Hmmm

I don't know what magic button I hit that publishes before I finish!!!

Wednesday we started the morning (about 9) in the pool for about an hour.  I had a hair appointment with my sister's hairdresser, she'd cut my hair last time we were in Phoenix and did such a great job we planned our first stop north here to get a trim.  We'd planned to have dinner with sis but one of her kids needed some help so she had to cancel.  We made a trip to Costco and then dinner. (you guessed it at another brew pub)

We leave for the Flagstaff area on Friday, the elevation is 7000 feet which will be much cooler plus there is a storm coming in with rain expected.  I hope the jeans still fit.

TTFN

Gary and Pam                  
                                          The Thunderbirds

                                          Inside the cargo plane with half of Tucson

                                         Parachutist started the show

                                          One of the Thunderbirds taxiing

                                         Taking off

                                          C-130 flying low over FamCamp

                                          Blooming saguaro in camp

                                          Tram at top of Sabino Canyon

                                          Just before our walk down

                                         Do you see Snoopy laying down?

                                             Sabino Creek

    

                                         Humming bird atop blooming unknown plant

                                         Plant growing out of rocks

                                         Beautiful granite along creek

                                          Watch out for green snakes too

                                         Pair of ducks looking for handout

                                         Swimming hole

                                          I did not take this picture

                                         Abundance of Bear Grass

                                         Hillside full of saguaro some in bloom

Prickly pear in bloom at camp

Tucson and Mesa

I can't believe how overdue I am getting my blog out, no excuses.

Davis-Monthan AFB has a bi-annual air show that is free to everyone, a two day event showcasing the Thunderbirds.  Saturday Gary caught the bus in front of FamCamp to go to the other side of the base to the air show.  I stayed behind to catch up on "things", I'd decided to go on Sunday when it was supposed to be a little cooler.  This gave Gary time to digest all things aeronautical.  As it turned out the Thunderbirds were canceled because of wind.  Sunday we both went first to see the planes exhibited then to watch the show.  I wanted to go inside one of the very very large cargo planes, so did half of Tucson, the back was open, I only got halfway in and claustrophobia set in.  Enough of that. We rented some chairs and found a shady spot, the show started out with parachutists and civilian stunt planes followed by an amazing example of what the pilots in the Air Force can do.  The noise at times was deafening, it made you jump at times.  The temperature was around 90 with some wind but not enough to cancel the Thunderbirds.  This was both of our first air show, Amazing.

Monday we took the coach to LaMesa RV at 8:00am for a list of things that needed to be tweeked. We didn't know how long it would take, hours or a couple of days, we took Luci to doggie day care, we needed some Mommy and Daddy time.  We first went to Reid Park to look for some elusive geo caches, we'd been there before and between too many muggles around and incompetence couldn't find a couple of them.  Eureka!!  We found them.  I don't know why we couldn't find them the first or second time.  After lunch at our favorite brew pub we ran some errands.  I needed to replace a couple of pieces on the quilt I was working on, we went back to the quilt store that I'd purchased the fabric at, it had gone out of business in the month or so since I'd been there.  We googled quilt stores in Tucson, found a really wonderful shop and was able to find three fat quarters that I like so much better.    We got a call that we could pick up the coach at 4:00, yea all done. 

Wednesday we had lunch with Jay and Sandy, friends from our Good Sam local camping club. They have been full-time R-Vers for 25 years, first Jay was working heavy construction then retired.  We really appreciate all the help they have been mentoring us.  Seemingly there is much to learn.

Thursday we played mini-golf in the morning, temperatures were expected to be in the 90's.  The first 9 I  won by three strokes then fell apart in the last nine, Gary whomped me.  Next to the mini golf was a "western town" with cute shops, restaurants and some rides.  The only thing open was an expensive restaurant, we'd like to go back and check it out when everything is open.

Saturday morning we went to Lincoln Regional Park for some geo cacheing, we ended up walking about 2 miles and picked up 4 gc.  Way in the back we were able to let Luci off leash, she had a great time chasing lizards.

Easter Sunday we went to the chapel on base followed by an excellent brunch at the base club.  It was one of the best brunches ever!  Spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping off the champagne.

