Thursday, May 31, 2007

Last Full Day in Anchorage

Tracy and Deb on Our Final Full Day in Anchorage
This is probably the last blog entry from Alaska but will continue to report on the journey home should there be anything interesting to share as we fly from here to Newark via Seattle.


Today was highlighted by lunch at a hotel overlooking a lake where there are many small aircraft outfitted with pontoons. Jeff tells us that at the peak of the season there are up to 1700 arrivals and departures of such aircraft from this lake per day. These are chartered flights that take folks to points throughout Alaska, landing on rivers and lakes in remote areas of the state that are just too distant or otherwise inaccessable to travel to by any other means. There are many points of interest that have little or no road access and even where roads are available, they are frequently in poor condition due to the ravages of very harsh winters. I saw a tee shirt at a shop yesterday that was inscribed with "All Roads Lead to Rome, but NO Roads Lead to Nome" and that is pretty much true for other spots as well.


This afternoon we visited a mall where the "Big Rig" was outfitted with a new radio/CD player and while we were waiting for the installation, we toured the mall which could, for all intents and purposes, be considered to be typical North American mall except this one included a hockey sized indoor skating rink that was surrounded by several levels of mall area.  Click here for photos.


Tonight Tracy was off to another softball game (she plays in two leagues) and Jeff was off to see an indoor football game with some friends while Deb and I packed our remaining items for the trip home.

It is surely sad to see this adventure come to a close but my friend, my wife, my favorite companion in all such ventures (not to mention sometimes pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight attendant, etc.) and I are determined to do more of this in the not too distant future. More than anything I appreciate her support and participation in all of we've encountered. For all the complicating factors that crossed our path, we approached every bit of this with a real sense of excitement and the challenges were handled with relative ease as we enjoyed both our surroundings and the occasional contact with other travelers and local residents along the way. We thank all of them for their contributions to our progress and enjoyment. We also want to thank all our friends and family for their support and interest. For a great deal of help in getting this all of to a nice and comfortable start from Houston, our deep appreciation to Eric and his family. Mostly, we thank Tracy and Jeff for trusting us with the delivery of their "Rig" and thus giving rise to the possibility of such an adventure - and of course for their hospitality upon our arrival at the journey's end.

Tram and Tailgate


Imagine a Ski Resort that is open in June. What I can't imagine is how anyone gets to this place in the winter. Alyeska is about an hour down the coast from Anchorage - a huge resort with a Tram and assorted ski lifts etc. We had a great ride to the top and lunch overlooking the mountainside and hotel.


Now imagine starting a softball game on an unlighted field at 8:30pm and ending at 10. The photos you can view at the Kodak site (click here) include a tailgate party after the game and as you can see, it is still quite light around midnight when the last of the pics was taken. It must really take some time to get accustomed to this light - people just keep going, doing normal daylight activities late into the night.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Anchorage


Tuesday was our first full day in Anchorage and most of the day was spent in exploring some parts of Elmendorf AFB and a few blocks of the center of the city. One surprising item at the Air Force Base (and the reason for the photo above) is a program to care for injured Bald Eagles. There are only a few photos (click here), but for those of you who have never visited a modern military site, I thought you might be interested in knowing that in addition to the military activities (in this case primarily in support of a 'flight line'), there are such things as housing, schools, day care facilities, gas stations, mini-marts, a hospital and, among others, a mall-like complex that consists of typical mall type kiosks and shops, a food court, Starbucks, a relatively large grocery store and a Base Exchange (much like a K-Mart or the like). Tracy also introduced us to what she referred to as a 'Lemon Lot' where service members can offer vehicles for sale. Naturally, we took some time to check out the available RV's.
The city of Anchorage itself has very much the appearance of any North American small city with buildings of all shapes and sizes and businesses of all sorts. One thing that might particularly set it apart form most of modern cities...I saw no evidence of the downtown blight that has affected so many of the cities that you may be familiar with.
 

