95 Years Young!

After leaving Willcox, AZ, last week, we stopped for an evening at our favorite truck stop in Casa Grande, AZ! This Petro station is large and has an area for trucks and such, so we found an out-of-the-way corner and set up for the night. We had arrived early enough to have dinner with our friends Jo and Larry, who are staying at a "real" rv park in CG, and spin a few yarns, whiling away the afternoon and evening.

From there it was off to the 29 Casino in Indio, CA, for a rousing night of dry camping on asphalt. Wednesday was Mexican Buffet night, so we allowed ourselves to enjoy a fine dinner. After a good night's sleep, we took off for my Mother's house in SoCal to celebrate her 95th birthday!

We spent Friday, Mom's birthday with her and my sister, with a nice lunch and a steak dinner. It was great catching up on what has been happening since we last saw her. Mom's passions are her church and her garden, and she continues to pursue both of them. She's a remarkable woman for her age; she only takes one prescription, and, other than taking a nap in the afternoon, she is up early and enjoys the day!

On Saturday, Mom's grandchildren, Jeff and Teresa, arrived. Three of the four great-grandchildren were on hand as well. Mom thoroughly enjoyed having her family together!

On Saturday evening, the entire family enjoyed dinner at Rhumb Line, a "sunset" restaurant on the water in a nearby town with a beautiful view of the local harbor. We ordered a variety of dishes, from fresh caught Halibut to Clam Linguini with a dozen Oysters and Calimari to start.

As night fell, we were treated to a special Chocolate cake with Chocolate frosting, Gramma's favorite!

The extended family left for home on Sunday morning after breakfast at the Hill Street Restaurant (another of Mom's favorites), and Donna and I returned to the motorhome to take care of some much needed chores (laundry and such, you know). The afternoon at home gave Mom a chance to take a nap and get her energy up for the evening. Donna prepared a great steak salad and we had a few cookies for dessert, and enjoyed some good conversation.

Monday, the 13th, saw us heading for home. After almost six weeks away, it will feel good to settle down for a few days. Tonight we're hunkered down in the village of Santa Nella, CA, whose claim to fame is Anderson's Split Pea Soup Restaurant. 'Nuff said. The wind has been blowing all day, and finally drove us off the road for the evening. It continues to blow as the evening progresses, with the motorhome rocking and the slide toppers flapping. D and I took advantage of one of the other two attractions in Santa Nella, an In-n-Out hamburger joint, and tomorrow we'll finish our tour of town by stopping at the local Starbucks for coffee to take on the road!  I can't believe that we're going to be able to see all the area's points of interest in one day!

Home tomorrow!

Chiricahua Country

We've stopped for two nights in Willcox, AZ, to explore the beauty of Chiracahua country.  We've driven east and west on I-10 several times, zooming past this area, and so we decided to "just do it".  We pulled into Magic Circle RV Park Sunday afternoon and settled in for a quiet evening. The owners had told us of an historical district in town, so we jumped in Gus and took off. The major attraction of Willcox, AZ, is that it's the home of Rex Allen, he of the unmistakable voice.  If you're from the fifties and sixties, you remember his voice on various Walt Disney Sunday night programs. Other than having Rex Allen Blvd, there's not much to downtown Willcox, but we located a grocery store and a gas station, the two most important landmarks in our traveling lives, it seems.

This morning, Monday April 6, we all piled into Gus (yes, even Sasha) and took off on the Magic Circle tour.  Leaving Willcox on Hwy 186, we headed to Chiricahua National Monument. This area is known for it's unique rock formations and beautiful countryside.

The first interesting thing that we saw as we drove into Bonita Canyon on the way to the Visitors Center was the site of Faraway Ranch.

Now part of the National Monument, the ranch buildings have been maintained as they were when they were donated to the government. Neil and Emma Erickson homesteaded here after their 1887 marriage. Neil was a Swedish immigrant who joined the US Cavalry and was stationed at Ft Bowie, just a few miles north of the ranch. Emma was also a Swedish immigrant who was a maid to the commander of the post. They met, and the rest is history. Neil wasn't much on farming, so after building the original small house, he took off for work in the mines, leaving Emma home with the kids. Management of Faraway Ranch eventually fell to his oldest child, Lillian.

Life at the ranch centered around cattle, but in 1917, "dudes" were brought to the ranch for a taste of real cowboy life. The guests were encouraged to help with the cattle, and they often did. Neil's last years were spent as a Forest Ranger, which eventually led to his passion to set aside this area for future generations. His dream came true with the creation of the National Monument, and eventually the designation as a National Wilderness Area, which will prevent future human impact on the Monument.

As we drove up the canyon to the Visitor's Center, we began to see the rock formations that make this such an awesome place.

The rock was laid down millions of years ago from "stuff" carried by volcanic clouds. Over time, cracks appeared, water got in, and erosion began, leaving these pillars and shapes for us to wonder at.

