Today was a day to recover from the hard driving excitement of yesterday.
We call it a kick back day but they just never seem to be kick back enough. Laundry, tank cleaning, two trips to the swimming pool.
But, perhaps we will continue the kicking tomorrow....
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Oct 21 - Orlando Universal Studios
Today was fun day at the amusement park. We did manage to get, for us, an early start. Got to the park at about 11am and left at 9:30pm. So all in all it was a long day for everyone. We purchased fast pass tickets which helped a lot, especially toward the end of the day when we were able to hit two rides in a half an hour.
Came home and collapsed.... It hard having a full day of fun. Perhaps we will get some pics uploaded to Picasa, if so I'll update this entry.
Pictures via Picasa: Universal Studios
Came home and collapsed.... It hard having a full day of fun. Perhaps we will get some pics uploaded to Picasa, if so I'll update this entry.
Pictures via Picasa: Universal Studios
Oct 19-20 Outdoor Resorts @ Orlando
We arrived in Orlando without any incidents, drove into the rv park shortly after 5 on the 19th. Monday was a slow kick back/shopping day.
Tomorrow we will attempt a full day at Universal Studios.
The rv park: http://www.rentwithoro.com/
Tomorrow we will attempt a full day at Universal Studios.
The rv park: http://www.rentwithoro.com/
Oct 18 Yogi Bear's Jellystone RV park, Madison Fl
I'm sure glad not all of our stop overs are as difficult to decide upon as this one was.
A look at their website implied one would need to pay for two night's minimum plus pony up a $15 park fee for the weekend. We ended up with just one night at their regular rate and did not partake in enough of the activities to require the full $15 fee.
We hit the park running as we got there at about 5. 5-6:00 had the girls swimming while the guy set up camp. 6:30- 7:00 was the costume contest. Rosalie was lady bug girl. Cute but did not win the prize.
7:10-7:20 was dinner. 7:30-8:15 was trick or treating in the park. 8:15-8:30 repairing a damaged knee due to being too excited and falling. 8:45-9:00 putting the little one to bed. 9:01 "finally" big persons time.
The first Halloween haul of the season:
The first water slide that Rosalie climbed and rode down all "alone"....
A look at their website implied one would need to pay for two night's minimum plus pony up a $15 park fee for the weekend. We ended up with just one night at their regular rate and did not partake in enough of the activities to require the full $15 fee.
We hit the park running as we got there at about 5. 5-6:00 had the girls swimming while the guy set up camp. 6:30- 7:00 was the costume contest. Rosalie was lady bug girl. Cute but did not win the prize.
7:10-7:20 was dinner. 7:30-8:15 was trick or treating in the park. 8:15-8:30 repairing a damaged knee due to being too excited and falling. 8:45-9:00 putting the little one to bed. 9:01 "finally" big persons time.
The first Halloween haul of the season:
The first water slide that Rosalie climbed and rode down all "alone"....
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Oct 16-17 Navarre Beach Fl
We decided to fore go our normal routine of travel two days, stop and rest one in order to get to Navarre Beach for our stopover.
It was a marvelous park with a few ocean side sites and the remainder still on the beach side of the road. It had a small trucked in sand beach plus the narrow natural beach that was walkable for some distance. A great place for the little ones to get some sand and water time without the grownups having to get too concerned. Seems like everyone in the park just had to wave and say hi. I think it was mandatory. The only down side was that we had to move for our second day, but after all we did only call a few hours ago, so we are lucky to have gotten in at all.
Definitely somewhere we might stay again.
http://www.emeraldbeachrvpark.com/index.htm
It was a marvelous park with a few ocean side sites and the remainder still on the beach side of the road. It had a small trucked in sand beach plus the narrow natural beach that was walkable for some distance. A great place for the little ones to get some sand and water time without the grownups having to get too concerned. Seems like everyone in the park just had to wave and say hi. I think it was mandatory. The only down side was that we had to move for our second day, but after all we did only call a few hours ago, so we are lucky to have gotten in at all.
Definitely somewhere we might stay again.
http://www.emeraldbeachrvpark.com/index.htm
Oct 15 Hammond La.
Tonight's stopover is just out of Hammond La.
A nice park with a large grassy overflow area great for the little one to run, play frizby, soccer, and run, run, run.
We came about 4-6 inches from providing the evenings park entertainment. Something about an overhead power line that we had not noticed. A nice man from Canada came over and asked how tall we were and relegated the story about taking bets if we would make it or not. Fortunately we made it ok...
A nice park with a large grassy overflow area great for the little one to run, play frizby, soccer, and run, run, run.
We came about 4-6 inches from providing the evenings park entertainment. Something about an overhead power line that we had not noticed. A nice man from Canada came over and asked how tall we were and relegated the story about taking bets if we would make it or not. Fortunately we made it ok...
Oct 14 - We Be Gone, again, for real
I guess I waited a couple of days to make sure we did not have another false start.....
So, we headed out of Richardson more or less at the time we had hoped for, 11:00 am. First stop was Ajax Country Livin RV park just outside of Ajax La. http://www.ajaxcountrylivinrv.com/
These little parks along the way are sort of like Forest Gumps box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get. Thank goodness for the internet and traveler reviews. Unfortunately not all rv parks can be found on that great net in the sky. Most are there but not all..
So, we headed out of Richardson more or less at the time we had hoped for, 11:00 am. First stop was Ajax Country Livin RV park just outside of Ajax La. http://www.ajaxcountrylivinrv.com/
These little parks along the way are sort of like Forest Gumps box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get. Thank goodness for the internet and traveler reviews. Unfortunately not all rv parks can be found on that great net in the sky. Most are there but not all..
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Florida bound, not quite yet....
So, we took off yesterday afternoon headed east, target: Florida
.
Planned to spend the weekend in Jefferson with some of the family but, alas, as it sometimes goes the truck gods where not smiling on us. We get 5 miles down the road and the check engine light comes on. 5 more miles and 2 hours later we are told its an emission control thing, need a new part. No, we do not have one, nope no one in Dallas has one either. Might get it installed on Monday if the overnight delivery is successful.
Today the part is in, the truck is there ready to be worked on Monday. Hopefully we will get it back early afternoon and can head out Tuesday AM. Only two reservations to cancel/change...
.
Planned to spend the weekend in Jefferson with some of the family but, alas, as it sometimes goes the truck gods where not smiling on us. We get 5 miles down the road and the check engine light comes on. 5 more miles and 2 hours later we are told its an emission control thing, need a new part. No, we do not have one, nope no one in Dallas has one either. Might get it installed on Monday if the overnight delivery is successful.
Today the part is in, the truck is there ready to be worked on Monday. Hopefully we will get it back early afternoon and can head out Tuesday AM. Only two reservations to cancel/change...
Friday, October 3, 2014
Texas music fest for a long weekend
Now for a bit of home town adventure. Well close to home town anyway.
We are spending a long week-end at the 17th annual Tommy Alverson Family Gathering near Mineral Wells, Tx. Three days of music from 2:00 - 11:00. Most good acts, some great acts. http://www.tommyalverson.com/
We are spending a long week-end at the 17th annual Tommy Alverson Family Gathering near Mineral Wells, Tx. Three days of music from 2:00 - 11:00. Most good acts, some great acts. http://www.tommyalverson.com/
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Day ??? Back in Dallas
To all the viewers out there, apologies for the lack of blogging of late. Just got out of the habit I guess.
We made it to the parks, Sequoia, King Canyon, Yosemite, then on to San Francisco area for a couple of weeks.
We did have to come back a bit early to tend a funeral of a dear friend. That however is no excuse of lack of blogging.
Perhaps we will get caught up someday, but for now we are back in Texas for awhile.
We made it to the parks, Sequoia, King Canyon, Yosemite, then on to San Francisco area for a couple of weeks.
We did have to come back a bit early to tend a funeral of a dear friend. That however is no excuse of lack of blogging.
Perhaps we will get caught up someday, but for now we are back in Texas for awhile.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Day 61 - May 23 Road trip from Pismo Beach to Three Rivers, Ca - Sequoia National Park
Today we left the beach behind.
We were sad to go on the one hand, on the other it's been too darned chilly. I guess we could not say cold, just chilly.
We chugged back up the mountain outside of San Luis Obispo then off across central California. We stopped off in one of the few small towns along the way for lunch. We managed to sniff out a small park with a small play ground across from a small school. (Did I mention it was a small town??).
We were finishing up as school let out for the day, then hit the road again.
We made it to Three Rivers without incident. The RV park would be busting at the seams for the weekend but we rolled in before the park got packed. Still parking the trailer was a challenge due to the small space, but after providing the obligatory entertainment ( bets were taken, odds were given) we did manage to get parked rather nicely.
We were sad to go on the one hand, on the other it's been too darned chilly. I guess we could not say cold, just chilly.
We chugged back up the mountain outside of San Luis Obispo then off across central California. We stopped off in one of the few small towns along the way for lunch. We managed to sniff out a small park with a small play ground across from a small school. (Did I mention it was a small town??).
We were finishing up as school let out for the day, then hit the road again.
We made it to Three Rivers without incident. The RV park would be busting at the seams for the weekend but we rolled in before the park got packed. Still parking the trailer was a challenge due to the small space, but after providing the obligatory entertainment ( bets were taken, odds were given) we did manage to get parked rather nicely.
Day 60 - May 22 Pismo Beach, Ca a trip north to San Luis Obispo
A road trip to San Luis Obispo just a bit up the road.
We were reading about the San Luis Thursday farmers market and decided to make the long arduous trip. (1/2 hour maybe).
This farmers market was much, much larger than Pismo's. The have a downtown restaurant row that runs a few blocks, so on Thursdays the block it off for a large farmers market/block party. A number of the restaurants haul out their BBQ bit and set up shop on the street.
One could find all sorts of veggies, BBQ, street entertainment, misc vendors. They drew a quite large crowd. It looks like they have built a successful Thursday night event.
Time to grab that last bowl of world famous Clam Chowder from the Splash Cafe (San Luis outlet) before heading back to the house. We managed to leave there with a supply of strawberries, broccoli, tomatoes, pistachios, clam chowder, and a flower balloon
A most enjoyable evening for our last day in Pismo:
Pictures of our Pismo experience
We were reading about the San Luis Thursday farmers market and decided to make the long arduous trip. (1/2 hour maybe).
This farmers market was much, much larger than Pismo's. The have a downtown restaurant row that runs a few blocks, so on Thursdays the block it off for a large farmers market/block party. A number of the restaurants haul out their BBQ bit and set up shop on the street.
One could find all sorts of veggies, BBQ, street entertainment, misc vendors. They drew a quite large crowd. It looks like they have built a successful Thursday night event.
