Trip Planning Day

Got up this morning and decided to stay in Parker one more day. We need to do some travel planning for our time in San Diego. It's a little cloudy so it's a good day for it. We'll spend 3 nights in the city. It took most of the day to plan campground, storage for the coach, hotel, and figure which attractions we want to see.

Ken did the laundry. We made Pad Thai for dinner. We had trouble with our propane again tonight. Ken thinks we got some bad gas when we filled up at the campground in Bowie, AZ. Who knows how old it was!

We went up to the casino and played. The night started out disasterous, but the cards turned and we did really well.

We enjoyed our stay in Parker and will definitely be back....

Burros Rule Route 66

Another great day. After breakfast Anna went to work (unfortunately) and Gordon, Ken, and I headed for a day of exploration. We stopped by Gordon's friend "Ken" who is really fun. He and Gordon are going to join a club in the mountains and go prospecting for gold. It's a social group and they do find gold in "them thar hills"!

Off we go up Rte 95 N to I40W. We took the Oatman exit onto historic Route 66. Driving Route 66 was a real treat and a really fantastic drive through the foothills and up into the mountains. We started t0o see wild burros on the plains. The elevation went from about 500 feet above sea level to a little over 4000 feet. The road led us past old mines and into Oatman. Oatman is a former mining town in the Black Mountains. The town is extremely proud of its Route 66 heritage and replicas of 66's black-on-white US highway shield are posted all over town. It began as a tent camp and in 1915 two prospectors hit a gold find of $10 million. The town grew to 10,000, it's now a town of 150 - not counting the burros! The burros are decendants from pack animals turned loose by the prospectors, and they own the town. They roam the streets and sidewalks greeting visitors. If you feed them carrots they will follow you all over. The baby burros have little stickers on their foreheads that say "no carrots".

We had lunch at the Old Oatman Hotel. This is a historic landmark and is well known as the honeymoon stop for Clark Gable and Carole Lombard after their 1939 wedding in Kingman, Arizona. Gable grew to love the Oatman area and returned many times to play poker with the miners. The restaurant and bar is papered with dollar bills. The dollar bills have peoples names on them and where they are from. We added a bill to the wall so now Bradford, NH is represented. We had a great lunch. I had my first buffalo burger, it was really good. There was a duo called the Oatman Outlaws singing and they were very good. We wanted a picture so I went to sit on the step in front of them. One of them handed me a 'little tamborine' and I ended up playing with them for the rest of the song.

After lunch we drove back to Gordon's, picked fresh fruit from the trees and headed back to camp. It was a great visit - Thanks Gordon & Anna!

We got back and relaxed at camp. Tuesday night was BINGO night so off we went to the activity center. It was fun and we met a nice couple from Oregon. We didn't win, but had a good time. We got back about 9pm. Nice thing about these activities is they are never late!

We called it a night and we are looking forward to another great day tomorrow.

Emerald In The Desert

Sunny, crisp and cool as we headed down Rte 95N to Emerald Canyon Golf Club. As we turned onto the road leading to the course canyon walls rose up around us and we began to see areas of lush green. The club house looks out over the Colorado River and the 1st tee from the top of a hill. Every view gets better as we hit the links. I couldn't play today due to a back problem, so I was designated photographer.

The course takes you to a canyon where you can tee off and watch the ball fly between the canyon walls. We follow the cart path up to a bluff high in the rock wall and tee off hoping the ball will land on the green way below and not in the gully. The tees and greens showcase the spectacular natural surroundings. One of my favorites was a tee high on a hill with the yellow flowering brittlebrush around the edges as you look down onto the lush green. This is the most beautiful course we've ever played! As we got to hole ten we saw our frist Roadrunner and there were Quail running everywhere. We all had a great time and the 18 holes went really fast.

After golf we went to the Roadrunner Cafe for lunch. The cafe is a floating dock restaurant right on the river and it's a fun place. Gordon and Anna invited us up to their place in Lake Havisu. We went back to camp, packed an overnight bag and headed out. We had a great visit. Anna made a roast chicken dinner with peanutbutter sheet cake for dessert...yum...I found Anna and I have something in common. We both collect Santa Clauses. She has a great collection of all sizes and she has some fantastic pieces. Their home is really cute and homey. Off their patio they have grapefuit, orange, tangelo, and lemon trees.

