below normal temps.
We were graciously invited to Randy and Penny's for Thanksgiving dinner. They live in Tempe which is about 20 miles from here. That happened to be the coldest Thanksgiving in 80 years!! Do you think it could be us??!! Penny did an awesome job with the dinner and we had a very nice day with them. The Vance boys all play hockey, so we did go to see Noah play a game and plan on seeing Carson play this next week in Scottsdale. It's so nice to spend some time with them.
Yesterday morning we were getting ready to head out when I happend to look out just in time to see a javelina (like a wild pig) run across out patio!! Then, of course, we heard some of the horror stories of the damage they can do. Would rather seem them in a pen somewhere, but guess they are quite prevelent in this desert area. We have to make sure that Abby isn't left alone outside. It's just not safe.
We decided it was time to do some exploring, so headed up the Apache Trail which is a very scenic drive to the Superstition Mountains. Wow!!! What awesome scenery!! Our first stop was at the Lost Dutchman Museum where we learned some of the history of the mountains and the story of the Lost Dutchman mine. On the same land is a set called Apacheland Movie Ranch. There were numerous westerns filmed here and the list of stars is quite lengthy. Also, quite a few TV westerns were filmed here (Zane Grey Theater, Have Gun Will Travel are just a few). Everywhere we walked, there were signs warning of snakes and other "critters". Glad to say we didn't spot any on this day.
Tomorrow we plan to visit a ghost town, and take a train ride into the past. The weather is finally cooperating will be back in the seventies! Even with the cool front that went through the days were still sunny and warmed up nicely.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. It's hard to capture the true beauty.
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