On and off road run???

So on the itinerary for the rally they listed on and off road runs.  Being me and not so bright sometimes, I thought that they were talking about running, you know like on your feet.  I looked closer and one of the runs was 56 miles???  Boy I thought we were camping with some running fanatics..  but no, they were talking about 4 x 4 off road runs in their Jeeps.  We were hesitant to go with the experienced runners, but when they announced an easy run that even a car could go thru we were in.

Not doing the “ooohhh shit” run they had done the day before.  Thank goodness.  All was well and we had a really good time.  Went to an abandoned gold mine that had been duly decorated since it was no longer a working mine…

Also further up the mountain, we drove over a narrow ledge with a steep drop-off the pictures do not do justice, but be sure I was about to shit my pants.  Randy kept his cool and got us to the Bed and Breakfast they were heading to only to find out we had to turn around and go back or do the “ooohhh shit” run from the day before…  So we turned around and did it again.

Straight down but you can’t really tell.

Anyway guess we are not such daredevils, but that’s ok too.  “Bed and Breakfast” below, looks like some Boogie sites we have seen before, just no trees unless you count the saguaros.  And it took life threatening trails to reach this point, out in the desert mountains many miles away from everything???  Who would do this except some fellow brothers from GTB……

Lots of fun so far.  We have been on the road for 1 month yesterday!!!  Peace and love.

Quartzsite, AZ -We made it.

 

 

Well 1,842 miles from Carolina Beach in the bus and we are at Q.  The rally is a lot of fun with potluck meals and a campfire every night.  Have met some interesting folks and seen more Bluebirds than ever before.  Have not counted, but there is a large circle of birds and we are on the second row even though we arrived on the first official day.  They begin gathering as early as Thanksgiving?? (I hear).

Quartzsite its self is a rather small town that explodes for the months of January and February some for the gem and rock show and others for the Sports, Vacation and RV show.  Many others are just snowbirds finding cheap land to spend the winter.  Internet estimates range from 200,000 to over 750,000 the larger number being the number of visitors during the winter.  Year around population is ~ 3,600.  There are RV campers as far as the eye can see.  Zoom in.

 

We are on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land on a LTVA (long term visitors area) parcel.  You can stay here for $40 for two weeks.  We have a dump station and fresh water available less than 1/2 mile away.  Having a generator is a must unless you have solar panels which many do.

There are also areas that are free to stay for 14 days, after that you have to move at least 25 miles away and find another free area.  So far the LTVA is ok with us.  The Birds of a Feather group have been having rallies here for 11 years.  The bluebird below was constructed last year and is visible on Google Earth.

Quartzsite proper is extremely busy right now, takes forever to just go across town so we will probably stay right here.  Randy wants to go shopping at the show, but we will see.  Today we ventured up to the Bouse Fisherman which is an Intaglio also known as a geoglyph or earth figure.  They say that they are very large and only seen well from the air.  It was much smaller than I would have thought and hard to believe it has lasted over 200 years.  Not to make light of it, but looks like a couple of rocks were moved around to make a picture??  Since we were near by I am glad we visited, but not exactly what I was expecting.

The Fisherman from the side.

 

 

See the fish??

 

 

Since we are here for the rally here are a couple of Bluebird pictures, some sunrise and just general fun from the rally.  We may stay next week also since it is paid for and see if the crowds disperse or stays the same?  It is amazing how many RVs are in the area, no real roads looks like chaos but there is a plan and it seems to work pretty well.

 

 

 

Peace and love from Q.

Tucson and Saguaro National Park

Beautiful desert sunset last night.  We spent the day grocery shopping and washing sheets etc. in anticipation of boondocking in Quartzite with the Birds of a Feather bluebird rally.  Will get there tomorrow.  After chores were complete we explored Saguaro National Park which was awesome.  The Saguaro cactus were much taller than we had imagined and the other cacti were as diverse as the terrain across Texas.  Some looked like coral, some penguins, some just scary and others like bird nests…  Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace and Love to all.

On the road again – West Texas and Beyond

 

Finishing up our San Antonio visit, Saturday we went up to Fredericksburg and around to Luckenbach. Cowboy country, although as we rose in elevation the clouds moved in so we really couldn’t see a lot.

We road tripped up to Austin TX and saw the Capitol on Sunday. Quite large compared to NC Capitol.

Finally got the bus out of the shop late Monday afternoon so we spent one last night with Gail and Leonard. You know they had to twist our arms since they are – 5 star chefs – 5 star accommodations – 5 star tour guides – 5 star entertainment and most of all just 5 star people. We pulled out of the Triple L Ranch on Tuesday and went to Fort Stockton about 5 ½ hours away.

 

The trip across west TX was quite interesting. The terrain really changed and changed again. . They say west Texas is boring but we found it amazing. It seemed that the terrain changed as often as the weather does in SE North Carolina.

Flat with small bushes…

Roads that seem to go on for ever…

Flat top mountains reminiscent of old cowboy movies…

Rolling hills..

