From the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean

Before we wrapped our visit in Colorado Springs, we visited with my cousin Jan Hagan, her daughter Kim and her husband Clyde. We met at Fargo's Pizza and my cousin Harvey Richardson also joined us there.

Jan and Kim Hagan with Kay Wallace

Crystina Marie Wallace, Sean Lugenbeel, and their son Malcolm invited us to their home for dinner, as well.

Crystina, Sean and Malcolm

Kay and Malcolm

We visited with Bill and Denise one last time the day before we left. Our visit to Colorado was terrific, but we had to leave because snow was in the forecast. Jake loved Colorado because he got to see deer, rabbits and prairie dogs.

Jake is King of the Mountain at our campsite in Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

We headed South to New Mexico and Arizona. Our first Harvest Hosts stop was at Wildlife Nature Park in Edgewood, Arizona, near Albuquerque. The wild animals here  had been rescued and could not be returned to the wild.

Coyote

Elk 

Our second Harvest Hosts stop was St. Clair Winery in Deming, NM.  We bought a couple of bottles of a nice medium body red blend to have with our Thanksgiving dinner and a couple of bottles of a nice Riesling for that meal, as well.

While here at the St. Clair winery, I stepped outside to spot a dust devil just starting.  I shouted to Kay to come see it and she got some video of it. The vortex was one of the most amazing weather phenomenons that I have ever seen. It picked up dust as it twirled, then lifted off the ground and looked like a science-fiction worm hole just before it died out.

One last Harvest Hosts stop before we get to Florence, Arizona, Sonoita Vineyards was a quiet out-of-the-way place.

Desert Gardens RV Resort has been the nicest place we have stayed so far. It is a co-op and they were hoping to sell us a 99-year lease on a site. We are not yet ready to stay in one place all winter. Maybe after seeing more places, we will be ready for that kind of commitment.

Views near our campsite

Cholla Cactus

Saguro Cactus

Barrel Cactus

Prickly Pear Cactus

We did some exploring while we were there. I wanted to see what it would be like to boondock in the National Forest. We ended up on some pretty scary narrow roads where I would not like to tow a trailer. But the views of the canyons were beautiful.

While we were in Florence, we visited my nephew Todd and his wife Angie in their home.  They celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday and we were able to have a turkey dinner with Todd, Angie, Alora, Rose, Crystina, Malcolm, and Sean.

Todd, Malcolm and Rose

Now, we are in Pio Pico Thousand Trails Campground in Jamul, California. We have no cellular reception and no wifi at our campsite. The free wifi at the activity center is horrifically slow, so I am at a library in Rancho San Diego doing this blog post. 

We did take a trip into San Diego and got a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.

Russ and Jake

Trip so far.

Next week, we return to Arizona and will spend a week boondocking in the desert. 

If you are enjoying the blog, leave us a comment. Kay really looks forward to your comments.