Rendezvous

In Quartzite we are amazed at the continuous parade of campers, travel trailers, RVs and coaches. They are everywhere, on the roads and highways, in the parks, and temporary campgrounds, vacant lots, and BLM permit areas. The small town atmosphere of Quartzite remains despite overcrowding on two lane blacktop roads. It's Fiesta on wheels and most everyone is smiling and happy. The RV show in the big tent opened on Sunday the 17th and will run till the next Sunday. Some of the vendors stay through the next week for the Car show and longer for the Rock and Gem show after that.

In addition to the big tent, the adjacent Tyson Wells market area hosts rows of vendors and booths. More line the streets in and around Quartzite. All for just a few months in the winter, by the end of March most will pack up and move on. The weather is good this week until Thursday evening. Storms have moved on through California and cross into Arizona. High winds and torrential rain batter the vendors and campers alike. 70 mph gusts damage those vendors who weren't prepared. Even some who tried to tie down their exposed booths were blown down. The main tent, (at least 160x500) had some water leaks and flooded the center isle. As the wind increased on Thursday afternoon the management asked that the main tent be evacuated. It rained hard that night. The Locals on Friday morning remarked how strong the storm was and most of the annual rainfall was met already in January. Linda and I make plans to move to the BLM area north of town.

The Bureau of Land Management overseas millions of acres of public lands with unlimited recreational opportunities. These wilderness areas, scenic rivers and high deserts have been set aside to conserve and protect their resources for public use and enjoyment. And the areas in southern Arizona are especially enjoyed in the winter. Every year in January, February, and March a gathering of snowbirds, vacationers, and retirees fill Quartzite and spill out to the surrounding desert,

here for the warm weather, shows, camping and camaraderie.

In about a week our friends from Tucson and their friends from California have to leave. We'll see the Dettmann's in about a month when we go back to Tucson. Linda and I move out to the Plomosa road BLM area and camp with the Escapees Boondocker group. Our first experience on BLM land, and its great. Thousands of acres of high desert and mountains. Dry air, clean prairies and mesas, warm days and cool nights. We reacquaint ourselves with others we met in the past who were also Escapees members. Each evening there is happy hour at the campfire ring and an occasional pot luck dinner. At 7am (dawn) they burn cowboy coffee. A loose description of boiling water and coffee grounds in a one gallon pot over an open fire.

We're learning to conserve and "dry" camp longer. These hard core boondockers go for weeks self contained with no hookups. Some haul water in tanks or bladders to replenish fresh water supplies, and most have "pony" bottles of propane for heat and cooking when the main tank runs low. Solar panels or wind power supplement generators for electric. There are no hookups on most BLM lands. A honeydew truck from town makes daily rounds to pump out sewage when necessary. There are 60 to 80 "rigs" in our boondocker group and thousands of rigs in the surrounding BLM lands. Our interest in solar power is growing, and I'm trying to learn more about it. Lots of solar vendors in this area and a few names are starting to be repeated.

Solar Bill, Handy Bob, and Solar Mike are recommended more and more. Checking blogs and websites will bring us to southern California, but that's another story. More later....Skip and Linda.

West to Quartzite

Leaving early this year put us in the middle of some unseasonal arctic fronts. Record low temperatures in central Texas to New Mexico has the furnace on all day. In Goliad,Tx, in the 20s every night, and highs around 50 has us looking for warmer days weather. Still going west to southern Arizona, especially with south Florida cooler than here.

On Saturday we say goodbye to Don and Jill, go north to San Antonio and pick up I-10. We'll look forward to meeting them later in the spring when they come west. Trying to drive away from the cold we average two hundred and fifty miles a day for the next four days. That's allot for us poking along at 55-60 mph. Linda and I take turns driving till we're ready for a break, then change places.

The road is great, yes I'm talking about I-10. Very little traffic, in general smooth highway with little construction. The cold, cloudy days turn to clearer skies and warmer temperatures. Stops in Fort Stockton, 26 degrees, El Paso 33, and we cross a continental divide near Lordsburg, New Mexico with a high of 59.

