Arizona 2000
Tennessee to Arizona
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This page was last updated on Jan 6, 2000
Jan 3, 00
Stayed overnight in Mt Pleasant, Texas and then drove all day across the state to Carlsbad, New Mexico and changed clocks to Mountain Time. The Carlsbad Caverns seemed to be a worthy detour as the pictures we had seen were quite spectacular. Arrived very late after 13 hours driving in the Texas winds, being constantly buffeted by trucks and crosswinds. Sandy's getting expert at this trailering thing now. We switch drivers every two hours and she always seems to get the bad parts - she drove through Dallas-Fort Worth with endless road works and lane closures. At least she could now get a part-time job driving trucks!
Jan 4, 00
Toured the Big Room in the Carlsbad Caverns after
walking down the Natural Entrance which descends 850' below ground.
Difficult to describe the sights on this journey - even the pictures don't
convey the incredible sights and size of the place. Not recommended
for the claustrophobic or the unfit! Of course, the caverns' natural state
is total darkness, but there is dramatic lighting to show the stalactites,
etc. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to photograph them.
Hope these pictures give some impression of the beauty of these caverns.
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After 3 hours underground, we took off for El Paso. Had images of a romantic, spanish pueblo-type town on the Mexican border - after all it's been the subject of many songs and movies. Nothing like that at all - it's a huge urban sprawl that's really rundown and industrialized on the outskirts and heavily congested in the town, with homeless Mexicans begging on nearly every corner. We decided not to stop there for the night and kept on towards Arizona - ever so close to our destination of Tucson.
Jan 5, 00
Dramatic change in scenery as we enter Arizona. Mountains more rugged and lots more of them.
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Jan 6, 00
The 6th? What was it I had to do today? Well, I'm sure I'll remember later.
Phoned around RV parks and some are fully booked until March! Prices seem to range from US$250 a month to $670 for Voyager RV Park which claims to be the #1 park in the USA. At that price we won't get a chance to find out. Checked out a few and decided to register at Justin's RV park and move there tomorrow until February 7. We'll have an address (R Morphew, 3551 S. San Joaquin Rd, Tucson, AZ 85735) and an emergency phone number (520 883-8340 the park office). Apparently there's no digital cell phone coverage in this part of Tucson so our new cell phone doesn't work!!!
Went out for dinner on Sandy's birthday tonight (knew I'd remember). Had an address for a Mexican restaurant but after driving round for an hour we gave up and went to Pizza Hut! And we are less than 50 miles from Mexico.