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Journey's End


Monday in the middle of the afternoon found us arriving in Anchorage and meeting Jeff and Tracy at spot where we had some lunch. Deb, of course, had HALIBUT which is one of her favorite things about Alaska.

Today's five hours on the road found us traveling through some of the most impressive scenes including great mountains of course, several glaciers and absolutely more beauty than it would be possible to describe.

We also had to bid farewell to a couple of guys from Alabama who had become our occasional 'road mates' over the last several days -  see photos here.

In Anchorage we've unloaded our things from the Rig and started to help Jeff and Tracy load their things for a short trip they have planned for the weekend.

Even though the journey is over, this blog will be continued over the next several days with some impressions of things in Anchorage as well as some further musings and details of parts of the trip that were shortened due to available time in earlier blogs.

Deb and I want to thank all of you who have supported us in this venture and joined us via this blog and our photos. It has been an experience never to be forgotten.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Red Flag

I could not possibly tell you how many of these we saw on Sunday!
Sunday was officially Red Flag Day!


I'd have to say at least 30% of of the roadway between Whitehorse and the US border was either in very bad condition or under construction. Not a very good day for progress as some of the conditions were so bad that we could do nothing more than 15 MPH in some places. Even with an early start, we did not get off the road until after 10pm and that being said this blog will be a short one tonight since we are both very exhausted. Pictures will be posted but you probably will not see the eMail invitation until sometime later in the day.


Oh, BTW we ARE in Alaska and should be at Jeff and Tracy's place around noon on Monday.  Click here for photos.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Arriving in Whitehorse

Knowing you would all like to see something other than mountains...how's this?
Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, Canada - Saturday Evening.


Thanx to Wendy and Karen we are parked in the HI COUNTRY RV PARK on the Alaska Highway just South of Whitehorse. Who are Wendy and Karen you ask? Well, excuse a short story: We arrived in Whitehorse intending to stay at a location Deb found in the "Mile Post" which has been an important reference for this part of the trip but we almost immediately went astray and decided to seek help. Deb spotted a Starbucks and of course that was determined to be an excellent place to seek help (and simultaneously get some favorite refreshment). When inside, Deb proceeded to speak with a couple of the Starbucks employees who were being very helpful in (1) advising that the place we sought was no longer an RV Park and (2) trying to find another spot that still existed and was not still closed for the season. They made phone calls, etc. and were doing all that they could to help. Next, two customers who were observing all of this confirmed that HI COUNTRY would be a good spot and proceedede to attempt to give us directions. Having said our thanx and goodbyes, we returned to the Rig, but before we could leave, Karen approached us and asked if we'd like her to guide us - an offer that we gratefully accepted. So there you have it. Wendy and Karen were our Whitehorse guides and are now on the list for the blog and photos as this journey continues. Thanx so much!


On to the rest of the day's events - Wildlife and Mountains! For any of you that don't know it (like I didn't) the Alaska Highway from Mile 0 to Whitehorse (and I suspect beyond this point as well) is almost entirely in the Northern Rockies, the Cassair Mountains, the Big Salmon Ranges, the St. Elias Mountains...you get the picture. Then there's the bears, bison, wolves, wild mustang, moose, carabou and more. As usual you will get an invitation to see pictures, but as always, keep in mind the conditions under which they are taken (traveling down a sometimes very bumpy road, etc.) and they are completely unedited due to time constraints.


Tomorrow it is off to Alaska!

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Friday, 26th and a Quick Note



Just a quick note from Saturday...it is approaching 6pm here and this is the first connection we've had to anything in a couple of days. We're fine and should have a regular WiFi connection tonite. We're kinda 'borrowing' this one!


