Monrovia, Maryland: Quick, Which Way To The Warm Weather?

We left Phoenix last week to make our way (slowly) back to Maryland. Along the way we stopped in Tulsa to see our oldest son Christopher and his lovely bride Rachael. As always, it was great to see them. Also great were the temperatures in the mid-60's; in fact, the day we left the forecast was for 70 degrees.

On Wednesday we drove from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Jackson, Tennessee, a distance of 486 miles. I've driven that distance in a single day in a car many times however it's a little different in an RV. Really need to pay attention to keeping that big rig between the lines; especially fun when an 18 wheeler blasts by, blowing you onto the shoulder.

On Thursday we did it again, driving from Jackson, TN to Wytheville, Virginia. Except, as we drove across the Tennessee border into Virginia, we hit snow showers. Can you believe it?

Mary Lynn's immediate response? -- "Turn this RV around and go south until we find warm weather" said in a rather severe tone. Actually, she said that repeatedly as I tried to find a way to get all the snow off of the wipers.

We stayed at a campground in Wythevile and woke to about an inch of snow this morning. The roads were a mess so we purposely started late before driving from Wytheville to our home in Monrovia, Maryland.

Strong, gusty winds made the trip interesting however we arrived safe and sound around 6 pm this evening. Feels good to be back in a 'full sized' house again. I opened the refrigerator and just stood there staring at the luxury of space. Wow!

Mary Lynn kept caressing the dishwasher; so much so that if the dishwasher was alive I'd be worried.

See Ya!

Tulsa, Oklahoma: Slowly Headed To The East Coast

We are now in Tulsa, Oklahoma visiting our son Christopher and his new bride Rachael. This is the first time we've seen them since the wedding in late July and we are having a great time.

As you may remember, we spent a few days in Albuquerque, New Mexico before heading east on US 40. We left Albuquerque, travelling east and then stopped for one night in Amarillo, Texas.

Albuquerque was great and we will definitely go back. We explored several museums and a portion of the Torquoise Road however there is a lot more to see in New Mexico. We need to get to Santa Fe, Taos, and Roswell at a minimum. Santa Fe and Taos have some of the best scenery available in the west along with lots of Pueblo's and art galleries.

I would like to follow the torquoise Road out to Madrid, the small town highlighted in the film "Wild Hogs".

And Roswell is famous as the home of Area 51, believed by some to be the site of an alien spaceship crash back in the 50's.

Oh, and there is Los Alamos, where the atomic bomb was developed in great secrecy during WW II.

They (they being Texans) say that everything is bigger in Texas. Just outside of Abilene, Texas there is a field of the large windmills. These windmills, which are massive devices for generating electricity, are becoming increasingly popular throughout windy areas of the US.

Well, we drove for over 5 minutes alongside this massive Texas windmill farm. Mile after mile of windmills. The largest windmill farm we've seen to date. And of course it was extremely breezy with lots of wind gusts. This always makes driving the RV interesting, to say the least. You have to really focus to keep the RV in the appropriate lane, especially when an 18 wheeler passes you or you pass them. Fun!

Today we attended church with Christopher and Rachael before watching the Redskins Vs Dallas football game. Rachael had rented the large screen TV room at their apartment complex to celebrate Christopher's birthday. We had a great time despite the Skin's losing to Dallas. Oh well.
We'll be here in Tulsa until Wednesday when we'll once again point the RV towards the east coast. We should get to Maryland on Saturday/Sunday. Just in time to get everything ready for a Thanksgiving Feast with many of our relatives.

See Ya!

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Getting Frisky In Albuquerque -- Enchanting

We are now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The city of Albuquerque is tucked into the base of the Sandia Mountains which makes it beautiful however that's not what makes it so special.

No, what makes it special is the quality of the light which is an incredibly pure blue and has an almost mystical quality. At night the clear air causes the city lights appear as 1000's of individual points of light that sparkle and twinkle with the mountain faintly visible in the background. Absolutely beautiful.

This afternoon we had time to go the the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center which represents all of the Pueblo's located along the Rio Grande River. The museum was interesting however it is really just an excuse for the gift shop, which displayed many very expensive carvings and bronzes.

How expensive? So expensive I warned Mary Lynn not to touch any of the items the same way I used to warn the kids not to touch when they were young. There were items in the gift shop selling for over $25,000 dollars.

Not your average trinkets and trash here, no sirree. The gift shop offers beautiful paintings, bronzes, jewelry, pottery and massive stone carvings of the same quality as the items on display in the museum.

