Wednesday, March 12
Los Barriles to Laz Paz A short driving day. We are all wondering why we are spending two days in a city when we could be on a beach. Dorothy will try for a haircut, we will buy a few groceries and rest until we leave. Quite warm here, we turned on the ac for the first time. Also the first time we have had 30amp service. It was 92 at 6pm
Thursday, March 13
We spent the day doing laundry, shopping for groceries and chatting. We had a pool party and potluck dinner. We did not realize it but we needed a lay day.
Friday, March 14
La Paz to Cuidad Constitucion – A one night stop in an almost American style CG. Pull-thru’s, pool, and allegedly wi-fi. It also has roosters that crow!
How does Dorothy do it? At home or on the road, she fills a trash can every day. We don’t eat trash can full of food in a week, so how can there be so much trash?
What I have learned in Mexico. The people are one heck of a lot more friendly than American’s. They support and respect their families, communities, schools and their country. They are especially proud of and protective of their children. The children are very well mannered. There are no kids throwing tantrums here.
The roads are narrow in Baja, not so on the mainland I am told. You deal with a lot of dust, which comes from being in a desert and not having everything paved.
Saturday, March 15
Cuidad Constitucion to El Requeson Back on the beach - this time a sand spit between the coast and an island. The Sea of Cortez is stunning. The waters turn azure blue when the sun is high.
We drove on our own today, taking it easy. We left two hours before the group and arrived an hour before they did. This leg may be the most scenic of Mexico 1. Much of it is through a wide valley.
Sunday, March 16
After lazing around awhile, we put the yaks in and paddled around. When we got back ashore, five LD’s from a south bound caravan stopped by to see us. Then Norm and Jerri joined us for a few hours of catching up. We made loose plans to hook up with them at a rodeo in Idaho later in the year.
Tonight we are co-hosting a hot dog dinner, turkey dogs as that is all they sell in Mexico. We have not seen a turkey, so they may or may not contain turkey. The south central group is hosting margarita’s, on our last night on the beach.
It’s hard to believe we will be in San Diego in four days.
Monday, March 17
El Requeson to Guerrero Negro We left with the group. At the Pemex only one pump was open and it turned into a cluster f**k. We motored on solo to the next Pemex about two hours up the road. We drove slow and easy all day and got to the CG only 10 minutes ahead of the crowd. It was not a good day in the caravan judging that two rigs lost their steps on rocks.
There were lots of tents that mushroomed in El Requeson overnight and we saw muchas! southbound natives headed to the beaches for Easter. Easter is a big deal holiday here, a two week vacation. The southbound four wheels were traveling way over the speed limit and this section of Mex 1 seems more narrow than some other sections.
Tuesday, March 18
Guerrero Negro to Catavina Only a four drive and we did it solo. We like this CG more than most we have been in. Perhaps it’s only because it is a change of scenery? It’s in the low mountains and the landscape is covered with large boulders. At 2,100, it is higher enough to condense the Pacific moisture, so things are green. The RV’s are circled around the large trees and appetizers, drinks and dinner are in the middle of the circle.
Wednesday, March 19
Catavina to Ensenada The caravan was broken into two groups for the long ride today to save time at gas stops. The CG was nice to look at, tended flowers, on the water, nice building exteriors, etc. But the electric voltage was as usual, high. Good thing we have not needed electricity.
Thursday, March 20
Ensenada to Chula Vista We waited until 11:30 to leave as the wagon master experience was that mid-afternoon was the best time to cross. Perhaps it is, still we waited an hour and 20 minutes to cross the border. Four hours to drive 58 miles.
I put the step out for customs to step aboard. When he stepped out, I stayed inside and leaving the step extended, so Dorothy could rip it off as we exited the border.
For the first time since Cabo we have water pressure and just the right voltage. We both enjoyed taking soft water showers lathering up several times. The simple pleasures. The trip was good and it is equally good to be back in the US.
Friday, March 21
On our daughters birthday, we drove the Silver Strand and took the Coronado bridge across the bay to San Diego. This is one swell bridge - very high. In the last few years I have developed a phobia about high bridges and over-passes. The speed limit on the bridge is 55. No one observes it. Neither did I. I drove 40 white knuckling the steering wheel and not looking over the side of the bridge.
Tomorrow, we will do laundry and perhaps drive to Mission Bay for a lookie-lookie. Sunday, we move to near Los Angles so we can have the LD to the factory bright and early Monday morning. We will spend the week in motels and “do” some museums in LA. We expect to be there the whole week. I will update the blog when we get back on the adventure trail.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
To Cabo and now headed north
Tuesday, March 4
We drove the Jeep to San Javier, 30 km up a decent dirt road. The attraction was a good drive in the low mountains and to see the oldest mission in Baja. On the way back I drove the Jeep into a stream and gave it bath. When we got back to town, the car wash open, but the ice cream place was closed.
Wednesday, March 5
Loreto to La Paz This was a long day. Too long a drive for one day. We left early, 7:15 and arrived at 3:45. By getting there early, we were able to get a great campsite on the beach with some space from the main group. We had 3 other around us, but the sand dunes are so tall, you can’t see anything but the beach. The group left at 9 and arrived at 5. But they sped, 55-60, while we did not get over 48. We stopped at a real grocery store in Ciudad Constitution and bought $50 of food. We are on a beach called Playa Telcoyte - another great beach on the Sea of Cortez. As we drove through La Paz, it looked like any tourist town. I suppose Cabo will be worse.
Thursday, March 6
I was asleep by 8 last night. I drifted off to tunes on the MP3 player. I was dead tired and slept until 7 this morning.
The water is flat so we will put the yaks in later. Some of the group are taking a boat trip to a marine sanctuary, sea lions, sea caves, etc. Seen all that so, we are going to be lazy and enjoy the stunning beach and likely take a nap.
The wind came up, in a flash, at 8:30. That cancelled boating for the day. We took the Jeep over a 4WD drive road to a point for some pictures. Then I drove it on the beach and about got it stuck and the tide was coming in. Lunch and nap followed by slothfulness. Muchas! Delightful
It’s a treat to watch the brown pelicans dive for fish. Dorothy noticed dozens of them high overhead enjoying the breeze.
At 4PM, the air temperature is 76.
It’s difficult to tell if structures here are going up or falling down. Construction seems to take forever and buildings are abandoned in place. I don’t think we have seen a building that did not have rebar sticking out. Someone said it had something to do with taxes. Don’t know.
Friday, March 7
La Paz to Cabo A remarkable drive until we reached the cape. The final section was through the driest desert we have ever seen. Miles of plants with no leaves. We are in an almost American style RV park overlooking the water. Full hookups, except the voltage is 133v, so we are happy running on solar.
Saturday, March 8
We took the glass bottom boat tour. The fish were not much, but the scenery of the capes was magnificent. Not wanting to eat in touristy San Luca, we drove over to San Jose with Tom and Sherry and found a delightful restaurant. The road to San Jose has the Hilton, Westin, etc. and a Mercedes dealership. It is the westernized city of Baja.
Sunday, March 9
We got away early and put the yaks in water and paddled out to the same place we went in power-boats yesterday. We wanted to see the arches on our terms. After paddling around for awhile, we beached the boats. Well maybe beached is not the correct word. I paddled as fast as I could on a wave and was 30 feet short of the beach when the wave dove and I rolled over. The only loss was a pair of nail trimmers. Dorothy made it a lot further and was caught by a side wave. Two young men “saved us” and got us and our gear up on the beach. We spent an hour watching the waves and the people before heading back - mainly due to our forgetting to put on sun screen. The young men, who called Dorothy “Mama”, helped both of us by getting us beyond the crashing surf. Banditos my ass. Everyone we have met here has been most gracious. We really can’t say enough about the Mexican people. We will be back and won’t need a caravan as we feel extremely comfortable.
Just for fun, we went to three big box retailers, Wal-Mart, Costco and Home Depot. There is a Sam’s, but we don’t have a membership. At each store there were lots of shoppers with full baskets. Cabo is the only city in Baja we have seen with American big box stores.
The standard of living is lower in Mexico, no question about it. But, we see happy faces everywhere. As we contemplate traveling in an RV with $4-a-gallon gas looming, a global recession perhaps on the horizon, massive collective debt, and a psychological mood of retrenchment, perhaps half the country will need to scale back a notch or two — but from a level of existing privilege and affluence that is simply staggering. Happiness does not come from material things. Perhaps Americans could be happier with less?
Monday, March 10
Cabo to Los Barriles A short driving day. We are halfway between Cabo and La Paz on the gulf side. There are boo-coo norte americano’s homes here. Mostly are hidden from the road and can be seen only from the water, unless you take a Jeep down a rutted road to a punta and look back. Access is by long dirt roads only.
The CG is one of the best we have been to in Baja. It is still be developed, by a Spaniard and his son. They have as much heavy equipment s most road construction crews, The electricity is only 130v, so we can use it. It just cuts off and on a lot, even in the middle of night.
Tuesday, March 11
Most of the group took ATV’s up an arroyo and swam in hot spring pools. Not a bad idea. We decided to drive the east cape road. Which was not so good an idea. While most of it was paved, too much of it was washboard. There are plenty of americano’s homes are off the road. No way we would consider such a place. There were precious few vistas to the beach and no beach access until we got to end. The attraction we were seeking was a national park, which turned out to a marine reserve, i.e. the water, but not the shore. The drive was saved by eating a delicious lunch “at the end of the road”.
Back at the CG, we had a pleasurable shower, Talipa with mango sauce for dinner, while the group goes into town to eat.
We drove the Jeep to San Javier, 30 km up a decent dirt road. The attraction was a good drive in the low mountains and to see the oldest mission in Baja. On the way back I drove the Jeep into a stream and gave it bath. When we got back to town, the car wash open, but the ice cream place was closed.
Wednesday, March 5
Loreto to La Paz This was a long day. Too long a drive for one day. We left early, 7:15 and arrived at 3:45. By getting there early, we were able to get a great campsite on the beach with some space from the main group. We had 3 other around us, but the sand dunes are so tall, you can’t see anything but the beach. The group left at 9 and arrived at 5. But they sped, 55-60, while we did not get over 48. We stopped at a real grocery store in Ciudad Constitution and bought $50 of food. We are on a beach called Playa Telcoyte - another great beach on the Sea of Cortez. As we drove through La Paz, it looked like any tourist town. I suppose Cabo will be worse.
Thursday, March 6
I was asleep by 8 last night. I drifted off to tunes on the MP3 player. I was dead tired and slept until 7 this morning.
The water is flat so we will put the yaks in later. Some of the group are taking a boat trip to a marine sanctuary, sea lions, sea caves, etc. Seen all that so, we are going to be lazy and enjoy the stunning beach and likely take a nap.
The wind came up, in a flash, at 8:30. That cancelled boating for the day. We took the Jeep over a 4WD drive road to a point for some pictures. Then I drove it on the beach and about got it stuck and the tide was coming in. Lunch and nap followed by slothfulness. Muchas! Delightful
It’s a treat to watch the brown pelicans dive for fish. Dorothy noticed dozens of them high overhead enjoying the breeze.
At 4PM, the air temperature is 76.
It’s difficult to tell if structures here are going up or falling down. Construction seems to take forever and buildings are abandoned in place. I don’t think we have seen a building that did not have rebar sticking out. Someone said it had something to do with taxes. Don’t know.
Friday, March 7
La Paz to Cabo A remarkable drive until we reached the cape. The final section was through the driest desert we have ever seen. Miles of plants with no leaves. We are in an almost American style RV park overlooking the water. Full hookups, except the voltage is 133v, so we are happy running on solar.
Saturday, March 8
We took the glass bottom boat tour. The fish were not much, but the scenery of the capes was magnificent. Not wanting to eat in touristy San Luca, we drove over to San Jose with Tom and Sherry and found a delightful restaurant. The road to San Jose has the Hilton, Westin, etc. and a Mercedes dealership. It is the westernized city of Baja.
Sunday, March 9
We got away early and put the yaks in water and paddled out to the same place we went in power-boats yesterday. We wanted to see the arches on our terms. After paddling around for awhile, we beached the boats. Well maybe beached is not the correct word. I paddled as fast as I could on a wave and was 30 feet short of the beach when the wave dove and I rolled over. The only loss was a pair of nail trimmers. Dorothy made it a lot further and was caught by a side wave. Two young men “saved us” and got us and our gear up on the beach. We spent an hour watching the waves and the people before heading back - mainly due to our forgetting to put on sun screen. The young men, who called Dorothy “Mama”, helped both of us by getting us beyond the crashing surf. Banditos my ass. Everyone we have met here has been most gracious. We really can’t say enough about the Mexican people. We will be back and won’t need a caravan as we feel extremely comfortable.
Just for fun, we went to three big box retailers, Wal-Mart, Costco and Home Depot. There is a Sam’s, but we don’t have a membership. At each store there were lots of shoppers with full baskets. Cabo is the only city in Baja we have seen with American big box stores.
