Paul and Ann's Great RV Adventure

Cocopah, to KOFA, to Q

2012-01-23T18:40:00.002-06:00

The rest of our stay at the Cocopah Casino was fairly uneventful, however, they changed their rules since last year. Last year you could dry camp there for $5.00 for 3 nights for an indefinite time period, however, so many people took advantage of their generosity, this year you could stay for free until January 5th, then you had to pay $5.00 for three days, but if you wanted to stay after that, you had to cash in 200 points from your casino players card. I couldnt get anyone to tell me exactly how many dollars worth of play that would take, but I estimated somewhere up close to $1000.00. Wasnt going to happen for us!

One of the fun things we did before leaving the casino, we went across the street to the Cocopah Speedway to enjoy a night of stock car racing. There was a huge crowd, and a long line for tickets.

The picture is a little dark, but if you click on it, it should open in another window, and maybe more clear. I didnt get a lot of good pics, but here is one of the track.

The track was well prepared, and most of the racing was pretty good, however, in the feature race for the IMCA Modifieds, the track got slicker that the drivers could handle, and they seldom got more than a lap ot two without a yellow flag for a crash, consequently, the race was called after only about 12 laps out of a scheduled 30. It was still a good night of racing!

When it came time to leave the casino, we were fortunate to find an Escapees Park a few miles east and a couple miles south. KOFA KOOP is a real nice place with a swimming pool, hot tub, new Maytag industrial washing machines, a huge community room, and very nice lots. The lot we stayed on even had cement parking, plus a cement patio. It was only about six miles to Yuma, but very little noise or traffic.

We originally booked for just one week, while we waited for Ann's glasses to be ready in Algodonnes, but when they were not ready when they said they would be, we decided to stay for another week. BTW, Ann just talked to the eye clinic(today is January 23), and was told that before they would send the glasses out to have the glare coating, they wanted her to try them on for fit, and accuracy of the prescription. That is not what they told her at the time! So now we need to go back to Algodonnes, make sure the glasses are ok, then wait another two weeks for them to get the glare coating on! Well, I guess you spend your money, and takes your chances.

We didnt do to much exciting while we were the Escapees Park, but we did do some shopping, and I took a day trip to Gilbert, AZ, which is suburb of Phoenix, for a gathering of retired rural carriers.

We decided we needed a new coffee maker, so a trip to Kohls was in order, where we chose a new Mr Coffee. The feature that we like most about his model is that the carafe is insulated, so after the coffee is made, we can shut off the generator, and the coffee stays hot in the carafe.

Another shopping excursion was necessary when Ann decided that the rocker/recliner that she used was just too hard on her back, so we went to Yuma Furniture and she picked out a new La-Z-Boy recliner that is much more comfortable.

The next problem was what to do with the old recliner. The lady at the park office suggested that we put a "free" sign on it, and set it in front of our motorhome. It was gone the second day it was out there. It was there when we went to bed, but gone in the morning! We hope someone is getting some use out of it.

On Thursday January 19, I made the approximately 200 mile one way to to Gilbert, AZ for a meeting of the retired rural carriers in the area. In order to get to the 9:00 AM meeting, I had to be on the road by 5:30. I havent gotten up that early for quite some time, but it wasnt a problem, and after stopping at the Love's for gas and coffee, I headed east on Interstate 8.

After the sun came up, I took some pics as I traveled.

It was a hazy day, as you can see from this pic.

Here is the M on the mountain near Maricopa, AZ.

The trip was pretty uneventful until I was on I 10 going into the metro area. Still well south of my scheduled turn off, I saw a traffic jam ahead, but was able to cross three lanes of traffic, and exit the freeway.

The GPS recalculated the route, and wanted me to get on the 101 going north, but as I was about to enter, I could again see the traffic was stopped, and stayed on Price Street which runs parallel to the 101. The rest of the trip was easy, and I arrived at the Golden Corral with about 15 minutes to spare.

The meeting was a good one with our National Vice President and the head our Rural Carrier Benefit Plan in attendance. The room held 76 people, and I believe we had 73 attendees. Iowas was well represented there as somewhere between 15-20 people were from Iowa. I knew most of them, but not all. As the room was so crowded, I ddint stay for the meal, but headed back to Yuma, but not before stopping at the Volvo dealer and picking up a courtesy light that fits in the bottom of the driver's door mirror, that had fallen out a couple of weeks before.

I am going to post this now, as we are going to dinner. Hopefully, I will finish the update later, but I am afraid to just leave it, as it may disapear.

I am back. It is now Tuesday January 24th.

The trip back to Yuma was uneventful. Even the road construction by Gila Bend was not a problem for the GPS as it was on the way to Gilbert in the morning.

I stopped in Gila Bend for gas the the Love's, but was not impressed with the price!

Once back on the interstate I encountered these two trucks and their rolling road block. I know that truck drivers and RV drivers sometimes complain about how inconsiderate drivers of "four wheelers" can be, but when you have one truck only going about one mph faster than another, and driving well below the speed limit, drivers of "four wheelers" believe that this is inconsiderate as well.

I arrived back at the motorhome at KOFA KOOP about 5:00PM after a great day of driving and meeting!

Friday afternoon we headed over to Arizona Market Place which is a huge place that sells all kinds of stuff some of it RV related, to see if they had anything we couldnt live without, and wouldnt you know it, we did find a few things, including some pony tail holders, a new grill brush, a headlight for Ann to use while riding her bike, some new reusable ice cubes, some driving glasses for me, a new kitchen faucet adapter, a mini speaker and ear buds for Ann's Droid Charge, a valve core tool, and a new case for my Droid Global. Who knew we needed all that stuff!

On Saturday January 21st we decided to check out and travel on up to Quartzsite, AZ, as the optical office in Algodonnes is not open so we could get the glasses Ann was waiting on, even thought we were paid through Saturday night. After getting everything together, stopping at Applebee's for lunch, Barney's Flying J to top off with gas we headed north on state highway 95.

Yuma Proving Grounds is just north of Yuma and one of the displays along the highway is a couple of pretty big artillery pieces.

Another interesting item we saw on the Yuma Proving Grounds was this blimp like balloon of which we had seen earlier on our journey that I posted about in this blog post.

The picture is not all that clear as Ann had the camera on full zoom as the blimp was at least a mile away from the highway. After going past this one, we saw several more in the next few miles. I should do some research to see what they are used for.

The state roads in Arizona are interesting as they follow the lay of the land, which I guess is to reduce damage to roads when there is flooding, but it makes for an interesting ride, especially when you come across dips in the road like these.

They are not as severe as the look in the pictures, but looking at the second one, and the skid marks, it appears someone had a problem with this one.

Ann took some "scenery" pics along the way to show some the the terrain.

One of the required stops on Highway 95 is the border patrol station. These are usually formalities for most American Citizens, and evidently there is no smuggling on this road this time of day as the station was closed.

Another interesting place along the way is Stone Cabin. I dont know the significance of it, but it was good for a picture, anyway.

You know you are getting close to Quartzsite, when you start to see this many rvs parked out in the desert.

We had no trouble in finding our group because we have been here before, and before leaving Yuma, Ann had programmed the satellite coordinates provided by Bob Buchanan of our group on this page into our GPS. Also, here is a link of current activities at this years RV Forum Rally.

By time we arrived on Saturday the weather had turned very windy, with gusts up to 30 mph, and there was so much dust in the air we could not see the nearby mountains. As the result the 4:00PM Happy Hour was cancelled, but later in the evening our neighbors across the road had built a fire, and invited us over. They were first timers at the rally and are fun people. One couple is from Texas, and the other is from Oklahoma. For snacks they took saltine crackers, added a combination dry Ranch Dressing Mix, some canola oil, and red pepper flakes in a one gallon saver bag. You turn the bag regularly until the mixture is absorbed into the crackers. Really delicious and easy snack!

By 8:00 PM is was time to call it a day.

On Sunday we went to the "Big Tent" which is about 55,000 square feet of mostly RV related products, and some of the usual stuff you would see at a fair or a flea market. One of the products we had been looking was an Oxygenics Body Spa shower head to replace our old one that has become plugged with so much lime that even CLR wont clean it. Others on the forum had recommended it, so we got one. It is really nice, and some friends liked theirs so much, they got another for their house.

Also, we had been looking at LED lights to save some amp hours on our 12 volt electrical system. We bought one for the reading light behind Ann's recliner to see if we would like them before we would consider buying any more of them. There are not cheap, as the one we got was $20.00, but they take about 1/12 of a regular bulb, and hopefully, last pretty much forever. We shall see.

We got back in time for the 4:00 PM Happy Hour where everyone is required to wear their name tags. Our group has three rules:

1) Wear your name tags when you are at Happy Hour and other events.

2) Wear your damn name tags when you are at Happy Hour and other events!

3) No animals at food events.

Everyone introduces themselves and tells what ever they want about themselves. It is amazing at the diversity of back grounds of the people here who despite their diverse backgrounds have one thing in common; that is the love of rving! After introductions and announcements, everyone just mingles and chats for as long as they wish. We usually have morning coffee for those that want to participate about 7:00 AM, but since the guy who usually does coffee isnt here yet, I volunteered to do the coffee. The group owns a large coffee pot, so I brought it back to our RV and set it up to do morning coffee. Here is a pic of part of the morning coffee group on Monday morning.

Eventually we had about a dozen people show up, and about the same number on Tuesday morning.

Each morning about 10:00 AM those of us who feel like go on a walk. Bob Buchanan has measured a two mile course. Everyone goes at their own pace. I do the two miles in about 35 minutes. A nice way to start the day!

After Ann worked all day Monday, and I started on a blog update, and after Happy Hour, we went to Silly Al's Pizza in Quartzsite for some food and fun. The place was crowded, and it took over an hour to get seated and served. By that time karaoke started, so we stayed and Ann got to sing three songs before we headed home about 9:00 PM. A nice end to another great day on the road!

Today, Tuesday January 24 started with us both getting up about 5:00 AM. I started the coffee earlier today that yesterday, as it wasnt quite ready when the coffee drinkers showed up on Monday. Today it was ready on time, and although it was a cool 36 degrees this morning, the air was clean and crisp from the rain we had last night. It is really nice to be up early enough to see the sun rise!

After coffee, it was time for a snack before the 10:00 AM walk. Then some lunch upon returning, and then back to updating the blog.

Tomorrow we are going back to check on Ann's glasses, and see if they can change the bifocals in mine to lengthen the focal distance, so I can use them to see the laptop, and to see the gauges in the vehicles I drive.

Let's hope so!

Thus ends another blog post, on Our Third Year of Snowbirding!

Paul

Christmas, Anniversary, Football, New Years, and New Glasses

2012-01-05T16:50:00.002-06:00

While at Catalina State Park we had our mail forwarded to General Delivery at the Main Post in Tucson. Great service again by the USPS! I know the stress postal employees are under these days, and all we have dealt with have been super friendly, and helpful! In our mail we have several Christmas cards. Even though they were mailed before Christmas, we hadnt got our mail sent to us since a week or so before Christmas. Thanks to all who sent cards, especially Paul and Kathy Miller, and Kathy Ingle! Camping World always has things Rvers need, and if you looked at our travel expense report in the last post, additional funds for buying gas is always great!

After the post office, it was off to Camping World in Tucson for some post Christmas shopping. We always have a shopping list for Camping World in the back of our minds, so it was a pretty quick trip. Here is a pic of our purchases, which included a ladder mounted bike rack that will hold two bikes, a couple of roll up sun shades for the side windows when traveling, valve stem extenders to make it easier to check the air pressure in the outer rear tires, an indoor outdoor thermometer, a silicone mat to put on the rotating plate in the microwave, a "wingman" attachment for our crank up TV antenna, which is supposed to help with digital TV signals, and a new filter for our on board water system.

Here is a pic of the "wingman" installed.

While I was on the roof, I took a few more pics of the campground, and this one of our friends Ray and Liza's rig. As part of their setting up, they mount this tall pole to the rear ladder. On the top of the pole are lights that change colors. That makes it easier for them to find their motothome in an unfamiliar campground in the dark, or for other such reasons finding your RV may be a problem.

Thursday December 29 was our 10th anniversary. Ann had another busy day at work. Everyone congratulated us at Happy Hour. Our friends Randy and Debby Sherow took us out to great dinner at Red Lobster which is only a few minutes away from Catalina State Park. The reason for choosing Red Lobster is that on our first date on New Years Eve in 1997 we ate at the Red Lobster in West Des Moines, Ia.

Friday December 30 was a pretty long day. We left the campground about 11:30 and headed up to Tempe, AZ. to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Insight Bowl on the campus of the Arizona State University.

The trip was uneventful and our Garmin 1450 gps lead us right to the Best Western Hotel that is just about a half mile north of the stadium. After checking in, we walked over the bridge to the stadium to look for some Iowa gear, and some food. Having been to the Insight Bowl two years ago when the Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers, we were somewhat familiar with the area. We found our way to Mill Street where most of the action is before the game. We didnt find any Iowa gear, but we did find a great Greek restaurant, and had a nice meal. Then it was back toward the stadium where we found a couple of stands selling Iowa shirts and hats. I bought a hat at one and a long sleeved shirt at another. Here I am, ready for the game!

We still had quite a wait before they opened the gates to let spectators in, but besides not having any place to sit, it wasnt bad, as the weather was just beautiful! About 65 degrees at kick off! Once inside we found our seats. They were great seats. About the 40 yard line toward the Oklahoma end zone, and the second row in the upper tier. Even though we brought binoculars, we didnt need then with such an awesome view of the field! Here is a pic from our seats as the teams were warming up.

The game was somewhat interesting. Iowa played it's usual game of looking real good sometimes, and not so good at other times. I was surprised that Oklahoma didnt play better. Even though the score doesnt show it, the game was fairly close until the last few minutes.

The big excitement during the game was when a cable for the "flying camera" broke sending it to the playing field and almost hitting Marvin McNutt and outstanding wide receiver for the Iowa Hawkeyes! He did sustain a minor injury when he got caught up in the broken cable, but it could have been a lot worse had the 25 pound camera actually hit him.

Here is a couple of pics of the camera.

After missing McNutt the most dangerous part of the camera fiasco was when they tried to real in the excess cable from the other attaching points in the stadium. Since the camera was on the ground, the remaining cables were a lot lower, and drug across the crowd as they finally got the camera off the field. The cable came real close to us, and I got some pics of it. The first one is of Ann taking a picture of the cable, while I am taking a picture of it with my cell phone.

The cable posed no real threat as it was not that heavy, and moved across the crowd slowly. With only a few minutes left in the game, a couple of Arizona's finest held the cable the rest of the game, and as the spectators left the stadium.

After the game we headed back to the hotel, it was about midnight when we got there. A lot of walking today, and tomorrow is New Years Eve, so no after game celebrating.

We left Tempe about 9:30 and headed back to Catalina State Park, where the RVForum group had decided to have a 1:00PM soup pot luck. Ann's job was to bring Styrofoam cups for the soup. So we stopped at local Target and got a couple of packages of the them, and got back to the campground with time to spare. The soup potluck was great with a variety of soups, breads, salads and deserts, and of course beautiful weather, and fun company.

Hear is a couple of pics of the potluck. Ann and I are in the second pic in the checkered chairs with our back to the camera. Thanks Ken for the pics. Hope it is ok to share them on our blog.

After the meal it was back to the RV for a nap, and to get rested up for the New Years Eve party. With so many people coming this year, about 40 I believe, the decision was made to have a rotating party amongst three coaches. Everyone brings some kind of a snack for the event. Ann chose cream cheese covered with a mango jalapeno jelly with crackers. Really delicious, and goes well with Jim Beam, Captain Morgan, or champagne, and perhaps other adult beverages.

Here is a pic of Ann and I at Ray and Liza's rig. Thanks Betty for taking the pic.

The way the group celebrates New Years is a bit different than most New Years celebrations in that they start celebrating the News Years in New York at 10:00PM Arizona time, after which some of the party goes head back to their coaches. Then those that are left celebrate New Years in Chicago, and again some call it a night, and the rest of us hardier folks, or just plain foolish folks stayed up and celebrated the actual New Years Arizona time. Although we did stay up to see in the New Year in Arizona we didnt party too hard, as we knew we would be leaving the park by noon the next day.

We had originally planned on going on a hike on New Years day with a some others in our group, but we cancelled as I knew it would not be easy to have enough energy to pack things away a get ready to leave by noon. So we had a leisurely morning getting ready to go, and Ann made eggs Benedict for breakfast before we began putting things away for the trip to Cocopah Casino just south of Yuma, AZ.

As I had forgot to put gas in Ann's car upon our return to Tucson from Tempe, We said our goodbyes to those who hadnt gone on the hike, and while I dumped the tanks on the motorhome, Ann went to the nearby Safeway to fill up up. We then loaded up the car and headed for Yuma.

Our first stop was at the Iron Skillet Restaurant on Interstate 10 just south of the junction with Interstate 8. It was one of the better buffets we have found, and we would recommend it to others.

Then the quick exit to Interstate 8 west toward Yuma.

Since we have traveled this route a couple times before we didnt get any pics. We arrived in Yuma about 4:30, and after filling up with fuel at Barney's Flying J, we headed to the casino. The parking lot was almost empty compared to last year, so we had the pick of several spots. Once we got set up, and the car unloaded it was time for a trip to Dairy Queen. I quickly found a few on my phone, and we picked one, put the address in the gps even though we are some what familiar with this area, and headed out. The DQ we picked was very small, but my banana split as well as Ann's hot fudge sundae with peanuts, also know as a small peanut buster parfait, filled the need for ice cream. Then it was back to the motorhome to get settled in, and since Monday was a holiday for Ann, we planned on going over to Mexico that day, to get some cheap prescription drugs and some eyeglasses.

Our day trip to Algodonnes, Mexico started about 10:30 as we both had eye doctor appointments at Noon

Here are a couple of pics Ann took on the way over. The first is some dry campers on the California side of the border. The second is, what I believe is what is left of the Colorado River before it continues on south before emptying into the gulf.

