Monday, May 28, 2018     Bittersweet times right now.  When the sign went up it made it real. I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or cheer. But then we bought the new truck and that got us all excited to hit the road again.  I think I will feel a little safer with the bigger dually truck.  Now if we can just get all the stuff in the house sorted, boxed, and ready for the sale.  What a chore!!!  We are going from a big old farmhouse to a 36 ft. RV.  Nearly 50 yrs of accumulation. Whaaaaat? Our kids will be happy that we are doing this now so they don't have to do it later.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018.   On the way from Albuquerque to Amarillo we had a little truck trouble. It turned out to be nothing, but it caused us to spend a night in Tucumcari, NM. What a sad little town. It has such an intriguing name but is in reality a dying place. It does have a very good BBQ place called Watson’s BBQ.

     We finally made it to Amarillo about noon the next day, and we finally got a chance to go to Palo Duro Canyon. What a beautiful place!  We had hoped to go early in the morning so we could hike some trails there.  However, because of our unexpected stay in Tucumcari, we only had the afternoon for Palo Duro. The Canyon was much bigger than I expected. In spite of the 95 degree weather, we took a little half-mile hike down to a stream.  Jax took a little swim and then we hurried back to the truck ( the sun really beats down off of the canyon walls).  We continued driving through the Canyon, stopping every so often for pictures. There are some really nice campsites there, but the road going down to them would be a little iffy for our big-ass RV. We returned to the RV and let Jax run and play in the off-leash dog run there. He loved having all of that green grass to play in after 3 months of desert. Off to OKC for a week.

Saturday, May 5, 2018.    It was another beautiful morning so we decided to hike at Petroglyphs National Monument. We have been there twice before and we have been amazed at the amount of petroglyphs that we could see.  Both times we went there we hiked the Piedras Mercadas trail. Today we decided to try the other one that allows dogs.  It is called Rinconada Canyon Trail, a 2.5 mile loop.  Unfortunately it was a big disappointment!  There were not very many petroglyphs and they were too far away to see very well. Pops did get some pictures of the few that were close to the trail, but it was nothing like the Piedras Mercadas. Anyway, it was still a nice way to spend the morning. We hiked with another couple that had just started full-timing and had been to many of the same places we have been. It was fun visiting with them. After lunch we went back to Old Town and walked all around the Plaza. It is Cinco de Mayo today so the Plaza had live music and booths and lots of celebrating.  We did a lot of walking today, 5.5 miles, around 15,000 steps on my meter.  Whew!

Friday, May 4, 2018.   We are spending a few days in Albuquerque, NM. We have been here several times and really enjoy Old Town. It is similar to Santa Fe’s Plaza. There are quaint little shops and restaurants around the square with the focal point being the beautiful San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church. A little girl standing beside us said, “Look, it’s Jesus’ castle”. So cute!  One of the galleries in Old Town that we really like is the RC Gorman Gallery. I love his work. This time we gave in and bought one of his prints. I know that we don’t have any more room for more artwork, but this is special 😄. We also bought a small Storyteller figurine. These storytellers were first made by Helen Cordero in the Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico. They are meant to honor the tribal storytellers that shared the culture of the tribe with the children.  These figures are always shown with their mouth open (singing mother) and surrounded by children.  Finally, we finished the morning with lunch at the Back Street Grill. We love their Mexican pizza and Slice of Hefen beer. Tomorrow we are going back to the Petroglyphs National Monument (we have been there several times)and will try a different trail. Life is good!

Thursday, April 26, 2018 What an interesting day!  We spent the morning at the Titan II Missile Museum. This preserved site, officially known as complex 571-7, is all that remains of the 54 Titan II Missile sites that were on alert across the US from 1963 to 1987. The Titan II was America’s largest nuclear weapon, following the Atlas and Titan I missiles. We got to see the technology used by the US that helped deter nuclear war during the Cold War. How the building was constructed at the time was pretty amazing, too.  One of the best parts of the tour was our tour guide.  He had actually been a commander of the launch room during some of that time, so he had first-hand knowledge to share.  I got to be a Lt. Commander and turn one of the keys for a simulated launch. We saw where the launch codes were stored and what the whole process was in order to launch the missile.  Then we went through the tunnel to the silo where the actual missile was stored (minus the bomb, of course). We looked through the windows at the missile while the guide explained all of the parts and procedures. Later, after we climbed back up to the surface, we were able to look down on the missile from a special viewing platform. There was just so much fascinating information that I wish I could share it all. Not possible, of course. But if you are ever in Tucson, don’t pass it up.

Tuesday. April 24, 2018.  International Wildlife Museum

Monday, April 23, 2018. Today was a very busy day. We left early to take Jax to the off-leash dog park while it was still cool. We let him run and play for about an hour.  Next, we visited a couple of Native American shops. Pops found two more corn maiden fetishes for his collection and two small stone bear carvings. After lunch we went looking for a crested saguaro cactus that I had seen from the road a few days ago. We finally found it and Pops got the pictures.  On the way back to the camper we decided to find the road to Sentinel Peak overlook. We have been seeing it off in the distance but hadn’t been up there yet. We drove to the top and hiked out to the little stone gazebo. From there we could see nearly all of Tucson, surrounded completely by mountains. Unfortunately, it was a little hazy today, but the views were still impressive.