Tucson to Las Cruces

Oh my gosh! I have written this 3 times! I somehow manage to erase it right before I post.  It is now 1:17AM and here goes #4!

Yesterday was spent mostly driving from La Quinta to Tucson, Arizona.  It was a long drive through desert, desert and MORE desert! There's not a lot I can say for the desert landscape. Cactus, sand and scrub brush. That about sums it up. So after a 6 hour drive we were looking forward to wandering through the galleries and shops in Old Town Tucson, followed by a nice dinner. Well! Who knew that everything would close up for the Memorial Day Holiday? Not us!  We drove around town and then then we were told of a nice drive to a waterfall that was just 20 minutes away.  It was already 4:30 but decided to make the drive. We found out that the drive is only 20 minutes but then there is a shuttle to the beginning of the trail to a 2.6 mile hike up to the falls! It was too late for that kind of hike so, no falls for us! We did find a local restaurant and had a lovely dinner.

After the disappointment of Monday we were determined to see some of the area today. We began our day just a few miles from Tucson at the Saguaro National Park.  It is an 8 mile drive through giant Saguaro cactus and spectacular desert terrain.  The Saguaros are incredible!  I had no idea they lived to be 175 to 200 years old.  They don't even get their branches (I call them arms) until they are 75 years old!

This is a beautiful park to explore but we were warned repeatedly to watch for rattlesnakes. We didn't wander too far off the path!


Next we head south to Tombstone, Arizona.  Yes, the sight of the gunfight at the OK Corral. There isn't much there except for the sight of the corral and a fabulous rose bush that is over 8,000 square feet. It is over 100 years old and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Unbelievable!

They do a re-enactment of the gunfight every day.  It is very corny and quite the tourist trap. But we fell in with the other visitors and yelled Boo! Hiss! for the bad guys and Yay! for the good guys.  It really was quite funny. Jim and I were good sports and had a fun time.

After Tombstone we went even further south to take a back road to a National Monument that Kathy Hamlin alerted us to.  We are so far into the desert now we are just miles above the Mexican border.  The only people we come across are Border Patrol and an occasional cow. As we were driving through this God forsaken place we are without any cell phone service, car services of any kind and pretty much no link to civilization! We just keep driving through more desert!  Lo and behold, The Chiricahua National Monument was worth all of those hours dragging through nothingness.  once you finally reach the destination it is incredible! Thank you Kathy! We loved it.

The monument is a group of incredible rock formations that I can't even describe. They are pillars of rock that seem to be balancing on top of each other. Here are a few pictures but they don't really do it justice.

By this time it's 4 PM and we still have a 3-4 hour drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We had played all day and now it's time to move on.  We finally stopped at a tiny town called Deming to look for a place to eat.  We found Irma's Mexican Food. We thought New Mexico would be a great place for authentic mexican food and we were right. It was wonderful! Then on to our hotel.  Whew! What a long but fantastic day!  Now, if I can manage to post this without losing it, I will be able to sleep.

Thank you for reading! I'll be in touch soon. Tomorrow we are on our way to Carlsbad Caverns.  We tried to go there 40 years ago and didn't have enough time. We've never been able to go back. We have waited 40 years to see it.  I can't wait! Good-bye for now!