After dinner we relaxed and called it a night.

Meeting Friends

Well our first rally is over and we really enjoyed it. We met some new friends and learned a lot of tips for maintaining our RV and keeping safe during our travels. We said goodbye to our friends Glenn, Marcie and Bear. Bear is their wood carved mascot. He sits by their RV. When we met him he was dressed in a life preserver due to all the rain.

On our way out of town we drove down to the 4 corners to take some pictures of Quartzsite. We are traveling down Rte 95 N to Parker, Arizona. Rte 95 is a "roller coaster" road with lots of dips. If you go over these fast enough you leave your stomach behind! The ride was pretty as we crossed the Cactus Plains with the Mojave Mountains in front of us.

It was a short drive to Parker. Parker is a nice area. We were up the road in Lake Havisu several years ago for a vacation and we drove down to Parker to go to and RV show and ended up at the Blue Water Casino. This time we'll meet our friend Gordon Hollabaugh here. We got settled in at the Blue Water RV Park. The park is about 38 years old but very well kept. Most of the people here are 'snowbirds'. They have nice facilities and BINGO on Tuesdays! We will spend an extra day here to do some travel planning for the Sabn Diego area which will be our next stop.

We met Gordon and his friend Anna for dinner. We went to the Blue Water Casino. It was really good. Anna was playing video poker at the bar and got a Royal Flush and a nice payoff ...yea!... We made plans to play golf tomorrow at Emerald Canyon Golf Club. Gordon & Anna headed home and we went to the casino. We had a really good night.

We are looking forward to playing Emerald Canyon tomorrow.

Rocks Can Be Exciting!

Wow sunny and nice... We drove down the road to a little trailer that was selling Cinnamon Buns (for $3.25 each) and got some for breakfast. After two days of pancakes we needed a break. Ken went off to his electrical seminar and I went for a walk. After Ken's seminar I joined him for the Fire Safety seminar. This was wonderful. Everything was covered from types of fires, how to escape and the importance of practice, and maintaining your fire extinguisher - which I didn't know you had to do... I got to use a fire extinguisher, which I had never done, and put out a fire.

After the seminars we went to the rescheduled Hot Dog Bash. Then we joined Glenn and Marcie and headed for the Pow Wow Gem & Mineral Show. There are hundreds of of dealers and sellers here from all over the world. We didn't know there were so many different kinds of crystals and rocks with treasures of tourmaline, peridot, and fossils in them. It was eye opening. We bought a couple geodes (rocks that have crystals inside). You can take the rock home, split it, and hopefully you have a treasure. Rock Hounding or hunting for geodes and crystals is really popular now as a hobby.

Back to camp there was a beautiful sunset over the mountains. Later we had a great spaghetti dinner with home made sauce at Glenn and Marcie's. Then we went to the Rivoli Patriotic Show. It was good. After the show we said goodnight to our friends. We'll see them before we go our separate ways tommorrow.

The Road To Yuma

Stopped raining and it's windy and cool. This ralley is put on by the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) and is the International Organization which we belong to. We are members of the Coach House Owners Club and they're a chapter of FMCA. There are about 350 coaches and 700 people at this rally.

We went to breakfast and I made plans to go to the "Red Hatters & Ladies Lunch" with Marcie. Then Ken and I took off to go exploring. We took Rte 95 S which is the road to Yuma. It was a beautiful drive. The water that was "gushing" through the washes and over the roads last night is pretty much gone now. The road took us through the Kofa Mountain Wildlife Refuge. We took a side road that lead into Kofa Canyon. The road wasn't too bad at first but then started to get muddier and soft from the rain so we stopped, took picures, and turned around. Ken is now talking about trading the HHR for a Jeep.... He would love to have a 4 wheel drive so we could explore more (hmmm). Further down the road to our right was the Chocolate Mountains (and they are chocolate brown). Soon we entered the Yuma Proving Grounds where they tested missiles and rockets. Lots of signs that say danger - guess you don't go hiking across this area of the desert!

