Wednesday, 31 August - Benson AZ - Las Cruces, New Mexico!

Really liked our Comfort Inn in Benson - loved the curtain skirt and the displays in the foyer - so cool!

  




Headed off mid-morning on the I-10, east bound for Lordsburg and Las Cruces.  Interstates just make driving so easy, 75mph speed limit.  Smooth!

Amazed again by the scenery and the changing colours in the mountains, especially when lit up by the sun.

  

Driving in to Las Cruces, we could see a giant statue at the rest area!  Road Runner keeping an eye on the traffic!



Checked into our newly renovated hotel room - nice!  Went in search of the no. 1 Mexican restaurant in town - La Posta.....  Great meal and excellent service!
 

 
Dining area                                                              Chimenea style fireplace built into the wall!

Tuesday 30 August - Tucson to Benson, Arizona

Late start this morning.....  David feeling a little unwell.  Hit the road and fuelled up - $US1.99 per gallon.  Good stuff.  Another sunny and hot day but we were in the air-conditioned car, so we were cruisin'.

Headed for Tombstone and the OK Corral!  About 1.5hrs drive on interstate I-10, with a max speed posted 75mph.  Love it!



From Wikipedia:
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a 30-second gunfight between lawmen and members of a loosely organized outlaw group called the Cowboys. It is generally regarded as the most famous shootout in the history of the American Wild West. The gunfight took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona territory.  It was the result of a long-simmering feud, with Cowboys Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury on one side and town Marshal Virgil Earp, Special Policeman Morgan Earp, Special Policeman Wyatt Earp and temporary policeman Doc Holliday on the other side. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. Ike Clanton, who had repeated his threats to kill the Earps just the day before, claimed he was unarmed and ran from the fight, along with Billy Claiborne. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc Holliday were wounded, but Wyatt Earp was unharmed. The fight has come to represent a period in American Old West when the frontier was virtually an open range for outlaws, largely unopposed by law enforcement officers, who were spread thin over vast territories, leaving some areas unprotected.



We arrived and easily found a park.  The town is not very big but there are many attractions to see.  Entry is free.  We started walking up the street and a touter was calling out about the trolley tour leaving and we thought that was a good idea, so we raced down and climbed aboard.  The tour guide knew an encyclopaedia's worth of historical information and I found that especially helpful!  People in period costume abound in the streets.  We finished the trolley tour and went to watch the Cowboy Gunfight.  They 'hammed' it up a bit to make it light entertainment, not to detract from the reason for Tombstone's existence.  It was hilarious and we enjoyed it, sitting in the shade with a cold beer (thank goodness, because, yep you guessed it) - it was hot!



We went to 'Big Nosed Kate's Saloon' for lunch.  A guy on guitar playing all the old favourites really well, cold beer and some 'entertainment' - 'Kate' approached our table and offered for us to 'dress up' and have photos taken on our own devices for free if we were so inclined....  Then we would have to tip them.  One lady, three sheets to the wind, was up on the bar waving around a magnum of champagne, singing and dancing with glee.  Hilarious!  Another example of the wonderful effects of beer.....





Before long, several hours had passed and it was time to leave.  Would recommend a visit to anyone who would be interested in seeing/learning about this era.  A fabulous day!


The mountains, being lit up by the sun in the afternoon.

Monday, 29 August - Phoenix to Tucson, AZ

We have just loved staying at the Residence Inn, Phoenix airport Marriott.  It's low season and the price was more than reasonable.  The complimentary brekky was awesome!  I now wish we'd booked to stay the week....  but we're here to see 'stuff' so we have to keep moving!

It's hot.  Even with no humidity, it's hot.  But everything's air conditioned, so people can manage.  Checked out and headed out to do some banking, which ended up being near a 'Home Depot' (really?) so we had to stop.  Drove in to the car park looking for a shady spot (you know, had to keep the beer cold!)...  saw a tree unoccupied in an area of the parking lot where no-one was parked.  Headed over. Shock!  as we saw about six hispanic men running toward our car holding cleaning cloths!.....  Gasp! 'Quick David!  Get out of here!' - swift u-turn and off.... found a safer place to park.... breathe again.  David went in to Home Depot, I took off to Walmart which was right next door.  On my way out, I asked the security guy about the guys in the car park, who were still there in various places, standing under trees etc.  He explained that they are looking for jobs and will offer their labour to the various tradies that frequent Home Depot.  He said the guys were harmless.  All good!

                                
                                The business next to the bank.... LOL!

Headed for Tucson.  Stopped for lunch and a quick look at the outlet malls.  This weekend coming is Labour Day and Monday is a holiday.  It kind of signifies the 'official' end of summer, kids return to school etc.  Many of the stores have mega-end-of-summer sales....  which are perfect for us!  So we have had a little trouble staying out of the stores because we are getting in early - some of the retailers have started discounting already.

                                  
                                    Getting my luau on!

                                    
   Some pretty pink prickles outside the outlets!

The drive out of Phoenix was interesting - the landscape is not what we're used to.  I love the colours of the desert, the cacti, the mountains.  We drove along and saw an Ostrich/Deer farm, a ***** RV park in the middle of nowhere - complete with bar&grill and a golf course - looked to be booked out!  There was also an 'aeroplane graveyard' where they go to be used for spare parts? - apparently you can book a tour.....  Gas (regular) $1.99/gallon....  loving it!


