Merry Christmas everyone! We are back in the DFW area for a few days after spending a month in Mission Texas.
We went to my mom's for Christmas with the family and had a great time. While we were there we told everyone that we would be heading back to the south Texas area (Mercedes Texas) for at least two months or until the rest of the country thaws out. My mom told Penny that it sounded pretty good to her, so Penny told her to come with us. Now my mom is a very young and active 85 and her husband recently passed away. Mom liked the idea a lot, and the rest of the day tried to think of a good reason not to go...she came up blank. All my brothers and sisters agreed that it was a good idea as well. So hopefully come Monday the 30th there will be an extra passenger in the truck heading towards the Rio Grande Valley. As much as I would like to claim this as my idea I can't, it was all the most wonderful woman in the world's, my beautiful wife Penny.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Havasu Lake California, Tonopah Arizona, Wilcox Arizona and Las Cruces New Mexico, Balmorhea State Park Texas and Schertz Texas.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! It's been a while so I apologize. We have been in several places since we last talked on the 11th, so I'll go over the some of the highlights.
While in the Barstow area we did manage to do a little sight seeing. I know, some of you are thinking "aren't Barstow and sight seeing mutually inexclusive?", they are not. We went to see the Calico Ghost Town. An actual old mining camp with a few of the building still standing. We had a fun afternoon going through the stores and exhibits.
From Barstow we headed towards Havasu Lake California, which I'm sure you can guess is across the lake from Lake Havasu City Arizona. This was a very nice park right on the lake. Actually it was Havasu Landing Resort and Casino. The weather was very nice and Wonder loved walking on the beach so we stayed a few more days.
Since we were so close we took the ferry across the lake to Lake Havasu City to see the sites there or at least the site there. For those of you who don't know it is the home of the original London Bridge. It was bought in the late 50s and brought over piece by piece and reconstructed here. The story is much more exciting than the actual site, but at least we can say we've seen London Bridge, and contrary to popular belief and song it is NOT falling down.
After Havasu it was a series of one night stands, beginning with Tonopah Arizona, which is as big as it sounds. We stayed at the Saddle Mountain RV Park which was a good park with all the needed amenities. Wilcox Arizona was our next stop, landing at the Fort Wilcox RV Park, a much smaller park but not very crowded. The best part being the camp hostess sold pies that she had made from scratch, we bought an apple and a cherry and they were both delicious! From there we headed to Las Cruces New Mexico and the Sunny Acres RV Park, not in the best part of town but serviceable for a one nighter. The next morning we were in Texas again! By afternoon we stopped at the first state park we've been in since Alabama. Balmorhea State Park is home to the largest spring fed swimming. It's 1.75 acres of the clearest water, part of the pool is 20' deep and although the sides of the pool were concrete the bottom was natural but it was still crystal clear. The water temperature stays around 76 degrees year round. It was only in the low 70s weather wise when we arrived so we passed on swimming but others were in the pool.
Now some of you may remember our issue with the washer connections not being connected to anything but the washer, so a few few days earlier we contacted an Evergreen dealer in New Braunfuls Texas about doing the warranty work to finish the connections. We told them what the issue was and that since we lived in the RV we needed the work done in one day. After a couple of phone calls and an email with photos of the problem we were told to be there Thursday morning and they'd take care of us. YEAH! Nothing is EVER that simple. So after leaving Balmorhea on Wednesday morning we were in Schertz Texas about 10 miles south of the dealership on Wednesday evening. Bright and early the next morning we take the RV to the dealer who, only after we unhook it from the truck and are about to leave for a few hours, tells us they won't get to it today and we'd have to leave it with them. To say we were pissed is an understatement. We promptly hooked back up and left. When we got back to the RV park we decided to go another route and started calling mobile rv repair companies that would come to us to do the work. We knew that we may not get all of the bill paid for under the warranty because an Evergreen dealer was not doing the work but by this time we didn't care. We found a guy who could come out that same afternoon. It was after 4 when he got there and by the time he figured out the best way to complete the work it was after 5. He told us he had a roofing job the next morning but would be here early afternoon to do the work. The next day it rained off an on all day, and by 3:30 our guy was still not there. At 6 his brother calls to say the weather has really slowed them down, could they come in the morning? That didn't work for us because we were due in Mission Texas that afternoon. So close and yet so far. Which pretty much brings you the reader up to date. We are here in Mission Texas at the Mission Bell RV Resort. We will be here until the 20th of December when we'll head towards the DFW area for Christmas with family and some doctors appointment. As far as the washer goes, we have another guy coming Monday to take care of it, he's already been here to survey the work, so hopefully by Tuesday we can do our laundry without having to leave the camper with a bag of quarters.
