Biloxi, Ms.- July 1, 2012

It's a lazy, hot Sunday morning in Biloxi. The campground has thinned out somewhat but I guess many will stay the week since the 4th is on Wednesday. We are planning to be here until next Saturday. We have spent the past 2 days looking around Biloxi. Tom spent a week down here after Hurricane Katrina with a group from our church rehabbing homes. We drove by the house that Tom had been working on. It was, and we can only guess speculate still is, owned by a Vietnamese family. Many home sites are still vacant except for the concrete slabs that the homes were built on. And there continues to be construction going on. We stopped by a pier where local shrimp boaters were selling shrimp off the boats.

We may return later in the week to get some shrimp to take home. We went to the Katrina Memorial, a structure that is the height of the storm surge from that storm.

There is a listing of those Gulf Coast individuals that died in the storm engraved on the wall. Crepe Myrtles are in bloom everywhere along this coastline. We saw a poultry and seafood market and stopped to check it out. Lots of seafood- shrimp, all kinds of fresh fish, scallops and assorted crabs- and the only poultry was frozen. We bought some shrimp and scallops and then made seafood pasta back at the motorhome. Yummy!!

The beaches are of white sand. We learned that the beaches are not natural but were constructed to make this area desirable for tourism. Walking along the beach the water continues to look dirty we can only guess that is the effect of Hurricane Debby churning up the Gulf waters. We'll see if in a few days the water becomes clearer.

Moving South to Biloxi, Mississippi

On Wednesday, June 27th, we left Cave City continuing down I-65 into Alabama. Most of this highway traverses through rolling wooded hills. We did travel through Nashville, Huntsville and Birmingham on I-65 with little problem. We stopped for the night at a campground south of Birmingham, Birmingham South Campground. A nice campground but a little pricey- it was $44.12 for one night ( the previous campground in Cave City, Ky. cost us $32.00 for 2 nights with a Passport America discount and both had full hook-ups with 50 amps electric). We had a pull through site that we did not have to unhook the Jeep for the night so we decided after seeing an ad in the campground information paper of a Johnny Ray's barbecue joint that would deliver to order dinner from there. Well- Tom called and asked for delivery, they had to check if there was someone there to make the delivery, then he tried to order catfish dinner for me and was told "we don't have catfish" which was on their website menu. At this point Tom told them to forget it and I cooked dinner. We had planned to go to the Mobile, Alabama area to hang out for about a week but it seemed that was not to be. Hurricane Debby was spinning around Florida and we were hesitant to make any reservations for fear that if Debby continued west the Gulf coast could be in jeopardy. So when we tried to find a campground inb Mobile after the threat of Debby had passed there was no room. We then started going into Mississippi Gulf coast area and we found sites in Biloxi, Ms. Thursday morning, the 28th, we continued further south on I-65 to Montgomery and the southwest to Mobile. I-65 ends in the Mobile, Al. area and at that point we connected with I-10 west into Mississippi and the Biloxi area. We had reserved a site at the Cajun RV Park that is located across the Gulf Highway from the beach area. It is an older park but well maintained and does have some trees around- but like a lot of campgrounds there is an active train track close by and Kessler Air Force Base has planes flying overhead. Oh, well,these things never seem to bother us too much. In the evening we drove around looking for a seafood restaurant for dinner and found McElroy's on the Bayou. We had really nice dinners of broiled shrimp and scallops while looking out across the bayou- good food and a nice location.

Bowling Green, Ky. and More Caves- June 26, 2012

Today we drove south about 30 miles in the Jeep to Bowling Green.  The Corvette plant is located here and we were going to tour that facility.  We had taken the tour several years ago but as with everything things change.  There are now just certain times in the day that the tours are scheduled- we were about an hour and half too early for the next scheduled tour.  And there is now a $7.00 per person charge- I guess this is helping GM in their financial recovery effort. So we opted to do something else.

We drove around the city of Bowling Green and when we saw a Sam's Club we stopped to pick up a few items and then a stop at Walgreen's.  We decided to go to the Lost River Cave but thought we had better get lunch before doing so.  Not surprising we found a Mexican restaurant and had our lunch and then to the Lost River Cave.  The Lost River Cave is a privately owned cave unlike the Mammoth Cave run by the National Park services.  The tour is more expensive, less informative and shorter than the tour at Mammoth.  But it was a different experience as we were on boats that went a short distance into the cave.  This cave is also a wet cave that has the beginnings of stalactites.  Jesse James and his gang used the cave as a hide out.  Outside of the cave there are several blue holes, pools of water that is blue due to the the rock sediment.  A trail to a Butterfly Garden took us to an enclosed flower garden with hundreds butterflies flitting around on the pretty flowers.

The weather today was just perfect, bright blue skies, low humidity and temperatures in the low 80's.  Tomorrow it is forecasted to change to higher humidity and temperatures reaching into the 100's by week's end. After returning to the campground we walked about the grounds in the evening.  This is a nice campground that honors Passport America membership which is half the usual price and we would certainly return if in the area.  The owners are very friendly and helpful.  Tomorrow we will be moving on, not sure where but a little further south toward Mobile, Alabama.

"The Rally" to Cave City

"The Rally" kept us busy from Thursday(6/21) evening until Sunday(6/24) evening. Thursday evening we were entertained by the Gatlin Brothers. Friday evening Burt Bacharach entertained us with his beautiful music as he played the piano along with other musicians while 2 young ladies and a young man sang many of the songs. The entertainment Saturday evening was Cheryl Crowe and her very loud ensemble. And the last evening a professional Elvis impersonator entertained along with several rally attendees that also did an Elvis impersonation- the professional was the best but a couple of the amateurs didn't sound bad. During the day we were attending seminars pertaining to RV's and history of the area and, of course, checking out the vendors' wares. It was a nice rally and the Louisville Exposition Center made it pleasurable as everything was indoors in air conditioning. It was hot everyday with outside temperatures in the 90's. We had electric that allowed us to run one air conditioner, not the best but better than only being allowed to run the generator from 7am to 11pm. Sunday afternoon we took a break from the rally and went out on the Ohio River on the Belle of Louisville, a steam powered paddle boat. We had made reservations earlier in the week along with a group of Maryland Good Sammers and our friend from Tennessee, Lois Howard. The 2 hour excursion on the river included a buffet lunch which included fried chicken, roast beef and ham along with salads and other side dishes and pie for dessert. This morning, Monday, we left the rally grounds at 7:30am. The electric was being turned off at 7am so we decided to leave early and get to a campground about 85 miles south and then eat our breakfast. We had made reservations at a campground in Cave City, Ky, Singing Hills Campground. When we arrived, about 9am (actually it was 8am as we had entered Central Time Zone), our site was still occupied so we were directed to park next to an old barn and I then fixed breakfast. Shortly after eating breakfast and washing dishes, our site emptied out and we got settled. It was time to get some laundry done. Between loads of laundry we both fell asleep- rallying can be a little exhausting. By noon time we were ready to get out and see the area. We went to Mammouth Cave National Park and took the Historic Ranger Led Tour. This 2-hour tour of 2 miles included 440 stairs. Unlike most other caves Mammouth is a dry cave and does not have pretty formations but it is huge with 392 miles of passageways, the longest known cave in the world. We are now back in the motorhome recouperating from our Mammouth Cave workout.

