Bluewater Casino & Geocaching

Geocaching takes on a new meaning out in this part of the country.  It is typical for geocaches to be spread out and sometimes a small series of them will be in a row.  Since the desert roads out here stretch for miles, people lay out geocaching series of anywhere from 200-2000 caches in a row.  They have to be at least 300 ft apart, the series can go on for miles.  One such cache west of Parker, AZ on US 62 in California has 1,000 caches hidden along side of the road over 135 miles.  It usually takes dedicated cachers two long days to complete the course and people come from all over the world to finish it.

Now before you think I have lost my mind, I only downloaded 80 caches and today we drove out to the beginning of the caches to see what was ahead of us.  Miles and miles of the Mojave desert is what is there.  The series is called Heart of the Mojave and each cache is labelled HMD-0001 through HMD-1000.  We only logged 6 found caches today from this series, but will go out again and find the remaining 74 that I have downloaded.  

It was very windy out there and Gerry's time spent fixing her hair went for naught.  It didn't take long for her hairdo to become a mess.  Now in my case, it wasn't a problem for obvious reasons.  No hair!

We turned around and headed back to Arizona.  There was an advertisement for a RV park and we decided to take a look at what they offered.  It was an OK park, but nothing special and since it was so far out in the boondocks, we crossed it off our list.  We did see some interesting sights along the way though.

I think this is a Volkswagen Thing for sale along side of the road.

Much of the land out here along the Colorado River is part of the Indian Tribes.

There is an old railroad bridge spanning the Colorado River west of Parker and it is neat to see such an old structure still standing.

Just west of the bridge is the town of Earp, California which consists of a Post Office, marine repair business and a convenience market.  Wyatt Earp used to have a number of mine claims just west of the town and searched for gold there until his death in 1929.  He must have been a tough cookie to survive in the Mojave Desert.

 The post office is more than 220 miles from the county seat in San Bernardino, California is further than any other in the county. The entire region on the California side falls under area code 760.

Next stop on our trip was the Bluewater Resort & Casino to see if we could donate some dollars to the Indians.  We were very successful in that venture much to our dismay.  I actually won money but soon grew bored of playing the slots and turned the money over to Gerry so she could play longer.  She is the gambler in the family and unless I am winning big money, I lose interest after an hour or so.  She can play all day and love it.  Finally she lost enough and said it was time to leave.

We had dinner in their restaurant buffett style and I have to say it wasn't a memorable meal for me.  The food was cold, mostly Mexican dishes and not that good.  Gerry had better luck in her choices and said it wasn't that bad.  

After that we came back to the motorhome and watched NCIS and Person of Interest on the computer.  There isn't TV reception out here and we don't have Dish or Directv so it was either watch a movie on DVD or use our bandwidth on the computer to watch tv programs a day late.  The MIFI was able to keep up with the streaming programs and we managed to watch both programs.  I guess we will be watching the Sunday night CBS programming the same way since we will be here until Monday morning.

Gerry hasn't had a chance to edit this night's blog, so please forgive me for poor grammar or sentence construction.

That was our day out here in the wind and heat, how was yours? 

Back on the road again - Destination Buckskin Mountain State Park

The winds let up a little and we decided it was time to hit the road again.  We've been sitting in one spot too long and it was way past time to move on out.

We said our goodbyes to neighbors Frank & Jan and then Ron K as we stopped to settle up our bill with CCRV.  Gerry left a deposit for next winter, so I guess we are returning to CCRV for the 9th year.

Ron is thinking of spending the summer in the Boise, ID area visiting with friends.  The weather up there should be a lot nicer than Tucson.  Once Gerry came out we said our goodbye to Ron and hit the road. 

We stopped to take on some diesel fuel at the Pilot just east of Tucson.  With our discount RV card we paid $3.829/gallon.  Not great, but cheaper than any other place in the area.  When I pulled up to the RV fuel island a man in a Prius drove right in front of me.  Thankfully, I was stopping to get fuel or I would have t-boned him.  When I exited the motorhome he came over to me with a hard luck story that he was from Mexico and his credit card wouldn't work.  He had Arizona plates on the car, so that destroyed what little credibility he had.  These people hang around Pilot & TTT in Tucson and are looking for a handout all the time.  Seems like it would be easier to just get a job and earn the money.

For the most part we had an easy drive to Buckskin Mtn., but we did have a couple wind gusts that rocked the motorhome. As usual we had a head wind or wind from the side.  One takes its toll with fuel mileage and the other with my nerves.  All in all though it was an uneventful trip of 310 miles.  Considering we left around 12:45 and arrived at 6:30pm, we made pretty good time.