Friday, 25 May 2007,10:45pm Pacific time.
We are now at Muncho Lake, BC. When we arrived here we had not been aware that we crossed a time zone again and as I sit here, even at this hour there is still light on the horizon.
We've spent the entire day on the Alaska highway which Dad was involved in building during WWII and we've taken photos of a couple of historical markers along the way. Oh, Tracy, FYI this part of Canada is anything but flat (as you stated). The day started peacefully enough with some mostly gentle ups and downs along a usually straight road, but then we hit Fort Nelson and from there it was mountain after mountain after mountain - well in fact we never did leave the mountains the rest of the day and we are now at a beautiful high mountain lake - saw one earlier that was still ice covered.
Other highlights of the day were wildlife observations which I will go into at a later time. You can check out the pics here.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Made it to Dawson Creek


Greetings from BC...no, the other one - British Columbia and the town of Dawson Creek, not to be confused with Dawson City which is still some way up the road.

As we sit here in the 'Northern Lights' RV Park, overlooking the town from a bit to the West, it is still daylight at 10:15 pm although the sun is beginning to get a bit low now.

Please respond to your invitation to go to the Kodak site to see (fewer than usual) photos and get some sense of what our day has been. We had told you of our stop on Wednesday nite and watching Lost etc. and this morning began with Deb arising at 7am (yes, it is true) and my first question was "...how much snow..." and Deb said 8 inches which of course I had to see for myself (hoping she was pulling my leg). As it turns out, I was aghast to see what you will see in the pictures (click here). Just check the picnic table with the light dusting from the night before. There were tree branches littering the RV park (the snow much too heavily accumulating with leaves already on the trees). One guy's tent had come crashing down and although it might otherwise have been a lovely scene, it looked to me like a very large branch that was beginning to hang low in front of the Rig could snap at any moment and that would not be a great way to start the day. Our only option was to get out of there just as quickly as possible. No showers, no breakfast, just secure everything and hit the road.

We proceeded carefully out of the park, brushing some snow laden branches along the way then started the 5km trek to the highway; however, we had just turned on to the road that would take us back to the 4 lane when I chanced to spot some leaves hanging from the roof of the Rig when I glanced in the rear view mirror. We pulled off the road in the parking lot of a movie theater and thankfully I was able to pull up next to a 3 or 4 foot high wall which I stood on to remove what turned out to be about an 8 foot long branch of a tree, complete with leaves and snow, that must have fallen to the roof on our way out of the park. Fortunately, since there was quite a good coating of snow on top of the Rig, there was no damage done, but I'm sure the theater owner/employees were just thrilled to find a branch in their parking lot. I would have considered moving it to the edge or something but it was still snowing heavily and we nearly got stuck in the (gravel/mud/snow) when we went to leave. The snow did not abate and it was a harrowing trip for a couple of hours as we traveled all of 57 miles north to Red Deer where we needed a break from the conditions and stopped for breakfast.

As we were eating, we heard the sun was shining about 60 to 70 miles north and that gave us hope. Indeed as we continued, the snow eventually diminished, then stopped, then was replaced by a bright sunny day. While we were freezing in the morning, by the time we parked for the night, I was outside hooking up power, etc, in a tee shirt! Interesting, considering that we were traveling North and West for the entire day. Oh, when you see the pictures, the one that looks to be a mistake (the blue sky and white cloud) was actually Deb's homage to the weather gods.

Ah, more adventures tomorrow!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

