LAS CRUCES SAN ANTONIO AND
ROCKPORT


Mike and Jeanne (our nephew and niece) met us in Casa Grande, Arizona on Sunday the 18th and returned our family traveling companion (Barbara) to Phoenix in preparation for her return to Brazil. For those of you who may not know, Barbara is a missionary to Brazil, currently living at Joa Pessoa. She was in the States for the holidays and joined us on our “out and about” explorations in Southern Arizona.

On our own, Monday was spent catching up on our chores and preparing for the next leg of our adventures, which included a pleasant liaison with the Haselmans in Las Cruces. We arrived Las Cruces on Wednesday and the visiting began with Ken and Bruce exchanging their latest “RV” stories about engine performance, “odd” happenings on the road and their latest experiences in their RV world. Gwelda and I caught up on family, home and mutual interests since our last rendezvous. Dinner at La Posta in Las Cruces was a most satisfying “taste” of New Mexican cuisine. Thursday Bruce attended meetings at White Sands while the rest of us “kicked back”, went shopping and relaxed. Gwelda and I “whiled” away a few hours at a tasting room for New Mexico wines and I replenished our wine rack for those long nights when a glass of wine with a candle light dinner is a must.

Friday, we drove to White Sands Monument and played in the white sand that seemed more like granulated snow. The brilliance of the white sand suggests that a long day in that sand might invite “snow blindness” or perhaps, more accurately, “ sand blindness”? We attended a filmed presentation of the White Sands area, learned about the foliage (or lack of) and the living creatures of the area. White Sands encompasses 3,200 square miles of land. Bruce worked at White Sands in the late 50's and early 60's. He regaled us with stories of his first hand experiences during “test” missile shots during those early days. The park and roads through the area are closed during periods of testing at the White Sands Missile Test Center. Bruce revealed that although the tests are supposed to clear White Sands, they occasionally fail and fall into the white sand desert often never to be found.. It was all very interesting and we enjoyed having our very own well versed guide. Bruce has many special and good memories of his work at White Sands. Like our first trip, Bruce once again made our trip to the White Sands area especially meaningful with his first hand reports of events that he attended..

After our “trollop” in the sand, we drove to Alamogordo and into the mountains onto the Apache reservation for dinner at the Apache Casino in the mountains near Ruidoso. A few quarters were dropped in the slots, but gambling with the Indians tends, in my limited experience, to be more of a gift to the Indians. Needless to say, that assessment was not altered on this visit. Ruidoso is supposed to be a beautiful area and we would have liked to go on but it was getting late and our chauffeur was feeling the need to get home. Thus, we made our way down the mountain and back to Las Cruces. It was a fine day out and about with good company. We capped our day off with a DVD movie. Can’t remember the title and about the only significant thing that I remember was a question, “Are you “Mexi can or Mexi can’t”?

Saturday, Bruce and Ken enjoyed a day of r and r, visiting and enjoying the comfort of their “dwellings”. Gwelda and I went out shopping and when we returned, both men had retired to their individual coach for a nap. It was supposed to rain and the clouds looked threatening early on but it cleared up with a brisk wind blowing strong and whipping he awnings on the coaches. The rain missed us but the wind was a strong reminder that a storm had passed us by.

Sunday, with forecasts of high winds, we were up early and, as they may have said in covered wagon days, “folded our tent in preparation for what we all expected to be a windy travel day. After breakfast our two diesels were fired up, goodbyes exchanged and the Haselmans departed for Albuquerque (and for Bruce, a business flight to Boston in sub zero temperature on Monday) while we headed for Texas. We incurred major wind all the way to Ft Stockton where we spent the night. Gwelda checked in with us upon arriving home and they too had encountered heavy wind. We were all grateful for the relative stability of our modern coaches.

The next morning we were out and about early and one might say “off into the wind”. By the time we reached San Antonio, we had gained a great appreciation for the winds of the Texas prairies.. We were happy to arrive at our San Antonio park safely and even more pleased to wake up the next morning without the wind of the previous two days.

