| Each comments entry box in the guest book is limited to approx. 250 characters including spaces. For longer messages please e-mail us at morton@rmortonc.com |
| Each comments entry box in the guest book is limited to approx. 250 characters including spaces. For longer messages please e-mail us at morton@rmortonc.com |
Our Motto: Home is, where our RV is.
Travel Journal March 2009
Area of operation
Travel Journal March 2009 (begins at Pancho Villa State Park near Columbus, NM
- On the first of March, Sandra came to Renée and asked how she could get in contact with Dick to thank him for the
$20 he had passed to her (thru Renée). Since she was not sure if Dick wanted to make contact (since he is a
generous but reserved person), she offered instead to pass the “thank you” in the next phone conversation with
Dick. This was accomplished in the next few days.
March began with the normal household maintenance and chores. Renée also offered the use of the washing machine
to Sandra since she has no other means except to use the laundromat in town and she is completely dependent on
other people for transportation. This was quite a tasking and took at least ten loads.
On March 5th we had a diversion in the form of a visit from Don Williams from Las Cruces and his friend, Joe St.
Louis. We had plans to invite them to the Pink Store in Palomas for lunch but they had just eaten before arriving.
Instead we had coffee with apple cobbler that Renée had just made.
The following day Chuck drove Sandra to Deming for her to accomplish her monthly banking and such activities.
Renée stayed at the campground and continued with the washing. Since the weather was getting a little warmer she
also changed over to lighter bedding. We had discussed the possibility of buying a small refrigerator for Sandra so
Chuck priced them while Sandra shopped.
The annual Pancho Villa festival was held the following day at the campground. The mayor of a small town in Mexico
was dressed up as Pancho Villa. He had travelled to the festival by horseback for several days with his “troops”.
He sat on his horse and offered the guests to have their picture taken with him. Renée had left her camera at the
RV so we attempted to take pictures with the cell phone. That accounts for their poor quality (see photos). To
refresh your memory, Pancho Villa, along with his guerrilla troops, attacked the 13th US Cavalry at Columbus, NM in
the early morning hours of March 9th, 1916. Approximately 20 Americans were killed. They then burned down the
town of Columbus and retreated across the border. They were subsequently pursued in Mexico by General
“Blackjack” Pershing (of WWI fame) but were never caught.
We returned to the RV to get the camera for a better picture but by the time we returned to the festival, Pancho
couldn’t be found. Apparently he had already taken off for the border. Since General Pershing could never catch
him, we decided not to try. Instead we took a few pictures of the festivities (check out the cowboy’s boots in the
photos.) We then drove to Deming and bought the small refrigerator, as well as a 120 minute card for Sandra’s cell
phone. We gave the card to Sandra as soon as we returned, telling her that was our “goodbye” present since we
would be leaving in a few days. We hid the refrigerator in the shower stall until our departure.
On the next day Renée cleaned out her jewelry box and gave Sandra all pieces she no longer wanted as well as
broken items. Sandra is talented in making interesting jewelry items and these would serve as a supply of clasps,
etc. Renée also gave her the Wittnauer watch with two diamonds that Chuck had found in a parking lot in San
Antonio, NM (see Dec 2008 journal). It had never been claimed and was not a style that Renée would wear.
On Monday we met Jeany Mastellone with her dogs, Red and Mollie, whom we had met at Leasburg Dam State Park
and met again at Oliver Lee State Park, shortly before Christmas when Lobo was so sick. This time Lobo was in
much better health and had a grand time playing with his two friends. That evening we invited Sandra for supper
with us, since we would be leaving the following day. Chuck grilled steaks on an open fire and Renée fixed home
fries, green beans, salad and fresh baked bread. For dessert we had “Rote Grütze” (mixed berries prepared in a
vanilla sauce) poured on vanilla ice cream with whipped cream on top.
The following day was our scheduled departure. Neil Mastellone came by with his dogs so Lobo could play with them
for one last time. The man that was supposed to take Sandra to the free food distribution failed to show up so
Renée took her there. Each qualified applicant is given a number for later pickup. Her number was in the 90-ies and
she certainly wasn’t the last person in line. Amazing that such a small place as Columbus (pop. 1765 in 2000) has that
many people to qualify for aid. The food distribution occurs every other month and all registered social-services
recipients are eligible. The distribution of the food was not to occur until 2 ½ hours later so Sandra returned with
Renée. Fortunately, and completely unexpectedly, Sandra’s former boy friend showed up at the campground and he
was “volunteered’ to take Sandra back to pick up her food, since we had to pack and leave.
