Home at last

A true Road Trip! 7,062 miles on the motorhome. 6,746 miles on the Toyota truck. 2,400 miles on the Prius! (More about that later)
It was a grand trip but about 3 months too long for us. We saw a lot of beautiful country and scenery as well as meeting lots of really nice folks along the way. All that and we got to visit with family and friends as well.
The route we took was down through California with stops in Whiskeytown and Roseville with Ken and Jackie Coyne (who took us to the great wineries in the Gold country and taught us the Mexican Train dominoes game). We had breakfast with Kelly, Will and Carlie in Castroville. We stopped to see Jon, Kirsten and Amalia (goodness, she is beautiful). It was a real pleasure seeing all the "cousins" again. We visited with Marty Burns and Michelle in San Jose and had a very nice dinner with Marty. From there, we headed down to the CA coastline south of Monterey and meandered our way down the coast highway to San Simeon and Solvang. Lou bought some really nice quilting fabric in Buellton just outside of Solvang.
Leaving the coastal area we found ourselves on the Ventura Freeway at rush hour. Not a great place to be as the brakes overheated causing us to spend the first (and last) night in a Wal-Mart parking lot! The next morning all was well with the world and the brakes so we continued onward to the desert oasis of Blythe, CA. Fairly nice campground there on the river but nothing to encourage us to stay any longer so we hit the road again towards our Christmas destination of San Antonio.
We pushed on to the Phoenix area and "camped" in front of Mike Burns house for a few days. We enjoyed getting to talk with him and Eva and got to visit with Kevin Burns too. We had our Thanksgiving dinner at Kevin and Cindy's house. Very pleasant gathering.
Our outbound journey ended in the beautiful city of San Antonio where we enjoyed the fantastic hospitality of Al and Cecelia Hernandez (our compadres). The Riverwalk is everything is was made out to be. Really special, especially with good friends along. Christmas was awesome with all the kids and grandkids that were a central part of the celebration. We missed having Debbie and Tom with us however. Lou found some more neat quilt material just outside of San Antonio.
December was in San Antonio and January was in the gulf coast area of Aransas Pass, Corpus Christi and Padre Island National Seashore. While it wasn't "balmy" by Florida standards, it did beat the almost 100" of snow in Spokane by leaps and bounds.
We were blessed with the opportunity to visit some of the prettiest country the USA has to offer.
Big Bend National Park was a real surprise We had heard that it was pretty but were not prepared for just HOW PRETTY it really was. Spectacular is the best description.
There appeared to be a lot of desert like country in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. We found out that February in New Mexico is dedicated to the arts. (Yes, more quilt shops & neat fractal art). You kind of realize that when there are National Monuments named Saguaro National Monument and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Of course, there was also the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. All were very different and still, very beautiful in their own right. All worthy of being seen if you venture anywhere in the vicinity. If it's a little out of the way, like Big Bend Nat. Park, take the side road and experience it! Some are good for a single visit like Death Valley and White Sands but should not be missed if possible.
Even in the Las Vegas area (where we did NOT have a good time for 2 1/2 weeks) there is the Red Rock Canyon and the Valley of Fire State Park to visit. We left Las Vegas 3 times. The first time the motorhome had an engine problem on the way to Death Valley. The second time was when we drove home in the Toyota truck to await word on the engine status. The third time was when we had driven the Prius down to retrieve the motorhome. We went back to Death Valley to see it before we headed home at last. It was really pretty but I won't go back. We have seen enough desert to last us a good long time.
We are now back to the trees, rivers, lakes and hills of Washington State. We have returned both richer and poorer from a great venture (for us) that was a long time in dreaming and planning. We are convinced that "full timing" is not for us and will keep our "long trips" to 2 months max. Now we will do a few short trips in the Northwest for the summer and plan on staying home next winter. Maybe we'll hit 150" of snow next year! Wahoooo!! At least I won't be commuting in it:)
For those of you that have been following the blog, you get a break as this is the last entry. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed 95% of the trip:)