The standard of living is lower in Mexico, no question about it. But, we see happy faces everywhere. As we contemplate traveling in an RV with $4-a-gallon gas looming, a global recession perhaps on the horizon, massive collective debt, and a psychological mood of retrenchment, perhaps half the country will need to scale back a notch or two — but from a level of existing privilege and affluence that is simply staggering. Happiness does not come from material things. Perhaps Americans could be happier with less?
Headed back north now
Monday, March 10
Cabo to Los Barriles A short driving day. We are halfway between Cabo and La Paz on the gulf side. There are boo-coo norte americano’s homes here. Mostly are hidden from the road and can be seen only from the water, unless you take a Jeep down a rutted road to a punta and look back. Access is by long dirt roads only.
The CG is one of the best we have been to in Baja. It is still be developed, by a Spaniard and his son. They have as much heavy equipment s most road construction crews, The electricity is only 130v, so we can use it. It just cuts off and on a lot, even in the middle of night.
Tuesday, March 11
Most of the group took ATV’s up an arroyo and swam in hot spring pools. Not a bad idea. We decided to drive the east cape road. Which was not so good an idea. While most of it was paved, too much of it was washboard. There are plenty of americano’s homes are off the road. No way we would consider such a place. There were precious few vistas to the beach and no beach access until we got to end. The attraction we were seeking was a national park, which turned out to a marine reserve, i.e. the water, but not the shore. The drive was saved by eating a delicious lunch “at the end of the road”.
Back at the CG, we had a pleasurable shower, Talipa with mango sauce for dinner, while the group goes into town to eat.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
San Diego to Loreto, Baja Sur
Sunday, February 17, 2008
San Diego! We have been headed this way for weeks, today we made the final jump from the mountains to the shore. We had very little traffic in the city, Sunday we guess.
We plan to go to the zoo and the USS Midway and drive up to La Jolla if we have time.
We leave for Baja Friday morning. No phone for a month. Internet from time-to-time. We will think of you.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Today we drove to LaJolla, doing the tourist thing. I even got a haircut, but it isn’t the best one that I have had.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
At long last (more than 40 years) we visited the San Diego Zoo. Dorothy was there when her father was a in the Navy and she was a little girl and Don was there when he was a young man in the Navy. As you can image, it has changed. We spent four hours walking around and looking at animals we did not know existed and probably saw about half of the zoo. There are some beautiful birds that we both enjoyed. Also we got to see two snow leopards that were having lunch, which was pretty exciting. The current main feature of the zoo is the baby panda that is just a couple of months old. There is a two year old panda that was very active. The baby sleeps 20 hours a day and mama sleeps 12 hours a day and eats bamboo the other 12. It was her naptime.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
We discovered that we did not understand the Baja schedule. We have orientation Friday and leave Saturday. We are somewhat disappointed because we are so ready to get to Baja. Tomorrow is another free day and hopefully we will do more sightseeing. When you travel as we do, then mundane chores are a must. Today was that day. We went to Wal-Mart, Costco and Albertson, came home and had lunch and then had four loads of laundry to do. Doesn’t that sound like fun! Don replaced some of the keys that were lost or mislaid in Florida.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
We parked the car for our Midway visit at a memorial to Bob Hope entertaining the troops. Also there was an extremely large statue of a WW II sailor kissing a nurse, called Total Surrender. It made me think of my parents. We spent the day touring the USS Midway. It was a real treat for us. The carrier is a generation older than the one I was on. I don’t recall ducking so much on the Connie, but after 43 years my memory is dim. I wanted Dorothy to experience how big a carrier really is. She finally “got” how difficult landing a plane really is when a naval aviator explained it to her on the flight deck.
Another carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan #76, was in port. I was especially excited about that. I don’t know if it was because I remember the Reagan years so well, because we had seen a special on the Reagan on TV or because a fellow Windmill sailor, Will Bransom, served on her or all three. As Don is taking pictures, a former America’s Cup boat sailed in front of the Regan. Totally great day!
Friday, February 22, 2008
This was orientation day. We endured a 2.5 hour talk about what to expect in Baja. We all went out to dinner together at a Chinese buffet, where the food was surprisingly good. Don went back four times and never touched the Chinese food.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
We got away at 9:30 and arrived in Ensenada at 12:15. At several places the view of the surf is as good as it gets. There are precious few turnouts and none big enough to accommodate 15 rigs. So we missed getting any good pictures. The price of traveling in a group.
After lunch and waiting around, we went to immigration office to get our papers and found that the office closed at 2. The guide says he has plan B.
We all went into town and all wound up in Hussan’s Bar. We did not like the margaritas, so we went next door to get some fish tacos. We then walked a few blocks and got back to the CG by 5, finding that most of the others were already back. The band at the Cantina across the street played until 4:30 am.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Ensenda to San Quintin We have left the popular area and entered Baja. We camped on the beach. The beach is like Port St. Joe, FL, but a whole lot better. There is nothing but beach for miles. The dogs had a ball. We drove the Jeep five miles down the beach enjoying the square waves breaking. We picked up a few rocks. Back at the CG, we had a margarita party. It’s still a cool at night, but hopefully that will improve further south.
Monday, February 25, 2008
San Quintin to Catavina is an enjoyable drive from the coast through low mountains in a high desert environment. Peak elevation was 2,200. Catavina is about 1,800’ in area of big granite boulders. We have never seen so many types of cactus in one place. Puts Big Bend to third class. Tremendous saguaro, forests of boojum, four types of cholla.
Our CG is a former government camping facility. No hookups, but well laid out. After settling in, we went for a ride with fellow LDer’s, Ron & Mary Tribbett from CA, into the desert at places we had seen coming in. It was fantastic, cactus of all types, rocks, pools of water. Baja has had lots of rain this year so the cacti are gorgeous.
A word about our traveling companions – the group is about our age, only one couple not retired, a few older, educated, and a few travel as much as we do. They are quite enjoyable to be around. I guess because it’s a Lazy Daze group and all have dry camped before, we don’t have generators running all the time.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Catavina to Bahia de los Angeles
The wagon masters say it will keep getting better and so far they are right. We crossed the low central mountains, 2,500 feet, to the Sea Of Cortez. Most of the drive was through unremarkable landscape like Arizona. We got to a valley filled with flowers, whites, yellows and purples. The wagon masters have been coming for six years and they have never seen the desert so green.
When we got near Bahia de los Angeles the view of he harbor had us slack jawed. Azul water. What a place to sail. And there is not a single yacht, power or sail, in the harbor.
We had some fine scallops and too much food for lunch, which is the main meal here. Then we had steak and too much food for dinner. Neither of us slept well from too much food.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The water was flat when we woke up at 6,so we had coffee, put the yaks in the water and paddled about two miles across the bahia to the lighthouse. Don walked the beach. Dorothy was chicken to get of the boat after nearly falling in the first time.
Remember the keys that we had to replace for the Jeep, for $182? Well, as I was getting dressed to go ‘yaking’ I felt something in my pocket – yep, it was the keys. Don’t know how they got there, but I didn’t do it and Don does wear my slacks!
We toured the “town” with Ron and Mary, took a nap, had a big lunch, went to the museum and watched a Nat Geo Imax movie, in DVD format, that was shot here. We then took another siesta.
Tomorrow we find out if we will be fined, jailed or what for not immigrating last Sunday.
I bought a small bottle “Vivo Villa” which is some kind of licor at 48 proof. Tastes pretty good from the bottle.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Bahia de los Angeles to Guerreo Negro. An uneventful drive through unremarkable terrain, a la southern Arizona. Our purpose here is take a whale watch in the morning and then head south. As much as we have seen of the city, it did not inspire us to tour it. It looks much like a border town, trashy. Our RV park is a has been, over-priced, but full hookups. Almost no water pressure. Back on Mountain Time.
On the way down, we stopped at the village of Jesus Maria and dropped off some school and medical supplies.
We have been illegal since Tuesday, but we got legal today without any problems. How was it done? I don’t know. The wagon masters took our passports, went to the Migration station and then returned our passports. Interesting, here you can cross into Mexico without any questions and later declare you are a tourist. If you stay less than 72 hours, you don’t need to do anything.
We have been waved through three military checkpoints where all they might check for are guns and drugs. Importing drugs to Mexico from the north? Oh well. It’s hoot to see a manned and armed sand-bagged position before you get to each checkpoint. I guess it gives the young men something to do while in service.
There is a border crossing from north Baja to south Baja. They are inspecting and confiscating fruit and then for $2 (mandatory), they spray the underside of your vehicle for fruit bugs.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Guerreo Negro to St Ignacio This is an oasis the desert. The Jesuits planted date palms and built a swell mission for 1.5 million pesos that’s still being used after 300 years. We bought some delicious date bread. One of the couples, George and Betty, celebrated their 11th anniversary and 44 years of marriage by hosting a margarita party.
The town was celebrating the 14th anniversary of their elementary school. Maybe that does not sound like a big deal to you, but it was to them. All the kids were dressed in school uniforms, all the officials were on a long podium and the town folk and a few tourista’s were watching from the shade of the oak trees.
The presentation of the flag and singing of the national anthem was poignant. All saluted and all sang. I have seen nothing like it in the US for too long. Respect for country, community and school. BTW, the kids were not figiditing and no one looked bored.
St Ignacio is the home of the internationally acclaimed Rice and Beans Restaurant. The food is better back home. The CG, by the same owner, was not much either. The voltage was too high, 147 volts and the water pressure was about nil. In short, a rip-off. The Lakeside RV park looked good. No hookups, but a scenic CG.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
St Ignacio to Santispac back to the Sea Cortez. The color of the water is as good as any I have ever seen, in person or in pictures. We are on the beach, no hookups and no complaints. There are some Canadians next to us that came for one-day, and that was two months back. I am wondering why we don’t just stop here. La Paz is supposed to be good, but Cabo is supposed to suck, lots of tourists and maybe even cruise ships which keep prices high.
The water temperature is as warm as Frank’s pool gets in August. I took the yak out for a short paddle in the lagoon. The land breeze was a bit much, but it laid down before sunset. In case we haven’t mentioned it before, life is good!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
We paddled the yaks before breakfast and before the land breeze came in. In our lagoon, Bahia Conception, are several communities of ex-pats. We drove a few clicks south to El Coyote and found Jerry Pawson, an LDer we met in Oregon two years back. This is their fourth year here. Dorothy wants to come back. El Coyote is $150 a month with palapya, no hookups and a view to die for.
We had a cookout on the beach featuring the biggest prawns we have ever seen.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Santispac to Loreto. This is one of the oldest towns in Baja. It’s on the gulf side. It comes complete with a charming mission. Loreto also has some paved streets!
We had a good lunch of tacos, beans and guacamole at the CG restaurant. I think the first restaurant we have been to on Baja that was air-conditioned. Most of the wait staff and locals eating there were of Spanish decent, not Indian.
Keeping the vehicles half clean is a daily chore. Start with a desert, no pavement when you pull off the highway for gas or any other service, add strong winds and dust finds it’s way into the vehicles. This is not America. There is a saying here, bad roads bring good people, good roads bring bad people.
The prices for groceries are about the same, sometimes higher than the US. Liquor is higher. Gas is much lower and so is propane. The latter two are more efficient than the US products.
Tonight, most of the group went to a swell restaurant for Sonoran beef. We already had a cooked steak and elected to stay in camp, do laundry, shower and avoid mob dining.
San Diego! We have been headed this way for weeks, today we made the final jump from the mountains to the shore. We had very little traffic in the city, Sunday we guess.
We plan to go to the zoo and the USS Midway and drive up to La Jolla if we have time.
We leave for Baja Friday morning. No phone for a month. Internet from time-to-time. We will think of you.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Today we drove to LaJolla, doing the tourist thing. I even got a haircut, but it isn’t the best one that I have had.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
At long last (more than 40 years) we visited the San Diego Zoo. Dorothy was there when her father was a in the Navy and she was a little girl and Don was there when he was a young man in the Navy. As you can image, it has changed. We spent four hours walking around and looking at animals we did not know existed and probably saw about half of the zoo. There are some beautiful birds that we both enjoyed. Also we got to see two snow leopards that were having lunch, which was pretty exciting. The current main feature of the zoo is the baby panda that is just a couple of months old. There is a two year old panda that was very active. The baby sleeps 20 hours a day and mama sleeps 12 hours a day and eats bamboo the other 12. It was her naptime.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
We discovered that we did not understand the Baja schedule. We have orientation Friday and leave Saturday. We are somewhat disappointed because we are so ready to get to Baja. Tomorrow is another free day and hopefully we will do more sightseeing. When you travel as we do, then mundane chores are a must. Today was that day. We went to Wal-Mart, Costco and Albertson, came home and had lunch and then had four loads of laundry to do. Doesn’t that sound like fun! Don replaced some of the keys that were lost or mislaid in Florida.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
We parked the car for our Midway visit at a memorial to Bob Hope entertaining the troops. Also there was an extremely large statue of a WW II sailor kissing a nurse, called Total Surrender. It made me think of my parents. We spent the day touring the USS Midway. It was a real treat for us. The carrier is a generation older than the one I was on. I don’t recall ducking so much on the Connie, but after 43 years my memory is dim. I wanted Dorothy to experience how big a carrier really is. She finally “got” how difficult landing a plane really is when a naval aviator explained it to her on the flight deck.
