What a glorious time to come back to Oregon. Before we headed north I was whining that it was going to be cold and rainy, the Arizona sunshine and warm weather thinned out my blood. Normally Spring Break is nasty for the kids, well we must have brought the sun with us, it has been amazingly gorgeous. We had some rain one night just as we were leaving the pizza parlor, we got a little wet and chilly but as I write this at 5:00 pm Sunday night it is still 63 degrees. All the flowering trees in the capitol mall were in full bloom just at their peak, daffodils and tulips have popped up.
Saturday daughter Chris and son-in-law Micah invited us to dinner at their place, Micah is quite the cook, he smoked a ham on the Traeger and made a blackberry cobbler from the berries he's picked last summer. We played part of a game of Mexican Train but we were all too tired to continue to the end.
Sunday morning Jack and Sharyl, friends from our Good Sam camping club stopped by for a visit, they left the next day for a 2 week Panama Canal cruise, if I were ever to take another cruise it would be the PC, that whole project has intrigued me since I was a kid. In the afternoon, friends, Brian & Susan, Ed & Charlotte and Carol came by for snacks and adult beverages, we had a good visit then went out for some sustenance (pizza) It was fun to get together again, B & S were our neighbors on Lone Oak and of course Seahawk ticket holders, along with Ed and Charlotte and Carol and her late husband Ed, we'd get together up in Seattle for games. Lots of fun, I do miss going to the games. Brian loaned us the Seattle papers and Sports Illustrated magazines after the Super Bowl, it was such fun reading, the Seattle paper showed the crowds at the victory parade.
We've had many doctor, dentist and CPA appointments this week. I'm in the process of lining up an auction house to hold and estate sale for us when we return in the summer. There is no sense paying storage on "stuff", we have everything we need right here. You've heard the saying "close the barn door after the horses have escaped" I had Chris meet me at the bank to become a signer on our safety deposit box. When we traded in the coach we had no way to get the title out of the box so we had to file for a lost title. Gary has been able to ride with the bike group from Scott's Cycle even though it was down to 32 degrees Saturday morning.
Thursday we celebrated daughter Leah's birthday at Christo's, Salem's best Italian restaurant. Poor Salem, they have the lousiest restaurants in the state, It was so nice traveling to cities where it was hard to decide because all the choices were so great.
Friday night was the rehearsal dinner, daughter Talena is an event planner for non-profit organizations in Bend, so putting on a spread for 50 people was all in a days work. She did a lovely job, we had a fajita bar, the caters did a great job. First Nick (the groom) made a toast to Sam, he was so eloquent, made me cry, they have been friends since middle school. Then Nick's dad gave another tear jerker toast, followed by Talena who seemed a bit weepy.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Saturday, March 15, 2014
In Salem for Nick and Sam's wedding
We were very lucky, on
our drive from Lake Havasu to Salem we had beautiful weather, no rain and some wind here and there. We left Lake Havasu heading towards Edwards Air Force Base, at the entrance the first thing we saw was a NASA airplane which brought back memories of 747's taking off from there with the shuttle piggyback. Edwards main mission is flight testing, named after Capt. Glen Edwards, who, after combat service, was a test pilot there for 5 years before crashing one of the planes near the base. Since the 50's almost all of the new military aircraft has been tested there. It is best known for Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier and the Space Shuttles landing there during inclement weather in Florida. I just about jumped out of my skin shortly after arriving here, there was a HUGE boom and until I figured out what it was I was a bit nervous. It was a small FamCamp but nicely laid out, e-z pull in for Gary. (that is always a good thing)
We left (early for us) for our drive to Santa Nella, Ca. which is best known for Anderson's split pea restaurant. The people there were very helpful, they gave us two spots to pull in diagonally and a third spot for the car. There was a geo cache across the street that we picked up, located right next to an In and Out. Gary really twisted my arm to have dinner while there, I hate to say this but I was very disappointed, the patty was very thin and Gary's French fries weren't hot. An employee came around to see "how everything was" so I told her. Gary was aghast! On PBS that night Folk music was featured including Kingston Trio and Brother's Four. It brought back memories of our youth and a concert we went to in Salem a couple of years ago, both groups were there (not the originals), but they sounded so much like them. We stayed there two nights, we were way ahead of schedule, we needed to be in Davis by the 10th. Behind the park was a canal with a road we could take Luci out off leash. We walked over 2 1/2 miles, just as we were getting close to the park, Luci found something dead and furry to roll in. Argh. We have an outside sprayer so Miss stinky Luci got a bath outside with cold water. I love traveling with dogs.
Our next stop was supposed to be Travis AFB near Sacramento so we could be close to Davis for an early morning appointment for the coach. We are still "tweeking" and we also needed to sign papers for the LaMesa in Tucson. It seems that the paperwork for out of state purchase with no sales tax was missed. Al in Tucson must have been CIA because he lured us there with a fill up. We came in on fumes to get the most diesel we could, the tank has taken us all the way to Salem. Well back to Travis, it seems if you have a pet you can only have a rig 36ft or shorter, the larger spots don't allow animals. No plan B so we had to figure out where to spend the night, we are always a bit "cranky" when we arrive in our new spot. We ended up a Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland, they advertised a RV park. Well it was just a parking lot with hook-up's, I thought to myself cheap. Ha! it was $35.00, oh well we'd have killed each other if we had to go any farther. As it turns out, Woodland is a cool town. We drove into town for dinner, found a much needed (surprise) brew pub. After dinner we wanted to pick-up a gc and stumbled upon a cool place. As I've said before geo cacheing takes you to places you would normally not go (and someplaces you don't want to go). It was called Reiff's retro Automobile and Gas station. The owner bought an ordinary ranch house in an ordinary ranch house area and decided why don't I put some gas pumps out front. The first thing we saw was an airplane crashed on the roof, a 58 Oldsmobile crashed into the garage, vintage gas tanks out front, a faux 50's diner and all kinds of memorabilia. Well we couldn't find the g.c. but decided to come back the next day with the camera and look again. We went into Historic Woodland downtown for another g.c. What a cool area, the downtown area is thriving, no empty store fronts or antique stores. We found a tricky g.c. then went back to crash. My brother called, he full-time RV'd for about 3 years before moving to Honolulu, he says he is living vicariously through my blog and had stayed at the same park on the Colorado River.
We made it to Davis Monday morning for the tweeking. It was there all day so off we went, first to Costco to spend our AMEX cash back coupon. We did go back to Reiff's, still didn't find the g.c. We had the dog with us so we had to find a dog friendly restaurant with a patio, We found the Burger Saloon, it was a nice day to sit outside we enjoyed our lunch, Gary got a sandwich with VERY hot, hot sauce (on the side). Our son-in-law Micah loves hot food, we asked if they sold bottles, they didn't but gave us a couple of to go cups. We picked up the coach about 5, a nice time to drive back to Woodland, they finished the work we needed and filled up the tank.
