Home Again

Well, we've come full circle.  We're back at the Ho Hum where we started this summer's road trip 2 1/2 months ago.  After Sedona, we did 3 days on the road spending just one night then moving on.  We overnighted in Grants, NM, Amarillo, TX, and Checotah, OK before arriving back in Little Rock for time with Laurie's family and a reunion with my old military buddies at Little Rock AFB, my first assignment.  On our way to the Gulf Coast, we stopped in Hattiesburg, MS and stayed at the Paul B. Johnson State Park.  Hattiesburg is a nice town and the park was beautiful, set on a lake.  We head back to MacDill for our 4th winter.  We think we are, anyway.  They're renovating the electrical power and are not yet ready for the influx of us snow birds.  We might have to stay somewhere else for a month until they finish, but regardless we're back in the Sunshine State just as they start to report the first snows of fall up north.

Lots of gray hairs on us, 30 years after most of us served together.

Sedona, AZ

We have not been "everywhere."  Even in a 30 year military career being stationed across the country, and 3 years full time doing nothing but sight seeing, we still haven't even come close to "seeing it all."  I was talking to a fellow RVer at our most recent stay, just outside Sedona, AZ.  She'd been RVing full time with her husband, also a military retiree, for 6 years.  I made a comment about not knowing when we'd ever grow tired of the lifestyle and come off the road.  She said she wasn't sure either, because there's so much to see.  She also mentioned talking to someone once that was trading in the gypsy lifestyle for the more conventional world.  That person claimed in 3 years of RVing, they'd "seen it all."  Poppycock.  Whatever you have to tell yourself, but I don't care who you are, please don't tell me you've seen everything this great country has to offer.

So, that leads me to this post.  We'd heard rave reviews of Sedona, and we missed seeing it the last time we were out west in 2013.  After Las Vegas, we made sure to drop south of I-40 just a bit so we could check out this much acclaimed destination.  We've seen a lot, so our bar is set pretty high.  I have to say that the area lived up to its reputation.  It's one of those gorgeous red rock areas we have out west, perhaps a place they would have declared a national park under other circumstances.  As it stands, it's a very conscientiously developed town in the middle of a natural paradise.  They did a great job making sure dwellings and buildings merged with the landscape.  We had a good time and intend to return so we can spend more time checking out the outlying communities.  Arizona is awesome.

One of the local Sedona residents

A typical view from Main Street Sedona.  The red rock formations are really spectacular.

Castle Rock, I think?  There were too many beautiful formations to remember.

Good Bye Charlie

Well, most of my blog entries are about nice places and pretty pictures.  This one is just about misery.  Our little buddy, constant companion and mascot was diagnosed with kidney disease earlier this year.  The only treatment they offered were surgeries like kidney transplants, or a "kidney friendly" diet.  He wouldn't eat the kidney friendly food.  Over the past few months his weight dropped, and his appetite and energy level slowly dropped to zero.  When he quit drinking water and showed no interest in his morning walk, we knew it was time to drop the denial and take him to the vet in Las Vegas.  I haven't cried that hard since my father died.  For a little dog, Charlie had a ton of personality.  Those of you who have had a shoe stolen by him know what I'm talking about.  We had him since 2007, but he was a daily fixture in our lives since I retired in 2012.  He was always there, always happy to see us, always coming up with some new neurotic behavior to make us laugh and shrug.  I held him tightly in my arms when the Vet put him down and I bawled like a baby.  We will really miss that dog.  Here are some pictures from his better days.

He was a little heart breaker as a puppy.  How can you not love this guy?

Awkward teenage years.  Yes, he'd help himself to whoever's bed he wanted to lay on.  

Our first summer in the RV.  

Happy as a clam hanging out by a stream in the mountains somewhere.  Anywhere.  Charlie in his prime.

I hope this video works.  Charlie was a huge licker, part of his...charm.

Las Vegas

Well, I would not advise driving all the way from Yosemite to Las Vegas, but I did it.  I must have been reading the map wrong, because I thought I was half way there by noon, but we didn't arrive until after 7pm.  Oh well, all's well that ends.  We stayed 3 nights at the RV park at Circus Circus Casino.  Didn't gamble a dime.  We did see 2 good shows though, and took advantage of the Nellis AFB commissary and ticket office.  We saw a La Reve - The Dream, which was one of those very well done Cirque du Soleil kind of shows.  Google it, too hard to explain.  We also saw a classic rock revival show featuring members of Heart, Survivor and a few other bands.  No pictures this stop, not too much scenery to shoot on The Strip.