Coronado National Memorial

We took the trip up the Coronado Canyon to the top. As you can see from the picture (taken less than half way up) the "road" is unmaintained mountain dirt and full of switch backs. At the top is Montezuma Pass and the Boarder Patrol observation station. What a beautidul place to work.

The trip down the backside was worse. I don't think you could call this a road. It was rutted and full of tire flattening, sharp rocks. The ranger said go slow and it should take about 45 minutes. An hour and a half later, we got back on some of the worst blacktop I have ever driven on. The sholders were all washed away. The two lane road was barely one. Another hour to get back around the Huachuca Mountain range and home to the coach.

This is deffinately why I got the AWD Vue. That was fun all the way.

At the top of the picture , near the entrance to the canyon, there is a thin brown line going off to the left. That is the Mexico border. The mountain in the background is in Mexico.

Mexican food

I really like good Mexican food. Places that don't confuse "heat" for taste. And it doesn't hurt if the plate looks great.

Great company also helps the food taste great. MI Casa restaurant in Benson, AZ.

This is the place. If we had not been referred  here I would never have considered this place. But what a great find. Hidden off the road, behind a chain link fence. We went back for lunch the next day.

City of Rocks

We were going to stay the night in the RV, but decided to just day visit. Pretty amazing campground nestled into the rocks. We could have parked the coach were the car is parked. Not very level, and no hookups. But it is one of the best dark night spots in New Mexico.

Pecos, Texas

We are "West of the Pecos". That's for all you Saturday morning western fans (from when I was young). Do you still remember Pecos Bill riding on a cyclone?

We went to dinner last night at a local Mexican (excuse me, Latino) restaurant. The place was full of oil field worker and ranchers. When we left, our SUV was the only "car" in the parking lot. Everything else was a truck.

We're going to the West of the Pecos Museum today.

And don't forget Judge Roy Bean. The only law west of the pecos, even if he had no official right to judge anyone.

Thelma wants to navigate

Thelma here.

I am sick and tired of only going were the staff chooses!

I'm going to learn how to work this GPS thing. And then we will go places that I find interesting.

That darn staff of mine kidnapped Louise and I and have taken us to god only knows were.

They tricked us into those cages and took us out into the freezing cold, put us in this contraption that rolls and bumps and makes all sorts of strange noises. we'll get even tonight when Loren is sleeping, I'll jump on his balls whiles Louise bites his foots. then when he gets up we will trip him.

Pay backs are hell!

The Best RV Park Ever

Staying the week at John & Nancy's is the best RV Park ever. And it is free.

View from the pool towards the Coach.

View from Coach to the pool.

Picture with Yogi

It was cold this morning, but I couldn't resist taking a picture with Yogi.

On our way

Kevin and John started working on the coach early and we were done by noon.

The furnace problem was corrosion.  John fixed a connector and the furnace started right up. We thought all was well. But then he shut it down and it wouldn't restart. Found corrosion on the connectors inside the blower that connect to the sailswitch. That took care of the problem.

Kevin found and fixed the power problem with the SeeLevel system. Bad connection in the fuse box.

Sharon got John to look for holes in the firewall. She was (correctly) convinced that cold air was blowing into the coach. John found a large opening around the steering column. He fabricated a piece to cover the opening. And he filled another opening were the wire harness enters the firewall. What a difference it made. I wouldn't say we were toasty, but I could feel my toes today as I was driving.

We left Kevin's about noon and we are stopped for the night about 30 minutes north of Louisville. Decided not to stay at Walmart. Instead, we found a Yogi Bear Park that is mostly closed for the winter. But they have a few drive through spot in the front with self check in envelopes.

We drove past the Walmart. Lot full of trucks and not a level spot to be found. We made the right decision to go to the park.

Thelma and Louise have settled in to the sounds and movement of the coach. They got Sharon up at 1:00am and then again at 3:00. I slept through it all. They have even slept together under the chair. I think they are planning a mutiny. Louise did disappear this morning. We looked all over for her. I even went out side to see if she had gotten out when John moved the coach into the building. But, that is when we discovered she was sleeping under the chair with her sister.

It was a good day. Looking forward to getting farther south and out of this cold.

Made the trip to Kevin's

Well, we survived the 3 hour trip to the Ohio Heartland otherwise know as Cruising America RV.

The ride was cold, cold, bitter cold. The dash heater in this rig is just not enough to keep you warm when the wind chill on the picture window is sub zero. We even started up the genny, and ran the space heater. Made very little difference. Stopped to run the front furnace (only one that is working). Didn't want to clean off the four foot long black streak down the side of coach, so we turned the furnace off.

Now that we are here, and plug into 50amps, we can run space heater and front furnace. Coach is warming up nicely. With the electric blanket, we should be good for the night.

Time to head south

Mother Nature has dealt us a parting shot as we make the final trips, up and down the 15 stair steps from the house to the Bus. A beautiful 1/2 inch of very cold and slippery snow.

It will be very good to get out of Michigan.

National Air Force Museum

The National Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH is simply loaded with planes and history.

And it is FREE!

This is the MIG that the US paid $100,000 to a North Korean airman when he flew it to South Korea. The US had "bombed" the North with leaflets trying to get a pilot to defect.

This gives an idea of how many planes are on display.  This just part of one display wing. I think there were six wings.

Taliesen West

Frank Loyd Wright's Taliesen West is a dump!

The architecture is superb but the condition is horrendous. He was broke and moved to what was then a remote corner of the desert near Phoenix. Got his students to pay him tuition to build their own sleeping huts and build his house. What a deal. If he hadn't been such a brilliant architect, he would have gone to jail for fraud. As it was, he used local materials that were not able to withstand the desert environment. Many of the walls and ceilings have been replaced.

All of the above said, it is beautiful. It blends in with the desert, like it was made by nature.

Floating the RV

No the GPS is not confused. We are in the water. Actually the water is all around us.

We took the Galveston to Port Bolivar Ferry today. We skipped the giant "race track / parking lot" call Houston. Took a short cut across the mouth of Galveston Bay.

As you can see from the windshield, we also took a bath in salty sea water. Not worried about rust because tomorow morning we get freezing rain. That should clean off the salt from the ocean and add a layer from the road salt.

Life is just great down here in the sunbelt.

Now we are going to eat Crawfish. Sharon just talked the young lady next to us into showing how to tear off the head and clean the scales off the tail.  I'm glad I ordered mine grilled not boiled. I can just eat them not clean them

The Big Tree

Goose Island State Park is just north and across the Copano Bay bridge from our campground. It has this huge Live Oak Tree. Trunk is 11 feet in diameter. The branches are 90 feet from side to side. And the tree is estimated at 1000 years old. If this tree was growing in my yard, it would cover the entire yard and part of each neighbor's yard.

We visited there again today. A pair of endangered  Whooping Cranes ( only 250 remain alive today in the world ) nest near the tree. They had a juvenile with them. It was probably hatched this spring in a Canadian National Park near Alaska, where the birds summer. They migrate here for the winter. I couldn't get any good pics of the 5 foot tall birds with 7 foot wingspans.

Kidney Stones are NO FUN

Well I survived 3 days of kidney stone pain, nausea, 4:00am emergency room trip, middle of the night trip to nearest open pharmacy (40 miles one way) for pain pills and anti-nausea pills.
As I said, "I survived'.
Barely!
I still feel like left over flu.

We have said our good byes to Care and we will return to volunteer again. It was a very uplifting experience. I met a number of very positive people who have not had the same hand dealt to them that I got. I met some other people that made me reinspect my attitude. In any case I think I am a better person for having spent a month helping others.

Self inspection (and kidney stones) can be painful!