Time to grab that last bowl of world famous Clam Chowder from the Splash Cafe (San Luis outlet) before heading back to the house. We managed to leave there with a supply of strawberries, broccoli, tomatoes, pistachios, clam chowder, and a flower balloon
A most enjoyable evening for our last day in Pismo:
Pictures of our Pismo experience
Day 59 - May 21 Pismo Beach, Ca farmers market
Another lazy day in Pismo.
Today's highlight was a short walk into town to visit the weekly farmers market. It was a pretty small affair this time of year. Three veggie vendors, a chip and dip vendor, pickled veggie and a couple of cooked food vendors. It apparently get a bit larger during the peak tourist season.
We topped off the day with dinner at the RV park's local restaurant.
Today's highlight was a short walk into town to visit the weekly farmers market. It was a pretty small affair this time of year. Three veggie vendors, a chip and dip vendor, pickled veggie and a couple of cooked food vendors. It apparently get a bit larger during the peak tourist season.
We topped off the day with dinner at the RV park's local restaurant.
Day 58 - May 20 Pismo Beach, Ca some touring
Today we took a drive up to the north a bit, seeing what there is to see along the coast highway 1/101.
We had a nice late lunch at a local seaside diner then headed back to the ranch for a session with the fire ring and a few sticks of firewood. Turns out we left our axe in Texas... dang, but Susan picked up a hatched at the store so we were saved... yea..... Twas a nice fire but we also discovered the marshmallows are also back in Texas.....
We had a nice late lunch at a local seaside diner then headed back to the ranch for a session with the fire ring and a few sticks of firewood. Turns out we left our axe in Texas... dang, but Susan picked up a hatched at the store so we were saved... yea..... Twas a nice fire but we also discovered the marshmallows are also back in Texas.....
Day 57 - May 19 Pismo Beach, Ca Burrrrrr
Seems we got here just in time for the cold front to move in.
Today we huddled in front of the fire place all wrapped up in our woollies. Ok, perhaps it was not that bad. However, it was a laundry/watch a movie sort of day.
But, we did manage to get out for a walk along the beach once the winds died down in the late afternoon. Rosalie got her feet (and a bit more) wet, we collected a few sand dollars and headed back to the house.
Earlier in the day we had a knock at the door. It was our neighbor offering us her left over firewood. No fire tonight, but soon,
Today we huddled in front of the fire place all wrapped up in our woollies. Ok, perhaps it was not that bad. However, it was a laundry/watch a movie sort of day.
But, we did manage to get out for a walk along the beach once the winds died down in the late afternoon. Rosalie got her feet (and a bit more) wet, we collected a few sand dollars and headed back to the house.
Earlier in the day we had a knock at the door. It was our neighbor offering us her left over firewood. No fire tonight, but soon,
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Day 56 May 18 Travel day, back to the beach
We are headed back west today. An hour or two to the beach town of Pismo Beach.
Before the envy sets in too much the latest weather forecast is for the "highs" to not get out of the 60's.... What gives here.....
We walked down the the beach and tested the water, which was the coldest yet. Then headed over to one of the local restaurants to sample some of their world famous New England style clam chowder. It "was" pretty darn good. We came out stuffed.
Perhaps we can drag some of the 80/90s we have had at Paso down to the beach with us... We shall see.
Before the envy sets in too much the latest weather forecast is for the "highs" to not get out of the 60's.... What gives here.....
We walked down the the beach and tested the water, which was the coldest yet. Then headed over to one of the local restaurants to sample some of their world famous New England style clam chowder. It "was" pretty darn good. We came out stuffed.
Perhaps we can drag some of the 80/90s we have had at Paso down to the beach with us... We shall see.
Day 49 - 55 May 11-17 Paso Robles, wine country
The Pass of the Oaks.
We were looking for a place to unwind after the weeks in SD and LA. Just seemed like we needed some time to just relax and chill from our hard vacationing. While we did know what we were in for before we rolled into this snallish town, we were totally unaware of this area before we started researching it.
Any wine connoisseurs in the audience are probably up in arms about now. Seems this region surrounding Paso Robles was voted 2013 wine region of the year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine at its annual Wine Star Awards. They vineyard folks to seem to be rather proud of the award.
While wine making has been going on here since 1797 by the Spanish conquistadors and Franciscan missionaries the region has just exploded with vineyards since the late 60's and early 70's. The area now boasts somewhere in the neighborhood of 200. There are only a few that produce enough to be called large, many just produce a few thousand cases are year. Small by Napa standards I suppose. But it's gold rush all over again except rather than gold it's the grape that is sought after.
So, rather than sitting in the trailer, sitting out side the trailer, sitting by the pool, sitting in the hot tub, our chosen form of relaxation was to visit a few wineries (no not all 200) to see what the hub hub is all about. They were having one of the several wine festivals during our stay so we opted to add a day or two to our stay.
Fortunately the downtown festival area was off limits to children so we could not go. I say fortunately as almost all of the folks manning the tasting rooms indicated they personally would not have gone, just too much of a mad house and it had turned into just wine tasting booths, apparently none of the other things one thinks of when one thinks of a festival.
Several of the wineries had a bit more going at their tasting rooms Friday and Sat so we opted to visit the wineries instead. We only had to put Rosalie in the corner at a couple of the rooms. Some had coloring stations for the kids (which is greatly appreciated), others had live music which seems to fascinate the girl these days.
We spend one day running over to visit Hearst Castle just over the mountain ridge on the coast at San Simion. It looked to be a testament to excess but I suppose it was a form of wealth transfer as Hearst did manager to keep a number of builders busy for several years.
The castle grounds have been donated to the state to preserve as a park of sorts. Apparently efforts to sell the place were unsuccessful so it was donated. No funding to provide for upkeep/repairs was provided with the deal. If it were not for the many works of old, some ancient pieces of art work that Hearst had collected over the years that was included in the donation, one might be thinking that the Hearst Corp managed to unload a white elephant. But, one supposes sale of the artifacts might help fund the place for a good while. Fortunately that has not had to happen, on a large scale at least.
On the way back from the castle we stopped at an Ocean overlook and managed to spot a couple of whales off the beach just a bit. We have no idea what kind all we could see was a bit of their back and spouts as they surfaced for a breath. But, at least we were not totally skunked as far as seeing whales is concerned.
Some pictures of the area: Picasa Web Album
We were looking for a place to unwind after the weeks in SD and LA. Just seemed like we needed some time to just relax and chill from our hard vacationing. While we did know what we were in for before we rolled into this snallish town, we were totally unaware of this area before we started researching it.
Any wine connoisseurs in the audience are probably up in arms about now. Seems this region surrounding Paso Robles was voted 2013 wine region of the year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine at its annual Wine Star Awards. They vineyard folks to seem to be rather proud of the award.
While wine making has been going on here since 1797 by the Spanish conquistadors and Franciscan missionaries the region has just exploded with vineyards since the late 60's and early 70's. The area now boasts somewhere in the neighborhood of 200. There are only a few that produce enough to be called large, many just produce a few thousand cases are year. Small by Napa standards I suppose. But it's gold rush all over again except rather than gold it's the grape that is sought after.
So, rather than sitting in the trailer, sitting out side the trailer, sitting by the pool, sitting in the hot tub, our chosen form of relaxation was to visit a few wineries (no not all 200) to see what the hub hub is all about. They were having one of the several wine festivals during our stay so we opted to add a day or two to our stay.
Fortunately the downtown festival area was off limits to children so we could not go. I say fortunately as almost all of the folks manning the tasting rooms indicated they personally would not have gone, just too much of a mad house and it had turned into just wine tasting booths, apparently none of the other things one thinks of when one thinks of a festival.
Several of the wineries had a bit more going at their tasting rooms Friday and Sat so we opted to visit the wineries instead. We only had to put Rosalie in the corner at a couple of the rooms. Some had coloring stations for the kids (which is greatly appreciated), others had live music which seems to fascinate the girl these days.
We spend one day running over to visit Hearst Castle just over the mountain ridge on the coast at San Simion. It looked to be a testament to excess but I suppose it was a form of wealth transfer as Hearst did manager to keep a number of builders busy for several years.
The castle grounds have been donated to the state to preserve as a park of sorts. Apparently efforts to sell the place were unsuccessful so it was donated. No funding to provide for upkeep/repairs was provided with the deal. If it were not for the many works of old, some ancient pieces of art work that Hearst had collected over the years that was included in the donation, one might be thinking that the Hearst Corp managed to unload a white elephant. But, one supposes sale of the artifacts might help fund the place for a good while. Fortunately that has not had to happen, on a large scale at least.
On the way back from the castle we stopped at an Ocean overlook and managed to spot a couple of whales off the beach just a bit. We have no idea what kind all we could see was a bit of their back and spouts as they surfaced for a breath. But, at least we were not totally skunked as far as seeing whales is concerned.
Some pictures of the area: Picasa Web Album
Day 48 May 10 - Leaving LA behind, off to Paso
We are off to a place called Paso Robles (The Pass of the Oaks).
We were fortunate to get out of LA without incident. The driver of the crew will not miss that LA traffic. It was not so much that there were problems maneuvering the 50 foot beast, it was just the potential of it. I suppose the truckers do get used to it, though I'm not sure we would.
It's off to Paso Robles just a hop skip and a long jump north of LA.
We were fortunate to get out of LA without incident. The driver of the crew will not miss that LA traffic. It was not so much that there were problems maneuvering the 50 foot beast, it was just the potential of it. I suppose the truckers do get used to it, though I'm not sure we would.
It's off to Paso Robles just a hop skip and a long jump north of LA.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Day 47 - May 9 Anaheim, Ca - Day 7 - The great whale hunt
We headed to Newport Beach Pier to hop on a whale watching tour. But alas, we were skunked. I think the first skunk trip in awhile for these folks. We did manage to see a large number of dolphin that followed the bow of the boat for a good distance. That and some great views of the coast line from Newport Beach south.
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| We are here, where are they??? |
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| No whales, might as well be cute then.. |
After the boat returned we walked the pier abit. The ladies rode on the "could be the worlds longest Ferris wheel ride", as it was billed, on the pier.
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| Could be the worlds longest ride |
We had appetizers and libations at a nice place overlooking the marina, topped off with an ice cream Sunday. Then a last drive through LA rush hour traffic back to the trailer.
Los Angeles pics : Picasa web pics
Day 46 - May 8 Anaheim, Ca - Day 6 - Laguna beach day
It's beach day....
Finally a day at the beach, well the closest we come to a day at the beach.
We headed off to the artsy town of Laguna Beach with the intent to find a nice spot to play in the water and sand then watch the sunset with a libation in hand and perhaps a dinner over looking the beach.
