ON THE ROAD TO TUCSON AZ

Let's saddle up and hit the road to Tucson!

 The highway travelled through the Hueco mountains.

 We travelled through the southern part of New Mexico for a short distance on the route to Arizona.

We decided to spend more time in New Mexico on our return trip home.

 Miles of pecan trees covered both sides of the highway.

 A short stop at a colourful rest stop in New Mexico.

 Local western setting.

An old mining town looked like a movie setting.

Walking Maggie was very interesting.

Many of the over passes were beautiful works of art.

Our over night stay in Willcox AZ was most interesting. The temperature dropped to 21f and our water froze-lucky no damage resulted.

The setting sun was beautiful in the RV park.

 In the morning we woke up to the sound of Sand Cranes overhead. Just like spring at home. 

 The short distance through Texas Canyon in AZ was a display of huge boulders on both sides of the highway.

 The appearance of large numbers of Saguaro cacti greeted our arrival to Arizona.

We set up camp at the Catalina State Park just north of Tucson.

Our view of the Catalina mountians made each day a wonder.

 The park has over 5000 Saguaro cacti.

Some are over 200 years old, fifty feet high and up to 10 tons.

Kellie spent her first morning among the Saguaros.

EL PASO TX

Our trip across Texas to El Paso was a scenic delight.

Wide open country made travel easy with many beautiful sights.

Many trains also travelled our route.

Home made meals always had a local taste.

We were lucky enough to stay at the Fort Bliss US ARMY RV Park.
The park was located near the base of the Franklin Mountians.

The Fort Bliss RV Park has to be the best RV Park in El Paso.

A treat was to experience snow early one morning!!

The homes around the city were most unique.

A view from a scenic drive 2000ft above El Paso.

Local home on the scenic drive.

The fence separating Mexico and the USA.

San Elizario Mission

We were lucky to meet a very kind local, Roberto, who told us much about the local history in his village. Roberto gave us a tour of the village which included a visit to the jail that Billy the Kid broke into to rescue his friends in the 1800's.

Socorro Mission

Ysleta Mission

Interesting history.

BALMORHEA TEXAS

The Pecos River meanders 900 miles across New Mexico and Texas before it

 flows into the Rio Grande. This bridge was built on the site of an 1800's railroad bridge.

In early western days, every place was east or west of the Pecos unless you were in Pecos!

The Texas border control were everywhere on route.

Judge Roy Bean was a Pecos lawyer.

The long drought, 15 months, was evident in the many river beds.

Catus growing road side.

Water pumping windmills opened the west.

Arrival at the state park in Balmorhea TX.

Great camp sites and real cool, 32f, at night.

Day temperatures ranged from high 50's to low 70's.

The State Park featured the Cienega Wetlands Restoration, a refuge for indigenous aquatic and amphibian life.

A ranch style hotel was available in the park.

Mother nature provided security in the area.

The Davis Mountain Range can be seen to the southwest of the park.

The gem feature of the Park is its 1.75 acre swimming pool.

It contains 3.5 million gallons of spring-fed water and staying at a constant temperature of 72-76f,

the pool is an ideal spot for swimming or SCUBA diving year round. The pool was built on the San Solomon Spring that produces 24 million gallons of water a day. The spring is a great source for local irrigation of the many farms in the area.

Chris loved this pool.

The depth in the centre is 25ft which, combined with its size, makes SCUBA diving also enjoyable.

One of many diving boards.

Beautiful Pool

Last evening in the Park prior to heading to El Paso TX.