The Final Leg Home

Traveled 566 km to Cincinnati OH  Gas $1.81 gal

Then 386 km to Munroe MI.  Gas $1.76.

One more day to Canada.

Traveled 170 km to Bayfield On. Boarder crossing was easy.  We were then hosted for the night by friends.

Final Day.

Traveled 202 km to Blue Mountains.  Gasping at the price of Gas.

It is great to be home. But we will always remember the highlights.

For Kevin - Antelope Canyon, Tombstone and Death Valley

For Sandra - Sedona, Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest.

13,550 km traveled.

Days 67-69

Traveled 533 km to Little Rock AK  Gas $2.00 gal

Followed by %40 km to Peducah KY.  Gas $2.30 gal

A rest for the driver, while Sandra enjoyed the National Quilt Museum and some fabric shopping.

Days 65 & 66

Near Dallas we stayed at Cedar Hill State Park.  A round of golf at the Lancaster Golf Course.  Then a day on the Texas B-B-Q Tour.

We started this tour with viewing some high lights of Fort Worth  like this Water Garden. What an amazing structure.

Once you walk to the bottom the sound of the water is incredible.

From there to:

Here we enjoyed some local beer while sitting in the saddle

.

 Then watched the daily cattle drive.

From here we were taken to three different restaurants were we learned about the art of smoking meat.  

Here is Kevin adding some wood to a fire that is smoking the meat in the next picture.

The food we tasted was so flavorful that Kevin is planning to try some BBQ smoking at home.

We would highly recommend this tour.

Days 62-64

Traveled 507 km to El Paso TX.  Gas $1.93

During this drive we had our first taste of snow.

Traveled 714 km to Abilene TX  Gas $1.85 gal
A days travel past fields of cotton when were expecting cattle ranches

Traveled 190 km to Dallas.  Gas $1.89

Our travel today was through the heart of the Texas oil fields, miles of horse-head pumps.

Day 60 & 61

Traveled to Tombstone.

 A final camping night with the  Wilton's.
 Traveled 340 km.  Gas $2.60 gal.

We began our day of touring Tombstone with a real western breakfast at Brenda's Chuck-wagon. Very delicious and we highly recommend it.  Our day consisted of watching a film about the history of Tombstone, watching a reenactment of the Fight at the OK Corral, and touring buildings preserved from the late 1800's where bullet holes in the saloons walls were still very visible.

Tombstone has a mining history.  Here is Kevin with some cages (elevators) from an old silver mine.

Day 58 & 59

After a fantastic two weeks in the Yuma area it was time to begin our journey home.  As we left this area one last Date milkshake was a must for Lunch.  Elaine and Eldon traveled with us to Organ Pipe National Monument.

What an amazing place.  To camp surrounded by so many different types of cactus was once again a different and beautiful experience.

The park has a self guided tour that we took.  During the tour we gained significant knowledge of Cactus and who knew there were such a variety of them.

We learned that Sarguaro do not get their first limbs until they are over 60 years of age.

One that some cactus were used for fencing.

We traveled 260 km        Gas $2.60 per gal.

We spent a second day here and took the opportunity to do a final 2.5 mile hike in the desert.

Yuma Week Two

This week we were able to get in three golf games.  Here in desert golf courses when you are off the fairway you could be on sand rather then rough.  Then you use a desert tee like below.  We were sad to hear we were not allowed to use them in the actual sand bunkers!!

We enjoyed a day outing that found us heading off the main roads into the desert.  Here we came across a road sign worth taking a picture of.

  Down this desert road we came to Painted Desert trail. A 1.3 mile hike through different rock formations.

 One of the reasons we chose Yuma as a destination spot was to Celebrate!!

Here are the Golden Anniversary couple Elaine and Eldon on the Painted Desert Trail.

We carried on to the Imperial Date farm.  The date shakes were excellent.
Our next stop was to view some old army vehicles in the Yuma Proving ground.

Then supper at Lutes Casino. This is Arizona's oldest pool hall and is filled with nostalgic pictures and memorabilia. Great food and we highly recommend it.

During our time here we have visited two open air markets. These are filled with new and used items and local flavor quick food.  Kevin is going home with a Boom Box for his shop and Sandra some quilt fabric.

A shopping day with other quilter's added to Sandra's stash.  The ladies of  Pioneer Park gather often to craft and do community projects together.  Sandra enjoyed viewing quilts and crafts in progress.

A large Thank You to Elaine and Eldon for being such great tourist guides and perfect hosts.

Yuma Week One

We had an overnight stay in Laughlin NV at the Avi Casino on route to staying at Pioneer RV Park in Wellton AZ
Traveled 680 km Gas $2.36 and $2.99

Our week here included a morning in the desert. The girls road their bikes and the guys went ahead to set up the targets.

It was fun to hit the pop cans on the ground and watch them dance. Like what we have watch the movie cowboys due.

We filled other days with a trip to Mexico where we purchased outdoor metal art, drives around the local area to see the vast vegetable farming, a swim in the pool, Elaine taught Sandra how to make a decorated jacket out of a plain sweatshirt and daily happy hours and long visit with Elaine and Eldon.

Days 40- 42

Bucket List item for Kevin, a stay in Death Valley.

 

Traveled 210 km Gas $2.66 gal.

Our first site of Death Valley was from Zabiskie's Point .

The land and rocks were a unique color but barren of plant life.  In the following picture you can see the salt flats in the background.

 The campground we stayed at was fitting called called Furnace Creek.

 We enjoyed our round of golf at the World's Lowest Golf Course. The temperature did reach 34C during our game.

 This course had a very unique outdoor bar.  You drive your golf cart up the ramp to pick up your order.

Throughout our stay in Death Valley we often ran across the following celebrities.  There is a prize for the person who comments back there character names!!

Some of the major viewing points were closed due to a recent flash flood but we were able to enjoy hiking at:

Dante's Point

The Sand Dunes

 Mosaic Canyon 

Days 34 - 39 Viva Las Vegas

We traveled to St George Utah and then to Las Vegas.  630 km  Gas  $2.59  & $2.68 //gal

Our stay in Vegas included two rounds of golf. Above Sandra is very happy after just getting a Par!!.
We also enjoyed a walk over Hoover Dam. A shame to see the Colorado River so very low.  It would not be Vegas without a walk down the Strip. Our first stop was the Daiquiri Stand out front of Treasure Island Casino. In our opinion they have been making the best Strawberry Daiquiri for over ten years.  We wondered a few of the new casinos and spent the evening on Fremont Street watching the buskers and enjoying the atmosphere.  Vegas has a great public transit bus that runs along the strip for only $8.00 for 24 hours. We stayed at the Hitching Post RV park on Las Vegas Blvd and it was very good.