Las Cruces and Old Mesilla, New Mexico

Hi friends and family.

A few days have gone by but we are finally in an area where I can let you know where we have been and a little of what we have seen. Of course we cannot share everything, but so far it is turning out to be a fun adventure.

We both enjoyed and love the Land Of Enchantment.  Coming down the I-10 you come upon Las Cruces and the view is beautiful. It is settled in a valley and the colors of the sky, land and mountains are wonderful.
There is so much great history here, and I especially wanted to take it all in.

Yvon took some beautiful pictures of the community and of the land outside of town.  I will try and put more of those on at a later date.

We found ourselves taken to another time and place when we discovered Old Mesilla, which was only a few blocks from where we were staying.

This area has all kinds of historical landmarks and what was a real wild west area.

 The Butterfield Overland Mail and Stage Line was established here in 1858.

In the 1850's Judge Roy Bean and his brother operated a freight and passenger service line.  Of course the real story is Billy the Kid, alias William Bonney who was tried for murder. The now shop on the square was where his was held for trail and then escaped.

We fell in love with the art, that is everywhere,and had a wonderful lunch at a beautiful cafe called Josephina's Gate.

  The next day, we listened to a couple that sang an old song, which in English means Beautiful Sky.  It was a real treat. My father would play this song on his guitar and sing it to me when a was a child, so it was fantastic to finally know what the title meant.  Part of the song is on the video at the end of this blog.

By chance the Mariachi State Festival was just beginning and we where able to have a front row seat on the plaza and listen to the music and watch the beautiful dancers.  Nothing had been planned and it was a perfect  way to spend our last day.

We were up and on the road very early the following morning.  I have to say we want to return and drive north.  New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment and the people we visited with were very welcoming and friendly.

Thank you again for reading.

Love to all

Anne and Yvon,

Text by Anne
Images by Yvon

Even the Plates are Colorful...

The Kid

Las Cruces

Josephina's Gate Cafe

Church at the end of the Plaza

Beautiful 

Colorful Art Everywhere

Home Entrance

Lets Rock

Beauty in Everything

Until Nest Time...

Flyng J, exit 24

Hi friends and family,

Flyng J, exit 24

Our stay in Arizona was coming to an end a couple of days ago and we knew we were going to hit the road. We had plans to make a couple of stops near Tucson, but the night before Yvon received a call from a very old friend..

The call was from Pierre.  The conversation went something like this. "Hey, how are you and where are you?"  Pierre and Marie were in Abilene Tx and we were in Eloy Az.  After a few minutes the guys decided to find a way for us to meet along the I-10.  Amazing that they are on their way to an Arizona destination and we are on our way to the Gulf of Texas.  The plans to meet up this year was not a real possibility.

The back story is that Yvon and Pierre were boyhood best friends and have known each other since they were four years old.

Life has a way of taking us in different directions and once Yvon had moved to the U.S., the years just flew by.  Funny how that works.  We are still trying to figure that one out!

Three years ago Pierre, by chance, found Yvon's Photography site and emailed Yvon asking if he was the Yvon Bourque from Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada?  

For the last two years we have been able to meet Pierre and Marie where they spend the winter   We were not RVing at that time. They have been spending their winters near Lake Havasu for many years.  Neither Yvon nor Pierre knew how close they were in proximity.  They finally got together after decades.  We drove over from the high desert in California. What a great visit the guys have had, and I have been just as excited to meet both Pierre and Marie.  It is almost as if I had known both of them.  

With the option of making some stops to see popular areas or meeting up with friends the answer was very simple!

The plan was to call at 10am and see how far we had both traveled and where to meet.  What fun!!

We were up and on the road by 7:15am and by 10:15 we were almost to the Arizona/New Mexico border.

Pierre called and said " we are waiting for you at the Flying J, exit 24!!"

Never give up the chance to see friends, even if it is for a brief time.  It is always a precious moment and memory and we need as many of those as we can get!  

Thank you for visiting,

Love to all,

Anne and Yvon

Flying J, I-10,  exit 24, New Mexico

Last rest area in Arizona

Okay lets drive!

Pierre and Yvon

Pierre, Marie, Yvon and guess who?

Great visit!