Tuesday we headed north on I-5. The rice paddies and ponds north of Sacramento we rain laden, filled with Canada geese and other birds. Still no rain, we drove through the Siskiyou's in beautiful sunshine. Gary is loving the diesel pusher (RV jargon) it climbed those hills with no problem. After a stop at 7 Feathers Casino for lunch hit the freeway again. We spent the night in a RV park in Eugene. One of those parks that will make the " don't go back" list. Between the trees and tight corners things got a bit tense.
Wednesday we pushed on to Salem (60 miles) Another bug popped up on the trip, an engine light came on, Gary called Freightliner, they said no emergency, so when we got to Salem we had it fixed. We took off for the day, visiting our neighbor Edie, a 92 year old ball of fire, she lived in the neighborhood when we moved in 35 years ago. You'll never has a better neighbor. Then we decided to surprise daughter Leah, she moved back to Salem from Germany a couple of weeks before we left town. She was surprised! It is amazing how much her 4 kids have grown in six months, they are ages from almost 9 (the twins) almost 7 and 5. Cute kids. We settled into HeeHee Illahee RV park in north Salem about 7 after picked up the coach.
Originally we were supposed to be in Salem the 14th, instead we arrived on the 12th. I played pinochle with friends for years, they were playing cards that night so I decided to surprise them. One of the gals had texted me to see if we were in town yet, I lied, not until Friday, then I surprised them. It was great to see them, they quit playing cards and we visited until about 10, after I went to Carols house and chatted until midnight. On my drive back to the coach it started to rain, yep we are back in Oregon.
Friday we had lot of errands to take care of, including a service on the Jeep and an informative visit to the DMV, a long story I won't get into. My girlfriend Charlotte came to the coach for happy hour then we went to dinner. What an exhaustive day! Great so see family and friends again.
It's been a wild week but had lots of fun on our journey back to Salem.
TTFN
Pam and Gary
our drive from Lake Havasu to Salem we had beautiful weather, no rain and some wind here and there. We left Lake Havasu heading towards Edwards Air Force Base, at the entrance the first thing we saw was a NASA airplane which brought back memories of 747's taking off from there with the shuttle piggyback. Edwards main mission is flight testing, named after Capt. Glen Edwards, who, after combat service, was a test pilot there for 5 years before crashing one of the planes near the base. Since the 50's almost all of the new military aircraft has been tested there. It is best known for Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier and the Space Shuttles landing there during inclement weather in Florida. I just about jumped out of my skin shortly after arriving here, there was a HUGE boom and until I figured out what it was I was a bit nervous. It was a small FamCamp but nicely laid out, e-z pull in for Gary. (that is always a good thing)
We left (early for us) for our drive to Santa Nella, Ca. which is best known for Anderson's split pea restaurant. The people there were very helpful, they gave us two spots to pull in diagonally and a third spot for the car. There was a geo cache across the street that we picked up, located right next to an In and Out. Gary really twisted my arm to have dinner while there, I hate to say this but I was very disappointed, the patty was very thin and Gary's French fries weren't hot. An employee came around to see "how everything was" so I told her. Gary was aghast! On PBS that night Folk music was featured including Kingston Trio and Brother's Four. It brought back memories of our youth and a concert we went to in Salem a couple of years ago, both groups were there (not the originals), but they sounded so much like them. We stayed there two nights, we were way ahead of schedule, we needed to be in Davis by the 10th. Behind the park was a canal with a road we could take Luci out off leash. We walked over 2 1/2 miles, just as we were getting close to the park, Luci found something dead and furry to roll in. Argh. We have an outside sprayer so Miss stinky Luci got a bath outside with cold water. I love traveling with dogs.
Our next stop was supposed to be Travis AFB near Sacramento so we could be close to Davis for an early morning appointment for the coach. We are still "tweeking" and we also needed to sign papers for the LaMesa in Tucson. It seems that the paperwork for out of state purchase with no sales tax was missed. Al in Tucson must have been CIA because he lured us there with a fill up. We came in on fumes to get the most diesel we could, the tank has taken us all the way to Salem. Well back to Travis, it seems if you have a pet you can only have a rig 36ft or shorter, the larger spots don't allow animals. No plan B so we had to figure out where to spend the night, we are always a bit "cranky" when we arrive in our new spot. We ended up a Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland, they advertised a RV park. Well it was just a parking lot with hook-up's, I thought to myself cheap. Ha! it was $35.00, oh well we'd have killed each other if we had to go any farther. As it turns out, Woodland is a cool town. We drove into town for dinner, found a much needed (surprise) brew pub. After dinner we wanted to pick-up a gc and stumbled upon a cool place. As I've said before geo cacheing takes you to places you would normally not go (and someplaces you don't want to go). It was called Reiff's retro Automobile and Gas station. The owner bought an ordinary ranch house in an ordinary ranch house area and decided why don't I put some gas pumps out front. The first thing we saw was an airplane crashed on the roof, a 58 Oldsmobile crashed into the garage, vintage gas tanks out front, a faux 50's diner and all kinds of memorabilia. Well we couldn't find the g.c. but decided to come back the next day with the camera and look again. We went into Historic Woodland downtown for another g.c. What a cool area, the downtown area is thriving, no empty store fronts or antique stores. We found a tricky g.c. then went back to crash. My brother called, he full-time RV'd for about 3 years before moving to Honolulu, he says he is living vicariously through my blog and had stayed at the same park on the Colorado River.
We made it to Davis Monday morning for the tweeking. It was there all day so off we went, first to Costco to spend our AMEX cash back coupon. We did go back to Reiff's, still didn't find the g.c. We had the dog with us so we had to find a dog friendly restaurant with a patio, We found the Burger Saloon, it was a nice day to sit outside we enjoyed our lunch, Gary got a sandwich with VERY hot, hot sauce (on the side). Our son-in-law Micah loves hot food, we asked if they sold bottles, they didn't but gave us a couple of to go cups. We picked up the coach about 5, a nice time to drive back to Woodland, they finished the work we needed and filled up the tank.
Tuesday we headed north on I-5. The rice paddies and ponds north of Sacramento we rain laden, filled with Canada geese and other birds. Still no rain, we drove through the Siskiyou's in beautiful sunshine. Gary is loving the diesel pusher (RV jargon) it climbed those hills with no problem. After a stop at 7 Feathers Casino for lunch hit the freeway again. We spent the night in a RV park in Eugene. One of those parks that will make the " don't go back" list. Between the trees and tight corners things got a bit tense.