We headed back to Quartzsite so I wouldn't be late for lunch. We passed some of the Long Term Visitor Areas where RVer's can stay for the entire winter. They are Bureau of Land Management sites. They have beautiful mountain views and you get to pick your own piece of desert to live on!

Back at camp I'm off to the Red Hat Ladies Lunch. The Red Hatters tell me they just want to have fun... and we had a great time. Seeing all the red & purple hats and how creative designs and decorations was interesting. The entertainment was a fashion show where our lovely "male" models from 'Husbands of the Rally' showed us the latest styles in purple 0plastic table cover dresses with feather fans and sequin purses. They were really good sports!

We hung out for the afternoon and about 4ish we headed to the Grubsteak restaurant for all you could eat Fish Fry for $9.99. We though 4ish would let us beat the rush - oops - everyone else in Quartzsite was there! There was a 1 1/2 hour wait and they weren't taking names any more.. guess everyone knew happy hour was from 2pm to 4pm. If your in Quartzsite this time of year be sure you go for happy hour so you can make dinner!

We had dinner at the Palo Verde Cafe and then headed back to camp for the entertainment. A husband and wife duo Kay & Ron Rivoli are signer songwriters who have performed with many featured artists. They are also fellow RVer's -and their songs reflect life experiences along the hi-way and bi-way like 'Making The Road Home' and Bury Me in WalMart-so my wife will visit me! Their show was high energy and great humor.The two hour show went really fast. The Rivoli Review was a great cap for the night. They will do a patriotic show tomorrow night and we are looking forward to it.

A Gusty Beginning

The rain is here, but that's OK. Rain in the desert just makes big puddles, but right now it's not real muddy. We went to the 'big tent' for breakfast and "first timers orientation". They offer different seminars during the day so we went to one on Brakes & Suspension and then one on Geocacheing. The Geocaching one sounds like fun and we'll try it out on our travels. There are a lot of cache's hidden here in Quartzsite, but we'll wait for good weather. Wind gusts are now up to 30 - 40 mph and we are rocking a little - good thing we are buffered by the big rigs.

Spent the afternoon blogging and catching up on the "old blog" entries. We made plans with Marcie and Glenn to have cocktails before we went to the Hot Dog Bash. I made a 3 Bean Salsa I found on our trip thru Wisconsin last spring. This was our first cocktail party in the coach...

When they arrived we learned the events for tonight had been cancelled. The ten is really flooded and the wind has picked up. We decided to go out to dinner so off to the Quail Mountain Cafe. A cute little place like a diner. We had a great waitress who was really quick with the one liners. She and Ken got going and when Ken ordered "little ice" in his coke she says "here you go Mr. Picky". We had a great time exchanging barbs and jokes. When we left the rain had stopped, moon wast out, and the wind was worse. The rain must have been really heavy while we were at dinner because the road we came in on was closed as the "wash" was over flowing the road. We found another way out and picked our way thru some good size flowing puddles. Good thing we were in Glenn's truck.

When we got back we learned there were severe wind warnings and a tornado watch until midnight. By 9:30pm the winds had died down. We hope the rain doesn't come back so some of the events tomorrow can go on. We make our own fun so a little rain won't bother us....

Everything You Never Wanted....

Woke up to a pleasant surprise...Sun. Just like any convention we went to register and then met up with Marcie & Glenn.

At this time of year Quartzsite is one gigantic mass of "snowbirds" that spend the winter. Many of them come here every year especially for the vendor shows. We had to go find out what it was all about. We all headed down to the RV Show tent. This is a huge tent (like a double circus tent) with wall to wall vendors inside and outside around the perimeter. There is no way to describe the mass of tents, products, and people! We spent most of the time in the RV tent, had ice cream and of course sausage and onion sandwiches (it is a fair!). Roaming through the vendors Ken found a booth promoting a massage machine and ended up sitting in the chair eating Cheetos while the sales person massaged his back and knees. Never thought he would get up....

We spent the afternoon in the Sella Rama section which is a gigantic flea market where they have everything you ever - or never - wanted!

Back at camp about 4ish. We read our rally materials and had dinner. Then it was time for BINGO.. We had a blast but didn't win anything. I was one number away from the $500 prize, but someone got there first. After bingo we said good night to our new friends and called it a night.

