Kitt Peak National Observatory

The largest collection of telescopes on Kitt Peak is located high above the Sonoran Desert under some of the finest night skies in the world, on the Tohono O'odham nation.

We were able to park The Moose at the bottom of the mountain and drive the jeep up to the observatory.  It was 12 miles to the top where 26 various telescopes are positioned.  We took the quick self guided tour of the mountain, guided tours are available.  I would love to go back to participate in this program. "Nightly Observing Program."  The evening begins with a light supper, followed by a dramatic sunset viewing.  The guides then show you how to use star charts to navigate the sky and lead you on a binocular tour of the heavens.  Then, you take turns viewing through one of the telescopes at several objects.  Next time around we are doing this.

On top of the mountain with the telescopes was a visitor center, dormitories and services to maintain the facility.

Deck playing with the plasma display.

Spectacular view from the solar scope looking back at the observatory.

McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope.  

Looking out from the top of the mountain.

It was amazing to be able to look in any direction and see so far away.

Being so high up in the mountains was awesome, the sights were breathtaking.  

Deck took this panoramic shot. It is a 180 degree view from the observatory to the mountain ridge.

Some of the roads had drop offs like this one sure
wouldn't want to test that guard rail.

West side of Tucson, Gilbert Ray County Campground

Were surrounded by Cacti which makes a cozy little spot.

There are mountains out the front window of the camper.

Our day time view of the mountains.

It was a cloudy day until sunset.  At the last moment the sun cast the red onto the mountains,
within the blink of an eye it was all gone.

Check out Moose with a two foot round
Saguaro right out the window.

Our campground was off Kinney Rd., and well,
my maiden name was Kinney.

We rode our bikes around the campground and found many vehicles with their hoods up.  Upon inquiring, we were told that their are pakrats in the desert that will eat your rubber and electrical wires.  To ward this off, open your hood at night and put on lights to deter them.  Guess it worked everything seemed fine after two nights.

We LOVE Arizona

We rolled into Arizona on February 28 and camped 3 days in Bowie then onto Tombstone for 3 more days.  Our current stop is Tucson, the only place we could find a spot.  Luckily we can stay here 2 weeks.  Tomorrow we must vacate and haven't been able to secure a reservation anywhere, we have decided to head south to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  January - March are the months Northerners and Canadians come to the southwest ,darn there are a lot of people here and it's been difficult to continue our rambling ways.  That will all change April 1st when everyone heads home,we have to survive 10 more days.

It's been great staying in Tucson, a real city with stores and all kinds of things to do.  What a change from the month of February where everything was few and far between, really nothing there at all.   It's amazing the contrast between enjoying our natural beauty then returning to civilization as we know it with our Starbucks, Target, Lowe's, Applebee's and endless stores and restaurants,we were ready for it.

The weather has been great, the sun shines 265 days of the year were told, I'm a believer.   We could easily buy a home here and we may down the road, we like it that much.  So many people we have met have traveled like were doing, then came here to stay the winter and travel during the summer months when it gets really hot starting in May lasting until September.  July and August are referred to as the monsoon season. There are dry river beds everywhere, it must be wild when the rain starts and flash floods are of concern.   Right now it's very dry, sandy and rocky including little rocks that get stuck in your shoes daily and you have to pick them out.  Oh that's just an observation and one we can live with.

We are in the city of Tucson.  
Behind the store and below the clouds are the mountains.

We have a mall across the street, beyond the bushes there is a busy boulevard.  If you look below the clouds you can see the mountains in the distance.

Marathon Southwest Texas

We left the Hill Country heading west on 10 then south towards Big Bend National Park.

The drive south to Marathon TX is the beginning of the desert.

Our campsite at the Marathon Motel and RV Park.

 

It's desert, brown and very little green vegetation.

View from our campground.

 

Inside the walled area was a place for campers to picnic or have a fire.

The GAGE Hotel in Marathon
a really cool place to stay if your not camping.

