Jerry and I and his son, Gary, spent Halloween day at the Reid Park Zoo. They had a great variety of zoo animals. We have visited several zoos and this one is very, very nice compared to some. The animals are quite used to having their pictures taken. The turtle even smiled really big at me and I told him to smile. The giraffe was a real ham, loved to eat biscuits and pose. He is the baby of the zoo, two years old.
Jerry and his son toured the Pima Air Museum and were able to go through the plan of former Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. 
The girls asked if they could come and have dinner in our motorhome. They even brought their own dinner. They had never been in one and wanted to see how and where we live. They had fun, they felt like they were camping.
After Karate class we went to our son's home and had dinner and helped carve pumpkins. Grandpa was kept very busy!!
We were kept very busy with the grandkids in Tucson, AZ. There was something scheduled for almost every day and night. They could hardly wait for us to watch them at their Karate class. Jesse (on the blue mate) had her class the first hour and Katie the second hour. They have Karate twice a week and everyone gets involved, grand parents and parents take their turns in making sure the girls get to class.
The grandkids could hardly wait to show us the horses they love. First things first, they had to showcase their t-shirts and necklaces we brought back from Pigeon Forge and Alabama. They were so excited to see their Grandma and Grandpa.
We stopped at the first Arizona rest stop which was also at Texas Canyon. The rocks and the deep canyons were very pretty.
We stopped at the first rest stop in Arizona which also was very pretty. The bridge carvings were also southwestern. A nice change in scenery.
We were so glad to finally get through Texas! We traveled through Texas for almost four days. When we got to New Mexico we stopped and went through the Welcome Center.
While traveling I-20, approaching New Mexico, the murals on the bridges were painted beautifully in southwestern colors. This was a nice change.
The El Paso interstates were very busy. There were several places we could have stopped, however, because of traffic we drove straight through. That is, until we saw a Tony Lama Boot outlet. We got off the interstate and turned around and went back to the boot factory. Jerry really wanted to buy a pair of boots in Texas and this was our last stop before entering New Mexico. He bought a beautiful pair and is breaking them in now.
It's time to stop and reflect on all our blessings. We have seen alot of country, safe travel, met alot of new friends along the way and we are so thankful for all of these things. We have spent time with family and we still have more to see. We are on our way to Tucson, AZ this week to see our son and his family, and then on to Kingman, AZ to see our daughter and her family. Our daughter just emailed and told us she was promoted on her job. Congratulations, Tanya! For Thanksgiving, we will be in Nevada to have thanksgiving with our son and his family and daughter. This has been a great trip and we are looking forward to spending the holidays with family. This is what I consider enjoying retirement, seeing new places, meet new people, and visiting family!! We are very thankful especially for our good health and God keeping us healthy while traveling.
We saw all these places of interest while driving along I-20. These are places directly off the interstate that I think a person might find interesting. It also gives a break to driving and sitting so much. We hope you enjoy them!
Even the State Parks have changed! Monohans State Park is close to the sand dunes. It looks like it is a beautiful park. If driving 1-20 it might be a real nice park to stay. 
The closer we get to El Paso we see the rest stops are no longer called rest stops, but picnic area stops. The scenery has changed dramatically from the beautiful trees not to desert, and the rest stops now have the southwestern look. The desert does have its own beauty. 
We stayed at the Cowtown RV Park, and drove right by Texas's 19th Congressional District office in Big Springs. The area is predominantly rural, so I was surprised to a Congressman's District office in this area. I looked up on the Internet more information and read this is a very large district with 3 district offices throughout Texas, one in Abilene, Lubbock and Big Springs, TX.
I thought this mural of the State of Texas and the United States flag was very pretty. We were on I-20 approaching a bridge; the US flag was on one side of the bridge and the State of Texas on the other.
We stayed at Texas RV Park in Big Springs, TX one night. It was a quiet park on the opposite side of town. It was an older park, however, very quiet, and it had some cute cabins. We haven't seen a cabin look like a barn before. Very cute. The park had a lot of oil well workers in it too that live there full time.
