Oct 29 was our departure date from Winnipeg to the warm south. We left the city in fairly warm temperature and sunny skies. As we neared the North Dakota border we started seeing evidence of the previous week blizzard. Ditches were almost filled with snow and there was still some ice patches on the highway. What a change of seasons. The first night we arrived at our usual free stopping place - the town park (no services) in Arlington, South Dakota. We needed our gloves, touque and jackets to go for our nightly walk which took in a stop at the local grocery for apples (our apples were taken by the U.S. Customs as they. did not have a sticker of origin on them). The train was the only thing that woke us that night.
The next day we had great weather - not much wind and fairly sunny skies. Highway #81 is newly paved but has some "wow sections" like you get on old cement highways. So far everything is going just fine and we found our next favorite stop at the City Airport Park in Concordia, Nebraska. This park has electric, water and dump station and they request a donation. Just across the Highway is a new Super Walmart.
Day 3 - Oct 31 was an extremely windy day. We had head winds of 25mph and gusts up to 45 and we stopped before lunch at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Refuge as they have a free campsite in connection with the park. We drove through the Refuge but not too much flying. Lots of Sandhill Cranes but no Whooping Cranes as they had already been there. We had a quiet but windy afternoon. There were loads of mosquitoes and black flies biting in the quiet areas. The Great Horned Owl and the Coyotes were calling during the night which was the only Halloween activity that we heard.
On Nov 1 as we are driving into Great Bend, Kansas our signal lights and odometer quit working so it seemed we had an electrical problem. Of course when we went to the garage everything was fine so I hope we don't have any further problems. Tonight we made our stop at Perryton, Texas. They also have a City Park with free camping (including electric, water and dump station) in fact the Chamber of Commerce rep visited us and gave us a "goody bag"(pen, writing pad, cup, keychain, drink insulated cover, etc.)
Our next stop for a couple of days was a wonderful spot. It was the Buffalo Lake Wildlife Refuge just east of Amarillo, New Mexico. The camping was in sight of the lake and the cacaphony of sounds from the Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, Canada Geese and numerous ducks was great. When they quietened down we had the coyotes yelping. The entrance fee and camping was $2 per day. There was only one other camper there. It certainly was a place we would return to. There was no services only drinking water and bathrooms. I am mentioning these details as this letter does go to some folks who may be travelling in this direction.
On through New Mexico and to the Chiricahua Mountain in the South East of Arizona. The drive through the mountains near Ruidoso was quite beautiful and the White Sands National Monument was spectacular. We entered a rainy time in Arizona.
The next while was spent "boondocking" at Cochise Stronghold and the Madera Canyon area. The bright and hot Arizona sun returned and we enjoyed hiking the arroyos and trails. Madera Canyon and Proctor Road are situated on the mountain side and we had a spectacular view north from our site of Green Valley and Tucson at least 1,000' below and miles up the valley. The lights of the cities sparkled in the distance and the rain shower that swept through the area one evening was quite dramatic. This was a million dollar view.
This letter is being completed in Quartzsite, Arizona at Dome Mountain and will be sent in a few days from Thousand Palms, California, where we will spend the weekend with friends, Jim and Margo Coke from Fanny Bay,Vancouver Island, who spend the winter there and in Mexico. The following week we will be on to Borrego-Springs for the US Thanksgiving. We will be with friends, from Philomath, Oregon and Mexico who are visiting their father.
Needless to say we have been enjoying ourselves. We plan to send our next e-mail from Alamos, Mexico as we plan to be there the first part of December.
All the best,
Irene and Chris
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