Another carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan #76, was in port. I was especially excited about that. I don’t know if it was because I remember the Reagan years so well, because we had seen a special on the Reagan on TV or because a fellow Windmill sailor, Will Bransom, served on her or all three. As Don is taking pictures, a former America’s Cup boat sailed in front of the Regan. Totally great day!
Friday, February 22, 2008
This was orientation day. We endured a 2.5 hour talk about what to expect in Baja. We all went out to dinner together at a Chinese buffet, where the food was surprisingly good. Don went back four times and never touched the Chinese food.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
We got away at 9:30 and arrived in Ensenada at 12:15. At several places the view of the surf is as good as it gets. There are precious few turnouts and none big enough to accommodate 15 rigs. So we missed getting any good pictures. The price of traveling in a group.
After lunch and waiting around, we went to immigration office to get our papers and found that the office closed at 2. The guide says he has plan B.
We all went into town and all wound up in Hussan’s Bar. We did not like the margaritas, so we went next door to get some fish tacos. We then walked a few blocks and got back to the CG by 5, finding that most of the others were already back. The band at the Cantina across the street played until 4:30 am.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Ensenda to San Quintin We have left the popular area and entered Baja. We camped on the beach. The beach is like Port St. Joe, FL, but a whole lot better. There is nothing but beach for miles. The dogs had a ball. We drove the Jeep five miles down the beach enjoying the square waves breaking. We picked up a few rocks. Back at the CG, we had a margarita party. It’s still a cool at night, but hopefully that will improve further south.
Monday, February 25, 2008
San Quintin to Catavina is an enjoyable drive from the coast through low mountains in a high desert environment. Peak elevation was 2,200. Catavina is about 1,800’ in area of big granite boulders. We have never seen so many types of cactus in one place. Puts Big Bend to third class. Tremendous saguaro, forests of boojum, four types of cholla.
Our CG is a former government camping facility. No hookups, but well laid out. After settling in, we went for a ride with fellow LDer’s, Ron & Mary Tribbett from CA, into the desert at places we had seen coming in. It was fantastic, cactus of all types, rocks, pools of water. Baja has had lots of rain this year so the cacti are gorgeous.
A word about our traveling companions – the group is about our age, only one couple not retired, a few older, educated, and a few travel as much as we do. They are quite enjoyable to be around. I guess because it’s a Lazy Daze group and all have dry camped before, we don’t have generators running all the time.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Catavina to Bahia de los Angeles
The wagon masters say it will keep getting better and so far they are right. We crossed the low central mountains, 2,500 feet, to the Sea Of Cortez. Most of the drive was through unremarkable landscape like Arizona. We got to a valley filled with flowers, whites, yellows and purples. The wagon masters have been coming for six years and they have never seen the desert so green.
When we got near Bahia de los Angeles the view of he harbor had us slack jawed. Azul water. What a place to sail. And there is not a single yacht, power or sail, in the harbor.
We had some fine scallops and too much food for lunch, which is the main meal here. Then we had steak and too much food for dinner. Neither of us slept well from too much food.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The water was flat when we woke up at 6,so we had coffee, put the yaks in the water and paddled about two miles across the bahia to the lighthouse. Don walked the beach. Dorothy was chicken to get of the boat after nearly falling in the first time.
Remember the keys that we had to replace for the Jeep, for $182? Well, as I was getting dressed to go ‘yaking’ I felt something in my pocket – yep, it was the keys. Don’t know how they got there, but I didn’t do it and Don does wear my slacks!
We toured the “town” with Ron and Mary, took a nap, had a big lunch, went to the museum and watched a Nat Geo Imax movie, in DVD format, that was shot here. We then took another siesta.
Tomorrow we find out if we will be fined, jailed or what for not immigrating last Sunday.
I bought a small bottle “Vivo Villa” which is some kind of licor at 48 proof. Tastes pretty good from the bottle.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Bahia de los Angeles to Guerreo Negro. An uneventful drive through unremarkable terrain, a la southern Arizona. Our purpose here is take a whale watch in the morning and then head south. As much as we have seen of the city, it did not inspire us to tour it. It looks much like a border town, trashy. Our RV park is a has been, over-priced, but full hookups. Almost no water pressure. Back on Mountain Time.
On the way down, we stopped at the village of Jesus Maria and dropped off some school and medical supplies.
We have been illegal since Tuesday, but we got legal today without any problems. How was it done? I don’t know. The wagon masters took our passports, went to the Migration station and then returned our passports. Interesting, here you can cross into Mexico without any questions and later declare you are a tourist. If you stay less than 72 hours, you don’t need to do anything.
We have been waved through three military checkpoints where all they might check for are guns and drugs. Importing drugs to Mexico from the north? Oh well. It’s hoot to see a manned and armed sand-bagged position before you get to each checkpoint. I guess it gives the young men something to do while in service.
There is a border crossing from north Baja to south Baja. They are inspecting and confiscating fruit and then for $2 (mandatory), they spray the underside of your vehicle for fruit bugs.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Guerreo Negro to St Ignacio This is an oasis the desert. The Jesuits planted date palms and built a swell mission for 1.5 million pesos that’s still being used after 300 years. We bought some delicious date bread. One of the couples, George and Betty, celebrated their 11th anniversary and 44 years of marriage by hosting a margarita party.
The town was celebrating the 14th anniversary of their elementary school. Maybe that does not sound like a big deal to you, but it was to them. All the kids were dressed in school uniforms, all the officials were on a long podium and the town folk and a few tourista’s were watching from the shade of the oak trees.
The presentation of the flag and singing of the national anthem was poignant. All saluted and all sang. I have seen nothing like it in the US for too long. Respect for country, community and school. BTW, the kids were not figiditing and no one looked bored.
St Ignacio is the home of the internationally acclaimed Rice and Beans Restaurant. The food is better back home. The CG, by the same owner, was not much either. The voltage was too high, 147 volts and the water pressure was about nil. In short, a rip-off. The Lakeside RV park looked good. No hookups, but a scenic CG.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
St Ignacio to Santispac back to the Sea Cortez. The color of the water is as good as any I have ever seen, in person or in pictures. We are on the beach, no hookups and no complaints. There are some Canadians next to us that came for one-day, and that was two months back. I am wondering why we don’t just stop here. La Paz is supposed to be good, but Cabo is supposed to suck, lots of tourists and maybe even cruise ships which keep prices high.
The water temperature is as warm as Frank’s pool gets in August. I took the yak out for a short paddle in the lagoon. The land breeze was a bit much, but it laid down before sunset. In case we haven’t mentioned it before, life is good!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
We paddled the yaks before breakfast and before the land breeze came in. In our lagoon, Bahia Conception, are several communities of ex-pats. We drove a few clicks south to El Coyote and found Jerry Pawson, an LDer we met in Oregon two years back. This is their fourth year here. Dorothy wants to come back. El Coyote is $150 a month with palapya, no hookups and a view to die for.
We had a cookout on the beach featuring the biggest prawns we have ever seen.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Santispac to Loreto. This is one of the oldest towns in Baja. It’s on the gulf side. It comes complete with a charming mission. Loreto also has some paved streets!
We had a good lunch of tacos, beans and guacamole at the CG restaurant. I think the first restaurant we have been to on Baja that was air-conditioned. Most of the wait staff and locals eating there were of Spanish decent, not Indian.
Keeping the vehicles half clean is a daily chore. Start with a desert, no pavement when you pull off the highway for gas or any other service, add strong winds and dust finds it’s way into the vehicles. This is not America. There is a saying here, bad roads bring good people, good roads bring bad people.
The prices for groceries are about the same, sometimes higher than the US. Liquor is higher. Gas is much lower and so is propane. The latter two are more efficient than the US products.
Tonight, most of the group went to a swell restaurant for Sonoran beef. We already had a cooked steak and elected to stay in camp, do laundry, shower and avoid mob dining.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Next, Cross the country, Atlantic to Pacific, II
Sunday, February 10, 2008
We found it. A scenic CG. Aguirre Springs. It is on the east side of the San Andres mountains, northeast of La Cruces, NM. Across the valley, 40 miles distant, is Oliver Lee CG where we stayed about a year ago. This is BLM property, so it is dry camping, but the price is right, $1.50 a night and a fine view. Craggy peaks on one side and the valley floor on the other. Elevation, 5,780. And we have spotty phone coverage.
We arrived at 2PM and found lots of day use people, and one tent camper. The gate is locked at 6PM, so no worries about security.
We had enough TV signal to watch 60 minutes and Nature before going to sleep.
Monday, February 11, 2008
We are on Mountain Time now. We woke up at five local time. At six, we could see the distant southeast horizon getting a slight glow. The sun did not make it over the mountain until 8. After breakfast and coffee, we took a hike up part way up the mountain. The loop is 4.5 miles. We went about one mile up and turned around. We might have gone further, but we took a wrong branch on the trail and wound up at a dead end. Too many people making new trails.
When we got back, the solar panels were pumping over 9 amps into the batteries. We discharged almost 20% yesterday and it looks like we will be back to 100% before the sun drops over the mountain just after 3.
There are only five sites here that could handle an RV here and only ours is close to level. But, we are enjoying nothing but horizon.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Moving Day, again. It’s a long way to the left coast. We drove four hours to Wilcox, AZ and stayed at an OK CG that is easy on the pocketbook.
We found gasoline at $2.67. That’s the good news. I damaged the bumper and rear quarter panel pulling away from the gas pump. We are rather sick about it. It means a trip to the Mothership when we get back from Baja. I learned that when you turn the wheel in one direction, the rear end “swings out” in the opposite direction. I did not know that or if I did I had forgotten it.
I cannot figure out why I can no longer upload pictures to Picasa, so I will revert to using Flickr.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Another Moving Day, once again. Thursday we will settle down for 3 days before going into Chula Vista. I am having trouble sleeping, so I when I woke up at 5:00, I tried to be quiet, but finally gave up after 45 minutes and have been up for over an hour. It’s now 6:30 and I’m bored. Also it’s too cold in the mornings for me to go outside to have my morning camping experience, which is drinking coffee and reading, but I know that soon it will be warm. Also being on mountain time, it is dark until after 7:00. When Don gets up, I think I will fix pancakes.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Today, we drove from Gila Bend, AZ to Borrego Springs, CA. Most of the drive was on an excellent four-lane rural road through the Imperial Valley and then two-lane through the desert.
While still on I8, we went through part of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area. We saw lots of sand people with their toys. Remember this, as we will come back to it.
We also saw lots of Border Patrol watching for whatever. There is no fence on this section of the border, just some recently placed PVC barricades. We did see that construction of THE WALL is underway. And is it ever hideous. Makes the Berlin Wall look like art by comparison. This will do more to sour the image of the US than any single thing we have done in recent times.
For the last 80 miles of the drive, we saw what looked like rain at our destination. Just as we got close to Borrego Springs, we got into a light rain and the air was darn chilly. When the clouds cleared, we could see that the upper section of the Vallecito Mountains to the west had snowfall.
We stopped at the VC to inquire about camping options. The kindly grandmotherly volunteer at the desk suggested parking off Peg Leg Road east of town. And so we did. We had a fine view of the mountains.
Anza-Borrego is over 600,000 acres, maybe 1/6 the size of Death Valley, but still HUGE. There are two CG’s operated by the state that have full hook-ups, but charge almost $30 a night. You can park most anywhere else in the park for free. Let’s see, pay to park next to other rigs or park where you cannot see anyone else?
Friday, February 15, 2008
We woke up and it was quite cool. After breakfast, it had warmed up, so we drove to Font’s Point. The sign said 4-wheel drive, but we stayed in 2-wheel the whole four miles and had no problems. From the point, you look down on the Borrego Badlands. I liked it almost as much as the Badlands National Park. We left our campsite and headed to VC to have lunch and watch a slide show of park. We left Koko in parking lot and took a twisty-turny road west into the mountains. We found a scenic campground, but so many ruts that we turned Pelli around and headed back to Koko. Besides, at 4,000 feet higher it was a chilly 45.
We wanted to explore more of the park, so we again took the kindly grandmotherly volunteer’s advise and went south to Blair Valley. Dorothy was driving KoKo and I was doing a miserable navigation job in Pelli. I took a wrong turn and after 10 miles I realized that I was making a loop back to our origin. Hmmmm roads named S2, S22, 78, 79 and S3 that go in all directions, with damn little signage.
Part of the drive was extremely interesting and/or scary in parts. Hundreds of toy haulers (not exaggerating here) blew past us in the opposite direction on this narrow windy road. Only a couple of times was I scared, but I made it and celebrated once we got to the campground with a couple of big glasses of wine.
Remember I mentioned all the sand people at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area near Yuma? Well, it turns out that the mountain roads through Anza-Borrego are a direct route from Los Angeles to Yuma. And on Friday afternoon, all the sand people are making time on these roads. All are pulling toy hauler fives or towing a trailer, overloaded with sand toys. It’s kind of scary when you see them coming around a bend, their left front corner hunkered down hugging the yellow line and water splashing from their tanks.