We parked, walked across the border, and were at Algodonnes Optical in plenty of time for our appointments. Although we both had our eyes checked in October, the eye exam is free with the glasses. After our exams, we ordered glasses. I ordered one pair with correction and bi-focals, and the same in a pair of sunglasses. Ann ordered one pair with corrections in sunglasses, and one pair of regular glasses with anti glare. All but Ann's pair with the anti-glare will be done in a few hours, and her other pair wont be done for a couple of weeks. They will call her when they are ready, and they will either send them to her, or we can go back and pick them up.

While waiting for the glasses, we went to a local open air restaurant and had a couple of drinks, with chips and salsa. It is great that most everyone in Algodonnes speaks pretty good English. That makes doing business there a whole lot easier. After finishing our drinks, and being accosted by several locals selling all kinds of jewelery and trinkets, we headed back to Algodonnes Optical. The one pair of Ann's glasses were ready but mine were not. So to speed up the process of getting back into the USA, An went and got in line while I waited for my glasses. After about 2:00PM the line to get back into the USA takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get through. Finally just about 4:00PM my glasses were ready, so I joined Ann in line.

Going through customs is relatively easy. You need a passport, and they just ask you what you purchased in Algodonnes. You tell them, and they usually look in your sack of stuff to verify, and you are back in the USA!

I wore my new glasses on the way back. The correction in my left eye was great, but the focal distance for the bifocals is not correct, as I use them mostly for looking at the gauges while driving, and using the computer. The focal distance is too short. I am not sure if that is a problem that can be fixed, but I am going to take my glasses back to see what they can do. I may have to go back to a 1.75 bifocal as opposed to the 2.00 that is in my new glasses. By the way the total cost for the four pair of glasses was $380.

On the way back Ann got some pics of a couple of truck loads of fresh produce.

And one of the dole processing facility.

Here is a couple of pics of the green fields and orange groves that cover this area.

The last couple of days have been real busy for Ann at work, and we havent ventured out to far, but we did make a trip to the local Albertsons the other night for groceries, and distilled water to add to the batteries.

We were a little hesitant to go there as out last experience with them in Blythe, CA was not good, as prices were way high, but I believe that was mostly due to the huge crowd at Quartzsite, AZ that goes to Blythe thinking that prices will be cheaper there, but they are not.

One last note. In RVing there is a saying that there are two lists. One of dumb things you have done, and one of dumb things you will do. I can add one more thing to the list of dumb things done, as I evidently didnt get the filler cap on the generator on tight when I changed the oil and filter before we left Iowa, and the first day we ran the generator here, it only ran for about a half an hour and quit. Not good! I went out and checked, and there was oil on the ground, another not good thing! Sure enough the cap was lose, and had blown out enough oil to have the low oil sensor shut down the generator. Thank God for the low oil sensor, or it, no doubt, would have ruined the generator!

After a quick trip to the local convenience store which had the correct oil, and some cat litter, the generator was soon back in business, and the mess pretty much cleaned up.

Until next time.

Paul

Catalina State Park

2011-12-29T00:15:00.004-06:00

The trip from Deming, NM to Catalina State Park north of Tucson, AZ was way better that our travel the day before. The terrain was fairly even except for going downhill into Benson, AZ,and then back up hill some to Tucson, but the most important difference was there was no wind! I failed to mention in my last blog that on our trip from Del Rio, TX to Deming, NM was against a headwind of about 20 miles per hour. Ann and I joked that it was a 5 mile per gallon day. Statistics show it was 4.99 miles per gallon day! Glad all travel days are not like that!

Even though it was the third time we have stayed at the Dream Catcher RV Park in Deming, NM, it was the first time that we realized that all the freight trains in the southern US go through Deming! I dont think was a ten minute space between trains passing by all night, and of course, most RVers know that there must be a Federal Law that states that all RV parks must be built within earshot of a rail road track.

Here are some examples of trains we saw while we headed west of Deming, NM.

We stopped in Lordsburg, NM to fill up with gas, and get some food. The Flying J and attached Denny's were right off the interstate and filled the bill. When we got ready to leave we noticed this car on a trailer behind a motorhome.

After admiring the car for a couple minutes, we were ready to go, but the motorhome driver decided to block the driveway as he waited his turn to fuel up.

He apparently noticed that he had the drive way blocked as three different vehicles were waiting to get out, so he finally pulled ahead far enough for the three of us to leave. The selfishness of some people!

We arrived at the park about 3:15PM and quickly got set up, and headed over to Happy Hour for our group of RVforum.net. There was already a good crowd there as the usual Happy Hour time of 4:00PM was moved up to 3:00 because even thought it was mid 60s, it cools off fast after 4:00PM.

Here is the group at Happy Hour on Tuesday, December 27, 2001. Ann and I are on the left side of the pic with our backs to the camera. We will add a few more people in the circle tonight, and expect a few more to come in tomorrow. Thanks to Ken of our group for the pic.

After Happy Hour we headed back south to "Five Guys" burger place that Ann had seen on our way up Oracle Street on our way to the park. The food was good, and it had a different atmosphere than most places.

This morning(Wednesday December 28) we had to move spaces as the first spot was not available for the next few days. This is really a beautiful park, and it is full every night! Next it was off to a place that did faxing as Ann needed to fax something for work, and on the way Ann noticed a bike shop, and we stopped and Ann looked at bikes on the way back. She has a bike, but wants a lighter and better bike.

Upon returning to the park, Ann went back to work, and I took a few pics of the area.

After Happy Hour, then dinner, it was a night of reading for Ann, computer time for me and updating the blog.

Here is a chart with some travel cost information.

Odometer	Miles	Price	Gallons	Total	MPG
39,177		$ 3.169	54.2	$ 172.00
39,506	329	$ 3.379	57.8	$ 195.02	5.69
39,828	322	$ 3.469	62.5	$ 217.00	5.15
40,208	380	$ 3.349	55.2	$ 185.00	6.88
40,608	400	$ 3.419	58.5	$ 200.00	6.84
40,789	181	$ 3.219	30.4	$ 98.00	5.95
41,085	296	$ 3.099	59.4	$ 184.00	4.99
41,373	288	$ 3.059	49.0	$ 150.00	5.87

Total Miles	2,196
AVG/Gal		$ 3.270
Total Gal			372.9
Total $				$ 1,229.02
AVG MPG					5.89

Hope everyone is doing well!

We do appreciate everyone's comments!

Paul

Del Rio to Deming

2011-12-27T10:08:00.000-06:00

Well, we made our goal of getting to Deming, NM Monday evening, and yes it got cold Monday night! It is now almost 8:00 AM and it is only 20 outside. Time to move on!

We left our site 28 at the American Campground about 8:00. By time we topped off the propane, and paid our electric bill for the three weeks we were there, said our good byes, and stopped up the road a couple of miles for gas in the motorhome, and some breakfast sandwiches for us, we were heading west by 9:00 AM.

According to Mapquest the quickest way to Deming, NM is to go west on HWY 90 to HWY 285 at Sanderson, TX, and then go north to Fort Stockton where you pickup the interstate and head west. We went that way last year, so this year we continued on west on HWY 90 to where it meets the interstate at Van Horn, TX. It takes a little longer this way, but we got to see a lot of new territory, however, in this part of Texas, a lot of the new territory, looks like a lot of the territory that we had already seen!

Here is the route Mapquest suggested.

Here is the route we took.

Going west we gradually climbed to higher elevations. Here we are at about 3800 feet, but at one point we were over 4300 hundred feet before we descended back to about 3600 feet in Marathon.

Then it was back up again after Alpine , and at Deming we are now about 4100 feet altitude which accounts at least partly for the cold temperatures.

Much of the land looks pretty barren, I wonder how people raise animals and make a living out here?

By the time we got to Alpine, it was about noon, and time for lunch. We found a place called Penney's Diner and decided it would be good enough. There was some snow on the ground, and they still had Santa out front, so Ann took these pictures.

Then it was on west to Van Horn. We noticed as we climbed out of Alpine, the scenery changed to darker rocks and dirt. Also, as we climbed, there was snow on the hills.

Several miles west of Alpine we came across this weird looking dirigible. I didnt get to read all of the sign on the gate to the place, but it did say something about US Air Force TARS program. I havent looked that up yet to see what this thing is used for.

Our next stop was a Pilot/Flying J in Van Horn to fill up with gas and take a break. The place was a zoo, and it took us over a n half and hour to get in and out, but gas was only $3.09, some of the cheapest gas we had see up till that point in the trip. Then it was off to El Paso, TX, and again we ignored Mapguest's, and our GPS' directions, as we remebered driving through downtown El Paso last year just as the sun was going down, and how difficult that was. Both Mapquest and our GPS suggested we stay on Interstate 10.

Here is the route we took.

You might have to zoom in on the map to see our actual route.

After leaving El Paso, Tx, and before we got back on the Interstate, we entered New Mexico.

Then it was north to Las Cruces where the Interstate turns west, and then it was on to Deming, NM

We arrived here at Dream Catcher RV Park just about 6:00PM, paid for the night, picked our spot, hooked up only the electric, and put the jacks down, and put out the slides. Then it was dinner time, and in about ten minutes Ann had heated up Christmas dinner leftovers. It is so nice to have your house with you!

It is now almost 9:00AM on Tuesday, and we are about head out toward Catalina State Park near Oro Valley, Arizona, which is just north of Tucson.

Here is a pic of us at Dream Catcher RV Park in Deming, New Mexico.

And one of the mountains to the north of Deming.

Now as soon as I post this blog, we are headed to Tucson. Looks like the weather there today will be in the high 60s! Yea, short pants and t-shirt weather!

More Later,

Paul

Last Night in Del Rio, Now the Weather Will Return to Normal

2011-12-25T22:43:00.000-06:00

It is pretty easy to get into a routine at any place we stay more that a few days. Our routine here is for Ann to get up about 7:00, and I get up somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00, and about 9:30 I go over to the Community Center and have coffee with the other old guys. Most of the time we discuss benign issues, other times we talk politics. Wow, it is most interesting to here the different points of view! I have way more fun talking issues with people I dont agree with rather than talking issues with people I agree with. About the only thing we did this week out of the routine is get new tires for the car dolly.

New Tires

The other day while looking things over I noticed that one of the tire on the car dolly was worn to the pint of needing replaced, and the other was not far behind. The search was on for some new ones. First stop was the internet to get some idea of prices. The tires on the dolly are not car tires, but trailer tires, and surprisingly they were not that expensive. The next step was to find a local place that had the tires and could mount them. At coffee one morning I brought up the issue, and most everyone had a different idea of where the best place to get tires.

On Ann's noon hour we headed toward town to check things out. Down the road about two miles is a place that rents U-hauls, sells lot of trailer parts and deer guards. We stopped and sure enough they sold tires for the dolly, but didnt have the correct size in stock, but could have them tomorrow. Sounded good enough for us so we ordered some Carlisle 205/70 R-15s.

Here is a pic of the old tires.

And here is the place we bought them.

Here is the dolly with new tires on.

Our motorhome and car at our "home' here in Del Rio.

Today was the Christmas Dinner pot luck. Ann made spinach salad, pistachio fluff salad, and almond bark pretzels. I made sweet potatoes. As usual, there was way more food that we could eat. I was nice visiting with the friends we have made here, and meeting some new people that got here a couple of days ago.

The festivities ended about 2:30 and we came back to the motorhome to sit until we felt we could move again. Later I went outside put the grill, the battery charger, and our Cabella's chairs away. So in the morning we have to unhook the utilities, put the bike rack on the car, load the bikes, and load the car on the dolly. We are planning on being on the road by 8:30, but we shall see.

We are not sure how far we are going tomorrow. We would like to get to Deming, NM, but it is going to be in the lower 20s there tomorrow night, and we were hoping for a little warmer over night temperature than that, but it looks like it is going to be pretty chilly all across New Mexico tomorrow night. You will have to stay tuned to see how far we go tomorrow. We are scheduled to be in Catalina State Park just on the north side of Tucson Tuesday through Sunday. We havent decided where we are going from there, but hey, we have a few days to decide what is next!

I have made a couple of changes in the blog. Now instead of waiting for me to post on Facebook when I update the blog, you can now subscribe by email. Just put in your email, and you will be notified when the blog is updated.

I added a couple more links to some of the blogs I read, and I finally remembered where I need to change the html to change locations in the weather bug.

Well, our propane heater just went out because the 20 lb bottle it runs off of is empty again. The cold weather here really has taken a lot of propane. We have used six 20 lb bottles in the three weeks we have been here. I hope it warms up enough that we dont have to use that much propane in the next three weeks.

Off to change out the propane bottle, and then to bed.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Paul

Two Weeks in Del Rio, Where is the Sun?

2011-12-18T21:28:00.003-06:00

When we arrived here at American Campground two weeks ago it was beautiful, 77 degrees and sunny. That evening was the last we have seen of the sun, save for the time when it was visible through some thin clouds.

Other than that glimpse, it has been cloudy, cool(down to 23 one night), and rainy! It has been dry here in Texas this summer, so I dont complain too much, but this isnt the weather we signed up for!

The first night we were here, we went to two of our favorite places; Rudy's Barbeque for some great barbeque, and then it was a stop on our way home at Lorina's Cantina for some adult beverages and an opportunity for Ann to sing some karaoke. As was the case last year, there was a pretty good crowd, with several good singers, and it quite a bit of fun till about midnight when the DJ usually lets a few of the locals sing continuously, but by that time, it is time to go anyway. We didnt go there last night(December 17), but we may go on Thursday night for a final time before we head west on the day after Christmas.

Other than the one night out, we havent really done a whole lot while we are here, as the weather is pretty much a downer. Ann pretty much works from 8:00 AM until 4:30 everyday Monday through Friday. Her regular recliner has become uncomfortable on her back, so she has moved to the passenger seat of the motorhome as her "office" chair, and has her "work" computer on the computer tray.

She still uses the recliner that came with the motorhome as her "non-work" chair. She has her personal computer on a TV tray on one side.

And part of her Janet Evanovich library on the other side. I also noticed that the liquor stash shows up in this pic as well.

On the way down here, and since we have been here Ann has read many of the Janet Evanovich books that are part of an 18 book series. Her efforts include having purchased a three part book before we left, checking out some from the public library in Del Rio, reading some online with the e-reader on her computer, and then buying the rest that are available from Amazon. I am sure by the time we leave here, she will have read all that are available. Then it is on to new reading material!

One of the things that we have noticed since we have traveled, is that no state take recycling as serious as they do in Iowa. Since we are used to recycling, Ann found the local recycling center, and we made a trip over there the other evening with our cans, paper, cardboard, and bottles.

Friday December 16, we had a potluck in the community center. Not ever knowing what to bring, I decided that we should bring a dish that one of the people brought last year that went over pretty well, and Ann made some peanut butter blossoms. Here is a pic of the cookies, and the brussel sprouts, that have bacon, red onion, red wine, brown sugar, and cranberries added. I am not a big fan of brussel sprouts, but they taste pretty good in this recipe.

As is usual at most potlucks, there is way more food than people. Only a small portion of the brussel sprouts remained, and we left the rest of the cookies at the community center for our morning coffee that convenes at 9:30AM every morning. The first day I went over for coffee, most of the same guys were there, and it just seemed I hadnt missed a day from when we left last December.

Seems like food is taking over this post, but that is the way it goes. Last night(December 17) Ann made a delicious dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice pilaf, and lima beans. It looked so nice, I had to take a pic. It looks like I set the silverware on the table. :)

After sitting around the motorhome for two weeks, except for the first night we were here, and a few trips to town for groceries, and some other errands, we decided to take a road trip today, if for no other reason just to get out and do something. We put together a plan to make a circle of the area. We started out in Del Rio, traveled to Eagle Pass, and then a circuitous route to Uvalde, then back to Del Rio.

We left this morning and drove to Eagle Pass. It is a city of about 20 some thousand people. I must say that after driving around the town looking for a place to eat, it seemed more like we were in Mexico, and not the USA.

The number of signs that were in Spanish was surprising. I guess I dont know why I expected any different.

We had the GPS set on an Applebees, but when we got there it was now Captain Charlies Seafood Restaurant and Bar. It was not what we expected, but we thought we would give it a try. We had a good chat with the server, he was born in North Dakota, but his Dad got a job with the Border Patrol, and he got transferred to Eagle Pass. Our server was going to follow in his Dad's footsteps, and become a border patrol agent as well. I told him I thought he made a good choice, as it seems to be as a secure a job anyone could hope for in this economy.

As usual in restaurants in this part of country, they start you out with chips and salsa. The salsa was good, but not too hot, when they brought our appetizer of stuffed crab, the sauce that came with it, was awesome! Plenty spicy, produced some sweat on the forehead, but not too hot for our Iowa pallet.

The stuffed crab.

Ann eating the stuffed crab.

For our entrees, we both had fish; Ann had bass, I had red snapper, very tasty!

After finishing our lunch, we headed out of town going north east in a round about way to Uvalde. We hadnt gone too far when we came across an immigration check point. These places are all over the Southwest, I am not sure they ever catch anyone, but more likely, just make if more difficult for human, and drug smugglers. The officers are usually polite, and just asked us if we were both American citizens, and why we were in Eagle Pass. We answered that we were both American citizens, and that we are lucky enough to be able to get out of Iowa in the winter, and were just visiting Eagle Pass.

The rest of our trip was uneventful. So much of this part of Texas looks a lot a like. There is some farmland, a couple of cattle ranches, but most of the countryside is scrub brush. There are lots of ranches in this area, but all you see of most of them is the sign over the road that leads to the ranch. We past by many of them, but did stop and get a pic of this one. It was one of the nicer ones; most are just metal frames with the ranch name in metal as well.

We arrived back in Del Rio about 4:00PM, but couldnt pass by DQ without stopping. Banana split for me, and hot fudge and peanuts for Ann. No pics, as they disappeared quickly.

