Tucson to El Paso
We know Tucson doesn’t get much rain, but WOW! What a doozy of a thunderstorm last night! We thoroughly enjoyed the show from the safety of our RV. Rain continued throughout the day today, but was not troublesome. We are glad we diverted to a more southerly route, as we’re hearing reports of snow and ice in the northern Arizona mountains ~ our original route.
We worked out/showered at another Anytime Fitness in Tucson, then met up with a friend of a friend who is selling her Tiger brand RV. Ross is always looking at alternative adventure vehicles (his hobby) and this one intrigued him. We loved meeting the owner, a retired college professor and poet. The RV didn’t meet Ross’s needs exactly, but we were glad for the view and visit.
Onward!
Today’s RV-Driving podcasts: (Me) Bakari Sellers (a Democrat’s Democrat from South Carolina) interviewed Tim Scott (one of only three black U.S. Senators, a Republican from South Carolina). The interview was enlightening. It helped me appreciate Scott’s frame of reference and appreciate him as a human being. It helps to understand someone’s back story, to understand the choices they make in their life.
(Ross) You Are Not So Smart ~ in today’s world of divided political loyalties, a psychologist gave his take on how to communicate with someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum.
Hot Takes on the Southwest: *Magnificent architectural designs of nature…in stone, sand, sage and cactus. Look in the old Crayola box of 64…take all the yellow/orange/brown hues and you can create a fraction of the colors you see in the desert.
*Everyone is on the move! We counted dozens of small pickup trucks with furniture piled high, looking ready to topple over if there was a gust of wind. Where were they all moving from and to?
Landed tonight in Franklin Mountains State Park, El Paso. Other than a tent camper, we are the only ones here! (The Ranger tucked us in and locked us safely into the park.)
Las Vegas to Tucson
Whatever T'Chat DID in Vegas stayed in Vegas. She’ll never tell.
After partying hearty with our buds (Ross till all hours in the hot tub with Billy…another story altogether) we somehow managed to get up early and hit the gym. I signed us up for Anytime Fitness memberships before leaving Bend. It’s a traveler’s secret. You get a key to all their gyms around the country (open 24/7) and they all have nice clean showers. So we got our workout AND a shower, even though we weren’t in a campground last night.
On the drive we both listened to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about MacDonald’s french fries ~ a great listen if you’ve never heard it ~ from this last season of Gladwell’s Revisionist History. Then we listened to an excellent interview by Dr. Rhonda Patrick with scientist Erik Verdin from the Buck Institute (they study all things aging). Fascinating research about the benefits of fasting, ketogenic diets, and NAD. We highly recommend all of Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s interviews ~ her website and podcasts are both named Found My Fitness.
The kicker? After listening to all this French Fry and Healthy Science, we decided to stop at In and Out Burger and blow all the health out the window. We’ve both always been curious about In and Out…people love it. Our take? Cheerful people and environment, food seems fresher than MacD’s and that ilk, but overall it was very bland. Can’t wait to have a good old oyster po-boy from Old Tyme in Lafayette. That’s MY kind of fast food!
I drove most of the way today (300 of the 370 miles). I quite like driving, as long as I’m fresh. Don’t like to be the late-afternoon driver.
Found a lovely state park outside Tucson for tonight.
P.S. HI LEIGH! Thank you for the follow! I’m tumbler illiterate, so I followed you but can’t figure out how to reply. We send our love!