“The Rally” at Louisville- June 20, 2012

We got an early start this morning and pulled out of our camping site at 7:45am.  We had to stop at the dump before leaving the campground since we did not have sewer hook-up and we needed empty black and gray tanks before going into the rally.  We then stopped for fuel, had a tight squeeze getting out of the gas station necessitating us to disconnect the Jeep and then reconnecting once out of the station.  These things occasional happen- thankfully we have not had many of these occurrences.  We only had a 61 mile trip and we were on the Louisville Exposition Center grounds before 10 am and parked about 20 minutes later.  We were parked in the electric section but our energy management system would not allow the electric to come into the coach due to too high voltage.  So an electrician was summoned, responded to correct the problem with the area generator and we then were able to receive the electric.  We had to catch a tram to go to the area for registration.  After registering we saw some folks from Maryland- Esthermay Brooks and Woody Woodruff with his dog, Penny- Woody is a Traveling American member also.

Returning back to the motorhome and feeling hungry we jumped into the Jeep and went in search of a barbeque restaurant.  We found a place called Mark’s Feed Store and had a nice lunch.  The waitress suggested fried pickles, an appetizer, so we gave them a try.  Not bad but don’t know that I would get them very often.  I had a cup of burgoo, a local stew full of meat and vegetables, and a pork sandwich.  Tom had a pork dinner- lots of pork, cole slaw and fries.  We both had more than we could eat so brought part of a pork sandwich and pork back to the motorhome to have later.

As we were returning to the motorhome from lunch, we saw Woody and his wife, Linda, out walking dogs so we stopped by and visited with them.  Their dog, Penny, is a sweet dog that I have spoiled a little with treats so she knows me and I just happened to have treats available to give her some.  They were also dog sitting another dog.   Later in the afternoon we got a call from Lois Howard saying she had gotten onto the grounds and would stop by after she had gotten registered.  We had visited Lois in Tennessee  earlier this year and had talked about coming to this rally.  She did stop by and visited for a short while and then had to get back to her 2 little dogs.  Tomorrow the rally will officially begin and we will be busy going to seminars, going through displays and checking out the vendors wares.

Back on the Road- Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Monday, June 18th, we left home once again with the destination on Wednesday of Louisville, Kentucky for The Rally, a Good Sam rally.  The morning was cool and drizzling rain as we left Taneytown.  Our route of travel took us out through western Maryland and then south through West Virginia on I-79 to I-64.  The coolness continued most of the day in fact we even had some heat on in the motorhome as we traveled.  Showers of rain, at times with thunder and lightning, followed us most of the day until late afternoon.  Once we were in sunshine the temperature went up considerably and we eventually had air conditioning on.  Our travels went through mountainous terrain and sparsely populated areas.  We like to keep our travels to about 300 miles a day but sometimes the availability of campgrounds dictate.  Our stop for the night was at Jim’s Camping in Milton, W. Va. . about 18 miles from Kentucky and more than 360 miles from home.  Jim’s Camping was a small campground but had full hook-ups including 50 amp electric for $25.00.   After setting up we went out to eat at Shonet’s Café, a local eatery.  We ate from the soup and salad bar which had good homemade soups and good salads.

This morning, Tuesday, we continued westward on I-64.  The weather was sunny and very warm, temperature reached close to 90 degrees.  We are scheduled to go into the rally on Wednesday morning so Tom had made reservations at a campground, Elkhorn Campground, in Frankfort, Ky.  We had less than 170 miles to travel today and then about 80 on Wednesday to Louisville.  We arrived in the campground about noon today so we had the afternoon to explore the area.  We ate lunch at the La Fiesta Grande restaurant- Mexican, of course-  first.  Daniel Boone’s grave is in the Frankfort cemetery, at least, the Kentuckians believe his body was relocated here from a cemetery in Missouri.  The Missourians say that the body of Boone’s slave was sent instead and Boone remains in Missouri.  Anyway, we went to the cemetery and saw the grave stone for Daniel and his wife, Rebecca.

 

From the cemetery we could see the capitol building across the Kentucky river so we drove over to that area.  There were beautiful flower gardens on the grounds and a large floral clock.

 

 

  Our last stop this afternoon was at Buffalo Trace Bourbon Distillery, a distillery on the Bourbon Trail across Kentucky and into Tennessee.

 

We went on a tour led by “Freddie”, a gentleman that grew up at the distillery.  The name Buffalo Trace comes from a time when buffalo lived in this part of the country and the site of the distillery, located along the Kentucky River, was the path that the buffalo traveled to cross the river as they moved west.   The warehouse has 10 stories that store the barrels of bourbon for aging and the quality of the bourbon differs from the various levels, the best quality bourbon is on the lowest story, the more inferior quality on the upper stories.  The temperature variance from top to bottom affects the quality.

 

The grounds around the distillery are well groomed and there are numerous flower planters and gardens.

The tour ended with a sampling of  the bourbon.  It was a very interesting tour with a wonderful guide.

Our Busy Schedule Continues

Picking up from the last entry the part that was needed to repair the DEF sensor arrived at the Harrisburg, Pa Cummins repair facility and thanks to a cancellation the repair was made on Wednesday, May 30th. Thursday morning we loaded up the Jeep and went to Harrisburg to get the motorhome and then headed down the road to "Take It Easy Campground" in Callaway, Maryland- southern Maryland. This was a Traveling Americans weekend campout and we had decided that instead of going home for one night we would just go down a day early. Friday Tom and I drove to Point Lookout State Park. The lighthouse is being renovated by a group of private citizens and on this particular day had opened the house for self guided tours. Point Lookout was used during the civil war as a Confederate prison. Prisons were walked from Gettysburg, Pa. down to this prison, a trek of more than 200 miles. Over 3000 prisoners died here. Outside of the state park there is a POW cemetery- the federal government maintains this cemetery but refuses to allow the confederate flag to be flown there so directly behind off government land a confederate flag is flown. Adjacent to the cemetery a memorial to the confederate states was erected flying the various flags of the confederate states. Saturday after breakfast with the group we again struck out. We were drove through the town of Solomons, a beautiful small town on the Chesapeake Bay. We saw the Calvert Marine Museum and decided to take that in. This Cavert County museum was very interesting with stories and displays about life on the water- fishing, crabbing and oystering- as well as the history of slave marketing and tobacco growing in this area. We spent a couple of hours here. The admission allowed us to leave for lunch and then return to finish going through the exhibits. We enjoyed a nice outside lunch at the Captain's Table, a short distance from the museum and located by the water. Saturday evening at the campground the club gathered together for dinner and a campfire afterward. Sunday morning we had a potluck breakfast and then Tom and I quickly left for home. Once we were at home we got the yard mowed and then we went to Virginia to spend the week- Monday to Monday- with our grandchildren while Todd and Beth went to Mexico. Anthony, 12 years old, was with us from Monday until Friday morning, then he went with his grandparents for the weekend until Sunday evening when he returned back to us. Maddy, also 12 years old, was with us from Friday evening until Sunday mornig. Parker, 2 years and 10 months old, and Gabi, 7 months old, were with us the entire time. We spent a part of most every day at a county park where Parker was able to play on playground equipment and Gabi was pushed around in a stroller on nice pathways. Needless to say when Todd and Beth arrived home on Monday night Tom and I were ready to come home. In addition to the kids, there are also dogs, cats, ferrets, frogs and fish to tend to so we were kept quite busy. We are now home and this week is the Firemen's Carnival in town. Tom being a fireman helps out with this fund raiser. Years past I have also helped out but there seems good help this year that I have been staying home preparing for our next trip.