Preparing for the final leg home

I haven't updated lately as there was not much good to say. I was taught that if you didn't have something good to say...don't say it! Well, we were on our way out of Las Vegas and passing by Indian Springs (home of Creech AFB where the Predators are trained and controlled) when the engine in the RV decided it had had enough:( A dropped valve seat makes a lot of noise in a big engine.
After being towed to an AAA approved repair shop, we spent the next 2 1/2 weeks parked behind the shop while they proceeded to do even more damage to the engine. It is now at a Chevy dealer in Vegas having a new rebuilt engine installed. We will head back down next week to pick it up and continue our journey home. The return journey will be more direct than originally planned as we are both ready to end this great saga and get on with our lives. Hopefully the return will be uneventful and I'll let all know as to the final conclusion.
Yes, the journey had many bright and positive events and pleasures. We saw many beautiful sights as well as a lot of desert locations that we don't need to revisit any time soon.

Wandering again in the deserts

Wow! Real internet service from Verizon at last. It's been a while since we had really good connection to do the blog so here goes.
After 2 1/2 weeks in the desert south of Phoenix, we have restarted our journey Westward once again. Dry camping at a FREE campground for 2 weeks was really neat but showed us we were not really prepared as we don't have solar panels yet. Keeping the coach batteries happy was a fairly constant monitoring process with the occasional jumper cable hookup to the Toyota Tacoma to recharge.
We did enjoy the beautiful sunrises and sunsets as well as our travels in the area. And, I got to fly my electric plane a number of times in the campground as there were no trees, just a few saguaro cactus to dodge. All flights were successful. Translated, that means the plane was still fyable after landing:)
Last night we spent in Salome, AZ and will be going to the desert somewhere in the world famous Quartzsite area for a couple of days until our mail catches up with us at General Delivery. We will then mosey up towards Lake Havasu and Laughlin, NV and onward to Death Valley. We'll be heading homeward in a few weeks and hope the snow has gone from the RV's spot in the back yard when we get there:) The trip has been great but we are both looking forward to a larger kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Lou will also really appreciate her own laundry facilities.
Until then, we will continue to enjoy the journey. Travel routing stays very flexible as we are still considering wether to go back via Nevada or California or a combination of both. We are tracking the weather patterns and will do whatever it takes to stay out of the snow! The RV does not have snow tires!
I'll not dwell on the weather other than to say the sun is bright and warmwith a few high clods and a lot of contrails from the Air force fast movers playing in the sky.

Organ Pipes in the Desert

Yesterday we took a drive down to the Organ Pipe Cactus National monument south of beautiful (?) downtown Why, AZ. The Organ Pipe Cactus is unique to Mexico and a small part of the Sonoran Desert in the lower AZ area. The Organ Pipe will grow a stalk until a frost hits it. Then another stalk begins at the base and grows until a frost hits it. When the frost occurs, the stalks quit growing. That's why the cactus looks like a set of pipe organ pipes. They also seem to prefer rocky terrain as they grow up the hillsides where even the Saguaros don't go. The 21 mile drive on the tour is another example of the rugged terrain shared by Mexico and the US. Rugged but beautiful.
We are still in the desert west of Casa Grande and will be here for a few more days. Our mail has caught up with us and we will go pick it up this evening or tomorrow (Thank You, Mike and Eva). Then, I can get one of the DTV converters for the coach TV and see what it does for us. We will then begin planning our next move, probably north of Phoenix but not too far north:) There are still lots of "scenic drives" in the books that we want to see before we head Westward.

