El Paso was hot: hot and windy.  We stayed at the famcamp at Ft. Bliss.  It is a one of the nicest famcamps we have stayed in so far.  The lots are cement and level.  It is so nice to pull in and just drop the jacks without having to put things under the wheels.  The grounds are well kept.  There is no green except for the dog walk area but where there would be grass on each site there is gravel and trees.  The facilities are clean and well kept.  The base is very nice.  Tons of shopping and choices of places to eat. 

The wind was wild.  More wind than I have ever been in.  Our satellite dish took a dive and now sports a nice dent.  The wind broke the plastic braces on the bottom of the kitchen slide which Ira rebuild from wood.  It also ripped the awning over the living room slide,  good old duct tape to the rescue.

We stayed there through memorial weekend which is the one year anniversary of us pulling out of the driveway in Pa. 

The days are so hot and we worry about the affects of the heat on the truck when hauling Serenity so we decided to leave El Paso at night and do the bulk of the driving in the dark and cooler hours.  So very very early Tuesday morning we crept out of the park being as quiet as we could.  Sunrise found us in New Mexico.

We sure didn't have to worry too much now about heat.  Once we left El Paso and started north the temps dropped considerably.  It was about 40 degrees when I took this picture.  I was dressed for 85.  I was shivering so bad I could hardly take the picture.  Needless to say I only have a few.  I didn't stay out long enough to take more.

I have never been in this part of the country before and the dessert fascinates me.  I love the expanses of nothingness. 

I have seen pictures of these cactus all my life but this is the first time seeing them real.

We stopped in Tucson in the morning and set up for the day.  The temperature had risen considerably.  When we are only stopping for overnight we usually stop at a Flying J or a Walmart but in the heat we really want the electricity for the AC so we stopped at a small campground just on the outskirts of Tuscon.  We fit in the lot (just)  and getting in was not hard but getting out was tight.  The roads really were not designed for rigs quite as large as ours.  Fortunately the guys staying in the lot in front of us moved their truck and picnic table so that we could pull out right through their lot and make the swing around them to the exit.  Once again we left before daylight and got to Flagstaff by noon.  The daytime temps are in the high 70s low 80s but the night go below freezing.  Makes for good sleeping.  Speaking of sleeping, we didn't get much last night.  Serenity came with a "sleep by number" bed.  Well last night it sprung a leak.  At 2 AM we ripped the bed apart trying to figure out why it kept going flat.  Finally we found the leak.  We decided to try to just duct tape it as a temporary measure.  It worked..............for about 15 minutes!  Today we went out in search of a patching kit to try and fix it.  If it doesn't work I am thinking we are going to have to replace our mattress.  I would never buy that type of bed myself and only own one because the rig came with it.  We patched the mattress this evening and have to let it sit for the night.  So tonight we sleep on the hide-a-bed in the living room.  I am guessing we are going to find out if it is comfortable.

We are staying in the famcamp at the Navajo National Guard Camp.  It reminds me of the campgrounds in the woods we used to camp at when I was a child.  I like staying in the RV resorts with all the amenities but I am also liking this rustic little place.  We have a great view across the fields from our dining area and the place is so quiet.  The stars are so bright.  As Howard would say "this place has that it factor".

Today we drove up to the grand canyon.  It was breathtaking!!! I took tons of pictures but I don't have them on this computer yet so I can't include any of them.  I will put a few in my next post. 

There is a $25.00 charge per car to enter the Grand Canyon National Park.  Fortunately last year when we were in Sevierville we bought a Senior pass to go into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and it also got us in to the Grand Canyon National Park today for free.  Great little card!  So far that and our Passport America card has been a great investment.  I recommend them to anyone planning to do any touring around and camping. 

There is a few more places we want to see while we are here in Arizona.  Next week we are off to Vegas.  Another new place for me.

That is about it from Flagstaff Az.  Stay safe out there everyone and I hope we can meet one day somewhere down the road.