Buckskin Mountain State Park - entrance

We have a site here until Saturday and then will move on toward Las Vegas.  We actually have the same site we've had a couple times before when we stopped here.  Site # 63 is great, but we only have it for one night and then move across the road to site # 60.  I'd prefer to get to Vegas after the weekend so we'll have to find a spot to spend Saturday night.  Maybe boondocking for 2-3 nights is in the cards for us.  

Gerry talked to our friends Linda & Sherwin and they were sitting around this morning and decided to pack their bags and head north a day ahead of schedule.  When you are retired schedules don't always mean that much.  Have a safe trip you guys.

That was our exciting day, how was yours?

Hitch Itch is contagious & dinners

We've made plans to leave CCRV on Monday morning if the weather cooperates.  If it doesn't, we will wait until the winds die down and it is safe to drive.  We don't have a fixed schedule or route we are taking, so one more day delay isn't a problem.  We are eager to hit the road after sitting here for the past 5+ months.  

As mentioned in a previous posting, our first stop will be at Buckskin Mountain State Park over on the Colorado River in western Arizona.  We can get into the park during the week, but weekends are booked solid for the foreseeable future. 

Gerry and I joined Ron K at Montgomery's Bar & Grill on Friday night.  We all like the place and this would be our last chance to have dinner with Ron.  The place was full and there was a wait for a table, but they did have a couple spots at the high tables around the bar so we grabbed one.  The table space was a little tight for three people eating dinner, but it worked out.  It was very noisy in the bar, but since the table was small we could at least talk to each other.  As usual, our meals were great and the beer cold.

After dinner Ron K asked if we were going to stop at the DQ.  He loves the place almost as much as Gerry so we stopped by and they each got a blizzard.  I was full from dinner and passed on the blizzards.  Must be sick!

It rained all afternoon today and with the 20-25 mph wind it was good that we finished most of the outside preparations on Friday.  The rain was most welcome, but we could have done without the winds.

Later in the day we joined Linda & Sherwin at Hotrod's for dinner.  Twice in a week for us, but we do like the place.  We wound up spending 2 1/2 hours eating and talking about just about everything.  They are leaving Tuesday morning and this was our last chance to see them before they leave.  We always enjoy visiting with them and wonder why we don't get together more often.  In-between catching up conversations, the girls chatted non stop about quilting and the guys about cars and gold prospecting.  Great company & conversations.

The weather turned colder as we were leaving the restaurant and it was quite a shock to us after the temps being in the 90s the past week or so.  Of course we weren't prepared for the cooling down and it took a while for Gerry to recover.

That was our great day, how was yours?

Quiet day at CCRV & Buckskin Mountain State Park

It sure is lonely around here without Grant coming and going into the motorhome 15 times a day.  He would ride the bike for a while, visit some people and return to see what we were doing.  Since he left yesterday, it sure is quiet around here.

We decided this would be a do nothing day to recharge our batteries and take it easy.  As they say, we didn't do anything all day and still didn't finish the task of doing nothing.  It will be back to work on Thursday getting the motorhome ready for some traveling.

Monday is our departure day from Cactus Country RV Resort and our first camping stop will be at Buckskin Mountain State Park on the Colorado river near the Parker Dam.  We've been there before and knew it would be impossible to get a site on the weekend, but during the week there are many sites open.  It is about a 300 mile drive to the park and we will avoid Phoenix by taking the Gila Bend cutoff to I-10.  I hope we have better luck with the weather than the last time we were there in May 2009 when it was in the 100s everyday.

It will be good to be back in that area and enjoy the sights along the river and in the mountains east of the park.  I'm sure we will have time to visit the Desert Bar at Nellie E's and have a cold brew to cool us down.

More to come on Buckskin Mt SP.  I hope you all had a nice day just like we did.

 

 

Trip to Skyharbor Airport

It hardly seems possible, but today was departure date for Grant on his return trip to Charlotte, NC.  He was here for 2 weeks and a day, but it seemed like it was only a couple days.  We managed to hit most of the highlights around Tucson that an almost 13 year old boy would be interested in.  We didn't make it to the Biosphere II, Desert Museum and Old Tucson Studios, but saw most of the rest of the sights.

When Grant sets his mind on something he really focuses on the task at hand.  Yesterday he packed his bags, picked up all his stuff that was all over the motorhome and was ready to go.  He even went to bed early last night so we could get an early start on the 135 mile drive to Phoenix.  Wow, I wish I was that organized and focused.

