November 1st and we  are still enjoying beautiful fall days.  The color here around Branson is quite enjoyable.  There are numerous scenic areas to explore, in the surrounding countryside.  I really enjoy this type of weather.  Not to hot and just great for sleeping at night.  

We went to a dinner show at the Timber Trails Resort Lodge.  Cody Dooley and his Mother (who was also the entertainment director at the lodge) entertained us in hilarious style.  Cody sang numerous songs recorded by the great legends of country music.  He does a great job with Conway Twitty and George Jones songs, along with numerous other legends.  At one point when he was singing Tiger by the Tail, his Mom came out on stage dressed in a tiger costume and clowned around.  It was a great show and meal.  We enjoyed his singing so much that we bought both of his CD's.  He was also kind enough to autograph both CDs for us.

The photo above is of a nice lake with a dam across the one end of it.  We drove across the dam  and there was a fish hatchery at its base.  There was a parking area also, and you could walk around and look at all the different fish.  Interesting.  We also had a great view of the damn from the other side. 

Soon our week was gone and as Willie would say "On the road again" we are ready.  New adventures are waiting.

We left Branson behind Nov. 3rd.  We went south on US65.  We should have went back north to I44.  We have a brake buddy on the car, but we don't have air brakes on the coach.  There were very long downhills, with some very sharp corners part way down.  The brakes were getting very hot and soft.  We could not find a place to pull off to allow the brakes to cool down.  Finally, we came up to a stop light in one town and the brakes had faded right away.  As luck would have it, Wal*Mart was right around the corner.  We pulled in and let the brakes cool off, while we had lunch.  By the time we had finished lunch they had cooled enough that we could continue.  We had been real concerned when we stopped.  We thought that we might have to find a place to have the brakes repaired, but they are fine now.

We finally reached the end of US 65 just north of Little Rock, Arkansas.  We were very happy to get back on the interstate.  We  headed west on Interstate 30.  We were quite tired after the stress of loosing the brakes.  We decided that we would stop a little early today.  We stayed at JBS RV in a nice pull thru- just west of Little Rock Ark.  It cost  $16 for E&S, and was at Ext 106 west of Little Rock, right on RT 30- there is a truck stop at the same exit, so  we can get fuel also.  We got hooked up to electricity and relaxed a bit.  We couldn't get the satellite signal through the trees, but we didn't really care tonight.  We were calling it an early night anyway.  We still have a long way to go, but we have lots of time to get there.

We are back on the road in good time this morning.  The roads are busier today, because it is Friday.  We don't know how far we will go today.  It depends on the traffic. 

 The miles disappeared quickly behind us.  Before we knew it, we were just east of Dallas, Texas.  We don't know what to expect, with regards to traffic around Dallas.  We don't like getting into rush hour traffic.  We have discovered that a lot of people think that they can crowd into a very small space.  The rear view camera has shown us that people actually think  they can get in-between the car that we are towing, and the motor-home.  I have saw people start in and then at the last second, swerve back into their lane.  I don't know what they are thinking, maybe they aren't, and that is why they think they can do the impossible.  I am beginning to wonder if the camera is good or bad.  It might be the cause of my heart failure at some time in the future.  There has been several heart stopping moments over the years, already.  But we always come through it.  The good out way the bad by far.  There is no life like it.

We have decided to stay at a Super Wal*Mart tonight.  There is one just off of I-30 and we will stay there until the wee hours of the morning, then drive around Dallas with very little traffic.  We hope :]  Meanwhile, I can go in and spend some tourist $$s in one of our favorite stores.  Now, what is it that I just can't live without?  You can be sure there will be something one of us just has to have.

It was quieter then expected sleeping at Wal*Mart.  Cars and truck came and went, but we managed to get enough sleep.  We left early-my eyes weren't focusing on small numbers yet, but I think it was around 4 a.m.  It is a nice time of the night/morning to drive.  Very little traffic, just what we wanted for our first trip around Dallas.  We would have seen more later on, but we would have had the traffic to deal with also.  We prefer this.  We were around Dallas and heading west before the sun decided to wake up.