When we were ready to leave at 11:15, we called Sandra to say goodbye, not mentioning the refrigerator that we
had placed beside her shelter with a small note attached.
We drove in a westerly direction along the Mexican border, turning north in Animas toward I-10 and arrived at the
“Crazy Horse” campground in Tucson, AZ at about 3:30 PM, where we stayed for the next 14 days. Somewhere
nearby was a carnival and the back of the campground near us was filled with strange-looking long 5th wheel
trailers (see photos) that housed the carnival people. Our friend Phil Shapiro called and we made plans for
Thursday evening. Shortly thereafter Sandra called to thank us for the refrigerator. She was flabbergasted that
we had given her such a present.
On the 11th, we went grocery shopping and then the following day, Chuck picked up his sister, Mary who had just
arrived in Tucson, returning from the Copper Canyon tour in Mexico. Phil had to move our meeting to Friday evening
so we had pork chops for supper.
In the next several days we had several outings with Mary. On Friday we visited the Saguaro National Park (East)
and had a picnic (see photos). That evening we met Bea and Phil at Tucson’s newest: “My big, fat Greek
Restaurant.” Phil’s brother Alan, from Virginia was also with us since he was visiting to celebrate their mother’s
80th birthday on Sunday.
On Saturday we drove to Sabino Canyon (see photos), after having dropped Lobo off with Bea. Dogs are not
allowed in the canyon and leaving a dog in a parked car will result in a severe fine in Tucson. After our trip in the
canyon, we picked up Lobo and Mary invited us for supper at the "El Paso BBQ Company".
On Sunday morning Renée and Mary went to Mass at the San Xavier Mission church on the Papago Indian reservation
(see photos). The Indians were having a big Powwow in the plaza surrounding the church. After Mass they enjoyed
some freshly made Indian fry bread (see photos). That afternoon we all drove to Mt. Lemmon (see photos) where
we discovered a small ski slope. Hard to believe that such a thing can exist an hour’s drive from Tucson!
On Monday we toured the old part of Tucson, visiting the St Augustine Cathedral and the Congress Hotel
(constructed in 1919) (see photos). The Congress is where the famous bank robber, John Dillinger, was captured in
January 1934. Incidentally, Dillinger was the first person ever to be declared "Public Enemy Number One" by the
FBI.
Chuck stayed with Lobo in the truck during the old town visit. Although the weather was moderate, the local law still
prohibits leaving a dog alone in a parked vehicle. Afterwards we drove to the Saguaro National Park (West). We
had another picnic there and photographed the cacti (see photos for a sampling).
On Tuesday we made a trip to the pecan orchards in Sahuarita, AZ south of Tucson where we bought a supply of
pecans. Nearby we toured the copper mine and museum. They were kind enough to allow pets on the tour so no one
had to stay behind with Lobo (see photos). As we returned to Tucson, we experienced a spectacular sunset, which
Renée was able to capture with her camera (see photos). This was Mary’s last evening in Tucson and we invited her
to the "Athens" Restaurant in the old part of Tucson (see photos).
Mary had to be at the airport by 5:15 AM for her flight so Chuck took her there and she and Renée said their
goodbyes the night before. Later that morning Renée was confronted by a man because she had walked thru the
side of the “no pets” area within the campground with Lobo. The way the park is situated with the “pets allowed”
area in the rear, a person must either walk around the entire park or walk a few feet along the side to reach the
“pets allowed” area. After the confrontation, Renée went to the office to get a clarification of the rules. Who
would be there at the office? The person who had confronted her earlier in the day. Behind him in the office was
his boss. As she began to ask for a clarification of their rules, he immediately wanted to make it clear that he had
been courteous with her (the boss was listening). In the end, he agreed that it was a bit ridiculous to require
someone to walk around on the outside of the entire park to avoid their own “no pets” ruling. It feels good to win
when fighting some of the stupid regulations that one encounters and the little autocrats who take pleasure in over-
enforcing them!
Chuck took the truck to have the tires rotated and then came home to take a nap since he had gotten up so early to
go to the airport. The nap was briefly interupted since the water hose chose to burst shortly after he dozed off.
Fortunately, we have learned to always have a spare.