It is Alberta on Wednesday

Wednesday Night in Canada: The day started off with beautiful, bright sunshine in Great Falls, Montana. As is usually the case, we did not get started quite as early as we would have liked, partly due (of course) to the fact that we are not on a wake up schedule which means we did not start the coffee until a bit after 9am and then proceeded to have a conversation with the guy who was getting ready to leave from the spot next to us. It turns out he was heading to take up a seasonal position (Security) at Glacier National Park & he and his wife have been doing such seasonal work at various parks and other locations since he retired 10 years ago. He got his 5th wheeler in tow and off they went - very interesting. Also met a guy last nite who had worked in Allentown in the past and worked for many years at the Mack plant in Hagerstown, MD. It is a small world indeed. Back to the travels...off to Canada we went through some beautiful farmland and range that gave us a new appreciation for the days of the Old West and such things as 'roundups' and 'driving cattle' and the like. Oh, speaking of the Old West, we've come upon several 'Ghost Towns' along the day (in locations that were so remote that it was not a surprise that a town could not survive). At the border, the questions went "Where are you from...Allentown, PA...What is your plate number...Alaska XXX-XXX...hmmm, why Alaska...(we explained)....hmmm, Allentown - Billy Joel (a sad story really)...yes...and blah, blah, blah (nice conversation) - Ok, I'm going to let you go then." Never so much as a name, a passport or other documentation - and we were off! Oh, and you have to understand, this time it was NOT Deb doing the talking! We proceeded (speed limit 110) through the first part of the Canadian countryside with almost no difference in appearance to what we had just left in MT (except the road signs), but when Deb decided she would take over the driving, within a few short minutes it started raining - no, pouring. Hey what else is new...she just seems to attract bad weather and construction. We stopped for gas (don't ask the price) and I took over the driving since Deb really didn't need two bad days in a row. Naturally, the bad weather subsided but we had already lost a good part of our expected progress for the day. On to Calgary, huge and sprawling...it reminded us much of driving the approach through Henderson, NV and Las Vegas and out again with expansive suburbs, traffic jams and the like. In a while we were back in farm country and were determined to do a better job of finding a resting place before too late in the day; however, there seemed to be very few options between Calgary and Edmonton, AB and all the resources we've gathered along the way were of very little help. Suddenly it appeared that fortune was with us this day as Deb spotted one of the standard camping symbols on the roadside and we proceeded into the "Town of Carstairs" where we discovered a small, unpresuming camp ground that appears to have been created by the town itself. The charge was only $18 (Canadian) compared to the up to $60 US we've spent on other sites. It provides only electricity (no water, sewer, cable or WiFi) but is very cozy with perhaps 20 slots and only two others are occupied (compared to a 150 slot site we spotted just outside of Calgary that looked filled to capacity). Deb cooked ham and eggs (in a nest) as I proceeded to check the local TV availability and much to our great surprise there was a watchable channel where we were able to view the season finalle of LOST! Now you probably will not believe this, but as we enjoyed one our favorite TV shows...it began to SNOW! Yup, we have the pictures to prove it and they are NOT leftovers from yesterday. You must visit the Kodak site, just as soon as we have some WiFi again and can get them uploaded. I think it is time to fire our meteorologist! On thru more of AB tommorw and on to BC!  MUST SEE photos - click here.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Snow Day - May 22 - Really!

Were we prepared for this? Not in a million years!
No kidding, a SNOW day - most of the day. Started with flurries along the Snake River and culminated with a driving storm - about 8 to 10 inches on the ground as we crossed mountains in Montana. If you've never been here, it is mountain after mountain and most of today's trip was either climbing or descending. Oh yes, there are passes, but these are not like the Lehigh gap. When a pass is found here, you are already at 6000 feet or so and you feel lucky to not have to ascend any further.

Once again Deb was blessed with most of the worst of conditions and when it wasn't snowing, there was construction - and sometimes all of it at the same time. We cracked up at one point when we saw two guys that had pulled off the road and were having a snowball fight.

When you view the pics from today, keep in mind that this is not some set of photos that we saved from last winter!

The Big Rig continues to perform very nicely, no small feat considering the conditions; however, we did check with Jeff tonight and he assures us that he can get a discount on duct tape if it is purchased by the case.

All the complaints about the weather aside, the beauty of it all continues to be just astounding and we were happy for all the views, even in the snow. I'm only sorry that the photos can't nearly do justice for all we are seeing.

You'll have another invitation to see the latest trip segment at the Kodak site, but we continue to have only enough time to get everything uploaded so please excuse the blurry shots, etc. as you see the views thru the South of Montana, thru Helena and on to Great Falls where we are spending the night at a KOA (again, thankfully with WiFi). Tomorrow we are off to Canada.  You can also click here for photos.
Be sure to look at the end of some earlier posts to view comments that some folks have submitted.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The "S" Word

Click here for more photos.
Tuesday morning and we awaken to snow flurries in the air and according to the forecast on TV last night there could be some accumulation in parts of the area (Idaho and into Montana). I know an early morning post is unusual but we're taking advantage of a good connection as we try to get an early start to our day's travels. With all there is to be done in preparing for the day with the Rig it takes a bit longer than what we are used to in getting going in the morning. Part of it is finding things that we've put in places that we would remember (but forget it!) and the other is making sure everything is put away and secured (much like a 'flight check') before we hit the road.