The landscape has changed dramatically. West Texas hill country gave way to high desert scrub trees and thin soil. Prickly Pear Cactus and Yucca plants with five foot bloom spikes decorate the New Mexico/Arizona roadways. As we continue west foothills and low mountain ranges appear on the horizon. Tuesday we pull into Tucson, Az, it's 71 degrees! We meet with Jerry Dettmann and his wife Jeri at their home and will leave after a few days rest, for Quatzite with them.

Jerry and Jeri live out of town at the edge of Tucson Mountain Park. This exclusive development is set among Saguaro cactus and Palo Verde trees (Arizona state tree). A vacant lot next to their house provides an ideal place to stay the next four days. The natural landscape in the mountains in beautiful. Southwest architecture, custom homes, and a professional developer have created a neighborhood without power lines, telephone poles or other unsightly infra-structure. This also supports Kitt Peak Observatory about an hour away. The normal glow of the community is kept to a minimum without streetlights. In the evening we hear coyotes in the hills and the stars are glorious. In the morning, the view of the mountains with coffee is great. The temperature in the 40s at night, warming to the low 70s in the day.

Friday evening we are welcomed to a neighborhood gathering of the Tucson Hellions, hosted by Patty and Sam. A diverse group of professional retiree's, artist's, desert rats and rock hounds. Linda is treated to homemade Margaritas (several).....and a great time was had by all. Sunday was time to leave for Quartzite, Arizona a crossroads community near southern California. Most of the year only three to four thousand people live there. But, in January over a hundred thousand RVs rendezvous. An annual RV, rock, gem, and craft show, that goes on for days. We follow Jerry and Jeri from Tucson to Quartzite where we'll meet some of their friends from California.

Goodbye for now....Skip and Linda

Happy New Year to all and have a great new year. We are on the road again! Left home base Fort Myers on New Year's eve, mid-afternoon and went right back to the house with a low tire. One of the tire valves stuck when checking air pressure earlier in the day and slowly let a rear tire go soft. Clearing the valve and inflating the tire got us back on the road an hour later. What a beginning.

"Almost" finished preparations for the road . Maintenance and upgrades are mostly complete, just a few small details left(gulp). Have a clean bill of health from our doctors and Linda is finished with cataract surgery in both eyes. The holidays were great with family and friends, but we want to see southern Arizona in January and February.

First stop, "Mossy Cove Fish Camp" near Lake Placid. Linda's sister Loretta and husband Kyle came to the Lake two weeks early this year. They missed the blizzard that went through two days after they left Virginia. We only stay two nights, we're anxious to continue to Arizona. Next afternoon were in Silver Springs Shores to see John and Kris and drop off two TVs that came out of the coach. We've updated to flat screen LCD's, John can use one and will donate the other locally. It's cooling down with an Arctic front coming through and we're heading North to I-10.

A stop for the night on I-10 near Live Oak at Wal-Mart and the temperature dropped to 28! We continue on I-10 and another cold night near Biloxi, Ms. 30 degrees. Further west at Lake Charles, La. under the bridge on Monday it was 29! Finally, the warmest day in a week since leaving Florida was in Houston for lunch at 56 degrees. Last night we caught up with Don and Jill in Goliad, Texas. Thank God they came south from Austin. It was the warmest night in a week, it only went down to 45.

Goliad is one of the oldest Spanish colonial municipalities in Texas even before there was a Texas. Goliad was established in 1749, is the birthplace of Texas ranching, and a "hanging tree" still stands on the north lawn of the county courthouse. Don, Jill, Linda, and I spent an afternoon in historic part of Goliad and at the State Park where the Mission Espirito Santo, built in 1722, is open to the public. History comes alive on the mission grounds and in the church museum, about a developing Republic, soon a state, and a way of life.

On the road again....Skip and Linda

September-October

A swim in the Colorado was cold. Air temp 105, water temp 53. We were numb. the water was great. One of the cleanest rivers in the country and a nice beach at Davis campground, once a work camp during the dam construction, now a county park. we're about 2 miles north of Laughlin, Nv. just south of Davis Dam. The days are hot, with low humidity, you don,t feel the heat unless your in the sun or working. We join our neighbors for a visit under their umbrella each morning and its beautiful, looking over the river. We stay in Laughlin almost a week just relaxing, and waiting for a power window regulator for the Jeep. when repairs are complete, its time to say goodbye to our neighbors and move on toward Albuquerque. A stop in Lake Havasu City, high 80's at night, 110 days, no shade. After one day and a view of London Bridge we drive away from the heat and in three hours were in Flagstaff, Arizona. 56 degrees at night, mid 70's days