While in the Barstow area we did manage to do a little sight seeing. I know, some of you are thinking "aren't Barstow and sight seeing mutually inexclusive?", they are not. We went to see the Calico Ghost Town. An actual old mining camp with a few of the building still standing. We had a fun afternoon going through the stores and exhibits.
From Barstow we headed towards Havasu Lake California, which I'm sure you can guess is across the lake from Lake Havasu City Arizona. This was a very nice park right on the lake. Actually it was Havasu Landing Resort and Casino. The weather was very nice and Wonder loved walking on the beach so we stayed a few more days.
After Havasu it was a series of one night stands, beginning with Tonopah Arizona, which is as big as it sounds. We stayed at the Saddle Mountain RV Park which was a good park with all the needed amenities. Wilcox Arizona was our next stop, landing at the Fort Wilcox RV Park, a much smaller park but not very crowded. The best part being the camp hostess sold pies that she had made from scratch, we bought an apple and a cherry and they were both delicious! From there we headed to Las Cruces New Mexico and the Sunny Acres RV Park, not in the best part of town but serviceable for a one nighter. The next morning we were in Texas again! By afternoon we stopped at the first state park we've been in since Alabama. Balmorhea State Park is home to the largest spring fed swimming. It's 1.75 acres of the clearest water, part of the pool is 20' deep and although the sides of the pool were concrete the bottom was natural but it was still crystal clear. The water temperature stays around 76 degrees year round. It was only in the low 70s weather wise when we arrived so we passed on swimming but others were in the pool.
Now some of you may remember our issue with the washer connections not being connected to anything but the washer, so a few few days earlier we contacted an Evergreen dealer in New Braunfuls Texas about doing the warranty work to finish the connections. We told them what the issue was and that since we lived in the RV we needed the work done in one day. After a couple of phone calls and an email with photos of the problem we were told to be there Thursday morning and they'd take care of us. YEAH! Nothing is EVER that simple. So after leaving Balmorhea on Wednesday morning we were in Schertz Texas about 10 miles south of the dealership on Wednesday evening. Bright and early the next morning we take the RV to the dealer who, only after we unhook it from the truck and are about to leave for a few hours, tells us they won't get to it today and we'd have to leave it with them. To say we were pissed is an understatement. We promptly hooked back up and left. When we got back to the RV park we decided to go another route and started calling mobile rv repair companies that would come to us to do the work. We knew that we may not get all of the bill paid for under the warranty because an Evergreen dealer was not doing the work but by this time we didn't care. We found a guy who could come out that same afternoon. It was after 4 when he got there and by the time he figured out the best way to complete the work it was after 5. He told us he had a roofing job the next morning but would be here early afternoon to do the work. The next day it rained off an on all day, and by 3:30 our guy was still not there. At 6 his brother calls to say the weather has really slowed them down, could they come in the morning? That didn't work for us because we were due in Mission Texas that afternoon. So close and yet so far. Which pretty much brings you the reader up to date. We are here in Mission Texas at the Mission Bell RV Resort. We will be here until the 20th of December when we'll head towards the DFW area for Christmas with family and some doctors appointment. As far as the washer goes, we have another guy coming Monday to take care of it, he's already been here to survey the work, so hopefully by Tuesday we can do our laundry without having to leave the camper with a bag of quarters.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Grant's Pass Oregon, Corning California, Tulare California and Barstow California
Hello Dear Readers!
It's 12pm November 11th and a beautiful day here in Newberry Springs California. I can almost hear some of you asking "where the hell is Newberry Springs?". Well, we're about 20 miles east of Barstow on historic Route 66, just a mile or so from the famous Bagdad Cafe. Famous only because of a movie about it by the same name. As the title of this edition tells you, we've come about 1000 miles since my last edition. We left Silverton Oregon on November 5th after we finally got our washer/dryer repaired. Unfortunately our repairman discovered that although the camper was sold to us as washer/dryer ready it's not. Seems that the water lines and drain pipe that are in the utility closet aren't connected to anything, and now I hear most of you saying "WTF?". All will be fixed by a dealer at no cost as soon as we get somewhere for a while. Anyway, we stayed that evening in Grants Pass Oregon in a small RV park and headed south the next day. On the way to our next stop we passed beautiful Mt Shasta.
I needed to get some prescriptions filled so we stayed the next 3 nights in Corning California, the Olive City. Wonder was beside himself with anticipation. Corning is a small town with several olive groves, olive oil manufacturers and olive museums.
From Corning we headed south still and landed in Tulare California. It wasn't our first choice, or even our second, but for a one nighter it served its purpose. That brings us to where we are today, Newberry Mountain RV Park. A small but nice park just outside of Barstow in the middle of the Mojave desert.
We're going to do some exploring today. There's the Calico ghost town not too far away that looks interesting, and we might even stop and eat at the Bagdad Cafe afterwards!