We did manage to pack all that into a single day and not have to veer to far off of the main beach area of Laguna.
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| Sunset in Laguna Beach |
Day 45 - May 7 Anaheim, Ca - Day 5 - Recover from Disneyland
A day to relax/recover from the mouse experience, do a bit of laundry, empty the tanks, the usual mundane stuff that makes blogs rather boring to read....
Day 44 - May 6 Anaheim, Ca - Day 4 - Disneyland
Today was mouse day. Well mouse, duck, dog, etc...
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| Time to get up |
The RV park where we are staying has a stop off point for the local shuttle. For a few dollars they will come by ever 25 mins or so. The nice thing is this park is the first pick up and first drop off point. So, we knew we would have a seat going and not much of a ride coming home.
Disneyland was as expected and a bit disappointing I suppose. For the most part the line were long, though I suppose the length is relative. Probably longer mid summer, shorter when it snows...
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| waiting.... |
The iconic It's A Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice in Wonderland were closed for repairs. I suppose getting ready for the summer season. Some of the larger ride, Space Mountain, Thunder Mt Railroad apparently broke down mid afternoon. We talked to one fella who had raced to get the quick pass tickets only to have the majority of rides (3-4 or so) having close/broken by the time they were to ride.
The wait to see the movie "Frozen" characters was 5 hours at opening time and had shortened down to 4 hours by the time we got there about 10:30 or so. Needless to say we skipped it.
All in all leads one to ask "Is this any way to run a railroad?" Guess so, they have been doing it for a long time and do not seem to be suffering for lack of attendance..
Bottom line for visitors: Be strong, be patient, be strong.
We did however have a great time. Did not get to see all we wanted, but enough for this trip. I'm sure we will get to one of the D's again some day.
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| Texas Trio at Disneyland |
Day 43 - May 5 Anaheim, Ca - Day 3 - ???
The trouble with getting up there in years, combined with not taking notes, combined with having sooo much fun has finally taken it's toll....
We cannot recall what we did today (does not help that this was written a week later.. :o) )..
Oh well, I'm sure it was a grand time....
We cannot recall what we did today (does not help that this was written a week later.. :o) )..
Oh well, I'm sure it was a grand time....
Day 42 - May 4 Anaheim, Ca - Day 2 - Central Farmers Market
Today we ventured to the down town area of LA to visit the central farmers market.
We were interested in seeing what they had going on for the Cinco De Mayo celebration down at the market so we headed out and made it there about noon time. The market seems to be a daily market with three - 4 vegetable vendors and a plethora of food vendors from all over, Mexican, seafood, Chinese, German, Japanese, etc.
We had a rather large burrito and Rosalie had a few custom fried shrimp. We walked around a bit but did not find anything out of the ordinary so headed of toward Santa Monica and Malibu.
The drive up the coast highway from Santa Monica to Malibu was a busy one, lots of traffic to contend with and only a few glimpses of the actual beach area.
We turned around somewhere in Malibu when we stopped to check out a misbehaving tire.
We went back to Santa Moncia and found a parking spot a mile or so south of the pier and amusement park. The pier looked to be soo crowded that we were not too interested in visiting it anyway. To be expected on a Sunday I suppose.
The pier at Santa Monica
We were interested in seeing what they had going on for the Cinco De Mayo celebration down at the market so we headed out and made it there about noon time. The market seems to be a daily market with three - 4 vegetable vendors and a plethora of food vendors from all over, Mexican, seafood, Chinese, German, Japanese, etc.
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| At the central farmers market |
We had a rather large burrito and Rosalie had a few custom fried shrimp. We walked around a bit but did not find anything out of the ordinary so headed of toward Santa Monica and Malibu.
The drive up the coast highway from Santa Monica to Malibu was a busy one, lots of traffic to contend with and only a few glimpses of the actual beach area.
We turned around somewhere in Malibu when we stopped to check out a misbehaving tire.
We went back to Santa Moncia and found a parking spot a mile or so south of the pier and amusement park. The pier looked to be soo crowded that we were not too interested in visiting it anyway. To be expected on a Sunday I suppose.
The pier at Santa Monica
Day 41 - May 3 Anaheim, Ca - Day 1
Today was our first adventure into the LA traffic pulling a 38 foot box behind us.
Fortunately it was a quick/short hop up to LA from Chula Vista, traffic was moving for the most part, slow at times.
The RV park we are staying at is just outside of the Disneyland gates, so if we sat out our chairs and looked off in the distance we could see the aerial portion of Disneyland's Friday - Sunday night fireworks. We took advantage of it each night we were there.
While here we are planning to visit Disneyland, a couple beaches, perhaps Universal Studios and who knows what else..
Fortunately it was a quick/short hop up to LA from Chula Vista, traffic was moving for the most part, slow at times.
The RV park we are staying at is just outside of the Disneyland gates, so if we sat out our chairs and looked off in the distance we could see the aerial portion of Disneyland's Friday - Sunday night fireworks. We took advantage of it each night we were there.
While here we are planning to visit Disneyland, a couple beaches, perhaps Universal Studios and who knows what else..
Day 40 - May 2 San Diego, Chula Vista RV park day 7
Today is the last day in San Diego.
We headed up to La Jolla for the afternoon. After much driving around the Seal Rock, La Jolla Cove area we headed down to the main beach area where we managed to soak up some sun and surf. Then we headed off to another area where we took in one of the seal and sea lion sun soaking areas. We did manage to see a few.
Back to the RV park to prep for tomorrows trip to LA.
San Diego Pics: Picasa San Diego
We headed up to La Jolla for the afternoon. After much driving around the Seal Rock, La Jolla Cove area we headed down to the main beach area where we managed to soak up some sun and surf. Then we headed off to another area where we took in one of the seal and sea lion sun soaking areas. We did manage to see a few.
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| La Jolla Seals |
Back to the RV park to prep for tomorrows trip to LA.
San Diego Pics: Picasa San Diego
Friday, May 2, 2014
Day 39 - May 1 San Diego, Chula Vista RV park day 6, The zoo
Today was Zoo day.
Link to the Zoo. San Diego Zoo
We managed to last about 8 hours with the animals before they closed and chased us out. We were a bit concerned when we got there as there seemed to be about 10 bus loads of school kids. But for the most part it was not crowded at all.
We managed to see lots of reptiles, and other animals such as the polar bears ( in San Diego???) and Pandas and of course lots of monkeys with a rhino and hippo thrown in. We did not get to the elephants or the big cats. We got stuck in the lost forest area, an aptly named section of the park. I think they purposely made that area very confusing. They definitely need to fire the folks that made the maps for that section of the park.
If you ever plan to go to this zoo, be prepared. It has to be the hilliest park in existence. Lots of up and down trails. While it does make for a nice backdrop behind the exhibits the hills can get to be a bit much.
Back on the San Diego freeway at the tail end of rush hour and the starving crew was back home for a great crock pot chicken courtesy of our own on board master chef... (hint: it's not the Minnesota boy..)
Link to the Zoo. San Diego Zoo
We managed to last about 8 hours with the animals before they closed and chased us out. We were a bit concerned when we got there as there seemed to be about 10 bus loads of school kids. But for the most part it was not crowded at all.
We managed to see lots of reptiles, and other animals such as the polar bears ( in San Diego???) and Pandas and of course lots of monkeys with a rhino and hippo thrown in. We did not get to the elephants or the big cats. We got stuck in the lost forest area, an aptly named section of the park. I think they purposely made that area very confusing. They definitely need to fire the folks that made the maps for that section of the park.
If you ever plan to go to this zoo, be prepared. It has to be the hilliest park in existence. Lots of up and down trails. While it does make for a nice backdrop behind the exhibits the hills can get to be a bit much.
Back on the San Diego freeway at the tail end of rush hour and the starving crew was back home for a great crock pot chicken courtesy of our own on board master chef... (hint: it's not the Minnesota boy..)
Day 38 - April 30 San Diego, Chula Vista RV park day 5, Soak some sun
Nothing to report today. A day at the RV park.
We had a warning message come on the truck a few days ago, said to check the coolant additive. Seems these diesel engines are particular about their coolants. So, it was off to the local deal bright and early to get that taken care of. Add a bit of the "special" stuff, pay the bill, and back on the road.
The rest of the day was dedicated to soaking/swimming/relaxing, that stuff one is really supposed to do when on vacation.....
We had a warning message come on the truck a few days ago, said to check the coolant additive. Seems these diesel engines are particular about their coolants. So, it was off to the local deal bright and early to get that taken care of. Add a bit of the "special" stuff, pay the bill, and back on the road.
The rest of the day was dedicated to soaking/swimming/relaxing, that stuff one is really supposed to do when on vacation.....
Day 37 - April 29 San Diego, Chula Vista RV park day 4, Silver Strand and Imperial Beaches
This afternoon was a real honest to goodness beach day.
We finally made it to the beach for some play time. Silver Strand is a stretch of Beach that connects Coronado to the main land. Much of the southern spit had been taken over by the Military for a training ground but there is a good stretch none the less.
So we played, soaked, played and soaked. Rosalie had a blast running into the waves and pretending she was scared to death of he tall waves coming in. (Tall = about 6" to 1 foot). The water was typical Pacific beach, on the cold side not at all like the Gulf waters. But once we got in we sort of got used to it. Had to drag the little one out when the neighbors started complaining about the loud teeth chattering sound coming from our direction.. ( not really).
After a sand rinsing we headed down toward Imperial beach were we managed to snag a decent parking spot and made a bee line for the pier. The surfers were out in force next to the pier so they made for some rather enjoyable entertainment while waiting for the sun set off the end of the pier.
We are happy to report that the sun did indeed set without too much havoc being reigned.
We had a hard time finding a place for dinner. Seems this part of Imperial Beach is not a strong hold of beach side restaurants. So, we settled for getting out of our comfort zone a bit and tried a Tia restaurant. After some consternation with the menu we settled in for a nice (successful) meal.
Silver Strand State Beach
Imperial Beach Pier
We finally made it to the beach for some play time. Silver Strand is a stretch of Beach that connects Coronado to the main land. Much of the southern spit had been taken over by the Military for a training ground but there is a good stretch none the less.
So we played, soaked, played and soaked. Rosalie had a blast running into the waves and pretending she was scared to death of he tall waves coming in. (Tall = about 6" to 1 foot). The water was typical Pacific beach, on the cold side not at all like the Gulf waters. But once we got in we sort of got used to it. Had to drag the little one out when the neighbors started complaining about the loud teeth chattering sound coming from our direction.. ( not really).