This was our second visit to San Antonio. We enjoyed the River Walk just as much the second time as we did the first. The River Walk on this week day was uncrowded, fellow tourists friendly and an atmosphere of quiet solitude prevailed. We stopped at an Italian restaurant for lunch and enjoyed “visiting” with the young man who waited on us. In response to an exchange about travel, I was surprised when the young man said, “I figured you for RV’ers when you walked in”. I immediately inquired what it was about us that made us “stand out as Rv’ers?” He was unspecific but after we left I told Ken that RV’ers obviously have a common look. We looked at each other, laughed and concluded that it was the jeans, tennis shoes, Ken’s hat and our age! Frankly, it is rather unflattering to be so easily identified as an Rv’er, which surely must be considered by many as America’s modern day gypsy.

We capped our day off with a IMAX presentation of THE ALAMO which was both interesting and well produced. I snuck a quick nap during the presentation but I don’t think Ken noticed. We skipped a second visit to the Alamo, having included that in our first visit . We intended to visit some of the Missions but alas, we ended up just enjoying the River Walk area where we had lunch, window shopped in the many stores on the mall and the movie.

Our RV resort was located near the downtown area which proved to be comfortable as well as convenient. On Tuesday morning, we drove the approximately 180 miles to Rockport where we are now “in residence”. After settling in to our resort, we climbed into our “towed” in search of adventure and a proper dining place. The area is abundant with restaurants and it is definitely a tourist area. Apparently, it is more seasonal as a summer resort area but we have quickly learned that there area a lot of “Texas winter” people and the many RV resorts in the area seem to cater to these residents otherwise known as “snow birds” in Arizona and California. Ken checked out the deep sea fishing availabilities and will probably do a fishing trip early next week, there are bird watching tours (herons), several museums including the USS LEXINGTON and we are only 40 miles (or a little less) from Corpus Christi. There is a gambling boat cruise that goes out twice each day and the price of admission includes either a buffet lunch or buffet dinner, depending on the time of day one chooses. I suspect that this will be one of my boat rides for this stopover as well as Ken is interested in doing a Heron trek. He has indicated several times an interest in bird watching and who knows, perhaps this will be something else for us to add to our many adventures, explorations and sight seeing antics. The man is a bona fide tourist!!

Our cell service here has been limited at best which has presented Ken with additional negotiating leverage for adding a cell phone antenna to the RV. The antenna is supposed to increase our cell phone
reception by 20%. I have now acknowledged that he has won the battle so today, he went off to order the antenna which he will install when it arrives. Another “must have” may now be removed from the ongoing long list of “gotta haves”.

Yesterday and today (Thursday and Friday) have been overcast with intermittent “dew drops” otherwise known as rain and thus, a good time to catch up on the “housecleaning” duties that accompanies RV travel. Whatever happened to “maid service”?

A few pictures from our adventures so far.

Ken and Marian Herbert New Year’s eve


New Years group


Ken’s sister roasting “smores”

tour of copper queen mine ’



