Due to a recent call and request (hey Tom), I offer the following photos as additional clues.

Well, there are the photographic clues.  Good luck figuring it out Tom, and everyone else. 

Last night was a bit much. I can now tell you for a fact….dust storms and I don’t mix. Shakin or Stirred, not at all. Ah well.

Instead of remaining in Quartzite I opted to move along. Where to you ask? Ah, how about a mystery location. I’m including several photos, and I’ll leave it to readers to deduce where I’m at. No prizes if you guess right. Just a sense of accomplishment that you’ll feel internally from the moment you guess right going forward.

As I sit here I’m beginning to understand the concept of a dust storm. According to a friend I spoke with a short while ago, I haven’t seen anything yet!

The winds are blowing down from the mountains as I type. The sun is barely visible, and it’s been that way for a while now. Clouds of sand blow past, then calm down. But everywhere around you can see the clouds zipping by. There’s still visibility, so I guess my friend is right, I haven’t seen anything yet. Still, it’s pretty cool.

Got the benadryl handy along with the inhaler in case this stuff bothers me. You never know, and there sure is a ton of dirt flying! WOW!

Last night I took one final look around Cactus Country RV park in Tucson. That’s where I’ve been these past few weeks. Nice spot and reasonable rates. No, not making an ad for the folks there. But when I’ve been happy with a spot I try to pass it along. The best deal there is the monthly rates. If you’re every looking to spend some time in Tucson with your RV, I’d suggest checking them out.

This morning I gave myself a slow start.  Only a few hundred miles to go today, so no rush.  I dumped the tanks, had a full fresh tank ready to go, and unhooked the cable!  Yes, I’ve seen real TV again.  Mostly though, I only used it to see Heroes (really digging that show).  I’ve gotten used to being without TV, even though I can watch it on my laptop.  The few things I’m interested in can be downloaded via ITunes anyhow. 

The drive out of Tucson wasn’t as cool as I thought it would be.  Some road work has started this week, and lanes were full of cones.  So, everybody was off their stride today going through Tucson.

Prior to getting to the construction areas I had my first truly terrifying near miss in my travels.  Doing 65 in a 70 zone, fair amount of cars in front of me and to my left.  A Jeep was in the passing lane 20 or 30 feet ahead of me.  And we were all slowing down.  In my side view mirror I could see a tractor trailer flying up behind the Jeep.  As I watched and braked I could see that the tractor hadn’t noticed everyone braking.  I checked to my right in the brakedown lane, just in case.

Cars continued slowing.  Brake lights everywhere.  The tractor trailer did not.  Finally half way along my trailer, he noticed we were going from 65 to 30 quick.  He hit the brakes hard, came right up on the Jeep, and then veered to the right (where I was).  Nothing was to my right, so as he attempted to plow into my trailer I got out of the way.

In the end, I was driving in the brakedown lane, the tractor trailer was half way into my lane, and the Jeep driver was one lucky person.  Through Tucson, the tractor trailer stayed far back from everyone, and seemed to linger in my sideview mirror.  Glad dash cam wasn’t on……there was a ton of language in my cab this morning!  Whew!

Heading out of town I noticed a train off to my right.  It was passing the traffic.  I was doing about 60 - 65.  And the train passed me by.  Neat to watch.  There are many trains going through Tucson at all hours.  It’s a busy place.  Planes, military planes, and trains.  There’s always some type of engine noise in the distance in Tucson.

After clearing Tucson the next big spot was Phoenix.  Traffic was pretty thick there.  The air also looked a little thick too.  So I didn’t bother to stop in the area for gas or a look around.

Finally, by 1 MST I’d reached today’s goal.  Quartzite.  It’s a hot spot for RVers during the winter.  Many LTVA’s here to camp in on the cheap.  LTVA means Long Term Vistor Area.  Currently, I’m parked in a free one.  14 days max stay, no hookups, no charge.  Very interesting.

As I write the winds are really knocking me around.  I’ve been amazed by the winds here in Arizona.  I shouldn’t be too surprised though.  Open areas with little to cut down the wind.  What should I expect.

I was planning a few days in the area, but I think plans are changing.  Got an interesting idea in my head about a side stop, so I think I’ll go for it tomorrow (you’ll just have to read about it then).

Quartzite looks pretty interesting.  People come here from all over.  From what I’ve heard, it’s very flea market like during the height of the season.  I’ve arrived shortly after the big events here, and sorry to have missed out.  Maybe some other time. 

The thermometer was registering low again today.  Glad to say it warms up pretty quick here, so that’s a plus. 

Today is a day of packing, shopping, and getting ready to say goodbye to Tucson for a while.  Next stop?  Not sure, I’ll see when I get there I suppose.

Two weeks spent in Tucson.  It’s a nice area.  The traffic, even at “rush hour” isn’t horrible at all.  University of Arizona is here.  And there are several interesting things to see.  Still, I don’t think Tucson is choice number one at the moment.

My next stop will be one for enjoyment.  I’ll keep hunting for things on the web, but I’ve had many folks suggest interesting places to see.  So, I’ll go see one or two.