It Has Been Quite Awhile

It seems that we are always busy whether we are traveling or at home. Being at home means that we are going out with our Traveling American Camping Group for weekends just not going out for weeks at a time. The first weekend of each month from April through November a campout is scheduled and when we are home we generally go with the group. The first weekend in May the group camped in Delaware at G & R Campground. We have camped at this campground several times before and enjoy going back to the area. Norm, the owner and manager of the campground, always extends his hospitality to us and accomodates our needs. Tom and I along with Larry and Joanne hosted the Western Theme weekend. For dinner on Saturday evening we had made chili (I made a regular chili and Joanne made a white chili)and the others filled in with salads, rolls and desserts- and some of us donned cowboy hats, boots and clothing for the evening. We had been able to eat breakfast on Saturday outside but then the weather turned chilly and Norm opened up a clubhouse for our use the remainder of the weekend. After that weekend we spent time with doctor/dentist appointments. I believe we are finally caught up for a little while at least. The weekend of Memorial Day we attended the Maryland Good Sam Samboree in Frederick, Md. along with 5 other couples from the Traveling Americans. On Thursday when we started out we realized that there was a problem with the motorhome when a light on the dashboard displayed a yellow warning. Tom called Tiffin and was told that a fuse had blown. So a trip to auto supply store and a new fuse was installed- the first fuse installed blew immediately and the second fuse blew when we got within the city of Frederick. We did get onto the Fairgrounds okay but another call to Tiffin was made and it was deduced that the sensor for the DEF (Diesal Exhaust Fluid)needed to be replaced. Initially, we were told that a tech from a Cummins repair facility would come to us as it felt the problem was too critical for us to travel to a repair facility but later that was changed that we would be able to travel to Harrisburg, Pa. on Monday after the Samboree. So Monday we left Frederick and drove about 80 miles to Harrisburg without any further problems. Since it was a holiday the facility was closed but Tom had been told that we could hook-up to electric which we did. We spent the night there comfortably since we had 50-amp electric to combat the90 plus degrees of outside heat. Tiffin was sending a part to this facility. So Tuesday morning (today) Tom talked to the service manager and found out that the part had not arrived yet but about 10 or 11 am it could arrive. About 10:30 the service manager informed us that it did not arrive so we emptied the refrigerator and gathered up our meds and other necessities along with laundry and loaded these things in the Jeep and headed home. Hopefully, the part will arrive tomorrow as we have plans to camp with the Traveling Americans this coming weekend. The Samboree was a nice time of being with our club members along with other clubs from Maryland and other states. This Samboree seems to getting smaller every year, unfortunately. It is a problem that is occurring in many of these camping groups. Some of the men, Tom included, went golfing on Friday. We went out for dinner each evening with a group of folks and then attended the evening entertainment. During the day there are a few seminars and activities or just time to sit around socializing. It was a very warm weekend and on Sunday evening a storm with gusty winds blew through.

What a Busy Time!!!

After arriving home on Good Friday of Easter weekend we found ourselves to be in a whirlwind. The yard had to be mowed, the house needed a little tiding up and we were expecting Todd, Beth, Parker and Gabby for dinner on Sunday. As with plans sometimes there needs to be an adjustment. Todd and Beth had had Beth's parents and brother at their house for a couple of days and found that they were behind in somethings that they had to get done so they did not come up on Sunday as planned. So after attending church services Sunday morning we went out to dinner at the Dobbin House in Gettysburg.
Monday Todd called and arranged for us to go down to their house on Tuesday to pick up Maddy (12 years old) and then over to the babysitter's to get Parker(2 years old). Maddy (on Spring break from school) and Parker were going to spend a couple of days with us. Parker had never spent a night away from home before so we didn't know what we were headed for. But other than being busy entertaining and going for doctor's appointments (Tom had an eye appointment with a procedure done to his eye and I had a regular appointment with the family doc) for the next couple of days all went well. Maddy was a big help with Parker and we had an enjoyable time. On Thursday, Todd came to the house with Gabby (5months old) and Anthony (12 years old) to visit and pick up Maddy and Parker. Anthony had been in New York with Beth's parents and Todd had just met them in Pa. to get Anthony before stopping at our house. Little Gabby had really grown since we last saw her at Christmas time so we had to fuss over her like grandparents do.
Friday morning we packed up the motorhome and took off once again but just for the weekend. This was our first campout with the Traveling Americans for this year. We camped at Old Mill Stream campground in Lancaster, Pa. Seven units were in attendence. Barb and Ed Perry and Tom and I hosted. It was a nice weekend- cool on Friday and then a little rain Saturday morning and then warmer temperatures. The only downside was that I apparently caught a bug somewhere and was not feeling very well and today Monday am still not feeling well.

Arriving Home

Friday morning we awoke to bright sunshine and chilly temperatures. We continued our travels north on I-81 through the mountains of Virginia. This is a wonderful drive for the scenery although it is also a heavy truck route. Usually we see the redbud and dogwood most of the way home but with the warmer temperatures this winter in the east these flowering trees were further advanced this year. On Thursday when we got to Knoxville, Tn. we saw the first of the redbud and then a little further north we began seeing the dogwood also. Flowering trees continued all the way home. Our flowering crabapple trees and Japanese cherry tree were a real welcoming sight when we pulled into our driveway.
After being gone for sometime we worry a little about what we may find at home. Usually everything is in order but this time we found that our heat pumps and furnace was not working. So we had to call our service provider to deal with that problem. The house was a cool 55 degrees but that is the temperature we set it on in the winter. After the service call we had warmth once again. The other issue we had to deal with was the lawn needing to be mowed which will be done Saturday. The warmer weather has been effective in getting the vegetation awoken up and greening up and growing.

A Visit in Cookeville, Tn.

