Day 2 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

Yuma is our staging area. We are spending these couple of days gathering supplies and groceries, making repairs, cleaning and organizing, doing laundry and other chores and collating our tax packet for the accountant, all in preparation for our trip to Mexico.

We did enjoy dinner at Prison Hill Brewing in downtown Yuma.

Mileage: 74,121

Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We left Tucson early. It was crisp and cool. We decided to take a break from the interstate and instead we traveled on 86 toward Yuma. It was a great decision. I finally felt relaxed and I also felt like I was back in “real” Arizona.

We spotted a hot air balloon drifting across the sky. What a beautiful morning to be floating high above the earth! A hot air balloon ride is definitely on my bucket list!

Saguaro cacti dotted the landscape as we passed through Saguaro National Park.

A band of coyotes crossed the road.

The landscape is so pretty…I love it here!!

I know these a copper mine tailings but I do think even so that they are lovely…

We stopped in the town of Ajo where we had remembered the Desert Rain Cafe. Unfortunately because it was Sunday, they were closed. We walked around the town square to get some air and move a little and see if we could find another lunch spot. We bought homemade biscuits and sausage gravy from a woman with a small street stand. Not the healthiest choice…but really tasty!!

We arrived in Yuma late in the afternoon. We settled in at our campsite and ate a light dinner. We headed to Harkins Yuma Palms 14, a movie theater. We were eager to see the movie Just Mercy. We have a family member involved in this film who has also been involved with the Equal Justice Initiative for many years. Knowing his story and hearing him speak about EJ has been inspiring, but to watch this film and see the amazing work that Bryan Stevenson has accomplished was very moving and emotional…and Tim does not often use those descriptors for a movie! If you have the opportunity to see this film…go…keep an open mind and an open heart…

Mileage: 73,832

A Bar A Campground Marana, Arizona

We stopped at a small campground near Oro Valley so the we could visit with Lee and Claudia. We had brought crabcakes from home to share for dinner. Lee made a delicious smoked salmon spread as an appetizer. I made a salad and Lee grilled the steaks. Claudia made her mother’s apple cake and I had dipped strawberries in dark chocolate. We chatted and feasted. We are always grateful for a warm welcome when we pass through Tucson. Thanks Lee and Claudia for a wonderful evening!

Mileage: 73,765

Quarter Horse Motel and RV Park Benson, Arizona

Another 40 miles on 20W then 10W still through Texas for another 179 miles. It was cloudy and chillier today. The pictures were neat though because of the clouds.

Soon after we entered New Mexico, I had an opportunity for some driving practice. It was flat and straight and there was very little traffic. It was windy so I had to learn to compensate for that. When the tractor trailers pass they kind of pull the RV but I got accustomed to having them drive by. I drove for almost 2 hours. I hope that it gave Tim a break but I doubt that he can relax much when I am at the wheel!

We tucked into a small campground in Benson, Arizona in late afternoon. Soup and salad for an easy dinner…no fuss…no muss!

Mileage: 73,285

Tra-Park RV Resort Pecos, Texas

I am always sad to leave people that I love, but we are headed west and we have lots of miles to cover. As soon as it was daylight, we were pulling away.

We traveled on 20W all day. We are still in Texas Texas is about 800 miles wide here ans it takes us days to cross. We stopped for the evening at a small RV park not far from the highway. It was warm enough to sit outside a little while. We made scrambled eggs with venison breakfast sausage (from Dana and John) for our dinner. The sausage was lean and delicious! After dinner, we took a walk as the sun set.

Mileage: 72,910

We arrived at my brother’s house in Fort Worth before lunchtime. John was working and Dana was volunteering so we spent several hours getting groceries, cleaning the RV, and accomplishing other tasks. When Dana arrived in the afternoon we had a great visit while we prepared dinner and then took the dog for a walk. When John got home, Dana grilled fresh tuna and asparagus. We had it with papaya and a delicious quinoa salad. Of course, there was wine! My brother and Dana are such gracious hosts and we enjoyed our visit.

Their driveway is the perfect spot to park the RV.

This…

Mileage: 72,758

Tyler State Park Tyler, Texas

We continued on 20W, traversing the rest of Mississippi, across the Mississippi River, into Louisiana, and then to Texas. As we grew tired, we looked for a place to camp. Tim spotted Tyler State Park not far from the interstate. We exited and found ourselves in front of Bodacious BBQ. We actually got BBQ here last August on our way through and we stayed at Tyler Sate Park! We remembered then that the BBQ was very good. We stopped and got some pulled pork and pinto beans. We settled into the campground and enjoyed a delicious meal by a campfire. It felt really nice to be in the woods and really camping.

Mileage: 72,404

Walmart Forest, Mississippi

We left our sweet family early this morning and went to get our RV from Camping World. By 10 am we were on our way west to a new adventure. We traveled on 20 West through Georgia, Alabama, and into Mississippi. We settled for the night in a Walmart parking lot. I shopped for a few supplies to get us through the next couple of days. There was a Mexican restaurant within walking distance. We were exhausted and in bed by 8 pm.

In 2020:

We left Baltimore on the day after Christmas. Gigi was with us. We were on our way to Atlanta to celebrate Christmas and then to watch Oliver and Austin for the week after Christmas. It was a lovely, noisy, chaotic visit with lots of laughter ans shenanigans!!

It is both wonderful and weird to be home. We arrived on December 16th and we leave again on December 26th. This time has been packed full of errands, appointments, parties, lunches, dinners, family, fun, food, and Christmas!

A highlight of the past 2 Christmas seasons has been tortellini night. We had so much fun making pasta and visiting with the D’Amato family. They are wonderful people and gracious hosts. We are thankful to be included.

I wish we had taken more pictures…we were too busy having fun!!