This is my first RV....a Fleetwood Tyoga Ranger 33 ft. Motorhome....Sleeps 8

This is my second RV....a Mercedes Unity Leisure Travel Van....Sleeps 4   SO much easier to drive in the mountains!

In Conroe, TX for Awhile

I've been here in Conroe since right after Thanksgiving.  I am spending a couple of weeks with my granddaughter, Katie, while her mom is in Europe on business.  I'm not real sure what my plans will be through the Winter months.  I have a lot of choices.........really too many options.

LOWS Park in Deming, NM

I left AZ and drove to Deming, NM to spend a week.  Lots of card players here so that was good.  While playing cards one night with a group, I met Kathy, who was also at the park for a week.  We discovered we both liked to play "Hand and Foot" and "Rummicube," so that was a real plus.  She has 3 handsome sons and several grandchildren......has been RVing 8 years.

We had an interesting visitor when we were unhooking Kathy's car from her RV.  Roadrunners are everywhere in this area and they are very friendly and curious little birds.  This one kept coming right up to us.  I offered him a pretzel which he refused.  I later learned they are omnivorous and eat snakes, insects and seasonal fruit. 

We went to look at the sights a couple of days.  First we went to Silver City, NM and visted the Silver City Museum which is set in the H.B. Ailman House, a mansion with a soaring turret and graceful mansard roof, built in 1881.   Like its name, Silver City was a boom town for silver mining at one time.   The discovery of silver ore deposits sprang the town into a bustling city which also led to the town's violent crime rate. 

  The Big Ditch used to be Silver City's Main Street before it was washed away by floods in the late 19th century and early 20th century.  The townspeople built a bridge over the Ditch and moved the businesses over a street.   It's really nothing than a large creek but the residents promote it as a tourist attraction and have celebrations such as Big Ditch Day to celebrate it. 

While I was on the bridge that ran across The Big Ditch, a man approached me wanting me to sign a petition to get rid of the meters in the town which he claimed were toxic.  After listening to his spiel, I signed....who knows?  This is what he had to say and it is reason for concern.  "Smart Meters" are being installed on homes throughout the world. These radiation-emitting, surveillance devices are watching every move you make; while, at the same time, bathing you with cancer-causing radiation. Without regard to human health, power companies are looking to capture the entire population with this new, highly-toxic technology.  Supposedly these meters can monitor your every move and then that information can be sold to third parties. 

The next day, Kathy and I visited the Deming Museum which was a very interesting museum for such a small town.  It was filled with lots of historical collections. 

The Mimbres Indians once lived in this area between 1000 and 1150 along the Mimbres River in the rugged Gila Mountains.  They were eventually absorbed by the Pueblo Indians and some may have migrated to Mexico.  They were expert pottery makers and below is a sample..

 I found this iron lung interesting in the medical part of the museum.  It made me recall the polio outbreak in the 1950s.  I had a friend who contracted it and had to spend part of her time in a contraption like this to help her breathe.  

  The museum also commemorated WWII and the Bataan Death March in the Philipines, led by the Japanese in 1942.  Many prisoners of war did not survive this march as they were brutalized and demoralized along the way to weaken them.  It was a 65 mile march to the prison camp.

We sometimes tend to forget what our veterans went through, not only during WWII, but all of the wars prior to and after that.  God bless America! 

 I  planned to return to TX for Thanksgiving but decided instead to stay at the park and celebrate with the other RVers there.  Everyone brought a dish and the turkeys were furnished.  As soon as the meal was over, I headed southward to TX.

Tucson, AZ

I arrived in Tucson today to spend some time with my sister-in-law, whose name is also Judy Pirtle.

The Arizona sunset produced some very pretty pink clouds as I approached Tucson.

Love the huge cactus.

 Judy and I met up with my niece and her husband for happy hour, saw their beautiful new home and then proceeded to the dance studio where Judy takes her ballroom dancing lessons.  They had a dance party this evening so I was able to dance the night away with professional dancers.  I realized I am very out of practice but we had a lot of fun.


  We spent a day at the Sonora Desert Museum.  The weather was perfect and there was a lot to see. 

