Merry Christmas from Arizona

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends from Apache Junction , Arizona .

Casa Grande Ruins

We took a ride today and came across the ruins. It is really worth a visit.

The Great House was 4 stories and 60 ft. long and had several rooms inside. The walls had even been painted with a reddish paint that the Indians made. The colors have faded now but, you can see some color left on the interior walls.

The remains are believed to be around 600 yrs old. The Hohokam people were farmers, they built along the Gila river and set up an irrigation system to water their crops. They lived in permanent settlements and made pottery for trading. Ancient ballcourts have also been found here along with several different artifacts. By 1694 the Hohokam had disappeared, it is believed that their water supply dried up due to major droughts.

inside structure

mud walls

Catching up with old friends

Finally caught up with some of our camping friends from last years adventure.

We meet up with Toni and Doug in Beaumont, Tx in Nov. for a couple of days. Next we caught up with Jerri and Terri in Casa Grande and then we moved on up to Apache Junction and there we saw Jim and Sandie and Eric and Carla.  Really good to see everyone again.  We are all staying in this area until after Christmas so I’m sure we will be visiting frequently and swapping stories at sunsets.

Christmas in Phoenix, Az

It wouldn’t be Christmas without seeing the lights so here we are at the Arizona Temple of Latter Day Saints.  A fantastic display of lights covering approximately 3 acres.

The Ghost Town of Mongollon and new friends

This trip was quiet a wonderful find. We rode through this old ghost town just out of curiosity and had quit an adventure. Of course they had a few old buildings with some shops and a museum ,but everything was closed for the season, pretty typical for a ghost town. On our way back to prepare to move on down the road we were approached by a fellow and his wife. These folks were out looking around also so they stopped to talk to us and we found out they were in the fifth wheel next to us back at camp. They were well prepared for an adventure, they had some info on Mongollan (muggy-own) from the ranger station and permission to look around the buildings, cemetary and mine. So we joined them!

Meet Brad and Marilyn from Ontario, Canada. They graciously invited us to join them in there search for the original old town and the gold mine. What we thought was the original town was not it. We climbed into their 4 wheel drive truck and headed up the hill to the cemetary first.

Most of the folks in the cemetary died very young in their 20's, 30's and 40's, some infants and children, and only a few older folks 60's and 70's. The markers were mostly crude iron crosses or wooden crosses or nothing more than a pile of rocks. Most of the dates were early 1900's.

We found the original town next with more than 15 buildings still standing.

This was a hugh mining operation until it closed in early 50's.

Catwalk

Moved from City of Rocks to Glenwood N.M. Found a spot to dry camp and set-up for 2 nights in the National Forest so we could hike to an are called the catwalk. The trail is about 3 miles round trip up a canyon with a creek flowing through it.

Part of the trail is over a suspended catwalk anchored into the rock walls over the water. There was several footbridges that crisscross the water. The catwalk was part of a trail to maintain a water source for a gold mining operation there back in the 30's and 40's., not much left of the old operation other than a few foundations.

Gila Cliff Dwellings

While we were at City of Rocks we drove up to Gila Wilderness area to see the Cliff Dwellings. It was a beautiful drive through the national forest up to the area where the dwellings were located. On the drive up hwy 15, the road was very narrow and winding so we were glad we left the motorhome behind and drove up.

The Mogollon Indians (muggy-own) were believed to have lived here from 1270-1300. The dwellings are in amazing shape and you can go inside most of them. The dwellings face south so they are heated in winter and shaded in summer and there was about 42 rooms.

Rudolph lives in Tx

Our grandson Bodie got a big thrill feeding the deer at Medina. We told him this is where Santa sends them until he needs them for Christmas deliveries. He doesn't know they are not reindeer, so the bucks with horns passed that test!

Westward Ho

City of Rocks State Park, NM

Left Medina, Tx on Dec. 2 and headed west. Overnited at Walmart in Fort Stockton and headed north on Hwy 285 into New Mexico on Friday. Stopped in Ruidoso for the night and next day stopped at City of Rocks state park. This was a very interesting place with camping among these hugh rock formations out in the middle of nowhere.

Indians camped and lived here for awhile, the Apache were protected by the rocks since the surronding area was all open plains. We saw several grinding areas in the rocks that proved they were there. Some of the grinding holes were at least 12 inches deep into the rock.

Of course Jerry had to check out some of the tallest rocks.....children will be children!

Thanksgiving at Lake Medina, Tx

Arrived at Lake Medina in time to snap a sunset picture from our front door...ahh! Lake Medina is about 40 miles west of San Antonio in the hill country surrounded by lots of working ranches. The park is full of deer everywhere, just lying around the campers like dogs. They are feed well and are very tame, after they get to know you they will eat out of your hand, even the big bucks.
We had Thankgiving here at the park. There was a huge turnout with lots of food, turkey with all the trimmings. We were going to take a long walk afterwards,but it turned into a nap..oh well!

Grandkids arrived this afternoon for a few days. Mom and Dad wanted to see San Antonio. Nana and Papa won't be taking any naps that's for sure. Where do they get all that energy???? Yikes!

Painted Churches-Columbus, Tx

Nov. 19, 2010

Moved on towards San Antonio we stopped outside Houston in Columbus, Tx. It is a real small town, it does have a Walmart, but not much else. So we took a ride around the area to see the Painted Churches. Several historical churches in this area have been restored and decorated inside with lots of faux painting.

Most of the churches are Catholic and were started by Czech immigrants in 1856.

Leaving Beaumont

Nov. 17, 2010

We have had lots of fun with the Grandbabies for the last few weeks. We are heading over to San Antonio for Thankgiving and the family will join us at Lake Medina Thousand Trail park for a week.

Unfortunately our beloved boston terrier (Boston) will not be joining us. After some agonizing and tearful days we finally made a decision to have her put to sleep after 13 years as our furry child. She was suffering from heart failure and was slowly getting worse and there wasn't anything we could do. I know she is in far better hands and out of pain, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. Goodbye old friend.

Nana and Papa are here!

Nana and Papa finally made it to the grandbabies house in Beaumont, Tx. They were so excited to see us, as much as we were to see them and the daughter and son-in-law.

We got there the day before Halloween so we got to see their costumes. Cute aren't they?!!!

The rest of the story ......Betty's Web

Next stop was Betty's RV in Abbeville, LA We had read post by Paul and Marsha about Betty's RV Park , so we made a stop. It is not like we had anything else to do. Besides we wanted to see the Tabasco factory on Avery Island.

Betty was the sweetest lady you could meet, she has about 10 spaces around her home and everyone becomes part of her family. We were welcomed right away by Betty, George and CeCe , who had just arrived for the winter, and Marvin. Happy Hour was at 4:30 on Betty's patio and she always had snacks ready for everyone. The first night there we went with everyone to dinner and Betty educated us about crawfish and alligator and where to get the best dishes in town.

The next day we went to Avery Island, La where the Tabasco factory sits. The smell of Tabasco sauce greets you to the island where it has been made for nearly 200 yrs. by the McIhenny families and still owned and operated by the family. Did you know that the peppers are ground and put in oak barrels (just like Jack Daniels) and aged for 2-3 yrs in a warehouse?

10-31 to 11-9-2010 Catch up

Having computer problems so I'm a little behind.

Where were we..oh yeah leaving Florida and on to New Orleans.

Stopped in New Orleans for a couple of nights and had some beignets (french doughnuts) at Cafe Dumon in the French Quarter. Strolled the streets, been hear done that. New Orleans is still New Orleans! Dirty...