Places visited:

New Mexico: Las Cruces & La Mesilla
Arizona: Tucson, Flagstaff, Williams Oatman & Kingman
Nevada: Las Vegas

Thursday, May 24, 2001
Coachlight Inn, Las Cruces, NM. I-10 exit #139 it is located on south
east side of intersection. It is a very nice park and less than 2
miles to La Mesilla.

We slept late then moved the motorhome 333 miles west to Las Cruces,
NM. Pulling into Las Cruces around 6:00 was hot as blue blazes. We
had planned to boondock at the Wal-Mart superstore. That idea was
nixed in favor of an RV-Park with 50-amp service where both air
conditioners could simultaneously "go get it"! As soon as possible
after arriving we headed to La Mesilla for dinner at the La Posta
Restaurant. We had not eaten since breakfast and were famished. Both
of us were looking forward to eating in "Old Mesilla" New Mexico.
Frankly, the food was better in the little place in Mexico where we
ate several days ago. As far as taste goes I prefer Taco Bell,
however, Taco Bell has ZERO ambience. We had ambience at the La
Posta. The La Posta is located in the original Butterfield Stage
building used in the late 1850's as a stopover on the road west. La
Mesilla has changed little since the days when Billy the Kid, and Kit
Carson roamed its streets. Thick-walled adobe buildings erected in
the 1800's still comprise the streets around the city park. La
Mesilla was a Mexican town until 1854 when the United States
"Purchased" via the famous Gadsden Purchase Treaty, a swath of land
from El Paso to California along the southern border of the existing
country. One day these people were Mexicans the next they were
Americans. Most of La Mesilla's 2000 or so residents did not speak
English and were not happy about being "sold". The actual signing of
the Gadsden Purchase Treaty was under a giant cottonwood tree in the
plaza catty-corner to the La Posta restaurant. Billy the Kid was
lodged in the La Mesilla jail and tried for murder in La Mesilla. The
better part of La Mesilla has been preserved and is now a quaint
little shopping place with artist, restaurants, bars, and curio shops
occupying and preserving the adobe buildings. One thing that was not
preserved was the cottonwood tree that Kit Carson carved his name in.
It was cut down and used as firewood by a thoughtless resident.

We are heading to Las Vegas where our Son and Daughter-in-Law are
flying in to join us on the 30th. Joyce commented just this morning
that we have been enjoying Texas for nearly two months. My how time
fly's when you are having fun. From where we were in Big Bend
National Park it was 1200 miles to Las Vegas and they are going to be
there in 6 days. The motorhome has got to head west fast.

Advice for today-You should never say anything to a woman that even
remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an
actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

Friday, May 25, 2001
Voyager RV-Resort. Tucson, AZ - I-10 exit 270. Located ½ mile to the
south

The Saturn needed to see a Saturn dealer for the 30,000-mile oil
change and warranty work so we got up bright and early to be the first
customer in line. Saturn is one of the few businesses that truly
practice customer satisfaction. Saturn completed the required
maintenance items and we were on the road and headed to Tucson by
10:30. The temperature was approaching 100 degrees as we pulled out.

Las Cruces grows a lot of pecan trees. One farm has over 4,000 acres
of pecan groves all irrigated by the Rio Grande.

The ride west from Las Cruces to Tucson is uneventful. Thankfully,
Deming and Benson are located strategically between the two. Just
west of Benson is a steep long grade on I-10. This is the first grade
that has reduced the motorhome speed to 35 mph. Most of the grade was
negotiated at 45 mph but one steep climb did slow us considerably.
Being from Florida I am a bit apprehensive about how the motorhome
will handle the steep mountain passes, so far so good. I am keeping
an eye on the temperature gauge and backing off the throttle when the
temperature increases. The transmission temperature, a concern back
in Florida, is no longer a concern as it has not gotten over 160
degrees yet.

In the middle of what appeared to me to be a flat plane was an
official road sign proclaiming that we had just crossed the
continental divide elevation 4,500 feet. For the next few miles the
billboards proclaimed Continental Divide this and that. The
Continental Divide in this location caught me by surprise as I
expected it to be at the summit of a mountain range. We quickly
started paying attention to the altitude on the GPS and as one would
suspect we were losing altitude as we headed west. I later looked on a
map and sure enough the Continental Divide crosses I-10 on the flat
open plains.