It was a great day. Tomorrow the seminars take place and then the Hot Dog Bash for dinner. We are really going to enjoy the rally.

Quartzsite Experience

Beautiful, sunny 70's were not expected this morning! This was a nice park and I'm sure it will be different than what we are going to at Quartzsite. We spent some time talking with new friends Marcie & Glenn from Ohio. They will be at the rally also.

Eventually we left our site and rolled down I10 W to Quartzsite. We are excited as this is our very 1st RV Rally. We travel through the Harquahala Plains with the Big Horn Mountains on the right we passed a sign "Australia Outback Plantation" (I think they are lost....) This is all wilderness area and it truly is. There are lots of RV's on the road heading to Quartzsite too. As we crossed the RangeGras Plains, the New Water Mountains Black Mesa rose to our left. It had a mesa on the top of the mountain with a hole in it. It looked like a building made of rock. The plains floor has much more vegetation and small trees. The ground is strewn with black rock that looks like it could be lava rock.

We entered Quartzsite city limits and drove over a rise. The sight below us in the valley was unbelievable.... RV's in front of us, to our left & right as far as the eye can see! They are parked on public land and in some RV parks. There are over 250,000 RV's here during this time of year. We found our way to the Rally parking which is a huge parking lot in the middle of the desert. We are next to very big class A's and our neighbors are from North Dakota. We introduced ourselves and talked for a while. Then it was time to check out the area. We walked through the rally lot looking at all the rigs and license plates from all over the US and Canada.

Later we drove down the road to see what the "show" area was all about. Holy Smokes! you wouldn't believe this... at the junction of 4 corners the Gem & Mineral Show, Sella Rama, and the RV Show are all here. Over 4000 vendors and tents! We covered 4 aisles of tents this afternoon before the wind and rain caught up with us.

Back at camp we had dinner and watched TV. Most of the folks will arrive tomorrow for the rally.

A Touch of Home

Cloudy this morning. We had a few showers last night. There are 3 Pacific storms coming across the southwest. We are probably looking at rain from tomorrow to Friday. This is the most rain they have had at one time in several years! (Figures...) We will make the best of it and have fun anyway.

Our neighbors from the lake, Dave & Theresa Currier have a winter place here in Pheonix. We all met for lunch in Buckeye, AZ at a little mexican place called La Placita. It was very good. It was nice to have a little touch of home and we had a really nice visit.

After lunch we found Fry's Market. We picked up everything we needed for the next 5 days as there isn't any grocery stores close to Quartzsite. This was a really nice store but believe it or not we couldn't find any guacamole in the store... and we are in the southwest!

Back at camp we settled in for the night. Tomorrow we head for Quartzsite. Funny if we do get the rain we will have 5 days of "dry" camping with 3 days of rain...figure that one out!

Water Under a Bush

Partly sunny as we turn onto I8 W after leaving camp. Los Colinas was nice but we felt closed in. The park is clean, well kept and has a lot of activities. They are close to town and have golf courses close by. The sites are all southwest landscaped and attractive.

Today we are traveling to Tonopah, AZ which will be our last stop before the rally in Quartzsite. We are traveling through the Sonoran Desert today. We pass the jagged Sand Tank Mountains and the Table Top Mountain and Wilderness Area while the Mariacopa Mountains dot the horizon on our left. All of the ranges have different shapes and although they are not really high they are magnificent. I don't think of mountains in the desert but they are there! Periodically we can see large patches of green further up the road. As we get closer there is some kind of crop growing that looks like grass, then it quickly goes back to dirt. This is a hard, desolate but beautiful area filled with many types of cactus and small bush like trees that look like Asparagus Fern leaves.

We turned off I8 at Gila Bend onto Rte 85N. this is the Pheonix Bypass and a much better route than going through Pheonix on the interstate. Driving over the Buckeye Hills and through the city of Buckeye. We will visit here tomorrow.

Tonopah is just a little spot on the map but it is our destination for the next couple of days. Tonopah derives it's name from the Western Apache, meaning "Water Under a Bush". This refers to it's location in the Harquahala Valley.Under the vally there is an extensive subterranean aquifer. The wells that are dug here never lack water!

