Tuesday 10-13-26 Rock Hound State Park, Hiking Thunder Egg Trail & Having Fun

 

Rock Hound State Park

We woke up to 52 degrees in Deming New Mexico. It got up to a warm 80 degrees. There was a little breeze, that kept it cooler.

I slept in until 7:30 am. I crawled out of bed and got dressed. I made mini waffles for breakfast. 

After breakfast we went on a short hike 1.25 miles. We started the hike from the Minnie and walked to the trailhead, which was on the other side of the bathroom. The trail we hiked was Thunder Egg Trail, which was a 1.1 mile loop. It started by the bathrooms and went up the hill. It looped around the rim of the hill and finished at the day area. It was a moderate trail because you had to be careful of the loose rocks and gravel. The loose rocks were caused by rain. The trail was wide and you saw a lot of desert cacti and other desert plants. We saw a few beautiful wildflowers. We stopped occasionally to look at the view of the campground and mountains. The plants we saw during the hike were Beargrass, Sotol, Prickly Pear, Creosote, Yucca, Mesquite and Mormon Tea. We had a great hike for about an hour.

Sign about Thunder Egg Trail

Plants along the Thunder Egg Trail

Thunder Egg Trail

Mountain range 

Rock Hound Campground from the trail

When we got back to the Minnie Larry went inside and I walked around the Desert Garden. It was very small and had a few benches to sit on and look at the plants. I was a little disappointed because there were only a couple of signs identifying the plants, which were honey mesquite and Tobosa Clump-grass. The cacti and plants at the park. The common cacti in the park  are Arizona barrel, Engelmann prickly pear and hedgehog. Other plants are yucca, ocotillo, mesquite, Soto and Mormon tea. In the canyons and upper elevation plants are junipers and scrub oak. At the visitor center they have a native botanical garden with local species of plants and in the springtime they display wildflowers like the Arizona poppies. 

Entrance to the Desert Garden

Ocotillo 

Arizona barrel

Cholla

Tobosa

Mexican Golden Poppies

When I got back I relaxed with a book and Larry continued doing research on e-mail clients. Then he read on his e-reader and finished the book. I continued reading The Man with No Borders by Richard C. Morais. Richard C. Morais is a great writer and the book is very good so far.

Reading is relaxing

I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong from yesterday and today. I did the Daily Event, which was Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 13 minutes and 18 seconds to complete, which put me in 33rd place in my group of 50 participants.

Last night Larry noticed there were a couple of rocks on our site, that were painted. So I took a picture of them. They are very nice: one has a morning dove and the other one has flowers and the love. It makes me smile every time I see the painted rocks.

Morning Dove

Love rock

In the afternoon Larry added Dawn and water to our sinks and toilets. Tomorrow he will dump the tanks on the way out of Rock Hound State Park. 

In the evening I didn't do too much. The campground is very small, it has 29 sites (5 non-power sites and 24 electric sites). I decided just to hang around the Minnie. By the end of the night I had done 6,500 steps.

Sunset at Rock Hound State Park

Yucca Elata at our site

Spoon Yucca at our site

Desert Willow at our site

  

  

Monday 10-12-26 New State, Rock Hound State Park & Having Fun

 

New Mexico welcome signs

We spent two days in Tucson visiting with family. Now it was time to continue our adventure to Texas.

We woke up to 68 degrees in Tucson at Sentinel Peak RV Park. By the end of the day we were in New Mexico with the high temperature of 83 degrees in Deming. It was windy all day.

I woke up at 6:00 and got dressed. Then I made breakfast, which was a sausage patty, shared a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and a shake. Then we put things away and secured. Larry topped off the water tank. We were on the road by 7:00 am. 

Larry drove 250 miles today. It was mainly on I10 east. At places the interstate was very rough. The scenery was pretty because of the mountains. We stopped a few times for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs. One stop was at the rest area in Dragoon. It was very pretty with rock formations in the surrounding area. When we got to the New Mexico state line the time changed and the time jumped forward an hour. We stopped at a rest area in New Mexico about 40 miles from Deming to have lunch. The rest area was very nice with covered ramadas. We parked in front of ramada #4. We were going to eat at the table but it was wet. An employee had just washed it. For lunch we had a sandwich and chips.