Wednesday morning, April 4th, we left the banks of the Mississippi and continued heading east on I-40. Lois Howard, one of our RVing friends from our Newmar days, had tried to meet up with us this winter in Az. but we just couldn't seem to get together out there. When we knew that we would traveling through Tennessee Tom had contacted Lois and we made plans to drive to her house in Cookeville. Lois had built a beautiful home in this area designing it to accommodate her motorhome and adding electric and water hook-ups for when friends stop by. After getting the motorhome set up, we all sat out on the porch with a view of the mountains sharing a bottle of wine and conversation. Buddy and Baby, Lois' cute little Yorkies and long ago playmates of Travis', also joined us. We had planned to take Lois out for dinner but she had already started preparing a nice dinner for us which we enjoyed. It was a very nice relaxing evening catching up with one another.
This morning, Thursday, we said good by to Lois and Buddy (Baby was sleeping in)and continued traveling on I-40 until the Knoxville area where we then picked up I-81 which would take us north. The day started out with some sun but the clouds thickened as the day went on and eventually we were hitting showers of rain and the temperature dropped. We are camped at the Dixie Caverns and Campground in Salem, Va. (south of Roanoke). This is not the best maintained campground but it is convenient to I-81 and does have full hook-ups. At 7pm it is cloudy and 51 degrees and the heat is on. Tomorrow we plan to travel the last 275 miles to get us home.

Eastward to the Land of Tom Sawyer

Monday, April 2nd, we continued our eastward trip on I-30 from Caddo Mills, Texas into the state of Arkansas. Interstate driving is supposedly faster but at the same time has more traffic and not as scenic as other roads. We noticed in Texas that whenever we crossed into another county the road surface changed. Is it that counties are responsible for the maintaining of all roads? When we entered into Arkansas the road became almost like the roads in Alaska with frost heaves making the motorhome bounce up and down. When we reached Little Rock I-30 ended and we connected with I-40. East of Little Rock we were in very slow stop and go traffic due to a 10 mile stretch of road construction. Initially we had planned to stop for the night about 30 miles east of Little Rock but we then decided to continue to Memphis, about 80 miles further. We had plans to stop at Cookville, Tn. our next night to visit a friend and thought this would put us in a better position for that trip, even though it made for a longer trip on this day- 400 plus miles. Our preference is to do about 300 miles a day. We stopped for the night at Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River Park in West Memphis, Arkansas. We had been told about this park by some friends that had stayed here. What a wonderful location right along the Mississippi River where we are able to watch the river traffic.

Barges (we saw as many as 35 barges being pushed by a tug boat) pushed by towboats travel up and down this river day and night. We were told that last year this park was flooded most of the summer. Enjoying this campground and the river we decided to stay a second night here.
Today, Tuesday, we went on a shopping trip. Since we would not be getting home until Friday, hopefully, and we were planning on Todd, Beth and the 2 little kids being at our house on Sunday for Easter we needed to get to a store and do some shopping for Easter. Following the GPS we went to the closest mall in Memphis but then thought for what we wanted we would be better off going to a WalMart. So again the GPS guided us to the closest WalMart. Waiting in line to get checked out, the man ahead of us had placed bags of chicken on the conyeyor belt, some juices from the chicken leaked out onto the belt and the cashier did not bother to clean the belt. So we moved to another line. As we were waiting a man was restocking a Hershey candy display and Tom thinking he was a WalMart employee mentioned that the conveyor belt on the previous check-out line was in need of being cleaned. The man said that he was an employee of Hershey not Walmart and then asked us if we were from out of town. He told us that we were in a very bad neighborhood of high crime and that we should be careful. (GPS does not give this type of information). Tom then asked about places for good barbeque and he gave a couple recommendations. After returning our purchases to the motorhome we went out in search of barbeque. We located Rendevous in Memphis but that restaurant opens at 4:30pm for meals although we could have gotten ribs at this time so we passed. The Cozy Corner restaurant was another recommendation so following the GPS we found that restaurant. As the man at Walmart had said it was somewhat shabby looking but the food was really good. We had smoked sausage, baked beans and cole slaw. My only complaint was with the cutlery- cheap plasticware that made it very difficult to cut through the sausage. We also shared a banana pudding that this restaurant is known for and we agreed it was also very good.
The hot, dry weather has continued with our travels into Texas. In eastern Texas we began to feel the increased humidity. It was in the upper 80's yesterday when we got to this Memphis area and the humidity was felt. Today it is cloudy, had a few brief showers and the temperature is a cool 70 degrees.

Traveling Through Texas

Today, Sunday (Palm Sunday), we traveled 356 miles eastward in Texas from Lamesa to Caddo Mills just east of Dallas. We traveled on state route 180 from Lamesa to just west of Fort Worth,then after a short stint on I-20 continued to Caddo Mills on I-30. The 180 route parallels I-20 but has less traffic and more scenery. Towns along the route are 30 miles or more apart and small with few, if any, traffic lights. Several of the towns we passed through were county seats and had stately old county government buildings.

Not long after starting out we began seeing greener vegetation. We were in the hill country of Texas with mesquite trees in abundance and some areas had charred remains of forest fires. Flowers along the roadsides were just beautiful. The Texas Blue Bonnets, which I believe are the Texas state flower, were in bloom and large areas appeared as blue carpeting.

There were other flowers in purple and orange along the way. As we got further east we saw streams and rivers with water flowing not the dried beds that are in Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas. Herds of cattle were in the pastures and often cows would be standing in the small ponds or streams. One pasture had a herd of little horses. We stopped in Mineral Wells and had lunch at a Chili's before entering the metropoltan area of Fort Worth/Dallas. We wanted to be east of Dallas tonight to avoid Monday morning traffic through that 70 plus miles of Fort Worth/Dallas tomorrow. Todays traffic through that area was moderately heavy but moved well. On the eastern end we did get slowed up due to an accident. We are camped tonight at a KOA- Dallas NE/Caddo Mills KOA- quiet campground and for KOA not too costly- $33.74.

Las Cruces, N. M. and Lamesa, Tx.

Friday morning we went to the patio area of  the Lazydays campground for the breakfast buffet which was also part of our free night’s stay.  Nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, oatmeal, fresh fruit and pastries along with juices and coffee.  We then left Tucson and headed homeward.  Our 274 mile trip took us from Tucson to Las Cruces, New Mexico on I-10.   Crossing into New Mexico we lost an hour of time as we crossed from Arizona time ( Arizona does not change to daylight savings time so even though it is a mountain time state at this time it’s time corresponds to Pacific daylight savings time) to Mountain daylight savings.  We stopped in Las Cruces because Tom was interested in the town of Hatch, N.M. which is about 40 miles north of Las Cruces.  After getting situated in Coachlight RV and Motel park we hopped into the Jeep and drove to Hatch.  Hatch is well known for chiles.  We saw several little stores that appeared to be an extension of a home that had red chilis hanging outside.  We did stop at one store and purchased some red and green chili powder.   The town was small and had little else- Tom was hoping to find a nice restaurant that had dishes with red and green chili but that wasn’t to be.  So we returned to Las Cruces where we found a Mexican restaurant and had dinner- again we were a little disappointed that it was not the New Mexican style of food that we had become familiar and really liked in the Albuquerque/ Santa Fe area.  Returning to the campground we talked with our camping neighbors about their 1977 Barth motorhome and 1970 Volkswagon beetle that they were traveling in.  It is nice to see vintage campers still being used.