This morning we start from the area of Idaho Falls in an area near the Snake River (the first River that almost looks like one since the Colorado in Laughlin, NV) and we will proceed to Helena, MT - then Great Falls - then on to the Canadian border.


...still having a great time and enjoying all there is to see from the large, wrap-around windows of the cab.
Hello all of you, so far John you are the winner of being computer savy, everyday we look for a comment on the blog and there are none except for yours and Tracy trying to figure out code, So where are all of you who are reading this, we know you are , and we need some outside connectoion to the east coast too. So John thank you so much for letting us know you are still there. Love , MOM
Now on to today, I am setting a fashion statement and now I wearing socks with flip flops, who would have ever thought that we would get snow in May, we did not bring coats except for jean jackets and they do not do the trick with t shirts, maybe when we buy one for ourselves we will have all of the seasons in our rig. Ty said he was very cold last night, I was warm and really do appreciate a good hot flash now and then. I cooked last night for the first time, I made Bar BQ and baked potato's, we stocked up on food yesterday because we are going to be in less populated areas and I decided I can cook if I have to. I hope all of you are doing well and to all the GRANDKIDS Mem and Pop miss you so much. Hey Zac I hear you are driving the Stealth, how is that going? Jess and Nic try to help mommy as much as you can. Ben and Sissy try to give mom and dad a break and wake up at 8 instead of 6. Love you, Mem

Monday, May 21, 2007

Monday Evening in Idaho

Small Evidence of Weather Comments Later in this Blog Segment.
You should discover pictures at the Kodak site that show us at a location in Utah before starting today's leg of the journey (look for the strange looking American Indian dwelling). Most of today's driving through Provo and Salt Lake City and on through most of this small leg of Idaho found us facing high winds, rain and construction. We were quite surprised to find that a large portion of the Utah strech was quite urban while other areas remain quite undisturbed and naturally amazing.

As you view the many photos, keep in mind that although you see a whole lot of mountain shots (can't help ourselves) it is NOT the same mountain over and over. There may be multiple pics of a few but mostly you should know that this part of the country has been mountain after mountain with each seeming larger than the one before. We always wait anxiously to see what lies just over the next rise. One of the biggest challenges so far - finding a campsite for the night (especially one with WiFi). For instance, today we found one that looked perfect but could find no one to check us in - even though there was also a motel! It seems that 'after hours' must start at about 4pm. Fortunately we found another good spot just 6 miles down the road.

Is there anything so far about this trip that we don't like? We are both really tired of the wind & are hoping for a windless day sometime soon.