A quite night at Sams Club and an hour drive east brings us to Walnut Canyon, in the Coconino National Forest. This prehistoric pueblo is part or the National Park System, and has sacred ties to the Hopi of northern Arizona and various pueblo people of New Mexico. Sinagua, Spanish for the people "without water", these remains are an archaeological treasure from 1150 AD. Their potery and weaving traditions are still practiced today. The dwellings were sheltered by overhanging cliffs, and the pit houses were home to the canyons only inhabitants over 800 years ago. A beautiful morning, 60 degrees, Linda and I walk into the 600 foot deep canyon along the limestone walls that form the remains of their cliff dwellings. The sinagua lifestyle included hunting in the pine forest, dry farming corn and gathering use full plants. Why these people left remains unclear, by 1250ad they moved on and is generally believed they were assimilated into Hopi culture. Sinagua homes remained undisturbed until the 19th century. In the 1880's the railroad brought souvenir hunters to the ancient dwellings. Theft and destruction drew support to preserve the canyon. In 1915 Walnut Canyon was declared a national monument. After a great morning we'll leave the forest area of Arizona and drive into the Painted Desert.

South of I-40 on the edge of the Painted Desert is a meteor crater site, this giant bowl shaped cavity is the result of the collision of a 150 foot meteorite with the desert floor. In a blinding flash, at 26,000 mph, the impact through out over 175 million tons of limestone and sandstone. The meteor disintegrated on impact and fragments of iron-nickel and rock were thrown as far as several miles away. A continuous blanket of debris surrounds the crater site. Flat-lying beds of rock in the crater walls were overturned in fractions of a second and uplifted permanently as much as 150 feet to form the crater rim.The visitor center and rim walks tell the story of discovery and development of the site, and questions in the geologic community it raised. An attraction not to be missed, over 4000 feet across, 2 1/2 miles around, and 700 feet deep. An interesting afternoon at the museum, theater, and restaurant. Our evening was spent in Winslow Az. at the supercenter resort, just off I-40, on our way east.

Even before we're at the Painted Desert visitors center, the colors of the wilderness are coming alive. An orientation film tells us of the exhibits, geology, and paleontology. After lunch in the parking lot we start on the 28 mile park road, each overlook shows unlimited views of varied colors. Different vistas of color from iron, manganese, carbon, and other minerals glow throughout the badlands and wilderness. Petroglyphs etched in stone tell their own stories of life in a pueblo that may have once housed nearly 1200 people. Erosion of some bluffs has left hundreds of once encased petrified logs strewn across the valley below. The trees of the petrified forest lived over 225 million years ago, they are a history of climate and geology told in stone. Along the swollen stream banks of a prehistoric forest, tall cone bearing trees washed out into a nearby floodplain. Covered with volcanic ash, silt, and mud they didn't decay as we know, but slowly over milliems silca laden water replaced the original wood and resins and crystallized into quartz. Millions of years later they are now uncovered with the uplifting of the region and the movement of the continents.This dry grassland of the national park was once that floodplane! Wind and rain and erosion has exposed these huge trees that once laid in a pool of water and mud, sealed off from oxygen. Petrified Forrest National Park is experience to remember. We'll drive east to Gallup, New Mexico, so much more to see in Arizona, maybe next year.

Signs of the past are seen all over Gallup. Native American heritage, Hispanic culture, railroad yards, pawn shops, and vibrant colored high desert mesas, form the essence of the area. We spent one night in Wal-mart parking lot, but it was to noisy. There was about 25 R/Vs in the lot, from a Prevost with a Smart Car that looked like a roller skate behind it, to pick-up's with bedrolls and people sleeping in cars. Moved over to Home Depot the next night, and was much quieter. There was some panhandling in the parking lots and locals selling their goods on street corners and in local restaurants. We scoured the pawn shops to replace a broken watchband, the shops are loaded with beautiful "old pawn" silver and turquoise. Found a used band with Navajo inlay that was fair priced.

On our way to Albuquerque we visit the Acoma Pueblo and Sky City, an ancient native American settlement on top of a 367 foot sandstone mesa. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America. Amazing, they carried drinking water, food, firewood up to the top. No plumbing, no electric even today. Now though they have a road to the top for light vehicles.