We made it there 3 hours early and Grant wanted to get into the departure gate early so he wouldn't miss his flight.  Gerry started in with him, but Grant had a couple items in his carry on bag that the TSA inspector said couldn't be there.  He could put the articles in his checked baggage, but he didn't have any.  Gerry picked up the items and they wouldn't allow her to go with him to the departure area since she had the items.  Catch 22.

We left him and stopped at a local restaurant for a late lunch and waited for his flight to leave.  Then we began the long trek back to Tucson and battled high winds all the way back here.  Thank God the dust didn't kick up to cover the highway or we would have been in trouble.

Grant had a 50 minute turnover time at Chicago Midway Airport and had to run from terminal A to C to make his connection.  We were a little concerned when he left Phoenix about 20 minutes late, however, they made up most of the time on the way to Chicago.  Grant called us from Charlotte when arrived and we were relieved.  He is a confident young 12 year old and didn't understand our concerns.  Oh, to be that young and that sure of oneself.

Monday, Ron K and I worked on a 10 minute electric problem on the car and that took about 1.5 hours to correct the problem.  The main issue was crossed wires on the wiring harness between the car and the motorhome.  Once they were put in the correct holes, then everything worked fine.  Thanks Ron.  

Now we are trying to catch up on our sleep and rest before we head to Buckskin Mountain State Park for a week or so and then on to Las Vegas where the temperature will dictate how long we stay there.  We need to be back in the Tucson area around June 10, so we will spend some time at a slightly higher altitude where it should be cooler.  Sedona & Flagstaff are in the running now for a couple weeks each.

 

Hotrods and Eggs

Happy Easter

 

 Saturday happenings.

Ron K stopped by early this morning and took Grant to the local radio control airplane airfield down the road from us.  They have been flying a large helicopter lately and Ron was impressed by how well they could maneuver it.  Since the winds were up today, there was only one person out there flying and left about the time Grant and Ron showed up.  Maybe Sunday afternoon they will fly.  

We've been trying to take Grant to the local Hotrods Cafe down the road and finally found time to go there today after shopping for our Easter dinner.  The local Fry's was out of ham and we wound up buying it at Safeway.  Whoever heard of a supermarket running out of ham on Easter weekend?  We finally made it to Hotrods after rounding up the ham.

Hotrods is a combination restaurant, bar and restoration shop for cars, trucks and motorcycles.  The food is decent, but most people go there for the atmosphere.

Grant was impressed with the place and really enjoyed his white pizza and the chocolate milkshake.  I am afraid he will have to go on a diet once he gets home.  This is sort of a payback to Larry Jr. for what we went through when he was a child.  Just joking, he was a good kid.

The table overlooked the work area, but they have wires in the glass to make it stronger.  That works, but doesn't make for a great photo op.  I did take a few photos of vehicles in various stages of restoration.

Old 1920s truck.

Not sure what this is.

Looks like an old Austin Healy

Later on in the afternoon it began to cloud up and looked like we were going to have a thunderstorm.  The clouds were black and there was rain to the south.  No such luck for us.  The rain passed sby and we didn't even get a sprinkle.

We were all worn out by this time and didn't do much until after dinner when Grant & Gerry dyed some Easter eggs.  Grant is worried that the Easter bunny won't find him, but I give the bunny more credit than that.

Now we just have to wait for the bunny to hide the eggs in the motorhome.  I hope he doesn't leave any outside for the creepy crawlers, coyotes or javelinas to find and eat.

Guadalajara Fiesta Grill

The previous day I had so many airplane photos in the blog so I didn't include our dinner photos at the Guadalajara Fiesta Grill.  It is one of our favorite places in Tucson because of the Mariachi Band, salsa made at your table and the overall atmosphere.  They also serve huge portions and it's almost impossible to finish a meal there even though they taste great.

We like to get there early enough to get a nice table and enjoy happy hour before the fun starts.  When we arrived almost every seat in the restaurant was available.  Grant thought this one suited a person of his stature and grabbed it ahead of everyone.

They have great margaritas here, which Gerry ordered.  I always have my favorite Dos XX beer, while Grant ordered a Shirley Temple.  He must have enjoyed it since he had 2-3 refills, while we only had one each.

Our favorite lady who makes the salsa wasn't there and another one made the salsa for us.  She made a mild one for me and a medium one for Gerry.  Grant and I finished off the mild one and wound up working on Gerry's salsa.

No, that isn't Grant's margarita, we had him sit there so he could see how she made the salsa.  He compared it to his dad making homemade salsa and said his dad's was better.  Smart kid.

We waited around for a while to hear the mariachi band, but it wasn't one of the better ones.  We left after a few songs.  They didn't sound like real mariachi players to me.  We exited through the outside patio area so Grant could see how nice it was.  The pollen is high here and the trees in the patio area drop too much pollen for us.