Monday we went to Sabino Canyon, a desert oasis in the Santa Catalina mountains, the panoramic views were spectacular, one rock formation looked like Snoopy laying on his back.  You can ride a tram up the canyon, there are nine stops along the way, you can get on and off at any time.  We rode to the top then walk down.  We stopped at Sabino Creek for a picnic lunch, there was a swimming hole and much needed shade.  Two ducks walked right up to us expecting a bite.  With the temperatures expected to be in the mid-90's it was starting to get hot.  After seeing a bright green snake cross the road I whimped out, we caught the tram back at stop 3.  We had lunch at (you guessed it) another brew pub.  Spent the rest of the day planning the next leg of our trip up to Utah.

Tuesday we made the turn north, we drove all the way to Mesa, 100 plus miles.  We are staying at the Good Life RV resort, and we've been making the most of it.  There is a great dog park that Luci loves, anytime you take her out for a walk she heads that direction, lots of dogs to play with.  It's been hot (mid 90's), she comes back pooped. To beat the heat we've spent a lot of time at the pools.

Back to Tucson 4/4 - -4/11

We said our good-byes to Judy and Bob, I miss them already.  We had a relatively short drive to Pilot Knob in Winterhaven, Ca., just across the Colorado River from Yuma.  On the drive down the mountain and across the desert we went from 4140 ft. to sea level.  Saw many border patrol vehicles along the way.  We arrived before noon, some sort of record for us.  Pilot Knob is an older park, getting a little "long in the tooth" but not too bad.

Saturday we went over to Uncle Byron and Aunt Ruth's place, Byron looks awfully good for 91 and is still as sharp as a tack.  They have two dogs, Sadie and Sophia and a cat Sylvester.  Poor Luci, she is wary of cats, shortly after arriving, with no provocation, Sylvester attacked her, chasing her from the kitchen to the living room.  Later Sadie took umbrage to her and attacked.  Poor baby, atleast Sophia likes her.    Ruth has a lovely quilting studio so I took the fabrics for Patti's graduation quilt with me to get started on it.  I managed to get it all cut out including a quick trip to the quilt store, the name of the shop is Grandma Jo's, my mom went by that name after she became a grandma, for another piece of fabric.  Since it was Ruth's birthday we picked up some delicious fish and chips from a nearby bar and grill.  Yumm.  Uncle Byron doesn't like to leave the  house, he has macular degeneration and it's hard for him to get around.  Ruth had baked her own birthday cake so we had that for dessert.

Sunday, the twins turned 9 today, many of you will remember when they were born.  Time sure goes by fast.  I went to quilt at Byron and Ruth's, Gary and Luci stayed home.  I made great progress, feeling like I'll finish it before we leave.  The people in the space next to us have a very popular bird feeder.  It attracts finches, some of them had red heads, natural just like mine.  Sometimes there will be 7 plus birds on it at the same time.  One of the birds in "our" tree makes a call that sounds like "neener neener".  Almost sounds Al.

Monday I quilted most of the day at Ruth's, am disappointed how one of the fabrics looks so I won't be finishing it here, I need to buy a piece that blends better.    After dinner at the coach we took a walk to see the glorious sunset.  We met a couple from Seattle that have been full-timing for 25 years.  She kept giving Luci treats against our wishes. 

Tuesday Luci barfed from the treats, she was just listless all day, about 2 we decided to take her to a vet.  After $200 they diagnosed her with acid reflux, I could have given her a Prilosec.  Carol and Al, Gary's sister and brother-in-law with another couple, Steve and Pam are making their way to Chicago to drive Route 66 back to Santa Monica with their classic cars.  They were there when we arrived.  I BBQ'd chicken in a beer can and had made an asparagus salad.  We had a pretty good feast with all the food Ruth, Carol and the other Pam prepared.  The temperature reached 98 degrees today but after the sun went down it was quite pleasant, we ate outside and visited for quite a while.  Luci "perked" up and was soon tearing around the yard with Sophia.  The Marine Corps must have been doing training, Blackhawk helicopters kept flying over.

