Here Comes thaaah Dust!

Written Saturday, April 15, 2006 @ 6:32 am

The babies have been awake since a little after 6am. It’s very bright outside (as if it should be 9 am instead of 6 am) and their bodies are still on “Texas Time” so they think it’s time to wake up. It’s almost comical to hear Lil’ Sis whining only to have Lil’ Bro “yell” at her (I think he wants her to quiet down). Almost comical, not quite though because I’d rather be sleeping! Big Daddy & I stayed up later than we had wanted to last night but we were enjoying sitting out in the almost vacant campground talking beneath the moonlight.

We are staying at “Buena Tierra Campground” in Casa Grande, AZ. It’s the same one we stayed at on our way back east. We are amazed at how few people are here. When were here last time there were a whole heap of people. I don’t remember seeing any sites available in the section we’re in right now from the last time we were here. Many of the sites looked pretty permanent. I suppose the “snowbirds” headed back home.

When we were looking for places to stay last night, before Tucson, we found that rates are lower in April than when we were coming through in early March. I guess it’s getting to be too hot for tourists?

We almost stayed on the east side of Tucson so that we could go to the Pima Air and Space Musuem” today. We almost had reservations made when we remembered that it’s too hot to leave our dog in the RV all day. We were disappointed but we’ll be alright.

Las Cruces has an amazing jagged mountain range. I’m not sure why they call them the “Organ Mountains” (apparently it’s supposed to be self explanitory - they look like the lines on a heart monitor going crazy but I don’t think that’s why it’s called that). It’s a disappointment to leave scenary like that to only have to see miles and miles and miles of dessert. There were plateaus and big ol’ honkin’ “piles of dirt” scattered throughout they way to keep things interesting. Though there was a section in AZ that had interesting looking boulders. It looked as though some piles of rocks (BIG OL’ HONKIN’ rocks) dumped on eachother while others looked as if they had been artistically and carefully place with big ones balancing on small ones. I don’t remember seeing those on the way out... where was I then?

Big Daddy and I had an extra hard time staying awake yesterday. Maybe that’s why we had to travel for miles in gusty winds. They certainly helped to keep us awake! Big Daddy got to the point where he had to grip the steering wheel really hard and keep it turned into the wind so we wouldn’t get blown off of the road! Numerous signs warned of dust storms and gusty winds for the miles ahead. After eating dinner at “Texas Roadhouse” (where you can throw peanut shells on the floor - but not food... talk about confusing for a toddler!) the winds got worse. We even saw a small tornado going away from us. It looked like a “dust devil” on steroids. I tried to get a picture of it but my camera wouldn’t work. What a disappointment.

We made it safely to our campground (Big Daddy was relieved! He counted down the miles until we were to our destination). After checking in we went over to the outlet mall nearby. I was able to get three pairs of overalls and two pairs of jeans (for the kids of course) for $46 at the OshGosh outlet. I check at the Liz Claiborne store and found some possibities for skirts for me but wasn’t satisifed with the “deals” they were offering. Also, I had a hard time mentally being in there. It was the Liz Claiborne store in San Marcos, TX at the outlets that I first started feeling VERY ill with the stomach flu and being at the one here in Casa Grande made me flash back to some extremely unpleasant memories.

We’re hoping to see our friends in Phoenix today (though only briefly since they have to work today) and then continue to head west. We’ve been talking about going through Joshua Tree National Park again but haven’t decided whether or not we’ll do it. Stay tuned to see what we decided to do!

Over and Out - Lil’ Mama