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Miscellany

We have accumulated some small events and their photos on our way.  Today, we will share them with you.

At a rest stop in Texas, we found this “welcome” sign.  Some welcome!

In Phoenix we stayed with Luise and her “lapdog” Peaches – an English springer spaniel.  

Luise has a grassy backyard, which Maggie puppy loved.  Here is a picture of a tangerine tree - how about picking your breakfast this easily.

At a Catholic Mission church in New Mexico, there was this lovely statue of an Indian convert – Carole’s dog Missy is in the front.

Have Carole and Vera killed each other yet?  Here is a photo taken at the Tucson Desert Museum to prove we haven’t done so.

Phoenix, Arizona

Our visit started with a two night stay (Thursday and Friday) at the beautiful home of Maria and David in Laveen, Arizona – I’ve selected two photos of their back patio for you to drool over.

Thank you Maria and David for a wonderful visit!

Our next gracious host is Luise, a friend that we met for the first time in 2006, connected through Carole’s Girl Scout service in Virginia.  She lives in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix.  On Saturday, we all went to the “Desert Botanical Garden”, and the Heard Museum to see the “Native People of the Southwest” exhibit, which was exceptional.  Some photos of cacti in bloom are below.  Luise, you are the hostess with the mostest.

On Sunday,  we depart for Tucson to see the Biosphere and a special art gallery which Carole will tell you about later.  Then on to California on Tuesday!

Here's an improved map

New Mexico to Arizona

Our last report had us in Santa Fe and getting ready to go to Taos. 

We visited the Museum of Indian Culture in Santa Fe, where these figures where seen in the sculpture garden.

We left our lovely campsite at Cochiti Lake on Monday and drove north through Santa Fe and on up to Taos (which we had heard so much about).  The winding mountain road followed the Rio Grande up and up – 70 miles of curvy driving with great views of the snow capped mountains.

But, were we disappointed when we got to Taos.  Wind blowing dust like crazy, dry and not so beautiful landscape, road lined with ticky-tacky tourist traps (not us!).  Even  the shops around Taos Plaza were nothing special.  Oh well, won’t go up there again.

We came back to Santa Fe, had dinner at a wonderful restaurant we had discovered in 2006.  Stayed at Motel 6, and woke up to snow falling!

We headed south to the New Mexico/Arizona border on Route 60, a scenic route through the mountains.  This took us to Springerville, AZ, where our expected state campground was closed due to the budget.  Carole’s visit to the police station resulted in us parking in the Safeway lot overnight – the temp dropped to about 28 degrees, and the furnace ran all night.

The next day sent us down Route 60 towards Phoenix, through the Salt River Gorge – a spectacular, awesome drive – all Vera got to see was the yellow line on the roadway – too scary to look over the edge!  Carole’s pictures are below.

We went on down the road towards Phoenix,, where we are staying with Maria and David for a couple of days.  More on Friday.


Hope all of you are doing well.

New Mexico

As you know, we stopped in San Antonio , saw the outside of the Alamo, the beautiful Riverwalk, Courthouse, Train Station and many lovely old  adobe homes, but there was no parking anywhere – again, it was “Spring Break” in Texas.

From San Antonio traveling north, there was empty land – derelict little towns and vast expanses of almost dry and barren land for miles and miles, tumbleweeds piled up against the fence.  

We ended up (after a long, dry day) in Fort Stockton, TX and “camped” at the Walmart there.  Carole reports that the store was not up to Virginia standards and she didn’t buy a thing! 

After getting back reluctantly in the drivers seat, we headed for New Mexico, and almost immediately saw a difference in the landscape and the prosperity of the settlements – the land did seem to be less arid. 

We ended up in Carlsbad NM and found a state campground at Bradley Lake.  We met the lovliest  (US Army) family there, and Luke and Claudia helped unstick our rear window.  They are moving to  Saratoga, NY in June and are looking forward to seeing green and snow again – not much here.