Inside the lobby of the Gage Hotel.

An exterior wall of the Hotel.

Christmas in Florida and Happy New Year

Our decorations, also thinking we should call our motor home the Moose and I'll change his attire after Christmas, Deck hasn't concurred yet, will see.

Top notch resort in Williston, FL.

We had a beautiful corner lot.

Can you believe this spot?

We paid way more then we usually do but this resort had everything.  After video chatting Christmas eve with the kids/grand kids on google Duo we headed out to play bingo, ha ha we have never played, we lost a quick $20, you have to pay attention they fly through those calls, serious stuff.

Christmas Day we were invited to a free dinner at 2pm.  This alone was worth the extra bucks we paid, it was wonderful, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls and deserts beyond our wildest dreams.  Well worth the extra bucks to hang out in this beautiful resort and have dinner without cooking or cleaning up, priceless.

We moved onto Panacea RV resort which is hardly worth mentioning, thankfully we only had 2 days reserved there, they had water/electric/sewer so not a total flop.

Ho Hum RV Park in Carabelle, FL now were talking, our site is right on the Gulf Coast, just a little foggy, it's 1pm in the afternoon, were just pretending there is something to look at.

This is our New Year's place were here until the 2nd.

Looking better already.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Travel stats as of December 21, 2018

71 Days on the road

7 States

2,617 Miles

12 Campgrounds

Our Camping cost are averaging $20 a day, we have used Passport America, Coast to Coast, Good Sam Club, State Parks, National Parks & Forest and occasionally Walmarts.

Here is a list of the campgrounds we have stayed at, how many days, what type of park or discount we used.

Walmart , 3 nights
                                                                        
Hellcreek Ranch, Hell, MI., 5 days, private.
                                           
Mammoth Cave, Cave City, KY., 3 days, National Park
                                  
Lazy Llama, Chuckney, TN., 7 days, Passport America
                                         
Pride Resort, Waynesville, NC., 7 days, Coast to Coast
                                      
Shadrock,  Bristol, TN .,  3 days, Passport America
                            
Shadyfork, Wytheville, VA., 4 days, National Forest Campground

Shenandoah, Gordonsville, VA., 14 days, Coast to Coast

Hunting Island State Park, Beaufort, SC., 6 days, State Park

Faver Dykes , St. Augustine, FL.,  2 days, State Park

Jonathon Dickson's , Hobe Sound, FL., 3 days, State Park

Bee's RV Resort, Clermont, FL., 4 days, Coast to Coast

Homosassa River RV Park, Homosassa, FL., 3 days, Passport America

We spent 7 days visiting in Marathon Key without our motothome.

Bristol TN or is that VA

There is a street in Bristol that is in TN on one side and VA on the other a little strange, just like when we were in KY at Mammoth Caves our phones were confused with the time we were on the line of the Eastern and Central Time zone.  We showed up for our cave tour an hour early (like we wanted to do that).

We have been in Bristol for 3 days the Nascar race track is 1/2 mile away, tomorrow we head 65 miles north into Mtn. Rogers National Recreation Area to stay at Stony Fork Campground for a week, we will be off the grid, meaning no internet or tv, they have some electric sites, good thing it's been cold at night, we have an electric heater which is better than burning our propane.  It looks like a beautiful place with lots of hiking 

November 6, we spent the afternoon on the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a bike path 36 miles long.  We only had time to ride 9 miles and then back 9 miles to our jeep.  They do have bike company's that shuttle you along the trail with or without renting their bikes.  We got a late start due to over night thunderstorms.  It was a beautiful ride we went over 11 trestle bridges on our trip.  All of the pictures below were taken on the trail.

 

Beginning our travels on the road in our RV

October 12, 2018 we sold our house and moved into Hell Creek, 1 mile from Hell Michigan and 5 miles from our home of 30 years.  Everything has a starting point and this was ours.  We hope you will follow along on our journey traveling America.