For all of you ex-NADEP'ers and other Navy types the RV-Park we were
staying in was on the same road as Davis Mountain AFB. All good Naval
Air types know that Davis Mountain is where all Navy planes go at the
end of their life. Actually, it is probably as important part of
Naval Aviation as any Navy base since without it Navy planes would
probably cease flying. For those of you that may not know Davis
Mountain's inventory of mothballed aircraft are constantly robbed of
parts needed to keep the fleet flying. Parts shortages were so
egregious that the Depot actually had a "permanent" employee who
stayed in Tucson near Davis Mountain AFB on "TAD" who's job it was to
rob parts for the Depot. For those of you who have not seen Davis
Mountain AFB there are literally miles and miles of vintage military
aircraft parked side by side on both sides of the road. The dry
desert conditions make Davis Mountain AFB an ideal place to mothball
military aircraft. The only damage to aircraft parts that I can
remember was deterioration of rubber. The rubber cracks and dries up
like your lips.

Thought for the day: There comes a time when you should stop expecting
other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age
11.

Saturday, May 26, 2001
Woody Mountain Campground, Flagstaff, AZ (7,300')

Wow what a climb from Phoenix to Flagstaff. Phoenix is around 1200'
while Flagstaff is over 7,000. Many vehicles along I-17 had power to
spare. A good many that had power to spare did not have a cooling
system that would adequately cool all that power. Those automobiles,
trucks, RV's etc., were literally strewn along the climb. The
temperature was in excess of 110 degrees when we transited Phoenix.
That had a lot to do with the carnage along the way. Mike watched the
engine and transmission temperature like a hawk. The engine
temperature was our limiting factor. On some of the long steep grades
we had to reduce our speed to 20mph in order not to overheat. Other
than a slow go we made it just fine. The next time we plan to
negotiate a climb like that we may try it early in the morning when
the temperature is more conducive to dissipating the engines heat.

Once in Flagstaff we got one of the last spots in Woody Mountain
Campground. The Memorial Day crowd had been showing up all day.
According to the NOAA weather radio out of Flagstaff the normal
temperature for this time of year is mid-80's for a high and 36 for
the low. The campground staff told us when we arrived that the
temperature would drop into the low 40's tonight. By the time it got
dark we needed long pants and sweatshirts when outside.

A free thought from Mike:
A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice
person.

Sunday, May 27, 2001
Woody Mountain Campground, Flagstaff, AZ (7,300')

We attended Church at The First Southern Baptist Church in Flagstaff,
AZ. They were an extremely friendly congregation with a good pastor.
The lead instrument was a guitar played by the pastor. There were
several other guitars, a piano and a violin for instruments. They
also used castanets and other rhythm makers on the snappier praise
songs. The pastor delivered a good message dealing with the church
having a vision and turning that vision into a plan then getting on
with the plan. Seeking Gods will for the church would most likely
mean change. As always change is something to be resisted. He got
the change point across in a joke poking fun at Southern Baptist. The
joke was a take off on the old how many "fill in the blank" does it
take to change a light bulb joke. The punch line was how many
Southern Baptist does it take to change a light bulb? CHANGE?
--------- You may not get the joke if you are not Southern Baptist.

Once the Southern Baptist Convention hierarchy learns that they are
conducting services with guitars instead of an organ they will
probably be banished to Disney World status.

On the way to church we noticed a grove of aspens their leaves
trembling in the slight breeze. We have always heard about how
beautiful the quaking aspens are in the fall. Now we are getting to
see them tremble. It is almost magical the way the light bounces off
the quaking leaves creating shadows rippling along their slender white
trunks.

The remainder of our day was spent reading and relaxing.

Another thought from Mike: You should not confuse your job with your
LIFE.

Monday, May 28, 2001 Memorial Day
Woody Mountain Campground, Flagstaff, AZ (7,300')

Joyce spotted a flat tire on the Saturn as we came back from our
morning walk. I put the air pump on the tire but the hole was large
enough that it would not hold air long enough to drive it to town. I
changed it and put on the dinky little spare tire. Pep Boys was the
only place open on Memorial Day and they were overwhelmed. Upon
looking at my Firestone tire we discovered a "cut" in the tread.
Since there is a good chance this may be covered under warranty we
decide to wait until Tuesday when a Firestone dealer may be open. We
headed downtown and window-shopped for a while before heading back to
the motorhome.