We finally found Blair Valley and got a good pull-through site. Blind luck. All of the other campers are on the other side of the valley. Some seeking to get to the other side come down our road and turn around. We are going to drive over there in Pelli and see what is so great about the other side. Besides, there are some trails over there.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
At 6:30 this morning is was 32. It was 50 an hour later and 66 at 9. We drove five miles further into Blair Valley and hiked three miles RT to some petroglyphs and a fantastic overlook at a dry waterfall. Dorothy did very well on the trail. It was easy walking; gaining 300 feet on the way in, then losing it; so you had the same 300 to gain on the way out. Elevation 3,100.
We spent the afternoon, showering, napping and reading in the warm sun.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
San Diego! We have been headed this way for weeks, today we made the final jump from the mountains to the shore. We had very little traffic in the city, Sunday we guess.
We are in one of the "swell" RV parks, on the water, jam up and jelly tight with the big rigs. God help us. They do have a hot tub.
We plan to go to the zoo and the USS Midway and drive up to La Jolla if we have time.
We leave for Baja Friday morning. No phone for a month. Internet from time-to-time. We will think of you.
We found it. A scenic CG. Aguirre Springs. It is on the east side of the San Andres mountains, northeast of La Cruces, NM. Across the valley, 40 miles distant, is Oliver Lee CG where we stayed about a year ago. This is BLM property, so it is dry camping, but the price is right, $1.50 a night and a fine view. Craggy peaks on one side and the valley floor on the other. Elevation, 5,780. And we have spotty phone coverage.
We arrived at 2PM and found lots of day use people, and one tent camper. The gate is locked at 6PM, so no worries about security.
We had enough TV signal to watch 60 minutes and Nature before going to sleep.
Monday, February 11, 2008
We are on Mountain Time now. We woke up at five local time. At six, we could see the distant southeast horizon getting a slight glow. The sun did not make it over the mountain until 8. After breakfast and coffee, we took a hike up part way up the mountain. The loop is 4.5 miles. We went about one mile up and turned around. We might have gone further, but we took a wrong branch on the trail and wound up at a dead end. Too many people making new trails.
When we got back, the solar panels were pumping over 9 amps into the batteries. We discharged almost 20% yesterday and it looks like we will be back to 100% before the sun drops over the mountain just after 3.
There are only five sites here that could handle an RV here and only ours is close to level. But, we are enjoying nothing but horizon.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Moving Day, again. It’s a long way to the left coast. We drove four hours to Wilcox, AZ and stayed at an OK CG that is easy on the pocketbook.
We found gasoline at $2.67. That’s the good news. I damaged the bumper and rear quarter panel pulling away from the gas pump. We are rather sick about it. It means a trip to the Mothership when we get back from Baja. I learned that when you turn the wheel in one direction, the rear end “swings out” in the opposite direction. I did not know that or if I did I had forgotten it.
I cannot figure out why I can no longer upload pictures to Picasa, so I will revert to using Flickr.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Another Moving Day, once again. Thursday we will settle down for 3 days before going into Chula Vista. I am having trouble sleeping, so I when I woke up at 5:00, I tried to be quiet, but finally gave up after 45 minutes and have been up for over an hour. It’s now 6:30 and I’m bored. Also it’s too cold in the mornings for me to go outside to have my morning camping experience, which is drinking coffee and reading, but I know that soon it will be warm. Also being on mountain time, it is dark until after 7:00. When Don gets up, I think I will fix pancakes.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Today, we drove from Gila Bend, AZ to Borrego Springs, CA. Most of the drive was on an excellent four-lane rural road through the Imperial Valley and then two-lane through the desert.
While still on I8, we went through part of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area. We saw lots of sand people with their toys. Remember this, as we will come back to it.
We also saw lots of Border Patrol watching for whatever. There is no fence on this section of the border, just some recently placed PVC barricades. We did see that construction of THE WALL is underway. And is it ever hideous. Makes the Berlin Wall look like art by comparison. This will do more to sour the image of the US than any single thing we have done in recent times.
For the last 80 miles of the drive, we saw what looked like rain at our destination. Just as we got close to Borrego Springs, we got into a light rain and the air was darn chilly. When the clouds cleared, we could see that the upper section of the Vallecito Mountains to the west had snowfall.
We stopped at the VC to inquire about camping options. The kindly grandmotherly volunteer at the desk suggested parking off Peg Leg Road east of town. And so we did. We had a fine view of the mountains.
Anza-Borrego is over 600,000 acres, maybe 1/6 the size of Death Valley, but still HUGE. There are two CG’s operated by the state that have full hook-ups, but charge almost $30 a night. You can park most anywhere else in the park for free. Let’s see, pay to park next to other rigs or park where you cannot see anyone else?
Friday, February 15, 2008
We woke up and it was quite cool. After breakfast, it had warmed up, so we drove to Font’s Point. The sign said 4-wheel drive, but we stayed in 2-wheel the whole four miles and had no problems. From the point, you look down on the Borrego Badlands. I liked it almost as much as the Badlands National Park. We left our campsite and headed to VC to have lunch and watch a slide show of park. We left Koko in parking lot and took a twisty-turny road west into the mountains. We found a scenic campground, but so many ruts that we turned Pelli around and headed back to Koko. Besides, at 4,000 feet higher it was a chilly 45.
We wanted to explore more of the park, so we again took the kindly grandmotherly volunteer’s advise and went south to Blair Valley. Dorothy was driving KoKo and I was doing a miserable navigation job in Pelli. I took a wrong turn and after 10 miles I realized that I was making a loop back to our origin. Hmmmm roads named S2, S22, 78, 79 and S3 that go in all directions, with damn little signage.
Part of the drive was extremely interesting and/or scary in parts. Hundreds of toy haulers (not exaggerating here) blew past us in the opposite direction on this narrow windy road. Only a couple of times was I scared, but I made it and celebrated once we got to the campground with a couple of big glasses of wine.
Remember I mentioned all the sand people at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area near Yuma? Well, it turns out that the mountain roads through Anza-Borrego are a direct route from Los Angeles to Yuma. And on Friday afternoon, all the sand people are making time on these roads. All are pulling toy hauler fives or towing a trailer, overloaded with sand toys. It’s kind of scary when you see them coming around a bend, their left front corner hunkered down hugging the yellow line and water splashing from their tanks.
We finally found Blair Valley and got a good pull-through site. Blind luck. All of the other campers are on the other side of the valley. Some seeking to get to the other side come down our road and turn around. We are going to drive over there in Pelli and see what is so great about the other side. Besides, there are some trails over there.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
At 6:30 this morning is was 32. It was 50 an hour later and 66 at 9. We drove five miles further into Blair Valley and hiked three miles RT to some petroglyphs and a fantastic overlook at a dry waterfall. Dorothy did very well on the trail. It was easy walking; gaining 300 feet on the way in, then losing it; so you had the same 300 to gain on the way out. Elevation 3,100.
We spent the afternoon, showering, napping and reading in the warm sun.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
San Diego! We have been headed this way for weeks, today we made the final jump from the mountains to the shore. We had very little traffic in the city, Sunday we guess.
We are in one of the "swell" RV parks, on the water, jam up and jelly tight with the big rigs. God help us. They do have a hot tub.
We plan to go to the zoo and the USS Midway and drive up to La Jolla if we have time.
We leave for Baja Friday morning. No phone for a month. Internet from time-to-time. We will think of you.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Next, Cross the country, Atlantic to Pacific
Friday, February 1, 2008
We drove two hours east, along the coast, to one of our fav places, Apalachicola, to St. Joseph SP on Cape San Blas. The surf was up and so was the wind, so cocktails on the beach were out of the question. But, we did walk on the beach for awhile. We entertained ourselves by watching the Johnny Cash Show on CD. He sure had a lot skinny long-haired folks in polyester clothes on his show.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
After a lazy morning, we drove into Apalachicola to window shop and have lunch at Tamara’s. The seafood bisque is still heavenly. We were disappointed that the lunch menu is now all sandwiches.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
A long day for us. We got away at 9:15 and did not get to Blakely SP near Spanish Fort until 2. We took a badly needed nap and watched TV, like A-classers the rest of the day. We even watched part of the Super Bowl.
Monday, February 4, 2008
We met Don’s cousin, Anne Harris and her son Andy, at Starbucks for a short visit. It was good to see them again. Our destination is Ocean Springs, MS to overnight with Dorothy’s college roommate. But, first we stopped at a Jeep dealer to get a replacement for the key I lost or mislaid last week. After two hours and $182 we got to Ocean Springs. It was wonderful visiting with Judy and her husband, Dave. They are perfect hosts. Nancy, a former coworker and bridesmaid in our wedding, and Ken, her husband, arrived in time with dinner. The girls stayed up until midnight chatting.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Another long day to Sam Houston Jones SP near Lake Charles. The CG is OK, but everyone was so friendly. Maybe since it is Fat Tuesday? We talked with several couples.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Another five hours brought us to Carmine, Texas. We had posted to the LD forum about seeking a worm hole to speed us through Texas and a kind woman posted back about Texas 105 and US290, which is a straight route from Beaumont to Junction. This allowed us to bypass Houston and San Antonio. We were more relaxed not having to deal with traffic.
We had the CG to ourselves and did some much needed laundry.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
A three and half hour jump got us to Fredericksburg. I wanted to get to Junction today, but we were tired and Dorothy wanted to stop here anyway to get some German sausage and sour kraut. We are at Oakmont CG, nice, but pricey, as everything is in these parts. They have a great grocery store here, H E B, which we really did enjoy.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Food day: Up at 6 to get to Dietz bakery in time to get some great German bread. Back at the CG at 6:30. The bakery does not open until 8. So much for our memory. We had breakfast and drove back the bakery and got two loaves and two turnovers.
Next to Opa’s sausage factory to get some of their fine product and some red cabbage.
We did our grocery shopping at H-E-B’s one of the best groceries in the country. Bought some tilapia and some tasty sauce to go on it. Yum! Gourmet!
We had the very best BBQ ribs ever today. Cooper's in Llano, Texas. Like most BBQ places in Texas, the decor is 1940's or whenever it was built. Dorothy noted that they had a web site on a falling down sign outside. http://www.coopersbbq.com/ Where you note there is NOT a picture of the place.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
We left Fredericksburg and got on the best section interstate in the country. I10 west of San Antonio west to New Mexico has little traffic and a smooth road surface. The speed limit is 80 and I even went up to 65 for awhile until dropping to our usual 58-60.
I nominate I10 east of San Antonio as the worst in the country and I10 west of San Antonio as the best.
West of Fredericksburg, the west of the movies starts. The terrain changes into long vistas and you are in low humidity country. It’s 5PM right now and the sun is 20 degrees above the horizon. In Ocala, it was dusk at the same time.
Road signs want you to watch for so many things. Ice, Water, Live Stock, Falling Rocks, Elk, Stopped Vehicles, Mud, Flash Floods, etc. I think it should be Fallen Rocks, as there is not much you can do to avoid rocks that are falling.
You might think that we stay in those roadside RV parks that you can see from the Interstate. They are called Easy-off, Easy-On. We avoid them like the plague.
Tonight we are in the asshole of west Texas, Ft. Stockton. We just did not want to push further today, as we have another long day tomorrow to get passed El Paso. We planned, before we left home, to go to Balmorhea SP, an hour west of here. But, we also planned to get there early Friday. Going into a state park on a Saturday is asking to be told there is no vacancy.
We could have gone into the Davis Mountains, but I think it would be too cool right now. It will be warmer when we come back this way. It’s a fine 77 degrees here in the dusty CG.
Sunday, we will be a scenic CG in the low mountains of New Mexico or some not so nice private CG. Not a lot of choices in this area. Unless you are willing to drive longer distances in a day than we are.
We drove two hours east, along the coast, to one of our fav places, Apalachicola, to St. Joseph SP on Cape San Blas. The surf was up and so was the wind, so cocktails on the beach were out of the question. But, we did walk on the beach for awhile. We entertained ourselves by watching the Johnny Cash Show on CD. He sure had a lot skinny long-haired folks in polyester clothes on his show.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
After a lazy morning, we drove into Apalachicola to window shop and have lunch at Tamara’s. The seafood bisque is still heavenly. We were disappointed that the lunch menu is now all sandwiches.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
A long day for us. We got away at 9:15 and did not get to Blakely SP near Spanish Fort until 2. We took a badly needed nap and watched TV, like A-classers the rest of the day. We even watched part of the Super Bowl.