The following day Chuck dropped Renée off at Bea’s. While they talked, he went shopping. That evening the
Shapiro’s fed us a delicious beef pot roast, salad and for dessert, a homemade Amish cake. The next few days were
uneventful except for another confrontation concerning dogs. Renée was walking with Lobo in a nearby
neighborhood where most of the houses had fenced-in yards with dogs. As they walked by, most of the dogs would
greet them with lots of sniffing and tail wagging. The last house on the corner had a fence completely surrounding it
where two dogs went totally berserk. There was no sidewalk and it was necessary to walk along the fence to avoid
walking in the road. Suddenly a man came running out of the house and accused Renée of antagonizing his dogs. She
immediately advised him that since there was no sidewalk, it was necessary to walk that close to his fence, to avoid
the passing traffic on the street. A young man who was walking down the street heard and saw the ruckus. He
immediately came to Renée’s defense, calmly and politely telling the yelling idiot that she had the right to walk her
dog down a public street and that he had no right to be addressing her in such a tone. This caused the man to
realize he was in the minority and shut up. Renée profusely thanked the young man. Later, when relating the event
to Phil, he suggested that Renée was fortunate that the man had not confronted her with a gun. Is Tucson still the
Wild West?
On the 21st Lobo was having a bad day and didn’t want to get up, sleeping the entire day until about 4 PM. Renée
stayed with him and Chuck ran a few errands. The following day we left Lobo at home and went to the “4th Avenue
Street Fair” (see photos). We parked at Phil’s school, where he was “volunteering” and supervising the students who
worked as parking lot attendants. The school grounds were being used as a parking lot, charging $5 per car and the
proceeds going to the school for special projects. As we tried to pay, our money was refused since Phil had
instructed them not to accept our money and we were not able to change their minds.
We browsed the entire 4th Avenue, ate some ice cream and looked at the wares but as we have often found, the RV
life stops us from buying so many things since we have no place for them! At the end of the street fair, we took the
old street car to the end of the line and back (see photos), then returned back through the vendors to the school
parking lot. We had invited Bea and Phil for supper and met them at the "El Parador" (see photos).
Monday, the 23rd was spent packing and tanking up at the cheapest in about three years ($1.94/gallon for diesel).
The following morning we left Tucson at 11 AM driving I-10 to US 77 North to Winkelman, AZ, where an
unexpected road closure caused us to drive back a few miles and via Hayden and Superior onto US 60 West to our
destination of Globe, AZ. The road between Hayden, Superior and Globe was quite mountainous, with road
construction in several places. In Globe we stayed at a small campground in the middle of the town. The following
morning we drove, as planned, to the IKEA store in Tempe.
After arriving back in Globe from Tempe, we went to the “Pickle Barrel” which is a local curio/antique/junk store
that was recommended to visit. Although there were some interesting Indian items, the majority of “antiques” were
not our taste. But nearby is the tallest three-story building in the world which we found interesting (see photos).
On Thursday we planned to take a trip on the Copper Spike Railway, and then visit the Besh-Ba-Gowah Ruins outside
of Globe. Our campground was very near the train station and as Renée took Lobo for a morning walk before our
planned trip, she saw several yellow school buses at the train station. When we found out that there were 177 six-
to-ten year olds on the train, we decided to change our plans and go to the ruins first (see photos). That afternoon
we took the train ride in an almost empty train (see photos). The Copper Spike Railway is a 27 mile trip from Globe
to the Apache Gold Casino through a scenic landscape. As we entered the casino, Renée took a picture and was
immediately stopped and told that photography was not permitted and she would have to remove the picture from
her camera. After doing so with their supervision to ensure it was actually erased, we ate a late lunch in the
restaurant, spent a few dollars on the slots, and then walked back to the train stop. We were the only people in the
car on the return trip.
We left Globe at 11:20 on the 27th, via US 60 and AZ 77 through the San Carlos and Fort Apache Indian
reservations, then through Salt River Canyon (see photos) until we arrived at Fool Hollow Lake State Park near
Show Low, AZ. We found a full hook-up spot in the middle of the forest. Since they were so empty, they were
offering a week for the price of five days. This made it quite easy to decide how long we would stay there! It was
quite cool and had snowed the night before, but the snow was mostly gone by the time we arrived. That evening we
had a campfire with grilled steaks under a star-studded, clear sky.
The following day Chuck assembled and stained two replacement wooden stools we had bought at IKEA. The
washing machine ran most of the day since we had a full hook-up and we took advantage of it. However, that evening
we observed the “Earth Hour 2009” and sat in the dark for an hour. Since it was already dark, we both fell asleep
in a chair and on the couch but without our warm covers we soon awoke since it was quite cold outside and we turned
the electricity back on.
On Sunday we drove to Show Low and did a little shopping. On Monday morning we awoke to a snow filled landscape
(see photos). The rest of the month we spent at the campground enjoying the surroundings and taking walks with
Lobo, who was also showing how much he enjoyed it.
To be continued….
 |  |  |
| | |