Tucson...........

Lovely Tucson! We arrived about a week ago, and we are just now settling in. We stayed in this campground last year for a couple of weeks, and liked it so much we came back again for a month! Last year, however, we were not here long enough to get involved with many activities, and we were too busy sightseeing. This year, we have slowed down our sightseeing pace (I'm trying...but it is really hard for me!) and relaxing a bit more. Last year, I only had time for yoga and water aerobics. This year, I have checked out a few more activities that I just love...yoga, quilting, beading, needlework...the pool...in between our hiking and excursions! It is very peaceful here, and we are really enjoying the sunrises and sunsets. We like the desert (in the winter), and being surrounded by mountains. Just beautiful! 

Christmas cactus getting ready to bloom....and see the windshield crack?

view to the left of our motorhome-and the beautiful moonrise

the "chef"-grilling up dinner

looks like a big storm coming in behind us! Navy blue clouds moving fast!

no worries...the storm went around us...read on

the best sunsets are when its cloudy

our new neighborhood

intense colors

a look down our street

the pool is down this street

another Arizona sunset

We had a quiet Thanksgiving, just the two of us (with a facetime fix with the family, phone calls and emails). I managed to cook our usual feast of turkey, stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, dumplings, veggies, gravy. Not so easy in a motorhome...especially when there is only one pot and one pan....hahahah. There was a lot of juggling and planning of this meal to have it all work out. It was delicious, and we really enjoyed stuffing our faces. Best news...we have a lot of leftovers to get us through the weekend without cooking. We hope to enjoy hiking in the days ahead to work off some of those bazillion calories!!

carving the turkey (breast)

Cheers!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Since we arrived here, we have had the RV into the shop for the day to address some service and warranty issues. AND, just TODAY, we finally had our windshield replaced. That was a long haul. So many issues with the windshield. We were supposed to have it done in Virginia, at a small shop. It took a week for the windshield to arrive, and then unfortunately, someone dropped it and it broke. By then, we were ready to leave to drive westward, so the job was put on hold until we got here to Tucson. It worked out way better! The glass company came to us (well, after all, we did call a mobile RV Glass place)-5 guys and 3 vans-and they were here all morning. They did a beautiful job and we are ever so grateful!

A note to fellow RVers: To get our windshield replaced, we called a nationwide mobile RV glass repair company, and had the work approved by our insurance company before the work was started. You would think that a mobile RV glass repair company would come to you, but that is not necessarily true. In small print, it mentions that you may have to go to the repair shop.It depends where you are and what small companies the nationwide company deals with in the area of the country where you need the work done (since they aren't doing the work). When we were in Virginia, that is exactly what was in line for us...to GO to a shop. That was the case in Charlottesville and Roanoke....both fairly large cities on the east coast. Not exactly in the middle of nowhere. We were surprised there was no mobile RV glass companies around to do the job. It takes a few days for the windshield to set, so we would have had to stay in hotel for the duration. AND, I forgot to mention that the glass has to be ordered and shipped to the shop that is actually doing the work, and in our experience, it takes a week for just that to happen. We took a chance traveling with the cracked windshield to our next destination...Tucson.Thankfully, there really was a mobile RV glass company that came to us. It ultimately worked out great, but it took a couple of months. Our learning from this: if you need a new windshield, find a company that will come to you. Its preferable to have the windshield "set" for a week-no driving or leveling of the rig. Its a big job!

Another big learning: We had our safety check and 45-point service done at Camping World in Roanoke (a designated Winnebego dealer in the area), and had a few other issues we wanted looked at. We were told we needed to replace one of our level jacks, but it would take a week to get the part. Since we were not staying in the area for that long, we were led to believe that Camping World in Tucson could do the work. We must have misunderstood them (ahem), because once I called Tucson to see if they could have the part ordered for us, they said they would have to do the diagnostic work before ordering anything. In other words, they would be starting all over. Lesson learned-Camping Worlds are not really related like that. You must have diagnostic and repair work done in the same shop, no matter what the service department tells you! We therefore went to a different place (also a designated Winnebego dealer) to have the work done and all is well. Nothing is simple. Hope our experiences can help someone else out there. (By the way, I'm not dissing Camping World...just saying what happened to us, and I'm sure that could happen at any chain type of industry).

the crack doubled in size during our trip cross-country, driving and leveling each night in a new campground

these guys were great!

a huge job! The windshield weighs 250 pounds

there are 5 guys on this job!

it was amazing to watch

careful now

the convertible!

our old windshield....a mess!

here comes the new windshield!

a beautiful new windshield (and a blooming Christmas cactus!)

Roswell..................