We finished the dinner and made our way back to the motorhome and some rest.  Grant was worn out and I was right behind him.  We missed the Survivor program and don't know who was voted off.

That was the second part of our day, how was yours?

 

Pima Air & Space Museum

Pima Air & Space Museum, operated by the not-for-profit Arizona Aerospace Foundation (AAF), is the largest privately funded aviation and aerospace museum in the world and the third largest aviation museum in the U.S.

Established on May 8,1976, the museum displays more than 300 of the most

significant aircraft in the history of flight.

 

Admission includes the 390th Memorial Museum, an independent military museum, and the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame, another AAF operation, located on the grounds.

In addition, the museum features more than 125,000 artifacts including a moon rock and numerous exhibits located in five hangers.

(four-plus football fields of indoor space) over 80 acres.

 

The museum operates the exclusive tour of the U.S. government’s and 

military’s only “Boneyard” aka AMARG (309th Aerospace Regeneration and Maintenance Group) on the adjacent Davis-Monthan Air Force Base

showcasing 4,000+ planes on 2,600 acres.

 

I took the above from the Pima Air & Space Museum's homepage rather than try and explain who they are and what they do.  I've been to the museum a number of times and have always enjoyed the tour.  Grant is fascinated by WWII aircraft and military equipment and I've been saving this tour towards the end of his visit.  Gerry had a hair appointment and left me in charge of the expedition.

 

We wound up spending almost 3 hours at the museum and still didn't see everything there.  It was 92 degrees and we tried to stay in air conditioned comfort, but some of the neater planes were outside.  I took almost 100 photos and have managed to cut them back to around 15 or so.  If you don't like airplanes, then you can quit reading now.  

 

Aerial view of Pima Air & Space Museum

STARR BUMBLE BEE

Grant & the Bumblebee

Manufacturer BEDE

Markings: From the James Bond film Octopussy, 1983

BEDE BD-5J MICRO-JET

Air Force Thunderbird plane

LOCKHEED SR-71A BLACKBIRD

The last of a small family of aircraft built by Lockheed's famous Skunk Works, the SR-71 is one of the most recognized aircraft ever built. Design of what would become the Blackbird began in 1958 with a request from the CIA for an aircraft to replace the Lockheed U-2. The aircraft the CIA got was a single seat, twin engine, delta-winged design called the A-12. Even though the other versions of the Blackbird were known publicly the existence of the A-12 remained secret until 1982. The type made its first flight from the Groom Lake, Nevada test site in April 1962. Further development resulted in three different 2 seat versions; the YF-12 interceptor, the M-12 which carried the D-21 drone, and the SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft. Slightly larger than the A-12 and with a longer range the first SR-71 flew in December 1964. In total 50 aircraft in the Blackbird Family were built with 30 of them being SR-71s. It is hard to overstate the technological achievement represented by the Blackbird. It holds world speed and altitude records and is the only manned, jet-powered aircraft to routinely exceed Mach 3.
A brief list of some of the records held by the Blackbird: July 28, 1976 -World absolute speed record - 2,193 mph July 28, 1976 - World absolute record for sustained altitude - 85,069 feet September 1, 1974 - New York to London - 1 hour 55 minutes 42 seconds March 6, 1990 - Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. - 1 hour 4 minutes 2 seconds

Specifications

• Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in
• Length: 107 ft 2 in
• Height: 16 ft 6 in
• Weight: 140,000 lbs (loaded)
• Max. Speed: 2,193 mph (Mach)
• Service Ceiling: 85,000 ft +
• Range: 3,200 miles
• Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58 turbojets 34,000 lbs thrust each
• Crew: 2

Newly reconstructed seaplane

Grant as a fighter pilot

CONSOLIDATED B-24J LIBERATOR

NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG

VOUGHT F4U-4 CORSAIR

It was a surprise to see this TWA plane out in the open area.  We flew TWA many years ago when they were prop planes and later jets.

 Imagine my surprise when Gerry and I found our long lost luggage from a flight we took many years ago.  I wonder if the clothes would still fit us.  Naw, afraid not.

Presidential Air Force One plane from President Eisenhower's era.

BOEING B-17G FLYING FORTRESS

 

After three hours of walking and taking pictures, I was a little worn out and ready for dinner.  Gerry was finished with her hair appointment at the same time that I called her and said we were finished.  Well, at least I was finished.  Grant was in the gift shop picking up some postcards and pins, including one for me.  He is a very thoughtful kid and fun to be around.  It was an early to bed night for Grant as it finally caught up to him.