Rock formations at the rest area at Dragoon Arizona

New Mexico rest area where we had lunch

After lunch we continued on. When we got into Deming we stopped at Sinclair and filled the Minnie with gas. Then we continued to Rock Hound State Park where we will stay a couple of days. It was 13 miles from Deming on a two lane road. The last 6 miles was down a rough road. It was black top but had a lot of big gravel in it, which made it very rough. 

Rock Hound State Park campground isn't paved. We stopped at the visitor center to get a site. The lady told Larry the only way to get a site was online, the office can't register you. She was actually surprised we didn't have a reservation. She gave Larry a map of the trails in the park. We found a site, which was #19. In order to get the motorcycle off the carrier Larry had to drive into the site. It worked out great.

Rock Hound State Park welcome sign

Rock Hound Visitor Center

The campground from the visitor center

While Larry was registering online a worker came by and asked if we had a reservation. Larry told him he was in the process of making one. He told us he was going to be around until 4:00 if we had any questions. We thanked him. Once we were registered we setup the Minnie for a couple of nights. 

Our site is very nice with a view of the mountains. The park has running water bathrooms with showers. The sites have power and water. There is a dump station. The park is very well maintained. It is a beautiful park. 

Camping at Rock Hound State Park

We didn't walk around until later because it was warm. We kept cool under the air conditioner. I read and Larry worked on our e-mail. Yahoo made a change to the e-mail and he didn't like it so he is trying a new email client. 

For dinner we had baked beans and sausage. After dinner we walked around for about a half hour to check the campground out. It's not that big but at least I got some steps. By the end of the day I had done 2,500 steps.

Part of the mountain that surrounds Rock Hound campground

Another part of the mountain

Sunset at Rock Hound State Park

In the evening I did the Daily Event of Solitaire, which was Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 3 hours, 47 minutes and 53 seconds to complete, which put me in 7th place in my group.    

Sunday 10-11-26 Visiting Shirley, Ray & Mary & Sentinel Peak RV Park

 

Smile and be happy

We had a great Sunday.

We woke up to 75 degrees and the high was 84 degrees in Tucson. It was windy so it kept the temperature a little cooler than yesterday.

We slept very well at the Super 8 Hotel. It was too hot to sleep in the Minnie. The continental breakfast was very poor. To eat they only had a plain bagel, yogurt,  and granola bars. Drinks were juice, coffee, tea or hot chocolate. It's probably the worse continental breakfast we have ever had. The room needed a little maintenance but overall it was nice. The room, breakfast area, hallway and front desk were clean. The staff was very nice.

We weren't in any hurry to get to Shirley's house so we hung around the hotel until 9:00 am. When we arrived at Shirley's house Marry (Ray's partner) was just showing up to see how Shirley was doing and to take her grocery shopping. I waited until they were back from shopping and then I made cinnamon French toast sticks for lunch. Shopping got Shirley out of the house and moving a little bit. They were back by 11:30 am. I helped Mary bring the groceries in. After putting the groceries away and waiting for the cinnamon sticks to bake Mary said her good-byes.  

Cinnamon Sticks (photo from 3/28/26)

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with Shirley. Ray showed up about 3:30 to visit with us. At dinner time I made bowtie pasta, four cheese tomato sauce and smoked beef sausage dish for dinner. After dinner we said our good-byes. We wanted to leave before it got dark because we were going to stay at Sentinel Peak RV Park in downtown Tucson. We left about 6:00. We had a great visit with family.

Windy and Dolly

Shirley with the beautiful flowers Mary brought to her

Shirley 

Ray 

Larry made reservations for Sentinel Peak RV Park online and checked in online. The lady at the park e-mail us the confirmation number and the four codes (gate code, pedestrian gate code, laundry code and bathroom code). We are staying in site #1. It's a nice RV park. 