Wednesday we pushed on to Salem (60 miles) Another bug popped up on the trip, an engine light came on, Gary called Freightliner, they said no emergency, so when we got to Salem we had it fixed. We took off for the day, visiting our neighbor Edie, a 92 year old ball of fire, she lived in the neighborhood when we moved in 35 years ago. You'll never has a better neighbor. Then we decided to surprise daughter Leah, she moved back to Salem from Germany a couple of weeks before we left town. She was surprised! It is amazing how much her 4 kids have grown in six months, they are ages from almost 9 (the twins) almost 7 and 5. Cute kids. We settled into HeeHee Illahee RV park in north Salem about 7 after picked up the coach.
Originally we were supposed to be in Salem the 14th, instead we arrived on the 12th. I played pinochle with friends for years, they were playing cards that night so I decided to surprise them. One of the gals had texted me to see if we were in town yet, I lied, not until Friday, then I surprised them. It was great to see them, they quit playing cards and we visited until about 10, after I went to Carols house and chatted until midnight. On my drive back to the coach it started to rain, yep we are back in Oregon.
Friday we had lot of errands to take care of, including a service on the Jeep and an informative visit to the DMV, a long story I won't get into. My girlfriend Charlotte came to the coach for happy hour then we went to dinner. What an exhaustive day! Great so see family and friends again.
It's been a wild week but had lots of fun on our journey back to Salem.
TTFN
Pam and Gary
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Heading North
Hi Everyone,
We can't believe it, it's been six months since we left Salem, we put over 4700 miles on the Pace Arrow and 677 miles on the new coach. I don't even want to know how much gas we've put in them. Now we are on our way back to Salem for Nick and Sam's wedding on March 22nd.
Sunday March 2nd we left Ehrenberg for Lake Havasu City, just a short drive of 88 miles, we enjoyed the lovely spot by the river at Colorado River Oasis but there was absolutely nothing to do in the area unless you have a boat. We did some geo cacheing in Blythe, you could call Blythe the arm pit of California but that would insult arm pits everywhere. There was a very old cemetery across from the RV park, a memorial to immigrants that traveled through there and were buried in unknown graves. We finally found some cactus in bloom, it has taken us about 4 or 5 trips down to the desert to see flowers in bloom, this was our first time. On the way up to Lake Havasu there were several state parks, I'm sure they will get very busy soon. Spring break is a mecca for students, I've heard tales about the crowds and their antics, fortunately we are just a little ahead of the fray. When we first got to the RV park we took Luci to the desert area adjoining the park. She had a great time running up and down the hills and of course rolling in the sand. A fellow and his dog were out there at the same time, he warned us about coyotes in the area. At night you could hear them howling. Our next door neighbor's dog greeted us as we pulled in, a huge great dane. They are such sweet dogs but the size is a bit intimidating. The people across the street, Rick and Cynthia from Michigan, have the same motor home as we do, they bought it in December. They researched what they wanted to buy and where to buy, sold everything, packed a U-Haul and headed to Texas where they bought it sight unseen. Scary! We spent happy hour with them comparing notes, they started full-time RVing in December.
Lake Havasu is the reservoir from Parker Dam on the Colorado River down the road towards Ehernberg about 25 miles. In 1963 a very rich industrialist, Robert McCulloch bought an Army Air Corps landing strip, some 3500 acres then added another 13,000 acres turn the area into a vacation destination. In 1968 he bought the London Bridge which was sinking into the Thames River. He had it taken apart stone by stone, numbered and rebuilt it in Lake Havasu. He had a canal dug across the peninsula making and island to place the bridge on. I've always wanted to come here, I was not disappointed! You can rent anything from a paddle board to pontoon boats to have run on the water. Next time. Lake Havasu has more lighthouses than any other city in America, 24, they are 1/3 scale replicas that actually function as navigational aids. Surprisingly I have a number of the Harbour Lights versions of many of them. Anyone want to buy a lighthouse?
Monday we went to London to see the queen, no I mean we went to see the London Bridge. It is amazing, looks like it's been there forever, I heard that you can see some scars from WWII, we didn't take a tour so we missed them. Had lunch at a brew pub on the island overlooking the channel then took a walk down to the lake. What a nice park on both sides of the channel with boats of all kinds heading out to the lake. We did find a geo caches on a light post on the bridge on the way back to the car.
Tuesday we took Luci to the dog park at the channel park. There were two Neufoundland hounds in the park, they don't move too fast on land. Then we took her swimming, she had a great time chasing sticks in the water. Afterward the 3 of us went to another brew pub for lunch, the patio area was huge, must have had 25 tables, two couples came in shortly after. Then!!! Two obese men came and sat down right beside us, remember probably 22 other tables were available, and chain smoked. To top it of, one of the guys starts a phone conversation.! They are two heart attacks waiting to happen. When we got back to the park I went to the pool, the first time on this trip. It was heaven.
Wednesday morning we cleaned in preparation for our move. We drove around the island to see some of the lighthouses, most of them you need a boat to see. Picked up a couple of geo caches while we were at it. We had been to two brew pubs for lunch so we had to go to the third one in the area. Our favorite, I skip the beer but the food is always good. (almost anyway) Luci had to stay behind, they are not dog friendly.
Thursday morning we packed up and headed out of Arizona, we'd been there since mid-January. We stopped at a couple of rest areas in California to geo cache, one was a "first to find" which means it had just been hidden. We are spending the night at Edwards Air Force base which is east of Bakersfield. Will be here just overnight, it's a little chilly, I think tomorrow long pants will be in order, the first time since we left Texas.
Enjoy the pictures, we'll see some of you next week.
TTFN,
Pam and Gary
Monument in cemetery in Ehrenberg
Blooms on a prickly pear cactus in cemetery
Blooms on a cholla
Sunset on the Colorado River
Me at Barley Bros. brew pub overlooking bridge
Me on a paddle board
Lighthouse at Channel park
Our space at Ehrenberg
London Bridge looking toward island
We can't believe it, it's been six months since we left Salem, we put over 4700 miles on the Pace Arrow and 677 miles on the new coach. I don't even want to know how much gas we've put in them. Now we are on our way back to Salem for Nick and Sam's wedding on March 22nd.