Balloon Fiesta is a spectacular event that attracts 500-700 balloonist and 250,000 people to Albuquerque every October. Were excited this year to be joined by my sister Linda and her husband Ed from Hollywood, Fla. They'll fly out Friday night and will be with us the first 5 days of fiesta, 3 days in the RV with us before they retreat to a motel for the last 2 nights. We spend a few days in a campground for housekeeping chores before 10 days of "dry" camping during fiesta. We had a great time even though some mornings were canceled for weather. On Sunday we took a side trip to Santa Fe for dinner with a childhood neighbor from Hollywood. Bev and husband Fred Friedman took us to Gabriel's, a wonderful restaurant enjoyed by all, with food of the southwest and old mexico. All 6 of us had a great time while Linda, Bev and I tried to catch up 45+ years. Balloon fiesta is going by fast, we're sorry to say goodbye to Linda and Ed on Wednesday, I hope to see them in North Carolina in the way back to Florida. We spent the last part of Fiesta helping Jim and Nancy Lynch from Ocala, with their balloon. It was our pleasure to have met them last year when we were assigned to "crew" for them. Jim is a true professional pilot with 20+ years experience in balloons and always safety first.

Out of Town and Broke Down

Are you really out of town when your living in your motor home? Home is where we park it. But we are in Leadville 33 miles from Avon(west Vail) where the RV is parked. I can't just drive into my own garage and replace the broken fan assembly that punched a hole in the radiator. We are 33 miles of mountain driving, that takes an hour under the best conditions, away from our motor home. First we find a place to leave the jeep, then find transportation back to the RV.

No parts within 3 days, no rental cars, no car dealers, one garage, price was out of line and won't be ready for days. We find a shuttle service that brings in skiers and hunters, they'll take us back to the RV in Avon later that afternoon($90). We get home late and start weighing our options. Having it repaired where it is? Find parts, pick them up, come back and make the repairs myself? We decide to take the RV up these mountain roads, hook up and tow the Jeep out to a location with parts. We make our way up the two lane blacktop into Leadville, altitude 10,200 feet. It's another beautiful day in the Rockies, were in by noon, hook-up and come out to Rifle, Colorado that afternoon. A little too "small town" for parts. A nice visitor center ( on I-70 west)with a rest area is home tonight.

The next morning I find the RV is low on coolant! "When it rains it pours" but this time it's raining coolant. No RV leaks when we hooked up the Jeep in Leadville, but I had to add coolant to the coach in Rifle. Our next town on I-70 west is Grand Junction, Colorado, a beautiful community spread out on the valley floor.The NAPA store has everything we need. Thanks to Chester and Auston they'll let me do the repairs behind the warehouse. It was in the low 40's yesterday morning in Avon, it's 95 this afternoon on this high mesa valley in Grand Junction, and warm in the parking lot. Retrieving the Jeep and making repairs held us up, but we still traveled west and are ahead of schedule. Now I start checking out the motor home leak. It looks like we picked up a stone nick in the radiator on the RV. Stop leak will have to hold it for the time being, we have eight days to join our friends in Las Vegas and we're still five or six hundred miles away. Three easy days travel, first night at Wal-mart in Richfield, Utah, a pretty town on I-70, central Utah, top off the reservoir, no sign of leaks. The next night at a casino campground in Mesquete, Nevada, temp 101, coolant is full. We have turned south on I-15 and have short run into Las Vegas on the third day. Coolant in the coach was still full that afternoon, we'll check into a campground, temp 108. John and Kris will be in on Thursday, Betsy arrives on Saturday, the next two weeks will be busy.

John and Kris surprised us with tickets for the Terry Fator show at the Mirage. A great show, you can see why his talent won the "Americas Got Talent" reality program. Somehow the productions in Las Vegas are even more special. On Saturday night all five of us went to the Bellagio for Cirque du Soleil show "O". This surreal aquatic romance is preformed in, on and above the water by scores of acrobats, synchronised swimmers, and show people . The stage, pool, and areal props, with lighting and orchestra make this fabulous, still the best show in Vegas. John and Kris had to leave Monday night, but we were out again on Tuesday night to see Bette Midler with Betsy. The Grammy winning Divine Miss M. was in rare form. Always one to "tell it like it is" even if it meant poking fun at herself. She was at the coliseum in Cesars, one of the best "rooms" in town. A variety song and dance show with a high kicking, skimpy costume corus line. Good comedy and music. Another great production.