Fortunately, we have no room in the RV for new items, expensive or otherwise! Even more fortunately both MLA and I were able to avoid breaking any of the items for sale (or the non sale exhibits for that matter).

MLA said it best. The museum was a good museum however the museum should have been free and they should have charged for touring the gift shop. The museum's policy of not allowing any photographs (not even in the gift shop!) was very disappointing, and as a result I cannot share with you the beauty of the Indian artifacts.

After touring the Pueblo museum we had enough time to squeeze in another museum and MLA was nice enough to go with me to the museum that caught my eye: The Rattlesnake Museum.

You can take photos as long as you do not use the flash. Fortunately the displays were very well lit and I was able to get a few good pictures.

This place should be called a Zoo rather than a museum since it has the largest (their claim) collection of live rattlesnakes along with a good number of (live) spiders, lizards, tortoises, frogs and scorpions. Basically almost any reptile that has a potentially lethal bite or sting is on display.

I was able to identify the rattlesnake MLA almost stepped on in South Dakota as the Prairie Rattlesnake, which is found in one of the largest geographical territories of any rattlesnake. In fact, this snake's range includes parts of Mexico all the way up into a small portion of Canada. Pretty impressive.

The displays at the Rattlesnake museum are really large aquariums with lids attached, although the lids looked like they could be a little more securely locked in place. In fact, the fear of one of these little buggers having 'escaped' made it impossible to wander around the crowded exhibits without carefully looking around. I was constantly scanning for an 'escapee'. The ad for the place said they had rattlesnake t-shirts "To Die For" however I didn't see anything I really liked.

We also explored some of Albuquerque's old town, which is home to many, many art galleries along with lots of stores that cater to tourists including lots of turquoise jewelry, Indian artifacts and clothing.

The picture above shows a couple of tortoises getting frisky. A tortoise may be slow but the fella above was quick enough to catch her. What he lacked in speed he more than made up for in enthusiasm. Every 10-15 seconds or so he would thrust so hard I thought he would knock the large barrel that serves as their home right off the table. I mean, it was very impressive.

Of course, it was MLA who discovered this pair in a back room; she found me and drug me back to see all of he commotion. Too funny.

See Ya!

Apache Junction, Arizona: Another Day In Paradise or Remote Party With Best Friends

"Another Day In Paradise" is a great way to describe today except I've used that exact wording far too many times. Not that it's not true, both now and in the past, however you'd think I could be just a little more imaginative. Sounds so much like a Jimmy Buffet song... which it is.

Before I jump into other ways of saying " Another Day In Paradise" I want to tell you not everything is perfect when you are traveling around North America. No, not by a long shot.

Tonight a number of my closest friends were getting together for a party at Bill & Tamara's house in Northern Virginia. When I received Tamara's invitation about a month ago I realized we would still be in Arizona.

Enjoying the incredible sunshine and warm weather during our search for the perfect spot to spend the winter, but I digress.

Reluctantly I told everyone Mary Lynn And I would be unable to attend the party.

However I could not forget about the get together so this evening I called Skip who I knew would be there. He passed the phone around and I was able to speak to Bruce, Patrice, Bill, Peter as well as Skip.

How incredibly great was it to hear every one's voice?

Well, you know how it is with people you have a special connection with -- no matter how long it's been since you last spoke to that person, within seconds you pick up the thread of friendship and continue as is you had just spoken to each other earlier this week. Amazing.

Wish I could have been there to see & talk with everyone. Really need the scientists to get cracking on the Star Trek tele-transporter; I'll be the first in line to have one installed in my RV. You see, as much as I miss my friends and family, I cannot imagine not having experienced this last year of travel throughout the US (and a small part of Mexico).

And there's still so much more we want to see. That is, if we can make the money hold out. Having your 401K become a 201K in the time span of a few weeks is no fun at all. I've been practicing for my next job by saying "Would you like fries with that?". Again, I digress.

Back on point -- I truly miss my friends and family. Makes you realize just how many blessings we have -- hopefully it also ensures I cherish those relationships all the more.

Today we skipped the French Toast breakfast offered at the RV Resort. Instead Mary Lynn and I went to the local Harley dealer "Superstition Harley Davidson". They were having demo rides today and I wanted MLA to see the 2009 Ultra Classics. Not that we have any plans (or money) to buy a new Harley but hey, if they need people to put miles on these brand new motorcycles, I'm willing to sacrifice my time and skills to the cause.