White Sands New Mexico







A walk along San Antonio’s River Walk


A scene of the river



The Burns

FROM THE OUTBACK

Our second stay at Saint David in Southern Arizona was as interesting as our first. This was Barbara’s (Ken’s sister) first visit in this vicinity and we enjoyed retracing our steps of 2002 (or was it 2003?) while adding new explorations.
On Sunday, Ken and Barbara visited Tombstone, where they enjoyed a “shootout at the OK Corral”, lunch and a visit to Boothill. I used the day to “nurse” a cold that I managed to pick up along the way and enjoyed basking in my “misery”.
Monday saw us revisiting Bisbee and the Copper Queen Mine. After a delightful lunch at the Bisbee Bar and Grill, Barbara visited the museum while Ken and I toured the antique haunts of the town. There were many treasures available for the antique collectors among us, but we are not part of that group. It is sufficient that we are borderline antiquities. After our “walkabouts”, Barbara and Ken enjoyed a tour inside the mine where they were able to capture a glimpse into the hardships of life under ground as they fine tuned their understanding of the courage exemplified by the miners of yore. The visit may have reminded of their “roots” and their many trips with their dad prospecting trips in and around Arizona.
The size and capacity of the mining operation in Bisbee provides a first hand awareness of the wealth that lies beneath the surface. The two siblings must have been reminded that but for the “stroke of a pick”, they might have been part of a similar operation but isn’t that the reality of life? Of course, had they been blessed with such good fortune, the likes of me would not have been in their company. What a loss that would have been for both!
Now, a review of our lunch at the Bisbee Bar and Grill. The restaurant is located on the main street just across from the museum. We entered through an inviting entrance and found it clean and well appointed. A courteous and personable young man seated us with a charming smile and offered us drinks accompanied by small talk welcoming our business. The bulletin board outside listed two specials of the day, BBQ pork and BBQ brisket with “signature” fries. Ken chose the BBQ pork. A taste proved the wisdom of his choice, while Barbara and I scanned the menu for other options. Barbara chose a chicken “wrap” that she said was excellent. I enjoyed the restaurant’s version of a ruben with cole slaw and pasta salad. We decided that the restaurant’s “chef” was definitely a “step above” Hicksville in both his/her creativity with food and its presentation and taste. We all agreed that it was a superb lunch and upon finishing “to the last drop” our food choices for the day, we were motivated to inquire about the dessert offerings.
The dessert choices all sounded great. Fried ice cream, chocolate Brule and Smores. “What are smores”? The description sounded vaguely familiar to me and I envisioned a sort of sophisticated “mud pie. My sense of familiarity was acknowledged and became the “orderee” for two. Well, dessert was served and I was enlightened about my stupidity on smores. Dessert consisted of a small server containing “canned heat” (an alcohol fire) in the middle of a plate of graham crackers, several marshmallows and two chocolate bars with two skewers. Everyone looked at me for direction on what to do next and I looked at the plate before me and said, “This isn’t what I expected and I have not the slightest idea of what to do!” One of us gained our composure enough to poke a marshmallow with one of the skewers provided for “toasting” our marshmallows and when it was soft enough, squashed the marshmallow onto a graham cracker, covered it with a square from a Nestle chocolate bar and bit into our new found delicacy. Barbara proved to be the most capable in preparing “smores” (a play on words for “some more”) but even though the dessert may have needed some refinement in our preparation techniques, it proved “tastey” and satisfying. Presumably “smores” have been around for years, but would you believe this was a first for us? It was a fun lunch and if you ever find yourself in Bisbee Arizona, please consider the Bisbee Bar and Grill for your dining pleasure. Oh yes, they also served an excellent fresh brewed coffee that both Ken and Barbara raved about, although Barbara was a bit “piqued” that Ken got more refill attention than she. However, I thought their explanation that they ran out of coffee and had to make a fresh pot corrected the oversight but Barbara felt that they should have been more “on top of the pot”.
On Tuesday, we drove to Sierra Vista and Ft Huachuca where we visited the Visitors Center and educated ourselves on the things to do in the area. We mentioned that we had called to obtain reservations to do a tour of Karchner Caverns but that we had been advised there were no openings available for the big room until January 22. The gentleman at the information center advised us that a certain number of tickets are held back for early visitors and that we might be successful in gaining entrance if we arrive before 730A. We thanked him for the tip and vowed to give it a try.