Monday, February 4, 2008
We met Don’s cousin, Anne Harris and her son Andy, at Starbucks for a short visit. It was good to see them again. Our destination is Ocean Springs, MS to overnight with Dorothy’s college roommate. But, first we stopped at a Jeep dealer to get a replacement for the key I lost or mislaid last week. After two hours and $182 we got to Ocean Springs. It was wonderful visiting with Judy and her husband, Dave. They are perfect hosts. Nancy, a former coworker and bridesmaid in our wedding, and Ken, her husband, arrived in time with dinner. The girls stayed up until midnight chatting.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Another long day to Sam Houston Jones SP near Lake Charles. The CG is OK, but everyone was so friendly. Maybe since it is Fat Tuesday? We talked with several couples.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Another five hours brought us to Carmine, Texas. We had posted to the LD forum about seeking a worm hole to speed us through Texas and a kind woman posted back about Texas 105 and US290, which is a straight route from Beaumont to Junction. This allowed us to bypass Houston and San Antonio. We were more relaxed not having to deal with traffic.
We had the CG to ourselves and did some much needed laundry.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
A three and half hour jump got us to Fredericksburg. I wanted to get to Junction today, but we were tired and Dorothy wanted to stop here anyway to get some German sausage and sour kraut. We are at Oakmont CG, nice, but pricey, as everything is in these parts. They have a great grocery store here, H E B, which we really did enjoy.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Food day: Up at 6 to get to Dietz bakery in time to get some great German bread. Back at the CG at 6:30. The bakery does not open until 8. So much for our memory. We had breakfast and drove back the bakery and got two loaves and two turnovers.
Next to Opa’s sausage factory to get some of their fine product and some red cabbage.
We did our grocery shopping at H-E-B’s one of the best groceries in the country. Bought some tilapia and some tasty sauce to go on it. Yum! Gourmet!
We had the very best BBQ ribs ever today. Cooper's in Llano, Texas. Like most BBQ places in Texas, the decor is 1940's or whenever it was built. Dorothy noted that they had a web site on a falling down sign outside. http://www.coopersbbq.com/ Where you note there is NOT a picture of the place.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
We left Fredericksburg and got on the best section interstate in the country. I10 west of San Antonio west to New Mexico has little traffic and a smooth road surface. The speed limit is 80 and I even went up to 65 for awhile until dropping to our usual 58-60.
I nominate I10 east of San Antonio as the worst in the country and I10 west of San Antonio as the best.
West of Fredericksburg, the west of the movies starts. The terrain changes into long vistas and you are in low humidity country. It’s 5PM right now and the sun is 20 degrees above the horizon. In Ocala, it was dusk at the same time.
Road signs want you to watch for so many things. Ice, Water, Live Stock, Falling Rocks, Elk, Stopped Vehicles, Mud, Flash Floods, etc. I think it should be Fallen Rocks, as there is not much you can do to avoid rocks that are falling.
You might think that we stay in those roadside RV parks that you can see from the Interstate. They are called Easy-off, Easy-On. We avoid them like the plague.
Tonight we are in the asshole of west Texas, Ft. Stockton. We just did not want to push further today, as we have another long day tomorrow to get passed El Paso. We planned, before we left home, to go to Balmorhea SP, an hour west of here. But, we also planned to get there early Friday. Going into a state park on a Saturday is asking to be told there is no vacancy.
We could have gone into the Davis Mountains, but I think it would be too cool right now. It will be warmer when we come back this way. It’s a fine 77 degrees here in the dusty CG.
Sunday, we will be a scenic CG in the low mountains of New Mexico or some not so nice private CG. Not a lot of choices in this area. Unless you are willing to drive longer distances in a day than we are.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Baja and Back - First, South to Florida
First, South to Florida
Monday, January 21, 2008
After, what seemed to us, interminable weeks of waiting, we finally got away, on the coldest day of the year. It was a frosty 17 when we got up. We got to Eufaula after lunch where it was a balmy 55. OK, it was darn chilly as the wind was kicking up white caps on the lake.
We are White Oak Creek CG, a COE facility on Lake Eufaula. The sites are closer together than other COE’s we have been to, but otherwise a fine CG.
Dorothy wanted to check out this CG out for the fall Lazy Daze GTG. It looks like it will work fine.
This was the first use of our new EVDO modem away from home. We had a two bar signal, good enough to listen to Emmylou, Gram Parson’s and other artists on Youtube.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
We drove 2.5 hours south on rural roads with almost zero traffic to Lake Seminole. We are in another COE CG, East End.
It was partly cloudy all morning and the 20% chance of rain came true shortly after we got here. So much for paddling the yaks today. The temperature is pleasant enough - low 60’s.
We are in site #9. We like sites 26, 28 and especially 24.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
More of the same. We enjoyed visiting with the Lindstrom’s and missed the Ferguson’s who we found out later were across the lake at Lake Seminole State Park.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
We drove four hours south to Ocala NF, which is an hour east of the city of Ocala. It’s a decent CG, fluffed and buffed. Dan and Rene had already set up camp when we arrived. So we went right to cocktails!
Friday through Sunday
The weather is not co-operating. If it’s sunny, there is too much wind to paddle. If it’s drizzly, we are not up to being wet and cold for hours.
We have cabin fever.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Our day finally came. Warm, full sun and a light breeze. We paddled the river from Alexander Springs to the takeout point, a long seven miles. The first two/three miles were great. Lots of wildlife, all sorts of wading birds and alligators. The wildlife disappeared during the second section of the trip and the shoreline was not as good. Still a great adventure.
Betty and Terry arrived about the time we got in the water and were waiting on us at the CG.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Betty and Terry are south bound for Sarasota. Dan and Rene are going to paddle Juniper Springs and we are taking a lay day - get a punctured tire on the Jeep fixed and do laundry.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
We drove to Flagler Beach to met Ed and Liz who have an LD and are hosting at Grable Rogers CG. We had a great visit and some yummy chocolate cake Liz made for us. Their campsite has a great view of the Atlantic. On this trip, we will see the Atlantic, Pacific and the gulfs of Mexico and California.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
We drove four hours north to Ochlockonee River SP, which is south of Tallahassee. We like it. Endless kayak trails and little else. We will be back.
The weather continues good.
I will update again in a week or so. Until then.
Monday, January 21, 2008
After, what seemed to us, interminable weeks of waiting, we finally got away, on the coldest day of the year. It was a frosty 17 when we got up. We got to Eufaula after lunch where it was a balmy 55. OK, it was darn chilly as the wind was kicking up white caps on the lake.
We are White Oak Creek CG, a COE facility on Lake Eufaula. The sites are closer together than other COE’s we have been to, but otherwise a fine CG.
Dorothy wanted to check out this CG out for the fall Lazy Daze GTG. It looks like it will work fine.
This was the first use of our new EVDO modem away from home. We had a two bar signal, good enough to listen to Emmylou, Gram Parson’s and other artists on Youtube.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
We drove 2.5 hours south on rural roads with almost zero traffic to Lake Seminole. We are in another COE CG, East End.
It was partly cloudy all morning and the 20% chance of rain came true shortly after we got here. So much for paddling the yaks today. The temperature is pleasant enough - low 60’s.
We are in site #9. We like sites 26, 28 and especially 24.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
More of the same. We enjoyed visiting with the Lindstrom’s and missed the Ferguson’s who we found out later were across the lake at Lake Seminole State Park.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
We drove four hours south to Ocala NF, which is an hour east of the city of Ocala. It’s a decent CG, fluffed and buffed. Dan and Rene had already set up camp when we arrived. So we went right to cocktails!
Friday through Sunday
The weather is not co-operating. If it’s sunny, there is too much wind to paddle. If it’s drizzly, we are not up to being wet and cold for hours.
We have cabin fever.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Our day finally came. Warm, full sun and a light breeze. We paddled the river from Alexander Springs to the takeout point, a long seven miles. The first two/three miles were great. Lots of wildlife, all sorts of wading birds and alligators. The wildlife disappeared during the second section of the trip and the shoreline was not as good. Still a great adventure.
Betty and Terry arrived about the time we got in the water and were waiting on us at the CG.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Betty and Terry are south bound for Sarasota. Dan and Rene are going to paddle Juniper Springs and we are taking a lay day - get a punctured tire on the Jeep fixed and do laundry.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
We drove to Flagler Beach to met Ed and Liz who have an LD and are hosting at Grable Rogers CG. We had a great visit and some yummy chocolate cake Liz made for us. Their campsite has a great view of the Atlantic. On this trip, we will see the Atlantic, Pacific and the gulfs of Mexico and California.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
We drove four hours north to Ochlockonee River SP, which is south of Tallahassee. We like it. Endless kayak trails and little else. We will be back.
The weather continues good.
I will update again in a week or so. Until then.
Maiden Voyage
The account of flying to the Left Coast, picking up our new Lazy Daze and taking seven weeks to get her back to Alabama.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Our flight from Birmingham to Las Vegas was uneventful as was the car rental, but would not recommend a Dodge Charger. One of the reasons we flew to Las Vegas instead of Los Angeles was because it is a direct flight. The other reason was so we could have a good meal. We ate at Fellini’s (as always, delicious) and we were asleep at 7:00 PDT. We have been waking up around 4:30 – 5:00 at home and our bodies did not adjust to the time change so we were awake at 3:00. We got up and drove to Arizona Charlie’s for breakfast. I love having eggs, hash browns, sourdough toast, and grilled steak, cooked just right, for $2.99 The coffee was $3.50. We left for California at 6:30.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
We arrived at 10:15 for our 12:30 appointment. We wandered around looking at all the Lazy Dazes then went to a good Mexican Restaurant for lunch. After at 2½ hour walk thru, we then had to do the paperwork. Honestly, I signed more papers than when we bought our house. Then it was on to the hard work – unpacking the 12 boxes that we had shipped. I was told we had not shipped the most, but were in the top 1% - well you should be in the top 1% in something! That was WORK and it was hot! They close at 4:15, so we had to stop.
We checked in to our hotel, which as okay – 60’s California decor. There were no restaurants around that appealed to us, so we found La Cita that we had really enjoyed on our first trip. Dinner was excellent.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Once again we were awake at 4:00 and had to kill 3½ hours before the driver picked us up to continue unpacking. A couple from Indiana, Dan & Barbara, had decided to buy a LD and said they wanted one like ours, so I got to show it off. We were driven to Ehrenberg, AZ for official delivery, because we did not want to pay the 8½% California sales tax. Then it was time for us to take over, Koko is now ours. Don drove the first hour on a very nice straight two lane road. I drove the next hour on a hilly curvy two lane road. But now we both feel comfortable with her. It’s like driving the van, just longer and a little wider. We spent the first night at Blake Ranch RV Park in Kingman, AZ.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
We drove to Winslow, AZ to stay at Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow, AZ (thank you Terry and Betty) and try to continue to get organized. The 3 miles road into the park was a great road except for the trenches that are cut into the pavement about every 100 yards. They are about 6” across and 4” deep. Leaving the next morning, we thought we should see the Indian Ruins, but the trenches were worst, so we turned around and headed to New Mexico. We don’t know why they are there, but it certainly does reduce speed.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
This morning, we stopped at Painted Desert/Petrified Forest and spent about an hour. This is a “must do” on another trip and we will even stay at the Homolovi Ruins SP, especially since it’s the only campground around. We arrived at High Desert RV Park for installation of solar panels. We also will meet Frank with our Jeep, named Pelli, and get more boxes to unpack. A very special thanks to Frank for driving our Jeep to Albuquerque. We think we will be organized by the time we leave there Thursday. Dan & Rene Lindstrom were there ahead of us in their new Casita. They had a popup and we are both still marveling at stopping for the evening and there is no set up to do.
We are very pleased with Koko and feel at home, but we still have a lot to learn because it is so different than the Trail Manor. When we arrived the first night, we were tired and all we had to do was park, connect the water and electric. It’s not perfect, but nothing is, and I don’t think we could have bought anything else that we would like half as much.
Monday, September 17, 2007
We stayed around the campground organizing the LD this morning. Around 11:00 Frank Wolcott arrived with our Jeep, Pelli. What a wonderful friend he is, driving our Jeep from Birmingham to Albuquerque and he had a friend he got to visit also. We then went to Camping World to make an appointment to have the tow bar brackets installed.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Mike (The RV Guy) and Lisa Sylvester arrived to start installation of the solar panels and Don worked some on the LD and I just sat and read all day. In the afternoon, we drove to Costco for a few things and then to Whole Foods where we bought some special treats, one was Roquefort cheese (thank you Monica and Chad). We are still organizing the LD. I had to take everything out of a couple of cabinets during the installation and that gave me a chance to redo them, so that really worked out well.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
We arrived at Camping World at 8:00 and left the Jeep. Since we are still waking up so early, an 8:00 appointment was no problem. Mike & Lisa came back to install the surge guard and I did laundry and read. Then Don & Mike worked on getting the lights installed for towing.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Some days you just get lucky and this was our lucky day. We hooked up the Jeep to the LD for our first towing experience. A man behind us had been watching the work for 2 days and came over and asked if we had ever towed a car before. We said no and he asked if we would mind if he could give us some suggestions. It was a great help and we really did appreciate it.
We drove to Manzano Mountain State Park without any problems. We are to visit Kate & Terry, LDer’s that we met on our Spring Catcus trip. They had saved a site for us. This is a wonderful campground, only 16 sites and then another 16 in the group area. We gave our second tour of Koko to Gary & Shelley, who are looking for a C Class RV. We have things organized and are really beginning to feel at home. Set up in the cg is so easy and we are extremely pleased.
