Jumping Cholla

Never heard of these before, a cactus that seems to jump at you to stick its thorns into you. Once it makes contact it detaches that piece.

Sounds far fetched, but Trish swears she didn't touch it, but it got her good. Stuck onto the back of her hand it was very difficult to remove, and painful. Several days later her fingers were still feeling it.

I didn't take a picture of Trish's attack, or the bloody result, but the below picture found on the web kind of illustrates it.

Superstition Mountains

We hiked further eventually finding some caves as well as more interesting rock formations.

Superstition Mountain hike

On one of our first days in this area we went for a hike in the Superstition Mountains which are about 15 minutes drive for us to the trailhead.
What starts as a desert hike with relatively flat progresses to getting slowly steeper before finally becoming primarily rock climbing. The cactus and other desert plants were very interesting and changed the higher we went.

We hiked up to a ridgeline so we could see into the valley behind the mountains, the views were incredible.

At the top of the pass we looked up and saw two guys climbing one of the huge rock outcroppings. Loo at the first picture and then notice in the 2nd picture the relative size of the climbers.

Apache Junction

So a day early we arrived at Bonita Vista in Apache Junction, about 30 miles east of downtown Phoenix. Bonita Vista is an older mobile home/RV park for 55+ people. It is to be our home from December 19 until January 21.

We met people almost instantly. First a fellow named Ray who was manning the security booth at the entrance made sure to introduce himself as we drove in. Before I could back the Breeze into our spot our neighbors on one side cam out to get introduced. And as soon as we were parked neighbors from the other side came over and gave us a nice plate of cookies!

Within 24 hours we were given tours of the golf course, shown the clubhouse and pool areas and been invited to a party 2 nights later. This is a very friendly place, not sure it's our style longterm, but pretty good.

More Cactus Flats

Our views, back and front. Great spot, but it was windy and cold (under 50). After 3 nights we decided to head to the Phoenix area a day early to get to warmer weather.

Cactus Flats Arizona

Leaving New Mexico we headed to Arizona. The route was flat but snow capped mountains started to show up on the horizon. Our destination was Roper Lake State Park in Cactus Flats, Arizona.

Once we got to the park we set up camp and admired the incredible view we would have for the next 4 days.

Mount Graham was so beautiful. At almost 11,000 feet tall with a snow capped top, it shined in the sun. Our campsite was at over 3,000 feet of elevation, so the weather was cooler than we had felt in awhile.

Winery in Deming New Mexico

After two nights in El Paso we drove an hour to Deming New Mexico. We were stopping for an overnight at the DH Lescombes Winery. Very good wine, a quiet spot to camp and some interesting things nearby.

Downtown El Paso

After two challenging hikes we knew we deserved a cold beer, so we headed into downtown. Nice city, we parked very close to one of the border crossings. Lots of people walking around, busy with Christmas shopping.

El Paso

Our next stop was El Paso, a city right on the Mexican border. In addition to wanting to see the city, we were there to check out a storage site that we want to put the Breeze in when this trip is done. Our campsite was at the Roadrunner RV Park, an inner city spot acceptable only because it was a place to sleep.

Our first day in El Paso we drove over to Franklin Mountain State Park on the edge of town, looking for a good hike. We found one and had a great time climbing to the top and looking down on the city. Very challenging and scenic hike.

After about a 3 hour hike we got back to the car and drove to another part of the park, and once again decided to climb up for the views, this time to a huge cave partway up the mountain.

It was worth the hike, so beautiful.

Van Horn Texas

Next stop, Van Horn, a 150 miles further west. Another tiny town in the middle of the desert. Pretty mountain views were the only notable thing about this night.

Texas is interesting.

Fort Stockton Texas

The first stop was in Fort Stockton, a small town in the middle of seemingly nowhere. But we had a decent campsite and got to take a short hike around the area.