Gage Rest Area……

 

Our Location:

Gage Rest Area, Gage, New Mexico

We woke this morning to warm temps and sunny skies. We dumped the tanks, pulled in the slides, unplugged and pulled out. We were on the road by 8:30 am.  

A very long train.

A Texas rest area.

We rolled along all day, crossed into another time zone, which puts us in Mountain Time. We are now two hours behind Ontario. We travelled approx 500 miles, in the 10 hours we drove. We stopped multiple times to stretch our legs and take a breather.

Some transplanted Ocotillos.

Long rolling hills in Texas.

The views are changing with each mile.

We pulled into the rest area around 5:30 pm MST. We parked by one of the little casitas and called it a night. 

We made it farther than we expected.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the visit.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

We are parked for a few days....

 

Our Location: Empire Ranch, Sonoita, Arizona

 

 We woke this morning to a chilly 40F/5C in Gage, NM but we had a great nights rest. We were on the road before 8 am and put in an hour and it was still 8 am. You guessed it, we crossed another time zone. Arizona stays on Mountain Standard Time while NM changes to Mountain Daylight Time. Obviously we crossed into Arizona at 9am Mountain Daylight Time which became 8 am Mountain Standard Time. Are you confused yet? So until you folks change your clocks back in Ontario we are three hours behind you. 

Yep, they are definitely mountains, lots of pointy, sharp looking things out there too.

A little hill!!

The ride today was pretty good, a few humps and bumps but nothing major. We stopped at San Simon Rest Area/Arizona Welcome Center for a quick leg stretch, we would certainly stay here if we were looking for an overnight stop. Clean, well laid out and a decent sized truck parking area. We by passed a stop at Texas Canyon Rest area but we've all stopped there before. 

There is nothing quite like the mountains out the window as we roll along.

I believe these may be salt flats, you can see the white mixed in the sand.

A stop for fuel at $5.35 per gallon had us topping the tank for $100 USD. The Big Dog likes his diesel. The temperatures climbed steadily but not too high, I think we stopped around the 60F/15C area this afternoon. 

Water at the road side, I believe these are also salt flats here.

The view is amazing.

All of today's photos were taken with my phone, dirty windshield and all, moving at close to 60 mph, so if they aren't the clearest, oh well. You get the idea anyway. 

Lots of growth here on the roadsides.

They are getting closer.....

We are currently parked at Empire Ranch at Sonoita, Arizona and may stay here for a number of days. We haven't really decided how many yet but for a couple any way. I need to clean the Igloo windows so we can look out and see something. All the dust has been hard on them. 

 

We have arrived!

The dust that would have been blowing here yesterday makes me glad we called it a day earlier.

Called my dad when we arrived, just to touch base. Things are good up in his neighbourhood, no snow but a bit chilly by the sounds of things. Sun is out though so that's always a positive thing. 

I love the colours here...

The views are always so inviting.

Come, explore, discover my secrets.....

Daughter Courtney sent me a couple of photos of the peanuts she grew in her little garden in Toronto. The first time she's tried to grow them, they turned out pretty well. She's pretty excited about that! 

 

Approaching Texas Canyon Rest Area.

Just past the rest area.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Our spot at Empire Ranch with permission from the camp host.

 

The view to the east!!

Until next time...

Courtney's home grown peanuts.

Home is Toronto, Ontario and she has a small raised garden in the front yard.

Take care, be safe, 

Deb

 

Not as far as planned today....

 

 Our Location: Gage Rest Area, near Deming, New Mexico

Shortly after leaving our overnight at Van Horn, Tx we crossed into Mountain Time, which puts us 2 hours behind Ontario. I need to pay attention when I call!!

 

We can start to see the mountains off in the distance. New Mexico is over that way.

Closer now...

The stop last night was good for what we needed and expected. It's a rest area with traffic whizzing by on the Interstate just a few yards away, vehicles coming and going all night. I put in ear plugs and never heard anything until 5:30 am this morning. Considering I was sleeping before 9:30 last night, I think I had a good night's sleep. 

Yep, they are definitely mountains off in the distance...

If you listen closely you can hear them calling......

We pulled out at 8:38 am Central Time and within a few short minutes we were changing the clock on the dash to read 7:45 am Mountain Time. It made for a good but long day. The roads were good and we motored right along. Lots of traffic today, a few slow downs and even a couple of rolling stops due to construction and accidents. 

 

Welcome to El Paso, Texas. Yes that's dust in the air.