Advice: Never lick a steak knife.

Tuesday, May 29, 2001
Woody Mountain Campground, Flagstaff, AZ (7,300')

The tire store was open today. We spent the morning taking care of
that. The Firestone Dealer saw me coming. Of course the problem was
not under warranty. A new Firestone tire to match the rest of my
tires cost $98.00 with his 10% discount. If we were back home I could
have replaced this tire for around $50.00. That is all right. For
the rest of my life I will avoid Firestone products. Firestone and
Delta are at the top of my "avoid like the plague" list.

Wednesday, May 30, 2001
The motorhome was in Woody Mountain Campground, Flagstaff, AZ (7,300')
We stayed in Las Vegas at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino complex.

This is our day to drive to Las Vegas to pick up our son and
Daughter-in-Law (Jeff & Kathryn) who are flying in from Pensacola, on
a Delta 11:00PM flight. Those of you familiar with flying know that
Delta is legendary for last minute broken planes and cancelled flights
so everyone is on pins and needles until they actually get on the
ground in Las Vegas.

The temperature was in the low 40's last night and in the 70's as we
put Flagstaff in our rear view mirror. As we head west on I-40 we
start losing altitude and gaining temperature. Above 5,800 feet road
signs warn of elk in the road. We decided to exit in Williams and
take historic route 66. Williams is a quaint tourist town nestled in
the world's largest stand of ponderosa pine trees with nifty
restaurants and home to the Grand Canyon Rail Road. This town of less
than 3000 residents maintains the charm of an early 19th century
western town, with a diverse cultural influence including mountain
men, American Indians, cattle ranchers and railroad laborers. Now
Williams is where shoppers can peruse goodies in 19th century
storefronts and revel in the nostalgic sound of the train whistle.
The only traffic light I remember in Williams is best remembered as
the LAST stop light on route 66 between St. Louis and Los Angeles.
Some people have difficulty with that statement but as the interstate
system came into being it created longer and longer stretches of
"interstate highway" with no traffic lights. Obviously the last
section of interstate highway between St. Louis and Los Angeles to be
completed was the section bypassing Williams, Arizona. The ambiance
of those long ago days can be relived in the soda fountains, actual
restaurants, shops, galleries and motels from the glory days of old
route 66.

Two miles west of Williams we find ourselves back on I-40 until we get
to Ashfork. Approximately, 35 miles west of Flagstaff and 10 miles
west of Williams we have dropped from 7,000 feet to around 5,500 and
leave the ponderosa pine forest. Ashfork has five stone quarries,
and ships Arizona Flagstone nationwide. Now I know where the pallets
of flagstone I see in Lowe's and Home Depot come from. The town has
staging areas on both sides of the road (old route 66) filled with
flagstone loaded on pallets. Acres and acres of flagstone pallets
stand ready to be loaded on flat bed trucks and delivered around the
country. Joyce and I decide this is something we have to show Jeff
and Kathryn on the return trip. It is approximately 94 miles to
Kingman.

Just west of Ashfork we get back on old route 66 and travel to
Seligman. Seligman is the quintessential "tourist trap". It is a
SMALL town on historic route 66 and many merchants pander to the
nostalgia of historic route 66. There is a Barbershop, the Snow Cap
Drive-In and a General Store. All are must-sees if you are into
nostalgia shops. While we were there not less than 4 tour busses
unloaded and old folks poured out on to the street to wander through
these establishments. One of the shops had an old edsil (sp) parked
outside along with some other vintage automobiles. There was an
Elvis manikin and other funny stuff that can only be viewed in a truly
tacky tourist stop. The busiest place in town was the ice-cream
counter in the Snow Cap drive-in. By now the temperature is in the
mid ninety's and heading higher. It is around 73 miles to Kingman.