Desert Rats

We are in Arizona once again and parked in a beautiful County Park on a hillside overlooking a valley west of Casa Grande. The view is wonderful and the desert is GREEN! A little rain here goes a long way:) The Saguaro cactus have "plumped up" from the moisture and the Ocotillo cactus have begun to blossom. The flowers are pretty but unreachable since they are on the tips of the long spindly branches that are COVERED in thorns. Even an ant would find it difficult to climb, I think.
The valley below is flat and agricultural with a lot of farms and even more dairy farms. Thousands of cattle at each feed lot create an interesting environment for all that are downwind:) Until this AM, we have been upwind. Now we rely on the distance to reduce the effects of the fragrance:) The pictue of the valley shows lots of long white roofs. Those are just a few of the feed lots in the valley. I'm sure to the owners it smells like $$$$ but to visitors is smells like manure. Oh well, at $0/nite the view is nice, cell service and internet access is good. You can't complain too much about the air quality, can you?
The campground is a Pinal County campground that was donated by a Jim Turner several years back with the stipulation that it be used as a campground at no charge to the visitors. No hookups or utilities but FREE is very nice. It's our first opportunity to dry camp in the desert so it's a good first experience to prepare us for our western journey when we leave here.
Before leaving here, we will take in some of the scenic drives in the area, especially in the Sedona area and north of Phoenix. No details on that as yet but stay tuned. I'll have the camera on the ready.

Leaving The Enchanted Land of New Mexico

We are leaving this beautiful area of New Mexico. We visited the Mesilla Plaza which had an art festival going on at the time. The side car of the motorcycle had a Teddy Bear in it with a smaller bear in it's arm. The owner says the bear is his wife's insurance policy against other women looking for a ride in the sidecar:)
We, of course, just had to take another scenic ride that was in "the book". We took the Geronimo Trail over to Silver City. The route goes over Emory Pass at 8200' and gives a great view of the area. The road does some serious ups, downs, lefts and rights. Debs, this would challenge the Dragon's Tail easily:) But, be sure to pack a lunch as it's a long ways between points A and B here. Silver City is a very artsy town with lots of galleries. Lou was on the trail of a Fiber Arts event that is a statewide cooperative of artists using fibers in their crafts. This includes needle work, quilting, weaving, etc.
We also came upon a Fractal Arts group that was having a showing in Las Cruces. The professor doing the training and her class members had some of their images in a coffee shop. Very pretty images were created on their computers by layering rendered images from math algorithms. February is "Celebrate the Arts" in New Mexico and there is not a shortage of artists of all types in the state.
Yesterday we went on another scenic drive to White Sands National Monument. The gypsum sand is really white and the dunes are awesome. The plants and animals have adapted to the environment and shifting dunes. The picture of the Soap Plant Yucca on top of the sand dune shows the tenacity of the plant. As the dune moves forward and builds, the plant just grows faster to keep it's leaves on top. This one was on top of a dune 25-30' high. As the dune moves on and leaves the plant base exposed, it collapses and dies from the lack of support.
Afterwards we went onward to Alamogordo to see the Space Museum there. The rocket sled in the picture was the one that Col. Paul Stapp rode to test the limits of deceleration on the human body. The sled accelerated to 632 MPH with the help of 12 rocket motors on the back. It rode on rails until it hit a water trough for the rapid deceleration. The braking effect was quite dramatic on his body. The video of his facial distortion was almost painful to watch.
Today was a "getting ready to go" day with laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning. Tomorrow will take care of itself as we head westward once again with destination undecided. But, we're Retired so it doesn't really matter where:)

Blame it on Eddie!

It’s Eddies fault for getting us those great National Geographic books.

