Tucson, Arizona

I10 between Las Cruces, New Mexico and Tucson, Arizona is just about as flat and straight as could be built.  Other than a few speed changes in Deming, NM and Benson, AZ, the speed limit is 75, and it is strictly observed! If you go any slower, you get run over, and any faster the troopers are all over you, so 75 it is….

We fueled Nessie yesterday as we arrived in Las Cruces, so we were on the road bright and early with no holdups. We stayed at the Coachlight Motel and RV Park last night. It's a minimal park, with gravel interior roads and basic amenities. They offer free ice to their RV guests, and the wifi system is the fastest that we've experienced on this trip. Not bad for a Passport America rate of $18!

Two Hundred and Eighty miles west, we're in the parking lot of the Casino Del Sol Casino in west Tucson. The casino has several huge parking lots, and generally only the lot closest to the casino is used by guests.  The other two lots are pretty much up for grabs by truckers and RV'ers. We've stayed here before and noticed that their is a party atmosphere among the RV'ers staying in the parking lot. It's a bit different this time, though, because there are only three other RV's in the lot we're in, and four trucks in the other lot. Maybe everyone else heard about the special event tonight at the event center of the casino.  You know, the one that's a couple of football fields away from us….

Tonight the event is a special performance of Larry Hernandez and Ramon Ayala direct from Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. We're enjoying the music from the parking lot, where we can hear it better than if we were in the amphitheater! The weather is warm, and the stars are out, and the music is good.  The parking lot is filled with cars at this point, with Gus, our towed, disconnected and parked right behind Nessie, and parked cars all around.  We hope that all these cars leave before tomorrow morning or we're staying here another day!

When we arrived in Tucson this afternoon, we drove a short distance to look at an RV park that we're considering staying in for a while this coming winter. While we were cruising the park, we happened to drive by a Dutch Star motorhome much like ours. Parked beside it was a red Jeep, and  after zeroing in on the personalized license plates, we knew that we had stumbled upon a wonderful couple that we met at the Newmar factory in 2013, and haven't seen in over a year.  Dale and Lisa are from Michigan, where we recently spent some time, so we compared notes on everything from water softeners to free campsites, and most everything in between. DnL are in the southwest for a few weeks after spending most of the summer in Michigan.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with old friends, and made plans to get together again in the future. On the way back to Nessie, we again marveled at the strange and wonderful coincidences that have followed us this year. Had we taken a different road through the RV park they're staying in, we would never have seen them!

Tomorrow is shaping up to be another travel day.  We'll let you know where we land!