Ehrenberg, AZ

When you're making miles on the interstate, you often pass little towns with nothing much to notice but a truck stop and a greasy spoon.  Laurie and I have found many times that if you stop and check it out, these little towns often have hidden treasures.  Ehrenberg was like that for us.  We stayed 4 nights over Memorial Day weekend and it was great.  We toured Joshua Tree National Park, hung out by the pool, went out for pizza and music, and of course relaxed in the high desert coolness.  I never paid attention until Laurie got a telescope for Christmas last year, but the planets are really visible in the evening sky lately.  We stargazed at Mars on the night of its closest approach, as well as Jupiter and checking out the rings of Saturn.  It's really clear and dark in the middle of nowhere!  Here are some pictures:

Some restaurants collect dollar bills written on them and stapled all over the place to commemorate your visit.  I've seen others that do the same thing with bras.  At the River Run Cafe in Ehrenberg, it's flip flops.  This looks like an upside down view of the floor, but it's the ceiling over my head.

The Mighty Endeavor viewed from poolside at the Arizona Oasis RV Resort.  Hard to believe we've owned her for 5 years now, called her home for 4.  In the background, you can see the trees lining the Colorado River.  That's the big draw here on a long weekend.  The motor sports fans were zooming up and down the river all weekend, as well as putting around in their dune buggies.  Not quiet, but interesting and it's good to see working folks enjoying themselves.

Intrepid travelers at the Cottonwood entrance off I-10.  It doesn't look like much from the interstate, but it was really pretty (in a desert sort of way) once we climbed up into the mountains.  We went in the Chevy.  Touring national parks in the motorhome just isn't as much fun.

Cholla cactus

Another view of all the cactus

A Joshua Tree, found only in the Mojave Desert.  The trunk looks like an oak or something, but the top looks like a cactus.  It's actually a type of yucca, only pollinated by the yucca moth.

Panaramic view of a Joshua Tree "forest"

The view of Palm Springs and the Salton Sea from high up in JTNP.  The smog is courtesy of LA traffic.  It funnels through a pass into this valley.

The Colorado River was flowing strong when we were at the Arizona Oasis.  I took this picture Monday, after most of the boaters had gone home.

We went out for pizza at the River Run Cafe, and they had a great guitarist/singer doing all kinds of country and classic rock.  Here's a guitar solo from the 80's.  Some will love it, to others it will be NOISE

Payson, AZ

Well, good thing the folks in Sierra Vista got our fuel filter situation squared away, because Payson is a good little climb into the mountains north of Phoenix.  We camped in the Tonto National Forest outside of town.  Overall, another great little western town snuggled in a mountain setting.  We stayed 3 wonderful, cool nights with no hookups at all, but we're used to that.  Here are some pictures:

I forgot a picture from last stop.  Sandy was my teacher in 7th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade.  Here we are hanging in their park-like back yard in Sierra Vista.

Tonto Natural Bridge.  I just thought the picture of the walkway was cool, the bridge is somewhat obscured.

Here we go, intrepid travelers after a pretty nice hike down to the opening of the bridge.

It's huge and made of travertine, some stuff as the tiles.  You can see by the people in the foreground how big it is.  The parking lot is directly atop the formation.

Javelina hogs, aka peccary, just nibbling on something in the parking lot at the natural bridge.  I've heard they can be aggressive in defending their young.  This was taken at a distance.

There's a geographic formation called the Mogollon Rim that cuts across almost the entire state of Arizona.  It makes for a nice scenic view up around these parts.

Tombstone, AZ

Okay, so we've all heard about the gunfight at the OK Corral.  If you're a fan of movies in the last quarter century, you remember Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton and Sam Shepherd starring in "Tombstone."  Well, we had to stop on our way west since we'd missed it in previous outings.  The trip wasn't without incident, but after El Paso we headed for Tombstone.  We had a little trouble with fuel filters, but they got it figured out in Sierra Vista.  Of course, one of the major draws was the site of the original OK Corral.  But, we also wanted to drop in and see good friends Sandy and Rock Kousek in nearby Sierra Vista.  We also got to do a little touring in Bisbee, quite the funky little town that used to be the copper mining king.  Overall, it was a great trip to southern Arizona.  Here are some pics:

The actual stables of the OK Corral

The actual place the short, deadly gunfight happened.  Not really totally in the OK Corral

Our recreationist artists

Allen Street, Tombstone

Me with one of the Earp Brothers.  I'm the one on the left.