Friday, September 21, 2007
We piddled and lazed around. This was our first off-day since we left. Nothing was scheduled, nothing that we had to do. We finally got a nap.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
We drove the Jeep up to the lookout on Capilla Peak. This was the first time we have the Jeep off road for any distance. Dorothy enjoyed driving on the rock and dirt road. The summit is 9,350, about 2,100 above the CG. The lookout affords a 360 view. The Forest Service has one of the preeminent CG’s we have seen on one shoulder of the peak. About 8 sites, and most have log ramadas on concrete pads that over look the valley below. Are you listening Terry? The road is “one lane”, so taking the wide LD on the road would not work if we met oncoming vehicle.
There are so many places we want to go in NM, I doubt we will be get to Utah this trip. That now seems to be over-reaching. One thing we like about NM is that there are fewer people.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
We drove south to see two of the Pueblo communities. At Gran Quivira, the hillside is covered in dwellings, mostly intact, except for the roofs. The women handled all the building. Guess they were pretty good masons. It’s the largest of the three Salinas Pueblos. They were setting up to have a wedding in the mission church, which is pretty cool. The brinks here are red. The other one, Quarai, is obviously smaller and the bricks are gray, but it is still a large and quite unique.
Monday, September 24, 2007
We broke camp and drove two hours north to Cochiti Lake. This is close to Tent Rocks and gives us easy access to Santa Fe. The price is right too, $6 including electric .One of the advantages of being 62+ is the “Golden Age” pass that allows you ½ off on all camping and free admittance to all National Parks.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
We are enjoying NM. We have been here for 10 days and we may stay here until? We had said we would be back by Halloween, but for sure before Thanksgiving. We drove into Santa Fe this morning and got the lay of the city. I had not loaded Santa Fe maps into Glenda the GPS, so finding things was a problem I did not want to deal with. We looked at the art in the state capitol. Imagine a state building chock-a-block full of art. We had lunch at a local high rated Mexican restaurant. It was OK, but the margaritas were loaded with tequila. We got high on one. That ended touring. We stopped at Lowe's and walked around to sober up, before getting on I25 to come back to the CG.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Today we drove to see a local geologic formation known as Tent Rocks. I tripped over this place somewhere on the web this summer. A fellow had posted a picture of it, so I Googled the name and found the location. Coronado had a more difficult time, lacking the www. Tent Rocks has always been here, but only in 2000 did the BLM put up signage, build a trail, etc. Now, it quite popular being located near two cities.
We hiked the 3mile RT trail through a first-rate and accessible slot canyon, then up the hillside to a excellent overlook. Perhaps the pictures will give you an idea of the place.
We saw signage for Dixon’s Apple Farm, so we drove up the canyon to sample them. It’s three miles on a gravel road. We had not noticed much traffic, until we got on the gravel and over a dozen cars passed us coming out. The parking lot was full and folks were hauling apples out in wheel barrows about as fast as the trucks were bringing them in from the fields. We got bag of Champaign apples. About 50 for $14. They are tasty and we will be eating them for as long as they last.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
For years, people have asked us if we have been to Santa Fe. The answer was always, we tend to avoid cities. That answer still stands, but we have been to Santa Fe. It’s like New Orleans or Boston, confusing to get around and no on-street parking. Private lots get $20 a day. It is crammed with art galleries, selling attractive items for a king’s ransom.
We wanted to see Georgia O’Keefe’s exhibit. So does everyone else! The exhibit was disappointing to us, as they do have much of her work. We did enjoy the many quotes of hers that were painted on the walls and the documentary movie was interesting.
We had lunch at a trendy tapas place, La Boca. Then checked out two galleries Dorothy wanted to investigate. I felt very poor seeing the almost concealed price tags
Friday, September 28, 2007
We got off early for a change this morning, at 8. We were the first to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks trailhead. We wanted to take the Cave loop that we did not feel like doing Wednesday. It is a smooth gravel trail that goes up a moderate grade. It got Dorothy huffing and puffing real quick. After the cave loop, we could not resist going back to the slot canyon. So we had a 2 mile RT hike. We then drove another 3 miles to a newly completed overlook dedicated to veterans, especially the local tribe of Cochiti Indians. The view was of another canyon of tent rocks, which look more like teepees to us. This may be one of our top five places to visit, definitely top ten.
We both like the “softness” of the landscape in central New Mexico. Utah is great, but there is an edge, a sharpness to the terrain. The weather here has been delightful. Low’s 60’s at 7am, warming quickly as the sun rises. We have had a nice breeze most of the time.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Today has been maintenance day. Sometimes, you just have to do housekeeping. We have had delightful weather all week. Betty was finally able to connect with us on the phone this afternoon. They are over in Utah at Canyonland. She said it was blowing 50 there. About an hour later, the wind picked up here. Gusting to 30 I suspect. I don’t think we should take any more phone calls from them.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Moving Day. We drove for almost two hours from Cochiti Lake around to the other side of the mountain. We are now in a picturesque red canyon, in a Forest Service CG, Vista Linda. We are about 5,700 feet so it will be a little cooler than at Cochiti Lake, but much warmer than at the Forest Service CG’s north of here in the mountains. It’s 5pm now and I am comfortable in shorts in the shade. Life is good!
Our site is next to the Jimez River, creek actually, but it babbles and makes the Cottonwood trees lush green. This is the sort of place we bought the LD for. It’s dry camping and we have sun to keep the batteries charged. The price? $5 and we have an asphalt pad.
We arrived before noon and the small CG had five sites open. The site we took is, to our way of thinking, the best one. For our Sunday drive, we took Highway 4 into Los Alamos and when we got back, we found there are only four others in the CG. Looks like it will be a good week.
Monday, October 01, 2007
We drove up to see Fenton Lake SP. Not much to see there. We were sleepy when we got back after lunch and took a nap. By then it was really overcast so we rear, then started to drizzle and we watched some TV. We had never seen HD TV before. It’s great and the range is further than an analog signal.
We are the only ones left in the CG.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
We drove the 50-minute mountain road to Los Alamos to see the Bradbury Science Museum. It’s free. Well actually it is done by USC which has held the contract for Los Alamos since day 1. So thanks to all the tax payers for our free visit. It was worth it. Even Dorothy enjoyed it and I had no clue she was into physics.
On the way back to the CG, we detoured to Bandolier NM. It’s OK, but we are both up to our necks in native culture. I mean how many ruins can you see and still get excited? It’s like driving the through the berbs looking at houses. There are ruins all over the southwest.
Four other rigs came in while we were gone, but we are in the back by ourselves.
Tilapia sandwiches tonight.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
This morning we drove down Hwy 485 to a rock canyon with stone tunnels. If you can’t tell, we love canyons. This was quite scenic, high cliff walls and a babbling stream. While at one pull off we chatted with a Marine father/Air Force son, who were spending the day together on their Harleys. Son graduates from ROTC soon and then leaves as a second Lieutenant for pilot training.
We left there and then drove back up Hwy 4 once again, and hiked the East Fork trail. It was a mostly level easy walking except we had to ford the stream on stepping stones., 3 easy bridges, then a tree over the stream that had been flatten on the top and had a hand rail, one-fourth of which was extremely rickety. After about a mile we turned around because the next crossing was a log that had no safety features. If I had the agility and dexterity of Patrick Swayze and Linda Gray in “Dirty Dancing”, I would have attempted it. But, I decided that I could break bones by falling, which I felt sure that I would do. But, it was a good two mile hike and we needed the exercise.
The two solar panels fully recharge our batteries in 4 hours of sun. The sun does not get into this canyon until after 10 and the batteries are charged before 2.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Today is moving day and we moved to Riana Campground on Lake Abiquiu. It’s a Corps of Engineer lake and they are usually pretty good. This one is no exception. The sites are level and well spaced so you don’t see anyone else from your site. We have a picturesque view of the lake and the surrounding red rock hills.
We needed some milk so we drove eight miles south to the Village of Abiquiu. It was established in 1730 We saw a sign pointed to the library, so up the dirt road we go to a plaza that consists of a mission, artist studios, a bona fide bar, a several houses (one of which was the home of Georgia O’Keefe from 1949 until her death), and the library. Imagine our surprise to find wi-fi with excellent speed.
Friday, October 05, 2007
We decided to sightsee and scout other places to stay. We drove north toward Chama and stopped at El Vado Lake State Park and Herron Lake State Park. It is getting late in the year for campers because the CGs were just about empty. We won’t have trouble finding a good campsite. Since we were only a few miles from Chama, we decided to visit there. We had such good memories from our visit in 1994. The town hasn’t changed too much, but there are three large realty offices now and our favorite restaurant, Viva Vera’s, closed last year.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
What a great day! We paddled about three miles and the weather was perfect. It felt good to be back in the kayak. Later in the afternoon, we went to Espanola where they have a Wal-Mart. (For those of you that don’t camp, shopping at Wal-Mart is a “must do” about every 10 days!). We’re not sure where we are going next, but know that it won’t be in a large town, so we needed to stock up on supplies. With the new rig, I sometimes get carried away and buy too much, but luckily, we do have enough storage for everything.
We left Espanola in a pleasant temperature for the 30-odd mile drive back to the CG. After a few miles, the wind was really buffeting the Jeep. When we opened the Jeep door, the air was damn cold and we were in shorts. I changed clothes before hauling the grocery sacks into LD.
There are wind warnings on the lake tonight and it is blowing like stink (sailing term). I am so thankful that we aren’t in the popup!
Sunday, October 07, 2007
The wind laid down during the night, but the 7am temperature is 37. That is 10 degrees below our previous morning low two weeks ago. We are going to get a weather report before we go north and up another thousand feet.
We met our neighbors, Ted & Jamie from NE Georgia and enjoyed sitting around the campfire chatting with them – really good people and we invited them over for cocktails that afternoon. They are leaving Monday morning.
After lunch we headed for the Village to check emails and as we were driving out, a LD drove in. After weather report, we decided to spend Monday night here also and leave Tuesday when it starts warming up. As soon as we got back, we drove to their site to chat. They are Paul & Chris from Texas that fulltime.
At cocktail time, Ted, Jamie, Frank & Chris came over and we sat around our campfire and enjoyed visiting. We enjoyed showing off Koko and, of course, they were all impressed. Life in retirement is good.
Monday, October 08, 2007
We had a lazy morning. After it warmed up a bit we scoured the hillside for rocks. We found a few decent pieces of agate.
After lunch, we went down and visited with Frank & Chris in their 30 foot Lazy Daze. We came back and did a few chores, had dinner and went back to see Frank & Chris. Rough day!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
The temperature is back in the comfortable range, short sleeves, so we drove north through the Rio Grande canyon to the Wild River NRA. The elevation is about 7,700. This is a fairly new facility and is BLM managed. There are four small CG’s here, all with fresh gravel and large Ramada’s. The views are good, nothing but horizon with pinion pines and junipers. To the east are the Sangre de Cristo mountains. We are the only ones here.
Our site, 26, is next to one of the trails to bottom of the river gorge. The Rio Bravo is on the east side of the mesa and the Rio Grande on the other side.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The day dawned sunny. The Woods left homeward bound at 9. The overcast came a few minutes later. There was light rain by 11. It amazes us the power they have over the weather. But, this time they are excused, as Terry found 12volts in the fuse panel, so now the toad brakes work again. Besides, most of the rain never made it to ground and the clouds were gone in an hour.
After lunch, we hiked into the gorge. About the half-way point, I decided we should abort and see if we could make it back up, the 300-odd nearly vertical feet. We were huffing and puffing shortly and took breaks every other switchback. There were 19 switchbacks. Darn glad we did not attempt the entire decent.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
We drove two hours north to the Great Sands Dunes NP in southern Colorado. The dunes are more magnificent than we recalled. The CG is one of the better to be found in national parks. It’s enchanting to me. The dunes for a vista and the numerous Pinyon Pines in the CG. We may have the largest and most scenic site. Large sites are scarce. We drove around both loops twice until we settled on the perfect one, #60.
Friday, October 12, 2007
We got off early and drove 90-odd miles west into the San Juan Mountains. I needed to get a bite of the big mountains. We went up Wolf Creek Pass and then took the dirt road to the top, 11,787 feet, at Lobo Overlook. The 360-degree view of the surrounding peaks was worth the drive. I am not sure, but this may be the highest we have driven – ever.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
We slept until 8! Then we lazed around and finally had breakfast. I drove the LD forward 50 feet to fill the fresh water tank so we could have showers. By 11:30 we got in the Jeep and drove the 4WD trail to the Point of No Return, where 4WD is required. We saw several 4WD vehicles parked there and no one around. Were they hiking, primitive camping or what? I decided we should walk the road to the Sand Pit and see what the road condition was like. After walking a half-mile we finally saw two 4WD and they went through the sand just fine, so we huffed and puffed back to the Point of No Return, dropped the air pressure to 18 pounds and drove about 5 miles through some deep and fine sand with no problems.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Rain/snow was predicted and snow it did, I saw over two dozen flakes. We drove east and south to near Raton, NM to Sugarite Canyon SP. We had to cross a 9,400 foot pass on the way and that’s well over our limit to tow, so I drove the LD and Dorothy followed in the Jeep for about 20 miles. That was last high pass the LD will see this trip.