The last two weeks went by fast. The shows were great, the gambling was awful. It was good to see our friends again. We all had a good time but you can see the effects of the economy. Penny machines and low limit card games are the most popular. At the end of the day, only our money stayed in Vegas. The good news, no signs of any more leaks in the coach. A two hour side trip to Laughlin, Nevada was smooth, coolant was full. Laughlin is on the Colorado at the very bottom of Nevada. Arizona is 200 feet away, across the river. A few days rest here and a swim in the river will be great. From here we'll start thinking about the trip back to Florida. We'll make our way down to I- 40 and head east toward Albuquerque for the balloon fiesta in October. More then ......Skip and Linda

I-70 WEST

Wandering down country roads along the New England coast has been fun, but its time to start thinking about meeting friends in Las Vegas(also fun). Twenty eight hundred fifty miles miles to see friends, some shows, and play cards. No hurry, we'll get on the road early and stop by early. An unseasonably cool summer even into August, now the drive west into the afternoon sun. If we drive two hundred miles a day(easy on the interstate), that's only fifteen days. We don't need to be there until August 25th, plenty of time for sightseeing, casino camping and Wal-mart RV resorts, We'll cross the country on I-70 for the first time.

Famous Mystic Connecticut and The Mohegan Sun Casino is our last stop in New England. We found Dick and Barbra Reis's house in Naples New York, they weren't home, their plans to be there by the 1st had changed, we'll miss them by a week. The weather was good through New York, western Pennsylvania, and along Lake Erie. We turned south before Cleveland toward Columbus Ohio and picked up I-70. The scenery changed from industry and commerce to soy beans and corn. It was an nice drive into Indiana on I-70.

Shirley Indiana is a great small town. Our friends Bob and Phylis Wright had a spot for us to park by the barn. The weather was great, 50's at night, 70's in the day, a mild summer all the way to August. Three months of road grime and the coach needs a bath. No more excuses about not allowed to wash in a campground, or its going to rain, It takes 5-6 hours work and were sore but it looks great again. On Saturday it does warm up and we spend the afternoon at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis. What a huge show, You can't see it all in a week, let alone one afternoon. Vendors, livestock, machinery, food, tractor pulls, agriculture, dog shows and competitions. the Midwest has descended upon Indianapolis. The crowd was big, we walked alot, it got up to 92. Stayed 3 days with Bob and Phylis, had a good visit. 6 miles from Bob's house we're back on I-70 headed west.

St. Louis Missouri, crossroads of the Midwest. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers converge and barges move down river under us as we cross the long Mississippi bridge. Our stop today is the Harrah's casino in St. Louis, along the Missouri river, tomorrow night we'll stay at the Harrah's in Kansas City. It's been 8 days since we've done any housekeeping, an old campground in Russell Kansas is our next stop. The afternoon and evening are warm, and for the first time all summer we use the A/C. The park has plenty of power, the washer/dryer is going, Linda has stew in the crock pot, the TV's on and we've made about 1700 miles in 8 days. Our longest driving day was 240 miles. About four and a half hours, were on the road by nine and stop about one or two o'clock. After hundreds of miles of corn and soybeans were now seeing cattle and acres of Milo and sorghum silage all through Kansas. We spend the night in Goodland Kansas at Wal-mart. Wide open Kansas prairie for the last 2 days. A few oil wells in western Kansas as we gain altitude traveling on to the Colorado Plateau, by the time we cross the Colorado state line were at 5100 feet.

I-70 runs directly through Denver, we stop just east in Aurora and visit with Betsy from Fort Myers for two days and see a little of the Denver area. Betsy took us over to Century City, new gambling legislation has boosted the areas casino games and limits. We were lucky to get out as cheep as we did. The lunch buffet was good and a nice ride into the mountains west of Denver. A windy night at the Wal-mart, Betsy stoped by to say goodbye, will see her in two weeks in Las Vegas. A slow climb into the Rocky mountains. Beautiful weather, grand views as we cross Loveland Pass, 11,900 feet. We'll take the tunnel under the continental divide. A walk around Breckenridge and good lunch at Fatty's restaurant with a doggy bag for supper.