So until next time...
It's 12pm November 11th and a beautiful day here in Newberry Springs California. I can almost hear some of you asking "where the hell is Newberry Springs?". Well, we're about 20 miles east of Barstow on historic Route 66, just a mile or so from the famous Bagdad Cafe. Famous only because of a movie about it by the same name. As the title of this edition tells you, we've come about 1000 miles since my last edition. We left Silverton Oregon on November 5th after we finally got our washer/dryer repaired. Unfortunately our repairman discovered that although the camper was sold to us as washer/dryer ready it's not. Seems that the water lines and drain pipe that are in the utility closet aren't connected to anything, and now I hear most of you saying "WTF?". All will be fixed by a dealer at no cost as soon as we get somewhere for a while. Anyway, we stayed that evening in Grants Pass Oregon in a small RV park and headed south the next day. On the way to our next stop we passed beautiful Mt Shasta.
I needed to get some prescriptions filled so we stayed the next 3 nights in Corning California, the Olive City. Wonder was beside himself with anticipation. Corning is a small town with several olive groves, olive oil manufacturers and olive museums.
From Corning we headed south still and landed in Tulare California. It wasn't our first choice, or even our second, but for a one nighter it served its purpose. That brings us to where we are today, Newberry Mountain RV Park. A small but nice park just outside of Barstow in the middle of the Mojave desert.
We're going to do some exploring today. There's the Calico ghost town not too far away that looks interesting, and we might even stop and eat at the Bagdad Cafe afterwards!
So until next time...
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Silver Falls State Park
I need to catch ya'll up a bit. I kind of left out some information on my last post. We actually have been in the Portland area since the 22nd. We're in the Silver Spur RV Park in Silverton Oregon, about 15 miles east of Salem and 40 south of Portland. It's a nice park with all the amenities we need. As it turns out we'll be here until the 5th so we can get out washer/dryer fixed. From here we'll head south down the Pacific Coast Highway on our eventual way back to Texas. So, now you're all caught up...sort of.
Luckily there is plenty to do and see in this area. We've been to downtown Portland twice, once on business once for pleasure. We've been to the coast (see previous post) and today we went to a state park a few miles away. Although it was a little chilly it was a beautiful drive and once there the scenery was spectacular. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
So THAT'S the Pacific Ocean!
On the 24th we took the boys for a little drive, we headed for the coast. This would be Penny's first look at the Pacific Ocean, Squeaky's too for that matter, and Wonder, well it would be his first sniff of the Pacific.
Our first stop was Road's End State Park in Lincoln City. We took Squeaky down on the beach, he loved running across the sand chasing seagulls.
From there we headed south to Boiler Bay State Wayside near Depoe Bay.
Further south we stopped in Newport and visited the Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site and Lighthouse.
As this was Penny's first look at the Pacific, I asked her if the Atlantic coastline offered similar vistas. She said she'd never seen anyting like them and she's been from Virginia to Florida on the east coast.
All in all a very good day!
Our first stop was Road's End State Park in Lincoln City. We took Squeaky down on the beach, he loved running across the sand chasing seagulls.
From there we headed south to Boiler Bay State Wayside near Depoe Bay.
Further south we stopped in Newport and visited the Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site and Lighthouse.
As this was Penny's first look at the Pacific, I asked her if the Atlantic coastline offered similar vistas. She said she'd never seen anyting like them and she's been from Virginia to Florida on the east coast.
All in all a very good day!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Kennewick Washington and the trip here.
Hello to all my friends, family and readers. Sorry for not posting for so long. We're in Kennewick Washington, part of the Tri Cities area. Somewhere along the way we met a man at one of the RV parks we stayed in, and when he heard we were headed here he informed us that if they wanted to give Washingtonn state an enema, the Tri Cities is where they would stick the hose. I am pleased to announce that he had know idea of what he was talking about...the Jackwagon!
On the contrary, the area is very pretty. We're only about 450' above sea level where we're at with rolling hills all around that are maybe 1200' feet. The area is east of the Cascades so it doesn't get the rains that Portland and Seattle are known for. It's usually sunny here most days.
We're here visiting Penny's nephew J.W. She hadn't seen him in several years so the reunion was very heart warming. We also got to meet is lovely girlfriend Litsa and her mother too.
We had intended to stay in Kennewick just a few days but made a mistake by going to an RV show at the mall. Long story short, we traded in our 2008 Cedar Creek by Forest River for a 2014 Bay Hill by Evergreen, model 365RL if you want to look it up, for whatever reason I don't have pictures of it on my phone yet. So, instead of 5 days we were here 15. But we left much more comfortable.
Getting here we stopped in a couple places. First was Twin Falls Idaho, we stayed for just two nights, the RV park was ok nothing special, but accommodating. We took a short drive around and saw some pretty falls. The strange thing was that all of these falls come out of the middle of the mountain side.