This is an OK CG, the fall foliage is still good and we are sure it was excellent two weeks back. There are still insolated groves of Aspens in near peak foliage. They are like light beacons.
Monday, October 15, 2007
It was nice to have electricity last night as it was near freezing. By noon, it was 62. We drove west to Cimarron Canyon, a treat for the eyes. We have pretty much covered the area north of Santa Fe, except for Vidal Valle. We saw a sign to it this morning.. It’s up a long dirt road on a high mesa. I think it would be a great place in the Summer. Next time.
Tomorrow, we are going to wash clothes and go to the library for wifi. Tuesday we are going to head home. It will take us about a week. We had thought about dropping down to I10 and stopping to see some friends and relatives, but we can not reach two of them and one will not be home. So we are going to go home on I20 this time. It means going through Dallas, but it will be a change from I40.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
This was maintenance day. As we were getting ready to leave a couple in a beat up old car pulled in around 9:30 and they just didn’t seem like campers. We were a little concerned and so was another camper. We went to the Park Rangers office to voice our concerns, but we were told they were campers and that they would check on them. Turns out they were campers and all was well. Just goes to show that appearances aren’t everything. While I was doing laundry in Raton, Don went to an auto parts store to make a couple of purchases. Back at the camper (or home as we sometimes refer to it), we continued doing chores.
We looked in the Mobil Travel Book and decided to try a local restaurant, Pappas Sweet Shoppe Restaurant for dinner. We each had a 10 oz rib eye that was absolutely delicious and we ate every bite. We had a pleasant chat with the owner – we enjoy the local restaurants and avoid chains that you can get anywhere.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
We are now officially headed home. After a five hour drive, we are at Lake Meredith NRA a little north of Amarillo, TX. The things we like about this campsite: sites are level, they sit on a bluff overlooking the lake and it’s free. The drawback is that there is a front moving through, so it’s blowing like stink. But, the temperature is delightful, we sat outside in short sleeves and had cocktails. Of course, we did have to fight the flies for the drinks, but we won. We also have cell phone coverage here and it’s been a long time since we have had coverage at our site.
We left Raton at over 6,000 feet and it’s all downhill from here. An hour after we left, the land became flat and we were down to about 3,500 feet.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
A two hour drive got us to Palo Duro Canyon just south of Amarillo. As canyons go, this is a good one. It is not as dramatic or deep as those found further west, but worth the visit. We could only stay one night as some big deal marathon had the place booked for the weekend.
Friday, October 19, 2007
A long six hour drive got us south of Abilene to Abilene SP. The destination had two goals, to get close to Perines Steak House and I20. Not many people would drive six hours to eat steak in Buffalo Gap, Texas, but we have.
We ate out last night at The BBQ Barn, one of those places found in small town Texas. All locals, hats nailed walls, pool table, low budget tables and decent BBQ, especially, the sausage. Dorothy was ravenous.
The temperature was hot when we arrived, so I put on shorts. After dinner, I planed to sit out and drink, but instead I turned on the TV and watched some mindless Friday TV and stayed sober.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
We shopped six stores in Abilene looking for things for Koko. We found a basket to hold napkins, plus a travel iron and a toaster. Personalizing Koko will have to wait.
For dinner, we went to Perines Steak House and had the 16 oz rib eye. It was good, but pricey. We shared their famous bread pudding for dessert, made with Jack Daniel’s sauce and pecans; it was very rich. Without drinks, the tab was $75.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
We drove 3.5 hours to outside of Ft. Worth. The winds were strong most of the day, so getting into a safe harbor was most welcome. We are at a COE CG, called Holiday Park on Lake Benbrook. A great facility and it’s only $10 a night. This will become a stop every time we use I20.
Monday, October 22, 2007
We tried to get a wire cable at Camping World, no joy. We did find a few useful things for Koko at The Container Store. The rain held off today, so we will continue east in the morning. A little over 12 hours driving time from here. We expect to be home Friday in four jumps, Shreveport, Vicksburg, Montgomery and then Golf Dr.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Our flight from Birmingham to Las Vegas was uneventful as was the car rental, but would not recommend a Dodge Charger. One of the reasons we flew to Las Vegas instead of Los Angeles was because it is a direct flight. The other reason was so we could have a good meal. We ate at Fellini’s (as always, delicious) and we were asleep at 7:00 PDT. We have been waking up around 4:30 – 5:00 at home and our bodies did not adjust to the time change so we were awake at 3:00. We got up and drove to Arizona Charlie’s for breakfast. I love having eggs, hash browns, sourdough toast, and grilled steak, cooked just right, for $2.99 The coffee was $3.50. We left for California at 6:30.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
We arrived at 10:15 for our 12:30 appointment. We wandered around looking at all the Lazy Dazes then went to a good Mexican Restaurant for lunch. After at 2½ hour walk thru, we then had to do the paperwork. Honestly, I signed more papers than when we bought our house. Then it was on to the hard work – unpacking the 12 boxes that we had shipped. I was told we had not shipped the most, but were in the top 1% - well you should be in the top 1% in something! That was WORK and it was hot! They close at 4:15, so we had to stop.
We checked in to our hotel, which as okay – 60’s California decor. There were no restaurants around that appealed to us, so we found La Cita that we had really enjoyed on our first trip. Dinner was excellent.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Once again we were awake at 4:00 and had to kill 3½ hours before the driver picked us up to continue unpacking. A couple from Indiana, Dan & Barbara, had decided to buy a LD and said they wanted one like ours, so I got to show it off. We were driven to Ehrenberg, AZ for official delivery, because we did not want to pay the 8½% California sales tax. Then it was time for us to take over, Koko is now ours. Don drove the first hour on a very nice straight two lane road. I drove the next hour on a hilly curvy two lane road. But now we both feel comfortable with her. It’s like driving the van, just longer and a little wider. We spent the first night at Blake Ranch RV Park in Kingman, AZ.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
We drove to Winslow, AZ to stay at Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow, AZ (thank you Terry and Betty) and try to continue to get organized. The 3 miles road into the park was a great road except for the trenches that are cut into the pavement about every 100 yards. They are about 6” across and 4” deep. Leaving the next morning, we thought we should see the Indian Ruins, but the trenches were worst, so we turned around and headed to New Mexico. We don’t know why they are there, but it certainly does reduce speed.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
This morning, we stopped at Painted Desert/Petrified Forest and spent about an hour. This is a “must do” on another trip and we will even stay at the Homolovi Ruins SP, especially since it’s the only campground around. We arrived at High Desert RV Park for installation of solar panels. We also will meet Frank with our Jeep, named Pelli, and get more boxes to unpack. A very special thanks to Frank for driving our Jeep to Albuquerque. We think we will be organized by the time we leave there Thursday. Dan & Rene Lindstrom were there ahead of us in their new Casita. They had a popup and we are both still marveling at stopping for the evening and there is no set up to do.
We are very pleased with Koko and feel at home, but we still have a lot to learn because it is so different than the Trail Manor. When we arrived the first night, we were tired and all we had to do was park, connect the water and electric. It’s not perfect, but nothing is, and I don’t think we could have bought anything else that we would like half as much.
Monday, September 17, 2007
We stayed around the campground organizing the LD this morning. Around 11:00 Frank Wolcott arrived with our Jeep, Pelli. What a wonderful friend he is, driving our Jeep from Birmingham to Albuquerque and he had a friend he got to visit also. We then went to Camping World to make an appointment to have the tow bar brackets installed.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Mike (The RV Guy) and Lisa Sylvester arrived to start installation of the solar panels and Don worked some on the LD and I just sat and read all day. In the afternoon, we drove to Costco for a few things and then to Whole Foods where we bought some special treats, one was Roquefort cheese (thank you Monica and Chad). We are still organizing the LD. I had to take everything out of a couple of cabinets during the installation and that gave me a chance to redo them, so that really worked out well.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
We arrived at Camping World at 8:00 and left the Jeep. Since we are still waking up so early, an 8:00 appointment was no problem. Mike & Lisa came back to install the surge guard and I did laundry and read. Then Don & Mike worked on getting the lights installed for towing.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Some days you just get lucky and this was our lucky day. We hooked up the Jeep to the LD for our first towing experience. A man behind us had been watching the work for 2 days and came over and asked if we had ever towed a car before. We said no and he asked if we would mind if he could give us some suggestions. It was a great help and we really did appreciate it.
We drove to Manzano Mountain State Park without any problems. We are to visit Kate & Terry, LDer’s that we met on our Spring Catcus trip. They had saved a site for us. This is a wonderful campground, only 16 sites and then another 16 in the group area. We gave our second tour of Koko to Gary & Shelley, who are looking for a C Class RV. We have things organized and are really beginning to feel at home. Set up in the cg is so easy and we are extremely pleased.
Friday, September 21, 2007
We piddled and lazed around. This was our first off-day since we left. Nothing was scheduled, nothing that we had to do. We finally got a nap.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
We drove the Jeep up to the lookout on Capilla Peak. This was the first time we have the Jeep off road for any distance. Dorothy enjoyed driving on the rock and dirt road. The summit is 9,350, about 2,100 above the CG. The lookout affords a 360 view. The Forest Service has one of the preeminent CG’s we have seen on one shoulder of the peak. About 8 sites, and most have log ramadas on concrete pads that over look the valley below. Are you listening Terry? The road is “one lane”, so taking the wide LD on the road would not work if we met oncoming vehicle.
There are so many places we want to go in NM, I doubt we will be get to Utah this trip. That now seems to be over-reaching. One thing we like about NM is that there are fewer people.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
We drove south to see two of the Pueblo communities. At Gran Quivira, the hillside is covered in dwellings, mostly intact, except for the roofs. The women handled all the building. Guess they were pretty good masons. It’s the largest of the three Salinas Pueblos. They were setting up to have a wedding in the mission church, which is pretty cool. The brinks here are red. The other one, Quarai, is obviously smaller and the bricks are gray, but it is still a large and quite unique.
Monday, September 24, 2007
We broke camp and drove two hours north to Cochiti Lake. This is close to Tent Rocks and gives us easy access to Santa Fe. The price is right too, $6 including electric .One of the advantages of being 62+ is the “Golden Age” pass that allows you ½ off on all camping and free admittance to all National Parks.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
We are enjoying NM. We have been here for 10 days and we may stay here until? We had said we would be back by Halloween, but for sure before Thanksgiving. We drove into Santa Fe this morning and got the lay of the city. I had not loaded Santa Fe maps into Glenda the GPS, so finding things was a problem I did not want to deal with. We looked at the art in the state capitol. Imagine a state building chock-a-block full of art. We had lunch at a local high rated Mexican restaurant. It was OK, but the margaritas were loaded with tequila. We got high on one. That ended touring. We stopped at Lowe's and walked around to sober up, before getting on I25 to come back to the CG.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Today we drove to see a local geologic formation known as Tent Rocks. I tripped over this place somewhere on the web this summer. A fellow had posted a picture of it, so I Googled the name and found the location. Coronado had a more difficult time, lacking the www. Tent Rocks has always been here, but only in 2000 did the BLM put up signage, build a trail, etc. Now, it quite popular being located near two cities.
We hiked the 3mile RT trail through a first-rate and accessible slot canyon, then up the hillside to a excellent overlook. Perhaps the pictures will give you an idea of the place.
We saw signage for Dixon’s Apple Farm, so we drove up the canyon to sample them. It’s three miles on a gravel road. We had not noticed much traffic, until we got on the gravel and over a dozen cars passed us coming out. The parking lot was full and folks were hauling apples out in wheel barrows about as fast as the trucks were bringing them in from the fields. We got bag of Champaign apples. About 50 for $14. They are tasty and we will be eating them for as long as they last.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
For years, people have asked us if we have been to Santa Fe. The answer was always, we tend to avoid cities. That answer still stands, but we have been to Santa Fe. It’s like New Orleans or Boston, confusing to get around and no on-street parking. Private lots get $20 a day. It is crammed with art galleries, selling attractive items for a king’s ransom.
We wanted to see Georgia O’Keefe’s exhibit. So does everyone else! The exhibit was disappointing to us, as they do have much of her work. We did enjoy the many quotes of hers that were painted on the walls and the documentary movie was interesting.
We had lunch at a trendy tapas place, La Boca. Then checked out two galleries Dorothy wanted to investigate. I felt very poor seeing the almost concealed price tags
Friday, September 28, 2007
We got off early for a change this morning, at 8. We were the first to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks trailhead. We wanted to take the Cave loop that we did not feel like doing Wednesday. It is a smooth gravel trail that goes up a moderate grade. It got Dorothy huffing and puffing real quick. After the cave loop, we could not resist going back to the slot canyon. So we had a 2 mile RT hike. We then drove another 3 miles to a newly completed overlook dedicated to veterans, especially the local tribe of Cochiti Indians. The view was of another canyon of tent rocks, which look more like teepees to us. This may be one of our top five places to visit, definitely top ten.