After a sand rinsing we headed down toward Imperial beach were we managed to snag a decent parking spot and made a bee line for the pier. The surfers were out in force next to the pier so they made for some rather enjoyable entertainment while waiting for the sun set off the end of the pier.
We are happy to report that the sun did indeed set without too much havoc being reigned.
We had a hard time finding a place for dinner. Seems this part of Imperial Beach is not a strong hold of beach side restaurants. So, we settled for getting out of our comfort zone a bit and tried a Tia restaurant. After some consternation with the menu we settled in for a nice (successful) meal.
Silver Strand State Beach
Imperial Beach Pier
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Pictures for various dates
I'm trying, seems there still is not enough hours in the day.
Below are some links to a Picasa web album. I'll get these moved back into the appropriate days eventually. Just wanted to get them up here for now. No captions on the pictures... There may be more to come later...
Carlsbad Nm.
Alamogordo, Nm:
Tombstone, Az
Tucson, Az
Desert Hot Springs, Ca
Temecula, Ca
San Diego, Ca
Update: The original posts have been updated to include these picture links. They typically will be on the last page for a given location. ( unless they are not.... )
Below are some links to a Picasa web album. I'll get these moved back into the appropriate days eventually. Just wanted to get them up here for now. No captions on the pictures... There may be more to come later...
Carlsbad Nm.
Alamogordo, Nm:
Tombstone, Az
Tucson, Az
Desert Hot Springs, Ca
Temecula, Ca
San Diego, Ca
Update: The original posts have been updated to include these picture links. They typically will be on the last page for a given location. ( unless they are not.... )
Monday, April 28, 2014
Posting a comment to this blog
Hi,
It's come to our attention that commenting to the blog has been a problem. We have made some changes that will hopefully solve that problem. We still see problems when trying to comment from a phone browser. If you try the "View web version" link from your phone's browser you may have more luck.
When clicking on the "Post a comment" link a new browser page or tab should open up. After entering your comment be sure to select an "Identity". If you have a Google account you can use that or you can choose the "Name/URL" option. That will ask you to enter a name with the URL part being optional (you need not enter a URL if you do not have one).
Then you will need to enter the two words to prove you are not a robot, some of those are hard to read but it keeps automated systems from causing trouble with the blogs.
Then click on "Publish Your Comment". You can choose preview but when you want to "send" it for real you will need to use Publish and that will require re-entering the two words.
Hopefully this will work better. Send an email or call if you still have trouble.
Thanks,
The WeBeGone'ers
It's come to our attention that commenting to the blog has been a problem. We have made some changes that will hopefully solve that problem. We still see problems when trying to comment from a phone browser. If you try the "View web version" link from your phone's browser you may have more luck.
When clicking on the "Post a comment" link a new browser page or tab should open up. After entering your comment be sure to select an "Identity". If you have a Google account you can use that or you can choose the "Name/URL" option. That will ask you to enter a name with the URL part being optional (you need not enter a URL if you do not have one).
Then you will need to enter the two words to prove you are not a robot, some of those are hard to read but it keeps automated systems from causing trouble with the blogs.
Then click on "Publish Your Comment". You can choose preview but when you want to "send" it for real you will need to use Publish and that will require re-entering the two words.
Hopefully this will work better. Send an email or call if you still have trouble.
Thanks,
The WeBeGone'ers
Day 36 - April 28 San Diego, Chula Vista RV park day 3, Old Town
A tour day.
Today we took the Old Town Trolley tour around San Diego. This gave us a fair over view and history of the city. There were 11 stops where we could get off and and explore.
We choose Coronado Hotel as one of the stops where we got off and spent about an hour on the wonderful beach and at the hotel. Seems we just could not keep a 4 year old from getting wet at the beach. But then again I wonder if any parent can pull off that trick. Maybe Houdini could have...
The old place is still looking as grand as ever. We may attempt to get back there but it seems the parking can be a bit tough. But then that's what we are hearing about most places here.
Back to Old Town in time dinner while we wait out the 5:00 rush hour. We did see some of that headed our way out when on the trolley tour and did not want to get stuck in it.
Link to Old Town San Diego
Back home in time for sunset.
Today we took the Old Town Trolley tour around San Diego. This gave us a fair over view and history of the city. There were 11 stops where we could get off and and explore.
We choose Coronado Hotel as one of the stops where we got off and spent about an hour on the wonderful beach and at the hotel. Seems we just could not keep a 4 year old from getting wet at the beach. But then again I wonder if any parent can pull off that trick. Maybe Houdini could have...
The old place is still looking as grand as ever. We may attempt to get back there but it seems the parking can be a bit tough. But then that's what we are hearing about most places here.
Back to Old Town in time dinner while we wait out the 5:00 rush hour. We did see some of that headed our way out when on the trolley tour and did not want to get stuck in it.
Link to Old Town San Diego
Back home in time for sunset.
Day 35 - April 27 San Diego, Chula Vista RV park day 2, Earth Day
Seems today is Earth Day...
So we choose to spend it with 60,000 of our closest friends at what was billed the largest Earth Day celebration at San Diego's Balboa park. Being foreigners in a strange land we choose not to drive but rather we took the public transport. The train up to down town San Diego, then transfer to a city bus, then a 3/4 mile walk to the park.
Lots of folks, lots of booths set up from acupuncture to air drone usage protest, to anti war protesting, and I think even a few earth friendly type booths, plant more trees, recyle, compost, etc...
An exciting but/train ride back home completed the day. We survived a day in the big city... Ya....
Back home to a wonderful pork slow cooked meal.
So we choose to spend it with 60,000 of our closest friends at what was billed the largest Earth Day celebration at San Diego's Balboa park. Being foreigners in a strange land we choose not to drive but rather we took the public transport. The train up to down town San Diego, then transfer to a city bus, then a 3/4 mile walk to the park.
Lots of folks, lots of booths set up from acupuncture to air drone usage protest, to anti war protesting, and I think even a few earth friendly type booths, plant more trees, recyle, compost, etc...
An exciting but/train ride back home completed the day. We survived a day in the big city... Ya....
Back home to a wonderful pork slow cooked meal.
 |
| Ponies are part of Earth Day are then not?? |
Day 34 - April 26 San Diego, Chula Vista RV park day 1
Today was a fairly short travel day. A couple of hours from Temecula to Chula Vista just south of San Diego proper.
We pull up to our designated spot only to find it overrun by a family reunion. But, they were very nice folks. Fortunately we did not give them too much of a show when backing the trailer in.
It turns out there was a four year old among the group dressed up in her "Brave" dress. So, imagine the delete of little Rosalie when she saw her. Turns out they were about the same age and the little girls name was Olivia. Of course the two played together, sang together for the next four hours. It was a sad time when it came time for them to go.
The Chula Vista park is on the southern San Diego bay. We have no beach, just rocky shore but there is a small city park and a marina to walk around. A nice spot if it would just warm up. Clouds and wind were the order of the day.
We pull up to our designated spot only to find it overrun by a family reunion. But, they were very nice folks. Fortunately we did not give them too much of a show when backing the trailer in.
It turns out there was a four year old among the group dressed up in her "Brave" dress. So, imagine the delete of little Rosalie when she saw her. Turns out they were about the same age and the little girls name was Olivia. Of course the two played together, sang together for the next four hours. It was a sad time when it came time for them to go.
The Chula Vista park is on the southern San Diego bay. We have no beach, just rocky shore but there is a small city park and a marina to walk around. A nice spot if it would just warm up. Clouds and wind were the order of the day.
Day 33 - April 25 Temecula Day 3, Old Town Temecula
This was a no tour day. We really cannot say a do nothing day as we seldom do "nothing".
Finally got the truck washed after the New Mexico/Arizona dust storms. Need to get the trailer sometime as well I guess. Some house cleaning and laundry as well. We have not been here to take advantage of the pool, been too cold most of the time.
This evening we went to see a bit of old town Temecula. Seems everyone has an old town. Makes sense I guess. A couple of burgers and back to the trailer...
Local Pics: Temecula, Ca
Finally got the truck washed after the New Mexico/Arizona dust storms. Need to get the trailer sometime as well I guess. Some house cleaning and laundry as well. We have not been here to take advantage of the pool, been too cold most of the time.
This evening we went to see a bit of old town Temecula. Seems everyone has an old town. Makes sense I guess. A couple of burgers and back to the trailer...
Local Pics: Temecula, Ca
Day 32 - April 24 Temecula Day two, Mt Palomar Observatory
Today's trek was to attempt a climb up Mt Palomar.
Part way up the mountain we decided to check the fuel level... oops.. back down we go to get some fuel. But, we finally did get up to the top. At the top is the Cal Tech Mt Palomar observatory.
After a bite of lunch we headed out to check the observatory.
This is home of the Hale 200" reflecting telescope, at one time the largest in the world from 1948 until 1976. The mirror blank was made by Corning, from the then new material Pyrex in 1934, took a full year to cool, they do it slow it seems. It took 13 years and the removal of 10,000 lbs of Pyrex before the polishing and concave shaping was complete. The mirror was coated (and still is re-coated every 18–24 months) with a reflective aluminum surface using the same aluminum vacuum-deposition process invented in 1930 by Caltech physicist and astronomer John Strong.
Cal Tech's Mt Palomar web site
The ride down was a bit quicker than the ride up...
Part way up the mountain we decided to check the fuel level... oops.. back down we go to get some fuel. But, we finally did get up to the top. At the top is the Cal Tech Mt Palomar observatory.
After a bite of lunch we headed out to check the observatory.
This is home of the Hale 200" reflecting telescope, at one time the largest in the world from 1948 until 1976. The mirror blank was made by Corning, from the then new material Pyrex in 1934, took a full year to cool, they do it slow it seems. It took 13 years and the removal of 10,000 lbs of Pyrex before the polishing and concave shaping was complete. The mirror was coated (and still is re-coated every 18–24 months) with a reflective aluminum surface using the same aluminum vacuum-deposition process invented in 1930 by Caltech physicist and astronomer John Strong.
Cal Tech's Mt Palomar web site
The ride down was a bit quicker than the ride up...
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Day 31 - April 23 Pechanga RV Resort and Casino, Temecula Ca
On the way to San Diego.
We are stopping off at Temecula for 3 nights. Tomorrow will be a day trip up Mt. Palomar to see the Hale telescope, a 200" reflecting telescope. Perhaps more about that tomorrow.
Rosalie has developed a fascination with the movie Frozen. So, today we finally went to see the movie. The adults on the team had not seen the movie yet. Due to a couple of mishaps we got there a bit late but still managed to get most of the movie.
Seems the little girl sitting in front of Rosalie had seen it already as well so they were chatting about what was coming next. Talk about spoilers. They danced among themselves all through the credits and then some. A good time was had....