Ken was suffering from early symptoms of a cold that I was grateful to pass along to him and thus, our outing was less enthusiastic than usual. However, we drove to the Coronado National Monument and its visitor Center before driving approximately five miles of gravel “washboard” road to an overlook where we were able to gaze over miles and miles of the great valley below into Mexico. What a view. We considered staying for a beautiful sunset view, but the weather was brisk, the wind breezy and the “washboard” road difficult. So, we passed on the sunset and proceeded back to the valley floor, had dinner and returned to our “wheels” that we call home on the road. A good day in spite of “hacking” coughs, runny noses and loud sneezes.
Wednesday was a laid back day of cold rain and down time. It was cold enough that we had no doubt snow was falling at the overlook where we visited the day before. In self-protection, we stayed in and enjoyed a day with only one short trip into the small town of Benson for a quick look around, piece of pie and brief outing. By now, Barbara was beginning to share my used “cold symptoms” and thus, “down time” was well deserved in the interest of good health. We had planned to visit Karchner Caverns on Thursday but as the evening passed, the thought of rising at 530AM for a trek into the ground below, lost its luster. We decided to delay our “early outing” until Friday and that decided, Barbara and I played a game of scrabble while Ken watched the “tube”.
Thursday morning was somewhat overcast but it was not raining. I awakened with an idea that perhaps if we drove up to Karchner Caverns the weather would have dissuaded enough people from an outing that there would be tickets available to the caverns. Barbara had the same thought and when we presented our brainstorm to Ken, he said, “let’s do it!” Breakfast finished, we were off to Karchner Caverns.
Upon arriving at Karchner Caverns, we were happy to be vindicated in our “theory” with tickets to the Big Room available for the 1245 PM tour. We smiled with our good fortune because rising before 8AM has not been our “happy mode”. After viewing a video presentation of the discovery of the caverns and studying the exhibits in the Visitors center for background, we joined our tour “down under”.
The Big room was only opened to the public in November 2003. Although it was the first discovery, it was the last opened to the public because it is occupied by bats during “batting season”. Preparatory work was delayed to avoid “disturbing” the “tenants” and we understood that the Big Room will not be open to the public during “batting season”.
We did not tour the Thorne Room, one in a single day is sufficient, but we were told that the two rooms are very different and a trip into each results in a varied and different experience. Karchner Caverns is a “live” cave and the State of Arizona has gone to great lengths to preserve the “sanctity” of its environment. Karchner Caverns was first discovered in 1974. The discovery was kept secret for 14 years until the discoverers and owners of the land where the caverns are located were able to work out an agreement for purchase of the land and develop a plan for the development and preservation of the caverns for future generations. The State has done an outstanding job in its custodial position. The caverns, though in my view not as spectacular as Carlsbad Caverns, are awesome in their “down under” beauty with all of their stalagmites and stalactites. It was another good day in the great Southwest.
Friday was a wrap up day with a visit to Ft. Huachuca and the three museums on the base. Ft Huachuca is a cavalry base turned army intelligence. One museum is devoted solely to intelligence. A tour of the three museums was enlightening in the ways of the Army and the history of Ft. Huachuca and its tradition of Indian battles, negotiations and treaties. From the museums we drove up Garden Canyon, located on the base, for what was an interesting drive into the “boonies” in search of an Indian village supposedly in restoration. We did not find the Indian Village but we did have a nice drive into the ”wild” and endured another “washboard” road.
There you have it – a week in the “outback” of Southwestern Arizona. Today, Saturday, we returned to Casa Grande and tomorrow, Mike and Jeanne will meet us for lunch and Barbara will return to Phoenix with them in preparation for her return to Brazil on Wednesday. We have enjoyed sharing our travels with Barbara these past four weeks. We will miss her. We wish her a safe trip and happy “soul searching” as she pursues her missionary calling in Brazil.
Tuesday we are off to Las Cruces for a few days with the Haselmans and then, onward to our search for adventure and exploration.