We both like the “softness” of the landscape in central New Mexico. Utah is great, but there is an edge, a sharpness to the terrain. The weather here has been delightful. Low’s 60’s at 7am, warming quickly as the sun rises. We have had a nice breeze most of the time.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Today has been maintenance day. Sometimes, you just have to do housekeeping. We have had delightful weather all week. Betty was finally able to connect with us on the phone this afternoon. They are over in Utah at Canyonland. She said it was blowing 50 there. About an hour later, the wind picked up here. Gusting to 30 I suspect. I don’t think we should take any more phone calls from them.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Moving Day. We drove for almost two hours from Cochiti Lake around to the other side of the mountain. We are now in a picturesque red canyon, in a Forest Service CG, Vista Linda. We are about 5,700 feet so it will be a little cooler than at Cochiti Lake, but much warmer than at the Forest Service CG’s north of here in the mountains. It’s 5pm now and I am comfortable in shorts in the shade. Life is good!
Our site is next to the Jimez River, creek actually, but it babbles and makes the Cottonwood trees lush green. This is the sort of place we bought the LD for. It’s dry camping and we have sun to keep the batteries charged. The price? $5 and we have an asphalt pad.
We arrived before noon and the small CG had five sites open. The site we took is, to our way of thinking, the best one. For our Sunday drive, we took Highway 4 into Los Alamos and when we got back, we found there are only four others in the CG. Looks like it will be a good week.
Monday, October 01, 2007
We drove up to see Fenton Lake SP. Not much to see there. We were sleepy when we got back after lunch and took a nap. By then it was really overcast so we rear, then started to drizzle and we watched some TV. We had never seen HD TV before. It’s great and the range is further than an analog signal.
We are the only ones left in the CG.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
We drove the 50-minute mountain road to Los Alamos to see the Bradbury Science Museum. It’s free. Well actually it is done by USC which has held the contract for Los Alamos since day 1. So thanks to all the tax payers for our free visit. It was worth it. Even Dorothy enjoyed it and I had no clue she was into physics.
On the way back to the CG, we detoured to Bandolier NM. It’s OK, but we are both up to our necks in native culture. I mean how many ruins can you see and still get excited? It’s like driving the through the berbs looking at houses. There are ruins all over the southwest.
Four other rigs came in while we were gone, but we are in the back by ourselves.
Tilapia sandwiches tonight.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
This morning we drove down Hwy 485 to a rock canyon with stone tunnels. If you can’t tell, we love canyons. This was quite scenic, high cliff walls and a babbling stream. While at one pull off we chatted with a Marine father/Air Force son, who were spending the day together on their Harleys. Son graduates from ROTC soon and then leaves as a second Lieutenant for pilot training.
We left there and then drove back up Hwy 4 once again, and hiked the East Fork trail. It was a mostly level easy walking except we had to ford the stream on stepping stones., 3 easy bridges, then a tree over the stream that had been flatten on the top and had a hand rail, one-fourth of which was extremely rickety. After about a mile we turned around because the next crossing was a log that had no safety features. If I had the agility and dexterity of Patrick Swayze and Linda Gray in “Dirty Dancing”, I would have attempted it. But, I decided that I could break bones by falling, which I felt sure that I would do. But, it was a good two mile hike and we needed the exercise.
The two solar panels fully recharge our batteries in 4 hours of sun. The sun does not get into this canyon until after 10 and the batteries are charged before 2.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Today is moving day and we moved to Riana Campground on Lake Abiquiu. It’s a Corps of Engineer lake and they are usually pretty good. This one is no exception. The sites are level and well spaced so you don’t see anyone else from your site. We have a picturesque view of the lake and the surrounding red rock hills.
We needed some milk so we drove eight miles south to the Village of Abiquiu. It was established in 1730 We saw a sign pointed to the library, so up the dirt road we go to a plaza that consists of a mission, artist studios, a bona fide bar, a several houses (one of which was the home of Georgia O’Keefe from 1949 until her death), and the library. Imagine our surprise to find wi-fi with excellent speed.
Friday, October 05, 2007
We decided to sightsee and scout other places to stay. We drove north toward Chama and stopped at El Vado Lake State Park and Herron Lake State Park. It is getting late in the year for campers because the CGs were just about empty. We won’t have trouble finding a good campsite. Since we were only a few miles from Chama, we decided to visit there. We had such good memories from our visit in 1994. The town hasn’t changed too much, but there are three large realty offices now and our favorite restaurant, Viva Vera’s, closed last year.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
What a great day! We paddled about three miles and the weather was perfect. It felt good to be back in the kayak. Later in the afternoon, we went to Espanola where they have a Wal-Mart. (For those of you that don’t camp, shopping at Wal-Mart is a “must do” about every 10 days!). We’re not sure where we are going next, but know that it won’t be in a large town, so we needed to stock up on supplies. With the new rig, I sometimes get carried away and buy too much, but luckily, we do have enough storage for everything.
We left Espanola in a pleasant temperature for the 30-odd mile drive back to the CG. After a few miles, the wind was really buffeting the Jeep. When we opened the Jeep door, the air was damn cold and we were in shorts. I changed clothes before hauling the grocery sacks into LD.
There are wind warnings on the lake tonight and it is blowing like stink (sailing term). I am so thankful that we aren’t in the popup!
Sunday, October 07, 2007
The wind laid down during the night, but the 7am temperature is 37. That is 10 degrees below our previous morning low two weeks ago. We are going to get a weather report before we go north and up another thousand feet.
We met our neighbors, Ted & Jamie from NE Georgia and enjoyed sitting around the campfire chatting with them – really good people and we invited them over for cocktails that afternoon. They are leaving Monday morning.
After lunch we headed for the Village to check emails and as we were driving out, a LD drove in. After weather report, we decided to spend Monday night here also and leave Tuesday when it starts warming up. As soon as we got back, we drove to their site to chat. They are Paul & Chris from Texas that fulltime.
At cocktail time, Ted, Jamie, Frank & Chris came over and we sat around our campfire and enjoyed visiting. We enjoyed showing off Koko and, of course, they were all impressed. Life in retirement is good.
Monday, October 08, 2007
We had a lazy morning. After it warmed up a bit we scoured the hillside for rocks. We found a few decent pieces of agate.
After lunch, we went down and visited with Frank & Chris in their 30 foot Lazy Daze. We came back and did a few chores, had dinner and went back to see Frank & Chris. Rough day!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
The temperature is back in the comfortable range, short sleeves, so we drove north through the Rio Grande canyon to the Wild River NRA. The elevation is about 7,700. This is a fairly new facility and is BLM managed. There are four small CG’s here, all with fresh gravel and large Ramada’s. The views are good, nothing but horizon with pinion pines and junipers. To the east are the Sangre de Cristo mountains. We are the only ones here.
Our site, 26, is next to one of the trails to bottom of the river gorge. The Rio Bravo is on the east side of the mesa and the Rio Grande on the other side.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The day dawned sunny. The Woods left homeward bound at 9. The overcast came a few minutes later. There was light rain by 11. It amazes us the power they have over the weather. But, this time they are excused, as Terry found 12volts in the fuse panel, so now the toad brakes work again. Besides, most of the rain never made it to ground and the clouds were gone in an hour.
After lunch, we hiked into the gorge. About the half-way point, I decided we should abort and see if we could make it back up, the 300-odd nearly vertical feet. We were huffing and puffing shortly and took breaks every other switchback. There were 19 switchbacks. Darn glad we did not attempt the entire decent.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
We drove two hours north to the Great Sands Dunes NP in southern Colorado. The dunes are more magnificent than we recalled. The CG is one of the better to be found in national parks. It’s enchanting to me. The dunes for a vista and the numerous Pinyon Pines in the CG. We may have the largest and most scenic site. Large sites are scarce. We drove around both loops twice until we settled on the perfect one, #60.
Friday, October 12, 2007
We got off early and drove 90-odd miles west into the San Juan Mountains. I needed to get a bite of the big mountains. We went up Wolf Creek Pass and then took the dirt road to the top, 11,787 feet, at Lobo Overlook. The 360-degree view of the surrounding peaks was worth the drive. I am not sure, but this may be the highest we have driven – ever.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
We slept until 8! Then we lazed around and finally had breakfast. I drove the LD forward 50 feet to fill the fresh water tank so we could have showers. By 11:30 we got in the Jeep and drove the 4WD trail to the Point of No Return, where 4WD is required. We saw several 4WD vehicles parked there and no one around. Were they hiking, primitive camping or what? I decided we should walk the road to the Sand Pit and see what the road condition was like. After walking a half-mile we finally saw two 4WD and they went through the sand just fine, so we huffed and puffed back to the Point of No Return, dropped the air pressure to 18 pounds and drove about 5 miles through some deep and fine sand with no problems.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Rain/snow was predicted and snow it did, I saw over two dozen flakes. We drove east and south to near Raton, NM to Sugarite Canyon SP. We had to cross a 9,400 foot pass on the way and that’s well over our limit to tow, so I drove the LD and Dorothy followed in the Jeep for about 20 miles. That was last high pass the LD will see this trip.
This is an OK CG, the fall foliage is still good and we are sure it was excellent two weeks back. There are still insolated groves of Aspens in near peak foliage. They are like light beacons.
Monday, October 15, 2007
It was nice to have electricity last night as it was near freezing. By noon, it was 62. We drove west to Cimarron Canyon, a treat for the eyes. We have pretty much covered the area north of Santa Fe, except for Vidal Valle. We saw a sign to it this morning.. It’s up a long dirt road on a high mesa. I think it would be a great place in the Summer. Next time.
Tomorrow, we are going to wash clothes and go to the library for wifi. Tuesday we are going to head home. It will take us about a week. We had thought about dropping down to I10 and stopping to see some friends and relatives, but we can not reach two of them and one will not be home. So we are going to go home on I20 this time. It means going through Dallas, but it will be a change from I40.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
This was maintenance day. As we were getting ready to leave a couple in a beat up old car pulled in around 9:30 and they just didn’t seem like campers. We were a little concerned and so was another camper. We went to the Park Rangers office to voice our concerns, but we were told they were campers and that they would check on them. Turns out they were campers and all was well. Just goes to show that appearances aren’t everything. While I was doing laundry in Raton, Don went to an auto parts store to make a couple of purchases. Back at the camper (or home as we sometimes refer to it), we continued doing chores.
We looked in the Mobil Travel Book and decided to try a local restaurant, Pappas Sweet Shoppe Restaurant for dinner. We each had a 10 oz rib eye that was absolutely delicious and we ate every bite. We had a pleasant chat with the owner – we enjoy the local restaurants and avoid chains that you can get anywhere.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
We are now officially headed home. After a five hour drive, we are at Lake Meredith NRA a little north of Amarillo, TX. The things we like about this campsite: sites are level, they sit on a bluff overlooking the lake and it’s free. The drawback is that there is a front moving through, so it’s blowing like stink. But, the temperature is delightful, we sat outside in short sleeves and had cocktails. Of course, we did have to fight the flies for the drinks, but we won. We also have cell phone coverage here and it’s been a long time since we have had coverage at our site.
We left Raton at over 6,000 feet and it’s all downhill from here. An hour after we left, the land became flat and we were down to about 3,500 feet.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
A two hour drive got us to Palo Duro Canyon just south of Amarillo. As canyons go, this is a good one. It is not as dramatic or deep as those found further west, but worth the visit. We could only stay one night as some big deal marathon had the place booked for the weekend.
Friday, October 19, 2007
A long six hour drive got us south of Abilene to Abilene SP. The destination had two goals, to get close to Perines Steak House and I20. Not many people would drive six hours to eat steak in Buffalo Gap, Texas, but we have.
We ate out last night at The BBQ Barn, one of those places found in small town Texas. All locals, hats nailed walls, pool table, low budget tables and decent BBQ, especially, the sausage. Dorothy was ravenous.
The temperature was hot when we arrived, so I put on shorts. After dinner, I planed to sit out and drink, but instead I turned on the TV and watched some mindless Friday TV and stayed sober.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
We shopped six stores in Abilene looking for things for Koko. We found a basket to hold napkins, plus a travel iron and a toaster. Personalizing Koko will have to wait.
For dinner, we went to Perines Steak House and had the 16 oz rib eye. It was good, but pricey. We shared their famous bread pudding for dessert, made with Jack Daniel’s sauce and pecans; it was very rich. Without drinks, the tab was $75.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
We drove 3.5 hours to outside of Ft. Worth. The winds were strong most of the day, so getting into a safe harbor was most welcome. We are at a COE CG, called Holiday Park on Lake Benbrook. A great facility and it’s only $10 a night. This will become a stop every time we use I20.
Monday, October 22, 2007
We tried to get a wire cable at Camping World, no joy. We did find a few useful things for Koko at The Container Store. The rain held off today, so we will continue east in the morning. A little over 12 hours driving time from here. We expect to be home Friday in four jumps, Shreveport, Vicksburg, Montgomery and then Golf Dr.
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