Wednesday we started the day early with a walk in the desert, we picked up 5 geo caches, our total is now 1900!  We made the decision to take the coach back to Tucson for some warranty work, we've tried to have the work done in other locations, they're all too busy.  It changed our itinerary to Tucson and north to the Cottonwood area where Luke AFB in Phoenix has their RV park.  Yuma reached 99 today, I'm ready to leave for Northern Arizona.

Thursday morning I went with Ruth to her quilt guild meeting, instead of a speaker they had 4 members doing demos, Ruth did a Spider Web quilt block that is a great way of using up your scraps.  The other 3 ladies were demo'ing arts and craft projects.  For dinner Ruth made chicken enchilada's that were delish.  We "ate and ran", we headed home.  100 degree days tend to sap your energy.  We said our good-byes, will see them again next year.  We sat outside and watched TV, that is so fun, I can hardly wait for football season (for a long of reasons).

Those silly finches!  They keep trying to get into our coach, they hang on the screen and sing to us.  We headed off to Tucson Friday very early to beat the heat, we didn't make much progress though, two miles down the road we stopped at a casino for breakfast then had to fill the coach, it took 85 gallons, the most we've ever had to put in, but the last time we filled up was in Santa Nella. Ca. so we didn't feel too bad.
                                       
                                          Look closely for the birds.

 

                                             
                                          Steve with his 56 Chevy

                                          Carol and Al with their Mercury ( I forgot what year)

                                         The group sitting outside after dinner, R to L, Carol, Al, Uncle Byron, Aunt
                                         Ruth, Steve and me

                                         Cool dead tree we saw while geo cacheing (love those mountains)

                                          Ocotillo struggling to bloom

As we drove into Tucson we kept seeing jets doing maneuvers.  We pulled into Davis -Mothen AFB to find out there will be an air show here Saturday and Sunday, free to everyone.  We can catch a shuttle right outside the RV park.  How lucky!  Again we enjoyed the warm evening, watching TV outside.

We'll be in Tucson just long enough to take care of the little "bugs" in the coach, then will make the turn to head north.  Very slowly.

TTFN

Gary and Pam

??? again

View across bay

                                          View from our spot at Fiddler's Cove

                                          The Coronado Pedestrian Ferry

                                          Waiting to go

                                          USS Midway

                                          Caught a sailor in the shower room

                                         The saddest sailor ever in the brig

                                          The chapel

                                         I hate A-6's  long story
                                          The bridge

                                         33 ft statue of WWII famous kiss

                                          USS Coronado  a stealth ship

                                         Good year blimp, opening day  for Padres

                                         Entrance to Fiddler's Cove our coach to the left

                                          Statue/fountain at Birch Aquarium

                                         A Weedy Sea Dragon

                                         The Kelp Garden

                                          Seals on Beach at La Jolla

Sorry about the goof's, sometimes (?) the computer is smarter than me.

???

I'm not sure what button I hit this time.

We arrived in San Diego as scheduled on the 27th.  Crossing the Coronado Bridge was an experience, the guard rails appeared to be just those movable barriers you see in work areas along the freeway, the coach was so tall I couldn't see any barriers at all, the bridge is quite tall to allow Navy ships to pass under.  Fiddler's Cove is the Navy RV and Marina located along the Silver Strand.  We are on the bay side of the highway and the state park is on the ocean side.  They have a very strict rule, no check-ins until 2:00,  since we hit the road before the break of dawn we got there about 10:30.  We were shoo'd out to the outer parking lot until 2.  Still can't figure that one out, it's not like they have to change sheets and clean the bathroom.  The dog park was out in the parking lot so we took a "cooped-up" Luci out to run.   We met Molly, a young golden retriever and her people Barney and Sheila (from Riverside, Ca).  That still gave me time for a much needed nap.  Gary woke me up at 2:00 so we could check in.  Our spot is right on the water, we would have liked to have pulled straight in but the hook-ups were on the left and our cords etc were not long enough to stretch to the other side.  There is a great multi-use trail that runs all along the highway from Imperial Beach to Coronado that has a string of geo caches along the way, we picked up 5 the first day.  Across the road is Navy property where they train Navy Seals.  After dark we started hearing gun shots and helicopters.  We found out it is "hell week", supposedly they train 19 hours a day.