Canyons, cliffs, rivers, wild flowers, ghost towns, vistas and hoodoos are all here at the Big Bend National Park. We came here from the Amistad Recreational Area near Del Rio and just beat the cold front that was heading here with high winds and up to ¼” of ice (in the Del Rio area). Real gusty with crosswinds all the way but we arrived safely and got set up before the temp dropped and the winds picked up…significantly. By morning, all was quiet and still, chilly, but still. Today we went over to Boquillas Canyon, a short drive away. Really pretty! I saw a couple of guys from the other side of the river coming over in a yellow float. They were apparently coming to check out their stock of walking sticks and “artwork” of twisted wire scorpions that they put out for the tourists to buy. They place them on a large rock in the parking area of the canyon overlook trail. If caught, they are arrested and deported to a location 100 miles from here. Any purchases made by a tourist will be confiscated if caught. Prior to 9-11, the town of Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico was fairly prosperous as there was pretty free open trade. Tourists could go over in a rowboat and do some shopping but after 9-11 that all ended. And, the prosperity of Boquillas ended as well. Now they scrap for anything they can get.
After we visited the canyon, we took a nice drive through some absolutely spectacular country. We went to the Chisos Basin first, then to Terlingua, Lajitas and over toward Presidio, TX. We stayed on the US side of the Rio Grande River the whole way, of course. The diversity of terrain and scenery is truly breathtaking. The pictures I took do not do the area justice. Every direction is different but just as beautiful. Wild flowers are starting to bloom, as are some of the yucca plants. The coloration, formations and character of the mountains made the trip a super pleasure. The road from Lajitas to Presidio is a real roller coaster ride following the course of the Rio Grande and the natural up and down terrain of the area. A true E-Ticket ride for all those older Disney visitors Debbie and Tom would have a real ball on their Harleys on that road!
And now, we are in Ft. Davis Historic Park area because there is a scenic loop that was in the Nat. Geo. Scenic Byways book. Can't pass up a nice drive:) We'll take the tour tomorrow and then get on the road, again. Destination is uncertain at this time but it doesn't really matter. I'm Retired!!!

Westward, no Southward Ho!

We have decided to go ahead and travel down to the Big Bend National Park before continuing to the AZ deserts. We have heard too much good and read a lot of interesting stuff about it (thanks again, Eddie) that we just have to see it. Or at least some of it. So, we leave in the AM for Big Bend. We are at the Amistad National Recreation Area on the Texas/Mexico border. It's a very large reservoir formed by a dam and is world renown for it's bass fishing. Since it is a federal area, camping is quite inexpensive for us old duffers. No hookups but who cares?
I noticed that I didn't attach a group picture of the gang that enjoyed the fish fry so it's added here along with the pix of the lake and the dam. This is as close to Mexico as we'll get.
One of the pix shows Hiway 90 and the railroad trestle westbound across Lake Amistad. The dam and reservoir were built to support the close "friendship" between the US and Mexico. Unfortunately, it has become another pipeline avenue for drugs and immigrants as the large lake extends across both borders, but then, so has the rest of the border:(
It is doubtful the cell service will support calls and internet in Big Bend so it will be a few days until we return to "civilization" again:)

Stay warm and safe.

No more Gulf sunsets

We have left the beautiful Padre Island National Seashore and wended our way as far as Laredo, TX. We have left an interesting mixture of Winter Texans from Michigan, Wisconsin, Canada and even Oregon. Last Tuesday, we enjoyed a great fish fry provided by 2 of the regular visitors (they come every year) who enjoy fishing all day long. After they have enough fillets in their freezers, they invite all the campground visitors that have been here as least a week to a fish fry. There was approximately 40 people that showed up to enjoy the fare. It was excellent. We even left this AM with a package of fresh caught Whiting fillets. We will have our own fish fry down the road:)
Speaking of on the road, we are going to head back to AZ to do some touring. There are many scenic areas that we want to see and the National Geographic book we received at Christmas (Thank You, Eddie) has whetted our appetite for some of the scenic routes. So, tonight in Laredo, tomorrow night at Amistad Recreational Area near Del Rio and then a run for the border:) It has been a lot of fun in Texas but it's time to leave. We opted to skip visiting our Southern neighbor, Mexico. Just too many mixed signals as to what to expect.

South Padre Island

We are enjoying our stay on the beach so much that we have pretty much decided that we will stay here until they throw us out:) In spite of the occasional cold front that comes through with gusty winds, it is really beautiful here. Walking on the beach is breezy but very pleasant. Certainly, not crowded:) And, no vehicles to dodge! We have a spot where we can watch the waves come in and the birds fly around while sitting in our RV. Since we are on the water, the temperatures are moderated so it doesn't get all that cold. It's 5-10 degrees warmer here than inland.
We have come into town today to get our mail, fill up the propane tank and do exciting things like laundry. We managed to beat the price jump of propane by a day or so but have watched the price of gas go from a low of 1.29 to around 1.60 now. We are hoping they don't go crazy again.
The Blue Heron is George, patiently awaiting a handout of a fish from one of the surf fishermen. Our RV is in the middle of the RV picture.
Sleeping and waking to the sound of the surf is a great end and start to another great day! Being a "Winter Texan" isn't all that bad:)

On the Beach Again...