We are stopping off at Temecula for 3 nights. Tomorrow will be a day trip up Mt. Palomar to see the Hale telescope, a 200" reflecting telescope. Perhaps more about that tomorrow.
Rosalie has developed a fascination with the movie Frozen. So, today we finally went to see the movie. The adults on the team had not seen the movie yet. Due to a couple of mishaps we got there a bit late but still managed to get most of the movie.
Seems the little girl sitting in front of Rosalie had seen it already as well so they were chatting about what was coming next. Talk about spoilers. They danced among themselves all through the credits and then some. A good time was had....
Day 30 - April 22 Desert Hot Springs Day 4
Nothing interesting today. Laundry, $20, dollars worth in the end. (Not going there).
One last soak in the pool and tubs before we head off toward San Diego.
Local Pics: Desert Hot Springs, Ca
One last soak in the pool and tubs before we head off toward San Diego.
Local Pics: Desert Hot Springs, Ca
Day 29 - April 21 Joshua Tree Part 2, Salton Sea and Imperial Valley
Today we made the trek back to the park, the south entrance this time, about 20-30 miles. We needed to get the Jr Ranger another badge. We spent some time at the visitors center, enjoyed the ceremony, then headed back out the park. On the way out the door a snake was calling to Rosalie, so now we have
added a rattle snake to the collection (stuffed and furry thank
goodness)
One of the Jr Ranger tasks was to see what animals you could spot. We had missed the big horn sheep yesterday, but today one graciously offered us a glimpse of it self so we could mark it in the book. It was on the way out so we were not able to report it to the rangers.
On the way back to Desert Hot Springs we took a back road detour. 25 miles through the most desolate country side and just two cars. Me thinks the co-pilot might have been getting concerned about the destination after the first 15 or so.
But, when we popped out we came to the Imperial Valley, Salton Sea, and crops galore. Quite a change from the desert we had just left. We had to slow down/stop to look over and talk about the lemon trees, orange trees, bell pepper plants, green beans, sweet corn, palm tree groves, and grape vines (green table grapes we think). It was interesting to see the crops in the fields. You hear so much about California's bread basket, it was interesting to see it. No, we did not stop to sample the wares. In South Dakota perhaps, but not here. Too many witnesses.
We then headed off to the Salton Sea State park for a picnic. This is a small park on the east side of the sea. We got to the visitors center just a they were closing but did manage to get to see the video that gave a history of the sea area. Seems this had been connected to Gulf of California in the more ancient times, but of late had been cut off. There was some canal building in the 20's or so that went awry. Seems the canal cuts were flooded out by a large spring runoff, the river changed course and ran directly into the Salton Sea for 16 months or so before they could reroute it to it's original course. The Salton has no outlet so so much for lake front property... 227 feet below sea level....
Since they got the river back on course the lake/sea has been gradually shrinking, getting more saline every year, about twice the level of salt as the oceans at this time.
All in all an interesting side trip that was pretty much spur of the moment.
One of the Jr Ranger tasks was to see what animals you could spot. We had missed the big horn sheep yesterday, but today one graciously offered us a glimpse of it self so we could mark it in the book. It was on the way out so we were not able to report it to the rangers.
On the way back to Desert Hot Springs we took a back road detour. 25 miles through the most desolate country side and just two cars. Me thinks the co-pilot might have been getting concerned about the destination after the first 15 or so.
But, when we popped out we came to the Imperial Valley, Salton Sea, and crops galore. Quite a change from the desert we had just left. We had to slow down/stop to look over and talk about the lemon trees, orange trees, bell pepper plants, green beans, sweet corn, palm tree groves, and grape vines (green table grapes we think). It was interesting to see the crops in the fields. You hear so much about California's bread basket, it was interesting to see it. No, we did not stop to sample the wares. In South Dakota perhaps, but not here. Too many witnesses.
We then headed off to the Salton Sea State park for a picnic. This is a small park on the east side of the sea. We got to the visitors center just a they were closing but did manage to get to see the video that gave a history of the sea area. Seems this had been connected to Gulf of California in the more ancient times, but of late had been cut off. There was some canal building in the 20's or so that went awry. Seems the canal cuts were flooded out by a large spring runoff, the river changed course and ran directly into the Salton Sea for 16 months or so before they could reroute it to it's original course. The Salton has no outlet so so much for lake front property... 227 feet below sea level....
Since they got the river back on course the lake/sea has been gradually shrinking, getting more saline every year, about twice the level of salt as the oceans at this time.
All in all an interesting side trip that was pretty much spur of the moment.
Day 28 - April 20 Joshua Tree National Park
A day in the park, Joshua Tree National Park, The park web site
We stopped in at the nearest entrance, there are three, to get the orientation, pick up the Junior Ranger packet, and plan our attack.
We ended up on a couple of 1 mile trails. The first was to a small hidden valley, apparently where cattle and horse wrestlers of old would drive the stock after stealing then, re-brand them, then head them off to market. Apparently it was a pretty successful operation for awhile, seeing as how isolated it was.
The second hike was to a dam that one of the settlers had enlarged in order to store adequate water for their crops and livestock. Seems the rain fall in this area is now about 1/2 of what it was in the 1800's.
We saw a number of blooming cactus, not an explosion, but a few. Lots of the strange looking Joshua trees, lots of boulders, a couple of lizards and a fair number of fellow tourists.
We did not plan our time well and made it back to the ranger station after they had closed. The newest Jr Ranger will have to wait a day for the swearing in.
We stopped in at the nearest entrance, there are three, to get the orientation, pick up the Junior Ranger packet, and plan our attack.
We ended up on a couple of 1 mile trails. The first was to a small hidden valley, apparently where cattle and horse wrestlers of old would drive the stock after stealing then, re-brand them, then head them off to market. Apparently it was a pretty successful operation for awhile, seeing as how isolated it was.
The second hike was to a dam that one of the settlers had enlarged in order to store adequate water for their crops and livestock. Seems the rain fall in this area is now about 1/2 of what it was in the 1800's.
We saw a number of blooming cactus, not an explosion, but a few. Lots of the strange looking Joshua trees, lots of boulders, a couple of lizards and a fair number of fellow tourists.
We did not plan our time well and made it back to the ranger station after they had closed. The newest Jr Ranger will have to wait a day for the swearing in.
Day 27 - April 19 On to Desert Hot Springs, Ca
Arrived at Sky Valley RV resort in Desert Hot Springs. Link to Sky Valley.
We had looked around a bit here. It was hard, but not too hard to find someplace that was not a 55+ park, somewhere that would take a 4 year old. One fella offered to sneak us in as long as we did not use the pool. Fat chance of that happening. This is a Passport America park, so the 1/2 price fee was of course welcome. There were a couple of parks a bit closer to Joshua Tree, but I think we made a good decision for us.
Sky Valley was nice, except for the laundry payment setup. They have two separate swimming sections, adult only and family. Large size pool in both, three hot tubs in the adult section, two in the family. Seems the pools and tubs are fed from under ground hot water wells. They were nice.......
The resort is mostly park models with a few RV spaces which really may be unsold park model lots. We've been told there is a large Canadian contingent, but most had flown back north by now..
We had looked around a bit here. It was hard, but not too hard to find someplace that was not a 55+ park, somewhere that would take a 4 year old. One fella offered to sneak us in as long as we did not use the pool. Fat chance of that happening. This is a Passport America park, so the 1/2 price fee was of course welcome. There were a couple of parks a bit closer to Joshua Tree, but I think we made a good decision for us.
Sky Valley was nice, except for the laundry payment setup. They have two separate swimming sections, adult only and family. Large size pool in both, three hot tubs in the adult section, two in the family. Seems the pools and tubs are fed from under ground hot water wells. They were nice.......
The resort is mostly park models with a few RV spaces which really may be unsold park model lots. We've been told there is a large Canadian contingent, but most had flown back north by now..
Day 26 - April 18 Blythe, Ca
When planning this trip early on we decided to stop off at Quartzite, Az, just because. Just Because it's one of the worlds largest gathering of RV'rs, snow birds hanging out in the desert during the coldest parts of Jan/Feb.
This being April, things pretty much have died down. So, we made a last minute change to stop just down the road in Blythe, Ca. in an RV park on the Colorado river. A much better choice as we snagged a spot overlooking the river. It did get a bit noisy with the late night river revelers but things quieted after one of the partyers fell in. Seems they did manager to pull him out though.
Next morning on to Joshua Tree National Park and Desert Hot Springs.
This being April, things pretty much have died down. So, we made a last minute change to stop just down the road in Blythe, Ca. in an RV park on the Colorado river. A much better choice as we snagged a spot overlooking the river. It did get a bit noisy with the late night river revelers but things quieted after one of the partyers fell in. Seems they did manager to pull him out though.
Next morning on to Joshua Tree National Park and Desert Hot Springs.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Day 25 - April 17 A stop off in Pheonix to tour Frank Lloyd Wrights western studio/school
Today was a "me" (Susan) day! We headed to Phoenix so that I could go on the tour of Talesin West, which is Frank Lloyd Wright's studio, "snowbird" home and unique training ground for a very select number of young architects (22 this year) working toward a Masters in Architecture. Because my home was built on a lot of the concepts of Frank Lloyd Wright, I've always had a strong interest in his design techniques and his creative endeavors. Plus, he was a fascinating character, definitely a flawed and flamboyant man (and not even a nice one at times), but he was unique and broke the staid, conservative architectural trends of the 1800's and until his death in 1957 at the age of 91.
So, Leroy volunteered to do Rosalie duty while I took the 90 minute tour, took her to a park and even out for ice cream while I got my FLW fix. And then off to a Mexican restaurant for a margarita and fajitas.....a perfect day!
Link to Talesin website
So, Leroy volunteered to do Rosalie duty while I took the 90 minute tour, took her to a park and even out for ice cream while I got my FLW fix. And then off to a Mexican restaurant for a margarita and fajitas.....a perfect day!
Link to Talesin website
Day 24 - April 16 Last day in Tucson, best kick back
Basically a slow do little day.
I don't think that we have yet had a true "do nothing" day, so we'll just call it a "do little day", ride the bikes, read a bit, go swimming, clean out the waste water tanks loose a couple keys.
Oh, we were invited by one of the Roadschooling family, to an outdoor movie on the side of a trailer. The feature was Robin Williams starring in "RV". Many there could identify with several scenes in the movie....
Tucson pics: Picasa Tucson
I don't think that we have yet had a true "do nothing" day, so we'll just call it a "do little day", ride the bikes, read a bit, go swimming, clean out the waste water tanks loose a couple keys.
