Road Warriors 2

CC Trip 2012 - Arizona

2012-02-01T13:52:00.024-05:00

We FINALLY made it to Arizona, after 3 days of traveling across Texas and through New Mexico.

Tony enjoyed the scenery on our way......

Our first stop is to visit with Barbie and Uncle
Pete in the Sonoita / Patagonia area, south of Tucson.

As we drove on to their road, the tree branches were a little too close to the motorhome, and in one instance, Tony had to hold up a long pole with a brush at the end, to move a branch out of the way. We settled in to our parking spot, next to their guest house, and Tony and Uncle Pete decided to grab a ladder and clippers, and drive the pick up back to that overhanging tree and give it a trimming.

I made myself useful in the motorhome, setting up for a week's stay, when I hear the truck pull up, then Uncle Pete at the door: "Maria! We have a major problem! Tony fell off the ladder, and broke his ankle!" Now, instantaneously, I am in a panic: "Where IS he??" Uncle Pete said: "He's laying on the side of the road - we need to get him to the hospital". With that, I was beside myself! Now I picture him laying there, in excruciating pain, with a bone sticking out of his ankle, blood everywhere, coyotes lurking, vultures overhead.....
We reach him, and he's nonchalantly laying on the ground, and his right ankle is almost at about a 30 degree angle to his lower leg. Not a pretty sight. He seems to be OK, but I gave him a Vicoden which I remembered to grab on my way out the door. We load him in the back of the SUV, and high tail it to the Hospital.

Uncle Pete, always the joker

Next stop....the Emergency Room!

Notice the face........

Luckily, he was seen in about a half an hour, and X-rays revealed a dislocation and fracture of the lower leg bones.

OUCH !!!!

Uncle Pete found this heading in the papers...

Effects of Morphine......

I got into trouble for taking photos of the X-rays:

I had to shove a burger in my purse to sneak him some food.

Lovin' that "In & Out" Burger!

Surgery is planned later today, but he is doing well - much better than I expected! However, he won't be able to bear any weight on the ankle, or drive for a long while.

The drive home from the hospital was interesting - in the Jeep, we had a walker, a shower seat and a wheelchair.....oh! and of course Tony, who rode in the cargo area. See if you can find him:

Good thing I do all the driving in the motorhome! Imagine if I didn't??? Now I'll just have to handle hooking up the Jeep to be towed, and handling the electrical and water / sewer lines. Our plans will continue as planned for the rest of the trip, with a few unplanned visits to an Orthopedist for follow-up.
Never a dull moment!!!

We returned to "the ranch", and got him all settled. This time of the year, we are among four couples who visit with Barbie and Uncle Pete. It's great to see everyone again:

Barbie, Stuart, Suzanne and Chuck

Marlene and Dave

Chuck and Millie

And us

We visited the magnificent home of Susie and Bill, friends of Barbie and Uncle Pete. They have a 360 degree view of the area, which offers some incredible sunsets.

Looked like the clouds were on fire!

We left the ranch for a visit with my high school friends, Doreen and Bill, who moved from Long Island to AZ last year. Just so happens that Doreen tore her calf muscle playing Pickle Ball in their development, and Gimpy has her leg wrapped up, so she and Tony make a good pair:

We took TZ out shopping and he now qualifies for official Geezer-hood, after riding in the electric scooter cart:

This is my life.........

Nothing keeps TZ out of Walmart....

Back at the house, TZ had a ramp built so he can wheel himself out on to the patio, so he can lap up some of that great Arizona sun. CLICK the arrow to see the video:

Tony saw the orthopedist today, and the soft cast was removed, and another X-Ray was taken, revealing the staples, plate and screws. Then a new, hard cast was applied for another 4 weeks.

Today is Valentine's Day, and we went out to eat with Doreen & Bill, and friends from Saddlebrook Ranch:

Doreen & Bill

Ted, Nini & Stuart

Steve & Judy, Judy Judy...

Tomorrow, I'm off to make good on my Honey's gift certificate for a hot stone massage here at Saddlebrook Ranch......yessss!

Drove to Phoenix for the day, to see Uncle George, and cousins Michelle, Carl, Carol and Amber. Had a delicious bar-b-q with filet mignon, salmon, and all the trimmings.

Then, back to Doreen and Bill's for the rest of our visit, before heading back to Texas for March, where we'll watch the building go up on the property.

CC Trip 2012 - Texas

2012-01-18T18:33:00.015-05:00

We made it back to Biloxi, MS, where we spent one night before we headed to Texas. Of course TZ HAD to make one more visit to the casino, and it was a very good decision. He's "up" quite a bit for the trip.
Our first stop in Texas is a campground in the Galveston Bay area. Here's the view from our door:

Here's the view at sunset:

There are about 200 green parakeets that visit the campground twice a day.....We know when they're here by the chirping of hundreds of birds!

We visited the NASA Space Center .....you know, "Houston, we have a problem..." The displays and exhibits were exceptional. We took the tram tour and visited Mission Control, a Space Station and Shuttle Mock-Up Facility and a building housing a display of rockets. Here's some photos from today:

These babies greet you at the entrance

Actual size front of a shuttle

One side of the cockpit

Mission Control ("retired" in 1991)

Mission Control work area - mock up used
in the movie Apollo 13

The following five photos show the actual area the astronauts use to train for the Space Station and former Shuttle program.

The Shuttle is being dismantled and the future training venue will be for the Orion program.

These photos are of the Rocket exhibition.

The rocket is so big, I was unable to get it into one photo.

These are from the inside exhibit.

Moonwalking ....