Once back at the motorhome, Ann had planned to do laundry, but because the office was closed, she wasnt able to get change, so I guess we will have something to do tomorrow.

It is 9:30PM now, after having some popcorn while I am updating the blog, Ann is watching Survivor. Tomorrow starts our last week here, we shall see what it brings.

Paul

Our Third Annual Snowbird Adventure; The First Twelve Days

2011-12-05T00:10:00.001-06:00

Day One: November 23, 2011 Panora, Ia to Lexington, Ne

Despite having months to prepare for our Third Annual Snowbird Adventure, there always seems to be so many last minute details to attend to. So it was about 4:30 PM before we pulled out of Panora and headed west. Our plan was to drive as far as we felt like it, and drive the rest of the way to Milliken, Co Thanksgiving Day to my oldest sisters house for dinner with the Colorado contingent on my side of the family.

We drove to York, NE where we stopped to get something to eat at a place called "The Kitchen". Pretty good food. Then the decision needed to be made to stay here for the night, or continue on for a while. Since it wasnt that late, we decided to drive on, but by the time we got to Lexington, Ne, it was time to stop for the night, so after filling up with gas at Cenex, we noticed they had a large parking lot out behind, and it proved to be a very good place to spend our first night on the road.

Day Two: November 24, 2011 Thanksgiving Day

After a good nights sleep, we got on the road in time to put us at my sister's house by 11:30 AM, which would give us plenty of time to visit with family before Thanksgiving Dinner.

Here I am carving the turkey, with the assistance of two of my brothers.

After too much food and lots of conversation, some of us went out to our motorhome to show it to some of the relatives who had not seen it. My sister Terri, and her husband Walt have a pull type camper, and are enthusiastic RVers, enjoyed talking RVing and traveling. They hope to be able to join us Quartzsite this winter. We are looking forward to that!

After a long day of driving, eating, and visiting, it was time for bed. We pulled our motorhome around the block to a level spot on an adjacent street to make our night camp.( a term I borrowed from Tioga George)

Day 3: November 25, 2011

Today was a short driving day. After having coffee with my sister, and adding water to our motothome from an outside spigot ather house, and then de-winterizing.

We made the short drive to Johnsons Corner to fill up with gas, and plan our day. We unloaded the car, left the motorhome in the RV parking area at Johnsons Corner, and drove to my brother's place in Loveland to watch Iowa get beat up on by Nebraska. The game wasnt so good, but the conversation was excellent. Been quite a while since I have sat down and watched foot ball with any of my brothers. At half time we went to a local restaurant to get a bite to eat and watch the second half of the game on their big projection tv. It didnt help the Hawkeyes at all.

Then it was back to the motorhome where the decision was made to stay at the nearby RV Retreat for the night. The lady at the check in was less than friendly and failed to give us the password for the park's free wi-fi, but we managed to live without it, as we tethered our Android phones to our computers to access the 'net.

It was a windy and stormy night, but no snow. We didnt sleep all that well, but the signs were there; time to head south in the morning!

Day 4: November 26, 2011

This was to be a long driving day in an attempt to get to some warm weather before Sunday night, so we could be somewhere where Ann would be set up to work on Monday morning. The weather was great for traveling; about a 40 mph tail wind! That doesnt happen often in the RVing world!

We finally decided to stop in Vaughn, NM for the night, and were able to find an RV park with full hook ups for the Passport America rate if $16.00. The place seemed abandoned, but they had a self pay drop-box.

The place only had a few spots, but served the purpose for a quiet place to spend a few hours sleeping.

Days 5 -10: November 27, 2011-December 2, 2011

The original plan today was to drive to The Ranch SKP Park near Lakewood, NM, but after looking at the weather forecast for the area, we decided to drive on south to Pecos, TX, and stay at TraPark in Pecos, TX.

On the way, we passed through Roswell, NM, and stopped for some Dairy Queen. It is nice to be able to practice getting myself into, and out of tight spots with the RV.

We, meaning Ann, didnt take too many pics today but here are a few from TraPark in Pecos, TX.

Since the place was pretty full, we got to park by one of the entrance/exits.

The place is not bad, but one thing we noticed is that many of the people staying here are not retired RVers, but are working people who are living in RVs. The oil field business is going pretty strong in the area, and I assume that is where most of the workers who stay here, are working.

We had to rely on our Directv for our tv watching, as we were not able to pic up any over the air channels, but we survived.

The week went by pretty quickly; Ann mostly worked, but we did get outside most days to take walk around the park. I have an app for my phone that measures how far go, and it showed that our route was .6 miles.

One of the evenings, there was a tree lighting ceremony in the nearby park. It had the usual singing, but that was followed by a huge and lengthy fire works display. It was awesome, and we were so close that some the fireworks dropped down close to our RV. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a fireworks display!

We didnt interact much with the town, other than eating at a Chinese buffet place, followed by a shopping trip to the local Wal*Mart, and another night we ate at the restaurant in a nearby motel.

Day 11: Traveling to Del Rio, TX

On Saturday morning we were headed to American Campground in Del Rio, TX, a place we stayed in for most of the month of December last year, but planned on fill up at the local Flying J, and eating breakfast at the Denny's attached to the Flying J, but it wasnt to be. Neither of the two RV pumps I pulled up to would accept credit cards, and after waiting in line inside for about 10 minutes, all the clerk would say is that if I wanted to get gas there, I would have to prepay. That was not acceptable to me, so we left and drove to Stockton, TX to fill up and eat.

One more thing about Pecos, TX. They have some weird roads in Texas, but the one by the Flying J takes the cake. They have the usual exit where Interstate 20 meets Highway 285, but just to the west of the 285 exit, their is an additional exit that ends up on a two-way frontage road. The people traveling on the frontage road are supposed to yield to the cars exiting the freeway! I cant imagine a better set up for an accident! I never even looked for the yield signs, and just happened to notice them when we were leaving town!

Our trip to Stockton was uneventful where we filled up with gas at a Stripes station, and then a little ways farther, we had breakfast at an IHOP that had a nice place to park for RVs, and trucks.

We then continued on to Del Rio, a route that we traveled last year when we left Del Rio, and traveled to Tucson. I got a couple of pics on the way.

Coming into Sanderson, TX.

Down town Sanderson, TX.

A small restaurant that we ate at when we went through Sanderson last year. Unfortunately, the restaurant is now closed.

We arrived at American Camprgound neat Del Rio, TX about 3:30PM, got checked in and set up while we enjoyed the 77 degree weather. This what we had been looking for since we left home, but it will be short lived, as the cold weather coming from the North West will catch up with us tomorrow. Highs in the 50s, not the 70s, but better than the weather in Iowa.

After resting for a bit, we headed into town to do some grocery shopping at the HEB, then to Chili's for some dinner, then stopping at Lorena's Cantina for some karaoke.

It was a great evening, lots of excellent singers, and they appreciated Ann's singing ability, however, I dont think anyone remembered us being there last year. After staying a little later than we normally do, we headed home for some well deserved sleep.

Day 12: December, 2011

Today is just a lazy day. It is overcast and a general dreary day. We didnt accomplish much. Ann did laundry, and I tested our Virgin Mobile usb modem that Ann will use while working while we are in this area, as there is no Verizon data service in this part of Texas. The park has good wi-fi so, connecting to the 'net wont be a problem for our personal computers. I spent most of the day contemplating the blog, and finally about 7:00PM I started writing. It is now about midnight, and I am calling it a day. I hope those that read the blog get something out of it.

Comments are always appreciated!

Paul

The Last Two Weeks in Quartzsite

2011-02-13T23:23:00.002-06:00

The Monday after our Rally ended the weather changed dramatically. The wind went around to the north at anywhere from 20 to 50 mph for about three days. On Monday night about 10:00 PM the wind was howling so bad all I could think of was was some of the lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald". "...When the winds of November come early..." We had the solar panels tilted and the wind was coming directly behind them. Although, I was pretty sure they werent going anywhere, I was concerned enough about them and the just general rocking of the motorhome, which was facing west, so we were getting broadsided, that we brought in the slides, loaded up the things we had outside, and turned the rig into the wind. This made things a lot better, and we were finally able to get some sleep.The next couple of days the wind was still strong, but not enough to cause us to move the motorhome again.

The reason we moved the motorhome facing west in the first place was to tilt the solar panels, and have them face south to get maximum performance from them. It worked real well. For the week we were parked that way, the only time we ran the generator was to run the microwave or the printer. I love it when a plan comes together!

With almost everyone else from our group having left, we got to really enjoy the peace and quiet of the desert. We didn't do too much during the week, save for couple of trips into Quartzsite in the evening to get something to eat, a beverage or two, and for Ann to sing some karaoke. There are several places in town that do karaoke, and a few of them have it early enough in the evening that you can have some fun and still be home by 8:00PM. That seems to work well for a lot of the older people out here.

On Saturday we decided to go up to Parker Arizona, which is about 35 miles north of Quartzsite to see a movie and get some groceries. As we got north of Quartzsite about 20 miles we could see a huge dust cloud to the north and west, as the wind was pretty near calm, we wondered what was the reason for the dust cloud. It is not easy to see in this pic, but it is to the left of the tower.

When we got to the north side of Parker, near the Blue Water Resort and Casino (they have a movie theater as well), we saw lots of off road racing vehicles, and when we pulled into the parking lot there was Robby Gordon's souvenir truck.

I thought wow, this must be a big time off road race! It turns out it was a big time off road race; it was the Parker 425. Even though I had never heard of it, it is a well known race. The race consists of 2 or 3 laps, each about 125 miles through the desert. The run several classes, and one guy we talked to said there was about 200 entrants.

We wandered around a bit, then walked a few hundred yards to a decent viewing area, even though we were a couple hundred yards from the track, we could still see then racers come down along the river, head up hill, then go out of site in a cloud of dust.

While we were there we visited with a couple from Utah. The husband used to race midgets against Dick Simon, who later became an Indy car racer then an owner.

On the walk back I got a pic of Ann in front of the Lucas Oil sign.

And she got a couple of me under the General Tire finish line.

As it was going to be a while before the race would be over we decided to catch the movie Ann wanted to see (The Rite), then go watch more of the racing action. The movie was just a movie to me, but Ann liked it despite having been scared enough a few times to make her scream, but I think she likes that in movies. :)

After the movie was over we went to the finish line, where the announcer was interviewing the racers as they finished.

Since every one does not start at the same time, each racer is timed separately, so it is some time after the event is over, before the finishing order is established, but it was till fun to listen to the guys talk about their race. By this time a large crowd had gathered, and it looked there was going to be a huge party once the race was over, not wanting to get stuck in traffic, we decided to head out to Safeway, get some groceries, then had back to Quartzsite.

After Safeway we did make a stop at the Wal*Mart to look for a 8 inch frying pan. We were both surprised to see how limited the options were for housewares, and they didn't have what we wanted.

Then it was back "home" for a light dinner as we were not all that hungry after eating a large container of popcorn and a huge soda at the theater.

Sunday is "dump and refill day". Even though we could probably go for 10 days or so with dumping our tanks and refilling with fresh water, we did it every Sunday just so we wouldn't have to interrupt Ann's work schedule during the week to do so, and this way we didn't have to worry too much about conserving. Depending on the line at the dump station it usually took us an hour or so to stow things inside, bring in the slides, raise the jacks, drive the couple miles to the dump station, wait in line, dump refill with water and return to our spot and set up again. Waiting in line is not so bad when you have nothing else that you have to do, or should be doing. One guy in line was real slow in dumping, so the ranger who monitors the area had to remind him that this was a dump station, and not a campsite. The guy was offended, but it did get him going.

When I hooked up the water hose to refill the fresh water tank, I then went up on the roof and reversed the tilt of the solar panels as we wanted to park with our door to the south this week. After getting back down off the roof, I realized that I had forgotten to turn the valve that let water into the tank on, so I had to wait another 10 minutes or so for it to fill before returning to our campsite. Glad I wasnt in a hurry.

When we got back to our campsite this time we faced the motorhome east, so that the door and awning would be facing south. Again this week the solar panels did their job!

I am going to post this now, and bring you all up to date on our travel adventures tomorrow.

It is 10:30Pm here and time for bed.

Paul

First Two Weeks at Quartzsite

2011-02-01T22:13:00.003-06:00

Once again time has flown by. We have already been here two weeks, and our winter sojourn is already half over! One of the few things that is not as good as could be out here is the Virgin Mobile broadband service, it is just too slow to do many things other than check email, and read a few blogs. I have been trying to use it exclusively to save bandwidth usage on the Verizon Mi-Fi, as it is limited to 5G with our current plan. Today Ann decided that since she would probably go over the 5 G limit, she may as well up the plan to the 10 G one, so I am now using the Mi-Fi connection, and hopefully can post some pics. The blog is just not the same without pics.

Here is a pic I tried posting before. This is the first three couples to arrive at Quartzsite having dinner at Silly Al's Pizza. From the left it is me(Paul), then Marilyn whose husband Dave is next to Ann, then Bob, and his wife Laura.

Here is the line up of the first rigs at the rally. The rig in the foreground belongs to a couple who dropped off their coach and went to their home in Goodyear, Arizona for a couple of days. Then is the coach of Bob and Laura, then ours, and the camper of Dave and Marilyn.

Here is a pic of the first sunset in Quartzsite.

Then a couple of days later pic of the full moon rising, a pic similar to the one I took when we were in Del Rio, Texas. The pic is at the bottom of the blog.

And then a pic of our dinner for the evening; steak with tinfoil potatoes, with onions and green peppers.

Over the next few days, the place really started to fill up. Most of the day was spent greeting, and visiting with the new arrivals, and posting the list of new arrivals on RVForum.net.

Here is the group assembling for Happy Hour on January 21. The group is growing!

And here is the full moon going down with the sun shining on the mountains to the west, as it is about to break over the mountains in the east.

As the days went by the area filled in nicely, with a total of 37 rigs being here at one time or another.

While people were arriving I decided I had better get to work on my solar project that I had been planning, and acquiring parts for since last summer. So with a trip into Quartzsite to pick up some brackets to attach to the solar panels, and then brackets to attach to the motorhome, and some tilt bars to raise the panels with, I began in earnest. First job was to locate the panels on the roof so they wouldnt be shaded if I didnt tilt them, but still be close enough together to maintain a short of run of wire as possible Once this was done, I cleaned the spots on the roof where the brackets would go, then carefully set them in the 3M 5200 adhesive to let them cure. One thing we(Ann) didnt want to do was to put holes in the roof, that is why I chose the 3M adhesive, but because there is a slight arch to the roof, the panel brackets wanted to slide downhill. I am glad I didnt just leave them to cure on their own, as I would not have been happy to go up on the roof the next morning to see the brackets up against the rain gutter on the edge of the roof! So we decided that I should put one screw in each bracket to hold it in place till the adhesive set up. Once I did this the installation of the panels looked good.

To back up a bit, one of the obstacles to overcome was to be able to get the panels themselves up on the roof. As the panels are about 37" x 65" and weigh 40 lbs, this was no easy challenge. My solution was to take the strap part of the tire tie downs, attach one end to the panel, and use the straps as a rope. Dave came over with a ladder and with his help, getting the panels on the roof was quite simple. Thanks Dave!

That was enough work for that day.

The next day I worked on where to mount the charge controller, and where to run the wires from the roof to the controller. The easiest was is to go down the refrigerator vent, behind the refrigerator, and on down to the compartment below. It was no problem at all, and was easily accomplished in a day. :)

The last issue to be solved was to go from the controller to the battery. So it was off to Quartzsite again to a solar dealer to get two five foot pieces of #4 wire with ends on, plus a 60 amp fuse and fuse holder to be put downstream of the controller. Once back home these were fairly easy to install. Then it was the moment of truth! I connected the two panels together on the roof, then determined which wire coming from the panels was the "hot" wire as both wires were black, and I hadnt marked them. Once this was determined, and I got them hooked up with no spark or fires, I went into the motorhome to check my amp meter, and it was showing an input of about four amp hours, despite being relatively late in the day! WooooHooooo! Success!

I dont have a lot of pics of the installation process, as once I got going I didnt want to stop and take pics. Here is one of the panels installed and operating.

One of the high lights of the week was during Happy Hour one night was Betty, who put herself in charge of entertainment, came up with the idea of the "Twelve Days of Quartzsite", a take off on the "Twelve Days of Christmas". Each day of Quartzsite was represented by something you might buy while here. Ann got to be the Fourth Day of Quartzsite I bought four funnel cakes, even though she only bought two, and intended to cut them into, but decided she then wouldnt be able to hold them all.

It was a fun event, and was filmed for posterity, and is on RVfoum.net, though I am not sure where. If you would like to see more of the activities, and comments about our fun here, then checkout RVForum.net, and look through all the threads about Quartzsite. You may have to sign up and login to see all the pics and videos that are posted.

On Thursday four of us went to a golf course in Blythe, California, which is about 30 minute from here. As we had a 7:00AM tee time it was decided to leave here about 6:00AM to be sure and be on time. When we arrived about 6:30, there was no one to be seen. It didnt take us long to realize that California is on Pacific time, and Arizona is on Mountain time! So we got there an hour early, but it was a beautiful morning. The round of golf was interesting; the other three guys play pretty regular, and it showed, I havent played in a few years, and it showed as well. But all in all is was a great being outside in such beautiful weather.

During Happy Hour on Thursday Betty organized a take off the Kentucky Derby, women decorated hats, and there were four teems of "horses" and "riders". Ann teamed up with another guy and called themselves Bling, Bling. The idea was that the "horse" was blindfoled, and the "rider" had to guide the "horse around the course that was marked with beer cans filled with sand. I had the "duty" to provide the empty beer cans. Everyone needed to contribute, and I gladly did my part!

It was pretty silly, but still fun, as Ann and her partner Rolf won the race! I didnt get any pics of the "Derby", but I am sure there are some on the forum.

Here is a link to the horserace on youtube.

