Traveling Twosome
  • Traveling Twosome Blog
  • BeBelize - Our life in Belize (2011-2013)
  • Earlier adventures (2003-2010)
    • First Belize Trip 2010
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    • Charleston Sailing School 2007
    • Biscayne Bay Sailing School 2007
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    • Southwest Parks 2006
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    • Offshore Sailing School 2004
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    • Biras Creek, BVI 2003
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"Pearl" in Winter Garden, Florida
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Long shadows in Wyoming

Travel from Padre Island, TX to Arizona

2/6/2014

2 Comments

 
After a fun-filled month on North Padre Island, Texas, it was time to move on to our next "snowbird" destination (VRBO condo) in Tucson, Arizona.  Neither of us had ever been to Tucson before and were happy we were finally going to get to check it out.

We had a long but good two-day drive from the Corpus Christi area to Tucson.  We had no idea west Texas would be so pretty, but it was.  Once we got into Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio, the scenery was really attractive.  We found the speed limit attractive as well; and it's a good thing too, as we had a long first day with over eight hours of driving, even at these speeds!
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Never seen signs like this east of the Mississippi!
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Great views somewhere in west Texas

We spent the night at a motel in the small west Texas town of Van Horn.  There's really nothing in this town but a row of economical motels, a railroad, a few restaurants, a couple of truck stops and gas stations, and a small RV park.  But it's the only place to stay in the immediate area, and we were delighted to find a Mexican restaurant, Chuy's, catty-corner across the street from our motel.  

After getting settled in our room, we were starved after our long day on the road, so got some takeout. While waiting for it, Barry took some photos of the amazing sunset outside, and I enjoyed looking at the many autographed photos plastered all over the walls of all the famous folks who have eaten there. Their main dining room is named for John Madden, and they pay homage to him on their lit sign outside. Guess he must have been a pretty regular customer! 
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Mountain view on the far side of the railroad tracks
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The sunsets in the southwest are often exceptional, and we certainly had one of those on this night. Stunning!  I did not retouch these photos in any way; this is what the camera saw.  Made me gasp when I stepped outside of the restaurant!
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The next morning, Barry got a few more shots of this funky little town before we hit the road.
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Cute junk shop by the side of the main road
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Interesting "art piece" (???) at the junk shop
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Van Horn main drag by daylight
Today we would quickly enter New Mexico before eventually crossing the Arizona state line.  A good chunk of the time in NM, we had views of Mexico right out the driver's side window, we were that close to the border.  We even had to go through a US Customs and Border Protection stop there (as did everyone), but once we stated that we were both US citizens, we were quickly sent on our merry way -- no check of license and registration required.  I hate to think what a mess it would have made if we'd been chosen for a full vehicle search with all we had packed into our CR-V!
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Mountains ahead!
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Onward to Tucson -- uncharted territory for us both!
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Traffic stop ahead!
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New Mexico provided beautiful desert and mountain scenery as always.
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Love the trains out west!
And before we knew it, we were in Arizona!
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Picture postcard views
We were somewhat intrigued by the many billboards touting this roadside attraction (tourist trap?) but did not stop to see what it was.  Reading Wikipedia, sounds like we could have gotten in for only a buck -- might have been worth it to see "The Thing"!
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I-10 also winds through the gorgeous "Texas Canyon", which is known for giant granite boulders.  We didn't even know it was coming so barely had time to snap a couple of photos as we drove through.
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Boulders in Texas Canyon area
Now we're here in Tucson and loving escaping winter.  Although the weather has been a bit cool by Tucson standards, it's so much better than most of the rest of the US, we'll take it!  Starting this weekend, highs are supposed to be 70+ with the full sunshine the desert is famous for.  Stay tuned for more blog posts from Tucson!
2 Comments
B.J. Cordova, Tucson Clean & Beautiful link
11/25/2014 08:57:26 am

I happened upon these outstanding pictures of the Pantano River Park, which includes our commemorative tree dedication groves (trees purchased by the public in honor of friends & loved ones) through Tucson Clean & Beautiful in cooperation with the City of Tucson , along with a Children's Memorial Garden nearby- thank you for visiting, and sharing!

Reply
Emily
11/25/2014 10:23:26 am

Thanks so much for your kind comments and for stopping by the blog, B. J.! We really loved our many bike ides in the beautiful Pantano RIver Park. It's such a great resource for Tucson!

Reply



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    Emily & Barry

    We're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base.  After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible.

    Our passions are bicycling, walking and hiking, birding, continuing our midlife struggles to learn Spanish, enjoying healthy food (and the occasional donuts & pie!), traveling (duh!)  We travel with a fleet of bicycles and Paisley, our 10-year old Boston Terrier. 

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    Paisley, May 2016
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    States visited (pre-RV)
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    Pearl, a 2007 Newmar Bay Star
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    States visited in "Pearl"

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  • Traveling Twosome Blog
  • BeBelize - Our life in Belize (2011-2013)
  • Earlier adventures (2003-2010)
    • First Belize Trip 2010
    • Fall Sail Cruise Aboard Logos 2009
    • Conch Key 2007
    • Charleston Sailing School 2007
    • Biscayne Bay Sailing School 2007
    • Key Lime Sailing Club 2006
    • Southwest Parks 2006
    • BEYC/Jost van Dyke, BVI 2005
    • Offshore Sailing School 2004
    • Annapolis Sailboat Show 2004
    • Finger Lakes 2004
    • NY State Bike Tour 2004
    • Biras Creek, BVI 2003