WALTZING MATILDA: Leaving Tucson And Heading…Where ?

On the 1st of May we left Tucson and headed of towards New Mexico. Firstly I have to tell you, I love Kokopelli. In Tucson and New Mexico there was more than my eyes and wallet could handle. I bought a few pieces for our out door table and had a Sticker made for the truck.

This set I bought when we went over the boarder to Mexico.

The manager of the Agave Gulch Fam Camp outlined this for me from a picture on his office wall and gave me permission to go and make a sticker out of it. I LOVE IT !! On the top is the A and the bottom is the G, with the Saguaro Cactus taking centre stage. Arizona’s state flower is the Saguaro Blossom. Correct me if I am wrong.

Our 1st stop after leaving Tucson was Poncho Villa State Park in New Mexico. We stayed a few days and had a look around.We were 14 miles from the Mexican Boarder There was a great museum there but I didn't take any pictures. I don't know why, what was I thinking. It was here that I finally found out I don't mind Mexican Food. It was a one horse town with this really old run down Restaurant run by the sweetest Mexican lady. But could she cook. We ate there for the 3 nights we were there.Breakfast and Dinner. I was in heaven..NO cooking again. On the 6th we pulled out of Poncho Villa State Park and headed for Holloman Air Force Base 6 miles out of Alamogordo.This was going to be our home for the next month. It was cheaper to stay a month.Not a bad idea as our funds were running low again. After 1 week I was ready to leave. DUSTY DUSTY DUSTY !!! The white dust from the White Sands Missile Range had moved into our 5th wheel. I really didn't like our stay at Holloman, but the free WIFI and FREE Cable TV made it bearable. We basically locked the doors and spent most of the time watching cable TV. The times we did venture out side was to do some washing and Dann had a few repairs on the 5th Wheel to do. It was here that my back decided to go out. I couldn't help dann pack up for our departure, I was stuck on the lounge and that's where I was staying. I Couldn't do anything much for 6 weeks.

This is Holloman Air Force Base Fam Camp, that's us with our nose poking out of the left.

Finally it was time to leave this hell hole. We went to Carlsbad to see the HUGE Bate Caves. The day we went my back was at its worst. I told Dann there is no way I can do it. So we missed seeing them. Next time maybe. From Carlsbad we went to Roswell. I just had to go see me a Alien. I wasn't disappointed, there was Aliens every where, on the top of buildings, on the side walks in front of shops, you name it, there was one there to. Below are a few Pictures I managed to take from the truck.

The most famous Alien of them all

While we were in Roswell we stayed at Bottomless Lake, its about 15 – 20 miles out of Roswell. Beautiful Spot. The temperature in the 5th wheel was creeping up to about 90 degrees, 35 Celsius with the Air Con going flat out. It was over 100 out side. A bit under 40 Celsius. Lucky for us we had a beautiful swimming hole right there.The coldest water to.

The view of the swimming hole from our front step.

Close up of our Private Swimming Hole

We finally dragged our selves away from our little Swimming Hole in Paradise and headed of towards The Rancheros Santa Fe Campground, still in New Mexico. We stayed one night here and moved on next day. Our destination is Rapid City in South Dakota. This is where we are going to get our Drivers Licences and register our RV and Truck and to get a permanent mailing address. The fun part was getting there. I actually like getting back in the truck after being in one place, the landscapes change from State to State. This part of our Walkabout Adventure was taking us to Colorado Springs in Colorado. OMG !! This is John Denver country. The mountains there are absolutely beautiful. On the way to Colorado I noticed as I was gazing out the window enjoying the scenery as it passed me by the shortness of the telephone poles. It looked like they had been built by midgets They went on for miles. I grabbed my camera and managed to snap a picture of them.

I am learning now to have my Camera always by my side when we are on the move. It’s only taken me 4-5 months.As we approached Colorado Springs I was in Awe of the Mountains. One especially..”Cheyenne Mountain”.

Taken from the internet of Cheyenne Mountain, this mountain is HUGE !!

The entrance to Cheyenne Mountain

And this is what is under that Mountain.

A lot to see here but so little time to see it all. We narrowed it down to eating out and visiting a beautiful place called “ Garden Of The Gods” We got going early to beat the rush of all them tourist that we knew would be there as well. We made it up there in good time, like 8am in the morning. It wasn't open because of a bike race that was in progress. we decided to kill a bit of time in the gift shop. I like to collect Iron on Patches of all the states we visit and Fridge magnets that I send home to my Mum in Australia. One day I “Will” iron them onto a vest or jacket of some sort. Dann realized in our hurry to leave the 5th Wheel, he had left his wallet behind. So back we went. Got to the gate and the security wouldn't let us back in. Rang the Air Force police, they couldn't help us. Finally after 2 hours a lady that Dann had spoken to on the phone (who we didn't know from a bar of soap) sent her daughter out to escort us in. Its about 10.30 going on 11 by this time. Back to Garden Of The gods we went. By this time the tourist were every where. No vantage points to park so we could get out and get some great pictures. My back is still out at this time so walking was not a option. So we basically drove around and snapped a few Pictures of what I could and left. Beautiful place.

Dann

In pain and it shows.

After a busy busy week of sigh seeing and finally being able to wash away the dust and dirt that had accumulated on the Truck and 5th wheel it was time to leave and hit the road again..Next stop on our trek to South Dakota was Fort Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming .

On the base here they had some B52’s. These are the planes that Dann loaded with Bombs while he was in the Air Force. He just had to go see for old time sakes.