Today, Saturday,  we continued on our journey homeward as we traveled from Las Cruces to Lamesa, Texas.   From Las Cruces we took state route 70 to Alamogordo then route 82 to Artesia and the a jog down to route 180 at Hobbs into Texas stopping at Lamesa.  This 338 mile journey took us through many changes of environment.  The desert at Las Cruces, the white sand at Alamogordo, then up through mountains to a peak of over 9000 feet at Cloudcroft.  In the ski resort of Cloudcroft patches of snow were still on the pine treed mountainsides and streams were flowing with bank high water.  After descending down the mountain the land leveled out.  We had a bit of excitement when a deer from out of nowhere, it seemed, darted across the road directly in front of us.  Tom’s quick reflexes saved the deer and our motorhome  As we drove on toward Artesia fields were being prepared for planting, cotton is one of the main crops in this area.  Just east of Artesia for about 30 miles, we saw more oil wells than any other place that we have encountered- on both sides of the road wells were about 100 yards apart and were seen as far as you could see.  After passing through Hobbs, N.M. we were soon in Texas and Central daylight savings time, another hour lost and we began looking for someplace to get off the road for the night.  We passed through the little town of Seminole and then on to Lamesa where we spied a campground as we entered town.  La Verda R.V. Park (translation is an RV park off the beaten path)  has full hookups, looks well cared for, and is reasonably priced at $25.00 per night.  Since we had not eaten any lunch as we had hoped to find something in our travels and weren’t successful,  Tom plug the electric in so we could get the A.C. running  (it was 95 degrees outside) and we took the Jeep to a local restaurant for dinner.  After dinner we finished the setting up for the night and relaxed.   Lamesa (not LaMesa) is known as the “home of the Chicken Fried Steak”, most every restaurant in town has chicken fried steak on their menu  and the last weekend of April there is a chicken fried steak festival.

Organ Stop Pizza and Tucson

Wednesday we made a trip into “Old Scottsdale” to do a little shopping and browsing.  We enjoy walking about these quaint shops in this old town.  Unfortunately, there was a baseball game being played nearby so parking was hard to find and the lots were charging $20.00.  Eventually, we found a free 3 hour spot to park along the street.  Since it was lunchtime we found a Mexican restaurant, Los Olivios, to have lunch and then we walked the streets and shopped.  On the way back to the motorhome we stopped at Albertson’s grocery store to pick up some items for our trip east.  At “The Rally” we had told Esthermay Brooks about the Organ Stop Pizza restaurant and then she sent a message suggesting that we meet for dinner there one evening, so it was planned for this night.  Esthermay and her husband, Bill, were at the restaurant when we arrived about 6pm.  We ate salads and pizza,  listened to the organist playing the organ and joined in the singing of many songs- and we got conversation in there,too.  The evening was topped off with ice cream and at 9pm we left as the restaurant was closing.  It was a fun night being with friends and enjoying music.

Today, Thursday, we left Mesa and drove the motorhome to Tucson, about 120 miles.  We checked into Lazydays campground for our free night of camping that we got at “The Rally”.   I had sent my cousin, Patty, a note a few days ago that we would be stopping here and had made plans that Patty and Braxton, her husband, would come by for a visit.  I called Patty to let her know that we had arrived and they should stop by.  About a half hour later Patty and Braxton were here.  We had a light lunch and visited for a couple of hours.  It was real nice to see Patty and Braxton another time before going home.  This evening we had a free dinner at the restaurant here at Lazydays.  The dining room was very nice with white tablecloths and the food was good.  Tom had Chicken Pot Pie made with a puffed pastry  and I had Chicken Marsala with julienne vegetables and rice.  Tomorrow we start pushing eastward at a faster pace than going from Avondale to Mesa to Tucson.

Breakfast and Apache Trail

Today, Tuesday, we left the motorhome before breakfast and went to Queen's Creek Olive Mill. Last year we had gone to this olive mill for our first time and learned that there was a restaurant on the premises that were serving delicious looking breakfast. So we decided that we wanted to have breakfast there and we were not disappointed. By luck, we found out when we got there that on Tuesdays a 2 for 1 price is offered. We both got a dish that was an eggs bendict style- bread, then egg fritata (not poached), balsamic bacon, chopped tomatoes, avocado and onions,and hollandaise sauce and on the side was a smashed potato and fresh fruit- cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple and strawberry. It was nice eating on an outdoor patio listening to the birds chirping in the trees.
Leaving the olive mill and working our way around detours we finally got on the Apache Trail. This trail was a route for stagecoaches from Mesa to Globe. Superstition Mountains through which the trail goes is the mountains that Jacob Waltz's Lost Dutchman's mine is supposedly hidden in a canyon. The first several miles has commercial establishments- a museum, a mining camp and Goldfield Ghost Town. We stopped at the museum but didn't go through the museum and then at the Ghost Town. The ghost town had souvenir shops and restaurants and a train ride was also available. We walked about the town and then moved on. As we continued on the trail we passed by Canyon Lake and came to Tortilla Flats, a stagecoach stop. Since it was well passed 12 noon we decided to eat lunch here. We had about a 30 minute wait ( it is spring break and families with kids were in all the commercial areas)and then had a enjoyable lunch of a burger for Tom and a chicken sandwich for me. Shortly after leaving Tortilla Flats, we were on an unpaved road for the next 22 miles. The road was rough but the views were just spectacular. The colorful rocky mountains bordered deep canyons that were covered with huge saquaro cacti and then there were lakes- Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake - of a beautiful shade of blue. We stopped to take pictures often. The road had many curves, ascents and descents but was wide enough for two cars to pass one another. Traffic on the unpaved was light. When we finally came to the Roosevelt Dam the road was paved from that point as we traveled through Globe and Miami, 2 copper/gold mining towns, and on to Mesa. We got back to the motorhome about 7pm- a long day but worth it. Our days travel was in excess of 100 miles.

"The Rally"

Wednesday, March 21st, we left North Ranch in Congress after having our propane tanks filled, and dumping our gray and black tanks and filling up our fresh water tank. We traveled 68 miles to Avondale, near Phoenix, where "The Rally" was being held at the Phoenix International Raceway. We had to pick up our rally packet from the "will call" and then were directed to a line where we waited about 45 minutes until we were finally parked. Then we went to the registration area get additional information and schedules. Esthermay Brooks, a Maryland Good Sam, was working in this area so we talked briefly with her and asked her about places to eat as we had not had lunch and it was near 2pm. She recommended "Black Bear Restaurant" and gave us directions. We easily found the restaurant, remembered that we had eaten at this restaurant in Lake Havesu City several years ago.
Thursday we went to some seminars during the day. The evening entertainment for this evening was "Bowzer's Rock and Roll Party" which starred Bowzer from the group Sha Na Na. It was a lively and entertaining show. As we were leaving the entertainment area we met up with Rita and Bill Fordham, friends and part of the Traveling Americans camping group that we belong to. We talked together briefly and said we would all try to get together out for a meal.

Friday we went to more seminars and through the vendor and dealer displays. The evening entertainment was Bill Cosby who for an hour told stories that had everyone laughing.

