Monday, February 9
We have been here at Gunsite Wash BLM near Why, AZ for six days. Peaceful, warm days filled with sunshine, quiet walks in the desert, birdsong, stars, and the sound of coyotes howling.
Still, I feel the urge to move on. Southeast Arizona is calling and I want to explore there.
I have my first mug of coffee by 5:30 and prepare myself for the day of travel. We have our walk, close up camp, and are on the road by 8:30. My drive today will be longer than usual so I want to get an early start.
At the border check point a very serious young man asks me questions like “Where are you headed?”, and ” How many dogs to you have in there?” His not-so-serious coworker knocks on my passenger side window so I roll it down. He says ‘this guy here is not an American citizen!”
You may not know but I have a cardboard cutout life size bust of Mick Jagger in my passenger seat, with the seatbelt holding him in place.
Mr. Serious lightens up after that, and they wave me through the check point. I guess a 65 year old woman with 2 Golden Retrievers and a cardboard Mick doesn’t seem like the type to be smuggling anything or anybody in from Mexico.
I drive I-10 through Tucson. I saw a Starbucks sign and found myself moaning softly. It’s been a long time since I sipped a soy latte, but I’m not getting off the freeway now.
Forty miles later we are at Butterfield RV Park in Benson. One reason I chose this park is because it has its own planetarium with free shows every night, weather permitting.
The University quality Planetarium at Butterfield RV Park
When 6:30pm rolls around I tuck Joy and Shiloh into bed in WS with a nice treat, and off I go to the star show.
It is two fascinating hours of viewing various heavenly bodies through the telescope, and listening to the presenter discuss them. Among others we looked at Venus, Mars, Uranus, a comet called Lovejoy 5, a double star, a HUGE star, a very bright star, and Jupiter with four of her moons.
The telescope
When I came back home I greeted my babies, poured a glass of wine, and we went outside to sit and stare into the sky. I kinda think I was probably the only one who had been in the group who came back home and gazed into the sky with tears running down her cheeks.
I am so in awe of it all.
AND….the Safeway around the corner has a STARBUCKS in it! This morning I had my soy latte. 🙂
Wandering Spirit 
Hi Micky! Ronnie here. I Just got your blog from Else. I’m so glad to be able to follow you through your travels. You probably passed me by on the way to Tucson. I’m in Indio, east of Palm Springs. Drop in next time! Good for you with going ahead and wandering the U.S. When I last saw you you were so very anxious to retire and get on with you adventure. Isn’t retirement life WONDERFUL??!! I’m not as free as you are as I have my mom but nevertheless it’s better than slogging away working. I’ll be reading and flowing you. Safe travels.
Hi Ronnie! Yes, I was very near Indio! I was staying by Salton Sea but I went shopping in the Indio area to Costco, Target, etc. so glad you are here!
Yes, retirement is wonderful! When you retired before me, it still seemed like I had forever to wait, but it was only a few months. 🙂 Now time flies.
So glad Elsa told you about the blog!
Ahhh…Benson! I used to live in Benson…loved it! Had to return to Ky. where I am now because of a family crisis…otherwise I’m sure I would still be there. Unfortunately, I never stayed at Butterfield, but am very familiar with the Safeway there. Their deli is very good too. I loved the part about Mick riding shotgun for you. LOL Linda
Hi Linda, yes this is a nice little town, I can see why you would like it here. I’ve moved since Butterfield had everything reserved. I’m at Cochise Terrace now in a nice area where most people don’t want to be because there are no tv hookups in this section. So it’s very roomy and quiet.
Love this post and congratulate you on seeking out what makes you happy, the road, stars and Starbucks 😊
Hi Nina! Nice to see you here. 🙂 I’ll be in the area for awhile, and I have Starbucks gift cards…yay!
That entire store and all I could be was sad you didn’t exit and get your soy latte. And then, bam, it was in a better location than you probably could have imagined. Sounds like an interesting location.
Phyllis in Oklahoma
One thing about Starbucks…there are a lot of them! :-). And the soy latte in Benson tastes exactly like the one in Monterey, CA.
Was the date really January 10th or February?
Sorry, should have said Monday January 9.
Oops. Thank you Cat Lady. It was February. I went back and corrected it.
OK – so that’s my favorite story yet. Love Mick riding shotgun and need a clearer photo. Has to make you smile each time you look over as you drive. When I asked you what you were going to bring to have Mick with you – little did I know you were going to have him life-size – but yet….am in no way surprised! That’s my Micky!
I was given the cardboard Mick at my retirement party. Amy made it, and took a picture of everyone at the party with it..err..him. Then she presented me later with a photo album of the party with all the pictures. And other pictures too, of course. 🙂
Life is GOOD! Say hi to Mick for me 😉
I will Maureen! He’s so quiet, sometimes I forget he is there and I wonder why I’m getting odd looks or why people are laughing at me. 🙂
Great post. But maybe I somehow missed a post. How did you get into Mexico?
Love the idea of traveling with Mick, I always thought it would be cool to drive around with a full size crash test dummy. Glad all is well,
Hi BadgerRick. I didn’t go to Mexico, but there are boarder check points…two of them, in the US, miles from the boarder and miles from each other, on Hwy 85. Also there are patrols constantly, I swear, a quarter of the traffic on that road was boarder patrol. And there are helicopters day and night. I don’t know if this is considered normal, or if something unusual was going on.
Hey maybe I can get a crash test dummy and glue the Mick cardboard onto it! Just kidding. Mick holds a lot of maps, Benchmark Atlas’, my hat and jacket and other odds and ends. He never complains. 🙂
Good Day to you, I do not comment very often but I do follow you often…great job writing. I love your love for the road…Keep up the good work, you are delighting many.
Hi Shirlene, I appreciate every comment you make. It’s a pleasure to have you here!
Wow! I did not know they had a planaterium at that camping spot. Will have to check it out sometime. Also, I am really into Starbucks, but never had a soy latte. Will have to try it. Usually get the regular kind. Milk, I think. Sounds like you are having an enjoyable trip. Lynda Jerome
Hi Lynda. I guess more properly, it’s called an Observatory. You can see it, not far from Safeway, down the side road. It was a hobby of the first owner, who built the RV Park.
It was a big deal to me, what I was going to put in my coffee when I stopped drinking milk. I tried the change first at Starbucks. With much apprehension, I ordered a soy latte. Turned out I liked it better than the one with milk, on the first try. After that I tried soy milk in coffee at home. I used the vanilla soy at first. Now I take it straight. 🙂
Mick is your co-pilot 🙂
🙂 🙂
Good morning! We’re on our way to SE AZ this morning–hopefully to Las Cienegas but they’re working on the roads so we’ll have to see. Your post is very helpful for us. Enjoy your time in Tucson–we’ll be making 1-2 trips in & I’m very much looking forward to going to the food co-op. Happy trails!
Hi Dawn, I hope you made it to where you wanted to go. Where did you end up? Tell me about the food co-op in Tucson?