I especially enjoyed seeing the enclosure where we were able to walk among the hummingbirds.  It was hard to take their pictures because they move so quickly.  I was able to get a couple of photos but they kind of blend into the scenery.  Many of them have migrated now but in the summer, there are many species and many with vibrant colors but not today.

Watching the raptors capture their prey was a great experience as they swoop right over your heads to hunt for prey that has been released.  It gave us a chance to see grey owls and various hawks in action close up.

In the aquarium, we found these garden eels so interesting.  I have never seen anything like them.  They are those little things swaying in the bottom of the aquarium.

 

We ended our tour of the museum by visiting the lonesome bear and the mountain lion.

 

 

 

 

Time to say goodbye to a wonderful and interesting day.

 

 

On the Road Again.......

I sadly left Oregon to head back to Texas for the holidays and warmer weather.  Beautiful drive yesterday through the mountains.  Ahead of me loomed this beautiful view of Mt. Shasta in California.  It was hard to believe that this mountain had so much snow when the temperature was 50 degrees.  

Cape Kiwanda on the Pacific Shore

My friend, Linda, and I decided to take off for the seashore.  This would be my last visit to the Pacific Ocean before I head South for the winter.  She suggested we go to Pacific City so off we went.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful day, weatherwise and otherwise.  The rock in the background is called the "Haystack."

We spent the day climbing some incredible cliffs, very steep but it was such a wonderful experience and quite a challenge.

 

Beautiful everywhere you looked.

 

 

 

These rocky cliffs were higher than they look and it was quite a challenge to keep going but we did.

 

 

At times, I had to question why I was doing this.

 

 

Because it really was a dangerous area.

 

 

But soooo beautiful!

 

 

Yes, that is me at the top of a very steep and sandy hill.  Much easier coming down than going up,

 

 

 

We paused to have lunch and a much deserved beer at the famous Pelican Pub and Brewery

 

 

 

Lots of surfers today as the waves were high and ideal for surfing.  I was impressed to see these two young ladies take on the waves.

 

 

A really great day.  This was by far the best place I have been on the coast.  It is known for being a place for great fishing and therefore many dories fish from this coast.  .

 

 

 lWe ended our day with fish and chips.  The fish was Ling and was caught right there off the coastal waters.  Delicious

 

 

 

The next day we shopped and then settled in for wine and chowder at a nice restaurant, the Tidal Rave, which had a wonderful view of the ocean.  It was then time to head back to McMinnville. 

 

 

 

Strolling Around Dayton, OR

Today, Juliet (another RVer I met here in the park where I am staying) and I decided to walk from the park to downtown Dayton.  There wasn't a whole lot happening on Sunday but we did get a lot of walking in and had a great lunch at this little restaurant which was once an old Baptist church. built in 1886.  The dog on my lap is Romeo, a real sweetheart that I would keep if Juliet would let me,  He was mine for the day, 

This is the restaurant, not a church anymore.. It's called the Blockhouse Café.

Across the street from the Blockhouse Cafe, in the park, is the historical Fort Yamhill Blockhouse.  Built in Polk County, OR in 1856, the outpost consisted of a wooden blockhouse, sentry box, barracks, officers’ quarters, carpenter's shop, hospital, cook houses, blacksmith shop, tables, barn, sutler’s store, and laundress quarters.  The wood blockhouse was built to provide a refuge to settlers of the area in case of attack by the Native Americans.  After the fort was abandoned, the block house was moved from the hill it was positioned on and served as a jail in the Valley Junction area, and later moved about 30 miles east to Dayton.

Local artists have displayed their talents in this little town by painting all of the barrel planters along the main street of town.

And on the windows of the vacant old buildings.

 

Mick, a Jack Russell, is Juliet's other dog.  Juliet has been RVing for only a year and works on the road representing a pet food company.  She has a website at  http://tailsfromtheroad.com/

We had a great day and it was time to head home across the bridge that connects to the RV park.  Romeo and Mick are allowed to walk without their leashes where there is no traffic.  Romeo keeps looking back to see where we are.  Mick is more of a wanderer.  Very well behaved pooches though.  Makes me kind of wish I had one and then I come to my senses.  My space is too small for pets.