Saturday February 9th

He's found us. We have to move.

We've been avoiding him for almost two weeks. We see him in the oncoming traffic lane, or pulled off on the side of the road in rest areas and parking lots. Sometimes he even passes us going in the same direction, but pretends like he doesn't even recognize us.

Today he's in the truck parking area of the casino. I spotted him while I was walking Gab, but I think he didn't see me. But he knows we're here. Somewhere.

Like Dennis Weaver in "Duel", we're being pursued by a semi truck. Not a fuel tanker this time - even worse. This truck is a Wal*Mart truck. I don't know how he always seems to know where we're going let alone get there ahead of us, but somehow he does. Just when we think we've lost him, there he is again.

Also like the semi in "Duel", the demon Wal*Mart truck is often driverless. It was this morning, and it has often been when we've spotted it in rest areas and parking lots. Sometimes it tries to fool us with a mannikin or something in the driver's seat, but we know it's not real because we never get a good look. God knows what horrible things are taking place in that windowless sleeper box, though. I shudder to even think of it.

Which is why we have to get away. North, I think - that'll fool him. Until now we've been moving south, so the change in direction just might throw him off... for a while. Somewhere where there's lot of traffic, and maybe we can hide in the crowds. Near a big city like... Phoenix... for example... maybe just on the outskirts a bit in a place like... Maricopa. He wouldn't think of looking for us in a place like that, would he?

OH MY GOD I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING. What if he reads this blog - then he'll know! But wait - trucks can't read. Or maybe demon trucks can. Just in case, WE'VE CHANGED OUR MINDS. WE'VE DECIDED NOT TO GO NORTH. WE WILL PROCEED IN A SOUTHEASTERLY DIRECTION THROUGH NEW MEXICO AND TEXAS, AND EVENTUALLY ALL THE WAY OUT INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO WHERE WE'LL PARK UNDER 400 FEET OF WATER. Hope that worked. Pray for us just in case.

Friday February 8th

Not much to report today - haven't even taken any pictures. Today was a day for puttering on a few things that needed fixed, then starting cocktail hour a litte bit early (2:00's not bad, eh?). After all, it's the weekend! Nice to relax a bit after that hectic pace all week. Pour yourself a beer, and go sit in a lawn chair.

Thursday February 7th

Up bright and early today (8:00), and on the road almost immediately (9:00-ish), off to Colossal Cave park. We were the only participants on the 9:50 tour, so John the tour guide stretched the half hour tour into about an hour for us (we're slow learners, I guess). If you're in the area (just east of Tucson off I-10) I highly recommend the tour.
From there, we headed south to Tombstone and Bisbee. Everything you hear about Tombstone is correct... it is indeed a giant tourist trap. Bisbee is a neat old town... but if you go make sure you go through the old town and don't just whiz through on the highway.
On the return trip we came cross country on highways 90/82/83. Trip was uneventful other than making an unfortunate turn into Fort Huachuca military base, where the MP was quite pleasant and told us exactly how to get the heck out of there. Big sigh when he looked at my Canadian driver's license, though, so there must be a few of us that make that wrong turn.
Back at camp about 5:30, just in time to get a warning from a new neighbour lady about her overly protective german shepherd and how she couldn't be responsible for any vet bills. Don, Gab, and I decided to take our cocktails out on the patio tonight, and shortly after we got comfortable she moved her truck and fifth wheel another hundred feet away. Probably a coincidence. Anyway, the lot is getting crowdeder and crowdeder every day, and we've seen just about all of this neck of the woods that we want to for now, so maybe it's time to mosey on.

Wednesday February 6

I'm writing this on Feb 7th, in case anyone's confused, and I hope to get it posted sometime on Feb 8th if all goes well.

My apologies to anyone who's been checking in over the past couple of days, as there haven't been any posts. If in fact anyone HAS been checking in. But if no one has, then this is all moot anyway and I'm just talking to myself. Nothing new there, really.

Wireless at the casino seems to be a bit hit and miss. Mostly miss. We parked along the back edge of the lot and had no major problems picking up the casino's WiFi, until other units started to arrive and park between us and the building. Whenever someone takes the spot right between, we lose the signal. As you know, Wilie Nelson wa here for a couple nights and graciously lent us his signal, but he pulled out yesterday (Wednesday) just as I was uploading the day's pictures, so that update crashed. Right now there are about 50-60 RVs in the lot, two of which are pretty much diectly between us and the building. Of course I could move, but I kinda like this edge spot.

Anyway, if you're reading this then I must have got a signal at least temporarily. On to the Wednesday post:

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Whew! A busy day today - we didn't get in all the tourist attractions we wanted to, and we still never got back for happy hour until about 5 PM.

For starters, we had more frost this morning. I'll not include a picture since the last one didn't elicit the degree of sympathy for which I'd hoped. Suffice to say that it was a tad chilly walking Gab first thing this morning in my thongs (the feet ones).

We had planned to do the Mission Mine tour, the San Xavier Mission, the Old Tucson Studios, and the Desert Museum. We had to pas on the Desert Museum, but we did manage to get caught up in a 10 mile line traffic jam between Old Tucson and the mine.