                          You knew I was going to add the cactus sooner or later.....!



    Cruisin' on down the road.....


       Can't pull over to take photos, we are on the interstate....  iPhone does its best!

Found our accommodation for the evening... we were a bit late - 7.30pm, it was dark.  But we are out on the edge of Tucson.  David has done research about Tombstone (aka The OK Corral) where we want to go tomorrow!  Exciting times.....!

Sunday, 28 August - Phoenix, Arizona!

Considering we didn't get to bed until 1.30am, I think we did well to be out of bed, dressed and ready for brekky by 7.10am!

Loved the brekky served this morning!  I think it was because I was hungry!  We were able to use the hotel courtesy vehicle to get to the car rental at the airport.  Car was ready and off we went!  We'd bought a tom tom GPS in Honolulu from Walmart, so hopefully the maps are truly up to date!

Picked up our Hyundai Tucson 2-wheel drive and hit the road!

Drove to various places in our search for things we needed.  Also stopped at Walmart.  It was a a hot day - thank goodness for air conditioning!

Lunch was at WholeFoods Market.  We like this franchise, they only sell items that have been certified.  David had a Deschutes Armoury XPA - which he would give a very high rating because it was excellent!

Enjoyed our drive around the town and enjoyed the 4 lane highway which has been newly built!

Early night and back at our room - big night ahead and even bigger days tomorrow - hitting the road and headed to Tucson!



Who'd be at work?


Welcome to Phoenix!  this morning's weather forecast....


In case you missed the first one......!

Saturday, 27 August - in transit - Honolulu to Phoenix, AZ

Had an early start because we were being collected by the airport shuttle.  Our flight was supposed to leave just after 1pm, didn't end up leaving for another half an hour!  Captain explained that the flight was given a lower altitude to fly and (because planes use more fuel at lower altitudes) so they were 'doing the figures' to decide whether we needed more fuel!  Turns out they did - another 4000lb!  Then we were able to take off!!!

Flight was full and the usual scramble by flight attendants to get bags into the bulkheads or be surrounded to the ground crew for loading below (for free).  David was sensible and gave his bag xx. Flight time Honolulu to Phoenix 5h30mins.  Not too bad.  We left at 1.30 and arrived in Phoenix just after 10pm.  Very hot - even at 10pm!  Managed to collect everything satisfactorily and found the shuttle outside.  Nice driver - welcomed us to Arizona etc.  Another couple picked up with us - she made mention of the fact that since her husband had retired, they'd travelled the world for the last 32 years!

Lovely hotel room and comfy bed!


Phoenix by night from the air - huge!

Friday, 26 August, Honolulu

Slept in this morning!
Still managed to find a brekky joint with early-bird specials though!  I think it's the first time in my life that I've had eggs and hash browns served with a slice of pineapple and a cocktail umbrella!  Impressive!

We found the Waikiki Trolley (pink line) and took off on a little tour.  Stepped off at the Ala Moana Centre and found Walmart just up the road.  David was able to buy a GPS, esky and other important things.  I found a few pens I wanted.  Then we discovered other 'discounted' racks and spent more time there!

Lunch was in the Ala Moana centre at the biggest eatery I've ever seen - complete with one of everything!  David went for the Philly Cheesesteaks and I went for Senora's Mexican grill for a taco salad.  Fantastic!  Also found AT&T and sorted out our wireless sim for mobile broadband.  Ticked a few boxes.

Enjoyed our trip back on the Waikiki Trolley - the pink line one is a double decker!  $2 every time you board.  Just so easy!

                 

The is one of the alleys down to Waikiki Beach.  Check out the boards!  You pay to store them here and the guys look after them.  When you want your board, you get it and run to the end of the alley and virtually step onto the beach.  Wow!



This a pano picture - taken inside the new 'International Market Place' shopping centre.  It's a banyan tree which is massive!  In the middle is a tree house...  I'll need to do more research on this and get back to you!

Arrival in Honolulu!

Left on Thursday night, 25 August, Brisbane time.  8h:46 travel time to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines.  It was a good flight because we were tired and slept!  Food and drinks a bit disappointing...

                                         
                  The '2 second' photo - literally sat in our seats and had to turn the phone off!

Arrived at about 11am - Groundhog Day - 25 August.  So did several other flights which we knew would make working our way through customs and baggage very 'interesting'.....  You just have to be patient and do what you are told.  People everywhere.  A large number of Asian travellers with little english.  As I said,  'interesting'!

                             

Marcus picked us up in his airport shuttle.  I'd missed the company's last email which contained a phone number and some directions....  but the very nice man at the Airport help desk was able to sort a few things out for me!

Not far to the Shoreline Hotel - our crib for 2 nights.  Modern hotel in the shopping district - room small but very comfortable, especially the bed!  Couldn't check in until 3pm, but we could lodge our bags - so we did and then took off in search of lunch.  Found a burrito bar just around the corner serving fresh burritos and handmade margaritas - it was fabulous!!!

Went exploring.  A new shopping mall had opened that morning.  High end shops - beyond us!  Tiredness set in late in the afternoon.  There are shops here called ABC (you'd swear there was one on every corner!) and they have everything a tourist needs - including a soup bar, ready made salads and sandwiches, liquor, cold drinks - we've been there several times already (and no, not always for beer!)...  Stopped in at Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  I can see why people like Honolulu, it has a really great feel about it!