Here we sit, gently rocking on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The rocking is due to the gusty winds of the latest cold front to come through the area. We enjoyed our stay in Rockport but have returned to the campground in Aransas Pass for a couple of days. It was time to update the blog as we may be out of cell phone and internet contact for a week or 2 as we will be moving down to South Padre Island to the National Park there. $4/nite sounds really nice now:) By the way, our last gas fill up was at $1.29/gallon. It has gone up to $1.59 in the area in the last few days however. Oh well, maybe it will go down again???? Right!!!
The first picture is sunset on Aransas Pass Beach with a little bit of mist in the air. .
The second is what seagulls do when a cold front with gusty winds come through. They land in a group, face the wind and hunker down for warmth. The odd shaped object is a jelly fish (one of dozens washed up on the shore) proving that not all jelly fish are round. This one looks like it could fly. It is approx. 12" across.
The grey beach scene was our first arrival at Aransas Pass when there was a bit of fog. It was late in the afternoon.
Yesterday when we returned here, we had to wait for an hour or so for the tide to come up. With the full moon, the tide was "extremely low" and the ferry boats that get you to the island could not accommodate the RV.

Today we took a drive down to South Padre Island to check it out. Very pretty and we will be going there for at least a week (maybe 2). The downside is that cell service is very limited so if you call and don't get an answer, please leave a message. We'll get back to you when we get "up by the flag pole at the visitor center" where many people find a signal. I don't think I will be blogging until we get to the Rio Grande Valley... whenever that will be:) Until then, time to go get some shells!

On the Beach!

Prior to leaving San Antonio, we traveled by car up to Fredericksburg in the hill country north of San Antonio. Fredericksburg is a very "artsy" town and is also home to the National Museum of the Pacific War. Lou visited the shops and I visited the museum. They have a PT boat on display in a "mission prep" environment complete with the full armament of torpedos, depth charges and guns. They also have a TBM Torpedo Bomber on display plus a "Fat Boy" atomic bomb that was the backup for the Nagasaki A-Bomb. Supposedly, it does not have the explosives or plutonium installed:) The museum also includes a Japanese Garden of Peace, Veterans Walk of Honor and memorial walls. Very moving exhibits.

Fredericksburg is near the Enchanted Rock Natural area. The Enchanted Rock is a REALLY LARGE pink rock some 47 acres in size . It is a very pretty area but we were not prepared to take the hike up to the top of the rock on a warm day. We just did not have enough time for the trek.

We have now departed San Antonio with all the Texas Hospitality so generously afforded us and headed South to the Corpus Christi area. We spent the first foggy night here on the beach at Port Aransas. Yes! We actually took the RV on the beach to get to the campsite:) Very pleasant listening to the surf until the front came through in the early AM hours with high, gusty winds. We still slept very well. While there, we visited the Univ of Texas Marine Institute and saw all the displays and aquariums they had. Very impressive and informative. We took a drive down North Padre Island past the Mustang Island State Park. We had expected the State Park to be a little larger but it was a fairly compact camping area for RV's. Plus, there is a $4/day/person entry fee that would be added to the camping fee. Texas is the only place we know of that charges a daily entry fee to campers. It is usually included in the site fees.

We are now at our campsite in Rockport and the weather is beautiful. Very cool the last 2 mornings (around 40) but is near 70 today and sunny. I tried my hand at fishing in the 2 lakes here at the park but with no luck so far. Weather permitting, we will try to stay on the beach again before we head out to the Rio Grande Valley. If what we have heard from so many RV'rs, Mission is the place to go for many of the "Winter Texans". The consesus so far is that the economy has kept many of the regulars home this year. This park is usually full but still has a fair number of spaces available. Hopefully that bodes well for us in finding a comfortable and affordable site in the Mission area.

Very slow internet connection so no pictures on this entry. We hope that everyone had a safe New Years.