On Friday I went into town to get our mail that has been forwarded from Iowa. The line at the Post Office was short, relatively speaking, as last year it wound around the inside of the office and out the door.

I cant imagine what it must be like working there, going from a small town to a town of over a half million people for a few weeks a year. Then it was off to get a haircut before returning "home". The price of a haircut was only $11.00, one of the few bargains you can get this time of year here.

Saturday was the grand finale with a buffet meal at 3:00PM, preceded with a group picture at 2:00. Ann made a wonderful dish of orange chicken, and fried rice. As usual at a buffet there was more food than we could eat, but Ann's chicken was one of the best dishes! She has to quit cooking like that, or I will expect her to cook more often. :)

After everyone had eaten more than they should have, Ann and three of the guys who are musicians, gave an impromptu concert after only practicing only 30 minutes and never even had met each other before the rally. The sound quality is not good, but the singing and playing was.

On Sunday morning many of the group left, and headed for Death Valley, others went there own way, and a few of us are still here. We plan on staying till the thirteenth, and then head toward Phoenix, as Ann has to go to Baltimore either the week of the fourteenth or the next week, and we are planning on meeting up with a friend from home who will be visiting in the Casa Grande area for a few days.

The first two weeks here have been fun, relaxing, and satisfying, and I expect the next two weeks here will be the same!

I will keep you posted, hopefully, more often than I have in the last two weeks.

Paul

The Mundane, The Miraculous, and Q

2011-01-18T21:40:00.005-06:00

Monday January 10 was just another great day on the road; nothing really exciting, or out of the ordinary.

On Tuesday Ann decided that is was time to do some of the maintenance that her car owner’s manual called for at 100,000 miles. I could see that the front brake pads were getting pretty thin, so that was the first thing on the list. She called the local Big O Tires in Maricopa and scheduled an afternoon appointment. I took the car in and got the whole nine yards of what checks they would perform before doing the front brakes. The service manager came back in a few minutes with a laundry list of repairs the car needed. Listening to him I wondered how a car in this a shape would even run, but I knew his job was to up sell. They went ahead and replaced the front brakes, and I took the laundry list of other repairs they felt the car needed back to Ann for her perusal. I did see that the back brakes were about gone, and the rear tires were about worn out, so it would be back to Big O on Thursday for the rear brakes and rear tires.

On Wednesday there was a pot luck, with Italian food, at the community center. Ann made some awesome three cheese rigatoni. There were many Italian dishes, and the Italian mainstay, pizza. It was nice to meet some of the other people in the park, as well as the park owners. They are a young couple with two children. They recently bought the park, and are working hard to improve the place, and they seem to be doing a great job. We would definitely stay there again.

On Thursday it was back to Big O with Ann’s car. Because it was going to take some time to do the work, we opted to have one of the employees take us back to the RV park while they worked on the car. The young guy that took us back was from Delaware, and had only lived in Maricopa two months. He was obviously a high school wrestler at one time, as when we mentioned we were from Iowa, he commented on how great a wrestling program, both The University of Iowa, and Iowa State University have. He also warned us about the wild animals in the area and advised Ann that when she goes on a bike ride outside the park, to be sure and take a gun with her. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

About 5:30 the young guy from the repair place called and said he was on the way to get us, and take us to get Ann’s car. We were not sure where he was when he called, but it took him about 45 minutes to cover the 15 miles from Maricopa to the John Wayne RV Ranch. After picking up the car it was time for dinner. We had seen this Mexican place on our many trips to town, so it was Mexican for us tonight! The place was busy, so we sat at a table in the bar with another couple who invited us to sit with them. The server then asked us if we just wanted to eat in the bar. Good enough for us! We had a delicious dinner. Ann had the trio, an enchilada, a flauta, and a taco. I had pork chimichanga. Waaaay to much to eat.

Friday for Ann was just another day of work, except because of the Martin Luther King Holiday on Monday; she would have a three day weekend. Most of my time was spent trying to figure out what we should do on the long weekend. I spent some time on mapquest seeing how far things were, and what would be fun to do, but not have to drive too far, but still be able to get to Quartzsite in a decent time on Monday, so Ann would be ready to work on Tuesday morning. After much contemplation, we decided that would go to North Ranch Escapees Park near Congress, Arizona, a place we stayed for a while last year. Then on Sunday, drive up to the Grand Canyon.

Saturday morning we didn’t get around too early, as the drive up to Congress was only about two hours. Ann put in the address for the park in Congress in the Microsoft Streets and Trips GPS program. It had us going up to Phoenix, then going on northwest to Congress. The idea of driving through Phoenix didn’t appeal to us, so we decided to west to State Highway 85, then north to Interstate 10, back east about ten miles, then on through Wickenburg to the Escapees Park. The route was about 20 miles longer, but worth it. We arrived about 1:00PM, filled both our portable propane tank, as well as our onboard tank, and then got settled in our spot, next to a couple who had some yappy barking dogs, my favorite! The rest of the day was spent planning our day trip to the Grand Canyon, and then our trip to Quartzsite. We called it a night pretty early, as we wanted to get a relatively early start on Sunday.

I typed this post in a Word document, and not sure why the font changed when I posted it. Also, there are no pics, as here in Quartzsite our virgin Mobile usb modem is connecting so slow, down to about 9 kps, sometimes, that I doubt I could post pics, but I will do that when the speed picks up.

The trip to the Grand Canyon, and our first couple of days in Quartzsite will follow shortly.

On Sunday January 16, was the day for our trip to the Grand Canyon. We left North Ranch about 8:00 AM for the three hour drive. Our first stop was to fill up with gas in Congress.

After winding our way through the mountains, we arrived in Prescott, Az, a town we visited last year. We stopped at the Visitor Center to get some brochures about the Canyon, and a more specific road map to supplement our GPS program.

Then it was around the square to the Lone Spur Café for breakfast of eggs Benedict, hash browns and coffee.

With starvation avoided once again, it was on north on State Highway 89, to Ash Fork, where we then headed east on Interstate 40.

There are some views on the way including some very tall mountains by Flagstaff.

After the short drive to Williams, it was north again on State Highway 64, where we saw more snow. Glad we don’t live here! On our way north, this mountain loomed larger and larger in the distance before the road made a gradual turn to the left before getting to the Grand Canyon.

Our first stop was at the National Geographic Visitor Center. After discussing options and talking to people who worked there, we decided to take the helicopter tour of the canyon. We didn’t have to be at the airport for about 40 minutes, and as it was close by, we stopped at a coffee shop for a few minutes, and had some very good coffee. Then it was off to the airport and a view of the two types of helicopters they use for the tours, and EC-21, that I am not sure who makes, and a Bell 206, otherwise known as a Bell Long Ranger.

Our tour was to be in the Long Ranger, which I preferred, as in the EC-21 you sat three wide, so the person in the middle would not have that great a view. Before our tour began I got a pic of one of the Long Rangers landing.

Then it was our turn to go, an older couple from India was with us, and they seemed as excited to go as we did, however, I not sure that this pic shows Ann’s excitement.

Then here I am getting my glasses on so I can see the pictures I will be taking.

Then it was off the ground, across the Kaibab National Forest to the edge of the canyon.

Then the canyon opened up underneath us in spectacular fashion, not to be described in words alone!

This is as calm as Ann was the whole trip.

After more indescribable views than I have ever seen in a day; including in the canyon, the plateau of the Painted Desert, the Little Colorado River, and the confluence of the Little Colorado, and Colorado, then it was up and over the rim one last time, and again over the Kaibab National Forest again, then past the coffee house we had visited, before landing back at the airport.

Here is a pic of Ann taking a pic of the couple from India, while standing next to the helicopter.

Then it was off to the Visitors Center in the park. We were fortunate that this was a “free weekend” otherwise the cost is $25.00 per car to get in the park.

We found the Visitor Center, and then the bookstore where we met and visited a bit with a couple form the RVForum.net website, who are workamping at the bookstore for the winter.

We did notice some really nice solar arrays around the park, and thought it would be nice to have setup like that on the motorhome!

Next we walked to several lookouts over the canyon and got more awesome pictures! Some of the sidewalks were still covered with ice and snow from the last storm, and even though they were covered with crushed rock, and were not slippery at all, we observed one couple and their children walking very gingerly, and holding on to the handrail. Evidently, they didn’t have much experience walking on ice and snow. I say good for them!

We then drove Hermit’s Road as far as you could go to Hermits Rest, where we turned around and headed back out of the park, and south toward Prescott.

On the way Ann got a couple of shots of the setting sun.

It was dark when we got to Prescott, and we were hungry again, so we stopped at “The Palace” for dinner, a place with an interesting history, and where we had stopped when we were in Prescott last year.

They still have their Christmas decorations up, and lighted, so we couldn’t pass up a chance at a nice picture.

The rest of the ride was just a time consuming driving down the mountain. The first twenty some miles out of Prescott are mostly 25 to 35 mph curves, then a pretty flat stretch, then more mountain driving before the terrain flattens out again a few miles south of Yarnell.

We arrived home about 9:30, and were pretty tired after such a long day seeing the miracle that is the Grand Canyon!

On Sunday morning we didn’t get up too early as we were still tired from our long day on Saturday with our trip to the Grand Canyon. We got moving about 9:30. I needed to empty the gray and black tanks, and fill up the fresh water tank, so we wouldn’t have to do that when we got to Quartzsite where the lines can be long. While filling with fresh water, I noticed one of the rear tires looked low, and the tire gauge confirmed my suspicions as it only showed 50 lbs, when it should have been 90lbs. so I got out my Sears compressor and brought it up to spec, but when putting the valve cap back on I noticed a slow leak in the valve. Since there was an extender on the valve stem, I simply removed the extender; problem solved, for now, anyway.

The rest of the preparation went smoothly, and we were on the road about 10:00 or so. Our route took us a couple miles north of the RV Park, then south west on State Highway 71, to US Highway 60, then on south west to Interstate 10, which takes us to Quartzsite.

When we arrived in Quartzsite, we needed to fill up with gas before going out to the desert. Even though the official RV Show doest start till the twenty second, the town was still pretty busy, and it took up about a half an hour to get filled up with gas. Then it was out to the desert to find the rally location. The Ranger station was closed, so we didn’t pay, but went right to the rally site. When we arrived another couple had just parked and was getting set up. The guy asked if this was the RVForum Rally site, and when we confirmed, he seemed relieved, as he had said that he had been driving around the area for quite some time, before deciding this must be the place. This place is not necessarily easy to find the first time, as the roads are not clearly marked, and they do not run straight, and do not follow the cardinal points of a compass.

Shortly after we got set up, another motorhome rolled in and parked beside us. They are a couple from California, and like the other couple who had just arrived before us, who are from Canada, it was their first time here. It was a beautiful afternoon, with the high of about 76. Absolutely gorgeous weather! Here is a pic of the thermometer in the motorhome. We had the door and windows at the time. J

After relaxing for a couple of hours, the other two couples asked us if we wanted to go into town for dinner. Sounded good to us! Because neither of them had been here before, they wanted us to pick a place and lead the way. We decided Silly Al’s Pizza was a good choice, so off we went. The place wasn’t too crowded when we arrived, but filled up quickly while we were there. The food was great, and making new friends is always fun. Before we left we the the server to take our picture. To the left of me is Marilyn who is married to Dave who is next to Ann. The other couple in the back is Bob and Laura.

I will posts a few pics for this blog later, when my internet connection is faster.

By time we finished eating, and got back to the rig, it was time for bed. Another great day on the road!

Paul

Our First Week at John Wayne RV Ranch

2011-01-09T18:10:00.007-06:00

On Sunday we made plans to visit my sister, Mary, who was visiting at the home of her daughter and son in law in Glendale. We didnt get too early a start, and we stopped at a nice breakfast place in Maricopa called The Sunrise Cafe, and had a very filling meal.

The drive to Glendale was about an hour and uneventful. Ann's navigating with her Blackberry was spot on, and we found the house with no trouble. We were glad there was no game at University of Phoenix stadium, as our route had us going right by the stadium, which looks like the side walls are made of duct tape.

It was a nice visit as we hadnt yet met my sisters son in law, and hadnt seen her daughter in several years. They are a nice younger couple with a most excellent pool. It would be a great place to spend the warm summer evenings. We only stayed a few hours, and then headed back to the park arriving not too long after dark.

Monday was back to work for Ann and despite a less than ideal internet and phone connections she is able to get her work done, albeit, there is an occasional hiccup in the system. After she finished her work for the day, we noticed some people at the community center. We stopped by to see what was going on and even though there is no scheduled "Happy Hour" at this park, they were having there own "Happy Hour", and invited us to join them. There are eight people in the group, with most of them being from North Dakota, and one couple grom Cleveland Ohio. They sure are a fun bunch and on Tuesday's meeting they invited us to join them in playing a card game called "Sequence". It is always played with the men against the women, and is a lot of fun. I think that over the week the score is about even.

The highlight of Tuesday was going into Stanfield to mail a couple of letters, and get a couple things at the store. It is a town of about 1,000 people, and was expected to rapidly until the recession hit and all new building stopped. I took a couple of pics with my Samsung SCH i-760 cell phone.

I had a nice chat with the Postmaster who told me she is from South Dakota, and that her daughter and son in law live in Creston, Iowa which is about thirty miles from our hometown. Another example of how small the world is. While I was gone Ann noticed a road runner outside our window and too a pic, but she didnt see Wyle Coyote.

Wednesday was our last "Happy Hour" meeting in the community room for a few days, as a group of FMCA members are coming here for a few days, before heading to Indio, California for the Western Area Rally, and they want the room for themselves. The group started filtering in before noon, and by evening there were probably about twenty or so of them.

Thursday was just another day in the life. Ann working, me playing on the computer, eating and resting in between. Tonight the "fun people" we have been enjoying "Happy Hour" with invited us over to a campfire. They had procured some wood and a fire ring. It was a little chilly, but the fire was nice, the beverages were great, and the conversation awesome, as we took turns relating some of things each of us had done in our younger days, that was great fun at the time, but looking back, we were grateful we didnt get hurt or worse with these youthful antics.

Friday arrived with Ann looking forward to the weekend after a couple of long days of work. We decided after she was finished with work to go to the Harrah's Ak-Shin Casino, donate a few bucks to the cause, and partake in their buffet, and then go into Maricopa to the "Taste of New York" so Ann could sing some karaoke. For me the "donating to the cause" at the casino went fairly quickly, however, Ann actually had come out a few bucks ahead.

Then it was off to the buffet. As I had picked up a players card, and Ann had renewed her Harrah's card, we both received a coupon for a free buffet. Not bad as the regular price of the buffet is $21.99 per person. I doubt we would have gone, had we had to pay for the meal from our pocket. The buffet was less than average for the price, which didnt surprise me, as I had already learned that the slot machines paid out less than average.

The trip to Taste of New York was about two miles, and even though the parking lot looked pretty empty, the place was pretty full. The karaoke had already started, but it was an odd in that the singer had to read the words off the screen while they had their back to the audience, unless you went back toward the bar, or to the far side of the room. Anyway, Ann made it work for her and sang some songs that the mostly younger audience really liked.

While sitting at the bar we noticed a girl with an Iowa State sweatshirt on. She is married to an Iowa State alum from Urbandale, Iowa, and is a local cop. Another example of how small the world is.

Midnight came all too soon, and it was time to head back, thus ending another great day on the road! Just as we pulled into the park, a coyote crossed in front of us. Could that have been Wyle Coyote? I doubt it, as he was not carrying any ACME products with him.

Sunday is just another lazy weekend day. Not much going on. Most of the FMCA people have left. Maybe we can have the community room back for "Happy Hour" tonight! We have spent most of the day watching the update on the tragic situation in Tucson, and watching football. BTW, the site of the shooting in Tucson was a couple of miles south of the Catalina State Park we stayed in last week, and we drove by the Safeway a few times in our comings and goings during the week.

After I finish this blog update, and the outcome of the Packers/Eagles game is evident, we are planning on heading into Maricopa for some dinner and some grocery shopping, so we can avoid starving to death for another week!

One thing I havent mentioned about Maricopa is that the town was in the news recently when
Bristol Palin bought a house here. This town, like Stanfield, was seeing exponential growth until the recession. Now I have heard that there are 1,100 houses in foreclosure in Maricopa, which is a town of about 40,000 people.

Take care all.

Paul

Happy New Year to All!

2011-01-01T21:08:00.004-06:00

We awoke to a bright sunny day, albeit, cold day, as it was only 22 outside, but by time we got ready to go, it warmed up nicely, and we visited with several other RVForum members as they had gathered to offer well wishes to all of us that were leaving.

We left Catalina State Park about 9:30 for the approximately one hour drive to the SKP Park near Casa Grande Arizona.

On the way we stopped at the Pilot Truck Stop at mile marker 108. We had no problem getting gas, but it was a zoo inside, so we decided to go across the interstate to the Flying J/ Denny's Restaurant to get something to eat. It was good decision as the gas pumps were backed up several vehicles deep, but the restaurant was not crowded at all. After a very filling meal of eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, pancakes and coffee for me, and eggs, pancakes, fruit, and coffee for Ann, we were back on the road for the twenty or thirty minute drive to the park.

The office was closed when we got there, and we had to track down the manager at his camper, only to be told we would have to wait in the dry camping area, as his wife was not home, and she was the one who ran the computer, and the manager wasnt even sure there would be a place for us. With these unknowns, we just decided to move on and find another rv park.

With an assist from our Wodall's Campground Guide, and the internet we found John Wayne RV Ranch, and decided to check it out. The drive took only about fifteen minutes, and the place was easy to find.

After waiting for a few minutes as the host checked in another couple, we got checked in, and because they offered unlimited time with a Passport America membership, we joined Passport America, signed up to stay here two weeks, and saved more than four times the $44 cost of the yearly membership.

Once we got setup, Ann went to do our week's worth of laundry we had accumulated while staying in Catalina State Park. In the mean time, I got over the air, as well as the DirecTV antennas set up so I can be sure and watch some football tonight.