Oh, we were invited by one of the Roadschooling family, to an outdoor movie on the side of a trailer. The feature was Robin Williams starring in "RV". Many there could identify with several scenes in the movie....
Tucson pics: Picasa Tucson
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Day 23 - April 15 Biosphere 2
It turns out that Biosphere 2 is just outside of Tucson, about an hours drive from the camp ground, so we decided to go see what we could see on our last sight seeing day in Tucson.
Biosphere 2 was built in the late 80's and saw two expeditions that sealed researchers inside the facility. It was built to mimic earths environment, hence the name, and allow for controlled studies of the effects of changes within an environment.
The first expedition lasted the planned 2 years, the second just 6 months into a 10 month commitments. Seems the second ended due to a dispute between the owners and the management running the place as well as the expedition team members.
It cost in the neighborhood of 200 million to build, but is no longer serving it's original purpose of being a sealed environment. The University of Arizona has taken it over and does conduct their environmental experiments there, just not in a fully sealed environ.
Biosphere 2 was built in the late 80's and saw two expeditions that sealed researchers inside the facility. It was built to mimic earths environment, hence the name, and allow for controlled studies of the effects of changes within an environment.
The first expedition lasted the planned 2 years, the second just 6 months into a 10 month commitments. Seems the second ended due to a dispute between the owners and the management running the place as well as the expedition team members.
It cost in the neighborhood of 200 million to build, but is no longer serving it's original purpose of being a sealed environment. The University of Arizona has taken it over and does conduct their environmental experiments there, just not in a fully sealed environ.
 |
| Biosphere 2 tour entrance |
 |
| Future researcher checking it out |
Day 22 - April 14 A day at the house on wheels
I wish we could have called this a day of rest, but it was not.
Susan and Rosalie cleaned, put stuff away, and generally spruced up the inside of the house with wheels.
Leroy R and R'd a waste water valve that had been giving us trouble during this entire trip, refilled a propane tank, returned some things to camping world.
We have been having ant visitors for the past week or 2. Not a large infestation, just two or three at a time. We stumbled across their nest and quickly tried, sentenced, and executed the little suckers. A little old west justice for squatters, hopefully their relatives will not come calling soon.
Susan and Rosalie cleaned, put stuff away, and generally spruced up the inside of the house with wheels.
Leroy R and R'd a waste water valve that had been giving us trouble during this entire trip, refilled a propane tank, returned some things to camping world.
We have been having ant visitors for the past week or 2. Not a large infestation, just two or three at a time. We stumbled across their nest and quickly tried, sentenced, and executed the little suckers. A little old west justice for squatters, hopefully their relatives will not come calling soon.
Day 21 - April 13 A visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Today was another field trip day.
We headed off for a 9:15 am rendezvous with other conference attendees at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. This museum is just outside of Tucson adjacent to the western part of the Saguaro National Park. It's a mostly outdoor museum dedicated to the plants and animals of the surrounding desert. It's a very well done facility. Their flying birds of prey exhibition was very exciting. We could just about feel their feet drag across out heads as the owls and hawks flew over our heads.
About 5 hours later we come dragging out the exit and still we made it only about 1/3 through the exhibit.
We headed off for a 9:15 am rendezvous with other conference attendees at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. This museum is just outside of Tucson adjacent to the western part of the Saguaro National Park. It's a mostly outdoor museum dedicated to the plants and animals of the surrounding desert. It's a very well done facility. Their flying birds of prey exhibition was very exciting. We could just about feel their feet drag across out heads as the owls and hawks flew over our heads.
About 5 hours later we come dragging out the exit and still we made it only about 1/3 through the exhibit.
Day 20 - April 12 Worlds Best Roadschooling Convention Day 3, Tucson
Today the road schooling convention wrapped up.
Another day of interesting presentations, especially with Mac the fire guy. Today was a bit more on fire safety with emphasis on escaping the burning RV. Mac had arranged for Lazy Daze to provide us a coach that we could use for a live demonstration of how to crawl out an escape window. Both Susan and Leroy jumped at the chance to give it a try. Feet first out a window that had a comforter thrown over the top of the metal edging. Fortunately we had catchers on the outside to help us down. It was a worth while experience, it's just too bad not more of the participants choose to run the exercise. Five of us out of maybe 20 or so....
The day ended with a pizza party and dinner murder mystery put on by the volunteer attendees. This was well worth our time attending, kind of sorry to see it end, but a day or two of rest sounds good.
Another day of interesting presentations, especially with Mac the fire guy. Today was a bit more on fire safety with emphasis on escaping the burning RV. Mac had arranged for Lazy Daze to provide us a coach that we could use for a live demonstration of how to crawl out an escape window. Both Susan and Leroy jumped at the chance to give it a try. Feet first out a window that had a comforter thrown over the top of the metal edging. Fortunately we had catchers on the outside to help us down. It was a worth while experience, it's just too bad not more of the participants choose to run the exercise. Five of us out of maybe 20 or so....
The day ended with a pizza party and dinner murder mystery put on by the volunteer attendees. This was well worth our time attending, kind of sorry to see it end, but a day or two of rest sounds good.
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| Getting his butt out of there |
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Day 19 - April 11 Worlds Best Roadschooling Convention Day 2, Tucson
Day 2 of the Roadschooling convention started off early, 10 am. That's early for use. But, we did manage to make it. More talks today, geocaching for the kids, lap books and RV fire safety for the adults.
The organizers were able to get Mac the Fire guy in. If you are in the RV circle you may had heard of him. His line is that "you have 20 seconds to get out". These coaches and trailers are marvelous adventures, but they are death traps in the event of a fire. When you sit and think about it a bit, it does make a lot of sense. Mac's talk was well worth the conference even if there were nothing else. Tomorrow he will lead us through getting out of those sorry excuse for fire escape windows.
We picked up some travel packets as our way of getting the toe wet so to speak. One of the organizers ( The Road School Teacher) sells information packets about some of the major areas they have been to. Local info, sites to see, history, etc. Seeing as we are planning to get to San Fran, we bought one for there, one for Tucson and another. A way to pay back for all the effort to put this convention on.
The day was wrapped up with a Chili cook off, Leroy came in third thank you very much. ( 3rd of 5 :o) ). It was "Not Your Texas Chili chili". Probably should have called it Oklahoma chili. The pot was too small to call it a Texas crock pot, the chili had hamburger and beans, both a no no for Texas chili. Probably was not hot enough either. Hopefully the Texas citizen league will not find out and put me back on probation for not being a good Texas representative......
We ended the day with a bit of dancing to a local square dance band. The kids did most of the dancing, but the adults of the WeBeGone team did manage to get a couple waltzes in.
The organizers were able to get Mac the Fire guy in. If you are in the RV circle you may had heard of him. His line is that "you have 20 seconds to get out". These coaches and trailers are marvelous adventures, but they are death traps in the event of a fire. When you sit and think about it a bit, it does make a lot of sense. Mac's talk was well worth the conference even if there were nothing else. Tomorrow he will lead us through getting out of those sorry excuse for fire escape windows.
We picked up some travel packets as our way of getting the toe wet so to speak. One of the organizers ( The Road School Teacher) sells information packets about some of the major areas they have been to. Local info, sites to see, history, etc. Seeing as we are planning to get to San Fran, we bought one for there, one for Tucson and another. A way to pay back for all the effort to put this convention on.
The day was wrapped up with a Chili cook off, Leroy came in third thank you very much. ( 3rd of 5 :o) ). It was "Not Your Texas Chili chili". Probably should have called it Oklahoma chili. The pot was too small to call it a Texas crock pot, the chili had hamburger and beans, both a no no for Texas chili. Probably was not hot enough either. Hopefully the Texas citizen league will not find out and put me back on probation for not being a good Texas representative......
We ended the day with a bit of dancing to a local square dance band. The kids did most of the dancing, but the adults of the WeBeGone team did manage to get a couple waltzes in.
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| Great sun set |
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| ready for the party |
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| No pain, no fun |
Day 18 - April 10 Worlds Best Road Schooling Convention, day 1
Today was the first day of the Worlds Best Roadschooling Convention.
Susan has been kicking around the idea of home schooling little Rose as a means of prolonging our adventures. While poking around the internet for info we ran across the Full Time Families web site. It turns out they had scheduled a get together or convention in Tucson just about the same time we had planned to pass through town. So, we altered our time table a bit and signed up to see what we could learn. Nothing like going directly to the experts.
We signed up for a couple of field trips and headed over to the gumbo fest as mentioned in previous posts. Today kicked off the three day event. They are holding some talks on various subjects for the educators as well as having something for the students (kids). Today was crafts and an egg drop for Rosalie, and book exchange, rig driving round table discussion and home tours for the adults.
The day was topped off with a dessert pot luck followed by a key note speaker. I think everyone in the crew thought it was a great and interesting day.
Susan has been kicking around the idea of home schooling little Rose as a means of prolonging our adventures. While poking around the internet for info we ran across the Full Time Families web site. It turns out they had scheduled a get together or convention in Tucson just about the same time we had planned to pass through town. So, we altered our time table a bit and signed up to see what we could learn. Nothing like going directly to the experts.
We signed up for a couple of field trips and headed over to the gumbo fest as mentioned in previous posts. Today kicked off the three day event. They are holding some talks on various subjects for the educators as well as having something for the students (kids). Today was crafts and an egg drop for Rosalie, and book exchange, rig driving round table discussion and home tours for the adults.
The day was topped off with a dessert pot luck followed by a key note speaker. I think everyone in the crew thought it was a great and interesting day.
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| Rose's egg drop, in a yogurt container about half way down. It survived. |
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| The farm scene |
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| Pin the tail on who?? |
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Day 17 - April 9 Pima Air and Space Musuem
Today was another field trip day. This time to the Tucson Pima Air and Space Museum.
They are just a few miles from the RV park just off of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base one the edge of Tucson. They bill themselves as "one of the world's largest non-government funded aerospace museums."
With over 80 acres and 300 aircraft, who's to argue.
I suspect they have an advantage over most air museums as they are located across the road from the "309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG)", sometimes known as the "bone yard".
Due to the extremely low humidity this is where surplus aircraft are stored, out doors of course. Planes come here to wait until they are needed again, to be salvaged for parts, or to get shredded when no longer needed. Those aircraft represent a whole lot of our dollars sitting there wasting away. I guess they claim to earn a few million dollars in cost savings by recycling, but that of course does not count the initial cost of these planes. They even had a row of planes that went directly from the manufacturing floor to this facility. Talk about a waste.
The web site: Tucson Pima Air and Space Museum
They are just a few miles from the RV park just off of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base one the edge of Tucson. They bill themselves as "one of the world's largest non-government funded aerospace museums."
