Catalina State Park

The trip from Deming, NM to Catalina State Park north of Tucson, AZ was way better that our travel the day before.  The terrain was fairly even except for going downhill into Benson, AZ,and then back up hill some to Tucson, but the most important difference was there was no wind!  I failed to mention in my last blog that on our trip from Del Rio, TX to Deming, NM was against a headwind of about 20 miles per hour.  Ann and I joked that it was a 5 mile per gallon day. Statistics show it was 4.99 miles per gallon day!  Glad all travel days are not like that!



Even though it was the third time we have stayed at the Dream Catcher RV Park in Deming, NM, it was the first time that we realized that all the freight trains in the southern US go through Deming!  I dont think was a ten minute space between trains passing by all night, and of course, most RVers know that there must be a Federal Law that states that all RV parks must be built within earshot of a rail road track.

Here are some examples of trains we saw while we headed west of Deming, NM.

We stopped in Lordsburg, NM to fill up with gas, and get some food.  The Flying J and attached Denny's were right off the interstate and filled the bill.  When we got ready to leave we noticed this car on a trailer behind a motorhome.

After admiring the car for a couple minutes, we were ready to go, but the motorhome driver decided to block the driveway as he waited his turn to fuel up.

He apparently noticed that he had the drive way blocked as three different vehicles were waiting to get out, so he finally pulled ahead far enough for the three of us to leave.  The selfishness of some people!

We arrived at the park about 3:15PM and quickly got set up, and headed over to Happy Hour for our group of RVforum.net.  There was already a good crowd there as the usual Happy Hour time of 4:00PM was moved up to 3:00 because even thought it was mid 60s, it cools off fast after 4:00PM.

Here is the group at Happy Hour on Tuesday, December 27, 2001.  Ann and I are on the left side of the pic with our backs to the camera.  We will add a few more people in the circle tonight, and expect a few more to come in tomorrow.  Thanks to Ken of our group for the pic.

After Happy Hour we headed back south to "Five Guys" burger place that Ann had seen on our way up Oracle Street on our way to the park.  The food was good, and it had a different atmosphere than most places.

This morning(Wednesday December 28) we had to move spaces as the first spot was not available for the next few days.  This is really a beautiful park, and it is full every night!  Next it was off to a place that did faxing as Ann needed to fax something for work, and on the way Ann noticed a bike shop, and we stopped and Ann looked at bikes on the way back.  She has a bike, but wants a lighter and better bike.

Upon returning to the park, Ann went back to work, and I took a few pics of the area.

After Happy Hour, then dinner, it was a night of reading for Ann, computer time for me and updating the blog.

Here is a chart with some travel cost information. Odometer Miles  Price Gallons  Total  MPG 39,177  $    3.169 54.2  $        172.00 39,506 329  $    3.379 57.8  $        195.02 5.69 39,828 322  $    3.469 62.5  $        217.00 5.15 40,208 380  $    3.349 55.2  $        185.00 6.88 40,608 400  $    3.419 58.5  $        200.00 6.84 40,789 181  $    3.219 30.4  $          98.00 5.95 41,085 296  $    3.099 59.4  $        184.00 4.99 41,373 288  $    3.059 49.0  $        150.00 5.87 Total Miles 2,196 AVG/Gal  $     3.270 Total Gal 372.9 Total $  $     1,229.02 AVG MPG 5.89 Hope everyone is doing well!  We do appreciate everyone's comments! Paul