Visiting The Warings ( Sister and Mother) in Phoenix,AZ

My sister, Linda and my "bio Mom", Marty, live in the Phoenix area. I haven't seen either of them in years, so of course we had to stop by for a visit.

While we were there, we visited a tourist attraction called the Mystery Castle. It was built by Boyce Luther Gulley, who abandoned his wife and daughter in 1930 after learning that he had tuberculosis. He travelled to Phoenix and started building a "castle" for the little girl he'd left behind.

Mary Lou Gulley ( this is a picture of her today) was a toddler when her father unexpectedly left and never returned. Boyce Gulley's daughter, Mary Lou, still gives half the tour (the main house section) at the Mystery Castle when she feel up to it.

I can't believe she still lives here! No AC. Yikes! After Gulley's death in 1945, his wife and child inherited the castle and promptly moved in. His daughter still lives there and today conducts the tours herself. Depression glass dishes form doorway transoms, and an upside-down bathtub serves as the exhaust vent over the kitchen stove. In one room, windows are formed from the wheels of Gulley's Stutz Bearcat, the windshield of which is used as a glass panel in a terrace wall. To get from the parlor to the bedroom, a flight of stairs goes up over a boulder and down the other side so that he wouldn't have to disturb the surrounding landscape. He hauled rocks from over one mile away so the surrounding landscape wouldn't be disturbed too! This place is the original "green house."

There are a bunch of pictures below. Just click on the pic to see bigger!

Jasmine, this picture is for you! Nice shoes huh? They held weddings at the Mystery Castle and brides would leave at least one shoe behind at the chapel because it was rumored that the "groom would be true forever..." if they did. Needless to say - there are lot's of shoes there! This was one of them. Here are some more >>

Ameriplan - a great dental plan.

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Ahhhh, here we are in Las Cruces, NM in one of the best "camping" spots we've seen. There's a little hedge next to us and it's like having our own private patio! Sweet! Of course this was taken before I set out the table and lounge chairs AND my grill! After sitting in dusty and windy Texas for almost two months trying to sell advertising spots on RV Site maps to businesses that can't pay the electric bill, it's nice to sit here and just do - NOTHING.



Here's Kathy sitting at a little place called Pebbles Restaurant in Melissa, NM which is kind of like Saint Augustine, FL . Historic downtown, lot's of bars and shops... and expensive! You can see more pics of Las Cruces here . We're here for two weeks because we want to sit here and relax. Movies, TV, perhaps a couple of day trips to do some site seeing. Nothing strenuous for sure! Cocktails everyday at 4:30pm sharp.

See ya in a couple of weeks after we have some pictures of the Grand Canyon which is our next stop after visiting some family in Phoenix, AZ

Carlsbad Caverns & New Mexico

So, we finally left Texas heading west. This trip had been on our agenda since we first started thinking about doing this, so I am glad it's one of the goals we met. I say that because, I know there are lots of folks who love the desert, but we are finding out that we are really "Florida folks". I miss the green, humid August days (NOT!!). We're just not used to such flat land. Plus, the winds have been relentless. Anyway, we are happy that we got to visit the Caverns; they are really awesome.

We are going to Roswell, NM tomorrow to visit some aliens, then off to a really nice place in Las Cruses for a week.

We tried our best to get good pics in the cave; it's pretty dark but it's really an amazing sight to see. Click here to see our pics.

Take care everyone; it's really good when I hear back from you guys after reading the blog.

Kathy, Steve and of course, Elvis.

A Little Fun With Texas...

If you love Texas or live here, let me apologize in advance. I'm just having a little fun here OK?

We will wrap up our visit to Texas this Friday, March 6, 2009. To be honest - I'm glad. While we haven't seen anything but the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas, and the San Antonio/San Marcos area, there's just too much wind, too much dust and too many sand burrs around here. We need to get to a greener place.

I thought I'd share a few pictures with you!

This here is the famous Texas Pride BBQ, (San Antonio) place that was featured on Diners, Dive-ins and Drives. The Brisket was good, but I found a better place in Lockhart, TX! I would recommend a visit to either one of these places if you're in the area, but I'd eat at ANY BBQ place, so that really means noting I guess. hehee.

Now THIS place is the famous Black's BBQ located in Lockhart, TX and it's the oldest BBQ place in the whole state! I HAD to eat at this place, so one day while Kathy was sick and wanted me to get out of her face, I snuck away from San Marcos, drove 20 miles and ordered me some brisket and ribs. I was the BEST brisket AND ribs I ever had. I was SOOO happy! I even brought my darling wife some back to the RV to share with her. Good thing I bought a pound of meat too cause even Kathy loved it and she's not a big meat person like I am.