Many of the other towns I’m interested in checking into as a new home base are currently cooler.  I’m really trying to wait out the weather at the moment.  :)  Hopefully in a few weeks we’ll see some more warming, and I can get back to searching towns.

I know, in the desert you can get large swings in temperature.  This morning I figured it was extra chilly.  So I took a look out my window to see how chilly…..

Yup, cold even in Tucson today folks!

Yesterday I took a quick ride out to Saguaro National Park West.  There’s an East and West park.  After finishing up a few items in the morning I decided to play tourist for two hours.  Nice ride out to the area, near the Desert Museum I’d visited the other week.  Many people were out visiting as well.  Reminded me of Moose Alley along route 3 in New Hampshire.  Constant stream of slow moving traffic. 

I think next week I’ll be moving on from Tucson.  Not exactly sure where to next.  But each place I check out will take more than a few days to get an idea on.  You can come into an area one day and it’s perfectly wonderful.  Days later it can be socked in with some type of smog.  So, I’m staying put longer in each location I’m considering for relocation.  That’s the plan for the moment at least. 

Woke up to 32 degrees this morning.  For the better part of the week Tucson had experienced a warming trend.  Not yesterday though. 

Mid-morning an interesting front rolled in.  You could see the dark clouds rolling across the open expanse of Tucson, filling in between the mountains that seem to ring in the area.  It was quite the site, and of course I didn’t have the camera handy as the clouds filled in.

Yesterday’s rain didn’t last long.  The wind stuck around though.  It can really get blowing out here.  Too bad there are so many cactus plants everywhere.  With the winds it would be quite the spot for kite flying.

Today should be a quiet day.  Going through a mail shipment I just received.  A few quick morning errands, and then I’ll see what I do with the day.  First I think I’ll wait for it to warm up!

So, no real exciting events recently.  Like I said in the past post, just shopping and standard town stuff.  So, what have I been seeing???

Hooray for the Trader Joe’s & Wild Oats.  :)  And the sunsets are nice too.

The past few days haven’t been “exciting” from a blogging standpoint.  Not much going on.  Simple day to day stuff.  I’ve been finding my way around town, checking out where Wal-Mart is, etc.  The Wal-Mart is important because I need to refill some prescriptions this week.  Ah, so exciting. 

One of the things I liked about the Western states last year while traveling was the availability of better food stores for me.  What do I mean by that?  Well, my recent trip to New England illustrates the issue clearly in my mind.  Near my dad’s place there was one Trader Joe’s.  They had a few items that work in my meal setup.  And the local Shaw’s had some items too.  But not a great variety, and dining got boring quick.

Here in Tucson, like in Santa Fe, there are multiple shops.  Trader Joe’s here has a better selection than back in New England.  And Wild Oats is just the best!  That’s now my favorite grocery store.  And fortunately for me, there’s one Wild Oats in Tucson.  There are 3 Trader Joe’s.  Works for me.

Maybe in my next post I’ll pop up a photo or two of the grocery stores.  :)  Sorry, not many more exciting photo opportunities at the moment.

Today I’ll get the trailer washed up.  Still has road salt from New England.  And it should be warm enough this afternoon to make paying the fee to wash it worth while.

First off, the podcast posted yesterday was not downloading properly.  Looks like it’s working now.  Small problem with the file size (apparently the upload made it 90% of the way, but did not complete).

Today has been “interesting”.  This morning, while clearly still half asleep, my phone found it’s way into the garbage.  I was taking out the trash, and the phone apparently went with the trash.  Maybe 10 minutes after putting the trash out I looked for the phone.  There was a sinking feeling that hit quick.  “I think it went into the garbage.”  Well, it apparently did!  Big whoops.

I’ve had cell phones since my days at Sprint PCS in 1996.  Never broke a phone, never lost a phone, etc.  And most people went through many.  They get banged around over time.  So, finally, I’ve lost my first one.  Didn’t sit on it and break it, didn’t back over it, instead I helped it into the trash.  Rich L will probably blog this too.  He got a kick out of it.  Of course, he took his cell phone out on a jet ski once.  So, it happens.

After finding a Verizon store, and paying retail for a phone (ouch), we headed out to the Titan Missle Museum in Green Valley, AZ.  Took the tour of a facility that used to house an active nuclear missle.  It was kind of odd going to the place.

The tour was interesting.  Seeing the technology used to regulate the missle, and get it ready for launch I was amazed.  The computing power available in today’s laptops races past what was in the facility.  Yet somehow we managed through the cold war.  The guide went into great detail about the redundancies, practice drills, etc.  Glad the people manning those silos did their jobs well.

After the tour of the Titan Missle Museum we returned to the park outside of Tucson.  Now I’m trying to decide where to next, if anywhere at all.  I’d be interested in heading to Sedona or Flagstaff, but the temperatures there suggest I wait a little longer.  Still hunting the web on wireless possibilities out here, and sending in resumes.  But that will take a bit of time.  So while waiting I’d like to see some more interesting sites.

One possibility is to remain in the area, or at least stay south for the time being.  Not too far to the north it cools off quickly.  I’m pretty confident in the next few weeks we’ll start to see warmer temperatures in northern NM & AZ, but not this coming week.  So for the moment, no Sedona.

Guess I’ll see what I decide in the morning.