The facility has 23 full hookups (5 pull-throughs), a community room with WIFI, tv, ping pong and foosball, a laundry room and small plunge pool. It's not pet friendly onsite but there is a public park two blocks away to walk your dogs. There's a restroom but no showers.

photo from the website

Once we were setup for the night I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong from yesterday and today. I did the Daily Event, which was Event: Easy Street Mini of 5 games. It took me 6 minutes and 58 seconds to complete, which put me in 9th place in my group. I didn't do too good in my steps I only did 1,000.

We had a super time visiting Shirley, Ray and Mary. 

  

Saturday 10-10-26 Flagstaff to Tucson & Visiting Family

 

Sunrise at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino & Resort

We had a great day.

We woke up to the morning temperature of 47 degrees at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino & Resort. In Tucson the high temperature was 91 degrees. We had clouds and wind. The rain came in about 7:00 pm.

I woke up about 6:00 am and got dressed. I made maple brown sugar oatmeal for breakfast. We shared a shake. Then we put things away and secured. We were on the road by 6:45 am. We had a gorgeous sunrise in the parking lot. Larry wanted an early start but wanted the sun to be up and it was.

Today Larry drove 275 miles. He drove 22 miles from Twin Arrows Casino & Resort on highway 89 through the Navajo Reservation to Flagstaff. Where we picked up I17 South and drove it to Phoenix. In Phoenix we picked up I10 East to Tucson . As we drove through Flagstaff we saw a lot of pine trees and juniper trees. We drove the interstate through mountain ranges for 18 miles. The interstate was curvy and at times it very steep going up and down the hill. We were on the lookout for elk and deer. We did see a couple of mule deer. The scenery was very pretty. We drove by a beautiful trail called Mogollon Rim Trail. It is a  200-mile-long escarpment that cleaves the state in two: one side sun-hammered Sonoran Desert and the other ponderosa pines, cold springs, elk and altitude. We stopped a couple of rest areas for bathroom breaks and to stretch our legs. Larry drove through Phoenix at 9:30 am so it wasn't too bad. He had to maneuver across a couple of lanes to get in the right lane for Tucson. We drove by Picacho Peak. Larry saw a sign about Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch, where guests can hand-feed ostriches, visit a petting zoo with stingrays, donkeys and goats and take "monster truck" tours through the desert enclosures. We arrived in Marana, where Larry's mom (Shirley) lives about 12:30.

Juniper trees in Flagstaff 

 

Part of the Mogollon Rim Trail

Picacho Peak 

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch from the web

Before going to see Shirley we stopped at Safeway to buy a few items for our meals while there. After shopping we went to Shirley's house. We hadn't told her we were coming so it was a surprise. We spent the afternoon visiting with Shirley and her two dogs (Windy and Dolly). Ray (Larry's brother) came by and visited with us after he got off work. We had a very nice visit.

Dolly (five years old)

Windy (fourteen years old)

It was too hot to stay in the Minnie tonight. So Larry booked us a room at Super 8 for the night. We left the Minnie at Shirley's house and drove the motorcycle to the Super 8. After checking in we went to the room and relaxed. Larry had a wall charger for the phones and it wouldn't charge our phones all the way. We walked to Walmart, which was right across the street for the Super 8. We found the charger and cable we needed. While we were inside the front came in. There was thunder and lightening, wind and rain. So we ended up walking back to our room in the rain.

When we got back Larry plugged in our phones and they charged up. I played the Daily Event in Solitaire, which was Event: Klondike Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 4 minutes and 44 seconds to complete, which put me in 8th place in my group.

By the end of the day I had done 4,000 steps.

We had a super day.      

Friday 10-9-26 New State, Lake Powell, Twin Arrows Casino & Having Fun

 

Mountain Range in Utah

We had a super day. 

The morning temperature in Panguitch Utah was a brisk 38 degrees. The high temperature in Flagstaff Arizona was 74 degrees.

