Brenda, Tasha and The Rig At Kitt Peak National Observatory

Kitt Peak National Observatory in the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona is a great place to go visit.  It’s a working observatory that lets you wander the grounds and see some of the telescopes.  They also have daily tours of various telescopes.  They have the world’s largest collection of research telescopes.  It’s home to 25 optical telescopes and 2 radio telescopes, which represent dozens of astronomical research institutions.

When we arrived we were delighted to find out there was a viewing of the sun that day.  So we proceeded to the solar telescope and looked directly at the sun! Yes, your mother was right to tell you never to look directly into the sun.  Only with special UV filters on this solar telescope were we able to see it without hurting our eyes.

Kitt Peak is at an elevation of 6875 feet.  While walking the grounds, you do feel a little winded.  David and I were laughing because we thought we were just really out of shape.  Then we remembered the elevation height.  They do warn people about that.

Next time we are in the area we plan on getting on a list for a nighttime viewing tour.  They have nighttime viewings every night, weather permitting.  That would be amazing to look up at the sky through the telescopes.  They explain what you are seeing so you walk away with some knowledge of the stars.  Nothing like your nightly star gazing from your back yard.

As the saying on the back of our rig says, “To Boldly Go…Because We Can!”

Some of the Telescopes on Kitt Peak

Kitt Peak National Observatory Main Building

David Getting A View of the Sun Through The Solar Telescope

As The Saying on the Back of Our Rig Says, "To Boldly Go...Because We Can!"

Parked For The Night In Why, AZ

Nope, I’m not asking why Arizona?  We are in the town of Why, in Arizona.  What?  You’ve never heard of it?  Us either, but here we are.  It does exist.  Why is a little town 30 miles north of the Mexico border.  I say little town because it has, at the last census, 113 people.  Interestingly enough, there are a couple of rv parks.  That’s because, not only are they close to the Mexico border, they are also due north of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  No time to go exploring Organ Pipe.  Maybe next time.  We’re just passing through and it looked like an interesting place to stop.  We were right.  Night time here reminds us of Quartzsite BLM land.  No lights.  RV’s dry camped sporadically apart.  Stars beyond stars in the night sky.  Must remember while walking Tasha at night, coyotes are present.  Fun fun.  At least it’s not snake season.  There are many posters warning you of the poisonous snakes around.  Again, another interesting stop that we’d do again.  Once we get back this way.

The Road Into Why

David (and I) Hiking The Park

Cool Shot of The Side of The Motor Coach

Another Beautiful Sunset

David Watching The SuperBowl On The Big Screen

Big Screen…Check.

Munchies…Check.

New Orleans Winning…Check

Not the best photo, but you get the idea.  63″ screen shown on the privacy screen of our coach.  The image is actually very good, just washed out taken like this.

Thanks for an awesome game!

Dry Camping On BLM Land In Quartzsite, AZ

Heading back south we decided to stay in Quartzsite one last time.  Quartzsite is surrounded by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.  This is land that you can just drive off the road and park out in the middle of no where.  It’s quiet and dark.  No lights around at all.  Which makes for gorgeous night skies and viewing of the stars.  Oh my!  You have not seen stars like this unless you’ve been in complete darkness.

Being Quartzsite, there were other rv’s around though.  However, everyone is respectful of everyone else in the sense that they park far away from each other.  So essentially, you are alone, kind of.

So we just enjoyed the quiet.  The darkness.  At night, admiring the stars, you could find other rver’s by there campfires.  That’s the only way you knew they were there.  Nice.  Another stop we’d do again next time we pass through here.  However, we’d plan on a few more days out here.

Brenda Reading While Tasha Watches Over

The Sun Set Reflecting In The Side Of The Coach

Our View Of The River Palms Casino in Laughlin, NV on the Colorado River

So we decided to head to the northern part of town.  We were in the southern area of Laughlin.  Staying at Avi Casino.  But as you know, we were not happy there.  They had the drag strip running all weekend. We had to stay there until Monday when a box was supposed to arrive for David.  Yes, I said supposed to arrive.  Needless to say, with our luck, it did not show up.  We moved to the casino’s dry camping area, which ironically was right by the loading dock where UPS drops off there boxes.  So we set up camp there.  Waiting and watching.  Watching and waiting.  The next day, still no box.  It was stuck in Phoenix for some reason.

We decided to take a little day trip and explore.  That’s what rving is all about after all.  So we headed to the northern part of town, then east, over some mountains, to Kingman.  Kingman, AZ is part of old route 66.  Plus it was only an hour or so from us.  Interesting, but no where to park easily.  So we turned around and headed back to Laughlin.

In the northern part of Laughlin they have a mini Las Vegas.  That’s the only way I can describe it.  They have quite a few casinos all along the Colorado River.  Much better than the Avi Casino.  So we found the River Palms Casino.  They have dry camping for rv’s on top of a bluff.  Beautiful scenery.  Nice view of the river and the casino.  We only stayed one night, but it was worth it for the change of scenery.  After all, we were still waiting for that UPS package.  The next day it finally showed up and we were on our way back south. All in all, a nice stop over that we’d do again if in the area.

David Driving to Kingman, AZ Through the Mountains

Mountain View On Our Way To Kingman, AZ

Another Angle Of Our View On The Bluff Overlooking The River Palms Casino

Ok, Ok, no jokes about “grass”.  This is the real green stuff we are talking about here.  Wait, well, you know what I mean.  And Tasha loves it!  You can tell in this video as she has not been on real grass from last December!  She really gets around on it very and and is just so happy to be able to do so.  Click the link below to download and run the video…

Tasha-A Good Day