Clayton & Pat in Maricopa

The large group picture was at Casa Grande one evening during the cocktail hours. Most of us will be going to the B&B II rally next week. It got a little chilly after the sun went down so we had jackets on.

On Wednesday Clayton & Pat arrived in Maricopa in his motorhome and came down to visit us. We went to Eva's for a late Mexican lunch and checked out a local CG that we liked 2 years ago, & still do. After Clayton & Pat left about 4 couples that arrived from Maricopa (they are in for the rally a little early too) came down to visit with the Casa Grande group so we went out with them for supper at Eva's second Mexican restaurant.

Today we made the 20 mike trip to John Wayne RV Campground in Maricopa where Clayton & Pat are staying for a couple days. Judy's nephew Todd came down from Phoenix too so we all had a nice lunch of kielbasa, German potato salad & red cabbage. Todd spent the afternoon and we all had a nice visit. Todd's the young dude in the picture with us old farts. You can see our fifth wheel parked next to Clayton's motorhome here in the desert.

RV friends are gathering

We have been doing some socializing since Wednesday. On Thursday we drove across Casa Grande and met Nolan & Joann and their Little Blue Truck (a BIG Kenworth). JV & Carolyn Evans went with us and we all went to Eva's for a nice Mexican dinner. That's Nolan, JoAnn, Carolyn & JV above in the right picture.

Friday we drove to Phoenix and had lunch with Stacy & Sharon Wise (left picture), we met them 2 years ago here in AZ. It was real nice meeting new HH friends, Nolan & JoAnn, and getting together with HH we have met in the past like JV & Carolyn and Stacy & Sharon.

On Saturday Dave & Trish Wood (AND Tank) arrived here at Desert Shadows along with Trish's brother Bill. We all had a steak or chicken dinner here at the park last night.

The weather has been pretty consistent, 70s and 80s with all the sunshine you want. Judy & I have noticed in our travels that the desert is MUCH MUCH greener than it was when we were here in 2008. We are looking forward to lots of desert flowers this spring.

Mountains, Lakes, & RV friends

Happy St Patrick's Day to you all. We drove up to Mesa this morning and met Ray & Barb and Rudy & Linda. We were all together in Gulf Shores, AL back in January before everyone left looking for better weather. By the way, it was 88 today, that's getting plenty hot. They are in a very large RV & snowbird park with over 1700 sites for RVs and park models. Patches made out like a bandit with all the goodies she received from Ray & Barb's cats. We spent some time walking around their park before we drove up to the Usery Mountains & Saguaro Lake for some sightseeing and lunch. Thanks for lunch Ray! It was a beautiful ride through the desert and then into the mountains to the restaurant on the lake. The pictures do not do the scenery justice & we had a very enjoyable day.

Casa Grande, AZ at Desert Shadows

Sunday we made the short trip from Benson to Casa Grande, about 120 miles. We checked into a Western Horizons park named Desert Shadows, a little before noon and it's our first time here. There were 5 or 6 RVs checking in at the same time and guess what....one couple was a fellow Haulin' HitchHiker.....JV & Carolyn Evans. The last time we met was in TX when a rally was cancelled due to hurricane Ike. We had a long visit & cocktail hour with them Monday. Desert Shadows is such a nice name but the park isn't quite like it sounds. It is growing on us though. We took a site in the back which is against a block wall and when we stand up we can see over it. A bunch of old falling down wood corals & small buildings. Now, what's nifty is the donkey, rooster & peacock that hee haw, crow & squawk. It's kinda nice, Patches thinks there's a strange jungle on the other side of that wall, she's a little concerned something over there might get her.

Monday was meeting with a Western Horizon rep, lunch at KFC, laundry, Curves, grocery & post office day. Today, Tuesday, was a VERY busy day. It was in the low 70s and starting tomorrow it's going to be in the 80s for awhile so we spent the day washing the RV and then the truck. I'm pooped, Judy worked harder than me and is still going. Patches, she's having a great time watching all the birds and Judy has been going to the clubhouse playing cards, attending presentations, bingo and such. This might not be a beautiful desert park but it has activities up the ying yang.

Gammon's Gulch

Today we went to Gammon's Gulch, about 20 miles outside Benson in the boonies. It has been under "construction" since 1971. The man who owns it and has built it (that's him playing the banjo) is the son of John Wayne's body guard, he has old pictures to prove it. He said he's always wanted his own western town but couldn't afford to buy one so he built his own. Some buildings are originals that he moved there, other he's built. There have been 40 some movies that have used his town, mostly westerns. I suspect they were B movies, he has been in several of them. He was 11 when he was a drummer boy leading a funeral procession in El Dorado with John Wayne & Robert Mitchum.

It's getting nicer out, the wind has finally returned to a gently breeze, and it's in the high 60s.

Pima Air & Space Museum, Tuscon AZ, & the boneyard

We had a busy day starting in line at 9am when the museum opened to get tickets.

First the boneyard, 4400 planes in short (3 years or less) or long (3 to 25 years) or salvage (disassemble for parts then scrap the leftovers). Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and foreign planes & helicopters, even 2 missiles. Big planes, little planes; hummers, desks & chairs and we passed a few hundred cars & trucks confiscated for smuggling drugs. Rows & rows of airplanes, many were unique and some waiting for museums to pick them up.

Second was a tram tour of the outside museum planes, I never knew there were so many different planes. President Johnson's planes, Eisenhower's helicopter, Russian, Canadian, Swiss, NASA, CIA (unmarked), Italian, French, commercial, one with an engine cylinder that blew through the engine cowling (still there) landing at the museum, etc, etc, etc. Someone has a sense of humor....there was a sign & tie downs in an empty space marked as a B117 stealth fighter.

Finally we walked through several hangers full of more planes. The most impressive hanger, to me, was dedicated to the 390th bomb squadron based in England during WWII flying B17s.

We returned to Benson and had a real good Mexican lunch/dinner before returning home. Great day.

Tombstone, "the town too tuff to die"

Today we went for a ride, did ya see the picture of the dinosaur that ate a McDonalds? After that we went south near the Mexican border then to Tombstone. We were there 2 years ago and enjoyed the courthouse museum but the city is a tourist trap. Judy had some info on the remaining original building, the Birdcage Theater, which was built from bricks so wasn't destroyed when the rest of the wooden structures were destroyed by fire in the 1890s (Jody & Bruce....it looked A LOT older than your house!). The Bird Cage was a bar, gambling house, theater & house of ill repute.

Wyatt Earp & his brothers spent time there as did Doc Holiday who dealt

faro, his table is still there as are some of his dental tools. How about the "rental" casket used for showings then into the pine box ya went for the trip to boot hill in the hearse called Black Miarara. They had a high stakes ($1000) poker game going around the clock for 8 years. You gave them you stake and waited 3 or 4 days to sit in when another player left.

When we returned home Judy finished the laundry while I made supper then she played Mexican Train for nickles.