Saturday was much the same routine as Friday. We are life members of the Good Sam club so we had a cocktail party to attend that evening. The entertainment on this evening was Martina McBride, another enjoyable evening.

This rally kept us busy and we still had not been able to get together with Bill and Rita so we made plans to go out for breakfast Sunday morning. The four of us went to the Black Bear Restaurant and had good breakfasts. Returning to the rally, a special tribute was held for veterans. Veterans,and that included Tom, assembled and paraded to the stage area and then were seated in front of the stage for a short program honoring these veterans. After this tribute we walked through the vendor area one last time and then returned to the motorhome. Mid afternoon we went out to a Mexican restaurant for early dinner. The evening entertainment for Sunday evening was a group "Ticket to Ride" that impersonated the Beatles. They were also good but we left before the end of the show since the seats seemed to be extremely hard on this particular night. All day long folks were leaving the rally and heading for wherever. Rita sent us a text message that they had left in the evening after others in their area had pulled out giving room for them to maneuver their motorhome out- they had company coming to Casa Grande to spend time with them.

We enjoyed the rally. The area that we were camped in was some distance from the infield of the racetrack where the all the activities were held. Even though trams were circling through the camping area often the trams were filled when they reached our stop so we did alot of walking. The entertainment was wonderful even sitting on hard metal stadium seats. There were 3370 RV's camped at the rally and each day there were several hundred people that came in for the day so it was somewhat crowded at times especially in the vendors tent. There were give aways during the rally of some extremely nice prizes unfortunately we did not win anything. We did take advantage of the offer given to those attending this rally of attending the Louisville, Kentucky rally in June at no cost except for electric hook-ups.

Today, Monday, we got underway about 8:15am and headed for Mesa about 45 miles to the east. Coupons were given out at the rally for 3 free nights of camping at several campgrounds in the Mesa area so we decided to take advantage of this offer. Another coupon for 1 night of free camping was offered in the Tucson area so after our 3 nights in Mesa we plan to stay in Tucson for a night before heading to New Mexico and then on further east.

Our Last Day in Congress

Today, Tuesday, is our last day at North Ranch in Congress for this year. We like this park and area so it probably will be on the trip route our next time in Arizona. In preparation for going to "The Rally" in Phoenix tomorrow and dry camping I did the laundry. For lunch we went into Wickenburg to the Tumbleweed Restaurant, the one we found closed yesterday, and had a nice lunch. Tom had pork loin and I had spaghetti which we both enjoyed. We can only credit the somewhat out of the way location for not trying this restaurant before but we will return when we are in this area again. After lunch we stopped at a hardware store to get a new indoor/outdoor thermometer. The rain destroyed our outside unit on the thermometer that we had and we missed being able to see the outside temperature. After that purchase we then stopped at Safeway to pick up a few items for the upcoming week.
Today has been a little warmer than yesterday with temps close to 60 degrees. The strong sun has taken a toll on the snow covered mounains as those mountains closest to us are no longer white. The mountains further away still have snow but are not as white as yesterday.
NOTE: There maybe a break in the blogs while in Phoenix as we are not sure of being able to connect to the internet.

Snow on the Cacti, Say it's Not So!

This morning we got up to see snow falling. Hard to think a couple days ago it was 80 plus degrees here and today snowing. The snow did not accumulate on the ground. The mountains are whiter since more snow fell during the night.

Gradually the snow peeked out from the clouds for a brief moment and then the dark clouds moved over the sun. This peek-a-boo playing between the clouds and sun continued all day. It is cold probably we'll be lucky to see temperatures above 50 degrees, if they get to 50, here in Congress today.
We went into Wickenburg to have lunch at the Tumbleweed Restaurant but it was closed on Monday. Then we decided to ride up to Yarnell, about 12 miles north of Congress. Yarnell is at the top of the mountains that are snow covered. As we wound our way up the mountainous road the ground covering of snow was thickening. The roads were clean. Saquaro cacti had a covering of snow and looked strange as they were white instead of the normal green. Yarnell had 4-5 inches of snow on the ground and it was about 10 degrees colder than Congress. From there we could see the next group of mountains, that would have been on the way to Prescott, which appeared to have a much heavier layer of snow. We stopped at a little diner in Yarnell for a lunch of burgers and cream of green chili's soup. Soup was flavorful but not spicy hot. After lunch we turned around to return to North Ranch.
Back at North Ranch we walked to the Activity Building to check on the wood carvers. This week there is an Escapee gathering of wood carvers here. There were many folks busy working on projects in the building from relief carving, cypress carvings, bark carving, wood burning and caricature and bird carving.

Each type of carving had an area where a group were working and there was a leader or expert in that specific type of carving instructing or helping. Looked interesting.

What a Change in the Weather

Friday and Saturday we stayed in the Congress/Wickenburg areas. Friday we took a dirt road that went passed a few ranches but was mostly land covered with mesquite trees and cacti. There were some hills and curves in the road. And it was pure dust all the way. So after that little jaunt we had to go into Wickenburg to the car wash.
Saturday morning the campground had a sausage and pancake breakfast that we went to. In honor of St. Pat's day they had blueberry pancakes that looked kinda green but were good. And then for lunch we went into Congress for a corned beef and cabbage dinner at the fire hall. The meal was only served from from 12 noon until the food ran out. We got there about 12:30pm and shortly thereafter the serving stopped as the food had run out. They had very large servings of corned beef, potatoes, carrots and a small serving of cabbage. The food was good but I would have like more cabbage and less potatoes and carrots but at least I didn't have to cook.
We have had really nice warm weather until last night when it seemed the bottom fell out. During the day yesterday it was cloudy but comfortable. As the day went on the clouds were building and then we had some wind (not as bad as was predicted), then some thunder and lightning could be heard and seen in the distance and finally the rain started. It rained hard all night. This morning, Sunday, the rain has been coming in showers off and on. The worst part is the temperature has dropped- it was 38 degrees about 7am and is not expected to get much above 50 if that warm today. It's been in the 80's. Mountains north of us are snow covered and further north on I-40 the road has been closed because of snow. And spring is to start this week!! We have been hearing that the weather back east has been wonderful all winter. Hopefully, if this system moves east it will be gone by the time we get home in a couple of weeks.
Close to noon we began to see patches of blue sky as we drove to Surprise, Az. to meet friends, Margaret and Don Phillips for lunch at the Irish Wolfhound Restaurant and Pub. Actually in Surprise the sun was shining and the bright blue sky had lots of big, fluffy white clouds. But as we sat in the restaurant enjoying the company and food the clouds thickened and the sky darkened. It was somewhat breezy and chilly when we left the restaurant a little past 3pm. Driving north toward Wickenburg we had a shower of rain and to the east the most beautiful rainbow occurred. It was an entire rainbow arch, not a partial that is most often seen, plus a second rainbow on the northern side. When we were just about to Wickenburg we were hit with hail for a short spell and then just rain until we got back to the motorhome. It was a nice afternoon being with friends and catching up with one another.