Now 21 May

Upon Exiting Nevada in High Desert Area North of Las Vegas and Nellis AFB.
Click here for more photos.
This entry is actually being written on Sunday Night (20 May) but will be posted when a connection is available. Tonight we are at an RV park that is MILES away from where we expected it to be and the WiFi is too marginal to upload to either the Blog or the Kodak site.
We wound up spending Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at the Luxor since they made us an offer we couldn't refuse (Spa suite for free). Room 24001 was very comfortable and you'll be able to view some pictures soon. We have at least 60 more photos to post at the Kodak site and I will do this just as soon as I have a reliable connection for long enough to do it.
No, we are NOT big winners but had a fun time. Part of Saturday was spent at Excalibur which remains pretty much the same as when it was built and we visited it for the first time, probably 12 years ago or more.
This morning we arose a bit earlier than normal for this trip (8:00am) and proceeded to load up the RV for the continuation of our journey. We were not surprised to find that the refrigerator was no longer running but pleasantly, Deb later discovered in one of our references just WHY it was not running. Jeff: For a small fee we might actually share all these things that we're learning about YOUR vehicle; however, in the absence of any appropriate remuneration, we just might keep all these neat secrets to ourselves.
...and now back to the travels. Sunday started with an almost immediate diverstion as some construction prevented us from joining up with the Interstate where we intended and after going a bit astray Deb (of course) sought some directions and we were soon back on track. One of our first encounters outside of 'Vegas was Nellis Air Force Base and, of course, for all you SciFi fans out there, the vicinity of Groom Lake and Area 51. Unfortunately, we were NOT abducted by Aliens on this trip, but we are looking forward to investigating this and other areas along this route in a lot more detail on some future trips.
When exiting Nevada we had to cross one small corner of Northern Arizona and were quite surprised to find a real oasis in the desert. Up to this point we had traveled at least 80 miles thru the desert where there were no services of any sort; in fact, the only evidence of civilization on this stretch was the highway (and other sojourners) we were traveling on. The oasis was a town named Mesquite where there were several large and beautiful resorts, an obviously exploding population and housing (anyone know of the Eagles "...Paradise"?), even a couple golf courses - all green and lush.
We are currently some miles South of Provo and the entire trip thru Utah has been simply fantastic. Views too amazing to describe, particularly winding thru the Virgin River Gorge. We're posting some photos of this and I hope you can get some sense of the dramatic scenes. There are other mountain scenes, etc. for you to enjoy (including several snow caps - matter of fact we just heard on the news that the snow in the mountains is a lot more sparse than normal for this time of year).
Monday we expect to be off thru Provo, Salt Lake City, a lot more mountains, thru the small section of Idaho and then into Wyoming. We hope you continue to join us on our journey and if you've posted comments to the blog and cannot yet see them, it is only because Internet access has been a bit more spotty than expected. Oh, and then there's TV. Right now we're watching a Golf Show on the only available (snowy) channel.
Deb Here: Jeff, Ty would not tell you but the counters in the bedroom are coming off, I went back while we were driving and low and behold the formica is lifting right off the nightstands.Oh I am sure that we can superglue them somehow or if need be we will duck tape them like the gas door, Wow, am I glad we brought duck tape, we will most likely buy more tomorrow at the grocery store just in case. We have yet to figure out what the beep beep is, but it is starting to go off more and more, today as I was driving in construction, doing the 65 posted speed, ( way too fast for almost a gravel-like surface) it went absolutely ballistic, Ty referred to it as morse code, and I do believe he was accurate, oh well just another thing for you to figure out, but do figure it out, otherwise it will drive you crazy.
To everyone else we are still having so much fun, the trip is so great and we are still going to buy a RIG. The driving is great and the views are so great that the time flies by, we can't believe that a week has gone by. Well it is getting late here in the mountains and I need to get my beauty sleep, I seem to not care too much about things like make up, and as you all can see, my hair has not had much upkeep either
.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Friday - Day Five

Inside the Pyramid...know it is not easy to see just look at size of this enclosed area.
Friday was spent mostly at the Luxor and a few hours at the MGM Grand - having a fun time and relaxing a bit. We had a short issue with the refrigerator in the Rig but it was fixed pretty quickly. Sorry to report...no big winners.


Saturday will be 'Leaving Las Vegas' (Ha) and heading into Utah.

Friday, May 18, 2007

At the Luxor on Day 4


Thursday was spent mostly in Arizona with Deb doing most of the driving. We know many of you predected that as soon as Deb got used to handling the Rig that she would be behind the wheel a lot. Not quite as much distance traveled but quite a workout for the V10 engine as we went up mountain and down valley (and I mean MOUNTAINS) but it performed very well and we are able to keep up with the flow of traffic in most cases without a problem.


We traveled though both low and high desert areas with all sorts of variations of flora and fauna including Joshua Trees, many varieties of cacti. The fauna were a bit less evident but at least most of what we saw was alive (like deer in the forest area outside of Flagstaff) rather than dead along the roadway like all the Armadillos we saw in Texas and New Mexico.