HAVE A GOOD WEEK
*****************

Saint David Arizona, Sunday, January 11, 2004.


Holidays, 2003

Christmas 2003 was celebrated by our usual Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchange with family and friends. Among this years celebrants were: Ken’s sister Barbara who is visiting from Joa Passao Brazil; Ken’s brother, Don and wife Linda, their son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Jeanne and their daughter, Katie from Arizona; a cousin` Richard and his wife Wanda from Santa Clara; my nephew, John Baum, his wife Alice and daughter, Stephanie; our good friends and extended family members, Phil and Sheri. Our dearest daughter, Terri, our very special son, Gary, his sweet wife and our daughter-in-law, Marci, their children and our favorite grandchildren, Lauren and Sean, completed our two-table ensemble of twenty. While Ken and I, as host and hostess cannot speak to the merits of the parties success or failure, for us, it was a rare and especially happy time. We wished that all of our special family and friends near and far could have joined us but for the blessings of those that were here, we were especially grateful.

After a dinner served by and assisted in by all the esteemed guests, gifts were presented to the younger members of the assembled party and a version of generic gift exchange was observed for the adults. After an enjoyable and active session of barter and exchange Cousin Richard brought out the guitar and the group participated in a medley of Christmas carols that sometimes got “off key” but, nevertheless, enthusiastically rendered. Daughter Terri observed that we were evidence as to why there are no members of the Burns family acclaimed for their singing ability. Her observations notwithstanding, we all joined in and no one had to be embarrassed because they did not have the voice of a professional. Our memories of this wonderful celebration will remain with us always.

Christmas day was spent reviewing old photos and movies, visiting and, in short, relaxing after the festivities of the night before. Friday was a “clean up” and “reboot” day and on Saturday, we hosted a brunch for the California Gray (Ken’s mother’s side of the family) cousins who were available. As always, it was a wonderful day of visiting, relaxing and, for those who remembered and enjoy an old Gray tradition, old-fashioned sour dough buckwheat pancakes were the “featured” entrée. Mind you, as one whose taste buds have never fully acclimated to this particular dish, other options were provided though I am not sure that I was completely successful in providing the appropriate “fare” for a true brunch. However, I thought that the holiday feasting had probably left most of us suffering from “caloric intake” and adjusted my menu accordingly.


On Monday, the 29th, we packed up the RV and made our way to Desert Hot Springs where the “siblings” enjoyed visiting their childhood roots, and touring the old haunts of their youth. They visited the Palm Desert Historical Society and shared with the historians their memories of the desert of the 40’s and 50’s when the valley consisted mostly of cactus, jack rabbits, coyotes, lizards (also known as chuckwallas),sand and solitude. Ken’s family moved to the Palm Desert area in the mid 1940’s and spent their winters there until the late 70’s when they sold their last desert property and became full time Arizonians.

We saw the New Year in with our good friends, Ken and Marian Herbert and enjoyed the music and singing accomplishments of a fellow RV’er who entertained us with his renditions of many of the “oldies but goodies”.

On Saturday, January 3, we departed Desert Hot Springs, said goodbye to Don and Linda, who had to return to their structured and “employed” way of life and traveled with Barbara to Emerald Cove on the Colorado River. There, we spent three days enjoying the quiet solitude of that river oasis. Ken and Barbara visited Lake Havasu and attended the movie “LORD OF THE RINGS” (Part 3) while I relaxed and enjoyed the river view. I was barely able to stay awake through part 1 and didn’t through part 2 so I didn’t feel I was ready to endure yet another experience. Both Ken and Barbara returned to the RV excited about the presentation and acclaiming its virtue as worthy of ones viewing pleasure. Barbara did admit that there were a lot of battles contained in the presentation and that tends to dissuade my viewing interest.

On Wednesday we moved on into Phoenix and enjoyed the evening with Mike, Jeanne and Katie. The next morning, we drove to Tucson and spent two days touring the Tucson area with a stop off at the ruins at Casa Grande National Monument at Coolidge Arizona and touring Saguaro National Park, the desert museum and downtown Tucson. On Saturday, Barbara visited a former Brazilian missionary and long time friend in Tucson while Ken and I shopped and ran some errands. We arrived here at Saint David, located near Benson Arizona, late yesterday but early enough to enjoy a steak dinner with entertainment provided by a local “cowboy” with an 18-string guitar. What he may have lacked in prime time talent, he made up for in his enthusiasm and knowledge of the songs and their history.

Sunday, January 11th, we awakened to the sounds of raindrops on the roof and the day has been overcast with sprinkles on and off throughout the day. Ken and Barbara are off to Tombstone to tour the sights, relive the “gunfight at Okay Carrole” and will undoubtedly complete their oversight with a visit to Boot Hill. I have been there, done that and I am perfectly content to ramble on via this resource and let them do their thing.

Our best to all of you and drop me a note as your time permits. Happy New Year.