Day 16 - Stop 4 - Holbrook, AZ - Home of the Wigwam Motel

After leaving Winslow we passed through Holbrook.  Plenty of old Route 66 sights including the Wigwam Motel.  I always remembered seeing the old post cards of the Wigwam, I use to think how cool it would have been to have spent the night there.

Day 16 - Stop 3 - Winslow, AZ

On our way to the Petrified Forest National Monument we passed through Winslow, it was such a fine town to see.  There is a song with words kind of like that, but I did find myself standing on a corner there.  I did see a girl in a flat bed floor, well at least a painting of her.

Day 16 - Stop 2 - Walnut Canyon National Monument

After leaving Montezuma Castle National Monument we headed to Walnut Canyon National Monument.  

After viewing the canyon Debra cooked some lunch in the Roadtrek.  We enjoyed pork chops, hash browns and fresh asparagus.   Having a RV makes it great to travel, you have your own bed and kitchen, that is so wonderful!

Day 16 - Stop 1 - Montezuma Castle National Monument

Woke up a little late, we were the last RV to leave.  Thought we would stop in at the Cliff casino, left there with $22 less in my pocket.  So the free night really cost me $22, not bad.

From there we headed to Montezuma Castle National Monument.  You don't get a chance to get too close to the ruins anymore, but at one time you could actually climb up to them!  Very smart to not let people actually visit them anymore, too dangerous for people and the ruins.  

I have a knack for finding Class B RV's it seems.

Next stop, Walnut Canyon National Monument. 

Day 15 - Leaving Tucson and heading north

We left Davis-Montham about 10:00 after breakfast and securing the RV for getting on the road.  We made a visit to Eegee's to try one of their frozen drinks.  We had a Pineapple-watermelon drinks and it was pretty good, different, but good.  

When then headed to the Saguaro National Park to see the big cactus that cover the land there.  Some of the things we learned about the mighty Saguaro is that they grown about 1 inch a year, they weigh about 100 pounds for each foot in height and they about 100 years old when they spout "arms".  

We stopped in Coolidge and bought some Bar-B-Que at Bubba's BBQ, I guess now you know I like BBQ!  I bought just a big sandwich to split with Debra, it was good, made a good choice.  

Next stop on our route, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Coolidge, AZ.  

Passing through Chandler we stopped for a much needed car wash visit to clean the Roadtrek.  We found Crystal Springs Car wash and their bays that were big enough for our 9'9" tall RV.  

All clean and back on the road heading north on our way to Camp Verde where we planned to stay in the parking lot of the Cliff Castle Casino.  There were about 6 RV's parking there, another Class B, some Class A's and a couple of trailers.  The casino had a shuttle that would pick you and bring you back if you wanted.  

I will edit some video for the places we stopped at later, no time right now.

Days 14 - A simple day of relaxation

We decided to stay two more days at the FamCamp at Davis-Montham.  The have a dog wash there, kind of like a car wash but smaller and enclosed.  We took Spike there along with a handful of quarters to pay for the wash.  he liked it pretty well until we tried the dryer, it was loud and all three of us decided a towel would be better.  He was glad the vote was three to zero on the towel vote!  With the humidity at 15% according to my hygrometer in my RV it did not take long for him to dry.

We met with another of Debra's cousin and her husband for lunch at Pocos & Mom's.  They are dog friendly, so we ate outside with Spike joining us for lunch.  The waiter brought Spike a big bowl of water and that made him happy.  The food was great and the company was better, it is nice to be able to travel now at leisure being retired to catch up with family around the country.  Having a class B makes it so easy to just jump in it and drive somewhere. 

We went shopping at the commissary and I stopped to get a haircut.   It was nice to be able to go to a nice commissary, this one was really nice.  It even had a nice firearm department!

Dinner was at one of Debra's cousin's house, most of her relatives that live in the Tucson area showed up and it was great!   

Day 12 & 13 Mission San Zavier del Bac and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Day 12:

After visiting the campground office and getting officially checked we had some breakfast and made plans for the day.  Debra has some of her family living in Tucson and today would be a day for just visiting them.  We are going to make sightseeing plans for day 12, there is a lot to see in the Tucson area and I don't even know where to start.  One of Debra's cousins said she wants to show us around some and that will be a great help.

Day 13:

Spent the day driving around and seeing some of the sights Tucson has to offer.  Riding around town in the Roadtrek was fantastic.  My wife, her cousin, her cousin's granddaughter, our dog and I were very comfortable as we toured Tucson.  Our first stop was Mission San Zavier del Bac, a beautiful Catholic mission that has undergone work to restore and preserve it.  The construction started in 1783 and was completed in 1797.  It is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona.

After touring the mission we had some fresh fry bread some local women were cooking and selling out front under some ramadas.  I had one made into a taco and then a plain one sprinkled with cinnamon.   They were very tasty!

From there we traveled to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  It was kind of hot and I decided to stay in the RV with Spike to keep him company, he really was glad I did.  We sat in the back and watched some TV while the ladies toured the museum.  

Spike resting inside the RV with me

After they were done touring the museum we loaded up and we headed back to town, dropped of the relatives and headed back to Davis Montham Air Force Base.  Debra and I spent a little time washing the Roadtrek, it had gotten pretty dirty in the last few days of driving.  As I was pulling back into our camping spot  I enjoyed the sight of our new neighbors RV.

 Time for some dinner, a little TV watching and making plans for tomorrow.