The other towns on historic route 66 Peach Springs, Triton, Valentine,
Hackberry and Valle Vista were non-descript. Once in Kingman we ate
lunch before heading to Oatman. Normally to get to Las Vegas we would
head north on highway 93. However, friends on RV-Talk and others have
told us about the historic gold mining town of Oatman, Arizona located
in the mountains to the southwest of Kingman, Arizona. It was out of
our way but an exciting scenic drive full of switchbacks on canyon
walls. In Oatman we fed the wild burros the town is famous for. The
burros cooperated with 12 or more roaming the streets looking for
handouts. Oatman is an authentic western mining camp. They take
pride in keeping the town as authentic as possible, giving visitors a
good look back into history, showing the wild-west as it really was.
Filmmakers chose the area for making films such as "How the West was
won," "Edge of Eternity," "Universal Soldier" and "Foxfire". Back in
the old route 66 days Oatman was the last stop in Arizona before
entering the dreaded Mojave Desert in Southern California.

By now the temperature exceeds 100 degrees with no noticeable breeze.
Having a cold bottle of water in your possession is essential. Public
rest rooms are not necessary. Did I mention that it was HOT!

If you are driving a Motorhome or pulling an RV I would not advise
driving the road between Oatman and Kingman. There are many
switchbacks not designed for larger vehicles and many of the grades
were considerably in excess of 6%. I would advise leaving your
Motorhome or RV somewhere in Kingman and take the scenic drive in your
toad or pull vehicle. If you do decide to take your RV over this
stretch would you do me a favor and make a recording of the
conversation between you and your spouse. I'll pay good money for
that tape.

Heading west out of Oatman was a constant downhill grade for 10 or
more miles until we intersected with 95 and headed north to Laughlin
and Bullhead City. We were told that we should travel to Searchlight,
Nevada and take 164 over to I-15 because this was a scenic route. It
was scenic miles and miles of Mohave Desert and Joshua trees. Now we
can say we have been there and done that.

We stayed in the Tropicana on the strip in Las Vegas but ate the
buffet across the street at the MGM Grand casino complex. We did not
do the buffet at the Tropicana because their gigantic lighted marquee
outside the complex advertised their buffet at $11.99 but they were
charging $14.95 "because it was Wednesday night". DAH! If it is
$14.95 on Wednesday nights then put $14.95 on the marquee. We took
our business elsewhere based on principle.

Jeff and Kathryn arrived as scheduled but Delta had cancelled their
flight several times in New Orleans before finally putting them on the
flight and fulfilling their obligation. They dislike Delta as much as
we do. It is our experience that flying with Delta is as chancy as
flying with the Wright Brothers. After a particularly egregious
experience with Delta on a return trip from Alaska a few years ago
they became a company we wanted to avoid if at all possible. Now Jeff
and Kathryn have relegated them to the same status.

When Jeff and Kathryn arrived they were still pumped from the Delta
ordeal and were ready to see some of the larger Casino's so we toured
the MGM Grand and watched their lions. Then we went across the street
to the Excalibur Hotel and Casino then the Luxor complex. By this
time it was really late and we were ready for bed.

Thursday, May 31, 2001
Woody Mountain Campground, Flagstaff, AZ (7,300')

We got up early but it was still HOT. The temperature was in excess
of 100 and it was still mid morning. With Jeff driving, we headed for
Flagstaff by way of Hoover Dam. We took the regular tour of Hover Dam
and were very impressed. Our tour guide invited us to take a Dam
picture. How cute! Our tour guide told us "the dam was not built to
produce electricity but to control flooding downstream and provide a
constant source of water to southern California". Power generation
was a distant third on their list of priorities. Everyone has seen
the documentary films on building the Hoover Dam that run frequently
on the Discovery channel. Even though each of us have watched that
documentary many times it was an exciting tour especially where they
took us down to view the turbines. Standing on the spillway as water
exits the turbines is another awe-inspiring experience. The Hoover
Dam tour is a "must see" tourist attraction if you are in the area.

>From Hoover Dam we headed to Kingman, Arizona. Large trucks were
using the road between Kingman, Arizona and Las Vegas as were a
variety of RV's. Many RV'ers warn others NOT to take their RV's over
this route. After three trips over this route I am going to agree
with that advice. Since 18-wheeler's negotiate this route the problem
is not with switchbacks that are abundant on both sides of the dam but
with extremely steep grades over long distances. If you have plenty
of power and moxie go for it. If not you are in for more excitement
than you and your spouse want. On our last trip back to Flagstaff I
counted more RV's on the side of the road than I did moving. This
would be another good place to make a tape recording of the
conversation in the cab of your RV if you should decide to negotiate
the route.

