Tucson to Karchner Caverns.

Track Road to Nowhere. Talking heads.
"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end."

Day 21.

Pete took the breakfast and reading helm whilst Becs headed off for a run. It turned out to be quite an adventure as it was boiling hot even though still early, and having got into a private golf course, she couldnt find a way out and was chased by old people in a golf buggy and climbed 2 walls to get back. Had a lovely morning by the pool, shop in Walmarts and prepared ourselves for the biggest drive yet. Becs did her first bit of driving at the beginning and managed to keep on the road and within the speed limit.  It was also noted by Pete that the navigation was harder than it looked!! The journey was long but pleasant and the boys were really well behaved.

It was exciting going through the roadblock on the Mexican border and checking out all the cacti from the window. We were very relieved however to arrive in Tucson (pronounced Two-son) which is where our troubles began. Pete had his first disaster on the camping spot. The first had been turned into a baseball stadium.  We next pulled into another place which looked a bit ropey. A man with his hand missing and two bull mastifs were walking through the permanent trailer park and another interesting looking chap appeared like an aperition at the window and invited us to stay, no formal set up. Brief but strongly spoken words were exchanged between becs and pete whilst he went to find us some keys for the bathroom, and Pete put his foot to the floor and sped outta there in a dust cloud. The third place had been replaced by a federal prison so we pulled into the prison car park to feed the boys and put on their pjs. It was dark and atmospheric.  Tensions running high we left Tucson and drove another 20 miles, having now been on the road for 8hrs, into the welcoming arms of more old folk playing bingo in the RV rec room.

 Day 22.

Well, in the light of day, Cactus Country RV resort was a beautiful spot. There was a fantastic swimming pool and spa, which we again made private use of, and then had a family shower in the mens restroom, interupted only briefly by a cowboy who used the urinal while becs hid in the cubicle. He hollered 'All clear now Ma'am' as he left though which was very curteous in the circumstances. They've seen everything though these cowboys.

Making sure there were no rattlesnakes in our boots we filled up on propane and ventured an hour down the road the the Karchner Caverns State Park.





The guided tour took us into the 'live' cave which was wierdly warm and humid compared to the outside. The caves were only discovered in 1974 by a couple of college students into caving, and they were kept a secret for 14yrs until it was ensured that they could be opened to the public without damaging the fragile ecosystem within. We were misted as we entered to dampen any lint from our clothes and not allowed to touch anything other than the walkways which were hosed down every day. Pretty awesome place and dylan impressed but disappointed not to see batman. Solomon did a very loud poo during the audio visual element much to the amusement of all.

We then had an interesting walk around looking at the flowers and birds including several species of hummingbird. Had tea watching the sunset over the desert. It was beautiful but children do not honour the same codes as most adults, and say it like it is. Rather than trying to ignore the obvious dylan annouced he was freezing, which it was, so we moved the party inside!