Wind mills…

Smooth mountains…

Slightly rolling land with no bushes…

Flatter land with no bushes…

Smooth mountains in the background..

Rocky mountains…and it went on for miles about 600 miles to be exact…

New Mexico brought snow topped mountains.

From Fort Stockton we headed to Las Cruces NW. approx 4 hour drive, but we made it longer by leaving as soon as we arrived and going to White Sands National Memorial. It was well worth the drive. We saw snow on the mountains as we passed, and a rain storm followed us most of the way. It is amazing how far you can see weather coming. While at White Sands, the storm passed us by with only a few sprinkles. But then there was a sun set to the west and the storm with a small rainbow to the east. Spectacular site, the pictures do not do it justice. Long day, but a great experience none the less.

On to Arizona tomorrow.  Peace and love.

San Antonio

 

Port Arthur to San Antonio – Drove straight thru Houston on I10 at noon. Over passes galore but according to other travelers the straight route is better than the by-passes. Traffic was heavy but not as bad as you may expect. Houston was huge, thought we had passed the sky line, but then came another and another. Trip was nice until about 100 miles outside of San Antonio when we started to lose air pressure in the back of the coach.

Made it to San Antonio barely late Monday afternoon. We ended up dropping our home at Alamo City Truck Shop in San Antonio because it wouldn’t make it any further. We didn’t believe that it is a serious problem but one that has to be fixed. Here we are on Saturday and they finally have the part on order and it will be in Monday. Hopefully they will install and we will be back on the road by Tuesday.

The shop was only 30 minutes from Aunt Gail and Uncle Leonard’s and we were planning to park on their property anyway, so we have parked in their guest room instead. They have been the most gracious host and we have truly enjoyed reconnecting and visiting with family.

Nellie was also having some issues so we took her to a vet. She has a urinary tract infection and crystals in her bladder so she is on antibiotics and been prescribed special food to dissolve the crystals. We will be taking her for a follow up in a month (where ever we may be) and hopefully the crystals will be cleared up.   Leonard and Nellie have quickly become BFFs not sure what she will do when we get on the road again.

All that being said, San Antonio is a lovely city. We visited the Alamo, walked around the river walk and went to Central Market on Wednesday. The Alamo was very interesting, lots of history I had either forgotten or never knew. On the river walk, we stopped by the Hilton, Gail has a picture of Randy, Larry, Wendy and Ara there from 1973. We recreated the picture of Randy with straw in his mouth and tongue stuck out.   The river walk was beautiful although the river was smaller than I would have thought with the landscaping and concrete banks it reminded me of Disney World. I understand that the river has been dammed and reduced to keep the downtown area from flooding in the heavy rains which is why it is so small and controlled in that area.

Central Market is the most diverse high end grocery store I have ever been in. The produce section alone was larger than some stores. The Budda’s hands are in the citrus section. Not sure what they taste like or are used for, but they are certainly interesting looking. Fresh fruit tortes were only a small part of the desert section but very decorative and I am sure delicious. They even have cooking classes upstairs where you enjoy a multiple course dinner and participate or observe the techniques preparing the dishes. Gail and Leonard said they took several of these classes and that they really enjoyed them.

Thursday we connected with Kathy and Michael Smith (Billie’s oldest daughter and son-in-law) and had a nice visit and Tex-Mex lunch.   They live on the other side of S. A. so we stopped by the shop and checked on the bus and gathered some more clothes since we had not realized it would take this long. The Alamo Café where we had lunch was one of Daddy’s favorites in town and we enjoyed Kathy and Michaels stories of his visits.

Friday we toured Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard, she is a good friend of Gail and Leonard’s and come to find out a client of Kathy and Michael’s. Even in a large city it is a small world. The orchard was larger than we expected, but being winter it was no as lush as other times of the year. A nice destination, they have a small restaurant open for lunches, gift shop, greenhouse area and of course the orchard.

Chef Gail has kept us well fed and historian Leonard has kept us well entertained with his stories. Although we would love to be back on the road, this is just a small hiccup in the adventures ahead. The weather has been wonderful for January, overcast most of the time but highs around 80 and lows in the mid 60, shorts in January we are not complaining.

Even with our first home evacuation and Nellie’s illness we have a thousand things to be grateful for.   A great and gracious family being top of the list this week!!! Hopefully we will be back on the road soon. Peace and Love.

 

 

Galveston, TX

We made it to Texas, Port Arthur to be exact which is a little east of Houston and Galveston.  We were planning to head straight to San Antonio, but with a sunny day (although cold) we decided to visit Galveston.  My daddy and step mom (Gib and Billie) used to really enjoy visiting Galveston so in his honor and our curiosity we stayed two nights and took a day trip over.  We drove down Bolivar Peninsula and took the FREE ferry over to Galveston.

The sunny day was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all, Nellie included.  She loved getting out for a run.  Don’t think any of her feet are touching the ground in this picture.