Except they didn't have a 2009 Ultra in the demo pool. All they had was the Screaming Eagle version of the 2009 Ultra, which is the high performance version of a standard model. So I was forced to demo a machine with an even bigger motor, lots of trick performance parts, and a custom paint job. I told you not everything is perfect here in paradise...

Harley's are known for their unique pattern of vibration and I'm happy to report this 2009 Screaming Eagle Ultra maintains that rich legacy. What an incredible ride. Only thing missing was the louder sound that helps ensure people know you are there. There's a reason motorcycle riders say "Loud pipes save lives". MLA loved it (almost) as much as I did.

I looked like a good fiend of mine, John G., who could not wipe the smile from his face for several years after his retirement... I will probably need to go riding again (soon) to maintain the smile.

I know. Maybe I can get a job with Harley taking all their new toys around the country and showing people how to enjoy themselves on a Harley...

The rest of the day in paradise consisted of laying by the pool, using said pool to cool off, and then using the hot tub to warm up, followed by watching a little football, a nap and an excellent dinner.

Topped off with the call to my friends back East, it was perfect (other than Penn State losing). Now if I could only find my 'shaker of salt'...

I am a lucky man... See Ya!

Superior, Arizona: Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Ever look back on something you did or said about a topic and realize all you really did was show your lack of education or ignorance on that topic?

Well, it happens to me -- too often -- you'd think I'd learn to keep my mouth shut or at least temper my remarks. You'd think that but you'd be wrong.

Today was another such example of having to stretch my little mind in order to understand a topic I thought I understood. In the past few months I have made comments describing the desert terrain we traveled through that day something to the effect of "nothing there but scrub bush, cactus and sand". Beautiful in it's own way but not a lot there or so I thought.

Today Mary Lynn and I decided to head out into the desert east of where we are located towards Florence and Globe, two towns that have survived if not thrived since the days of traveling by stagecoach.

Taking the Harley we followed a beautiful, newly re-surfaced highway into the Superstition Mountains, eventually entering the Tonto National Forest. Just before reaching Superior, Arizona we stopped at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum which is dedicated to preserving Arizona's natural beauty. In fact, the botanical gardens there have plants from arid regions all over the world.

Founded 80 years ago by William Boyce Thompson (at the time the third richest man in America due to his silver mining interests) it houses botanical gardens full of plants, butterflies, hummingbirds and migratory birds.

The variety of shapes and sizes of cactus is truly unbelievable. There were hundreds of different species from all over the world. You should see how many different varieties of the Agave plant there are in that garden; no wonder there are so many different Tequilas produced.

MLA and I spent hours wandering through the different exhibits which are spread over 320 acres. I'm sure we only saw about 25% of the exhibits and I know we'll go back.

Back to my original point about showing my ignorance (lack of education, if you will) regarding the desert botanical environment. The time we spent there today underscored a truth I have known for some time: the more you learn about a topic the more you realize how little you know.

You'd think I'd be able to remember this simple truism. Maybe one day...

In any case, we had a terrific day of riding the Harley, exploring the incredible variety of plant and wildlife the desert has to offer and we capped it off by attending a Mexican Dinner when we returned to the RV park at the end of the day.

Hopefully I'll continue to explore topics I think I already understand or know about... hopefully!

See Ya!

Apache Junction: Presidential History In The Making

The sunset tonight seemed especially appropriate for the election of a new President of the United States with it's soft hues of red, white and blue.

Retirement in this day and age does not remove you from the normal pressures of living. The economy, world events and politics is just as important as ever. In some ways it's seems even more important since retiree's have the luxury of time to follow these issues as deeply as you wish. There's simply no escaping the issues of our time given the pervasiveness of the Internet and access to media.

Only a few miles up the road from where we are staying, Senator John McCain is anxiously following the results of voting all across America. He is, of course, hoping for a miracle to occur that will allow him to become President of the United States. While the popular vote has tightened, he has an uphill battle to win the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the actual election. While McCain is 'hoping' for a miracle I learned early in my working career "Hope Is Not A Strategy".

I mention this because we are on the outskirts of Phoenix in Arizona, which is McCain's home state. To me, the number of people working to overturn McCain in his home state tells the real story. I don't know if Obama can carry the entire state of Arizona, where McCain has been their Senator for over 20 years, but clearly Obama has made huge inroads in McCain's backyard.

My personal opinion is the world is watching to see if we will elect Obama, a man they feel has roots all over the world. And only Obama has the potential to significantly improve the standing and reputation of the US in the world community, something we sorely need.