I woke up at 6:00 am in Utah and got dressed. I made maple brown sugar oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast we put things down and secured. Larry wanted to wait for the sunrise because he didn't want to drive in the dark. He was worried about the wildlife. We were on the road by 7:30 am. 

The drive was for 287 miles. We started on highway 89 south, which was a two lane highway. We drove this highway for 267 miles. Then we drove Routine 66 for 10 miles and took I40 to Flagstaff for 10 miles. 

We drove highway 89 for 66 miles to Kanab Utah, where we filled the Minnie up with gas. There were a lot of ATV 's because of all the beautiful trails on the red rock hills in Kanab. The scenery was beautiful. We saw ranches with horses and cattle. After getting gas we continued on highway 89 to Page Arizona. Below are pictures of the scenery by Kanab. 

Kanab Utah is a key base camp to explore Zion National Park (30 miles northwest), Bryce Canyon National Park (75 miles north), the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (80 miles southeast) and Lake Powell (70 miles east). 

We crossed Arizona state line a few miles before Page. When we got to Page we stopped at Glen Canyon Dam, which is the dam for Lake Powell. The dam was dedicated by First Lady Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson (Ladybird) September 22, 1966. Major John Wesley Powell led a scientific exploration parties down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869. In 1871-1872 Powell became a leader in government science programs. In commemoration of his courage, his wisdom and his years of public service the reservoir behind the Glen Canyon Dam was named Lake Powell. We walked around the dam and through the visitor center. Lake Powell is very low and the dam is huge. We saw a few boats on Lake Powell. After walking around we went back to the Minnie. We drove over the big bridge to get to Page Arizona.

Welcome to Arizona sign

The bridge over Glen Canyon Dam

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

 

We stopped in Page at the Walmart to pick up a few items we were getting low on. When we got into Arizona we lost an hour because of the time zone. We were hungry so we had lunch even though it was about 10:00 Arizona time. 

After lunch we continued on our adventure to Flagstaff. It was 150 miles from Page. When we left Page we drove by a gorgeous canyon called Waterhole Canyon. The highway went through a mountain pass, that had the red rock mountain on both sides of the highway. It was amazing. We drove through a reservation. We didn't go to Flagstaff because Larry wanted to take me to Twin Arrows Casino. When we were 20 miles from the casino we turned off of highway 89 south unto Routine 66 towards Twin Arrows. We drove Routine 66 for 10 miles to I40 towards Albuquerque. We drove the interstate for 10 miles to Two Arrows Casino. 

Driving through a mountain pass

Waterhole Canyon

The highway in Arizona at places were very rough. It had dips in it so Larry had to drive very slow. We were glad they had passing lanes because there was a lot of traffic. We were very surprised.

Twin Arrows Casino has an RV parking lot separate from the 18-Wheelers. The area is very nice with a lot of RV parking. You can stay in the parking lot for 72 hours. If you need to stay longer you have to check-in at the casino. Once again Twin Arrows Casino is a non-smoking casino. This is great, that way you don't smell of smoke and the casino doesn't smell of smoke.

Two Arrows Navajo Casino Resort

The Minnie setup for the night

Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort during the day

 

Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort at night time

After setting up for the night we relaxed a bit. At 4:00 we walked over to the casino. Larry went back to the Minnie and left me to gamble. I gambled for about an hour and lost $20.00. Then I went back to Larry. 

I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I also did the challenges from a couple of days ago. I played the Daily Event, which was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Spider and 3 Free Cell). It took me 22 minutes and 17 seconds to complete, which put me in 23rd place in my group. 

After playing my games about 7:00 I went back to the casino and played for another hour and a half. I came back with the $20.00 I started with the second time. By the end of the night I had lost $20.00 for the day. But a couple of days ago I was ahead by $15.00 so really I'm only $5.00 behind.   

Larry got caught up with groups he follow while I gambled.

I had a great time gambling at Two Arrows Navajo Casino Resort. By the end of the night I had done 5,000 steps.