South of Tombstone, near the border with Mexico, is a cute little historic town called Bisbee, Arizona. We went there for a drive and dinner.
An interactive map:
The historic Mule Pass Tunnel:
Entering Bisbee:
Bisbee buildings:
We had Mexican for dinner at Contessa’s Cantina:
Jenn’s dinner:
My dinner, stuffed potato:
Jenn’s dessert, sopapillas:
My dessert, Mexican deep fried ice cream:
More Bisbee buildings:
Back through the tunnel:
Sunset:
A cute artsy town; we quite liked it.
We visited Tombstone, Arizona, which has a few blocks of downtown devoted to an old west theme.
An interactive map:
And promotional map:
A classic old courthouse:
Wyatt’s saloon and hotel:
Horse-drawn mail coach:
Four Deuces Saloon:
Dirt road:
Ice cream parlor:
Good Enough Mine tour:
Library and railway:
Trolly tours:
We got some jerky and dried fruits from this shop:
Big Nose Kate’s Saloon:
Longhorn Restaurant:
More shops:
Hotel Tombstone:
Bird Cage Theatre:
Jenn enjoys her pressed pennies:
Crystal Palace:
The famous OK Corral:
We initially were going to have lunch at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon, but it was too busy:
So we headed to Crystal Palace, since they had outdoor seating:
A real touristy town.
We stayed at Tombstone RV Park & Campground in Tombstone, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)
An uncomfortably short site.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Good spot to stop close to Tombstone
This was a really nice, well-run park and a great launching point for all the area has to offer. The hosts were all very friendly and helpful from check-in, to guiding us to our site, to helping us with package deliveries. Our site was clean and level. On the other hand, it was also pretty short for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle. Usually, if we have a pull-through site it’s okay if we unhook the tow after we park the coach. Here, we really should have unhooked beforehand as the truck was completely blocking the lane until we unhooked it and parked alongside the coach. Even so, the motorhome was poking out to the front and rear. We had to use our safety cones for the first time to help demarcate our corners. We camped at Tombstone RV Park and Campground in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Chiricahua National Monument and Fort Bowie National Historic Site are a good day trip away and shouldn’t be missed.
Interactive map:
Tombstone newspaper and RV park map:
Guided to our site:
Our site; it was rather short, so we put out mini cones to help prevent people hitting our coach:
The tombstone theme: “here lies [site] 45”:
The cellular services weren’t great, so we used Starlink:
The entrance at sunset:
Office:
Activity center:
Swimming pool:
Cart:
Other sites:
It was fine, though the site was too short for comfort, and the roads a bit tight in places.
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 247 miles from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona.
We drove our coach 247 miles, about four hours of driving (and a couple of hours of stoppage), from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona.
Here’s the map route, heading west:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
We usually toad up (aka connecting the truck to the coach) by our site, but there wasn’t a great place to do that this time, so we went over by the office. So Jenn drove the coach, and I followed in the truck:
Toading up; hooking up the tow bar and cables, switching the truck transmission to neutral, disconnecting the battery (via a push button), and connecting the brake controller:
The brake controller:
On our way; there were lots of signs like these for several tchotchke shops:
Fireworks and tchotchkes:
Inspection station, with nobody staffing it:
One of several billboards for The Thing?
Our first stop, at a parking area (i.e. like a rest area, with no bathrooms):
Nice to see mountains:
Another tchotchkes shop, with a fun fence painted like storefronts:
Fuel stop:
A third of a tank (we actually paid less than this, thanks to the TSD fuel discount card):
Filling the Diesel Exhaust Fluid:
Then we parked at this truck stop for lunch:
Heading out:
Continental divide:
Lots of signs about dust storms; this one sensibly worded as “caution dust storms”:
Another sensible sign, “zero visibility possible”:
But “dust storms may exist”; yes, indeed, but kinda a clumsy way to say that:
Welcome to Arizona:
Another truck stop, just for a stretch and bathroom break (in our coach, of course):
An interesting and very sketchy-looking homemade trailer:
Benson, Arizona:
One lane roadworks:
Uncomfortably narrow for our coach:
St. David:
Our destination:
The gray and black holding tanks in RVs can get a bit dirty over time, so it is generally recommended to get them professionally cleaned out every year or so, depending on usage. We also have had issues with odors and sensor mis-reads, so thought getting them cleaned might help.
While in the LA area, we engaged All Pro Water-Flow So Cal to flush our tanks; we found them via an ad on the campground map. I can’t whole-heartedly recommend them, though, as they didn’t solve the sensor mis-reads. I’m not sure if the issue was something other than dirty tanks, or perhaps they didn’t do a good enough job. I’ll try to get the sensors looked at during an upcoming service.