Prescott and Lake Pleasant

It seems I have been neglectful in writing this blog so it is time to catch up on our happenings. I received word over the weekend that a cousin, Barbara Garity, was in the hospital in very serious condition and then I learned that she had passed away. Barb was the oldest (70 years) female cousin in the Little family, my dad's family, and the first of our generation to pass on. She and her husband, Malcolm, lived about 10 or 12 miles from our home in Maryland. In addition to her husband she is survived by 2 daughters and their husbands and 2 granddaughters and a brother. My heart goes out to the family. I will miss her phone calls and hearing about her family.

Tuesday we drove to Prescott. Trader Joe's opened a new store in Prescott a few days prior that we wanted to go. So after stopping at Home Depot for a floor mat and then getting my haircut we went to Trader Joe's. While at Trader Joe's we spied a Five Guys hamburger restaurant, a favorite of ours. A quick stop at Sam's Club we then returned to Five Guys for lunch. Both Trader Joe's and Five Guys were doing a bang up business as the parking lot was so full that finding a parking spot was difficult.

Wednesday we ran into Wickenburg to go to the grocery store and the hardware store for a few articles. We had nice lunch at the Chapparel Cafe that offers sandwiches and homemade ice cream. In the evening I made some tortellini salad and a pan of brownies in preparation for Thursday and a trip to Pleasant Lake.

Today, Thursday, after breakfast I fried some chicken and then packed the cooler with the tortellini salad, chicken, dates and brownies. We were then off to Lake Pleasant Regional Park about 35 miles south of Congress. We stopped at the Visitor Center and walked a short trail by the Center.

              The cacti are beginning to bloom in the desert out here and they are really pretty.

We then drove around the park. There are several campgrounds with electric and water hook-ups and dump stations. These campgrounds appeared to be near capacity.

        We finally drove to the Pipeline Canyon trailhead where we had our lunch at a picnic area.

After lunch we hiked the Pipeline Canyon Trail which is 2 miles of a well defined trail with some loose stones and some hills.

                               The trail crosses the water via a floating bridge at Pipeline Cove.

As we walked we saw much evidence of the presence of wild burros with the droppings left behind. We met a lady and then a couple of young boys going in the opposite direction that told us the burros were up ahead. So we continued on hoping to see the burros. Just when we thought we should turn around we spied the burros.

One burro was off to himself with 5 more were in a group. Initially we only saw 4 burros in the group and then saw one lying stretched out surrounded by the other 4. We even wondered if this burro was alive but eventually they began to move on and we saw that this burro was in the group and appeared to be a younger, smaller burro. We went most of the 2 miles before turning around to return to the parking area that we had left from. We saw small lizards on the trail but, thankfully, no snakes. It was a beautiful day with temperature in the low 80's, clear bright blue skies but the sun still was hot.

The weather forecast for this weekend is for a strong winter storm which means wind and precipitation- rain or snow depeding on elevation. We should be in the rain area. The temperature is also to fall into the 50/60's for this area. Quite a change from the 80 degrees. Rain levels are down so this rain is much needed.
North Ranch has a small park called Saquaro Park that has a variety of cacti and other desert plants. A large saquaro named Methuselah, one of the largest saquaros in Arizona, is in this park.

Properties here in North Ranch also have desert vegetation planted and there are some beautiful cacti blooming at this time.

We enjoying walking about the park and through Saquaro Park seeing this different style of landscaping from that in the eastern part of this country.

Gypsy Gathering and Congress

Tuesday we attended a few seminars at the Gypsy Gathering in the morning. Then at lunchtime we went down to the old section of Yuma for lunch at DeBoyz restaurant known for their pizza. Of course we had to try out a pizza and agreed it was worth the praise that we had heard. A farmers market had been set up in the street outside of the restaurant so after eating we had to walk through the market and make a few purchases of fresh vegetables. Before returning to the fairgrounds and rally we stopped at a date farm to get some dates. For evening entertainment on this evening David Bradley, a cowboy singer, filled the bill. He had a difficult time getting his sound system to work but once that problem was fixed David Bradley did a fine job of entertaining.
Winds started kicking up Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday was a cold day for Yuma. I don't think temperatrures reached 60 degrees that day and for this being the warmest area in Arizona was cold. Again this day there were seminars to attend and a vendor area to walk about and spend money. This evening there was a pizza party in the evening. Piles of Dominos pizza (120 pizzas) arrive at the campground and within less than 10 minutes everyone was served 2 slices of pizza (choice of cheese,pepperoni and sausage) and then if anyone wanted more they were welcomed to return.
Thursday morning the wind had subsided and the sun soon warmed up making for a more comfortable day. Again we attended seminars most of the day. We did go out for lunch at La Fonda Restaurant and Tortilla Factory, a favorite of ours from previous visits and after this visit still remains so. Apparently, we are not the only ones that like this restaurant because it is always busy. In the evening there was a wrapping up of the rally. Door prizes had been awarded throughout the week with this night being the final give away night. Eventually, everyone or rather each RV unit receives a door prize of something and on this night our name was finally called. We, or I should say that I since it was my size, got a tee shirt with the cover of Nick Russell's latest book "Big Lake Lynching". Nick Russell, in addition to publishing "The Gypsy Journal" newspaper and along with his wife, Terry, have 2 Gyspy Gathering Rallies a year, has taken to writting books. "Big Lake Lynching" is a follow to his first book "Big Lake". Tom and I have read the first book and I have begun reading the second book, they are available on Kindle and are quite good reading.
Friday morning after breakfast we packed up and left Yuma. The rally was over and it was time to move on. We really were unsure where we wanted to go and decided to return back to North Ranch in Congress. We got to North Ranch a little past 1pm and the office was closed for their lunch break. We just unhooked our Jeep, left the motorhome in the area for parking while registering and drove into Congress for our lunch. Returning to the campground we got registered and then parked in a site. I had pulled something in my back this morning so we just laid low the remainder of the day.
Today, Saturday, was "Yard Sale Day" here at North Ranch. We walked about the Ranch checking out the sales. I did buy a Rada cheese knife for a dollar, something I have at home but not in the motorhome before today. We then went into Wickenburg for lunch at Anita's Cocina and a stop at Safeway to replenish our food supply. We plan to be here for a little more than a week before going to Phoenix.