Lots of streets cross over the interstate and those walls need repainting I think.

We rolled through the heart of El Paso, TX before 11 am and entered the beautiful state of New Mexico around 11 am. We stopped at the Anthony Rest Area just to stretch and look around, a beautiful place to stop but few spots for overnighters or even just travelers. 

A massive Old Glory was starting to flap in the wind and the wind increased steadily from this time.

For Deb D.   The ocotillo are green here Deb!!!!

We had planned on reaching San Simon West Bound Welcome Center at the New Mexico/Arizona state line but the winds picked up considerably and we opted to get off the road as we were being pushed around pretty good. So we backed up to a little casita and put the feet down to help stabilize us in the wind. We put the slides out only enough to make getting around easy and will pull them in overnight. Hopefully the wind dies down before tomorrow. It's even hard to walk it's blowing so much.  We did pass by the Roadrunner shortly after entering New Mexico but alas he was on the other side of the interstate and too far away to get a photo with the phone

I believe this is an Agave plant. It's at the New Mexico Welcome Center.

A much bigger one near one of the casitas.

 

Talked to my sister today for a few minutes after we parked. Things are going well at her house, she was busy making supper and so I didn't keep her on the phone long.Called and left a message on my dad's answering machine but will call him again later. 

A staghorn cactus, I think. Also at the Welcome Center.

And yet another cactus at the Welcome Center.

Happy Birthday to Leah today as she celebrates. She is my nephew Jason's lovely wife and mother of the adorable Hudson. She is a very classy young lady with expressive eyes and a beautiful face. Friendly and social, she makes every room she enters shine. Happy Birthday Leah, we hope it's a fantastic day. 

Reminder to myself, everything is picky, pointy and sharp in the desert.

The little courtyard at the NM welcome center.

Temps are running between 50F/10C and 70F/20C today. Fuel prices are still running in the $4.69 to $5.40 range. The winds are high and running at about "blow me over" speed. 

More of the little courtyard.

The entire restroom/welcome area is in this adobe building with beautiful little arches everywhere.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

The view out the living room window tonight.

A little further to the right.

 

Until next time..

Take care, be safe, 

Deb

Surprised us too.....

Our Location: American Girl Mine Road, California

I slept well until shortly after 2 AM but I also went to bed early around 8 pm as I was very tired. I've been driving for a few miles these past few days. I enjoy driving but it does get tiring after a while. 

Snow on those mountain tops way off in the distance.

You know we're close now, don't ya?

 

We were both up tucking a few things away and grabbing some snacks for the truck shortly after 7 AM. We were on the road by 7:45 AM. A kind of cloudy type sky and the temps reading 45F/7.2C. Pointing the Big Dog's nose west we once again ran along I-10 West. 

Sorry for the reflection from the window, but still a good photo.

We left Gage, NM this morning and crossed into Arizona a short time later.

Our original destination was going to be Empire Ranch for a week but a check of the long range weather forecast had very low temps, very strong winds, lots of rain and even some chances of snow, so we opted to head on down the road. We couldn't decided on any place we wanted to stop now as we would be there for a week with the holiday weekend coming up and so we agreed that with the weather being iffy at best in most of the areas we would just head to the surest thing. Yuma! And so that's what we did. We simply pointed the Dogsled in that direction and yelled,' Mush." 

Of course you know this is Texas Canyon rest area, right? We didn't stop but we still took photos.

It's a long way down there folks.

A few stops along the way and some leg stretches, a few phone calls and by 5 PM tonight MOUNTAIN time we arrived here at our spot for the next while. The long range forecast looks wonderful and we're happy to be sitting for a while again. 

Past this in Tucson, AZ. Some kind of big playland.

 

While we are actually in California we will keep our clocks on Mountain time as Yuma is the biggest shopping area near by and we will be using their 'time' to keep us in tune with shopping and stuff while in this area. 

 

HRH Miss Kitty was looking around as we drove. She normally stays in carrier but today opted for a different view.

Talked to both my SIL Janet and my dad today. Dad was happy to hear from us, knowing we are now going to be sitting here for a while just resting, soaking up the heat and enjoying the sunshine.  Janet was probably happy to hear from us too. Haha

We were happy to see this sign, knowing we were a short distance from our destination.

Tomorrow I'll catch up on the comments and my reading, for the past couple of days I've just been too tired at days end. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

I snapped this just as we finished putting the feet down.

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

This is one of the reasons we enjoy the desert. Good night!!

Deb