Pierre and me again

Great picture of a great couple!

Side by Side

Until next time!

Going opposite directions, Bye!!!

Hello Las Cruces, New Mexico!

Halloween was our last day in California.

Hi friends and family,

(Happy Birthday Susan!)

Halloween was our last day in California.

Happy Halloween from Palm Springs!!!  We started off our day hoping to have a last breakfast at our favorite place; the Rock Garden Cafe.  It has closed and is for sale. On our last visit there, the owner had mentioned retirement, so we are not sure what actually happened, but we have our memories.

From there we decided to take our last hike in the Indian Canyons, but because of the recent hard rains, the entire area was closed.  Sad!  But, again we have our memories and pictures from many prior visits.

We then decided to take a walk in the downtown area of Palm Springs and enjoyed a wonderful cup of coffee at a sidewalk cafe that is still alive and well. 

There is a beauty here that no other community has and we feel so lucky to have lived in Palm Springs at one time and to have had a final walk, lunch and a cool drink before saying goodbye.

Boo!

Yvon decided he didn't want to drink any more...

But, he's not going to drink any less.

Memories from the canyons

Ultra wide angle

Looking back from the canyon towards Palm Springs

You can check in any time you want, but you can never leave...

but we did.

There must be thousands of these wind mills in the Palm Springs area.

One great landmark that is still here!

Last rest area in Cali

That's one strange RV.

Checking out our next stop on the map before Phoenix

Beautiful rest area in Arizona

Until next year...

Miss you Cali!

Desert Valley R.V. Resort

Fantastic visit to these ancient ruins

Casa Grande, meaning Great House

Built by the Ancestral Native people from the cultural period called 

Hohokam.  " First Masters of the American Desert."

Ancient Art Work still preserved by the park.

Small model shows what the ruins once may have looked like. It was four stories high and 60 feet long, with a platform mound filling the first floor. It is the largest known structure of the Ancestral People of the Sonoran Desert.

This gives you a clear picture of how big the Casa Grande is.

The beauty of the Sonoran Desert is everywhere.

Tomorrow may be a day of relaxing by the pool area and visiting with the many R.V. travelers that are spending the winter here.

Thanks for visiting again,

Anne & Yvon

Our first stay, Desert Willow RV Resort in Hesperia, California.

Hello RVers, Photographers, Friends and Family.

You can email me (us) directly at brqyvn@gmail.com

We just retired on August first and are eager to hit the road, but before we do, we need to stay around here until our Social Security and benefits kicks in. It will take about one Month or so. There are a few business matters to take care of but then we are San Diego bound, as our first true escape.

It's going to take me a little while before I get used to this newly found freedom, but I think I'll manage just fine. I feel like I'm skipping school!

Desert Willow is a nice RV Park for this area, but it's only five miles south from our previous home, so we already know this area too well. There are several new RV's pulling in every day and that's  a good way to meet new people. 

We are planning to travel across the U.S. and Canada with our RV, but we will stay two to four weeks at each destination. We believe that the way to really appreciate each location is to stay for a while. Beside, we are not in a hurry.

Apparently, there are more "Baby Boomers" taking the  full time RV living than any generation before us. I believe that, but looking around this RV Resort, we noticed that several of the RV's were staying here full time. The RV's are on concrete blocks, with a shed on the lot, fence, lights, flowers, etc. We are in mid-summer, so they aren't "snowbirds". I afraid that many have lost their houses or jobs or both, and that is the way they can survive. This area's unemployment is one of the highest in California. We had our hard times too, but I hope we will continue to afford his new chapter of our lives.

If you like Photography, my other Blog Site might interest you. The Blogspot.

I hope a lot of RVers will stumble on this site, participate and exchange stories,adventures, tips, great locations, recipes, and anything and everything about RVing.

Thanks for stopping by,

Yvon and Anne Bourque

Desert Willow is a  nice RV Resort, quiet, but near Los Angeles.

This is the row where we got our camp site.

We lucked out with two trees on bots sides of our 5th Wheel. 

  

Protected from the High Desert sun. It gets above 100 degrees F almost daily.

This is Ruby. She does all the hard work.

We get in the pool daily, around 10:00 A.M.