With our second full day in Carlsbad, we just HAD to go to Roswell (which was only about an hour away)! The Roswell Incident. Area 51. Crop Circles. Government cover-up? We expected to see a town that looked like a scene in the 1950's, but instead came upon a large and thriving town, if a bit touristy. We went to the UFO Museum (I know....cheesy!) because, well, we were in Roswell! For more information, click here.

We spent about a half hour watching an hour-long movie, before going out to see some of the exhibits. There were a lot of newpaper articles and print to read and photos throughout the museum, offering various stories of the Roswell Incident. We left wondering what REALLY happened!

only in Roswell!

hope its not tooo cheesy

lots of reading

the radio station that made the announcement of the UFO and rescinded it the next day

do you think?

lots of insights from those that were there

Most of the museum's exhibits address facts and insights from the people that were in Roswell at the time of the alleged incident, and subsequent attempts to explain it, including government cover-up allegations. 

There have been documentaries and movies about Roswell. I haven't seen the movie "Roswell", but some of the "props" were in the museum.  

this was used in a movie

kind of creepy

okay then....

movie set from "Roswell"-1994

a touristy area near the UFO museum

One of the real finds in Roswell was the Roswell Museum and Arts Center. For more information, click here. We thoroughly enjoyed this museum that housed not only works of contemporary art, but the Goddard rocket exhibit and other historical exhibits of the area. Goddard is considered to be the "Father of Modern Rocketry", developing and launching the first liquid fuel rocket.

hope this museum is a bit better

great displays

oil rig painting

lots of contemporary artwork

One room was dedicated to war and battle equipment from both the Natives and the White Men from back in the day. Other exhibits showcased implements and artifacts from life in the area. I really enjoy looking at that...I'm always intrigued by how people lived, especially in a harsh or different environment from what I am used to.

in the "war room"

both Native and White artifacts were displayed

ahhh....fiber 

Tom was floored by the size of this beaver in the showcase. It was alarmingly huge, and we didn't think they grew that big. He also really liked the Goddard wing....with the rocket exhibit and tools from his workshop.

woah...

desert in bloom

the Goddard rocket and the workroom

We both enjoyed looking at the artwork. Many pieces were so vibrantly colored, using every color in the rainbow. There was a section devoted to Peter Hurd, a noted and very talented artist concentrating on southwest landscapes and images.

love the vibrant colors

is this what happens if you stay too long in your RV?

really like this little nook and the furniture...just sayin' Tom

painting by Peter Hurd 

enjoying the art 

so lifelike

this was amazing too...you could see the grains of wood....we looked twice because it really looked like wood!

leaving Roswell....are those clouds, or......?????

Our campground host suggested a stop in Artesia, a town between Roswell and Carlsbad (where we were staying), to examine the brass sculptures around the downtown area. We parked in the middle of town, and walked around for several blocks and spotted quite a few pieces of art. This is oil/gas drilling area here in New Mexico (and Texas), and you can see the rigs from the highways we traveled in the area. At night, the sky lights up with the flames. One of the largest sculptures honors the men and women who work/worked in this hazardous field.

huge sculpture of oil rig/workers

very nice little park

the details are so striking

close up

another view

friends of yours Tom?

making a deal-when a handshake was good enough

Peter Hurd also painted a mural in this artsy town, and what a little gem of an area that was! I could not capture the whole walkway, but tried to show some of the detail involved in this work. Besides the amazing murals, the tile work/water displays were just gorgeous! What a peaceful little retreat.

Peter Hurd mural in Artesia

water features too

a beautiful little walkway

the tile work was striking as well

another view

so cool!

all the water features were tiled

close up of one area (they were all different)

tiles of lily pads

Walking a bit more through the town, we came upon some of the other bronze sculptures and admired the detail in the pieces. They really do seem to capture a moment in time. A freeze-frame.

captured the action, don't you think?

more

My favorite sculpture was of books, and young readers immersed in their stories. It was a giant sculpture located in the middle of a traffic circle, just to give you the idea of the size of it!

this was a huge "piece"- in the center of a rotary (or whatever you call the circles in the road)

close up

very sweet

such detail too

yeeehaaaa....can you just see the action frozen in time

Billy the Kid's girlfriend-she was a teacher

another favorite

Before long, we were back at the campground and packing up and getting ready to move on to Las Cruces, NM the next day-our last stopover before Tucson. With very strong winds predicted in the area we were traveling in the next few days, we changed our plans so we would safely sit out the wind issue. So, we spent 2 nights in Las Cruces, doing laundry and chatting it up with some of the other campers waiting out the weather. (I learn so much in the laundry room....really!) Turns out, it was a smart plan because the forecast was right and the winds were fierce. Our camper rocked and rolled all day.....and we were glad we weren't on the highway. In the local news....three different 18-wheeler tractor trailers were knocked over on their sides by the high wind gusts at various spots in the area. Yikes!! The good news...we've made it safely to Tucson and are settling in.