The TV is working fine, however, our internet connections are not working as well as we would like. Both the park wi-fi, and our Virgin Mobile usb moden connections are intermittent. I might have to break out the Wilson amplifier again, if it doesnt get any better.

Tonight will be a pretty laid back evening with football for me and Facebook games for Ann.

It is supposed to start warming up tomorrow, we are looking forward to some real Arizona weather!

Paul

End of the Year Update

2010-12-31T15:19:00.006-06:00

Monday December 26: Monday was "what needs to be fixed day". As I posted in a earlier blog, just after leaving Del Rio, TX, Ann noticed the body panel right behind the passenger side front tire had come lose, and was flopping in the breeze. My temporary fix was to place a bungee cord around it.

The problem, it turns out was that there are supposed to be two screws through a bracket attached to the back side of the panel to hold the front in place, but they had never been installed, and the vertical section on the rear of the panel, and well as the top of the panel were glued in place. Without the screws, the panel just worked it's way lose over the years, and we didnt notice till it got bad enough that Ann could see it in the rear view mirror. Looks like I need to get some glue, and screws for this repair.

The second repair job was to reglue the bottom of the weather stripping between the windshield sections. This came lose sometime ago, but only is a problem when we drive in a strong crosswind.

Looks like a pretty easy fix with the right type of glue.

Then there is the lawn chair. When I went to set it up for Happy Hour on Saturday, it didnt look or feel right. Upon further review, I noticed that a part had come out, and the chair sagged to one side.

I think the "repair" for this is to "replace". These are nice chairs, and they have served us well! Thanks, again Shanda and Matt for giving them to us a few years ago.

After Happy Hour on Monday we went along with two other couples to the nearby Olive Garden for dinner. The food was great and the conversation even better. Hearing of other's travels and adventures is most interesting!

Tuesday December 28: Tuesday morning we awoke to a mostly clear sunny day, except is was cold enough during the night to leave frost on Ann's car.

I also got a few pics of the first rays of the morning light coming over the Catalina Mountains.

While I was out there I also got a pic of our Wilson Trucker antenna on top of a 10' pole, which is part of our amplification system we need here to get a good signal on our Virgin Mobile usb modem.

The major task for today was to get to the Main Post Office in Tucson to pick up our mail that we had forwarded from Iowa.

The trip down was pretty easy, and I found the place with no problem. However, the window clerk said there was no mail for us today. MMMMM We were quite sure it would be able to get from Iowa to Tucson in four days, even with a holiday in between, but oh well, what can you do but wait. Looking on the bright side, at least I knew where the place was and coming back tomorrow would be easier.

The trip back was a piece of cake and is stopped to buy some glue for the windshield, and an extra power strip(cant have too many of them), but was unable to find a suitable glue for the side panel.

We did have a Happy Hour on Tuesday despite it being a little chilly, but nothing like the weather back in Iowa, and other places up north.

After dinner I settled in to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes defeat a very good Missouri team with a late interception, and run back for a touchdown. I hope the Hawkeyes get their act together for next year, In the mean time Ann worked diligently on her Facebook games.

Wednesday December 29: Happy Ninth Anniversary to us! Doesnt seem like nine years since Lyle Lovett(inside joke) married us at the chapel in Bally's Casino in Las Vegas! Time flies when you are having fun!

Even though it was our anniversary, Ann still had lots of work to do, and I needed to make another trip to the post office hoping our mail would be here today. I got to the post office a little after 10:00AM. General Delivery mail is supposed to be ready by 9:30AM. After waiting in shorter line than yesterday, I asked for our mail. Sorry, no mail for you today. Somewhat puzzled by the fact that our mail wasnt there, and being a former postal employee, who knows that the post office never makes a mistake or mishandles mail, I decided to call the Postmaster who forwarded our mail. After a brief discussion with her, I realized that I had not given her the correct address for General Delivery mail. Oops, so it was back to talk to the clerk to see where our mail might be. After a discussion with another clerk, the clerk waiting on me went to look for our mail, and in a couple minutes, lo and behold, here he comes carrying our mail! I knew I could count on the USPS to go above and beyond the call of duty for a customer! I owe them a big thanks for not returning our mail back to Iowa!

Then it was back home go through three weeks mail to see what to keep, and what to pitch. The process looks like this.

We received some very nice Christmas cards, which we appreciate, along with a couple of family letters from Ann's Mom, and one of her aunts. It is nice to hear what has gone on in others lives this year, even though, not all of it was good news.

For our anniversary dinner we picked a place called Amarsi just a couple miles from here. It is an Italian place, and Ann loves Italian food. When I went to get my coat before leaving, I remembered that I had left at the Olive Garden, when we had dinner there on Monday. Glad I brought two coats!

The place was not all that big, nor that busy, but it is nice. I had spaghetti with a Bolognese sauce, which I thought was pretty average, and Ann had veal picatta, which thought was great!

Thursday December 30: The last day of work for Ann for the year! This after noon many in the group were planning on taking an evening guided tour of the Saguaro National Forest, with an early dinner before hand. We were not able to go as Ann had to work later than their departure time.

The weather today was not normal Arizona weather; rain and snow is better left up north, however, I did get a couple of nice pics.

After Ann got done working for the year, we ran some errands; I did some clothes shopping, Ann bought a Glee dvd, and we exchanged an empty propane bottle for a full one.

The sun did come out later and so I took more pics of the snow on the mountains.

When we finished our errands, we went to Taste of Chicago for dinner.

This place was recommended by our friends Randy and Deb. Randy is from Chicago, and recommended the "Chicago Dog", which I ordered, and Ann had a delicious looking pizza.

Once again after dinner there was football to watch as Nebraska was playing Washington in the Holiday Bowl. I felt bad for Nebraska as they were not the same team that had trounced Washington earlier in the year. Martinez, the quarterback looked like is was about 30% compared to his play before injuring his ankle, and it was his speed and quickness that made Nebraska so good earlier in the year.

Ann went off to bed about 10:00PM, and I missed the last couple minutes of the game when I hit the sack about 11:00PM. Tomorrow is the last day of the year, gotta get ready for the New Years Party with the RVForum gang!

Friday December31: Except for being the last day of the year, it is a pretty average day. This morning it was cold, with a few flurries. Is this Arizona? Oh well, at least we dont have to scoop it!

About 10:00AM this morning Ann went up the street to one of the other coaches to see when one of the ladies in the group was going to Trader Joes. They left about noon and returned just before 3:00, with some goodies for tonight's party. While Ann I was gone, and after she returned, I worked on the blog. It takes a while to remember and organize what you did all week. The rest of the after noon was taken up with resting for tonight's festivities.

While sitting in my recliner and playing on the computer, I looked our outside window, and decided the view was worth of a pic.

If the pic looks a little fuzzy it is because I bumped the settings wheel on the camera, but I hope you get the idea.

About 5:00 Ann made us a light dinner of brats and mac and cheese. We didnt want to eat a lot, as there will no doubt be lots of hors d'ourvres later in the evening. During dinner I noticed the sun shining on the mountains, as it was setting, so I had to get a pic of the last sunset of 2010.

We hope everyone has a better year next year! We will see you then!

Paul & Ann

Time for a Weekly Update

2010-12-26T13:49:00.002-06:00

Another week has passed since my last update. It seems that there are two reasons I dont post more often: either nothing is going on, or there is so much going on that I dont have time to post. That is the way this week has been, anyway.

Monday December 20: The day started with a decent sized buck wandering through our campsite, and Ann got a few pics of him. This one turned out the best. There are lots of deer that come into the park every evening about sundown to eat. The deer here are not very big and they are not too afraid of people.

Other that the deer in the yard, it was just another day of routine work and chores.

Tuesday December 21: I cant recall anything from Tuesday that wouldnt be a repeat, so I will just leave it at that. We were looking forward to traveling on Friday, even though this is a nice place, and we like the area. If we were the type who traveled to one place, and stayed there most of the winter, we would have no problem staying here.

Wednesday December 22: Wednesday started with another delicious breakfast in the Rec Center, served by Dan, the park manager, and Dwayne, who organizes the breakfasts. The crowd was kind of small, but a a few people showed up from other campgrounds in the area.

Wednesday night is game night. Usually the game is bingo, but tonight we played an interesting, and complicated dice game called "Spicy Farkel". Sue, in the blue top, brought the game, and explained the rules.

It didnt take long for the rest of us to catch on, and we had some good conversation getting to know the other players. Eventually by a huge stroke of luck, Rachael, in pink, won the game with a come from behind victory!

The other players in the game were Ralph, Rachael's husband, and Eileen. I am not much of a game player, but the conversation was great!

Thursday December 23: Things began to pick up today in preparation of our departure on Friday. We(Ann) had been wanting to have the windows in the motorhome washed since we got here, but we(me) hadnt got around to it. So while Ann washed the windows, I checked the pressure in tires on the dolly, and the motorhome, and added air to those that needed it with my Sears air compressor.

Since it was to be out last night in the area, we decided to try out another restaurant. Wrights Steakhouse was just down the road a couple of miles, and we had heard some good things about it. The parking lot was pretty full when we got there, but we got seated right away. Then the wait began. After about twenty minutes, I finally went to the bar to get us a couple of beverages, but the bartender said that there were three drink orders ahead of ours. I didnt say anything, but wondered, if you already have three drink orders, why are you not working on them? We finally got our drinks in a couple of minutes, but our server hadnt been around yet, but the girl bussing tables did bring us some water. In defense of our server, the place was packed, and we only saw three servers. Eventually we ordered, and were surprised how quickly our order came out, even though our server forgot to bring our bread as she had promised when serving us our steaks. The steaks were excellent! The bake potato average, and average describes the salad bar, but they did have a choice of three soups, and they looked real good.

After dinner we decided to make a return trip to Larina's Cantina so Ann could sing some more karaoke before we left town.

The evening was fun, as there were some good singers, but the DJ quit at 11:00. It seemed early, but probably not a bad idea, as Friday we plan on being on the road relatively early.

Friday December 24: We got up at a decent time, but but by time we had finished packing things away, loading the car, filling up with propane, and saying goodbyes to Dan and Pat, the campground managers, and not to forget Dan's dog, it was 10:00AM.

The trip west on Texas state highway 90 was one of changing scenery, it is just that the scenery doesnt change very often. Once on the road we decided that our destination for today was to get to Dream Catcher RV Park in Deming, New Mexico. Here is our route.

Heading west this was the first of many places they cut through the bedrock to cut down on the ups and downs of this part of Texas.

Here we are crossing the Pecos River. At coffee one morning we discussed what the first people traveling west through here must have thought when they got to this river with its steep banks, and wide river.

We arrived in Sanderson about noon, and not having breakfast yet, we decided to stop at Dairy King for lunch. the place had been there for a while, and obviously been remodeled a few times over the years.

The inside was nice, the wait staff was pleasant, and recommended the "Eagle burger" which is a half pound cheeseburger. Ann chose that, and I had beef enchiladas. The meal was tasty and needless to say in Ann's case, very filling!

Here is a pic of the kitchen that Ann took.

I took a few more pics of the main street, including a hotel, and a gas station. That price on gas would look pretty good some miles later.

Here is a view of the countryside between Sanderson and Fort Stockton, where we picked up Interstate 10, and continued west.

Once passed Fort Stockton and checking the gas gauge, we had been fighting a headwind all day, and the mileage wasnt looking good, I began to think about getting some gas, so we would be sure and have enough to get to the Flying J in El Paso. Just west of where Interstate 10, and Interstate 20 meet, there was an Exxon station. Looked like a pretty good place to fill up until we saw the price. Needless to say we didnt buy a whole lot there!

As we continued on the terrain was a lot flatter and we could roll along pretty good. In the pic below you can see our Microsoft Streets and Trips software running on our Dell mini laptop. If you notice the speed on the left side, you might think I was speeding, until you see the speed limit sign in the pic below.

We made it to the Flying J at mile marker 37 about 4:00PM Mountain Time, where I filled up with gas, checked the oil, did a walk around of the rig, while Ann went inside and bought us drinks and lottery tickets. Our luck with the lottery tickets was not a good as my luck was the night we played bingo back at the campground in Del Rio. :(

We continued west, driving through downtown El Paso just as the sun was setting. I hate it when I have to pay that close attention to my driving! Once out of El Paso the drive was pretty nice to Las Cruces, New Mexico, and then west again to Deming where we arrived at the campground about 7:00PM. We werent quite sure of the check in procedure, and which site would work best for us, so we went and parked in a site that would accommodate our rig without having to unhook the car.

Ann made us a dinner of shrimp and angel hair pasta, and after a little computer time we were both ready for bed, after covering over 500 miles for the day.

Saturday December 25: We awoke to a day of bright sunshine albeit a cold one, as it got down to about 25 the previous night.

We didnt waste much time getting ready to leave as the cold weather is what we have been trying to escape for a month now. After paying for our night's stay, we continued west toward our goal today of Catalina State Park just north of Tucson Arizona. The drive today was pretty easy as the wind had subsided and after crossing The Continental Divide at 4558 feet, it was mostly down hill from there. We crossed into Arizona about noon, and shortly thereafter we happen to see an eastbound AMTRAK train.

Shortly after that we caught up to a guy on a motorcycle who seemed to be dressed for the cool temps.

Then we drive by this huge farm of pecan and walnut trees, and grapevines.

Then it was on through Benson, then to Tucson. We had to get a pic of this exit sign on the south side of Tucson. Sometimes there are reminders other than dimes.

We arrived at the park about 2:30 and were promptly met by Randy and Deb, friends we had made in Quartzsite, Arizona last January. We chatted for a bit, then they let us get set up and registered. Once that was done, it was about time for Happy Hour, where we met some new people, and reacquainted ourselves with some others of our RVForum group, that we had met in Quartzsite last January.

Here is a couple of the pics that one of the member took and posted on the RVForum site. I hope it is ok with Ken to use them here.

After Happy Hour we returned to our motorhome where Ann made us a nice dinner of roasted chicken, stuffing, and some our home ~~canned~~ frozen sweet corn. Very good!

Later in the evening, after watching and old Lawrence Welk show, we went over to Randy and Deb's coach to give them some of our home ~~canned~~ frozen sweet corn. I doubt they have ever got a Christmas present like that before! Randy had a great Eric Clapton video on the TV, and with his awesome sound system, made it just that much better! By the way, Ann like this music much better than Lawrence Welk. :) The Clapton video was followed up by a Roy Orbison video with several other outstanding artists including Bruce Springstein, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J. D. Souther, Bonnie Rait, K. D. Lang, and couple of others I have forgotten. I was really great listening to the music and visiting, What a great life we are living! But all to soon it was time to return to our house on wheels, and after a few minutes of computer time, another Christmas day was in the books. I hope everyone had a great a Christmas as we did!

Sunday December 26: Here is a pic I took pretty early this morning as the sun was coming up over the mountains.

And here is one of our rig here at Catalina State Park.

This morning, as you might be able to tell, was spent catching up on the blog. It is about 1:00 PM here, and Ann has just returned from a bike ride around the park. So now it is off to find a grocery store so we can restock the larder(pantry for you young whipper snappers) Maybe I will post more later today.

Until then.

Paul

If You're Down in Acuna...

2010-12-19T17:47:00.003-06:00

Well, it is time for another update. Time is still flying by! ZZ Top fans may recognize the title of this post.:)

Wednesday December 15: Wednesday started out with the community breakfast in the rec room. A couple of the guys and their wives do the planing and cooking. The ham, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and grits are prepared ahead of time, but the eggs and pancakes are prepared to order. It was a good system, and all you can eat for $4.00 is a good bargain. The conversation and the friendship are a bonus.

After breakfast Ann went to work, but I stayed around for more coffee and conversation with breakfast club. I dont think they had as many people for breakfast as they thought they might, but a few from the other RV parks in the area did show up.

The rest of Wednesday spent just hanging out and enjoying the nice weather. I did make time in the afternoon to empty the black and gray tanks on the motorhome, a job I do about every 5 or 6 days.

Thursday December 16: Thursday was just another routine day, and by the time Ann finished with her work, we were ready to get out and do something, so we decided to go out for dinner, which lead to some internet research for eating places in the area. We settled on a place down the road a couple of miles called Cripple Creek. It looked good enough for us.

There is an outdoor bar area that probably gets more use when the weather is a little warmer. I had the baby back ribs off the senior menu, while Ann had the salmon. Both came with baked potato, and salad. My ribs were excellent, but Ann's fish was over cooked, but still edible. All in all it was ok, however, a little over priced in our opinion.

After finishing dinner, and heading home we decided to stop at a place recommended by the campground managers called Lorina's Cantina. It was a nice sized bar with a karaoke set up, with a nice sized dance floor. When we asked if there was going to be karaoke tonight she said yes, and it would start about 8:00PM, so we decided to stay, as Ann loves doing karaoke. Well, 8:00 came and went, but still no karaoke, so we asked another server, she said the guy should be here any minute, so we waited, and finally a little after 9:00 he showed up and promptly started singing. Ann finally asked our server how things worked here, and she explained you have to put your name on the white board, and you sing in the order you sign up. After a couple more songs by the host, Ann got to sing. The rest of the evening was spent with mostly Ann and the host taking turns singing, with a couple of other girls in between. One of the other girls sang a song in Spanish, the first time either of us had seen that.

It was a fun evening, and went on a little longer than we usually do during the week, but were both up at usual time on Friday.

Friday December 17: Friday was another yawner. The only interesting part of the day was my morning coffee. It is so much fun to discuss the issues of the day with so many guys that have views that are diametrically opposed to mine. We disagree vehemently, but at the end of the day we laugh and joke about our differences. I doubt I change any minds, but they do get the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective, and that all people who have a different perspective of the world are not wacko tree huggers.