 

That was our day, how was yours? 

Two Ts & a S (Tubac, Tumacacori & San Xavier Del Boc)

We were able to cross three more sightseeing places off the bucket list for Grant.  He had researched these on the internet and wanted to check them out before he left Tucson.  

TUMACACORI -  We headed for Tumacacori first since it was the longest drive from the motorhome.  Grant likes to know how far everything is and I guessed 25 miles away, but it was more like 50 miles away.  He noticed the longer drive.
 
The Tumacácori Mission was established in 1691 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. It was established one day before the Guevavi Mission, making it the oldest Jesuit mission site in southern Arizona. The mission was originally called San Cayetano de Tumacacori. It was established at an existing native O'odham or Sobaipuri settlement on the east side of the river.

After the Pima rebellion of 1751, the mission was moved to the present site on the west side of the Santa Cruz river and renamed San José de Tumacácori. Father Kino was a Jesuit missionary and was instrumental in the building of Mission in this area.  When Portugal, France and Spain withdrew the Jesuits from New Spain and other places, Franciscan missionaries took their place.  It was almost 75 years before the present day church was built.  Mexico made all non-Mexican born people depart after they gained their independence and by 1848, the mission was abandoned and began falling into severe disrepair. Preservation and stabilization efforts began in 1908 when the area was declared a National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt and continue today.

The area was used by cattle ranchers as a corral, grazing and other uses for many years and many of the buildings were destroyed.  The graveyards were destroyed and it still remains a mystery where they were.  One small graveyard is behind the church, but over 375 recorded burials took place at Tumacacori.

Gerry & Grant

Homemade tortillas

Grant taking a closeup of Mexican Poppy

Side view of church and food storage area on right.

Typical O'odham Indian house with shade porch in front.

Front view of house

 TUBAC- History
Established in 1752 as a Spanish presidio, the first Spanish colonial garrison in what is now Arizona, Tubac was one of the stops on the Camino Real (the "Royal Road") from Mexico to the Spanish settlements in California.
Tubac's most famous Spanish resident was Juan Bautista de Anza. While stationed at Tubac (1760–1776), de Anza built the chapel of Santa Gertrudis, the foundations of which lie beneath today's St. Ann's Church.
Apaches attacked the town repeatedly in the 1840s, forcing the Sonoran Mexicans to abandon both Tumacacori and Tubac.
Tubac was the scene of a four-day siege in 1861, between Tubac's male population, Confederate militia and Apache warriors
Tubac is now an artsy town with a lot of craft goods, jewelry, paintings, clothing, etc. on sale in the many shops there.  We stopped there for lunch and to give Grant a chance to pick up some souvenirs for his mom & dad.  It would be easy to write a complete blog about Tubac, but that will have to be at another time.

Grant kissing a frog,  finally!

Pottery

 

A little of everything

Grant & Gerry looking for bargains.

 San Xavier Del Boc -  It was late in the afternoon by the time we got to San Xavier and they were closed for the day.  We did want Grant to see how beautiful the mission church was there, so we stopped by for a few minutes.  Once again, we did give it the time deserved to fully appreciate the beauty of the church.  I have photos from other visits and will do a blog on it later.

HISTORY
 The current church dates from the late 1700's, when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. In 1783, Franciscan missionary Fr. Juan Bautista Velderrain was able to begin construction on the present structure using money borrowed from a Sonoran rancher. He hired an architect, Ignacio Gaona, and a large workforce of O'odham to create the present church.

Following Mexican independence in 1821, San Xavier became part of Mexico. The last resident Franciscan of the 19th Century departed in 1837. With the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, the Mission joined the United States. In 1859 San Xavier became part of the Diocese of Santa Fe. In 1866 Tucson became an incipient diocese and regular services were held at the Mission once again. Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet opened a school at the Mission in 1872. Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity now teach at the school and reside in the convent. The Franciscans returned to the Mission in 1913.

Since it was Wednesday, Grant reminded us of the free pie at that restaurant.  He couldn't remember the name, but he did remember the free pie.  So, at the end of the long trip we stopped once again at the Village Inn and had dinner plus the pie.  Gerry's chicken pot pie left a lot to be desired and she returned it for another one.  It was ok, but not up to previous experience with their chicken pot pie.  They let us pick whatever pie we wanted from the menu as a way to compensate us and also comped a portion of the meal.  The real pies are shown below.

I'm a fast eater and the small piece of cherry pie was mine.  The other two pies slices were very rich and tasty.  Gerry brought half of hers home and Grant managed to finish his off.

That was our interesting, busy day, how was yours?