As I said, Deb was behind the wheel from Flagstaff to Kingman, AZ then I took over for the last three mountain runs of the day (either side of the Colorado River and approaching Henderson/Las Vegas from the south.We had not been on that road for a good number of years and were quite pleasantly surprised to find that the whole length going North out of Searchlight is now four lanes. Now for those of you who never heard of Searchlight Nevada or Cal-Nev-Ari (a town that is just about as long as the dirt air strip that runs parallel to the highway just behind the line of dwellings along the road), it is time to use Mapquest and/or Google Earth or some other such resource to check it out!


We are now at the Luxor for a couple of nights - taking a break from the driving and taking a showers where I don't have to stand with my head up in a skylight.
I've decided that I will be posting all of our photos at the Kodak site without any editing or comments, etc. just so they are available for everyone to view, rather than waiting for me to find the time to work with them so you may see some that are just a blur or that don't make any sense...keep in mind that most of these are being taken while on the move at speeds of up to 80 and road conditions from great to washboard.


...and a word from Deb:


Hey this is me, I am still here, just not to good with the new laptop and as you all can see Ty makes me drive all the time, and I am black and blue from the beatings. I am just joking!!! I am loving every minute of this trip, I miss you all and I hope all of you miss me too. Ty and I are really liking this "Don'y Worry, Be Happy" attitude. Zac, Nicole, Jess, Ben and Sissy, I miss you the most!!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Day 3 Ends in Flagstaff, AZ

At the Crater - Obviously Not Warm or Dry But Enjoying Every Minute.
This post finds us and the Big Rig at a KOA just on the East side of Flagstaff. Thru this day we traveled across a large portion of New Mexico and about half of Arizona.


Some of the highlights of the day inclued:

  • A chat (mostly Deb of course) with some Pueblo Indians who were selling crafts at a roadside stand. We got some interesting history lessons and bought some items and Deb was presented with a special necklace that was made for her right there during the conversation. I'll be sure to get a picture of that later.
  • A harrowing drive (Deb at the wheel again - she seems to attract the worst conditions) through some very high winds, followed by thunderstorms and heavy rain. We saw some very heavy lightning strikes to the South in the middle of all that and discovered later as we waited to watch LOST on TV that there was a wild fire started by lightning in that very area. It is sadly a very serious blaze and there are whole towns being evacuated in the area.
  • Being delayed through all of this we feared we had lost our opportunity to visit the Meteor Crater near Winslow, AZ; however, we decided to proceed to the site anyway and happily discovered that we forgot about the latest time change and the museum, etc. were still open (for 40 minutes). More on the crater and photos at some time later. When arriving back at the Rig in the parking lot, we had a gust of wind that was just about enough to knock us off our feet.
Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Canyon (weather permitting) then off to Nevada.
Thanx John, Chris and Tracy for your comments on various segments of this blog. We invite all of you to do the same at any time. Ask questions and make (appropriate) observations, etc., but be aware that your comments may not show up until some 24 to 48 hours later due to WiFi access.
Click here for photos.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

...and Day Two

One of our favorite images so far - taken by Deb along the road in rural North Texas.
...published a day late (sorry, no WiFi on Tuesday night).


Finally New Mexico. It is now 6:20pm Mountain Time on Tuesday. We've actually been in the state for a couple of hours now and Deb is getting her first experience in driving the Rig and is doing quite well. After just a little experience it is just about as natural as driving a car except it does require a little extra attention when passing or being passed by trucks where the tendancy is to push each other apart and if you are already near either edge...well, you can figure it out.