Sunday March 2nd we left Ehrenberg for Lake Havasu City, just a short drive of 88 miles, we enjoyed the lovely spot by the river at Colorado River Oasis but there was absolutely nothing to do in the area unless you have a boat. We did some geo cacheing in Blythe, you could call Blythe the arm pit of California but that would insult arm pits everywhere. There was a very old cemetery across from the RV park, a memorial to immigrants that traveled through there and were buried in unknown graves. We finally found some cactus in bloom, it has taken us about 4 or 5 trips down to the desert to see flowers in bloom, this was our first time. On the way up to Lake Havasu there were several state parks, I'm sure they will get very busy soon. Spring break is a mecca for students, I've heard tales about the crowds and their antics, fortunately we are just a little ahead of the fray. When we first got to the RV park we took Luci to the desert area adjoining the park. She had a great time running up and down the hills and of course rolling in the sand. A fellow and his dog were out there at the same time, he warned us about coyotes in the area. At night you could hear them howling. Our next door neighbor's dog greeted us as we pulled in, a huge great dane. They are such sweet dogs but the size is a bit intimidating. The people across the street, Rick and Cynthia from Michigan, have the same motor home as we do, they bought it in December. They researched what they wanted to buy and where to buy, sold everything, packed a U-Haul and headed to Texas where they bought it sight unseen. Scary! We spent happy hour with them comparing notes, they started full-time RVing in December.
Lake Havasu is the reservoir from Parker Dam on the Colorado River down the road towards Ehernberg about 25 miles. In 1963 a very rich industrialist, Robert McCulloch bought an Army Air Corps landing strip, some 3500 acres then added another 13,000 acres turn the area into a vacation destination. In 1968 he bought the London Bridge which was sinking into the Thames River. He had it taken apart stone by stone, numbered and rebuilt it in Lake Havasu. He had a canal dug across the peninsula making and island to place the bridge on. I've always wanted to come here, I was not disappointed! You can rent anything from a paddle board to pontoon boats to have run on the water. Next time. Lake Havasu has more lighthouses than any other city in America, 24, they are 1/3 scale replicas that actually function as navigational aids. Surprisingly I have a number of the Harbour Lights versions of many of them. Anyone want to buy a lighthouse?
Monday we went to London to see the queen, no I mean we went to see the London Bridge. It is amazing, looks like it's been there forever, I heard that you can see some scars from WWII, we didn't take a tour so we missed them. Had lunch at a brew pub on the island overlooking the channel then took a walk down to the lake. What a nice park on both sides of the channel with boats of all kinds heading out to the lake. We did find a geo caches on a light post on the bridge on the way back to the car.
Tuesday we took Luci to the dog park at the channel park. There were two Neufoundland hounds in the park, they don't move too fast on land. Then we took her swimming, she had a great time chasing sticks in the water. Afterward the 3 of us went to another brew pub for lunch, the patio area was huge, must have had 25 tables, two couples came in shortly after. Then!!! Two obese men came and sat down right beside us, remember probably 22 other tables were available, and chain smoked. To top it of, one of the guys starts a phone conversation.! They are two heart attacks waiting to happen. When we got back to the park I went to the pool, the first time on this trip. It was heaven.
Wednesday morning we cleaned in preparation for our move. We drove around the island to see some of the lighthouses, most of them you need a boat to see. Picked up a couple of geo caches while we were at it. We had been to two brew pubs for lunch so we had to go to the third one in the area. Our favorite, I skip the beer but the food is always good. (almost anyway) Luci had to stay behind, they are not dog friendly.
Thursday morning we packed up and headed out of Arizona, we'd been there since mid-January. We stopped at a couple of rest areas in California to geo cache, one was a "first to find" which means it had just been hidden. We are spending the night at Edwards Air Force base which is east of Bakersfield. Will be here just overnight, it's a little chilly, I think tomorrow long pants will be in order, the first time since we left Texas.
Enjoy the pictures, we'll see some of you next week.
TTFN,
Pam and Gary
Monument in cemetery in Ehrenberg
Our space at Ehrenberg London Bridge looking toward islandThursday, February 27, 2014
Phoenix
We've just settled in at Colorado River Oasis RV Resort on the Colorado River at Eherenberg Arizona, just off I-10 heading towards Los Angeles.
For those of you who asked I've included a picture of our new home, am still trying to find where I put things. You'd think it would be easy in about 500 sq. ft. Not. I still don't recognize it when coming back from a walk, I notice my car before the MH.
Phoenix as many, many dry rivers, the great thing is most of them have paved multi-use trails running along side. We found a string of geo caches along the New River, the minimum space between caches is .10 mile, we found 7 along the New River making it about a mile and a half walk. Luci enjoys every minute of our geo cacheing. We put a tracker on her when we were in Ft. Sam Houston, she walks half again as much as us. The RV Resort has a little café, Fat Freddies, so we stopped for lunch before going back to the coach. Signs on the wall say "never trust a skinny cook", we never saw Fat Freddie so don't know for sure if he is plump. My baby sister Laurie came to dinner, I fixed BBQ'd lamb chops (for the first time ever) that turned out perfect. She's been sick with the "crud" for a couple of weeks.
Lauri made an appointment for me with her hairdresser, it was in Chandler, clear across metro Phoenix, I asked her how long it would take to get there, an HOUR, changing freeways 3 times. The salon was quite large, the stylists were all private contractors, it was fun to be in that atmosphere again, you'll find all kinds of "looks" on them, from purple hair with tattoo's all over to conservative. Candyce was fairly conservative. The hair cut is nice, a little shorter than usual but "it'll grow". Gary drove me, (thank goodness) while I was getting my hair cut he surprised me by getting the car washed. Lauri had told us about a brew pub in the area that was supposedly the "best in the world" so off we went. It was "OK" but by far not the world's best. We called Gary's much older sister to wish her a happy birthday. They are getting ready to drive Route 66 in their 50's something Mercury with another couple, they are planning to be gone 6-8 weeks.
As you know Phoenix is a mecca for baseball spring training. We decided to go to Surprise Civic Center to pick up another string of geo caches, thinking Saturday would be a good day no one would be around. Wrong, right next to the Civic Center was a huge park, including a dog park. We did take Luci in for a while. As we walked around we ran into the stadium where the Royals and the Rangers play their games, talk about bad timing. We really had to be in our stealth mode so no one would "muggle" the cache. We picked up 15 caches, atleast these were in a circle so we didn't have to retrace our steps. When we got back to the park we rode our bikes around, bonanza, I found a park model home giving away oranges and grapefruit. They were pretty good except for the seeds.
Sunday we went to church service in the park. When we got back I changed our itinerary, to shorten the miles we have to take to Salem, originally we were going to be in Yuma but now we are slowly making our way north up the Colorado River then across to I-5, We should be in town by the 14th if all goes on plan. We had Lunch with Lauri at the Rockbottom brewery, there are several in the western states. It was good, Lauri was starting to feel better but still not eating much.