We pulled into Saddle Mountain RV Park. It's Sunday and the office was closed so we found a site and settled in. The park is very nice - no railroad - nice gravel sites with palm trees. Our neighbor is from Vermont!

After getting settled it was lunch time so we tried the local spot Tonopah Joes! Fair at best and really wouldn't recommend it if you are passing through this way. With full stomachs we went to explore Tonopah. Not much here to see, but it has it's own special beauty.

Some of the sites are filling up now and Glenn & Marcie Ronken have become our neighbors (for a little while). They are from Ohio and will be at the rally also. Unfortunately the electric wasn't right on their site so they moved to another one on the other side of the park. We enjoyed meeting them and hope we see them at the rally.

Went for a walk and just relaxed. Tomorrow we will meet Dave & Theresa in Buckeye.

A Day At Home

Friends refer to our trip as a vacation, but it's really our way of life these days. So today was just like a typical day at home. We found a WalMart in town so I got a hair cut and Ken did the groceries. We try and plan groceries for 3-4 days at a time. This seems to work well for us. We can fit a weeks worth of food in the fridge if we need to.

It's partially cloudy and 70ish. We had lunch and Ken waxed the other side of the coach. I watched the New Orleans Saints & Arizona Cardinals football game and then watched the Colts play the Ravens.

Dinner was pork chops, sweet potatoes, and applesauce. After dinner we went for a walk around the park.

It was a quiet day, but felt like a normal day at home.

Wings Over Wilcox

Last night we had a beautiful sunset and woke up this morning to another gorgeous day.

Rolling up I10 W we stopped at the visitor center just past Wilcox. We talked with a man who RV'd full time for 10 years and he gave us a lot of good information. We learned that the Wings of Wilcox festival was going on. This is a weekend festival that celebrates the migration of the Sandhill Cranes. They identified 33 different species of Sandhill's this weekend. Some come from as far as Siberia! We found out that these are the cranes we have been seeing in all the fields along the road.

Across from the visitor center was Stouts Cider Mill. Boy did it smell good so in we went. We had cider and bought apple turnovers (pies were too big - 10lbs of apples in one pie). We couldn't have fit it in the fridge....

Tumbling along we entered Texas Canyon. The sides of the canyon look down on us and provide a spectacular view. Tons of rocks are perched on top of one another in a blancing act along the side of the road. Ken says they look like Lone Ranger rocks. Small trees are growing out of some of them and the whole area is very rugged. Further on the Saguaro Cactus start to appear on the floor of the vallies and canyons along with Prickly Pear. I hope we get to see some desert blooms, but we are a little early.

Rolling into the Tuscon area we decided to stop for lunch... the adventure today was Omars Hi-Way Chef. This was okay, but typical truck stop food. I think we will stick with Wendy's!

We arrived at the Los Colinas RV Resort in Casa Grande. This is a little garden in the desert for snowbirds. Most of the license plates were from the mid-west. The part is nice and they settled us into our spot. It's in the 70's here and we are enjoying the southwest winter weather.

Of course we had to go check out the surroundings so we took a short ride. There really isn't much around so we headed back and went to Eva's Mexican for dinner. It was right across the street from the RV resort and had excellent Margarita's and yummy Fajitas.

Back at camp it is very quiet here, wateched TV and called it a night.

NOTE:

The RV Resorts are nice but they are really for "snowbirds" and folks who are staying for a month or more. There are no firepits or tables to eat outdoors. The folks are friendly and there are alot of activities if you are staying long enough.

Land of Legends

Sunny, cool, and crisp as we go exploring today. We meander down Business Rte 10 into Bowie. This is almost a ghost town. The buildings and homes are very beaten down and it looks like the residents are just trying to hang on. There is a huge farm with a sign "Pecans, Walnuts, and Wine". Too bad they weren't open and everything is harvested.