The mechanism is simple enough: a hose connects to a pressure washer, with another hose with spray heads that is inserted into each of the tanks in turn, and manipulated to move around inside the tanks, washing their internal surfaces:
A timelapse dashcam video of driving up and back down Pikes Peak in Colorado (back in September).
We stayed at Las Cruces KOA Journey in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our second visit in just a few months to this RV park.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Sites:
We were only in that site for the first night, as that was the extra day for arriving early (as a separate reservation). Then we needed to move to a different (similar) site:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
The best views
This was our second time staying here and it was just as nice as the last time. We came in a day earlier than originally planned to avoid some wind storms in the area and were able to get a reservation that morning for a view site. Because it was technically a second reservation, they had to do some rearranging and we wound up moving from site 28 to 16 at the start of our original reservation. No biggie, other than the disconcerting feeling of bringing in the stabilizing jacks and feeling the wind buffet the rig violently from side to side. Some of the most white-knuckle driving ever just to go from one end of the campground to the other. The staff were so helpful and understanding in accommodating our early arrival and relocation as we weren’t the only ones with the idea to avoid the weather. You just have to get a view site at this place or you’re really missing out. I’m sure you could get a peep of it from further back or enjoy the view from one of the communal areas, but it’s just so awesome to view it out the front window of the motorhome. We’ll definitely be back when we come this way again. We camped at Las Cruces KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Bosque Brewing across from NMSU has good beer and food.
An interactive map of the park:
RV park map:
Our first site before parking:
Our first site with our coach and truck; this may look familiar to long-time readers, as it’s the same site we had last time we were here:
The view from inside our coach:
The utilities of our first site (I didn’t bother hooking up the sewer pipe, since we were only there one night):
After that first night, we needed to move to another site. Here’s our second site before parking:
Our second site with our coach and truck:
Notice the sky; it was very windy and dusty, so we only put out the driver-side slides (being leeward), and left the passenger-side ones in:
We received an emergency alert for the dust storm:
A screenshot of my weather app, showing the wind gusts:
The coach is a bit weird with one side in, but still quite usable:
Nicer weather:
The view from inside:
Our second site utilities:
Cleaning the windshield:
Nice view:
A tiny Casita trailer next to our 40-foot coach; kinda looks like we laid an egg:
Since the wind was ongoing, if not quite so strong, and we wanted to put the slides out, I added ropes to brace slide toppers:
One day, it even snowed!
A video of the snow:
A video from the dash cam, showing the snow clearing:
(Did you spot the cat?)
Snowy mountains:
You can see more of this RV park in my post for our previous stay, but here are a few pics, starting with the office:
Dog park:
Tent and camp kitchen areas:
Other RVs:
Sunrise view from our coach:
Sunset views:
This is a nice RV park; the sites aren’t the best, especially being buddy sites, but the view more than makes up for that. This was our second visit, and we’ll probably stay here again if we’re back this way in the future.
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 504 miles from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Our longest drive to date! (And yes, I’ve been using country & folk music for the Texas travel, but switch to other genres on leaving Texas.)
We drove our coach 504 miles, an epic eight hours of driving, from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
We normally prefer two hour drives, and will go up to four hours when on an interstate (as they are easier and usually have regular rest areas). We had planned two four hour days, stopping in Pecos, but the weather forecast called for 60 MPH gusts along the route on the second leg. So we decided to push on through, doing it in one day.
Here’s the map route, heading west:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
Leaving the Abilene KOA:
There were pretty much non-stop pump jacks along the route:
We stopped at several rest areas; this was the first:
An interesting water tower:
Wide load:
“It would behoof you to slow down”:
Road Ranger fuel stop:
We went in, and had Church’s Chicken for lunch (our least-preferred fast food chicken chain):
Back to our coach:
Sleepy Paladin:
A wind turbine blade:
More pump jacks:
As mentioned, we were originally going to stop at Pecos, Texas:
Paladin probably would have preferred that we stopped, but this was just halfway:
A nice rest area:
We were so happy to see mountains again, after spending months in flat Texas:
Lots of trucks:
Allegedly scenic viewpoint:
Entering Mountain Time Zone:
A busy rest area; we parked on the side of the road:
El Paso overpasses:
El Paso artwork:
An interesting RV paint job:
Goodbye Texas; entering New Mexico:
Mountains by Las Cruces:
Our destination, another KOA:
That was quite the drive!