Day 180 - Fri 24 Jan 2020 - At home

Another day at home. We entertain the entire campsite with our game of hide and seek tag.

Today: 0km - 0h
Total: 21,530km - 420h53m

Day 179 - Thu 23 Jan 2020 - At home

We stayed at home for the ususal. At night, the sky is amazing, sooooo many stars.

Today: 82km - 1h32m
Total: 21,530km - 420h53m

Day 178 - Wed 22 Jan 2020 - Tombstone

Time for another field trip. We make our way to Tombstone to visit the site of one of the infamous Wild West shoot outs.

Being so close to the border, the town was an open market for cattle stolen from ranches in Mexico by the 'Cochise Cowboys'. In those days the word cowboy meant rustler or cattle thief. The Earp brothers (including Wyatt of later fame) and Doc Holliday were keen to clean up the town as it was better for (their) business.

For months tension had been rising between the two groups and the cowboys had been uttering threats against the Earps who had become deputy marshals. The actual gunfight took place on Oct 26, 1881 around 3pm. The 4 'good' guys confronted the the 4 'bad' guys on a vacant lot. When the shooting started they were only about 6 feet apart from each other. After 30 seconds and about 30 shots, 3 bad guys lay dead on the ground (one had ran away). The 'good' guys all walked away, some with minor injuries. We witness a comedic gunfight show re-enacting the whole lead up and showdown.

There was a lot of debate around town and in the press surrounding the shooting. Later, the 'good' guys were actually trialed for murder, but acquitted. In revenge, one of them was killed and another survived an attempt on his live. Wyatt Earp became quite notorious due to events before and after the Tombstone gunfight. It became hard to tell what was real and what not. He eventually sold his story to book publishers and Hollywood who romaticised him into a western superhero...

The town prospered in the early 1880's but suffered from fires and mining disasters. By the mid 1880's the population started to dwindle. The main road in town has been reconstructed to look like as it did in the 1880s. We have a lovely time walking around and talking to the cowboys and marshals. It really feels like the Wild West and we spot some authentic bullet holes around town.

Janine and Niels go on for some shopping and stop by at the Visitor Information Center in Benson where Niels gets to drive the model train.

Today: 82km - 1h32m

Total: 21,530km - 420h53m

Day 177 - Tue 21 Jan 2020 - Rainy day

Another one of those rare rainy days. Fortunately they have a great DVD library here so we watch some movies, do some schoolwork, some baking and tidying up. The usual stuff.

It looks like the colder weather is here to stay so we sign up for another week at the campground. Hopefully by then the warmer weather will be coming in so we can continue our travels.

Today: 0km - 0h

Total: 21,447km - 419h20m

Day 176 - Mon 20 Jan 2020 - On strike

We all go on strike and refuse to get in the car today. So it's back to baking, laundry, schoolwork, blog updates, etc. We do manage a quick little walk out of the campground and Niels and Lucy find some sticks to whittle into walking sticks.

All the campers and the staff are super nice and relaxed. We get some beautiful rocks from one of our neighbours. Niels gets his fix in petting the dogs.

Today: 0km - 0h

Total: 21,447km - 419h20m

Apache Mobile Park, 79 N Apache Trail Box 237, St David, AZ 85630, USA

Day 175 - Sun 19 Jan 2020 - Arizona

Turns out it did not freeze last night. It was actually not as cold as expected. It is a beautiful desert campground, and staff and other campers are lovely but we are determined to make it through this mountain range.

As we drive on, we see mountain ranges all around us. We even see snow capped peaks on Mount Graham! Somehow, the Interstate manages to snake around them all. We gain and lose altitude along the way, but nothing strenuous. The car keeps rolling on like a dream. We say goodbye to New Mexico and enter Arizona.

Tired from all the driving we reach our campsite for the next few days, weather permitting...

Today: 302km - 4h

Total: 21,447km - 419h20m

Day 174 - Sat 18 Jan 2020 - Desert Driving and Camping

A day of driving so some road side observations: pecan nut farms, signs for how to deal with a sand storms, tumbleweed, lots and lots of trucks, border control stations checking the trucks (they keep asking us if we are US citizens, despite our Ontario plates on the car...).

Since we are heading towards a mountain pass and the weather is a bit colder than usual we need to be a bit lucky with our overnight stops. We decided not to stop in El Paso since it is a very busy city so we keep driving.

Unfortunately we luck out at the casino just across the state border in New Mexico. Just 15 mins before we arrive they had filled the last spot. Many casinos here have hook-ups for RV's!

So we drive on again. A bit further in New Mexico we finally set up at the campground in the dark. We put the tap on a very slow drip just in case it dips below freezing tonight.

Today: 514km - 6h54m

Total: 21,145km - 415h18m