We stopped in Kingman for a quick lunch. I got a large milkshake to
take on the ride to Oatman. While drinking the milkshake I noticed
that there was NO moisture on the outside of the cup. It is so dry
that there is absolutely NO moisture. In Florida there would be a
puddle of water under the cup and the sides would be dripping wet.
While on the subject of humidity our lips are in constant need of Chap
Stick. I wake up at night with dry lips and have to apply Chap Stick
before returning to bed. The air is so dry Kathryn has a small
nosebleed at night. It is DRY and we are not used to it. It is in
excess of 100 degrees today.

>From Kingman Jeff drove us to Oatman where we decided to do a gold
mine tour after feeding the burros. We drove a mile out of town to
the gold mine where a miner took us into the operational gold mine.
Gold prices are down at this time and the mining operation has been
suspended until the price increases. While waiting on prices to
increase this mine started taking tourist on tours. What an
incredible experience. Gold in this particular mine is trapped in a
vein of quartz. The vein of quarts runs almost perpendicular, (78
degrees) to the surface. The vein runs from the surface to over 1200
feet in the earth. Miners are paid by the ton of quartz oar they are
able to load on the oar carts. Since miners are paid by the ton of
quartz their tunnels are only as wide as the vein of quartz. The
tunnels follow the vein of quarts leaving granite on either side.
Most of the tunnels are narrow and only wide enough for the oar carts.
In the early 1900's mules pulled the loaded oar carts from the mine.
The tunnel we were in followed the quartz vein for 7 miles. Ever so
often there would be a particularly "rich" section of gold in the
quartz. When the miners got to one of these places the mine would go
up creating a shaft. This shaft would go up as far as the rich vein
lasted or it could go all the way to the surface. From that shaft
another tunnel would be started about 8 feet above the existing
tunnel. The miners did not have wooden ceilings or other bracing.
Their ceiling and floor is the vein of quartz. The miners leave
8-foot sections of quartz between each horizontal tunnel. Our miner
smiled and said, "you can't get too greedy". The gold in this vein of
quartz was not in nuggets. To extract the gold the mine has to
pulverize the quartz then treat it with a cyanide bath solution. By
the end of our tour we had a good understanding of this particular
gold mining system. In our opinion this gold mine tour is a "must
see" if you are in the area.

The rest of our day was spent on the road to Flagstaff where the
temperature decreased as we increased our altitude. By the time we
reached Flagstaff and 7,000 feet it was actually chilly. By morning
the temperature had dropped into the low-40's. That is good sleeping
weather.

Friday, June 1, 2001
Woody Mountain Campground, Flagstaff, AZ (7,300')

This morning Jeff drove us to the Grand Canyon. Just outside of the
National Park entrance we experienced the I-Max theatre and it's film
of the Grand Canyon. I think this film was one of the most exciting
things we did today. The film footage taken from a plane threading
it's way through the canyon is totally awesome. At the canyon rim it
was HOT. We talked with a ranger who said that it was as hot today as
it gets. We drove from one awesome vista to another then took a break
to eat lunch in the Lodge. This is another lodge constructed by the
CCC during the great depression. There were good displays of large
animal heads especially elk, mule deer, and moose racks. To finish
off the day we drove out to the east where we wanted to see where our
friends Buddy & Suzie Kisner had been working. They were working at
the Desert View Gift Shop earlier in the year before heading to
Yellowstone. We found someone in one of the Gift Shops that
remembered them. At Desert View the CCC had constructed a lookout
tower that was a special treat to climb. Climbing stairs at 7'000
feet is an experience that will humble you. By the time we reached
the top everyone was trying to find oxygen. Joyce and I have been
taking walks in the RV-park back in Flagstaff and it is at 7,300 feet.
These walks have not been noticeably affecting us. Was climbing
stairs at 7,000 feet the difference or was it the heat? From Desert
View on the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon National Park we headed
back to Flagstaff.

It was so hot when we were at the Grand Canyon it was hard to enjoy
the scenery. We will have to return and do a helicopter ride, take
the donkeys to the bottom or raft down the river. I do not think I
would enjoy hiking at that elevation. We did not see any wildlife
other than ground squirrels, a few condors and some ravens. It was
dark when we finally got back to Flagstaff and as expected the
temperature had dropped.

The remainder of Jeff and Kathryn's week with us will be in next
weeks travelogue.

until then, see ya, mike & joyce

Mike & Joyce Hendrix