Author Archives: Ron and Denise

The day is forecast for sunny skies, light winds, and temperatures around 62 degrees. We took a morning walk around the campground for some exercise and to check it out. I don’t think we’ll find another campground with the sites that are spread out as much as this one. At our site, we have noContinue reading “Feb 1, 2023 Day 4 McDowell Mtn Scottsdale, AZ”

Thanks everyone for your warm birthday wishes! We started the day by driving to a nearby trailhead, Nursery Tank, in hopes of getting some bird photos. It had gotten chilly overnight at 43 degrees and the skies were overcast – not optimal birding conditions. It’s a nice trail and leads to a former cattle wateringContinue reading “Jan 31, 2023 Day 3 McDowell Mtn Scottsdale, AZ”

Happy Birthday Shannon! Hope you have a wonderful Birthday! The mountains in this area are simply spectacular. It’s mostly cloudy today, but at times the sun breaks through and highlights one mountain, while others stay in the shadows. We agree this is one of the most beautiful areas we’ve visited. There’s some wind and theContinue reading “Jan 30, 2023 Day 2 McDowell Mtn Scottsdale, AZ”

It took us 4 hours to drive from Gilbert Ray Campground near Tucson to McDowell Mountain Regional Campground near Scottsdale. This park is managed by the County of Maricopa and reviews of it are very positive. We left around 9:30 am and pulled in around 1:15pm. Check-in is at 1:00pm so we were right onContinue reading “Jan 29, 2023 Day 1 McDowell Mountain, Scottsdale AZ”

It was around 8:00am when we got up and made coffee. I think we all slept well with the overnight temperatures of 38 degrees, made for comfortable sleeping and we didn’t have to run the furnace at all. We read about the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum briefly but what we read was sorely lacking in detailContinue reading “Jan 28, 2023 Day 2 Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson AZ”

We rolled the dice on today’s campground and came out with a win. Our next set of reservations start Sunday, Jan 29 but I hadn’t come up with any for Friday and Saturday nights. I knew I would like to camp at Gilbert Ray Campgrounds located in the Seguaro National Park outside of Tucson, butContinue reading “Jan 27, 2023 Day 1 Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson AZ”

All the stories and movies about Tombstone paint a wild, west picture but after today’s visit, we learned it was wilder than we knew! Tombstone is located southeast of the campgrounds we are staying in and took us about 40 minutes to get there. We started on tour at the Visitors Center and collected aContinue reading “Jan 26, 2023 Day 5, Benson, AZ”

Happy Birthday Lori! Hope you have a wonderful birthday and enjoy your snow day! We made our 3rd and final move within the campgrounds today. It went well and we really like site #47. It’s on an outer loop, with no one behind us and not very many on our side. It is a veryContinue reading “Jan 25, 2023 Day 4 Benson, AZ”

It’s an exciting day for viewing wildlife at Kartchner Caverns State Park! We thought seeing deer here was exciting but much more was in store for today. Ron took a hike mid-morning with camera in tow. His plan was to capture some bird photos and he wasn’t disappointed, getting photos of 2 new species. WalkingContinue reading “Jan 24, 2023 Day 3 Benson, AZ”

It was snowing this morning when we woke up and it seemed strange to see a snow-covered cactus, but this was the case. In speaking with a local person, they said it’s fairly rare but does happen at times. With this parks less than 60 minutes from the border with Mexico, we thought it wouldContinue reading “Jan 23, 2025 Day 2 Benson, AZ”

Arizona! After 2 full weeks in New Mexico, we are leaving for Arizona at 10:00am for the Benson area and the Kartchner Caverns State Park Campgrounds. The road starts out great, as it’s recently paved, and traffic is light but an hour later the road starts to deteriorate with constant potholes in the slower laneContinue reading “Jan 22, 2023 Day 1 Benson, AZ”

Today our focus was getting ready for tomorrow’s travel day and staying Kartchner’s Caverns State Park near Benson, AZ. We had a few items to pick up at Walmart, then to TSC for Justice’s dog food, getting a propane tank filled, and then back to the camper. At Walmart we decided to buy a trebleContinue reading “Jan 21, 2023, Day 3 Deming, NM”

There is lots of sunshine this morning, but the temperature is around 22 degrees with a high of 52 degrees in the forecast. The air is dry here and even when it’s in the 40s with the sun shining, it’s quite comfortable. We learned yesterday that metal detecting is allowed in public parks in NewContinue reading “Jan 20, 2023, Day 2 Deming, NM”

We leave Oliver Lee Memorial State Park around 8:30am to travel to Deming, NM. It was cold with temperatures around 22 degrees and slightly breezy, resulting in a real feel of 18 degrees. Ron gets us hitched up really quickly and we are soon travelling down the road. In the distance, we see the snow-cappedContinue reading “Jan 19, 2023 Day 1 Deming, NM”

It was another chilly morning here in New Mexico and checking our weather back home, it’s warmer there. Most of New Mexico is at higher elevations resulting in colder temperatures during the winter. On a short walk this morning, we read that the valley is called Tularosa Basin. It formed during the Pleistocene Ice Age,Continue reading “Jan 18, 2023 Day 3 White Sands, NM”