Taking the Rain With Us Part One

May 1, 2017

Now we start the trip back to Arizona to get the rest of our kids out of boarding and to pick up our stuff.  We were glad to have gone to Niagara Falls yesterday (our original plan was to go today), as the rain hampered our take down of the RV.  We left the RV park on Grand Island and got back to the I-90 in Buffalo, taking it to Ohio.  Dark clouds followed us and sprayed us with rain on and off for most of the ride.  We bypassed Cleveland and stopped at River Trail Crossing in Butler, OH (a very nice, quite campground with spacious berths.  A stream trickles past it as well).  The rain stopped as we approached Columbus.

Rain stopping outside Columbus

Rain stopping outside Columbus

Stream at River Trail Crossing

River Trail Crossing

May 2, 2017

After taking down the RV, we drove into town to get something eat.  Der Dutchman is an Amish restaurant in Bellville, OH.  They feature a buffet (complete with salad bar, Broasted Chicken, side veggies, soups, and lots of pies).  We both had the lunch buffet, which was decent.  Before leaving, we also bought some groceries from the attached gift shop.

Der Dutchman

Heaping plate of salad.

Broasted Chicken with some pulled pork and stuffing with gravy.

Gift Shop

We got back on the road and drove on the I-70 to Indianapolis, IN.  Once we got there, we went to Shapiro’s Deli.  They served delicious pastrami and made some interesting macaroni (a lot of solid cream rather than cheese), but the German potato salad wasn’t to our liking (just potato salad with a lot of mustard).  We did appreciate it was close to the higway and had ample parking for our trailer.  We stopped at our campground for the night in Cloverdale, IN.

The Dash Across New Mexico

March 27, 2017

Arizona to New Mexico

After checking out of the Butterfield RV Park in Benson, we made our way east into New Mexico on the I-10 to Las Cruces.  We made a short detour to Hatch, New Mexico (Hatch Chile Capital of the World) to pick up some chili powder, pecans, and pinto beans.  The restaurant we wanted to eat at here was closed, so we continued into Las Cruces.  We stopped at Chala’s Wood Fired Grill for dinner, which had excellent smothered burritos and Chilacas (crispy masa with tender, flavorful chili con carne).  Jonathan really wanted some local pecan pie, but there were no decent bakeries open at that time (we settled for some german chocolate cake to-go for later).  Our original plan had us making a quick stop at White Sands for some sand sledding.  However, it was too dark for that now, so we continued to Tularosa to stay at an RV park there for the night.  Some of the residents at this RV park liked to throw dog food over the fence for the coyotes so they’d come close to the park.

Kandi knows how to travel.

It’s heaven out here.

March 28, 2017

Since we’ve been to White Sands before and were trying to stay ahead of a storm front, we skipped it entirely and moved on, pushing into Colorado.  We bypassed both Albuquerque (been there before) and Santa Fe (would take too long), stopping in Las Vegas for food/dessert.  We ate at Charlie’s Spic and Span (I know, sounds like a laundromat) Bakery and Cafe.  One of their local favorites is a Las Vegas Ham and Cheese (just a ham and cheese with green chiles and tomatoes).  We also stocked up on some cheap cupcakes and desserts there.  Then we crossed into Colorado, having to inch our way through the mountains in the fog and rain.  We stayed at Lathrop State Park for the night.

Monument to an old fort along I-25 North.

Murals in a plaza outside of Charlie’s Spic and Span.

Murals in a plaza outside of Charlie’s Spic and Span.

Tomorrow’s Itineray:  Head to Colorado Springs to spend a day there, making our way to Derby.

What we wish we could do:  We wished we had the time to stop at White Sands, Santa Fe, and Taos.  There’s never enough time right now.

First Day

March 26-27, 2017

Tombstone, AZ

We headed out of Flagstaff  Saturday and arrived in Benson, AZ at the Butterfield RV Park and Observatory. We got in after midnight, which brought us to the conclusion that traveling with a trailer adds 50-100% more travel time to the trip than anticipated. Our 5 hour drive actually took 10 hours!

We drove into Tombstone, AZ for lunch at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon (Wikipedia: Mary Katherine Horony-Cummings, better known as Big Nose Kate, was a Hungarian-born prostitute and longtime companion and common-law wife of Old West gunfighter Doc Holliday) and had some buffalo chicken bites and pizza.  The sarsaparilla wasn’t authentic, but the atmosphere was lively.  We also caught the OK Corral gunfight, checked out the printing press and oldest newspaper in Tombstone, got an old-timey picture taken, and walked around this tourist town until it started to feel like we were in an episode of “Westworld.”

A shootout at the OK Corral.

Horse-drawn carriage in Tombstone.

Only $25,000?

Tomorrow’s Itineray:  In order to arrive in Derby, KS by Thursday, we will be heading out in the morning to New Mexico where we plan to stop at the White Sands in Alamogordo. Last time we visited, we really wished that we had brought sleds!

What we wish we could do:  We couldn’t catch the tour at the observatory or at Kartchner Caverns State Park.  It turns out you need more than a day’s notice for reserving the tours.