Monday we cleaned the new coach for the first time. I was a little "ticked" that the dealership hadn't cleaned to excess glue off the tiles. Later we went out to the White Trunk Mountains to do a hike. We took the waterfall trail, only about 2 miles in and out, of course there was no waterfall but the rock formations were beautiful. We had dinner with Lauri and Alyssa, my niece, at Richardson's, a New Mexican cuisine restaurant. Delish, double delish! The best guacamole I've ever eaten. It had been two years since I saw the two of them in San Diego for Lauri's 50th BD with our older sister Judy who lives in east San Diego county. After dinner we went to see the house she is buying, built in 1958 mostly re-done, it's really cute. Of course it has a pool.
Tuesday we realized time was running short to see and do the things we'd wanted to do (same old story) First thing I did was call to wish our granddaughter Alyssa a happy birthday. I can't believe 25 years ago we spent the night at the hospital awaiting our first grand child's arrival. We enjoy playing mini-golf, on our way to dinner last night we spotted a large amusement park with a mini golf course. After lunch we left to play golf, I won by 2 strokes but it was quite a close match. Gary and I both had a "hole in one" and another we both stopped counting at 10 strokes. The weather has been so beautiful everyday we've been here and this day was perfect. After our competitive game of golf we went to the Desert Botanical garden, truly an oasis in the middle of a huge city, a must see for every visitor to Phoenix. Like the park in Tucson, you would never know you're surrounded. The park is exclusively for the arid plants and people of the Sonoran Desert. I love the desert, raised on the Oregon coast that seems odd, but especially the rugged mountains and the saguaro cactus. We were especially lucky, Dale Chihuly, a northwest glass blowing artist had sculptures all through the garden. We walked through the trails in the afternoon then after another beautiful Arizona sunset we walked through again to see the sculptures lighted. My question is how did they put them in the hard arid ground? Some look like spikes or poles with no visible holder.
We left Phoenix Thursday morning for Ehrenberg Az, right on the Colorado River. The manager must have liked us, she put us in a space that backs up to the river for the same price as the smaller spaces away from the river. We have a grassy area that runs down to the beach. Are we lucky or what? We're going to be here for three nights before heading up to Lake Havasu.
Enjoy the pictures, I got a little carried away selecting them.
TTFN
Gary and Pam
Gary reading to Luci
Sister Lauri and niece Alyssa
Our new home
Mini golf course
Gary lining up for a shot
Me celebrating my hole in one
Gary celebrating his hole in one
One of the Chihuly sculptures at Botanical Garden
Moon cactus
Sun dial in park, can you see what time it is?
Hut of the O'odham people
Another Chihuly sculpture in boat in pond
Starting to see cactus in bloom
Raven on top of a saguaro
Old Man of the Andes cactus
Sunset at the Botanical Gardens
Gary and Luci, happy hour, her with a stick, Gary with a drink
For those of you who asked I've included a picture of our new home, am still trying to find where I put things. You'd think it would be easy in about 500 sq. ft. Not. I still don't recognize it when coming back from a walk, I notice my car before the MH.
Phoenix as many, many dry rivers, the great thing is most of them have paved multi-use trails running along side. We found a string of geo caches along the New River, the minimum space between caches is .10 mile, we found 7 along the New River making it about a mile and a half walk. Luci enjoys every minute of our geo cacheing. We put a tracker on her when we were in Ft. Sam Houston, she walks half again as much as us. The RV Resort has a little café, Fat Freddies, so we stopped for lunch before going back to the coach. Signs on the wall say "never trust a skinny cook", we never saw Fat Freddie so don't know for sure if he is plump. My baby sister Laurie came to dinner, I fixed BBQ'd lamb chops (for the first time ever) that turned out perfect. She's been sick with the "crud" for a couple of weeks.
Lauri made an appointment for me with her hairdresser, it was in Chandler, clear across metro Phoenix, I asked her how long it would take to get there, an HOUR, changing freeways 3 times. The salon was quite large, the stylists were all private contractors, it was fun to be in that atmosphere again, you'll find all kinds of "looks" on them, from purple hair with tattoo's all over to conservative. Candyce was fairly conservative. The hair cut is nice, a little shorter than usual but "it'll grow". Gary drove me, (thank goodness) while I was getting my hair cut he surprised me by getting the car washed. Lauri had told us about a brew pub in the area that was supposedly the "best in the world" so off we went. It was "OK" but by far not the world's best. We called Gary's much older sister to wish her a happy birthday. They are getting ready to drive Route 66 in their 50's something Mercury with another couple, they are planning to be gone 6-8 weeks.
As you know Phoenix is a mecca for baseball spring training. We decided to go to Surprise Civic Center to pick up another string of geo caches, thinking Saturday would be a good day no one would be around. Wrong, right next to the Civic Center was a huge park, including a dog park. We did take Luci in for a while. As we walked around we ran into the stadium where the Royals and the Rangers play their games, talk about bad timing. We really had to be in our stealth mode so no one would "muggle" the cache. We picked up 15 caches, atleast these were in a circle so we didn't have to retrace our steps. When we got back to the park we rode our bikes around, bonanza, I found a park model home giving away oranges and grapefruit. They were pretty good except for the seeds.
Sunday we went to church service in the park. When we got back I changed our itinerary, to shorten the miles we have to take to Salem, originally we were going to be in Yuma but now we are slowly making our way north up the Colorado River then across to I-5, We should be in town by the 14th if all goes on plan. We had Lunch with Lauri at the Rockbottom brewery, there are several in the western states. It was good, Lauri was starting to feel better but still not eating much.
Monday we cleaned the new coach for the first time. I was a little "ticked" that the dealership hadn't cleaned to excess glue off the tiles. Later we went out to the White Trunk Mountains to do a hike. We took the waterfall trail, only about 2 miles in and out, of course there was no waterfall but the rock formations were beautiful. We had dinner with Lauri and Alyssa, my niece, at Richardson's, a New Mexican cuisine restaurant. Delish, double delish! The best guacamole I've ever eaten. It had been two years since I saw the two of them in San Diego for Lauri's 50th BD with our older sister Judy who lives in east San Diego county. After dinner we went to see the house she is buying, built in 1958 mostly re-done, it's really cute. Of course it has a pool.
