1/18/2018 - San Antonio, TX

This is the first trip in the Casita for the new year.  We are headed out to San Diego for my 62^nd birthday.  We are trying a different approach to the blog this year.  Usually we only blog during our summer trip. But, this year we will try to blog all of our trips for the year.

After delaying our trip for a few days due to the very cold weather in Houston, we hitched up the Casita and took off. I called our friend James who lives in San Antonio and is the brewer for Alamo Beer Company.  He will let us hook up and stay all night at the brewery.  After arriving and getting set up, we headed for the tap room.  There was a celebration for Fiesta.  This year is the 300^th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio.  James was leading a brewery tour and we had a couple of beers and dinner from the food truck.  After visiting with James for awhile, he left for home.  We retired to the Casita and when the employees cleaned up and left for the day, they locked us in the property.  The train runs through at the edge of the property and we heard it all night.  It wasn’t too loud.

  

1/19/2018 - Van Horn, TX

James showed up at the brewery very early to start a new batch of beer.  The three of us went for breakfast tacos.  After returning to the Casita, James unlocked the gate and we drove to Van Horn, Texas for the night.

1/20/2018 - Tucson, AZ

We drove to Tucson, Arizona today.  Jim’s nephew Paul and his wife Yundi were in Tucson for a job interview and house hunting.  After unhooking the Casita, we went to 1912 Brewing, Pueblo Vida Brewing and then met Paul and Yundi for dinner at a restaurant in the foothills of Tuscon.

1/21/2018 - Tucson, AZ

Today is my 62^nd birthday.  Jim took me to breakfast at Frank’s.  Then we drove to Tucson Mountain Park.  There are lots of really pretty Saguaro cactus in this area.  Saguaro National Park is in this region.  We drove to Dillinger Brewing and then met Paul and Yundi to see the house they are really interested in purchasing.  This house looks like something Frank Lloyd Wright might have designed.  It has floor to ceiling glass walls and beautiful view of the mountains and the city.  After leaving, Jim took me to P.F. Chang's for my birthday dinner.

1/22/18 - Quartzsite, AZ

Today we drove to Quartzsite, Arizona to meet up with friends who are camped in the desert on Bureau of Land Management land near Dome Rock.  This week is the big RV tent show in Quartzsite.  We got there late in the afternoon and when we finished setting up camp we had fun catching up with them by the fire at night.

1/23/2018 - Quartzsite, AZ

Jim went for a hike up Dome Rock with Jerry and a few other friends.  I stayed back at camp because I have developed a bad cough and laryngitis.  When Jim returned, we went to walk around the Big Tent.  Jerry helped Jim work on the fridge -- it won’t stay lit on propane.  Everyone sat outside by the fire.

1/24/2018 - Quiartzsite, AZ

Today Jim and I went to Tyson Wells and looked through all the tents that were set up there.  Then we had a beer at Beer Belly’s Bar by the Big Tent. Everyone sat outside again tonight by the fire.

1/25/2018 - Alpine, CA

Jim and I left today for California.   We drove south out of Quartzsite, through Yuma, then west on I-8.  We drove through the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area which looked a lot like the Sahara Desert.  Then we stopped at a rest area in El Centro, CA and watched the Navy's Blue Angels practice.  This is their winter home.  We stopped in Alpine, California for the night. We got an RV site at Ma-Tar-Awa RV Camper Park on the Indian Reservation.  Then we went to Alpine Brewing.

1/26/2018 - Bonita, CA

This morning we drove to Bonita, California.  We had a reservation to camp at Sweetwater Summit Regional Park.  This was the closet camping place to San Diego that was reasonably priced.  We got a good site overlooking the valley.  After setting up camp we drove to Modern Times Brewing, Bay City Brewing, Stone Brewing-Liberty Station, Mike Hess Brewing and Pizza Port Brewing.  We had supper at Pizza Port. 

Stone Brewing - Liberty Station is on the old Naval Base in San Diego.  The buildings on the site have been repurposed for shops and restaurants.  My brother was stationed there when he was in the Navy.

1/27/2018 - Bonita, CA

This morning we went for a small hike in the park.  Today we went to Lost Abbey / Port Brewing, Wild Barrel Brewing, Mason Ale Works, Rip Current Brewing, Duck Foot Brewing, Ballast Point and Reckless Brewing.

1/28/2018 - Bonita, CA

After breakfast, Jim and I went for a longer hike on the trails in the park. Just as we were returning to the paved roads in the campground, a medium sized Rattlesnake slithered across the trail in front of us. Today we went to Alesmith Brewing, Green Flash Brewing, Long Ship Brewing and Societe Brewing.  We had supper at the Studio Diner which was featured on Diners, Dive-Ins and Dives.  I had a battered and deep fried Monte Cristo sandwich.

1/29/2018 - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, AZ

Today we left Bonita, California and drove to Kofa National Wildlife Refuge a few miles south of Quartzsite in the Sonoran desert.    It is beautiful and quiet.  We couldn’t get the site that we camped in a few years ago with friends but we did find another one down the road from it and it was a great place to camp.  Camping here is free but there are no amenities - we will use our solar panels or generator to keep the Casita's battery charged.

1/30/2018 - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, AZ

Today we took a long hike down Palm Canyon road to the parking lot for the trail to Palm Canyon.  After dinner, Jim started the generator and he watched President Trump's State of the Union address.  I sat outside by the fire.

1/31/2018 - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, AZ

We got up at 6 a.m. this morning to see the Super (full and close to the earth) Blue (2^nd moon in a month) Blood (red color due to the total eclipse) Moon.  It was amazing to see, especially in the desert without any lights around.  The stars were gorgeous.  Mid morning we drove to the trailhead of Palm Canyon.  The hike is not long but is rocky.  The crevice at the end of the trail has the only native Palms in Arizona.  Then we drove to the Crystal Hill area in Kofa National Wildlife Reserve.  This was a long, dusty, rough washboard road.  At the end is a primitive campground that has spaces big enough for a trailer.  I wouldn’t want to drag the Casita down the road to it.  We looked  around for crystals and found a few.  At night we sat outside by the fire again.

2/1/2018 - Tucson, AZ

This morning we left Kofa (to my sadness) and drove to Tucson, Arizona.  On the way we stopped at Dateland, Arizona and got a date shake.  We also bought some date items. We got an RV site at Whispering Pines RV Park.  We went to Crooked Tooth Brewing, Button Brewing and Catalina Brewing.  

2/2/2018 - Las Cruces, NM

Today we drove to Las Cruces, New Mexico and got a site at Coach Light Inn and RV Park.  We went to Picacho Peak Brewing and Spotted Dog Brewing where we ate supper.

2/3/2018 - Study Butte, TX

This morning we left Las Cruces and drove to Study Butte, Texas.  We stopped at Big Bend Brewing in Alpine, Texas along the way.  We also stopped in Valentine, Tcxas and I mailed my Valentine’s cards from the post office there.  This post office has a special cancellation for the stamp that is different every year in honor of Valentine’s Day. Also, near here is the art installation named “Prada Marfa”.  We stopped to look at it. We are staying at Jim’s nephew, Rush, and his wife Penni’s cabin property that also has three RV hookups.  They were working at the cabin and were still there when we arrived.