I'm just going to throw a bunch of pictures into today and let them speak for themselves. The only thing to add I think is that Don was pretty happy we both got the senior discount at the mine tour... I was somewhat less happy, but hey, 2 bucks saved is another 1/2 hour in the casino tonight.

Tuesday February 5th

Woke up this morning to FROST on the car, if you can believe it. Thermometer says it got down to 29.6F last night (OK, everyone together please: "Awe, poor poor Vic & Don".) OK, I feel better now.

As advertised, we crossed the border into Nogales Mexico today and partook of one of the largest yard sales I've EVER seen. I made so many friends among the vendors... they were all calling me their "best" friend. We got out of there relatively unscathed; just a few trinkets and we each got a great $6 haircut. Here's a picture of Don's, but you'll have to wait a bit to see mine (I tried to get him down to $4, since there weren't many hairs to cut, but it didn't work). A side benefit of the haircut was that we got to watch some Mexican girls shaving other Mexican girls while we got trimmed. (-:

Back in good ol' US of A, we had lunch (told you we didn't stay in Mexico long) at the IHOP, and I got my fix for country fried steak out of the way. Then we took Highways 82/83 back again for the scenic tour of the mountains (I didn't take any pictures, but just imagine Kamloops/Barriere country with a few prickly pear cactusses thrown in). Just one roadblock along the way where the US Border Patrol had a look in the car, and back home again to the Casino.

Gab was pretty happy to see us when we got back - she was on motorhome guard duty with Mojo today. She did a pretty thorough inspection of the car (moreso than the border patrol) to see if we'd brought anyone back with us and was quite disappointed that we hadn't (in a dog's world being gone 6 hours is equivalent to being gone a week). Mojo on the other hand didn't even know we'd left.

Willie Nelson's playing the casino tonight, but we didn't get tickets. Only one song I'd want to hear anyway. I do have to say thank you to him though - the WiFi I'm on right now has an SSID "Me and Paul", and is much stronger than the casino signal. Since Willie's busses are about 500 yards away right now, I'm just guessing...

Monday February 4th

It's a dreary day today in the desert. There was a winter storm warning last night for the area, and this morning it's wet and chilly (dropped down to about 55F. brrr). Don's liking this weather as it reminds him of the coast, but I'm for staying inside today. If we do anything interesting I'll let you know.

(later)

We got off our asses finally and took a tour into Tucson, drove around the circle route to the west (partially intentionally). Sometimes the best spots are the ones you just happen across... like the sign to "Sentinal Mountain" - took the turn and got a great view of downtown Tucson (pic).

After that we took a drive 'round the backside of the mountain through Saguaro National Park. I'd have had more pictures, but Don forgot his camera and my batteries died (darn Kandie and her cat pic - I turned the flash on and forgot to turn it off).

Finally back to the campsite. And just for those folks who didn't take my "storm warning" seriously here's a pic to prove that it really does snow down here. Still a safe distance away yet, though.

Tomorrow the weather's supposed to be clear, so I think we're Mexico bound. TTFN

Sunday February 3rd

Got up nice and early so as to be out of the HD parking lot soon after they opened (8:00 AM according to the sign). We took on about 1/2 a load of fuel at the ARCO station, probably more because it was confusing to fuel and pay than anything else. In case you're wondering, gas was about $US 2.72/gallon ($US 0.72/litre).

So we headed down the road a whopping 80 miles or so to the Desert Diamond Casino, about 12 miles souh of Tucson. Free boondocking for up to 7 days here (plus free WiFi), so looks like this is a nice base for exploring the area. We're kinda thinking about doing the caves, Tombstone, hop the border into Mexico (and hopefully back again), and whatever else looks interesting in the area.

But for now, we're settled in with our parking pass, we have the Super Bowl pregame show on the TV (it's about 12:30), and we're enjoying our first cocktail of the day. The only immediate decision facing us is whether we should go back in and watch the game on the big screen in the lounge or stay out in the MH where the drinks are much cheaper. Tough dilemma, right?

I do have one public service request: Anyone reading this who knows Kim's phone number please call her and tell her to send Don an email. He's feeling a little lonely and unloved. And if anyone else wants to send him an email (as long as it's not about Viagra or penis enlargement [leave those for Kim]) his new on-the-road email address is dgphillips1952@gmail.com. For mercy sake, someone PLEASE talk to him.

(later)
OK, I'm back - It's coming onto 4:00, the games about to start. We went into the casino a little before 3, and all the tables in the lounge were already staked out. Since then I proceeded to contribute my daily quota to the needy casino owners, so now I'm back where I can get a cheap drink and a comfy seat to watch the game & lick my wounds. To further irritate matters, our WiFi connection has dried up & disappeared for now.

(next day)
Well, the Super Bowl was kind of like watching a typical CFL game, right? Nothing much for the first 50 minutes and then a frenzy in the last 10. Except in the CFL they normally wait til the last 5. Got apicture of Gab watching the game with me... Don wached from the tables inside.

I took a picture of the details on that motorhome at the Quartzsite RV show - yes, Marvin, it was at the show (although the owners still do live in it) and not parked beside us. There were a few interesting units out there, too, though.