Tuesday we realized time was running short to see and do the things we'd wanted to do (same old story) First thing I did was call to wish our granddaughter Alyssa a happy birthday. I can't believe 25 years ago we spent the night at the hospital awaiting our first grand child's arrival. We enjoy playing mini-golf, on our way to dinner last night we spotted a large amusement park with a mini golf course. After lunch we left to play golf, I won by 2 strokes but it was quite a close match. Gary and I both had a "hole in one" and another we both stopped counting at 10 strokes. The weather has been so beautiful everyday we've been here and this day was perfect. After our competitive game of golf we went to the Desert Botanical garden, truly an oasis in the middle of a huge city, a must see for every visitor to Phoenix. Like the park in Tucson, you would never know you're surrounded. The park is exclusively for the arid plants and people of the Sonoran Desert. I love the desert, raised on the Oregon coast that seems odd, but especially the rugged mountains and the saguaro cactus. We were especially lucky, Dale Chihuly, a northwest glass blowing artist had sculptures all through the garden. We walked through the trails in the afternoon then after another beautiful Arizona sunset we walked through again to see the sculptures lighted. My question is how did they put them in the hard arid ground? Some look like spikes or poles with no visible holder.
We left Phoenix Thursday morning for Ehrenberg Az, right on the Colorado River. The manager must have liked us, she put us in a space that backs up to the river for the same price as the smaller spaces away from the river. We have a grassy area that runs down to the beach. Are we lucky or what? We're going to be here for three nights before heading up to Lake Havasu.
Enjoy the pictures, I got a little carried away selecting them.
TTFN
Gary and Pam
Gary reading to Luci
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Free lunch
Our month plus here in Tucson has just flown by, seems like all of a sudden we have so many things we would like to see and do before we leave for Phoenix.
First of all, let me tell you there is no free lunch. A couple of weeks ago we went to two RV dealerships just to "look", we were surprised no salesmen chased us down. I guess we weren't dressed well enough. Then the following week we heard about a free BBQ lunch at LaMesa RV so we thought "why not" no one pays attention to us. The lunch was "delish" perfectly prepared BBQ'd chicken with salads and a homemade cookie. On our way out we made the fatal decision to go way in the back to look at the used motorhomes. I guess we dressed well enough, two salesmen in a golf cart came along to give us a ride. Our Rockport friends will understand, we pulled a Bob and Sharon. At the end of the day we ended up purchasing a new 40 ft Discovery diesel, with a washer and dryer. Now I'm going to miss the camaraderie at the Laundromat. (NOT). So remember there is no free lunch.
After our little trip down to LaMesa RV we resumed our exploration of Tucson while waiting to take delivery of the new, as yet unnamed coach. We took Luci down to Michael Perry Park, bike and walking trail along the dry Pantano River, we've done a couple of other sections before, it is just a delightful walk. We picked up several geo caches along the way adding to our total of finds. On the way back to base we stopped at a small car show at a Baptist church parking. Cool cars and my fav, a '56 T Bird, when I win the lottery that will be my first purchase. We had happy hour with our neighbors, Sam and Sigi from Olympia, Wa. Luci especially likes Sigi, she gives her treats. They have two long hair orange kitties, George and Tommy, every now and then one escapes. We will miss them, they are leaving for Bisbee tomorrow.
Several miles outside of Tucson there is a mountainside cave, Colossal Cave, discovered in the 1880's. Gary took the tour while I took care of Luci, good excuse, caves are not my favorite. According to the tour guide, bank robbers hid out in the cave while the posse waited at the entrance not knowing there was another exit. The robbers made out with the loot while the posse waited outside the cave for three weeks. In 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps enlarged the entrance and built a large rock building for tours. After, we had a picnic in a nice grove of different kinds of trees, very picturesque. On our way to the cave we passed an old cemetery, decided to turn around and check it out. We also picked up a g.c. We have new neighbors, Dana (retired AF pilot) and Candy from Colorado, a fun couple to share happy hour with. We invited them and couple beside them for champage Friday night to toast our new home.
Moving day has arrived, we emptied as much of the basement as we could to leave on our spot at the base to lighten the move. We took Luci to day camp for the day to keep her out of our hair. After a two hour "walk thru" we started moving. Whew, what a job, not only the work but deciding where to put everything was a challenge. We worked on it all day, then spent the night on the lot. I had to go clear across town to pick Luci up and be back by 6. We needed some "tweaking" in the morning. It was a little strange being on the lot after everyone had gone home and locked the gate. Our "celebration" was scheduled for Friday at 4, followed by a Valentine's party at the base.
Friday, while they were futzing with the coach we went out to Catalina State Park northwest of Tucson in the Catalina mountains. I'd like to stay here sometime, they were all booked up because of the Gem and Rock show. There are several trails, we chose one that took us up to the Romero Ruins dating back to 500 AD, it still amazes me how they know these things. We picked up the coach to take it back to base but didn't get back Valentine's Day until about 5, so we missed our own party. Dana and Candy came over but Tom and Mary had to leave. We toasted the coach then were getting ready to go to the party. It was the wrong day, the party was the 12th. So we had dinner with Dana and Candy in their Airstream trailer. I hadn't had lamb chops for years and Gary didn't remember ever eating them, they were "delish".
We had to take the coach back to the dealership for some more "tweaking", had to leave base by 8:30, thank goodness for reveille to get us up and about. After we dropped it off we went up to Sentinel Peak park, known as the "A" mountain. In 1915 an engineering student at the UofA decided to put the rocks in a large A, every year since students repaint the rocks white. We climbed to the summit, what a view of the Tucson area. We picked up a geo cache then rearranged the rocks into an "O" and painted it yellow. We can't go back there again.
Our last day in Tucson started early, we wanted to switch the satellite system. They changed out the "dome" style for our dish, it works better for multiple TV's. (We have 3, one is outside) We took Luci and went out to Kitts Peak Observatory about an hour west of Tucson. The road takes you from the desert floor to 6800 plus feet in twelve miles. The Tohono Indians leased several thousand acres to the National Optic National Observatory. There were two tours available, I took the tour into the 2.5 meter telescope and Gary took both including the 4 meter telescope. I wish I could remember how many tons they weigh. There are 24 telescopes on the mountain peak. While Gary was on his tour, Luci and I walked down to the solar telescope. There were two eyepieces, one showed sun spots and the other shows the flares, several times large than the earth, there was a poster on the wall that showed earth compared to the flares, again how do they know these things? On our way home we picked up the coach and said goodbye to LaMesa RV, it seemed like that was our second home, we'd spent so much time there.
Wednesday Feb. 19th we left Tucson for Phoenix to visit my baby sister. It's only about a two hour drive to Paradise RV Resort located in Sun (Sin) City. We were settled in by lunchtime. A very large park with mostly park models. Seems a bit cramped after being on Davis-Mothen for over a month. So far we are not impressed, there is a dog area, we assumed just for pottying, but no we walked around the park and got yelled at for having a dog out of the area. Other than that, it has a lovely pool, tennis courts, shuffleboard, woodshop, sewing room etc. There are many planned activities, we noticed they have Pegs and Jokers once a week. Lauri made an appointment for me to get a hair cut with her hairdresser, it's pretty scary walking in to a salon without a referral.