We made good time and was in Midland, Texas early in the afternoon.  We had seen lots of interesting stuff to us.  We have never been in this area before.  The campground that we stopped at, was on SR 158.  It was supposed to be a Passport America, but they told us they had left Passport a couple of weeks earlier.  They also said that they were Coast to Coast, but I hadn't checked them out on that one.  We paid $15 for full hook up, but we only used the electricity. Doug thought that it was like a gravel pit with hook-ups.  They have different commercial business' storing equipment in part of the park.  We watched a dry ice business re-stocking while we were there.  If you need a place to stop for the night, it is a quiet place at night, but I sure wouldn't want to stay there for any length of time.  What do you think?

Sorry about the black strip in the middle.  Took the photo through the window.  It was very hot, and I didn't want to open the window to let all of the cool air out.  We have a lot to learn about campgrounds in the west, this is our initiation into the drier area campgrounds.  There is still a little patch of green, one place and another.  Doug is already beginning to wonder if he is going to enjoy this trip.  I know that I will, because I have never seen it before.  8))

We had a good night sleep and were on our way.  We aren't far from New Mexico now.  Everything keeps looking barer and barer.  Very dry.  I don't think I have done enough research, with regards to what to expect.  I thought I had, but I guess we can never know enough.  We are hoping to be in the Deming, New Mexico area this afternoon.  It is one of the places on my "be sure to see" list.  I don't know why, I just want to see it.

We arrived in good time.  We pulled into the first park off of I-10.  It was a Rainbow Park.  Luckily, this is one that will allow non-members to stay at.  They gave us a nice pull-thru sight.  We were going to unhook the car and go into town, but the car wouldn't start.  This is a brand new 2005 Chev Cobalt, and this is the second time that it won't start.  What is going on here.  We had followed all of the owner's manual guidelines for flat towing.  The first time was in Benson, MO.  We called Roadside Assistance and it took over an hour for them to come.  This time I called CAA.  The 800 number bumped to AAA and they said that it would take awhile, because the truck had to come about 90 mile.  Something is wrong with this picture, but it is not for me to solve.  We were on the edge of Deming, and no AAA support in the area.  Just another reason not to renew my CAA.  (see April 2004 for the rest of the story)  When the truck finally came along, there was a super nice couple inside.  They had us started in no time.  The car was running really rough though.  The whole car was shaking and it sounded like it was only running on about 2 cylinders.  The AAA rep suggested that we get a booster pack like his.  It was their anniversary, but they still took the time to drive me down to the local Wal*Mart, show me what powerpack he recommended and waited while I purchased it.  Is that service or what.  I hope that they enjoyed the drink that I gave him the cash for.  They really earned it.  Talk about being dedicated.  They renewed my faith.  While I was with them, I asked if they changed tires.  They said "yes, all the time."  They said that they had been to this same park the previous week, and changed a tire on a big couch.  I told them about last April and they couldn't understand why the AAA operator had not sent anyone out to change our tire.  We don't know either, but we are going to look for another emergency road service supplier when our CAA membership expires.  We have to have one that is there for us when we need them, not a hit and miss service like CAA/AAA seems to be.  We paid another 50% extra for the RV coverage and they couldn't deliver.  I hear that Coach Net is supposed to be a good ERS so will check them out.

We were waiting at the GMC dealership, when it opened, that I had seen, while I was going to buy the powerpack last night.  The listened to our problem and worked us in, very quickly.  They said that the car had shook, and sounded so bad, because the battery had been completely drained.   The computer had to reset itself.  That is why it had sounded so bad.  The GM dealer was just south of the Rainbow Park.  I am going to have to start writing this information down.  I keep thinking I will remember the names, but I never do.  They were a great dealership, very friendly, and I would recommend them to anyone that needs some mechanical help on their GM, while they are in the Deming, NM area.

After having the car checked out, we went back to Rainbow park, and hooked the car up.  We had reservations at Valley Vista, in Benson, Arizona for the next two weeks.  Valley Vista is a Western Horizon park, but we are going in, using our Resorts of Distinction Plus membership.  We are booked from Nov. 7th to 21st.  It is just over 300 miles from here to Benson, AZ.  We are looking forward to our visit. 