Among Deb's other accomplishments thus far, she has been called upon to serve in the uaccustomed role of mechanic on a number of occasions, the most notable of which was reinstalling one of the compartment lights while rolling since at that point we were already later than we would like to have been for the Monday night stop. The screws that attached light to the ceiling had worked themselves loose with vibration and the light fixture was dangling by the wiring and had to be fixed.
Another interesting aspect to the Monday night stop was finding the RV park. We have a book called "The Next Exit" which is great for finding such things as long as you are on an Interstate Highway; however, for a good part of yesterday and today we were traveling US Route 287 (not covered in the book). Deb called Vickie who "Googled" information about the next town we were approaching and within minutes we had a place to stay for the night (isn't technology amazing). Speaking of amazing technology, we've had some great WiFi connections so far and had absolutely no difficulty in making the connection. I know, as Chris pointed out yesterday, I could really be sending entries to this Blog from my cell phone and I may just do that for pictures from my phone, but between my poor eye sight and fat fumble fingers, sending text from the phone would be no pleasure.


As I write this we are travelling Interstate 40 which will be our home for the next 600 plus miles as we traverse New Mexico and most of Arizona. This is parallel to (and actually replaced in many places) the famous Route 66 and we've seen segments of the original from time to time. We'll probably decide to travel at least a short segment of it somewhere in Flagstaff area or perhaps through Winslow Arizona after our visit to the meteor crater.


The landscape of New Mexico is so much more varied than what we experienced in Texas and we are enjoying seeing the great mesas and all the other unusual features that grace the area.


AfterWord: Ah, the end of Tuesday was a bit brutal. Deb had the dubious honor of driving in the dark in the pouring rain as we searched for our intended stopping point. To make a long story...it turns out that the sign we were looking for (Hidden Valley (no less) RV Park was all overgrown with weeds and not lighted but we found it quite by chance just as we were about to ask for help. As I said, no WiFi but nice enough otherwise (excluding the getting drenched during the hook up exercise). Just another experience in motoring across the American SW.
Click here for some photos.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The End of Day One

Along a Texas Highway (with bug splat).

Welcome to the RockingA RV Park in Vernon, TX. Never heard of it, huh? Well now you have! A bit less progress on the trip today than expected due to starting a bit late but a very nice trip so far. We made one wrong turn before we even got out of Houston but it was a simple recovery of only a few minutes and everything went pretty much as expected otherwise. We encountered some very heavy traffic in Houston and Fort Worth, further delaying our progress, but the majority of our travels saw us at or near the speed limit. Most of the trip we saw lots of trees flowers along the roadside (will include some pictures when we make an earlier stop) but for the last couple of hourse the lanscape has been mostly flat and barren with the only diversions being fields of oil pumps dotted here and there. Thanks to a contribution from Rico (actually Eric - more on him and his family later), we had a CD player that could be plugged into the Rig's cassette player and we had some nice music to enjoy as we enjoyed the varying scenery (and sat in bumper to bumber traffic). Tomorrow we should arrive in Amarillo rather early in the day and expect to cover the rest of TX and most, if not all of New Mexico. Not a lot of photos to share at the moment but will let you know when more are posted at the Kodak site.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Hitting the Road

It is Monday morning a bit after 11am and we are just about ready to motor out of Houston. It has been a pretty warm couple of days here and much to be done in final preparations on the Big Rig (photos). It seems we are about ready to roll now, so adios from Texas and the next post will probably be from New Mexico or Arizona.

Friday, May 11, 2007

It all Begins Tomorrow

We are now down to the last day before the trip and we are packing (or at least preparing to). One large bag, two smaller ones and a couple of backpack type things. If we run out of room - oh well. Some of you have asked about an itinerary and while we certainly have our basic route determined, exact timing will only be known as we proceed. For the beginning of the trip: Saturday - Arrive in Houston (Flying from Philly) Monday - Depart on the motor leg of the trip and cover Texas and into New Mexico Tuesday thru Wednesday - New Mexico and Arizona with stops at the crater at Winslow and the Grand Canyon. Thursday and Friday - Nevada - staying over night both nights at the Luxor. ...more as we go - have to go pack now.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

More Preparations

Yesterday Deb sent off 3 boxes of things for the trip. This is not actually more stuff, just a repackaging of last week's box which we decided was a bit too big and heavy. At this point we are now down to whatever we can manage to take with us on the plane (mostly clothing) and we are coming up on one week to go before the adventure begins.