As you know Galveston had a great disaster in 1900 and lost over 6,000 people during a hurricane.  They installed a seawall that is currently 10 miles long, 17 feet high and 16 feet wide at its base.  There are parts that still have a small beach but mostly it appeared to reduce the beach area to nothing at least at the tides when we visited.

 

Although they have the seawall in the downtown area, there is still a large concern for rising water as is evident by the school on stilts.

The drive thru coffee shop on stilts.

And the home on stilts with a handicap ramp.

Although making fun of it, we truly understand the need for pilings and elevation your home and belongings especially after our time on Topsail Island. But Bolivar Peninsula/Goat Island kind of takes it to another level.  Some of their houses are two stories high and have decks under the house instead of widow walks on top.  The shade may be appreciated during the hot Texas summers who knows?

 There were also some very pretty and interesting sights in Galveston, The light house on Bolivar Island.

White pelicans.

The Galvez Hotel (Daddy’s favorite).

And of course Nellie…

Love and peace to all.  Let the good times roll!!

Seven States So Far

We left just over a week ago and have already been thru seven states.  Heading west in a hurry aiming for Quartzite, AZ planning to arrive around the 20th.  It has been a whirlwind so far but planning on slowing down in the desert for the winter.

 

 

Only three more to go on this leg!!

West of the Mississippi

We enjoyed a nice sunny day in Gulf State Park Tuesday and departed on Wednesday staying an extra day to enjoy the weather.  We had a lovely day biking and hiking around the  state park.  It was steaks on the barbie for dinner. Kind of needed a nice day without travel and without rain.  Trails have been enhanced since their web site map and have a lot more paved paths and wooden bridges.  Nice park.

Choose to take I10 across the rest of AL, MS and until Lafayette, LA since it would be a 6 hour drive and we typically prefer 4-5 hours.  The coach although a smooth drive it is not a Toyota.  Five hours behind the wheel is plenty.

The trip brought some firsts – driving thru the first tunnel in the bus (Mobile AL), the first 20 mile bridge right past Baton Rouge, our first crossing the Mississippi River on the road  and our first stay at Betty’s RV park.

Went to the Tabasco museum and factory in Avery Island, LA today and enjoyed the daily 4:30- pm Happy Hour at Betty’s.  They are calling for cold rainy weather today and we depart for Texas tomorrow.  Abbeville is a nice moderate sized town in south central LA, a nice stop on the way across.  There are a many old plantation houses open for tours but they are kind of pricey for us, lots of rice fields and state parks that are reasonably priced usually $2 entrance fee.  We are also near Lake Peigneur, the lake that Texaco drained while drilling for oil when they drilled into a salt mine in 1980.  Look it up, the youtube videos are amazing.

Staying in Abbeville until Saturday morning. Then heading to south of Houston and on to San Antonio.  We plan to stay with family there and enjoy a couple of days  with them.  Love to all and hope you are doing well.

P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERESA, love you much!!!

 

Thoughts from Alabama…roll tide

Coastal Alabama reminds me much of home, old Long Beach (30+ years ago) on the west end near Fort Morgan with small beach cottages and Myrtle Beach in Gulf Shores proper and heading east with high rises and souvenir shops.  Inland there are many large live oaks with lots of Spanish moss and quaint small towns.  Here on the coast maritime forests, yaupon trees and sandspurs.

With the high rain chance today we went backwards to Florida and visited the National Naval Aviation Museum which was really very interesting.  I would not really think of Naval and Aviation together, but that is what air craft carriers are all about.  Amazing how soon after the Wright brothers aviation was really pretty sophisticated and a very important part of WW1 and WW2.

 

We have had a nice but wet visit.  Today included tornado warnings and winds that rocked the bus at least as hard as hurricane Matthew earlier this summer.  Luckily the strong winds did not last long, but were a little concerning.  All in all it has been a nice stop along our route to AZ.  Next stop Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville, LA.

As much as this coast reminds us of home please keep vigilant and do not let the government allow off shore drilling in NC or our coast will look like this…

 

Happy New Year 2017

We are in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  A new time zone and a new year.

The trip has been great so far, it was nice to get off the interstate in Brunswick, GA and travel across GA on state roads.  Much less traffic and much more scenery.  Lots of pecan groves and quaint small towns.  FL’s panhandle was more hilly than we had imagined, again we choose state roads for part of the trip but reverted to the interstate to finish the trip to Gulf Shores, AL.

We are staying at Gulf State Park. A very nice park with ~500 camp sites, the longest pier on the gulf, many hiking/biking trails and lakes for fishing/kayaking.  We arrived yesterday and it has rained most of the time so we have mainly rested from the travels and rang in the New Year at 9pm with musical horns playing “Auld Lang Syne” (quite hours you know). Will be here until the 3rd so will have some time to explore.  So far it has been a lot of driving, we are looking forward to some exploration.

For 2017 spread your wings and fly high with the freedom of a bird.