We saw a sign for Ft Bowie National Historic Site so off we went down this road with no name. The road to Ft Bowie passed through the Pecan and Walnut trees on both sides in perfect rows with the Dos Cabezas Mountain range rising up behind them. Soon the road to turns to gravel as we wind our way up and through Apache Pass. A brilliant red Cardinal flew across the road in front of us but we didn't see any other wildlife. We know they are there because we saw Coyote tracks along the side of the road. We pulled into the historic site and found ourselves in the "Land of Legends". Fort Bowie was a US Army Post in the 1800's. The walls are well preserved and we learn the story of the bitter conflict between the Chiricahua Apaches and the United States military. Fort Bowie and Apache Pass were the focal point of military operations for more than 30 years. Eventually the Apache resistance was finally crushed at Fort Bowie, resulting in the surrender of Geronimo in 1886 and the banishment of the Chiricahuas to Florida and Alabama. This ended the Indian wars in the United States.

Moving on we stopped to enjoy the views over the Sulfur Springs Valley which had a mix of clouds, sun, and rain showers over Cochise Head Mountain (8113'). The road ended at Route 186 and turning North we set our sights on the town of Wilcox. Continuing through the valley we marvelled at the expanse of land here.

Wilcox is a hidden treasure of the "old west". A few businesses and restaurants. The historic "Old Town" section brings you back to the days of the singing cowboy like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. You can visit the Marty Robbins and Rex Allen Museums. Rex Allen was born in Wilcox in 1920. He starred in 19 movies between 1950 and 1954. He is considered the last of the Silver Screen Cowboys. We had lunch at Big Tex's BBQ located in an old railroad caboose. After lunch we drove back to camp.

We hung out at camp waxing the coach, doing mail, and relaxing. Ken talked with the "old timer" that owns the park. He moved out here from Vermont!

Dinner was an experiment..... Chicken Cordon Bleu. Yeah it came out really good.

Nice sunset over the mountains. The temperature really drops when the sun goes down. We are running the furnace at night still.

This area has great history and we had to pass on some things like the Chiricahua National Monument due to time, but depending on our schedule next winter we just might come back and revisit this area again.

A Mule-dozer...

Rolling out of Truth or Consequences it's sunny and 40ish. We are following the Rio Grande River down I25 S to Route 26 W towards Deming, New Mexico. The views along the river are gorgeous as it runs along the base of the Caballo Mountains. We are seeing traces of snow on the ground (what's that doing here???). The valley landscape is changing to farm land on our right. We are seeing large groves of trees, and we learn they are pecan trees. Unfortunately they are bare now. There are alot of the gray cranes feeding in the empty fields.

We turned onto Rte 26 W going through Hatch, New Mexico. Hatch is known for it's chilli's. Lots of places like Chilli Willi's and the Pepper Pot line the main street. Passing through the Las Uvas Valley we see huge farms. They are both dairy and chilli farms (quite a combination!). There were numerous birds sitting on the fences along the roadway. We think some of them were Yellow Warblers. There's lots of tumble weed, cactus, and yucca along the way. The Cookes Range rose up just off to our right. Their rounded tops tower over the valley floor. As we look left the small Sierra de las Uvas Range looms. These are very jagged peaks with snowy tops and are partially hidden in the haze. We stopped in Deming at the Sunrise Kitchen for a late breakfast. It was good and the Honey Oat Bran muffins were terrific.

It's still early so we move on toward Lordsburg. We are back on Interstate 10 W. Unfortunately we have to take the Interstates to get to Quartzite on the 19th. Crossing the Animas Valley there are railroad tracks running parrallel with the highway. We passed a train with 111 flat bed cars. Each car was carrying 2 and 3 freight boxes on each one.

The Arizona border is close now. We found the Mountain View Campground in our Passport America book and decided to give them a try. We pulled into the campground and no one was around. (They were closed until 4PM.). This will be an adventure - not many campers, mule tied to an old bulldozer, and the railroad tracks right beside us... beautiful mountain views though. So we selected a site that we liked. About 4ish we walked up to the office and the "old timer" at the desk greeted us. When we said we were members of Passport America he said "of course you are, that's the only way you would find us ". This is a place that has been made almost obsolete due to the interstate and larger RV resorts. It's quiet here and we watched the mountains turn pink with the sunset, then to sillouettes and finally disappear as it got dark.

We'll be here today and tomorrow. I think we will go exploring tomorrow.