From Massai Point at elevation 6870, a "field" of pillars is visible in the distance.

On the way back down from the mountain, we noticed a sign pointing to a unique formation. Known as China Boy, it is one of the most spectacular formations in the park.

Back at Hwy 186, we headed south toward Hwy 181 and 191 toward the Cochise Stronghold. These highways comprise the "Magic Circle" when 191 returns to I-10 and eventually back to Willcox. In years past, a bicycle tour was held on this route, known as the Magic Circle 100 for the number of miles included in the ride.

We turned off Hwy 191 onto the road leading into the Cochise Stronghold. About 8 miles on a dirt road got us into the Stronghold.

The canyon is surrounded by formidable mountains and craggy rock formations. The military tactics of the day prevented the US Cavalry from using strategies that would have resulted in success, so Cochise was able to defend the area for years. Not to take anything away from Cochise, mind you, because his tactics were far advanced for the time.

A view from high in the Stronghold back toward the valley gives some idea of the remote location of the Stronghold.

An easy trail goes around a small campground suitable for tents and very small trailers. Along that trail we noticed that nature is slowly reclaiming this land tortured by so much tragedy.

Boom

It's been windy in southern New Mexico since we arrived last Wednesday, generally running 20-30 mph with gusts to 50. We listened to the local radio station and found out that this is the "Spring Wind", which usually lasts about 45 days, and ushers in the Monsoon season. New Mexico seems to have three seasons: Wind, Monsoon, and Hot.  No mention of Winter…maybe they don't have one!

Since it's been so windy, we decided to take a drive today, Saturday, April 4th. After getting up at 5:30 this morning, we joined the "Alamogordo Caravan" to enter White Sands Missile Range and tour the site of the first explosion of an atomic bomb. We gathered at the Tularosa High School Athletic Field Parking lot. We were told to expect many vehicles, but an estimate was that there were over 100 cars, trucks, and RV's.

This pic was taken about 7:30, and more vehicles came in until our departure at 8:30 am. The local Lions club was serving breakfast, providing donuts, breakfast burritos, and scrambled eggs and bacon. With a military escort, we entered WSMR and began the 85 mile, one-way trip to Trinity Site. The landscape is just exactly what you would imagine of a military weapons test facility.

When we arrived at the site, most of the crowd gathered at the most popular place around.

The first artifact we came to was the remains of Jumbo. Originally built as a safety containment system in case the atomic bomb failed to maintain a chain reaction, it was designed to prevent the dangerous Plutonium from being blown all over the countryside. The atom bomb was to be suspended inside Jumbo.

The containment vessel was built by Babcock and Wilcox in Ohio and shipped via rail car to a siding in Pope, NM, where it was offloaded onto a specially built trailer with 64 wheels and brought to Trinity Site. The vessel was 25 feet long, 10 feet in diameter and weighed 214 tons with it's six inch thick walls.

Eventually, confidence in the atomic bomb grew to the point where Jumbo was deemed unnecessary and it was moved to a steel tower 800 feet from Ground Zero. Jumbo survived the atomic bomb explosion, but the steel tower was vaporized! The ends are missing today because in 1946 the Army stood Jumbo on end, placed eight 500 pound bombs inside, and detonated them. The ends were blown out and the interior was etched as if by a giant blacksmith.

A sign near the path leading to Ground Zero provides a sense of the remoteness of the site. We had arrived via the Alamogordo caravan, and left via the Stallion Range Gate, Carrizozo, and Tularosa, a return trip of about 131 miles, to make the days total about 216 miles!

A short 1/4 mile hike got us to the actual blast site, where a black volcanic rock obelisk marks the location of the bomb tower. Authorities estimated the crowd at over 2000 for the days open house, which lasted from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. As we left through the Stallion entrance, 50 or more vehicles were still waiting to enter at 1:30 pm. Most probably didn't make it in.

Only one concrete footing remains of the steel tower that held the atomic bomb prior to the test.

At one minute past midnight on Friday, July 13, 1945, the explosive assembly left Los Alamos for Trinity Site. Later that morning, assembly of the Plutonium core began at the George McDonald Ranch some two miles from the test site. The makeshift "clean" room consisted of plastic taped to windows and wall cracks!

At 5:29:45 on July 16, 1945, the device exploded successfully. The following photos show the sequence.

The second atomic bomb ever built was exploded over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the third bomb devastated Nagasaki three days later.  The war was over. The Manhattan Project was a success.

After reflecting on the tremendous impact this technology has had on our lives, we walked slowly back to the car. The world and the people in it were forever changed 70 years ago.

Our return trip through Carrizozo, NM, took us through Valley of Fires, a Department of Natural Resources site where 5,000 years ago a lava flow covered a shallow valley. Unique in it's singularity, the lava flow is a sight to behold. The campground there is beautiful as well, providing water and electricity at each site and a central dump station. This view is from one of the camp sites.

