March 30, 2012

Tucson, AZ and El Paso, TX

After driving to Tucson, Arizona, on Monday, we settled in for three days at the Rincon County East RV Resort.

Beautiful park with hundreds of palm trees and paved sites.

After setting up the coach, we headed on over to see our long-time friends, Joe and Carole. Since they live in a bit of an isolated area of Tucson, we had to follow the red peppers that Carole keeps along the way so as not to get lost. 

A wooden red pepper guiding our way in this strange land.

Here is a picture of Carole and "the green bowl."  It has a long and tortured history of one fun night that the four of us had partying in Tucson 30-some years ago. Let's just all agree that we are much more mature now!  We laugh a lot when we are with them and always enjoy our get-togethers.

Carole and "the green bowl." 

Daughter Lindsey (expecting a boy soon) and her husband, Robert, little Addison, Carole, Joe and Jerry

On Tuesday, Jerry and I drove through the Saguaro National Park in Tucson. There are a number of walking trails, but it was 90 degrees and we were not up to walking in that heat. We stopped, however, to take pictures.

Road through the National Park


A Saguaro cactus






That evening, Lael and Andrew joined us on the coach for dinner. Jerry babysat Lael over 60 years ago when they were neighbors in the San Fernando Valley, California. Lael brought a DVD of old movie footage showing Jerry and Lael and their families. Jerry also showed Lael his old footage. They enjoyed  reminiscing about the care-free days of the 50s. 

Jerry and Lael

On Wednesday, we went back to Joe and Carole's place. Ellen (their eldest daughter) and her husband and newborn (Kate Marie) were there. Jerry showed them a picture he had of Ellen who was about the same age as Kate Marie. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring along my Nikon and had to take the photos with my cell phone camera.

Ellen and Kate Marie

While we were there, wild pigs (Javelinas) showed up in their backyard.

Javelinas in Joe and Carole's backyard.

And, we were privileged to see her Claret Cup Cactus bloom. It only blooms once a year for three days and closes up each night. Here is where I really wished I would have had my Nikon with me.

Claret Cup Cactus in Bloom

Thursday, we drove about 250 miles to El Paso, Texas. We heard about the Cattleman's Steakhouse from folks we met in Oregon last summer. They told us about this steak house located about 35 miles outside of El Paso where one could get the best steak and also park the RV outside of the restaurant for the night. We found the place which was about 5 miles from the freeway out in no-where country. 

 Parked at the Cattleman's Steakhouse outside of El Paso, Texas

This was some place with peacocks greeting you at the entrance of the restaurant to watching coyotes outside the restaurant window while you ate. Jerry said he had one of the best steaks ever. Choosing something from that menu when you are a new vegan was a challenge. But, I did manage to select from the side dishes.

Peacock outside of front of restaurant.

Coyote outside window of restaurant.

Today, we drove 200 miles to Fort Stockton, Texas. Tomorrow will be a 300 mile trip to San Antonio, Texas, where we will settle in for a few days. These are the most miles we will travel in such a short time. After we get to San Antonio, our trips will not be so long.

Have a great weekend, everyone! 


1 comment:

Danny said...

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