We are used to green.  Lots of green.  We will have to get used to the arid land we now find ourselves in.  This will be interesting.   The scenery is beautiful

We get the impression we are driving across the bottom of a big bowl.  There is a rim of mountains all around us.  Really neat.  You can see such a long way here.  There are no trees to block the view.  It is Big Sky country also.  The colors are beautiful.  We are really looking forward to exploring Arizona and California this winter.

We arrived at Valley Vista, just south of Benson, in the afternoon on Nov. 7th.  We picked site #113 and we got out and unhooked the car.  Doug started backing in and I started walking towards the back of the site, to guide him.  He doesn't need any guidance, but I do it anyway.  It gives me something to do.  All of a sudden I am ouch, ooch, ouch.  What am I walking on?  I look closer and there are little, dried pea sized seed pods with huge horney thorns on them.  They were going right through the soles of my sandals.  They are nasty little things.  We found out they are called sand burrs and are also known as goat heads.  They look just like a goat head with horns.  This is our welcome to Arizona.  I ran across this photo from the web.  It was on the Hitchitch website.  It must be a great relief to every dog that has an owner who cares enough to buy or make him/her a pair of these.  Doesn't he look happy, out for his walk?  I thought they were the greatest idea, when I saw them, especially after experiencing how sharp the burs are, first hand/foot.  They hurt, even through the soles of my sandals.     

We backed in and hooked up.  We didn't put our mat down because we didn't want it covered in burrs.  The ground was plastered with them.  I took out our rake out and cleared an area around our site.  That helped quite a bit.  The road was okay.  We didn't take our bicycles off of the rack.  We don't want flat tires.  We hope that they don't flatten a tire on the car or coach.   We are all set up here with the sunscreens on and the dish up, this is our home for the next two weeks.

  This sunrise is as beautiful as  the sunsets.

Everywhere we look, the scenery is awesome.  We plan on taking a drive down to Tombstone while we are in this area.  It is a "must see" for us, even though we know it is now a tourist trap.  We will have fun checking out the place, that is what we are here for.  We will see traps and treasures while we are here.

We have to re-stock some groceries.  There should be a grocery store in Benson.  We will check tomorrow.

Nov. 9th -  We went into Benson and checked it out.  Doesn't seem to be a very large place commercially.  There are numerous homes here.  We did our shopping is Safeway and returned back to Valley Vista.  We are still recovering from several days of travel, from Branson, MO to Benson, Arizona.  Tomorrow will be soon enough to look around.  We are here for another 12 days.

Another awesome sunrise this morning.  I have heard about the beautiful sunsets.  It is hard to believe that a sunset could be more beautiful then this sunrise.  A brand new day is waiting for us.  What will we do?

We are taking a drive around the area today, to find out where and what we want to look at in detail.  We usually stay on multi-lane roads with the coach and when we get to an area we want to explore, we park our home, and take our car.  We find this way is the best way for us.  Others enjoy driving state roads with their units, there is no right way, just the way that is best for each of us.  

We drove south towards Tombstone and Boothill.  Before we realized it, we were there.

We enjoyed our drive around the area.  There is a lot to see.  Mother Nature has been busy, and we enjoy viewing her work.  Part of our drive was to Tombstone.  We stopped at Boothill for a tour of the tourist trap.  We did enjoy it.  You entered Boothill through a gift shop and the entry fee was determined by your own generosity, so that is fair.  They do have to work to maintain it, so we were happy to donate our share to the cause.  After all, what would Tombstone be, without Boothill?  Here are some photos.  The permanent residents of Boothill has beautiful scenery to look at.  I was surprised to see the number of women and suicides as permanent residence of this fair hill.  The first photo is the entrance sign, but the entrance is through the gift shop.  The other photos are in Boothill, itself and the final one is of a little guy we saw at the gift shop that shares the Boothill parking lot.  He looks like he has been ready to draw just a tad too long. 8)

   

 

We will be back this way in the spring, so we are going to leave downtown Tombstone until then.  We did take a sneak peak though.

The rest of the week was uneventful.  We will leave the rest of our excitement until we are further west.  I did get this neat shot of a full moon rising, you can see the shadows of the sunset on the hills.  It was strange watching night come from the east, cover us with darkness and continue on to the west.  

Moonrise over Benson, AZ