Back in Alamogordo, a stop at Caliche's Frozen Custard Shop provided a Root Beer Float and a Hot Fudge Sundae with Pistachios. Yum! We had to make up with Sasha for leaving her along all day, so we took her to the Bark Park again, where she ran for an hour with a Pit Bull mix named Dually and tried to get a Beagle pup to play with her.  I think she's ok now!

We're about done with Alamogordo, so we'll leave tomorrow. Oh, what will we see……?

Space Sand

Thursday in Alamogordo was a day for unwinding.  A trip to the local Bark Park to get some of the energy out of Sasha, followed by a trip to Tularosa, about 13 miles north, started our day. The dog park was a nice, enclosed grassy area with agility equipment and other canine friends to play with. A couple of hours there gave us a chance to meet a local lady who recommended a Mexican restaurant in Tularosa for lunch. As it turned out, we couldn't find the restaurant, but stopped at the Al-a-Mor for a shoe leather burger, microwaved french fries, and a reheated enchilada. Not something to write home about.

Back in Alamogordo, we stopped by Albertson's for a few groceries and a cup of Starbucks coffee. Off to the Bark Park again, with another hour or so of play for Sasha and some new found friends. Our evening was spent doing laundry and relaxing.

Today, Good Friday, we drove southwest to White Sands National Monument. This is a place that we visited a few years ago and came away with tremendous memories of our dog at that time, Pris, running with abandon across the dunes. Guess what, we were able to recreate that with Sasha today!

Sasha had a great time running as we walked the dunes, but every now and then she would stop to check on us and see what was happening around her.

White Sands continues to amaze and awe!

On the return to Alamogordo, we dropped Sasha off at the motorhome and went into town to visit the New Mexico Museum of Space History. The site includes an IMAX Theater, showing, among other films, a planetarium program based on New Mexico skies. Also available for viewing are the John P. Stapp Air and Space Park which displays an amazing array of rockets, missiles, and rocket engines; the burial site for HAM, the first "Astrochimp" launched on a Mercury capsule on January 31, 1961; an astronaut Memorial Garden dedicated to the memory of those who died aboard Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia; a comprehensive research library; and the Main Exhibits Building. We enjoyed our time there.

Any space museum wouldn't be complete with out a specimen of Moon rock! This is encased in a plastic pyramid which allows a view of all surfaces.

A container used to return Moon samples is on display.  I always though they just used some ZipLocks.

A backpack used to keep astronauts alive while on the Moon is on display. It provided up to seven hours of breathable air, water, and power for communication.

A pretty good day in Alamogordo! The last two days have been very windy, with gusts of 50 mph, and warm temps. Today the breeze is down to 5 to 10 mph, and the skies are overcast, which keeps the temps down. Tomorrow will be our last day here, and hopefully we'll end our stay with a bang.

Tucson Ends

Tuesday was our last full day in Tucson.  We have met some very nice people and become reacquainted with old friends.  Donna and I have never spent a month at any place other than home, so the "resort" environment was a new experience for us. We were concerned about integrating into the environment since we're not very good at quilting, jewelry making, line dancing and the like, but somehow we managed to fill all of the days with good times!

Dale, our Michigan friend, proposed a morning golf excursion on Tuesday, and organized a trip to two separate golf courses.  I had told him that I needed to hit a few practice balls, so we went to a posh, upscale, fantastic course in the Oro Valley, where we were given a cart to go to the driving range. Unlimited balls, courtesy bag placement, and smiling attendants made the experience one to remember! Then it was off to El Conquistador for a quick nine holes.

Located also in Oro Valley, just north of Tucson, it's a lovely, older course.

Thanks for a great time, Dale!

In the evening, Donna fixed Chicken Taco Salad and invited the two remaining Newmar motorhome owners in the park to share dinner with us.

From right: Dale, Susan, Steve, and…..

Lisa took the picture with her iPhone, so we couldn't get her picture. Rest assured that she is a lovely lady. Dale and Lisa have a Dutch Star, and Steve and Susan have an Essex, one of Newmars' top models.  The park is clearing out as snowbirds bail for home. The park, Rincon West RV Resort, has been a nice place to stay, with accommodations for hiking, biking, crafts, and activities, along with a clean place to park the RV. The wifi isn't up to par, and the bicycle theft issue was a concern, but all in all, not too bad.  We would return, should we be in the area again.

Wednesday morning we split for New Mexico.

Where, 357 miles later, we found ourselves in Alamogordo, NM, at the Boot Hill RV Resort. It's a little rustic, but very clean and the owners are very nice. They are a Christian family that lists Bible verses in their park brochure and have a lighted cross over the office. Very comforting in these days; I admire their beliefs. We've been given a large package of literature to peruse about things to do in the area. We're going to hang in site 605 for a few days to check out the Open House at the Trinity Test Site on White Sands Missile Range. This is pistachio country, so somewhere between the Worlds Largest Pistachio and White Sands, we'll post a few pictures.