Tonight was "hot dog" night in the rec room with the campground providing the hot dogs, and fixings, but Ann decided to take a nap after work, and didnt wake up till 6:00PM, so we just went into Del Rio and had dinner at Church's Chicken. The chicken was pretty good, but the place was filthy, and I doubt we will go back. There is no acceptable reason a restaurant should be this messy, even if it was the busy time of the day!

After returning home from dinner, we watched one of the movies I had got for Ann for her birthday, in anticipation of our winter travels, and spending evenings in the motorhome. I am not a big fan of movies, but one every now and them is tolerable. We watched "Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman, and Jack Nicholson. It was a nice way to spend a relaxing evening, except we didnt have any theater popcorn. :(

Saturday December 18: During a couple of our morning "coffee discussions" the topic of going to Mexico came up, and the guys that have been there, gave us some tips and information on what to expect if you go there. So on Saturday we decided to go down to Acuna which is just a couple miles south of Del Rio. The trip down and getting into Mexico was pretty easy, and we just kept heading south and in a couple of blocks we spotted a parking lot and pulled in. The guy running the lot directed us to a parking spot, recorded info on our car and wrote down the time. As we were hungry, we looked for a restaurant that is advertised in the campground brochure called Crosby's. We got directions from one of the locals, and we tipped him 50 cents. The streets and sidewalks are very narrow, with unannounced dips, so you have to be careful walking, and watching at the same time. There also, was lots of sidewalk and street construction that wasnt marked off in any way. OSHA would have a grand time down here!

We found Crosby's and entered through the bar. It was apparent that though it looked pretty out dated, it had been a real hot spot at one time as the mirror behind the bar was covered with stickers from several colleges, fraternities, and bars. sorry, we didnt get a pic of it. We were each given a menu, one with prices in pesos, and the other with prices in US dollars. Ann had the Portuguese chicken, and I had the Mexican plate. The chicken was tasty, but a little dry, the Mexican plate was pretty much as expected and good.
We both had Coke; mine was regular, and Ann's was diet. As you can see they were served in bottles, and not cans. I cant remember the last time I had a bottle of Coke.

The town itself didnt seem to inviting, so we decided just to head back across the border. Here is a pic of us approaching the US border.

It took us about twenty minutes to get back into the US, the border guards are very meticulous, and dont seem to be bothered by the long lines. We were asked where we were from, why did we go to Mexico, what we did there, where were we staying, and did we pull the car behind the motorhome. The drug dog had already sniffed around our car, and there was a guy with a mirror on a handle that looked under cars, but our border guard, double checked our car, and then inspected the trunk before letting us back in the US. I guess it is just there job, and do it to everyone, as not be be accused of "profiling".

After coming back across, our next stop was the Whitehead Museum in old Del Rio. We had heard about it from one the guys at morning coffee. It has a ton of history of the area, way more than anyone can absorb in an afternoon.

We did get several pictures including some scenes of the area as it developed especially as it related to Judge Roy Bean, who is buried on the museum grounds. With each of the scenes there was a prerecorded message that you could play that would explain the scene.

Here are the headstones of Roy Bean and his son.

Another important part of Del Rio's history is that of radio station XREF, which was a 50,000 watt clear channel radio station. Here is some pics of radio equipment from the 40's and also a pic of Wolfman Jack, who got his start in radio in Del Rio.

There were tons more to see at the museum including some displays of the native indians of the area, old farm implements, and beautiful nativity scene, all of which I forgot to takes pics of. All in all we spent about two and half hours there. Very interesting stuff! If you are interested in seeing more of the museum look here:
Whitehead Museum

Then it was home for some rest, and then back to town for a nice dinner at the local Applebee's. Then it was back home again to get ready to go back to Lorina's Cantina for more Karaoke. This time there were lots of singers, and some pretty good ones at that, so Ann only got to sing three songs before it was time to call it a day.

Everyone seemed to really appreciate Ann's singing talent, which she always enjoys! Another late night, but we have Sunday to recoup. :)

Sunday December 19: Today started out with another breakfast in the rec center. As usual it was good food and plenty of it, we even brought home some extra ham to have this week. Another great weather day here, sunny and about 70. wooooooo hooooooo

This afternoon I watched some football and Ann got caught up her Facebook games before taking her bike on the new car bike rack she bought the other day, to a safer place to ride her bike than on the busy highway that goes by the campground. She enjoys biking much more than walking or jogging as it is easier on her heels.

The sun is setting and Ann is talking to her Mom and step-dad Paul as I finish another blog update. For dinner we are going to have deer steaks(thanks to Ali), baked potatoes, along with macaroni and cheese, and lima beans. While cooking the deer steaks, I took a couple of pics of the almost full moon as well.

Also, just got a nice phone call from my daughter, son-in-law, and two of the three grand kids(the other is sick with strep), a great way to wind down the day. :)

Hope everything is well with those that read the blog.

Paul

Tuesday is so Slow

2010-12-14T21:57:00.001-06:00

After our fun day in San Antonio on Saturday, things have quieted down, and routines have pretty much taken over again. Routines in 60 70 degree weather are not all that bad.

Sunday December 12: Most of Sunday was spent recuperating from our long Saturday. Ann caught up one her Facebook games, and I caught up on my favorite websites and favorite blogs. In the afternoon I watched some football. I guess I am not just as interested in pro football as I once was, but then again it does take much to entertain me anymore. Later in the afternoon we went into Del Rio to get some groceries, and also a couple of the small propane bottles for our Webber Q-200 grill. For dinner I grilled some pork chops, and Ann baked some squash in the convection oven. The evening was spent watching the finale of The Amazing Race, until we decided to go the local DQ. Ann had a peanut buster parfait, and I had a banana split. By time we got home, Ann had missed the end of the show, so she had to look up who won on the internet. The rest of the night was spent in a carb induced stupor.

Monday December 13: Another routine morning; Ann working and me drinking coffee, exchanging stories with the guys. In the afternoon I made a trip to the office to see if the mail we had forwarded to us here had arrived yet. Being Monday, the carries was behind schedule, and hadnt been there yet at 2:00PM when I checked the first time, however, when I went back at 3:00 he had been there and our mail had arrived. I took the mail back the the rig, and we went through it. Some good news(checks), and some not so good news(bills), but mostly ads. After that task was finished, we headed into town to send the checks off to our bank, and buy some Christmas cards, and we also found a five foot string of lights to put on our Christmas tree that we carry with us. The lights make a nice addition to this tree that I have had for twenty some years. We have it set up on the dash of the motorhome, and it adds a little Christmas ambiance.

By time we got back from Del Rio it was time for dinner, and Ann made the most delicious chicken-spinach enchiladas anyone could ever wish to taste. We both over ate and spent the rest of the evening being uncomfortable while playing on the computer and watching Monday Night Football. I am glad I am not a Vikings fan. Their future doesnt look all that bright.

Tuesday December 14: Another slow and routine day with the exception that I went into Del Rio this afternoon to mail some Christmas cards, a birthday card, and a couple other things. I am really impressed how friendly and diligent the window clerks are knowing how much stress they are under, not only for the Christmas rush, but all additional stress they are under because of the changing conditions in the USPS.

Before going the post office I had gone to Wal*Mart and picked up a few things, then it was over to Home Depot to pick up a replacement hose to be able to use our 20 lb propane cylinder on our Webber gas grill. The had a few other accessories for the grill, so I got a cover, some more drip pans, and griddle to use with it if we ever might have the need for it.

When I got home Ann was finishing up her work for the day, so I decided to grill some brats, to see if my new hose worked. Voila! the grill lit on the first try. So it wasnt long and we had brats and homemade macaroni and cheese. Ann thought we had some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but alas, we didnt, but we did have elbow macaroni, and Velveta cheese. Both the brats and macaroni and cheese were delicious.

This evening was spent watching reruns of "Glee", after which Ann decided to do laundry, and I thought I had better update the blog. Tomorrow there is a breakfast in the rec center. I guess it is a pretty big deal and RVers from other RV parks come over to join in the community breakfast. We shall see, and I will report on the results.

Thus ends another great day!

Paul

Week-End Update

2010-12-12T21:04:00.005-06:00

As I posted in Friday post, we were going to go to San Antonio on Saturday, as it is a little over 150 mile drive, we got on the road just a couple of minutes after 8:00AM.

I hope this map thing works. It is my first time using it.

Our first stop on our journey east was a stop at the Kettle Restaurant in Uvalde, Texas; "Tree City, USA".

Then in was on east to San Antonio. After a little extra driving we were able to find the Alamo. Much of it is reconstructed, but historically accurate, and there is lot of information about the history of Texas as well as the Alamo itself. We spent about two hours touring the area, watching a video history and looking at artifacts of the time. Photography was not allowed inside the buildings, so no inside pics, but we did take a few of the area, including a couple of Ann in front of the Alamo, to compare to one she had taken their when she was 12, and here with her family several years ago.

Here is one of the different flags that have flown over Texas in it's history.

Here is one of a huge live oak growing in the courtyard behind the Alamo.

The next two pictures are of buildings you can see from the courtyard including, I believe it is the public utilities building with the American and Texas flags flying over it, and the sign on Crockett Hotel which is right across the street.

One of the most interesting parts of the tour was in the building which used to be a barracks. On one of the information panels describing the history of Texas, it stated that when Texas was a part of Mexico, the Mexican government wanted more people to come and settle the area, even giving Americans real good deals on land to come to Texas. The plan was such a success, after few years, the Mexican government began to worry that with all the Americans in Texas, who brought their cultural values with then, would feel more allegiance to the USA, than to Mexico. I thought that was interesting statement in light of the current discussion of the problem of unlimited illegal immigration into this country from Mexico.

After our time at the Alamo, we were thirsty and hungry. We found a restaurant called Pat O'Brien's. The food, drink, and ambiance were good.

Here is a couple of pics of a fountain of water and fire in the patio of the restaurant.

After being refreshed an rested, we headed to Louis Tussad's wax museum up the street. I'm sure it's related to Madame Tussaud's famous wax museum. It was some what interesting, but nothing great says Paul. Ann enjoyed it more.

We took a few pics including W. C. Fields. His favorite quote of mine is; "I once survived for two weeks on food and water alone".

Then Ann wanted a pic of her and one of her favorite actors, Johnny Depp.

And then there was our President on the White House lawn.

They had an entire floor dedicated to horror and monsters in the basement. We hadn't made it very far and another lady joined us, who was wanted company walking through the scary exhibits. Her kids were upstairs and she was checking it out before letting them walk through. To find the entrance, you had to open the correct of 8 doors to continue through the exhibit. Opening the 7 other doors treated you to all manner of horrific objects: the Fly, body bags, other aliens, dead people, all scary things that Ann loves in haunted houses. Walking past clear body bags with various stumps was a new experience that Ann plans to take back to her favorite haunted houses in Des Moines. Only one thing jumped out at us, but it was plenty to make Ann scream.

After the tour of the wax museum we toured the Ripley's "Believe it or not Museum". It had some interesting stuff, but I didn't feel there was anything worth taking pictures of. Robert Ripley was quite the collector, two-headed animals, shrunken heads and lots of exhibits of weird things from around the world.

Then it was time for another break, so we walked down to the River Walk, found the Chili's, and had a couple of cocktails, and relaxed for a while. The plan was to enjoy a canal cruise observing Christmas lights. The adventure began to find the place that sold tickets to the barge ride on the river. We had got directions from a couple of people and they were not too clear, and we were unable to find a place to buy tickets. We walked quite a ways, and not finding the place we asked again, and finally found one of the three places that sold tickets, only to find the line was about a block long to buy the tickets, and another block long wait to actually get on the barge. The line went pretty quickly, and there are dozens of boats operating on the water, and the weather was pretty nice, about 60, and no wind.

The ride itself was quite interesting, there were about 30 people per barge and clearly it was a favorite attraction of the masses. It was about a 40 minute guided tour of the buildings and canals we passed and the history of the river walk. Ann highly recommends the attraction if you're in the area at Christmas time. Being it was dark, however, it was not conducive to getting great pictures, but the Christmas lighting was really nice. Here is a pic that came out ok.

One of the other pics I got was of a restaurant called Rita's. Couldn't pass up a chance to take a pic like that.

After our river tour and walk back through the throngs of people either eating at one of the dozens of restaurants on the River Walk, and those, like us, who were just passing through, we got back to the car a little before 8:00PM. We then got directions for the easiest way out of the area to get on Highway 90 East, to begin our 150 mile drive home. Once on Highway 90, the drive home was pretty uneventful, not much to see in the dark. The only concern is the same as in Iowa; how many, if any, deer are going to run out in front of you on the way home. Fortunately, we didn't see any, and we arrived back in the RV Park just before 11:00PM.

I stayed up for about twenty minutes before heading to bed, Ann stayed up a little longer, thus ending another fun and interesting day in our life as Iowa snowbirds.

We read news stories today of the bad weather in Iowa. We are glad we are not there, except we miss our friends and families, and hope you are all well.

Until next time,

Paul

How Can Time Go So Fast, When I Do So Little?

2010-12-10T17:56:00.002-06:00

Here it is Friday December 10 and I have put off updating the blog too long again.

Monday December 6: As usual, Ann was up about 6:00 AM. She likes to get up early and catch up with FaceBook games before she has to face the real world of work, which she does about 7:30 or so. I usually sleep in a little later than she does. Ann drinks tea in the morning, so when I get up, I make a couple of cups of coffee.

At 9:30 each morning here in the campground they have coffee in the rec room. I usually bring my second cup of the day with me, but the others drink the coffee that is there. It is 5 or 6 of us guys chatting about almost anything. Except for the other guy from Iowa, all the rest are rock ribbed Republicans, so the conversation gets pretty interesting, but still civil, at least so far. :) It is interesting to hear their views based on their back ground and outlook on life. I doubt I have changed any minds, but at least I have given them a different point of view!

Coffee time breaks up about 11:00, then its back to the coach for lunch, and catching up on my favorite internet sites. In the afternoon I caught up on my rest while Ann continued working till about 4:30. By then we were hungry, and Ann decided she wanted to buy a bicycle, so it was off to Del Rio. Ann found the bike she wanted at Wal*Mart, and then we went to Home Depot to try and find a bike rack that would fit on the ladder on the back of the motorhome. They didnt have anything, but they did have some pins I could use on the tie down straps for the car dolly.

Then it was off to find food. Ann happened to see this sign behind the shopping center, and thought we would try it. The BBQ was perhaps the best I have ever eaten! A truely unique place with excellent food. They even have their own BBQ sauce. I would recommend anyone who likes BBQ to eat there if they are any where close to Del Rio, Texas. BTW, they have gas there too, as in gasoline.

Then it was back to the motorhome for a quiet evening of some Monday night Football for me, and FaceBook games for Ann.

Tuesday December 7:

Here is how Tuesday started; a beautiful sunrise over the park.

The rest of the day was just more of the same, which isnt bad sometimes.

Wednesday December 8: Today started out like Monday, and Tuesday; Ann working, me enjoying coffee and conversation with the other guys. In the afternoon I decided to go into town to mail some letters, and a t-shirt we bought for a friend back in Guthrie Center. He has a bar, and decorates the ceiling with t-shirts from various bands. While in Lubbock at the Buddy Holly Museum , I had purchased a t-shirt for his ceiling. While in Del Rio I stopped at the Wal*mart to pick up a few things we needed, or had forgotten, but I was unable to find onion soup mix, which Ann wanted to make chicken stroganoff for the Thursday evening potluck, and not knowing where the H.E.B. store was, I just headed home to have dinner and then go play bingo with the group. H.E.B. is a regional chain of grocery stores in the USA and Mexico.

Our plan for dinner was hamburgers on the grill, but it didnt work that way as the small canister of propane for the grill was empty, and the hose I had to connect the grill to a 20 lb cylinder would not work. I had had trouble with it before, but had eventually got it to work, but not this time, and as time was running late to be able to eat before bingo at 6:30, We went ahead and cooked them in a frying pan on the stove. They were still delicious!

Then it was off to bingo, we hadnt played bingo forever, probably grade school for me, not sure about Ann. Wow, have bingo cards changed! They now have little sliders that you just slide to cover a number when it is called, and just slide a little peg in the middle the other way to clear the card! Who knew of such modern bingo cards? The first game was regular bingo, as was the second, then without clearing your cards, we played the third game where you had to fill in other spaces in a pattern. We did the same thing for games four and five, and the last game was blackout.

Here is my bingo winnings from Wednesday evening. I won 3 of the 6 games we played! Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket, or went to the casino instead of wasting my good luck on 25 cent games of bingo!

I did win enough to pay for doing laundry, then it was back to the motorhome to relax and enjoy the internet before we headed off to bed to end another great day in our second year of snowbirding.

Thursday December 9: Thursday morning started off with the same routine as the rest of the week. In addition I emptied the black and gray tanks, as they were getting full. Not the most fun job of RVing, but not so bad, and necessary as well. After Ann finished work for the day, we headed in to town to get some onion mix for the chicken stroganoff she was making for tonight's potluck dinner. We had to hurry back to get the stroganoff started, as dinner was at 5:00PM. However, on the way home we did stop for a minute or two for Ann to get these pics of Lake Amistad

We(Ann) prepared the stroganoff, and we got to the rec room only a couple minutes after 5:00. Others were still coming, so being a couple minutes late was not a problem. Someone had prepared Shepard's Pie for the main course, but Ann's stroganoff was a nice substitute for those wanted something else. Of course there was plenty of delicious sides to go with the main course, including a dish we had never eaten before. It was bacon, red onions, cranberries, and brussell sprouts. You would never think a combination like that would be that good, but everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. There was also some great home baked pies, blueberry cream with graham cracker crust, and coconut cream. In addition there was a great tasting homemade chocolate cake. No one went away hungry!

After dinner Ann used my bingo winnings to do laundry, and then returned home to do a pile of dishes that some how had accumulated in the sink. Thus ended our fourth day here at Lake Amistad.