We had planned to go the Carlsbad Caverns the next morning, but had a problem with the electrical system that needed immediate attention, so we hightailed it to an RV service center, where we were referred to a parts place and repair facility in Albuquerque, NM, only 267 miles away, filled with nothingness (but we did see a group of pronghorns).

Through Roswell (no, we didn’t stop to see the alien mummies) and through more  hot and dry and empty countryside, but we got there by 5pm, picked up the part and were chased from spot to spot at the local Walmart, but were at the Service place Saturday at 8am and are now all fixed up.

Here’s the best part.  We are now in a wonderful campground outside of Santa Fe that we had discovered in our 2006 trip (Cochiti Lake, Corps of Engineers) and are enjoying the cool weather and the beautiful mountains.  Here are the pictures of the campground and the scenery.  We will leave Santa Fe on Tuesday morning, but will tell you about our visit here in Santa Fe and Taos on our next entry.

More later, let us hear from you! 

Padre Island, Tx

We followed the coast of Texas from Beaumont to Corpus Christi, and then out onto the Padre Island National Seashore.  To get there, we took a ferry from Port Aransas to the island - a neat experience because of the efficiency of the service - on and off!  No charge!  Pictures were taken from the ferry.

On Padre Island, we had to park on the beach with everyone else (motor homes and trailers as far as you could see) - no services, but no fee.  The next day, we were able to get a space at the campground for another night, where there was a bathhouse and fresh water.  The picture is of a lonely camper on the beach (which is also allowed), and the beautiful emptiness of the sand dunes (no walking allowed on the dunes).

On our way north, we stopped in Corpus Christi to look at the aircraft carrier Lexington that Vera's friend Jill and her husband Scott served on - now a monument.

We are now in San Antonio, staying in a motel because there is no room at the State Campgrounds - spring break from school sends families to the outdoors, filling them up!

More later.

Here's where we are - follow the blue line

Almost to Texas

We haven't had Wi-Fi at our stopping places.  Hope you haven't worried about us.

After leaving Tallahassee (tummies full of good barbeque from Sonny's), we spent two nights on Mobile Bay in Alabama, waiting for the tornados to come, listening to weather radio and keeping our fingers crossed.  It was a terrific storm and it was nice to be dry and warm inside the RoadTrek.  The moonroof windows gave us a wonderful view of the lightning.  Winds were too high to drive out on the next day.

On to Mississippi, where we “found” a campground at Waveland (near the Louisiana border) for Thursday night – what an adventure, as it was a campground that had been destroyed by Katrina and then rebuilt, but the road to get there had not!  We drove very slowly along this shoreline road, where that were no homes or businesses – just bare cement pads, driveways to nowhere and concrete pilings sticking up in the air.  Such devastation.  The park had been under 28 feet of water, and most of the trees were dying.

Friday night, we crossed Louisiana, had a wonderful meal at Bills’ Seafood in Moss Points (shrimp, catfish, boudin balls, and rolls that were fried instead of baked).  Our campground was not so wonderful – right on a swamp with strange facilities – it also is being rebuilt, so I guess we shouldn’t be critical.  Carole says it looks like Pogo’s home (from the comic strip).

Leaving today for Texas, which will take us days to cross, but we are going to use our trip to see lots of things – heading toward Corpus Christi (and Padre Island), and then to San Antonio.

Pine Crest Inn Visit

We stopped in Pinehurst, NC to visit Andi, Carole's long-time friend and former co-worker from ANCC  Caught up on family news and had a wonderful lunch in Mr. B's Lounge at the Pine Crest Inn.  The Inn has been in the Barrett family for 48 years and is a favorite destination. 

If you are ever in Pinehurst, give it a try!

We Found Springtime

We didn't have far to go to get away from Winter!  Visiting Nancy and her family in Sanford, NC.  Heading on to Augusta, GA today.