Wednesday December 4, Catalina State Park, Tucson…Last day in the US

Tonight we are sitting in Ruakiwi for the last time, surrounded by packed bags ready to drive to the airport in Tucson tomorrow and meet with Sandy and Winston and pass over ownership.

It has been a great place to sort out all our gear, after 5 trips and 18 months of living in her we seem to have collected lots of bits and pieces, so many decisions about what we are taking home. Yesterday we left thepark and did the laundry and gave Ruakiwi a really good shampoo! Today has been busy filling bags and weighing them to keep them under the 23kgs allowed, we came with two and going home with four!!!. We bought some travel scales from Kathmandu in NZ and would never travel without them as the penalties for overweight bags amount to huge dollars.

In previous years we have managed to use our airpoints to upgrade for our return flight which not only makes for a really enjoyable flight, but also allows us 2 extra bags. But now we had to “bid” for an upgrade with Air NZ and sadly missed out. Discovered also that we needed to pay for the extra bags online, as the cost would be double if we did it at the airport. Travel is not simple!

Went for a walk up into the park yesterday afternoon, the desert vegetation is just so different and interesting. Lots of mesquite trees and of course plenty of saguaros. Late this afternoon I saw what I thought was a dog walking nearby, but soon realised that it was a coyote wandering through the park….by the time I got my camera out it had disappeared.

I have been amazed by how many people have been following our travels through the blog….I have really enjoyed writing it and sharing my photos, thanks so much for those that have left comments. We have seen so many wonderful things on this trip, from the wild west coast beaches to the amazing National Parks and the desert and the snow and the people we have met …. and the list goes on. So many memories that we will never forget.

This will be my last entry in this blog….what am I going to do with my evenings now!!!!

It's been a hard day!!!

An evening glow on the hills...and those sagaruo's...again!