There is really no excuse, except maybe for Covid-19. In a normal year, I would have already posted several times about our adventures. This year, because of our traveling and staying several different places, I put the blog off until we arrived in Tucson, AZ. We were going to be there for a month and I would have had plenty of time to devote to the blog. However, 2 days after we arrived all activities at the park were cancelled, and well, you know the rest.
However, in looking over the pictures to choose ones I want to share, I realized that we actually had done quite a bit in our travels on the way to Tucson. So here goes, a recap of what we've done so far this year.
One of our first stops was Jackson, MS. Brent's Diner was recommended to us by a friend of Andy's. The diner, which is a Jackson landmark, looks much like it did in the 50's and 60's. Look closely at the top picture and you will see a sign for cheeseburgers at 85 cents! Recently I re-watched the movie "The Help". I had forgotten it was set in Jackson, and that trips to Brent's Diner were prominent in the movie.
We then landed in TX, staying first in Coldspring, then Freeport, and then San Antonio.
Sunset picture from Freeport Campground
Since we were close to Houston, we added Johnson Space Center to our list of space agencies. (We've now done all three-Huntsville, Cape Canaveral and Houston.)
Sally Ride display (taken for granddaughter Kirsten)
In San Antonio, we took the city bus tour and also did the boat ride on the San Antonio Riverwalk.
Texas sculpture in front of the art museum
From San Antonio we headed south to Big Bend National Park.
Rio Grande River -one side is USA, one is Mexico
Big Bend National Park
As you can see, we were moving around a lot. Our next stop would be Las Cruces, New Mexico. While there we took in White Sands National Monument.
Snow? No, this is sand.
You can rent sleds to go down the hills here
In Las Cruces our park was very near the village of Old Mesilla. The village is preserved and much as it was 100 years ago. There are great restaurants and fun shops to browse there.
One of the many shops in Old Mesilla
And then we're in Arizona!! I had been looking forward to being there for various reasons. After moving so much, we would finally be in one place and at a place that had a pool and activities. But, as I mentioned earlier, 2 days after we arrived the park closed the pools and all activities due to the virus.
The handwriting had been on the wall - South by Southwest (big TX music festival) had already been cancelled, and soon after the FMCA Rally in Tucson would be cancelled as well. However, we did fit in a couple of things in Tucson before the complete shutdown. We went to Tombstone and took in the re-enactment of the fight at the OK Corral. We also explored (by car) Catalina State Park and observed all the different kinds of cacti.
Me with the Tombstone Guys
Saguro Cacti at Catalina State Park
Should we stay or should we go?
We pondered this question for at least a week. We were hearing that the parks in Tucson were not admitting any one new, even those wanting to stop over for a night. We didn't know what we would find if we got on the road. Would be be denied entrance to other states? By now, our reservations for a train trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon had been cancelled, and the park would close soon after. CA was shutting down, so that cancelled our trip to CA.
In the end, we decided to come to MD to hang out with daughter Allison and family. Here we would not have to be worried about being asked to leave a campground and we could wait out the shut down with little or no hassle. So, we left AZ (seeing some friends in Phoenix before we left) and headed east. We did the drive in 5 days. Along the way we stayed overnight in Kentucky, thereby earning the right to add the KY state sticker to our map.
No longer a hole there!
These painted horses were at a KY rest stop
So now it is June, and we are getting ready to head out once again. In between April and June, I've broken my shoulder (recovering nicely) and been treated for a blood clot. So, we are ready to get on the road and have some fun! In addition, we need to start planning for next winter and what we will do since so many of our spring plans got cancelled. As we say in the RV world, there is always Plan B!