A cool rock formation outside Bisbee, AZ.  From the Copper Queen Mine parking lot.

West Texas

After San Antonio came the long, long drive on I-10.  We overnighted at a Texas state park that was really interesting, and then spent a couple days in El Paso checking out the town with our good friend Nicole.  I have to say, West Texas wasn't as bleak as I thought it would be, and El Paso is a really pretty town.  There are way more mountains in Texas than I ever thought.  Here are some pictures:

Nicole took us on a tour of El Paso. Here's a view of the city from the mountain road that cuts above Ft. Bliss.  The sky was angry that day my friends.

The spring fed pool at Balmorhea State Park between San Antonio and El Paso was full of little fish that liked to kiss your toes.

Nicole, our hostess in El Paso.

The pool at Balmorhea holds millions of gallons of water.  Really pretty sight in the middle of so much desert.

San Antonio

Sometimes we stay a little longer in a place than we should and we get bored with it.  This wasn't the case in San Antonio.  We could have easily stayed a week and not run out of things to do.  This place sure has grown since we left straight from Brad's last baseball game, U-Haul trailer packed to the gills, in May of 1994.  There was a lot of construction on the roads, but we still got to see old friends and even make it down to the famous river walk for lunch one day.  We'll have to go back, because there are too many people and too many things we missed.  Here are some pictures:

5663 Misty Glen - The first house we ever owned.  We bought this place by the skin of our teeth in 1989 and sold it in 1994.  The old neighborhood is holding up really well.  Several of our old neighbors are still there.  We surprised the neighbor across the street working in his yard.  It's not everyday somebody walks out of the past from 20 years ago and says "hey, remember us?"

So...we had to do it again.  We rented this house on Stockade for a year before we bought the one on Misty Glen.  The next door neighbors, Greg and Maria, were still there.  Surprise!  They actually remembered us, probably because of our cute little baby boy Brad at the time.

Dad, Brad and me at the house on Stockade in 1988.  Nice shorts!

A view of the Riverwalk.  It goes on for miles.

Dinner with great friends Jean and Louis.  They haven't changed a bit.

Dinner with Dave and Wendy.  Dave and I worked together at Misawa Air Base, Japan.

Paul and Renee have been good friends since they moved to town about 1990.  Paul and I worked together for years at the Air Force Recruiting Service.  They never left.  Among many things, they're competitive BBQers and RVers.  They treated us to some great grilled fajitas and hours of reminiscing.

North to Alaska

Dear Readers,
As all 2.7 readers of this blog know, Laurie and have set the goal of getting the Alaska sticker on our RV map this summer.  So far so good.  We departed Florida immediately after the cruise (after a requisite 2 day stop at the Ho Hum in Carabelle) bound first for Arkansas, then down through Texas.  Along the way, we camped at a really nice Corps of Engineer park outside Montgomery to see Jeff and Peggy.  They're finishing up Air War College this summer and headed back to DC.  We spent a few weeks in Little Rock visiting Laurie's family, but we took a side trip of a little over a week during that time to see Music City, Nashville, TN.  After celebrating Mother's Day, we started our journey in earnest.  We finally stopped in Dallas, one place we've bypassed a couple times.  While there I stopped in and jammed with Paul Morton, a fellow veteran I served with at Little Rock Air Force Base who was also the drummer in a garage band I was in briefly back in the 80's.  He's awesome, me, not so much!  We also toured the Dealy Plaza museum and the botanical garden.  There's too much to do in a town that size to even scratch the surface.  After Dallas, it's on to San Antonio.

Laurie took this view from our windshield at the Ho Hum RV Park in Carabelle, FL.  It's very tranquil having your own waterfront estate, even if it is just for a couple days.  We stop here routinely now.