With over 80 acres and 300 aircraft, who's to argue.
I suspect they have an advantage over most air museums as they are located across the road from the "309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG)", sometimes known as the "bone yard".
Due to the extremely low humidity this is where surplus aircraft are stored, out doors of course. Planes come here to wait until they are needed again, to be salvaged for parts, or to get shredded when no longer needed. Those aircraft represent a whole lot of our dollars sitting there wasting away. I guess they claim to earn a few million dollars in cost savings by recycling, but that of course does not count the initial cost of these planes. They even had a row of planes that went directly from the manufacturing floor to this facility. Talk about a waste.
The web site: Tucson Pima Air and Space Museum
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| Pilot giving last minute direction |
Day 16 - April 8 Miniature Time Machine
Today's event was heading off to the Tucson Miniature Time Machine Museum. This is a museum loaded with miniatures. Think doll houses to the extreme. Some pretty amazing intricate and fine work on a small scale. This field trip was arranged by the good folks associated with the Road Schooling convention. Fortunately we had met most of the folks last night at the gumbo fest.
We joined two other couples and their kids for a late lunch at Chili's, then headed out for our weekly Wal-mart grocery shopping fix.
The Miniature Time Machine museum
We joined two other couples and their kids for a late lunch at Chili's, then headed out for our weekly Wal-mart grocery shopping fix.
The Miniature Time Machine museum
Day 15 - April 7 Saguaro National Park
Today saw a quick trip to Camping world. We had three coupons burning a hole in our pocket. Besides we needed another sewer hose. Seems the Arizona campsite builders like to put the sewer connections at the back end of the site. Took the full 25 ft to make it. But, we did get our $45 worth of coupons disposed of.
Then it was off to Saguaro National Park, the US home of those funny looking tall cactus with arms. A bit of driving, hiking, and book work and Rosalie pocketed Jr Ranger badge # 9. We were feeling pretty good about that until we met on road school mother who happened to mention one of her sons had 22. It is a great way to get the younger kids involved in what they are seeing. The work booklets are very similar in structure, the animals, tracks, nature settings are geared toward the park in question.
The Park web site: Saguaro National Park
We ended the long arduous day by joining the Full Time Family's group for a gumbo get together at one of the members site where we mingled, talked, enjoyed some gumbo, lost a bowl, and generally had a great time.
Then it was off to Saguaro National Park, the US home of those funny looking tall cactus with arms. A bit of driving, hiking, and book work and Rosalie pocketed Jr Ranger badge # 9. We were feeling pretty good about that until we met on road school mother who happened to mention one of her sons had 22. It is a great way to get the younger kids involved in what they are seeing. The work booklets are very similar in structure, the animals, tracks, nature settings are geared toward the park in question.
The Park web site: Saguaro National Park
We ended the long arduous day by joining the Full Time Family's group for a gumbo get together at one of the members site where we mingled, talked, enjoyed some gumbo, lost a bowl, and generally had a great time.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Day 14 - April 6 Tucson bound
Today we headed off and of course arrived in Tucson for the Worlds Best Roadschooling Convention.
Tucson was just a hop skip and a couple jumps from Tombstone. One of our shorter drive days, nice...
We stumbled across the convention when we were looking into the possibility of home schooling Rosalie at least through pre-school and perhaps kindergarten. Neither of the adults have much of a clue as to how this was done so we thought we would drop in on the experts and see what it's all about. So far we have three outings scheduled with the group in addition to the three days of the convention. We are looking forward to hopefully learning a few things.
Tomorrow we think we will head off to Camping world for some more sewer hose and a couple of other things (yippee) then off to Saguaro National park to see if we can see some cactus and earn another Jr Ranger badge....
Tucson was just a hop skip and a couple jumps from Tombstone. One of our shorter drive days, nice...
We stumbled across the convention when we were looking into the possibility of home schooling Rosalie at least through pre-school and perhaps kindergarten. Neither of the adults have much of a clue as to how this was done so we thought we would drop in on the experts and see what it's all about. So far we have three outings scheduled with the group in addition to the three days of the convention. We are looking forward to hopefully learning a few things.
Tomorrow we think we will head off to Camping world for some more sewer hose and a couple of other things (yippee) then off to Saguaro National park to see if we can see some cactus and earn another Jr Ranger badge....
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| Rose has arrived... |
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Day 13 - April 5 Tombstone, revisited
Our last day in Tombstone before we head out to Tucson.
Today we:
- Visited the Worlds Largest Rose Tree, really a tree more than a bush. It was planted in the spring of 1885.
- Rode the Trolley to Boot Hill where we took in the local sites, the graves marked with the notables as well as the unknowns.
- Took in a comedy gun fight where the bad guy almost won, but alas the good guy did right in the end.
- Had late lunch at the Longhorn Saloon. Late lunch's are starting to become a habit....
- Back to the trailer to play sword fights, dolls, and video games..
Some of the pictures of Tuscon: WebPicasa Tombstone Az. Pics
Today we:
- Visited the Worlds Largest Rose Tree, really a tree more than a bush. It was planted in the spring of 1885.
- Rode the Trolley to Boot Hill where we took in the local sites, the graves marked with the notables as well as the unknowns.
- Took in a comedy gun fight where the bad guy almost won, but alas the good guy did right in the end.
- Had late lunch at the Longhorn Saloon. Late lunch's are starting to become a habit....
- Back to the trailer to play sword fights, dolls, and video games..
Some of the pictures of Tuscon: WebPicasa Tombstone Az. Pics
Day 12 - April 4, Tombstone, gunfights, museums,
Today was a walk around historic Tombstone.
First stop was a gun fight at the OK Corral, or rather near by the Corral in an alley off of Fremont street. Seems the rumor that the fight took place in a corral was another of Hollywood's made up stories. Seemed to sound better than the gun fight off Fremont Street.
Then we boarded the local stage coach for a trip about the town. Took about 30 mins to see the major sites, buildings, houses that still remain. Tombstone has a pretty stories past, only a portion of which we see/hear about on the tours.
Another late lunch at Big Nose Kate's.
First stop was a gun fight at the OK Corral, or rather near by the Corral in an alley off of Fremont street. Seems the rumor that the fight took place in a corral was another of Hollywood's made up stories. Seemed to sound better than the gun fight off Fremont Street.
Then we boarded the local stage coach for a trip about the town. Took about 30 mins to see the major sites, buildings, houses that still remain. Tombstone has a pretty stories past, only a portion of which we see/hear about on the tours.
Another late lunch at Big Nose Kate's.
Day 11 - April 3 Arrive in Tombstone, Az
Today was a short drive day. Just 136 miles from Lordsburg to Tombstone, AZ. No wind or dust today, thank goodness.
After getting checked into the park we took a walk around the main tourist part of town, took in dinner at the Crystal Palace and back to the house for the night.
After getting checked into the park we took a walk around the main tourist part of town, took in dinner at the Crystal Palace and back to the house for the night.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Day 10 - April 2 Travel Day, time to gather up some dust
Today was a travel day. Heading from Alamogordo toward Tombstone, Az.
We spent most of the day fighting a very sandy head wind across southern New Mexico. There were a few spots with limited visibility but fortunately nothing dangerous. We will need to do some serious dusting of the truck, trailer, and each other if/when we get out of sand country....
Stopped for the day in Lordsburg, NM. We should make Tombstone in about 2-3 hours tomorrow.
Rosalie and Gigi topped off the day with a bit of technical experimentation by firing up and connecting with a Skype video chat.
We spent most of the day fighting a very sandy head wind across southern New Mexico. There were a few spots with limited visibility but fortunately nothing dangerous. We will need to do some serious dusting of the truck, trailer, and each other if/when we get out of sand country....
Stopped for the day in Lordsburg, NM. We should make Tombstone in about 2-3 hours tomorrow.
Rosalie and Gigi topped off the day with a bit of technical experimentation by firing up and connecting with a Skype video chat.
Day 9 - April 1 We were not fooled, and we like pistatios
Today's big adventure was a trip to the world famous Eagle Ranch Heart of the Desert Pistachio farm just down the road from the Edgeington RV park outside of Alamogordo.
We spent about 3 hours learning all about Pistachios, how they grow, are harvested and packaged. We sampled their Pistachio wine (didn't care for it) as well as the Pistachio gelato which Rosalie really, really liked.
Some Alamogordo pics: Picasa Alamogordo:
We spent about 3 hours learning all about Pistachios, how they grow, are harvested and packaged. We sampled their Pistachio wine (didn't care for it) as well as the Pistachio gelato which Rosalie really, really liked.
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| Rosalie and Peppy Pistachio |
Some Alamogordo pics: Picasa Alamogordo:
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Day 8 - Mar 31 White Sands National Monument, Junior ranger badge 8
Seemed like it was going to be a good day today to get out and explore the White Sands dunes, turned out it was.
We headed out to the park fairly early by our standards. Stopped off at the visitors center to pick up the Junior Ranger packet and the obligatory sand sled and headed for the dunes.
The dunes here are primarily made up of gypsum and are a sugary white. They would make any ocean beach blush with shame. The gypsum from the surrounding mountains dissolves in the rain runoff which makes its way to the two lakes that comprise the runoff basin. There is no outlet for the water so it collects in the two lakes. Then the summer comes along and evaporates the average of 10" they get a year. The resulting minerals that remain are what eventually make up the dunes of White sands. The relentless wind pulverizes the fragile mineral until it becomes the sugary sand dunes we slide down today.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that we did not have to walk the 3/4 mile of so to the dunes as we had at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. In this park they had plowed a road out through a section of the dunes where we found covered picnic tables set up about 50' from a usable dune. I suppose they will need to move the tables in a year or so, else they will get covered.
The dunes here are not near as high as those at the Great Sand Dunes, which I suppose is why it's called the "Great" sand dunes. But adequate for a four year old. Unfortunately the sleds are plastic and not really designed for adults. Both of us big people tried of course but we seemed to slide down slower than walking up, the plastic deformed and we just did not move much,
We had to call it a fairly early day as the wind started kicking up and none of us were interested in seeing the inner workings of a sand storm, no matter how tame it was.
Back to the park station to complete the Junior Ranger requirements. Rosalie was sworn in and received her 8th ranger badge.
A late dinner at a local Mexican restaurant rounded out another great day on the road.
We headed out to the park fairly early by our standards. Stopped off at the visitors center to pick up the Junior Ranger packet and the obligatory sand sled and headed for the dunes.