The next stop was the Catfish Junction RV Park in Huntington Oregon. This was a small park with water and electric but no sewer. However it was located right on the Snake River.
On the contrary, the area is very pretty. We're only about 450' above sea level where we're at with rolling hills all around that are maybe 1200' feet. The area is east of the Cascades so it doesn't get the rains that Portland and Seattle are known for. It's usually sunny here most days.
We're here visiting Penny's nephew J.W. She hadn't seen him in several years so the reunion was very heart warming. We also got to meet is lovely girlfriend Litsa and her mother too.
We had intended to stay in Kennewick just a few days but made a mistake by going to an RV show at the mall. Long story short, we traded in our 2008 Cedar Creek by Forest River for a 2014 Bay Hill by Evergreen, model 365RL if you want to look it up, for whatever reason I don't have pictures of it on my phone yet. So, instead of 5 days we were here 15. But we left much more comfortable.
Getting here we stopped in a couple places. First was Twin Falls Idaho, we stayed for just two nights, the RV park was ok nothing special, but accommodating. We took a short drive around and saw some pretty falls. The strange thing was that all of these falls come out of the middle of the mountain side.
The next stop was the Catfish Junction RV Park in Huntington Oregon. This was a small park with water and electric but no sewer. However it was located right on the Snake River.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Casper and Rawlins WY and Ogden Utah.
Hello dear readers, it's been a few days since I have checked in with you. It's been a busy 6 days. Last time we talked, well I typed, you read, we were about to leave the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. We headed towards Casper Wyoming around noon on Friday. Along the way we experienced our first snow fall. It started as a light mist and soon turned into big white flakes. The roads never were icy or slick. it did make for a pretty drive. At least until we got to the campground. That's when I managed to clip one of those yellow concrete pylons with the camper. The damage is mostly cosmetic, but damaged it is. Bummer! The campground did offer a nice view to the south (little consolation).
From there we headed to Rawlins Wyoming and except for some hellasious wind there wasn't much there. Sorry no pictures.
Between Rawlins and Ogden Utah there was plenty to see. Starting with Independence Rock. Independence Rock was a stopover for settlers heading west. The belief was that they needed to be here by July in order to make it through the Rockies before winter.
As we got closer to Utah the scenery got better.
From there we headed to Rawlins Wyoming and except for some hellasious wind there wasn't much there. Sorry no pictures.
Between Rawlins and Ogden Utah there was plenty to see. Starting with Independence Rock. Independence Rock was a stopover for settlers heading west. The belief was that they needed to be here by July in order to make it through the Rockies before winter.
As we got closer to Utah the scenery got better.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Presidents and Indians
It's our last night in the Black Hills and it has been a very good stay. Monday and Thursday were spent pretty close to home due dentist appointments, but Tuesday and Wednesday we did some more exploring.
Tuesday we headed to Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments. I had been to Mt Rushmore before but it was a very long time ago, I was probably ten at the time. I didn't appreciate what I was seeing at ten years old, the beauty was lost on me. This time was different. Before going to the monument we stopped in Keystone to go through the Gutzen Borglum museum. He was the man who carved the mountain. Doing the museum first was a good idea. It gave us a better perspective when we got to the monument itself. I could bore you with a description of what we saw but I wouldn't do it justice. So I'll let these do the talking.
After Rushmore we headed to the Crazy Horse monument. They're still working on it and probably will be after I'm gone. It's taking so long because it is not funded by government in any way. They rely solely on the profits from the welcome center, gift shop, restaurant etc. I hope to see the finished product one day, it will be spectacular. The artist was Kolczak Ziolkowski, he started in 1948 after being commissioned by the Lakota Indians. Ziolkowski died in 1982 but his wife and 10 children continue to work on the project.
Tuesday we headed to Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments. I had been to Mt Rushmore before but it was a very long time ago, I was probably ten at the time. I didn't appreciate what I was seeing at ten years old, the beauty was lost on me. This time was different. Before going to the monument we stopped in Keystone to go through the Gutzen Borglum museum. He was the man who carved the mountain. Doing the museum first was a good idea. It gave us a better perspective when we got to the monument itself. I could bore you with a description of what we saw but I wouldn't do it justice. So I'll let these do the talking.
After Rushmore we headed to the Crazy Horse monument. They're still working on it and probably will be after I'm gone. It's taking so long because it is not funded by government in any way. They rely solely on the profits from the welcome center, gift shop, restaurant etc. I hope to see the finished product one day, it will be spectacular. The artist was Kolczak Ziolkowski, he started in 1948 after being commissioned by the Lakota Indians. Ziolkowski died in 1982 but his wife and 10 children continue to work on the project.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)