Friday December 10: Today started off in the usual fashion except that Ann started to work earlier than normal, but I did my usual routine of having coffee with the boys. Today the topic was ethanol, and I seemed to be the only one who was a supporter of it, as most of them had horror stories about it. I have observed that those people who never liked ethanol, have more problems with it, than those who see the value in it. Then we talked about guns and cars, the same things young men talk about. Today's session went extra long, as it was almost noon when I returned to the rig.

When I returned, Ann had papers strewn all about the place, and was working away, but stopped and made us a nice chicken, lettuce, carrot, radish, and pepperchino salad for lunch. then it was back to work for her. Here is a pic I took about 2:00PM as she worked away.

She finished up a little early today, about 4:00, and wanted to go for a ride on her new bike, so I installed the drink holder, and she was off for about an hour's ride.

While Ann was gone, I worked some on the blog, and remembered that one post on her car battery was badly corroded, and needed cleaned, and not replaced as the service writer at the Toyota dealer in Wichita Falls had recommended when I had the oil changed there. The battery did look ugly as the last guy who cleaned it didnt rinse the solution off.

I had intended to place corrosion reducing washers under the posts after cleaning with soda and water, but the nut would not come loose easily, and I was afraid of twisting it off, so I will get some new bolts and nuts before trying it again.

By the time I had done all of this Ann was back from her bike ride, and she started dinner which will be Schwann's Chicken Kiev and broccoli. I still need to replace the burned out bulb in our outside light before it gets dark. Ann had to remind me, as I only think of it when I go outside at night.

Hopefully, that catches us up for the week. Tomorrow we are planning to drive the car to San Antonio and spend the day seeing the The Alamo, and The San Antonio River Walk.

Till the next update.

Paul

Update: Sunday December 5

2010-12-05T21:50:00.002-06:00

Wow! Time goes by so fast. Here it is Sunday night, and we are in American Campground and RV Park in Del Rio Texas! So we better get caught up before we get too far behind.

Wednesday December 1: Another busy and long day for Ann working for Thursday deadlines. Not so busy for me; the usual looking for places to go and places to see, and mapping routes and looking for places to get gas along the way.

Ann wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie, so Wednesday after she finished work, we went to Chilli's and had a nice dinner, and a couple couple cocktails. We then went to the theater, and because we were quite early, we found a nice place close by and had a cocktail while killing time before the movie started. Once at the theater, I was surprised to see this huge fourteen screen theater, with hardly any cars in the parking lot. We had bought tickets online, thinking that the lines would be long, but not a problem at all. The theater had one person who sold tickets, and one person selling popcorn and such. The ticket seller was also the ticket taker. Very efficient!

The movie was about what I expected. Since I knew very little about the Harry Potter series, it was not all that exciting to me, however, Ann enjoyed the movie quite a bit, and it was good for her to get her mind off her work for a while.

It seems we are still on Eastern Standard Time from when we were on the cruise. By 9:00 at night we are ready for bed, but wide awake at 6:00 in the morning. So by time we got home from the movie, it was time to call it a night.

Thursday December 2: Ann had deadlines today, so she was up early and hitting work pretty hard. Her Toyota needed the oil changed, so I made an appointment at the local Toyota dealer for the afternoon. I used mapquest to find the location, and the best way to get there. Here in Texas many of the busiest freeways have surface roads running parallel that are one way, and sometimes getting on and off at the right place is a little different. I made it to the Toyota dealer and back without incident, and on the way found the FlyingJ where we could fill up with gas and propane on our way out of town on Friday.

As we were paid up through Thursday night, and wanted to move on, we needed to decide where to go next. We had wanted to go to Del Rio Texas to a campground managed by the parents of a fried of ours from back home, but after looking Verizon wireless' coverage area for that part of the state we discovered they had no coverage in that part of Texas for data, and we have a Verizon Mi-Fi 2200 to connect to the internet. That was a problem! So we decided that we couldnt go there, and that Lubbock might be a nice place to spend a few days, and we could see the Buddy Holly Museum while we were there. We contacted Mesa Verde RV Park in Lubbock, and told them we would stay there a week. There, plans were set for a week, but remember all plans are in jello.

Friday December 3: Friday morning Ann continued working, as I readied the motorhome for departure, I looked at the route on mapquest, and checked weather for the up coming week in Lubbock. The route looked pretty easy, but the weather for the week didnt look all that good. Lows in the 20s, and highs in the 40s, or low 50s; not good enough for people with a house on wheels! So we decided to spend just one day in Lubbock, and then head south to San Antonio, and warmer weather.

We left the park about noon, headed to the Flying J for gas and propane. The Flying J was well laid out for RVs; even had separate pumps for RVs, propane fill, and RV dump station. Before filling with gas, I went in to get an RV "Real Value" card which gave us a 2 cent discount on gas. Gas had jumped to $2.69 a gallon from $2.48 a gallon we had seen only two days before. Propane was $2.49 per gallon. About 12:30 PM we were on the road heading west toward Lubbock. The trip was farely uneventful, except for the 30 mph headwind, which kept the transmission in fourth gear and the tack around 3500 rpm most of the way to maintain 65 mph. Probably didnt get too great mileage on that trip!

There was lots of construction on the north side of Lubbock, and combine that with the Microsoft Streets and Trips that is new to us, and finding the RV park was quite and adventure. When we arrived we were met with a very friendly, helpful, and some what disappointed manager when we told we changed our minds and only staying one night, instead of a week. She was still very pleasant and helpful.

After getting settled in and hooked up, we decided it was time for dinner. With the help of mapquest, and driving down a street filled with restaurants, we found "CrawDaddies", a cajun style Texas restaurant. It was a very good dinner; Ann had a skillet of cajun favorites, I had crab cakes, red beans and rice, and fries.

By time we got back to the park, it was time for bed. Another great day in the life of a couple of Iowa snowbirds! Everyday we are so great full for the opportunity we have to be able to do this!

Saturday December 4: The plan today was to go and see the Buddy Holly Museum, maybe look at a couple other things then head south to San Antonio. Before going to the Museum, which opened at 10:00AM, I spent my usual down time cruising the internet including RV Forum, where I had read that Virgin Mobile had Broadband2Go, where for $40.00 per month you had unlimited data usage with a USB modem, or a Mi-Fi, and no contract! Upon further research, I discovered that Virgin Mobile had coverage in Del Rio Texas. So armed with this knowledge, we planned on getting one after our tour of the Buddy Holly Museum.

We arrived at the museum a few minutes before it opened and waited in the empty parking lot till shortly after 10:00 when they unlocked the gate and let us in. We paid our admission; it was $5.00 for Ann and $3.00 for me with the Senior Discount. The museum is not all that big; a mock up Holly's bedroom with original furniture, lots of memorabilia, and several panels that told the story of short life, and tragic death, with Buddy's music playing in the background. One of the things I found most interesting was that they said the plane crashed in a wheat field in Iowa. I have lived in Iowa since 1956, and I dont recall ever seeing a wheat field in Iowa. I cant imagine how they got that fact wrong, at least I think it is wrong. Photography was not allowed in the museum, so no pics from there, and we even forgot to take a pic of the sign outside of the building.

We finished touring the museum about noon, by them it was time to get some lunch at check out the Virgin Mobile deal, so we went to a Wal*Mart that had a Subway, and sold Virgin Mobile stuff. We had a quick sandwich, picked up a few things, and checked out the Virgin Mobile display. They had the USB modem, and we checked the coverage map, but was not detailed enough to tell if they had coverage in Del Rio, so we decided to wait on purchasing the modem, and double-check the coverage map on the computer back at the rig. Once back there we verified that indeed Virgin Mobile had good coverage in Del Rio.

We prepared to leave the RV park, and stop at Wal*Mart on the way out of town and pick up the modem. Things went well and we headed east toward Highway 87 which we would take south towad Del Rio, but the Streets and Trips GPS software wanted us to go the wrong way, so we ignored it, and followed the signs to Highway 87 South. Before long we were back in cotton country with cotton fields and huge truck loads of cotton as far as the eye could see. When we stopped for gas, Ann got out and picked up some cotton that was blowing around like snow in an Iowa winter. We drove to San Angelo where we arrived at the Wal*Mart a little after 6:00PM, and decided to stay there for the night.

Sunday December 5: We must have had a long day Saturday, as we both slept in until 7:40 this morning. After getting a cup of coffee at the McDonalds in the Wal*Mart we were off to drive the 156 miles to Del Rio. Again the Streets and Trips was not cooperating, but we managed to get on the right roads, and after an easy three hour drive to ever changing scenery; from cotton fields, to sandstone mesas with little vegetation to, to trees, to scrub brush and weeds, we arrived at the RV park about 11:00 AM.

The lady at the park immediately recognized us from Ann's pics on Facebook, as she is a friend of Ann's on Facebook games. We visited a bit, then Dan took us around the park, so we could pick out a site. Eventually we settled on Site 28. After getting set up, hooked up, and leveled, we went back to the office for another good visit. The managers know people that we know, and lived around the Panora, Ia area quite some time before moving to Texas three years ago. They are really nice, friendly, and accommodating people.

After returning to the motorhome our next project was to get the new Virgin Moblie USB modem to work with our Craddlepoint MBR 1000 router. On Friday night we had installed the software on my laptop, and the modem worked fine, but getting it to work with the router was not such an easy task, even though the fix was quite easy. We spent a couple hours trying different configurations with it attached to my computer before "shared" my connection with other computers, and we finally succeeded, but we still wanted to be able to use it plugged in to the router, instead of my computer, and have to hardwire my computer Ann's computer. I called Virgin Mobile's tech support, and the tech assured me that the only way this modem would work is plugged into a computer, and would not work plugged into a wireless router. Not one to take no for an answer, I posted my question on the Escapees Discussion Forum, and it about fifteen minutes, I had the answer. All I needed to do was update the firmware for the router, and it should work. I did, and it did! Eureka! We are in business!

We(I) watched some football, and before long the sun was going down, and I wanted to get a picture of it, so I climbed on top of the motorhome and got a couple of decent pics of our first sunset in Del Rio, Texas.

While on the roof of the motorhome, another snowbird came by, and introduced himself as an Iowan from south of Davenport. Iowa sure is a good place to be from in the winter time. :) We spent a few minutes chatting and Ann came out and introduced herself. The three of us had a nice chat about Iowa and snowbirding. As it started to cool off, I am guessing it was about 60, we decided to go back inside and have some dinner. Ann made a great dinner of steaks, baked potatoes, and Iowa sweet corn, that we had frozen this summer. Not we are just kicking back, I am updating the blog, and Ann is playing Facebook games and watching a Harry Potter marathon on tv.

Well, hopefully this brings us up to date on our blog, and hopefully, I will update it more often in the future.

Till next time.

Paul

The Jello Melted, and Some Updating.

2010-11-30T21:01:00.001-06:00

I finally got around to downloading some pictures from the camera to post on the blog. The ones Ann took through the windshield were either obscured by bugs or had light reflecting from inside the motorhome on them, but others came out ok.
Here is a pic of a Mexican restaurant we ate at in Chickishaw, TX on Sunday.

The portions were huge, and the food was delicious! I would recommend this place to anyone in the area.

Here is a pic of the rig parked across the street from the restaurant.

Yesterday(Monday) we got out and about the town a little. We went to Best Buy and bought a usb drive. We have three at home, but forgot them all. I am glad they are pretty cheap. In the evening we went to a local restaurant recommended by the Park managers for dinner. It was called Logan's Road House, and was very much like a Texas Road House you would see in other parts of the country.

Notice the price of gas on the sign below. $2.48 isnt bad! We need to fill up before we leave town.

Ann also took some pics in the Park on our walk to day. There is a small river that runs behind the park, and a pond off the river with a small island in the pond, and a bridge to the island.

This Park has a nice area for walking dogs, and the proper enticements for the dogs to do their business.

Another couple of pics for today. Our parking spot for a couple more days, and a pic of the Park sign.

Originally, we were planning on getting to Carlsbad, NM by this weekend, but as Rvers say, "Our plans are made in Jello." When Ann posted in Facebook that we were in Texas, a friend of ours responded that her parents owned an RV park in Del Rio Texas and she was sure they would like us to come to their RV park, so we have changed our plans, and now are planning to be in Del Rio Texas at the American Campground this weekend, and we are, of course, not sure how long we will be there. The only plans that we hope to keep to this winter is to be in the Tuscon for the RVForum New Year's Party, The RVForum Rally in Quartzsite, AZ in January, probably the NASCAR race in Phoenix, AZ in February, and we hope to be able to meet with friends from Guthrie Center, IA in February as well. The rest of the itinerary is yet undecided.

Today was a pretty quiet around here. Ann has major deadlines this week, and a ton of work to do, so she hit it pretty hard today, and after a two hour or so break about 4:30, she is still working at 8:50 PM. I spent most of the day doing research on the internet looking for future places to stay, and doing some route planning.

That is about it for today, we will see what tomorrow will bring.

Paul

Sunday, November 28th: Day Two!

2010-11-28T22:03:00.000-06:00

We spent last night at the Flying J in Emporia, Kansas. Apparently the headlights need re-aimed, because illumination was poor in addition to it being a very dark night. Good enough reasons to cease travels for the day. We hit the road alert and cheery after a night of muzak and Christmas carol serenades from the gas pumps around 7:30 a.m.

The winds were crazy today which I'm sure put a dent in our blistering 6 mpg we managed yesterday. The sun was warm and we continued our southerly route. Determined not to completely duplicate last year's trek, we drove through Oklahoma City and continued our turnpike tour to Wichita Falls, Tx.

Paul constantly reminds me to take pictures because they make the blog nicer, but alas, I'm writing tonight and am entirely too lazy to download the few pictures I remembered to take today. A few them ought to be comical due to road conditions the moment I snapped the pic. I mentioned our "turnpike tour" because I do want to inform any rogue DOT planners that the Kansas Turnpike is far-and-away smoother than the Oklahoma turnpike.

Armed with multiple laptops, a 2005 Woodall's campground directory, and maps/flyers from a Texas Information Center, we reverse engineered a travel itinerary to allow us to arrive at Carlsbad Caverns at a reasonable time Saturday morning. So we chose a lovely campground 1.5 miles away from the nearest railroad tracks (usually it's like 500 feet), with decent wifi and level spots at the Wichita Falls RV Park. We'll stay here until Friday afternoon and then continue west toward Carlsbad.

Sitting here tonight in my recliner watching tv after dinner, it seems only a couple weeks ago that we were this comfortable rather than 8 months ago. It seems we've quickly recovered and are reverting to life in our second home. If home is where your heart is, then I am indeed home and couldn't be happier.

Back to work tomorrow with big, fat deadlines ever looming. Take care friends and family, and perhaps Paul will add pictures and hyperlinks and stuff tomorrow.
Ann

First Day Second Year Snowbird

2010-11-27T20:32:00.000-06:00

Hello Again to All Who Read Our Blog,
We got going about noon today, had planned on getting on the road about 8:00 AM or so. Wasnt sure where we wanted to go other than "south". Stopped at the Country Kitchen in Stuart Iowa for some brunch and decided to head south and west on some county roads and state highways, and ended up heading west on State Hiway 34, followed it west to Interstate 29, headed south to State Hiway 2, crossed the Missouri at Nebraska City, Ne, then headed south on Nebraska State Hiway 75 to Topeka, Ks, then to the Kansas Turnpike to Emporia where we are not sitting in the Motorhome in the Flying J parking lot.

We had a nice meal here and decided not to go any further tonight, after all we are in no hurry to get anywhere as long as the weather stays nice. Ann decided that she wants to see Carlsbad Caverns, so we are headed that way tomorrow, though we may not get there till Monday or Tuesday, or Wednesday.

Hopefully we will have some pictures to post tomorrow.

More later,
Paul

Update

2010-10-14T15:57:00.000-05:00

We arrived home safely on March 27. We were fortunate that the weather had been nice in Iowa and most of the snow had melted. I didnt mind so much having to use the snow blower to dig the motorhome out when we left in December, but I wasnt looking forward to have to use the snowblower to make a place to park the rig when we got home.

The summer has just flown by. The best news we got this summer was that Ann would be able to travel again this winter. She worked out a way with her employer to be able to use a company computer on the road. Another concern was that her company was bought out by a very large company over the summer, but thankfully, they new company will operate it as a wholly owned subsidy, so there will not be many operational changes.

In the past few weeks I have been working on some upgrades to the motorhome that should make our snowbird adventure this winter easier than last winter.

The first item we bought was an MBR-1000 wireless router that has a usb port to connect to the MiFi-2200. Ann's work computer needs to be hard wired to an access point, and this will do this while still being able to connect other computers wirelessy to the router.

The second item was a Trace Battery Status Monitor that we will use to tell us how many amp hours of electricity we are using, and give us an accurate state of charge of our battery bank.

The third item was a Xantrex 600 watt pure sine wave inverter. This will allow us to run the entertainment center, our laptops, and our 120 volt lamp at the same time, and not have to worry about the inverter damaging our computers.

We have also purchased some items as part of a solar system to save on generator time, when we are parked away from campgrounds. We bought two 200 watt solar panels and a solar controller so far. The solar panels are made by Evergreen Technologies and are the ES-A-200 FA3 model.

We still need to get the necessary cables and accessories to complete the setup. We got the solar panels from ebay, but purchased the Morningstar-TS-MPPT-45 controller from EcoDirerect.com

We have quite a bit of work to do to get ready to travel again. We plan on leaving right after Thanksgiving!

Wish us luck!

Paul

Closer to Home

2010-03-26T11:27:00.000-05:00

Because the weather forecast for our route from Tumcumari, New Mexico to Wichita, Kansas was for 4 to 8 inches of snow for Wednesday, we decided to stay over at the Mountain Road RV Park one more day. The weather didnt get too bad in Tucumcari; rain turning to snow with temps in the high 30s, but it was warm enough(a relative term). to keep the snow from sticking to the ground.

Because the campground is made up of New Mexico dirt, and the sites are not graveled, it became a somewhat muddy mess, but still a better option than trying to drive down a wet and snowy highway. About the only thing I accomplished Wednesday was to refill our 20 lb. propane tank at the nearby Flying J Truckstop, but it did give Ann ample time get some work work done, with facebooking squeezed in as well.