After the Ho Hum, it was an easy day's drive to Montgomery to see Jeff and Peggy.  

On our side trip to Nashville, we were able to take in a couple tours of historic mansions.  This one is Belle Meade, owned by a Nashville race horse breeder named Harding.

We also toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, yeehaw.  

President Andrew Jackson retired to and died at The Hermitage, just outside Nashville.  Here's Laurie at the back gate.

The Hermitage is fairly modest by today's standards, but back in the 1820's I'm sure it was quite grand.  Huge white pillars, no toilets.

A panorama of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.  Very pretty, but it was getting hot out.  I know, it's Texas.

Growing their own plants at the botanical garden.

I took this photo standing a few feet from where President Kennedy was killed.  The brick building behind the oak is the former Texas Schoolbook Depository building.  The trees were much smaller 50 years ago.

Dealy Plaza.  That red pickup is right where the fatal shot occurred.

Hanging with fellow veteran Paul Morton

Florida Winter 2015-16

Well, another great Florida winter has come and gone and I'm waaaayyyy behind on updating the blog.  We started the winter at MacDill as usual, first in the annex but then moving into the sandpit.  The park was in utter turmoil because of an electrical power upgrade taking far too long and many spots weren't open for the season. The big event while we were at MacDill was selling our sailboat we'd owned for 8 years, the Laurie Lee.  It was truly strange watching her leave the dock with her new owner at the helm, but I wasn't getting enough use out of her to justify the cost and effort.  Without a boat to tie us to the dock at MacDill, we left for the season just prior to Christmas to spend it with Mom and the boys in Sebring.  We were in Key West for New Year's Eve again this year, which is getting to be a pretty cool tradition.  After Key West, we spent a couple weeks on Key Largo at John Pennekamp State Park and a commercial park.  We really enjoyed that, something different.  While we were in Key Largo, Keith, Abby and Madison came down from Miami for a visit.  We then moved up the coast just a bit and stayed in Lake Worth, then Jupiter Florida.  Jupiter was a significant find.  We stayed at Jonathan Dickinson State Park for 2 weeks and it was great.  Keith and Abby came to see us again and brought friends this time.  There was a lot to see in the area, the weather was great, the camping spot was huge, and Jupiter has a great music scene.  After that, we went up and stayed near Mom at Wekiva Falls campground for a week.   Then back down to Key West for a week just in the car this time to celebrate Laurie's birthday.  We then went up to Bushnell, FL for a couple weeks and stayed at Paradise Oaks with our friends Fred and Loretta.  We were also able to visit Larry and Teresa at their new home in the Villages.  The next big trip was storing the RV for a couple weeks in Sebring while we took off on a cruise with friends John and Phyllis.  In the personal development arena, I got a haircut (big deal) and enrolled in a doctoral program (back to school).  As the time of this writing, we're camped near our house at Highlands Hammock State Park.  The plan for this summer is Alaska.  Since we finished the lower 48 state map, it only makes sense, right?  Here are a few pictures from the winter:

The Laurie Lee under new ownership, bound for Clearwater, FL.

Poolside at Point of View RV Park in Key Largo.  Nice!

Sunset in the Keys.  Gilbert's Resort, Key Largo.

Keith, Abby, and Madison

I threw a karaoke party at Seascapes for old time's sake.  Here are the girls jamming in a group sing.

Intrepid travelers touring Dominica.

Great friends John and Phyllis.  We cruised to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba aboard the Royal Princess.  10 days in paradise!

Jupiter Light House

Blowing Rocks Preserve on Jupiter Island.  You don't often see limestone like this on the east coast.

Laurie learning to play the dulcimer at Ft Zachary Taylor on Key West.  We visited on a day when they had civil war reenactors on the grounds.

Contemplating getting a trim.  I posted this photo on FaceBook and asked my friends if I should cut it or keep it.  The results were mixed.  I got a hair cut.  It's a lot easier to deal with and it's amazing how differently people talk to me.  When I was in Kindergarten, they taught me you can't judge a book by its cover.  Wrong.