Back to Tucson

I was awake before sunrise! Of course, being on the borderline of a time zone change probably had something to do with that. Or, maybe the fact that it was a travel day contributed. Whatever the reason, I got some rare sunrise pictures.

Just a few yards away from our motor home was this view of the Colorado River with the mountains in the background.


Looking back from that spot towards our motor home.


This was one of those travel days that I enjoyed. The wind wasn't blowing so hard today, the weather was pretty good, actually. Traffic was fairly heavy, which is one reason I don't care so much for interstates. But, we did take a back road from I-10 before we got into the construction zone through Tucson and down a back road to Diamond J RV Park. We left Hidden Beaches in Blythe, CA at about 8:45 a.m. Mountain Time and got to our destination around 3:00 this afternoon. We stopped for gas and propane at the Shell station at Gila Bend, Arizona, just off Interstate 8. They have an island for RV's that is just perfect to get into, with a huge parking area and easy access. They even have a large area with a trash can specifically for walking dogs. Unfortunately, not many people take advantage of the trash can!! One of my pet peeves (pun intended) is people who have dogs for which they refuse to be responsible! Don't get me started on that.

Anyway, we found out recently through the RV Dreams chat room about this back road off I-10 coming from the north, that allowed us to skip a lot of traffic and construction through the main part of Tucson. It was really nice to be on a smaller road with less traffic. Besides, it took us through Saguaro National Park, which is amazing. That is definitely one place we'll visit again while we're in this area.

A few days ago, we received an e-mail from Doug and JoAnn, Fillmore's family. For those readers who also follow Howard and Linda Payne, yes, this is the RV-Dreams' Fillmore. Those who don't know who Fillmore is, he is a Standard Poodle who is full timing with Doug and JoAnn in their Montana 5th Wheel. Through other blogs and this growing community, they heard we were coming back to Diamond J, where they are currently parked. Anyway, they invited us to dinner tonight. No, we couldn't bring anything! JoAnn fixed Linda Payne's recipe for Taco Soup, and it was outstanding! We thoroughly enjoyed our evening and hope to see them again while we're here. They have been fulltiming for less than a year, but have traveled extensively for many years. Their blog site is http://www.mytripjournal.com/ourdream

Fillmore and I played with his new frog toy most of the evening while we visited with JoAnn and Doug.

Here's JoAnn, Doug, and Fillmore.

Meeting new friends we've been following through their blogs continues to be such a positive, community-building experience for us. Going into the full time lifestyle, we left behind most of the various "groups" we'd established in our previous lives. Through the internet and word of mouth when we meet new folks, we continue to grow this fine community and make new friends.

Another beautiful day!