Yuma, Arizona

Yesterday, Sunday, we packed up and left Congress a little past 10am and moved southwest to Yuma.  Our travels took us on rte. 71 out of Congress, to rte.60 , then I-10 to rte. 95 into Yuma.  It was a scenic trip through wide open spaces of rural country.  The road was so straight that it seemed we could see miles ahead.  We traveled through some areas that were cultivated, irrigated and had crops growing.  One segment there were groves of nut trees- seemed to be too short for pecans, maybe pistachio?  We went through Quartzsite, easily, as the season for RVer’s to be in this area is drawing to a close for this season.  Just before getting into the city limits of Yuma we passed large fields of vegetables ( lettuces, cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli).  We got to the fairgrounds where the Gypsy Gathering was being held about 1:30pm.  The parking for this rally could not be started until sometime after 12 noon due to another rally needing to be cleared out first.  RV’s were staged in a large parking lot outside the gates and were just being started to be parked when we arrived.  Mistakenly, we were placed in a row with units needing to parked in the handicap area.  When the park crew realized their mistake they told us to just continue on in with this group.  On the good side of this mistake we were parked quicker than if we had been placed with the general parking group.  We did get parked in the area of general parking, not handicap parking.  Since we had not eaten any lunch soon after getting set up we went out to eat at a German restaurant, Das Bratwurst Haus.  It was a mediocre German restaurant.  Yuma has too many really good restaurant for us to want to return to this restaurant.  We stopped at Walmart to pick up some cereal for breakfast.  The utilities at the rally consists of 20-amp electric which adequately keeps the batteries charged but not sufficient to run microwaves and coffeepots and such so no oatmeal for breakfast.

This morning after getting up and eating breakfast Tom went in search of a technician to install the Electrical Monitoring system that we had had in our Newmar and wanted it now in our Phaeton.  The technician spent several hours this morning working on this project getting it installed.  This system monitors the electric coming into the coach and is to shut down the system before  faulty electric can damage appliances within the motorhome.  We then went out for lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Rancho, and unlike yesterday’s meal we were very satisfied with our food.   In the afternoon, the rally was officially opened with a session introducing the vendors and a question and answer session with some so-called experts.  Free ice cream bars were distributed to the attendees.  Later in the evening the attendees again congregated in a large building for door prize drawings but unfortunately we did not win anything- oh well, there will be more drawings throughout the rally.  The weather in Yuma has been rather warm with temps in the mid to upper 80’s.  We wouldn’t want it much warmer without being able to run air conditioning.  Tomorrow there is to be some change in the weather with high winds predicted.

La Fiesta at North Ranch

Today is La Fiesta at North Ranch, this is a celebration of the opening of this park that occurred in 1992. At 9:30am there was a parade through the park complete with a fire truck, percussion band, dancing ladies, vintage cars, floats(actually ATV's)with candy being thrown from, a search and rescue group and a few bicyclists. Actually for a campgroud it was a nice 15 minute parade.

Then it was to the Activity Center for the craft sale displayed around the outside porch. There were some very nice craft items for sale. Tom and I then made a quick trip to Wickenburg to get batteries for the lock key fob for the motorhome, Tom had worn his batteries out. Returning from town, we again went down to the Activity Center for lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, and brownie. The pork was very good but the cole slaw lacked some flavor and the brownie was a good brownie. We checked out the silent auction items and placed a bid but doubt that we will end up with purchasing anything.
The weather today is much improved over yesterday. After I posted yesterday's post the wind kicked up again last night and was blowing to beat the band again as we were going to bed. Sometime during the night it quieted down and today is a warmer day, temps in the 60's. It is to be getting much warmer the next several days with temps in the 80's.
Today is our last day here at North Ranch as we pack up in the morning and head for Yuma. We will be at the Gypsy Gathering at Yuma fairgrounds so don't know if we will be internet connected while there.

The Wind Strikes Again

Yesterday, Thursday, I did some laundry and Tom washed the Jeep. We did our walk about the campground in the morning and again in the late afternoon. We ate dinner in the motorhome. We had to make a run to the grocery store to pick up milk and juices. It was a nice sunny fairly warm day (60 degrees). Tom and I both like to read and on days as this we do just that. There was a jam session in the clubhouse in the afternoon that Tom went to while I stayed back and took a little nap.
This morning about 4:30am I was awakened with the rattling of our slide awnings due to wind. The wind continued blowing all day and finally began to settle down at sunset. It was also cold with temps staying in the 40's. Even though the sun was bright, the wind and chilliness made for an unpleasant day. We did walk about the campground but certain directions proved to be a challenge with the wind. We went into Wickenburg around noon. After walking through a small area of shops called Mecca and not finding a thing that I could not live without we went to the Hog Trough for a barbeque lunch. The Hog Trough food is much to our liking, the meats are well cooked and flavorful and the beans are the best that I have ever eaten. After our lunch we walked to the Chapparel ice cream shop as there was some local musicians playing there this afternoon. We got some coffee and sat back to enjoy the music but then we felt we should probably get some ice cream so we each had a small cup of their homemade ice cream. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
Tonight is to be a cold night but then tomorrow the temperature is to start rising into the 70's and Sunday into the 80's- sounds good to me.

Hiking to Dana's Arch

This morning we drove out on Vulture's Mine Road and took a dirt road to a parking area where we left the Jeep. With walking poles in hand, we set out on a trail that went back to where we could see Dana's Arch above us on a ridge of volcanic rock.

The hike was rated moderate. We walked along hillsides that were covered with saquaro cacti.

Some areas along the trail had colonies of teddy bear cholla, a fuzzy looking plant with nasty needles.

We saw evidence of wildlife but the only animals seen were a couple small lizards and many birds. It was a pretty hike but we had to watch our steps on the loose stones as we walked up and down hills.

The hike was a little more than 1 1/2 miles and it did took us about an hour and half to complete.
Afterward we went into Wickenburg and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. A stop at CVS to pick up a few items before returning to North Ranch completed the afternoon.

Hitting the Backroads and Wind

Monday morning, taking the Jeep, we left the campground and ventured out on some of the backroads around Congress. Back off the beaten path is an old cemetery, Pioneer Cemetery, where the gravesites are dilapidated.

                                        Some graves had headstones but were very hard to read.

It really looked to be in need of some clearing of the junk that has gotten accumulated, structures built around graves were falling down. Vegetation appears to have gotten out of hand although signs warn that nothing should be removed. Dates on graves that we were able to be deciphered were in the late 1800's, early 1900's and ages were those of children or young adults, mostly.

After visiting the Coon Hound cemetery in Alabama this winter and seeing how well that cemetery for dogs is cared for, it is sad to see a cemetery for pioneers of this territory so poorly cared for.
Moving on we traveled on a road that passed a gold mining camp, and continuing on, driving across a stream and up some steep mountainous road we eventually came out in Yarnell.

We returned from Yarnell by way of the main roads and then continued over toward the Vulture Mine. Getting close to lunch time we kept on driving what we thought was toward Wickenburg but actually it was away from Wickenburg. Finally in Tonopah, 50 miles southwest of Wickenburg, we saw a restaurant and were able to get a bite to eat. The weather forecast for the day was calling for some strong winds and sure enough the winds became stronger as the day went on. The dust was flying everywhere but luckily it did not become so dusty that it interferred with being able to see as we drove. After lunch we did return to Wickenburg, stopped at Safeway for a few groceries and then returned to our campsite at North Ranch. The winds continued most of the night and the temperature dropped to the low 40's.
Today, Tuesday, the winds have calmed but the temperatures have remained chilly with the high only reaching the upper 50's compared to the 70's of a day or 2 ago. It has been a quiet restful day, today. We didn't drive anywhere. Walked about the campground twice, did some reading, ate in the motorhome and took a snooze.