We stop just past Vail at a super center in Avon. Cool nights in the 40's, low 70's in the afternoon. On Monday we take the Jeep south to Leadville. Great small town, mining from the late eighteen hundreds till 1960. We're on a self guided driving tour, "The trail of the silver Kings", in the hills east of town the Jeep makes a loud noise and starts steaming? More later....

Back across the border

We stopped just south of of the border in Robertston, Maine at a nice campground that was supposed to have a great view, but for 3 days it was so foggy and rainy you couldn't see the RV next to you. Once we were caught up on house keeping, and waiting for the weather to clear, we took a side trip to the summer home of FDR, on a Canadian Island off the coast of Maine. We go over the bridge and through customs in our car, no problem. In the 1880's, years of great summer resorts, the wealthy with extensive leisure time would enjoy long summer vacations away from the heat of the cities. As a boy, President Roosevelt grew fond of the island with extensive forest, bold cliffs, and great natural beauty, as a man, this was passed on to his children. In 1921 at the age of 39, FDR contracted polio and was only able to return to Campobello for brief visits 3 times before his death in 1945.

The Roosevelt Campobello International Park has over 2800 acres of reserved beauty. The visitors center is filled with childhood memorabilia and presidential history, and you can tour the home to get a view of early married life of a lawyer, politician, soon to be president, with wife Eleanor and growing family(6 children). The "cottage" has 34 rooms of which 18 are bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. Most summers the family would forgo the luxury of Hyde Park, NY, for the more simple pleasures of the island where he spent his boyhood. This foggy afternoon was well spent touring Campobello. At the top of the island we still can't see the lighthouse for the fog, but we're told from shore they herd whales blowing when they surface, just past the lighthouse in the bay. It was decided to go back to Canada to go whale watching. First the weather had to clear.

We used Don and Jill's car and cross the border at Calais, no red flags, all was normal, no firewood questions or searches. The 30 mile drive into St. Andrews, New Brunswick was good. The rugged coast was clear, and not to cool. We had lunch at one of restaurants along main street, it is loaded with shops and traps and tourist. Whale watching tours are a boat ride down the coast islands around Campobello, in Passamaquoddy Bay. Finback(60'), Menke(30') whales, bald eagles, harbor seals, and harbor porpoise were all spotted. This area is a crucial feeding grounds for birds and whales alike, and a vital link in the chain of life from South America to the Artic. The afternoon on the water was great and a whole new perspective of the coast from the water.

With a break in the weather its time to move on and we head to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. A beautiful area of coastal Maine, one of the most visited national parks in the country, the park offers something for everyone. From the rocky shoreline, to Cadiallic Mountain, the highest point on the eastern coastline, hotels, restaurants, B&B's, cottages and shops. The National Park Service visitors center is busy. We watch a short orientation
film and start out on the loop road. A nice lunch in Bar Harbor, and two cloudy

days in the park, but still beautiful.

We explore further down the coast, so many inlets, coves, small towns and hamlets. Stops in Rockland and the Maine Lighthouse Museum, Camden for dinner at the local lobster shack,
and Lincolnville to see hand built Shaker furniture. We are welcomed right into the shop and talk to the craftsman while they make custom chairs one by one. A stop in Brunswick for a few days and take the cars to Bath and the Marine Maritime Museum. Great Schooners with five and six mast, 345 feet long were built here into the 1920's. A great museum and attraction. Just a 1/2 mile down the Kennebec river Navy light cruisers are now being built at the Bath Iron Works navy shipyard. The 109 is being painted and readied for dedication in a week. Great ships have been built in this part of Maine for centuries. A ride into Freeport and shopping at LLBean. Don isn't feeling well so Linda and I spend the afternoon exploring the coast.

The time has come for us to split up, Don and Jill have plans in Florida and Linda and I will head west to meet friends in Nevada. Don has a chest cold and needs a few days rest, so we'll say our goodbyes sooner than expected. Its hugs around knowing we'll keep in touch, and see each other down the road. For us it south into Conn. then west through New York state, western Pennsylvania into Ohio. More in a few weeks Skip and Linda