The dunes here are primarily made up of gypsum and are a sugary white. They would make any ocean beach blush with shame. The gypsum from the surrounding mountains dissolves in the rain runoff which makes its way to the two lakes that comprise the runoff basin. There is no outlet for the water so it collects in the two lakes. Then the summer comes along and evaporates the average of 10" they get a year. The resulting minerals that remain are what eventually make up the dunes of White sands. The relentless wind pulverizes the fragile mineral until it becomes the sugary sand dunes we slide down today.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that we did not have to walk the 3/4 mile of so to the dunes as we had at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. In this park they had plowed a road out through a section of the dunes where we found covered picnic tables set up about 50' from a usable dune. I suppose they will need to move the tables in a year or so, else they will get covered.
The dunes here are not near as high as those at the Great Sand Dunes, which I suppose is why it's called the "Great" sand dunes. But adequate for a four year old. Unfortunately the sleds are plastic and not really designed for adults. Both of us big people tried of course but we seemed to slide down slower than walking up, the plastic deformed and we just did not move much,
We had to call it a fairly early day as the wind started kicking up and none of us were interested in seeing the inner workings of a sand storm, no matter how tame it was.
Back to the park station to complete the Junior Ranger requirements. Rosalie was sworn in and received her 8th ranger badge.
A late dinner at a local Mexican restaurant rounded out another great day on the road.
Day 7 - Mar 30 New Mexico Space Museum and time around the house
It was a split up day.
Leroy went to the local space museum located on the mountain side overlooking Alamogordo. It is not the largest museum around but was interesting none the less. White Sands, just out side of Alamogordo, has a rich history connected with our rocket development history. The first A bomb of course was set off 70 miles to the north, rocket motors and systems were tested here, safety restraints developed for the astronauts that resulted in automobile seat belts were tested here. This part of the Chihuahua desert has been busy over they years. They still do testing out here, closing the park and a near by US highway a couple days a week for up to two hours.
The ladies of the house stayed at the park and played dolls, did the laundry (thanks girls..), explored the RV park, did a bit of schooling, and had a bit of one on one time together.
Dinner of hot dogs and mac and cheese rounded out the day....
Leroy went to the local space museum located on the mountain side overlooking Alamogordo. It is not the largest museum around but was interesting none the less. White Sands, just out side of Alamogordo, has a rich history connected with our rocket development history. The first A bomb of course was set off 70 miles to the north, rocket motors and systems were tested here, safety restraints developed for the astronauts that resulted in automobile seat belts were tested here. This part of the Chihuahua desert has been busy over they years. They still do testing out here, closing the park and a near by US highway a couple days a week for up to two hours.
The ladies of the house stayed at the park and played dolls, did the laundry (thanks girls..), explored the RV park, did a bit of schooling, and had a bit of one on one time together.
Dinner of hot dogs and mac and cheese rounded out the day....
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Rosalie's Traveling Buddies
Rosalie wanted to share with you some of her traveling buddies.
Bluie, Bluie, Orange1, Orange2, brownie1, brownie2, white1, white2
And some of her other buddies ....
Bluie, Bluie, Orange1, Orange2, brownie1, brownie2, white1, white2
And some of her other buddies ....
Day 6 - Mar 29 Roswell and on to Alamogordo, Nm
A travel day.
We were off to Alamogordo to see the White Sands monument as well as tour a pistachio farm. We had two routes to take. A short route through a pass that had a snow fall last night and a very steep grade going down the mountain or a longer easier route that passes through Alien country, Roswell.
We opted for Roswell where we toured the International UFO Museum Web Site to learn all about the events that started the public UFO craze. It was an interesting visit, though was a bit rushed. Something about trying to keep a 4 year old entertained.
On the way out of town we stopped for a family picture. I don't "think" the visit had any effect on us....
We arrived just outside of Alamogordo about 5 or so. Staying at the Edgeington RV park.
We were off to Alamogordo to see the White Sands monument as well as tour a pistachio farm. We had two routes to take. A short route through a pass that had a snow fall last night and a very steep grade going down the mountain or a longer easier route that passes through Alien country, Roswell.
We opted for Roswell where we toured the International UFO Museum Web Site to learn all about the events that started the public UFO craze. It was an interesting visit, though was a bit rushed. Something about trying to keep a 4 year old entertained.
On the way out of town we stopped for a family picture. I don't "think" the visit had any effect on us....
We arrived just outside of Alamogordo about 5 or so. Staying at the Edgeington RV park.
Day 5 - Mar 28 Carlsbad Caverns
Once again we are off to see a cave. Today we drove down to the Caverns. The visitors centers sits on top of the bluff making up the edge of the Guadalupe mountain range. The main cave is at about the same elevation as the local valley floor.
We took the self guided tour first, stopped for lunch, then took one of the ranger guided tours. The formations did not have much of a color variation but they were very impressive anyway.
The ranger told us the history of the cave, the effort that went into exploring it, as well as the effort to get other folks to come visit. In an effort to promote the cave they help meetings, weddings, rally', etc in one of the main cave rooms.
Part of the tour was to turn off all the lights for about 5 mins. Total darkness is something we seldom can experience but, we all did fine with it.
The bats are not back yet so we were not able to see them. They have a colony of about 4 to 5 hundred thousand. Not as many as we see at the Austin river bridge, but then again there are literally a few more tons of insects for them to eat in Texas.
Carlsbad Caverens web site.
Some of our pictures: Carlsbad Pics.
We took the self guided tour first, stopped for lunch, then took one of the ranger guided tours. The formations did not have much of a color variation but they were very impressive anyway.
The ranger told us the history of the cave, the effort that went into exploring it, as well as the effort to get other folks to come visit. In an effort to promote the cave they help meetings, weddings, rally', etc in one of the main cave rooms.
Part of the tour was to turn off all the lights for about 5 mins. Total darkness is something we seldom can experience but, we all did fine with it.
The bats are not back yet so we were not able to see them. They have a colony of about 4 to 5 hundred thousand. Not as many as we see at the Austin river bridge, but then again there are literally a few more tons of insects for them to eat in Texas.
Carlsbad Caverens web site.
Some of our pictures: Carlsbad Pics.
Day 4 - Mar 27 Guadalupe National Park
Today we headed off to Guadalupe National Park. This park is set on the Texas/New Mexico boarder about 110 miles or so from El Paso and about 55 miles south of Carlsbad.
As has become our custom Rosalie earned another Junior Ranger badge. As part of that we took a short stroll down to the local stage coach stop. The stage ran through here for 11 months until a safer route was developed. 25 days from St Louis to San Francisco, averaging 120 miles a day. Them was some hardy folks back then....
The park is spread out over a large area with a few entrances quite a distance apart. Unfortunately we did not make it to the other park areas.
Guadalupe National Park
As has become our custom Rosalie earned another Junior Ranger badge. As part of that we took a short stroll down to the local stage coach stop. The stage ran through here for 11 months until a safer route was developed. 25 days from St Louis to San Francisco, averaging 120 miles a day. Them was some hardy folks back then....
The park is spread out over a large area with a few entrances quite a distance apart. Unfortunately we did not make it to the other park areas.
Guadalupe National Park
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Day 3 - Mar 26 - Living Desert, dinner, shopping
Today's highlight was a visit to the Living Desert State park just outside of Carlsbad. We spent a few hours there walking and seeing the desert plant and wildlife exhibits. It's a nicely put together facility on the bluffs overlooking the city. The local rattle snake even shook his tail for us. I fear we shall discover that we neglected to keep our walking muscles toned during our time back in Texas.....
One of the hard things about rolling into a new town is finding a nice place to go out to eat. Every city of any size and even some that are not have the usual fast food burger and sandwich shops. The Urban spoon mobile app helps but we are usually in the hunt before we think of using it. At times we almost give up and hit the national chains even though we would rather not.
But we do have our far share of luck as well. Tonight we stopped at the Yellow Brix just because they had a nice looking patio. Rose had a craving for a burger ( we almost stopped to take her temperature but realized she was not sick, we had only half starved her... :o) )
At first we thought it was a run of the mill sandwich shop, then realized it may have been a bit too upscale, but we finally found they were serving the lunch menu so ended up with the best chicken tortilla soup ever ( even though it was a bit spicier than we are used to) and a great Mexican hamburger. Yes, Rose attacked hers with a vengeance.
Seems the cave tours were full up for Thursday but we did get res's for Friday. So, tomorrow is Guadalupe National Park day. Perhaps another junior ranger badge for the young one. Oh, yes they now have a senior ranger program.....
A few pictures: Picasa Web
One of the hard things about rolling into a new town is finding a nice place to go out to eat. Every city of any size and even some that are not have the usual fast food burger and sandwich shops. The Urban spoon mobile app helps but we are usually in the hunt before we think of using it. At times we almost give up and hit the national chains even though we would rather not.
But we do have our far share of luck as well. Tonight we stopped at the Yellow Brix just because they had a nice looking patio. Rose had a craving for a burger ( we almost stopped to take her temperature but realized she was not sick, we had only half starved her... :o) )
At first we thought it was a run of the mill sandwich shop, then realized it may have been a bit too upscale, but we finally found they were serving the lunch menu so ended up with the best chicken tortilla soup ever ( even though it was a bit spicier than we are used to) and a great Mexican hamburger. Yes, Rose attacked hers with a vengeance.
Seems the cave tours were full up for Thursday but we did get res's for Friday. So, tomorrow is Guadalupe National Park day. Perhaps another junior ranger badge for the young one. Oh, yes they now have a senior ranger program.....
A few pictures: Picasa Web
Day 2 - Mar 25 - Arrive in Carlsbad, Nm.
Again we were struck by the numbers of electricity producing wind towers in west Texas. It would be interesting to compare the numbers in Texas with those in Iowa/Minn. These in Tx we had seem before and expected but Iowa/Minn. That was unexpected.
We left Sweetwater about 11:00 or so and rolled into the Carlsbad KOA about 6 or so. The park is about 15 miles north of Carlsbad out in the middle of no where, literally. Not too far from a state park lake but 15 miles from the nearest town.
We got settled and had a delicious dinner served up by the master chef of the team. She truly does do a great job of keeping the team fed.
We will head to the Living Desert State park tomorrow, just outside of Carlsbad, then into town for dinner and a bit of shopping. We are planning to go to the Caverns either Thursday or Friday depending on tour availability.
We left Sweetwater about 11:00 or so and rolled into the Carlsbad KOA about 6 or so. The park is about 15 miles north of Carlsbad out in the middle of no where, literally. Not too far from a state park lake but 15 miles from the nearest town.
We got settled and had a delicious dinner served up by the master chef of the team. She truly does do a great job of keeping the team fed.
We will head to the Living Desert State park tomorrow, just outside of Carlsbad, then into town for dinner and a bit of shopping. We are planning to go to the Caverns either Thursday or Friday depending on tour availability.
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