Leaving Texas heading west on I-10 seemed like a long trek that would never end. We decided to spend the night at our second WalMart in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, Ft. Stockton Texas. It turned out we weren’t the only travelers with that idea. By nightfall, there must have been 20 different motorhomes, trailers and 5th wheels camped out for the night. For some strange reason, Sallie woke up early that next morning and took some pictures of the sunrise. As we continued west, we drove through some of the gustiest winds so far. El Paso Texas was dusty and windy. So windy, it caused our kitchen slideout awning topper to unroll and tear. Luckily it is covered under our warranty. After traveling through New Mexico, we finally arrived in Tucson Arizona. We stayed at a small family owned RV park and decided to mingle with the full timers by joining in on their weekly BINGO game. We didn’t win at BINGO, but did win our money back playing a 50-50 raffle ticket game. We were disappointed that we had to leave before their annual golf cart holiday light parade. What a hoot! We did make it to a Camping World to look around and also down to Tubac, an artsy community with lots of southwest souvenirs. Heading back, we were stopped by the border patrol, looking for illegals entering the U.S.
After 4 & 1/2 months we finally entered back into California. Palm Springs was our destination to enjoy some sun and warmth. With the cold front over 99% of the nation, Palm Springs dipped into the 30’s at night. The warmest it got was in the 50’s. A big disappointment, considering we were soaking up the sun in Florida just 3 weeks earlier. We did enjoy the hot springs at the RV park. We soaked in 100 degree mineral water that was very soothing!
Due to a high wind advisory over the I-5 Grapevine, we decided to lengthen our trip by one more day, by traveling up the coast to Northern California. We stopped in Pismo Beach to get some ocean, even though the temp’s were still in the 60’s. While there, we visited the Monarch Butterfly Grove where an estimated 30,000+ butterflies flock to seek shelter during the winter. They cluster in the limbs of a grove of Eucalyptus trees.
As we get closer to home, our babies continued to soak up sun. We enjoyed our last sunset and were very fortunate to travel through 22 different states over the last 5 months. What an experience! This retirement life is definitely highly recommended! Until next time, stay tuned for our next trip in early 2014. We hope you enjoyed our travel blog and were able to live some of this fantastic journey through us!
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 ! ! !
Great job Sue! Love your blog. Specially the butterfly video. What a great trip y’all had. So glad I got to be part of it.
Hi Stacye…
Thanks! We did have a wonderful time and can’t wait for the next trip. It was awesome spending time with you. I know Sallie was so happy too!
Take care… Sue