TTFN
Gary and Pam
Old graveyard outside Tucson
Entrance to Colossal Cave
Stalagmites in cave
Cool saguaro
View of cave entrance from picnic area
2.5 meter observatory
Inside 2.5 observatory
Several of observatories on Kitts Peak
Inside 4 meter observatory
First of all, let me tell you there is no free lunch. A couple of weeks ago we went to two RV dealerships just to "look", we were surprised no salesmen chased us down. I guess we weren't dressed well enough. Then the following week we heard about a free BBQ lunch at LaMesa RV so we thought "why not" no one pays attention to us. The lunch was "delish" perfectly prepared BBQ'd chicken with salads and a homemade cookie. On our way out we made the fatal decision to go way in the back to look at the used motorhomes. I guess we dressed well enough, two salesmen in a golf cart came along to give us a ride. Our Rockport friends will understand, we pulled a Bob and Sharon. At the end of the day we ended up purchasing a new 40 ft Discovery diesel, with a washer and dryer. Now I'm going to miss the camaraderie at the Laundromat. (NOT). So remember there is no free lunch.
After our little trip down to LaMesa RV we resumed our exploration of Tucson while waiting to take delivery of the new, as yet unnamed coach. We took Luci down to Michael Perry Park, bike and walking trail along the dry Pantano River, we've done a couple of other sections before, it is just a delightful walk. We picked up several geo caches along the way adding to our total of finds. On the way back to base we stopped at a small car show at a Baptist church parking. Cool cars and my fav, a '56 T Bird, when I win the lottery that will be my first purchase. We had happy hour with our neighbors, Sam and Sigi from Olympia, Wa. Luci especially likes Sigi, she gives her treats. They have two long hair orange kitties, George and Tommy, every now and then one escapes. We will miss them, they are leaving for Bisbee tomorrow.
Several miles outside of Tucson there is a mountainside cave, Colossal Cave, discovered in the 1880's. Gary took the tour while I took care of Luci, good excuse, caves are not my favorite. According to the tour guide, bank robbers hid out in the cave while the posse waited at the entrance not knowing there was another exit. The robbers made out with the loot while the posse waited outside the cave for three weeks. In 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps enlarged the entrance and built a large rock building for tours. After, we had a picnic in a nice grove of different kinds of trees, very picturesque. On our way to the cave we passed an old cemetery, decided to turn around and check it out. We also picked up a g.c. We have new neighbors, Dana (retired AF pilot) and Candy from Colorado, a fun couple to share happy hour with. We invited them and couple beside them for champage Friday night to toast our new home.
Moving day has arrived, we emptied as much of the basement as we could to leave on our spot at the base to lighten the move. We took Luci to day camp for the day to keep her out of our hair. After a two hour "walk thru" we started moving. Whew, what a job, not only the work but deciding where to put everything was a challenge. We worked on it all day, then spent the night on the lot. I had to go clear across town to pick Luci up and be back by 6. We needed some "tweaking" in the morning. It was a little strange being on the lot after everyone had gone home and locked the gate. Our "celebration" was scheduled for Friday at 4, followed by a Valentine's party at the base.
Friday, while they were futzing with the coach we went out to Catalina State Park northwest of Tucson in the Catalina mountains. I'd like to stay here sometime, they were all booked up because of the Gem and Rock show. There are several trails, we chose one that took us up to the Romero Ruins dating back to 500 AD, it still amazes me how they know these things. We picked up the coach to take it back to base but didn't get back Valentine's Day until about 5, so we missed our own party. Dana and Candy came over but Tom and Mary had to leave. We toasted the coach then were getting ready to go to the party. It was the wrong day, the party was the 12th. So we had dinner with Dana and Candy in their Airstream trailer. I hadn't had lamb chops for years and Gary didn't remember ever eating them, they were "delish".
We had to take the coach back to the dealership for some more "tweaking", had to leave base by 8:30, thank goodness for reveille to get us up and about. After we dropped it off we went up to Sentinel Peak park, known as the "A" mountain. In 1915 an engineering student at the UofA decided to put the rocks in a large A, every year since students repaint the rocks white. We climbed to the summit, what a view of the Tucson area. We picked up a geo cache then rearranged the rocks into an "O" and painted it yellow. We can't go back there again.
Our last day in Tucson started early, we wanted to switch the satellite system. They changed out the "dome" style for our dish, it works better for multiple TV's. (We have 3, one is outside) We took Luci and went out to Kitts Peak Observatory about an hour west of Tucson. The road takes you from the desert floor to 6800 plus feet in twelve miles. The Tohono Indians leased several thousand acres to the National Optic National Observatory. There were two tours available, I took the tour into the 2.5 meter telescope and Gary took both including the 4 meter telescope. I wish I could remember how many tons they weigh. There are 24 telescopes on the mountain peak. While Gary was on his tour, Luci and I walked down to the solar telescope. There were two eyepieces, one showed sun spots and the other shows the flares, several times large than the earth, there was a poster on the wall that showed earth compared to the flares, again how do they know these things? On our way home we picked up the coach and said goodbye to LaMesa RV, it seemed like that was our second home, we'd spent so much time there.
Wednesday Feb. 19th we left Tucson for Phoenix to visit my baby sister. It's only about a two hour drive to Paradise RV Resort located in Sun (Sin) City. We were settled in by lunchtime. A very large park with mostly park models. Seems a bit cramped after being on Davis-Mothen for over a month. So far we are not impressed, there is a dog area, we assumed just for pottying, but no we walked around the park and got yelled at for having a dog out of the area. Other than that, it has a lovely pool, tennis courts, shuffleboard, woodshop, sewing room etc. There are many planned activities, we noticed they have Pegs and Jokers once a week. Lauri made an appointment for me to get a hair cut with her hairdresser, it's pretty scary walking in to a salon without a referral.
TTFN
Gary and Pam
Old graveyard outside Tucson
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Operator error
My technical skills are just amazing! I'm always hitting the wrong button and things go astray. Atleast this time I'd saved my blog.