Did either candidate talk to the real issues that most concern those of us in or near retirement? Nope.

Did either candidate talk about how they will provide health insurance to the millions of US citizens that currently lack coverage? Nope.

And did either of them spell out how, given the situation with the US (& WW) economy, how they would pay for all of their campaign promises. Nope.

So, regardless of who wins, the back pedaling will start immediately. And that's too bad.

As we travel around this great country we are struck that, in addition to an amazingly beautiful country with tremendous natural resources, the people of America are what really make her special. So much better than our reputation in the WW community. So much better than our opinion of ourselves.

Will Obama be able to transform the excellence brought to getting elected (better fundraising, better strategy, better advisers, better endorsements, better engagement of younger voters and all minorities, etc) into excellence in governing?

This country deserves the best leadership available from public and/or private sector. It remains to be seen if our next President will be able to forge the necessary alliances to get something meaningful accomplished. We can only hope he does.

God Bless America.

Apache Junction, Arizona: Arrived Meridian RV Resort

Only a hop, skip, and a jump away from Casa Grande are the towns of Mesa, Apache Junction, and Gold Canyon. Hard to tel where one stops and the other begins by any means other than the signs.

We put Casa Grande in our rear view mirror around 11 am and by 1 pm we had not only arrived in Apache Junction, we were completely set-up and ready to rock. We grabbed a quick sandwich and then headed over to the activity complex for a $1/bowl Ice Cream Social. Nice....

The pool here is pretty small and unfortunately not set-up for water volley ball. Despite some aches and pains in my legs from playing so much, I already miss it!

There is a lot to explore east of this area in the area of Globe, AZ, still home to the 'Old Wild West'. We'll probably spend a few days exploring there and some on the national forests in the area, including the Tonto National Forest.

A good friend has recommended we get to Bisbee, AZ, which is southeast of Tucson, close the the border of Mexico. Not sure if we'll get there this week, might have to wait until we are back in the area in January through March.

Speaking of staying the winter here in Arizona.... After two weeks in Casa Grande, AZ, both MLA and I mentioned to each other how good it felt to get back on the road. Got us to thinking what is it going to be like staying in one place for 2-3 months. Despite all of the activities I'm a little concerned about how much I miss travelling from spot-to-spot.

Right now we think we'll be back in Arizona by mid-January, probably attending the events at Quartzite. They have a huge RV show, a rock & mineral show, and an auto show around that time. Supposedly Quartzite grows to over a hundred thousand people during that time; it's normally less than 10,000 people. Very excited about seeing all of that; MLA is not as excited since it means 'dry camping' on BLM land for two weeks. There's a group of Tiffin owners getting together that we hope to join up with.

On Jan 28th we would head to where ever we will spend the next two - three months. Maybe we break it up a bit just so we are not in the same place for such a long time. RV Full timers who have been travelling for a couple of years tell us that at some point you want to spend more time in one place.

Maybe so, but we are not at that point yet. The main advantage of staying for a month or longer is you get a break on the price, which can be substantial. On the other hand, once you go to a monthly fee structure you have to pay your own utility bill, primarily electric. Your electric bill is included in in the weekly rate.

In any case, felt great to pack up and get on the road today. We'll be here a week and then start working our way back East. Next stop where we will spend more than one night is most likely Albuquerque, New Mexico.

See Ya!

Casa Grande: Palm Creek Visit Comes To An End

Today was our last day at Palm Creek. We have been here for two weeks and really enjoyed ourselves. We had hoped to stay another week however that did not work out so tomorrow we load up the RV, attach the Toad, and put Casa Grande in our rear view mirror.

We'll only be moving about an hour away. We are going to Meridian RV Resort in Apache Junction or maybe it's in Mesa. It's close to the border of these two towns so I'm not exactly sure. What I am sure of is the people here have been great to work with so far. Very friendly and helpful.

These are the two finalist for where we will stay the winter. MLA's leaning towards Meridian since it's a good bit less expensive; I'm leaning towards Palm Creek due to the activities. We'll know more after spending a week at Meridian.

Today I was able to wash the car and then helped MLA do laundry at the North pool. Pretty cool to be able to go swimming and read in the sunshine as we wash and dry our laundry. Finished the wash with just enough time to grab a quick bite followed by another great afternoon of water volley ball. MLA cooked a great pasta meal and just before sunset I went out to snap a few photo's of the sunset.

While tomorrow is a travel day it's such a short distance we should have plenty of time to do a little exploring, at least of the RV Park.

See Ya!