Friday we took the Coronado pedestrian ferry across the bay to San Diego to visit the Midway, now a museum ship on the waterfront.  (where else?)  The Midway, an aircraft carrier, was commissioned a week after the end of WWII.  At the time it was the biggest ship in the world, it was even too big to go through the Panama Canal, it served 47 years, being decommissioned after the end of Operation Desert Storm. We walked the waterfront a while then decided we should get back to let Luci out.  When we got to my Jeep, there was a note on the windshield.  A person had scraped my car, she was nice enough to leave a note with her phone number.    For dinner we went to an Irish Pub in San Diego (near the airport) with Barney and Sheila, they have been coming to Fiddler's Cover for years, they only live a couple of hours away.  The food and company were great.  We ended the evening here in our coach for nightcaps, when the coach started to rock we decided we'd had enough. It was the 5.1 earthquake that hit LA and we felt it clear down here.  The "war" across the highway was raging again, no wonder the Seals are so tough, the training must be "hell".

Saturday our arduous trip must have caught up with us, we hung around the RV park most of the day, we did go for a bike ride into Coronado picking up caches along the way.  Later in the evening we drove to North Island Air base to check out where the commissary and exchange were.

Sunday we went to Dog Beach, the furthest north you can go before running into the naval base property.  Luci went psycho, sensory overload Gary said.  She chased balls into the surf never seeming to get tired, she reminded me of a kid on a sugar high.  Gary finally had to take her off the beach.

Monday we had errands to run, we needed to get an estimate on the repair to my bumper, run to the post office and go to the base for groceries.  Gary bought a Chief's decal to put on the windshield and a license plate holder that says Chief Petty Officer.

I woke up this morning to pouring rain and wind, I just rolled over and put the covers over my head.  It had been forecast so it was no surprise and was short lived.  We went to Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography UCSD in La Jolla later in the morning.  A visit there engages kids and adults alike educating about the environment and the diversity of underwater creatures.  I learned that the female sea horse deposits her eggs in the males abdomen, he then carries and delivers the babies.  As it should be!  We had lunch at a brew pub in downtown Coronado afterwards walked down to the waterfront.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.

Coronado Island, California

We left Monday 3/24, we had reservations on Coronado Island starting the 27th.  After a trip to the local DMV  (it took about an hour) to physically show them the Vin number we were on our way.  The weather was beautiful, we took the sun to Oregon and now we're taking it back with us.  Our goal was to make it to Anderson, Ca., south of Redding, to spend the night for free in a Wal-Mart parking lot, we made it by 7:00.  We woke up to find one of Wal-Marts brightest parked right in front of the coach.  I was afraid we would have to disconnect, back up and then go around him but Gary was able to maneuver around the car.  When we pulled out of Anderson it had just started to sprinkle, it turned to a pretty heavy rain for about an hour.  So much for the sun we  were taking with us.  Tuesday 3/25, we arrived in Santa Nella about 3:00, in time to take Luci for a long walk down the canal road.  We'd stayed there on the way up, it was a nice place and not too expensive. The next morning we hit the road by 9:00 with Santa Clarita as our goal, another Wal-mart.  We chose Santa Clarita because it was at the base of the Grapevine so we could hit LA freeways at a reasonable time, we had been told between 10 & 12 was a good time.  We asked if we could stay the night, one person said yes, another said to check with security. We picked up 7 geo caches in the parking lot of the shopping center.  We checked the prices of RV parks in the area just in case we had to leave, they ran from $50.00 to $75.00.  We never saw the security guy so wen went to dinner at a BBQ restaurant in the parking lot.  Yum!  What a miserable night, we didn't open any slides, it was a bit cozy so we went to bed early.  I was fast asleep at 10:00 when Gary woke me up saying he wasn't comfortable staying there, he was thinking about hitting the road.  Then he went to sleep and I was wide awake.  I think we took turns sleeping, finally hitting the road at 5:00, he said we could beat the morning traffic.  HA! It took us 2 harrowing hours to get to a rest area across from Camp Pendleton where we ate breakfast. Whew glad to get out of LA