Lastly, I wanted to tell you about David-Mothan AFB, it was established in 1925, named after two generals, Davis and Mothan, imagine that. After WWII they started to mothball planes and aerospace vehicles from all branches of the armed forces here. DM was chosen because of the arid climate. There are over 4500 planes on 2650 acres. The planes are from 747 size down to small helicopters and everything in between. We are so blessed to be able to stay at military base rv parks, they are safe, secure, clean and well kept and very affordable. The RV park here is quite large with two areas for overflow. They don't take reservations here so if all the spaces are full you go to overflow. Since the Gem show is going on some nights there are 30-40 rigs in overflow but they say it just takes 3 or 4 days to get a permanent spot. Besides storage here at MD they train pilots, it is so fun to watch the A-10's (Gary says they are fighters) fly over in formation then split apart, either diving or go straight up. The C-130's (cargo planes) fly very low over the park, they are a 4 engine propeller plane, reminds me of WWII movies. 7am is reveille, some mornings it gets me out of bed and some days I manage to sleep through. At 6pm there are colors followed by the National Anthem. Everything stops, if they are driving, the airmen get out of their cars and salute. God bless our military.
TTFN
Pam and Gary An A-10 flying over the base
A Saguaro amongst a dead tree
We saw this avid recycler downtown Tucson
Barrell cactus, always lean to the south west
We call this fuzzy cactus
Fountain at Tohono Chul Park
Another gorgeous sunset
Some of the mothball fleet
After the big win, balloons on the mirror
Exhibits at Mini Time Machine museum
Top heavy house
Dogs playing poker
Lastly, I wanted to tell you about David-Mothan AFB, it was established in 1925, named after two generals, Davis and Mothan, imagine that. After WWII they started to mothball planes and aerospace vehicles from all branches of the armed forces here. DM was chosen because of the arid climate. There are over 4500 planes on 2650 acres. The planes are from 747 size down to small helicopters and everything in between. We are so blessed to be able to stay at military base rv parks, they are safe, secure, clean and well kept and very affordable. The RV park here is quite large with two areas for overflow. They don't take reservations here so if all the spaces are full you go to overflow. Since the Gem show is going on some nights there are 30-40 rigs in overflow but they say it just takes 3 or 4 days to get a permanent spot. Besides storage here at MD they train pilots, it is so fun to watch the A-10's (Gary says they are fighters) fly over in formation then split apart, either diving or go straight up. The C-130's (cargo planes) fly very low over the park, they are a 4 engine propeller plane, reminds me of WWII movies. 7am is reveille, some mornings it gets me out of bed and some days I manage to sleep through. At 6pm there are colors followed by the National Anthem. Everything stops, if they are driving, the airmen get out of their cars and salute. God bless our military.
TTFN
Pam and Gary An A-10 flying over the base
Davis-Mothan AFB
First of all let me say "THE SEAHAWKS WON THE SUPER BOWL" Who'd a thunk it? What a fun game for Seahawk fans. We went to Alj's Tavern the little local bar we have stopped at a few times, they are so friendly "Norm" comes to mind. We were outnumbered by Bronco fans, at first they teased us, apologizing for beating Seattle. Well the foot was on the other shoe! After it was apparent we were going to win they started high-fiving us. Lots and lots of free food. Gary almost won the football pool for one quarter but Peyton scored a TD just as time ran out. Bummer. We brought the Seahawk balloons home, we tied them to our mirrors. At any rate the win was a long time coming, poor Seahawk fans have been through thick and thin over 40 years.
Monday, Feb. 3rd, the start of our sixth month on the road. Time has just flown, neither one of us are ready to go back to Salem. Gary and Larry took a nice long bike ride, Tucson has some amazing bike trails. There is a pedestrian/bike overpass that looks like a rattlesnake, Gary said when you go through it the tail rattles. I think I'll pass. After he got back the three of us walked several miles along the Patano River trail, the river is dry as all of them seem to be.
Thursday, Feb. 6th, we took Luci to doggie day camp, we headed out for Tohono Chul Park, it is a desert preserve that educates visitor to Tucson about the arid land, native species and SW traditions. The park must have been out in the country when it first opened but now the city has grown all around, you would never know, the trails take you down so all you can see is desert scape. We had a nice picnic along one of the trails.
Friday, Feb. 7th we went to the Mini Time Machine Museum, named because from room to room it transports you from the 1700's to present. The miniatures, most of them in houses, are amazing, what talent and creativity. In my case, I'd never be a miniature artist, my hands are too clumsy. We went to lunch at Thunder Canyon Brewer, when we were there with Dan and Charlene, Dan ordered the Mt. Olympus salad, it looked so good I had to have it. Yum Yum Yum. After lunch we met Larry over at the Rock and Gem Show to pick up a bike. We went through several tents, there are probably over 40 venues all over Tucson, there were rocks from all over the world plus tables and tables and tables of beads. One geode, cut lengthwise was put in a metal sculpture that looked like a butterfly about 4 feet tall, the price was over $15,000. Who would have thought that rocks were that expensive. We also saw a petrified log cut to be a table top. just gorgeous. We just heard tonight that Larry and Nancy were in a nasty car wreck in Phoenix that totaled their van. Nancy spent the night in the hospital, she is fine but is sore all over. They were going to spend more time down in Az but now they are going to rent a car and go home. Atleast it was at the end of their vacation not the start.
Monday, Feb. 3rd, the start of our sixth month on the road. Time has just flown, neither one of us are ready to go back to Salem. Gary and Larry took a nice long bike ride, Tucson has some amazing bike trails. There is a pedestrian/bike overpass that looks like a rattlesnake, Gary said when you go through it the tail rattles. I think I'll pass. After he got back the three of us walked several miles along the Patano River trail, the river is dry as all of them seem to be.
Thursday, Feb. 6th, we took Luci to doggie day camp, we headed out for Tohono Chul Park, it is a desert preserve that educates visitor to Tucson about the arid land, native species and SW traditions. The park must have been out in the country when it first opened but now the city has grown all around, you would never know, the trails take you down so all you can see is desert scape. We had a nice picnic along one of the trails.
Friday, Feb. 7th we went to the Mini Time Machine Museum, named because from room to room it transports you from the 1700's to present. The miniatures, most of them in houses, are amazing, what talent and creativity. In my case, I'd never be a miniature artist, my hands are too clumsy. We went to lunch at Thunder Canyon Brewer, when we were there with Dan and Charlene, Dan ordered the Mt. Olympus salad, it looked so good I had to have it. Yum Yum Yum. After lunch we met Larry over at the Rock and Gem Show to pick up a bike. We went through several tents, there are probably over 40 venues all over Tucson, there were rocks from all over the world plus tables and tables and tables of beads. One geode, cut lengthwise was put in a metal sculpture that looked like a butterfly about 4 feet tall, the price was over $15,000. Who would have thought that rocks were that expensive. We also saw a petrified log cut to be a table top. just gorgeous. We just heard tonight that Larry and Nancy were in a nasty car wreck in Phoenix that totaled their van. Nancy spent the night in the hospital, she is fine but is sore all over. They were going to spend more time down in Az but now they are going to rent a car and go home. Atleast it was at the end of their vacation not the start.
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