Arizona ...... Finally!

ARIZONA........FINALLY

After leaving Las Cruces, we crossed over into Arizona. Two observations: 1) there are a lot of Border Patrol check points and 2) all Arizona rest areas are closed.  We have been through many BP check points in car and motorhome.  So far, they have just motioned us on after a quick look at us. Hmmmm. Don't know what that's saying about us. Next, it might not be true that ALL rest areas are closed, but that has been our observation so far. This caused us to have to stop at a truck stop where the pavement was white, hard packed dirt.  Unfortunately, it camouflaged deep holes in said non-pavement. We ran in to one of these holes causing the motorhome to violently sway back and forth, dumping the contents of some of the upper cabinets onto the floor.  Although this scared Larry and Beverly, who were behind us, and left us with accelerated heart rates , no real harm was done. 

Our first stop in Arizona was at Butterfield RV Resort and Observatory in Benson. We were intrigued by the observatory, so we signed up right away for one of the nightly showings. Our volunteer host was very informed. He professed not to be an expert in the field but he seemed to know a lot about the subject and answered all questions that were asked. Each person there was able to look through the telescope at every star, cluster or galaxy that was spotted. It was very interesting. Can't believe this was at an RV Park. 

Another interesting thing at this park was the Ham Radio Shack.  There were several radios and antennas set up to be used by anyone licensed. Since David is a Ham Operator, he spent some time checking out the equipment and listening for traffic on the various bands. 





We weren't far from Tombstone, so we decided to check out the OK Corral.

There were lots of artifacts and photographs from that time period that told the story of Tombstone and the Gunfight at the OK Corral.  We had to check out the reenactment so we made our way to the Corral. The actors were very good and even added some humor to the show. Think there is still a question about who were the good guys and who were the bad. 

Of course we had to check out the food in the area. A worker at the Park told us about the Horse Shoe Cafe. Although we had gone early, we had to wait (outside) for quite awhile to be seated. It was definitely worth it. The food was wonderful country/homestyle fare and large portions. We left stuffed. On another evening we went to Galleano's which was another great restaurant serving large portions of wonderful food. 

It was time to head to Tucson but we will definitely return to Butterfield RV Resort and Benson, Arizona in the future.