We are now in Deer Grove RV Park near Wichita Kansas, and getting ready to pack up and head north and east. I will update the blog a little later today.

Paul

Tucuncari, New Mexico and How We Got Here.

2010-03-23T22:20:00.002-05:00

Time flies when you are having fun! Here we are in Tucumcari, New Mexico on our way back home. We plan on being home sometime on Saturday March 27.

As anyone would guess a lot has happened since we arrived at the Yuma County Fairgrounds for the Western Gypsy Journal Rally.

I attended some of the rally events and visited many of the vendors while Ann did work work. On Monday evening after finishing her work for the day she went to salon and got her hair cut and colored. It looks nice, not a radical change, but certainly noticeable.

The rally itself was not all that much fun as we were across the street from the Marine Airbase, and with British Harrier jets landing almost directly overhead most of the day, you could hardly hear anyone speak in the main building where the vendors were, and also where many of the seminars were held. The noise was so loud that when Ann needed to be on a call for her job, she took her phone and computer in her car and went to a hotel parking lot a few miles away for some peace and quiet.

As most of the family knows on Wednesday March 10 we left the rally early, and parked our motorhome and car at the Yuma Airport, and flew to Denver Colorado for the funeral of my oldest brothers wife on Thursday. It is always nice to visit with family, but occasions like this make it a little tougher.

We returned to Yuma late Saturday night so we slept in the motorhome in the parking lot at the airport. On Sunday, after dumping our tanks, refilling with water, and getting our first noticeable boo boo on the RV while exiting the dump area

we moved to the RV parking lot at the Cocopah Casino a little south of Yuma. This place had huge sites on an asphalt parking lot, and only cost $5.00 for three nights of dry camping.

The first night there we tried the buffet. Lots of good food, but nothing like the spread at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs Iowa. Monday was a normal workday for Ann, and a wonderful day for me to sit outside and enjoy the 78 degree sunshine! Summer weather again at last!

Tuesday started out to be another beautiful day in paradise; Warm, sunny ahhhhhhhhhh this is what winter is all about! Later in the after noon as Ann was working away on her computer, all at once it just went black, nothing, nada, zip, completely dead! This aint good for someone who needs her computer and the files on it for work. The first thing I did was to check the voltage from the inverter that we had purchased in Quartzsite. The volt meter showed it was only producing 88 volts! No wonder it ruined Ann's computer! I feel really stupid for not checking the inverter as soon as Ann started having problems with the battery on her computer. Fortunately, a few few months back when the hard drive on her computer died I purchased a connector for a laptop hard drive to a usb port on another computer.

She was able to use this device to get files off her computer and transfer them to my laptop, so she could at least finish up her work for the day. Our first thought was to go to Best Buy and get a new hard drive to see if that was the problem. Best Buy did have several hard drives, but not at a price we were interested in. On the way home we stopped at a Loves Truck Stop and purchased a new Cobra brand inverter. The first thing I did once we got back to the RV was to check it for proper voltage.

As Ann had already scheduled Wednesday March 17 off, not to celebrate St. Paddy's day, but to take the opportunity to go to Algononnes Mexico to check it out, and pick up some booze, and prescriptions at bargain prices. It was an interesting trip. Things were not as cheap as we expected, but it was still fun, but when we got ready to go back across the border there was a pretty long line. It moved pretty quickly and there was no problem getting back into the country. Here is a pic Ann took while standing in line on the Mexican side of the border, and looking up at the American flag on the American side.

After returning to the RV, we needed to put together a plan to replace Ann's computer. We decided to load up and drive to Fry's Electronics in Tempe, a sister store to the one in Phoenix where I had purchased my new Fujitsu Lifebook a few weeks back. The trip to Tempe was uneventfull, and finding the store was no problem. Ann finally decided on a HP Pavillion DV6. It had all the features she wanted, and she really wanted to stay with HP, as she said her "Compaq 2200(Compaq and HP are the same company) was the best computer ever!" We moved the motorhome across the parking lot into the Denny's parking lot, where we had a nice St. Paddy's dinner, even though they didnt have corned beef and cabbage.

Before leaving Yuma, be had decided to go on to Tucson after getting the computer. Ann had communicated with the wife of a couple we met in Quartzsite, and she invited us to come and stay at their house while in Tucson. We quickly said yes, and headed toward Tucson. We arrived at their house about 9:00PM. Deb was in the yard directing us to a parking place. We couldnt get the car off the road while still on the dolly, so we unloaded it and parked it in the driveway. By that time Randy had joined us in their yard, and we chatted for quite some time before we decided it was bedtime for all of us.

When we went to the RV to put the slides out, the driver's side slide only went out about six inches and stopped. I tried retracting it, but it wouldnt move. Not good! Not much we could do that late at night, so it was sleeping in the bedroom with it still and in, and us unable to get to our clothes in the dresser drawers. We still got a good nights sleep, and we ready to face the problems of the next day, and it was a good thing as the next day would proved very frustrating, more for Ann than me, but still it was quite a day.

With her new computer in hand, and my plan was to check the fluid level in the hydraulic system that runs the jacks and slide outs, we thought we had things covered. NOT! When Ann set up her computer, it would not connect to the Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200. Between spending a few hours on the phone to tech support and first with HP, then with Verizon, nothing they suggested would make a difference. We concluded that the problem was with the wifi adapter in the new computer, and after calling the store in Tempe, the plan was for Ann and Deb to drive the 100 miles back to Tempe to exchange the new computer. In the meantime after purchasing a couple of quarts of dexron for the hydraulic system, and then talking to a tech at HWH, the company that makes the system that runs the jacks and slideouts, he told me the problem was the shuttle valve. Beaudry RV in Tempe had the part, so Ann and Deb agreed to pick it on their trip to Tempe. Problems solved right? WRONG!

When they returned from Tempe with the new computer and the shuttle valve it was dinner time, and Randy and Deb invited us over for a nice meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli dinner,then it was back to our RV to try and see what we can do to make the computer connect to the MiFi. Nothing worked!!! So after much effort we finally gave up and went to bed.

Friday morning started with me replacing the shuttle valve and it was pretty easy. Nice to have the slides and jacks working again. In the mean time Ann was on the phone talking to tech support at HP. This time she asked for someone with a lot of technical knowledge. He walked her through several changes to her computer, finally it connected! Wooo Hooo! But wait, the connection only lasted a few seconds, and then it faded away!!! So it was back to using my computer for Ann to do her work, while we were trying to figure out our next step. While I was messing with Ann's computer it connected again, but again the connection lasted for only a short time. After several more attempts at connecting then disconnecting, Ann took the computer outside, and it connected, but when she back inside she would lose the connection. We decided the problem was with the network adapter or the built in wifi antenna in the computer. Deb who has a HP computer as well, brought hers to our RV and it had no problem connecting and staying connected. A check of the brand of the network adapter showed that Ann's computer had an adapter made by Broadcomm, while the one in my computer and Deb's computer is made by Atheros.

We decided the only thing to do was another trip back to Tempe, and exchange the computer for one with an Atheros network adapter, and to make sure it worked, we took the Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200 with us. By now it was a familiar trip. No problem in exchanging the computer. Ann finally decided on a Gateway NV59.

Her first instinct was not to get a Gateway, as at one time they were making some less than stellar computers, but this one seemed nice and have some nice features. The deal was that if the computer Ann purchased was cheaper than one the one she brought back, she would be give "store credit" for the difference, since we probably wouldnt be getting back to Tempe for a while we had about a $100 difference to make up. After picking up a few items, the total came to within a nickel of the value of the one we brought back. Pretty close.

With that done, and being pretty confidant that the computer would work at home as well in the store, we stopped at In and Out Burger for a quick sandwich, and then it was back to Tucson. At last Ann once again had a computer. Some problems are easier to solve than others. By time we got home it was time to end another day.

Saturday March 20 started with beautiful sunrise and warm temperatures! All is right with the world again! Randy and Deb treated to us to a wonderful breakfastat a place not too far from their home.(They actually live in their motorhome in the back yard when not travelling, and their daughter and son-in-law live in the house). After enjoying the food and wonderful conversation at the restaurant, we continued when we got back to the RV. Randy and Deb are truly nice people and we are glad we met them in Quartzsite!

Even though it was a great time at their house we decided it was time to head out in the direction of Iowa. After hugs, handshakes and good-byes we headed toward Deming, New Mexico, and the Dream Catcher RV Park. We planned an overnight stay of dry camping and them head to Tucumcari, New Mexico by way of Alamagordo. We had no trouble finding the park and checking in.

Sunday morning when we got up and since we were not hooked up to electricity, we needed to run the generator to make coffee, but the RV was low on fuel and the generator wouldnt start. The system is designed this way so that you dont run your main fuel tank empty by running the generator. We then just took off and headed for Las Cruces to find gas, coffee, and breakfast.

It was a short drive to the Pilot in Las Cruces to fill up.

Then it was across the street for breakfast and a place to park while I watched the NASCAR race from Bristol Tennessee.

After the race it was off to Almagordo and points north and east toward Tucumcari. Here is a pic of the white sands near the White Sands Missile Range.

We arrived here at the Mountain Road RV Park here in Tucumcari about 7:50PM on Sunday night. It is not the nicest place, but it evidently works well for a lot of travellers like us who tow a vehicle behind a motorhome, as all of the sites are pull through sites. It is nice just to be able park and not have to unload the car. When we arrived the place was about half full, but almost empty by mid-morning, and filled up again by dark on Monday night. The routine repeated itself today. It seems that lots of other RVers know this place as a great place to overnight.

Since we have been here, I havent done too much other than get caught up on this blog while Ann has continued her work work. We are contemplating when to head closer to Iowa. The weather is supposed to turn bad tomorrow. We are not sure whether to try and get ahead of the weather or wait it out here. I guess we will decide tomorrow.

Well that is about it from us for now. Wished I had kept the blog up better.

Paul

A Drive to the Fairgrounds in Yuma Arizona

2010-03-07T23:52:00.000-06:00

Today was moving day. A day I had looked forward to pretty much since we left Iowa. The Gypsy Journal Western Rally held at the Yuma Fairgrounds started today. Not really much going on today except parking and getting registered, but that is a start. We left Friendly Acres RV park just before noon and made the twenty minute drive over here without incident, other than driving through some significant pools of water which was the result of having about an inch of rain overnight and this morning.

After a few minutes of waiting and some confusion on the part of the people who volunteered to help park the RVs, we were one of the first to get parked. When most of the rigs were parked a crew started stringing out electrical hookups. We hooked up quickly just as it started to rain again. But whenever I plugged into the electric box, the breaker would trip. After about fifteen minutes of trying different cords and adapters, and being soaking wet, I and a couple of others were stumped. I went inside, changed out of my soaking wet clothes, and proceeded to ponder what the problem could be. Since there was only twenty amps of power available, when normally we have fifty or thirty amps available, I decided it had to be something drawing over twenty amps that was the problem. We had already made sure that almost everything that runs on 120 volts was turned off or disconnected. The next step was to shut off the breakers, plug in, then turn breakers on one by one till the breaker at the plug in kicked out. It didnt take long to figure out it was the breaker for the refirgerator/convrter. For the next step I unplugged the converter, and tried again. Voila! It worked, so obviously there is a problem with our converter which I will have to deal with.

By then it had stopped raining, so we went to the registration building, got registered, wandered around a bit to see what vendors had there wares here. Food was the next thing on our mind, so it was off to eat. We found an Asian Buffet close by, and had some great food.

Then back to the RV for some tv watching and computer time, before calling it another day of adventure.

Paul

Wow, a Week Since I Blogged!

2010-03-04T22:57:00.001-06:00

I cant believe how fast the last week went! Friday February 26 was a cool and windy day. I started the day by going over to the track and watched practice for the various classes of cars. Here is a pic of the Sprint Cup cars getting ready to go on the track for practice.

I spent most of the day at the track while Ann did work work back at the motorhome. While watching practice the air show from across the street at Nellis Air Force Base continued. This is an AWACS plane taking off.

The day at the track was pretty mundane, but still a lot of fun to be a part of the race weekend. After returning to the motorhome, Ann and I thought it might be a good idea to go into town to get something to eat before we went to the dirt track to watch the World of Outlaws winged sprint cars. Big mistake as there was still tons of traffic leaving the track and heading back to hotels, and there is only two ways to get there. Las Vegas Boulevard or the Interstate. After taking about an hour to go about a half mile, we bailed, made a u-turn, and headed to the dirt track to have a dinner of track burgers and sodas.

Earlier in the day we had received word that a sister-in-law of mine was in the hospital and not doing well. While we were stuck in traffic Ann made some phone calls others confirmed the worst. There was no hope of recovery, and it just a matter of time. Sometimes reality just slaps you up side the head. As there was little we could do, and it was virtually impossible to get to Sacramento in time to be supportive, we went ahead with our weekend, albeit with very heavy hearts. I know that has a lot to do with my not posting for a few days. It is just very hard to talk about such tragedies.

The Outlaws put on a real good show. Man those things are fast! The picture is a little dark, but here is the "Outlaws" on their four wide pace lap.

On Saturday we went over to the big track for Nationwide Series qualifying and the race. Here is a couple of pictures of the start of the race. The bright green car toward the back is Danica Patrick.

As a side note. If you are not already aware, you can click on any picture, and you will see it in full size.

The race was not all that exciting. Danica got crashed out by a slower car. Kevin Harvick was the eventual winner. There was one bright spot to an otherwise gloomy day. One of the cars I had bet on to win stayed out on the racetrack when others stopped for tires and gas, and became the leader of the race under caution, and it began to sprinkle. Had the rain continued and the race been called, I could have won $600! But it wasnt to be. The rain went away, the guy leading faded along with my thoughts of what I might do with a few hundred bucks. After we returned from the race we received notice that my sister-in-law had died at 6:30PM.

Sunday morning arrived bright and sunny and a whole lot warmer than the previous few days. As the race started at noon and we wanted to look around the booths before the race we started heading to the race track about 10:40 expecting to take at least 20-30 minutes just to get from the campground to the grandstand. They have trams to take people from the campground to the track, but there are not enough of them, and they seemed to be poorly managed. There are also golf carts all over the place, but they are usually reserved for VIPS, or those that have trouble walking very far. But to our surprise just as we stepped on the road to the track, and young man in a golf cart stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. Ann asked if it was alright, as we didnt want him getting into trouble for giving someone he shouldnt a ride. He assured us it was ok, so we jumped in and headed for the track, bypassing hundreds of people waiting for the tram. On the way over we chatted with the young man, and found out he was a volunteer from a church group just doing good deeds. We have been to lots of race tracks and seen lots of golf carts drive by us, but this is the first one that has stopped and given us a ride. I could think of only one explanation. Thanks for getting us the ride Lana.

With getting to the track sooner than expected we had plenty of time to look around at all the booths and attractions you find at a NASCAR race. Speed TV is a big part of the racing and had a booth where you could sit behind a desk and have a picture taken with a simulated crowd behind you. We couldnt pass up the chance.

The race itself was interesting in that if all you watched was the leaders, it wast that exciting, but the nice thing about being there is you can watch whatever you want, and there was some good racing farther back from the leaders. As a Jeff Gordon fan it it was a great race until the last 20 laps, when team mate Jimmie Johnson passed Gordon and went on to win the race.

Here is Jimmie Johnson's car before the beginning of the race.

Here is a picture of the start of the race.

Here is Jeff Gordon(24) leaving his pit and passing Dale Earnhart jr.(88).

These are the only pics we have of the race as I forgot to take our regular camera with us, and these were taken with our Meade binocular camera.

Monday March 1, 2010

Monday was moving day. We had to leave the race track parking by noon. Ann worked on her job stuff, as I got things ready for our move southward to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. A little before noon we headed south our of Las Vegas on Hwy 95 retracing part of the route we took from the North Ranch RV park near Congress Arizona. But instead of turning east and going through Laughlin Nevada, we continued on south on Hwy 95 to Interstate 40. The section of the road south of the Laughlin turn off was not all that good, and Ann almost got sea sick as we drove through what seemed like hundreds of dips in the road. Here is an example of what the road looked like. The dips are a lot worse than the picture shows.

We followed Interstate 40 east through Needles California, turning off on Arizona Hiway 95, and heading south toward Lake Havasu City. We stopped ata Pilot Truckstop with an RV island to fill up with gas. The price for 87 octane was $2.59, and whole lot cheaper than the $3.39 we saw in Needles California!

We found Prospectors RV Park and got set up without any trouble. It was a beautiful 70 something day with plenty of sunshine! Ann worked the rest of the day and into the evening, so had dinner in, and retired for the night pretty early.

Tuesday March 2, 2010

Another beautiful day. I would say it actually almost got hot as it was 78 about 2:00PM ! A whole lot better than the wind and cold(relative term, I know) in Las Vegas. Ann spent another long day working, while I worked on my tan for a while. Later in the afternoon I went grocery shopping at the Safeway, missed a turn on the way back, and ended up driving over London Bridge twice! Here is the bridge in the background.

Tuesday night we decided to go our for dinner, and I had spotted The Golden Horseshoe on my way to go grocery shopping.

I had the prime rib and shrimp special, and Ann had the small sirloin and a "really nice salad bar". The food was pretty good, but must have sat in the window a little too long as it was not as hot as it should have been.

After our meal we headed toward the local American Legion as a couple we met in Quartzsite in January said they had been there, and it was fun place. They were having karaoke but you had to be a member to get in, and since I didnt feel like joining, we left. We found a small bar close to the RV park and stopped for an adult beverage. There were only a couple customers and the bartender there. We had a nice chat with the locals and heard horror stories from them about sun spiders, tarantulas, and scorpions. Ann had the bartender check the women's bathrooms for said arachnids before she would go in there. So after our short visit there we headed back to the RV and called it a day.

Wednesday March 3, 2010

Paul