Actual Moon Rocks

The Space Center was well done and we had a "blast".......sorry, I had to.

Left the Galveston area for Quitman, TX, home of TZ's property. Here's Tony exercising during the ride:

We reached the famous town of Quitman, which is a small, rural town, between Tyler and Sulfur Springs, about 90 miles east of Dallas.

Those larger towns have everything we could want, so there's always somewhere to go or something to do.

Pop. 1809....soon to be 1810

As you drive around Quitman, you see farms and ranches, and plenty of oil drilling rigs.

Someone we know has one of these on his property, and collects between $1000-$2000 each month. Not bad! We've seen the usual horse and cattle farms, but also llamas, goats, and shetland ponies.

For now, we only have a cement pad with hook ups for electricity, water and sewer, so we're able to park here for a while.

The plans are in the works for a canopy over the entire cement pad, with a studio apartment and loft behind the motorhome, and a garage for the car.

We're traveling to Arizona to see friends. I-20 has the highest speed limits I've ever seen:

And also, very cool overpasses:

Taking all these photos must have really overwhelmed Tony:

CC Trip 2012 - West Coast of Florida

2012-01-06T11:03:00.029-05:00

As we headed south, we were "called" to Crabby Bill's on Clearwater Beach for a very special lunch - Oysters, Stone Crabs and a Lobster Roll.

We landed in Englewood, FL, for a visit with my parents. The weather is breaking and hopefully the cold snap is over. It has been in the high 20's for a few overnights - Warming up to the 70's in a day or two.

Mom & Dad are doing great - Not bad for 83 & 90 years old!

Dad is busy with fundraising for ads for their Alhambra Club, which supports developmentally and mentally disabled adults. They're having a shindig soon, so Dad gets businesses to cough it up to advertise in the event brochure.
There is a pond across from their home, and today, a 6 foot alligator climbed out to sun himself - They carted him away a couple of days later - too big to be there!

Enough for handbags, shoes AND boots!!!

Each day, two Sand Cranes visit and wait for my father to feed them cracked corn:

We spent a day with our CT neighbors, Dot & Steve, who are in Fort Myers for a few months - we visited nearby Sanibel and Captiva Islands with them, and the weather was perfect: sunny and in the upper 70's. Great day for beachcombing :-)

Dot & Steve

Santa's climbing up a palm tree

Here's Santa flying over The Crow's Nest

This salamander is well camouflaged

Here we are on Sanibel Beach:

On Captiva Island, a little bit of Paradise! Haven't been here in about 15 years.

Tony flew up north early Sunday am, to participate in the annual Scotty's Hunt in Chincoteague, VA til next Thursday, when I'll pick him up from Fort Myers airport on his return trip. I'll just have to lay by the pool and get some sun :-)
Meanwhile, I visited my sister Nina and my niece, Christina, (and Xena) in Cape Coral:

Nina and I had a great seafood lunch on the waterfront at Rumrunner's in Cape Harbor. Afterwards, I picked up TZ from the airport, and we headed back to my parent's home to spend one more night, before we leave in the a.m. Tony and the Campfire guys had a great time in Chincoteague, as they always do......the ducks they hunted did not...
Our last stop on the west coast brought us to the Sarasota area, specifically Siesta Key and St. Armand's Circle on Longboat Key.
Just before we crossed the causeway, there was a fantastic, larger-than-life sculpture of....well, you can figure this one out:

Siesta Key is world renowned for it's talc-like white sand.....let me confirm, it is true. It is the softest sand that ever met my toes! It's said that the sand there is 99% quartz, which makes is soooooo soft.

So many people walk the beach!

Can you just hear the surf?

Before we left the area, we stopped in Crab n Fin restaurant in St Armand's Circle. The food was a "10".....Fish Chowder, with chunks of fish in every spoonful, the BEST Caesar Salad, and a super dish of chilled Calamari Salad with lemon and capers. Life is good.....

On the way north, we passed a Classic Car dealership, and had to make a u-turn to go back and see these babies....Chevelles, GTO, 442 and Vettes All in mint condition, and they REALLY "brought us back" to the 70's.

We're headed west......next stops: Biloxi again, Houston (to see the NASA Space Center), then on to check the property in Quitman, Texas.

CC Trip 2012 - Florida Panhandle

2012-01-02T21:43:00.013-05:00

Ventured down to the Florida Panhandle, which is called the Emerald Coast, for the teal colored waters of the Pensacola, Fort Walton and Destin beaches.

The palm trees we drove past encourage me that we are headed in the right direction!

Along our drive, we noticed a number of eclectic homes:

At the end of the Destin causeway was a colorful waterfront hotel and a nearby sandbar:

Destin has some very upscale homes on the beach - and of course, lots of beachfront resorts. Took a walk on the beach and the sand was white and powdery.

Too bad it was chilly and windy, or we could have gotten some sun time in.

We visited the Destin Air Force Armament Museum and took in a variety of planes and armament on display.

A Huey - the type of helicopter TZ flew in Viet Nam

This could hurt!!!!

Purple Heart Dedication

Now, REALLY....can you just imagine???

So many gauges is such a tight space !!!!

Tomorrow, we head for the west coast of Florida.

Cross Country Trip 2012

2011-12-29T20:58:00.010-05:00

We're starting our trip this year by driving the Jeep down to Red Bay, Alabama, to pick up the motorhome which was having warranty work done at the manufacturer. Tomorrow, we drive south to spend New Year's Eve in Biloxi, MS, then on to the west coast of Florida, before heading west to Texas and Arizona.
Let the fun.......and sun.....begin!

Here's a familiar photo op........Tony takes his first nap of this roadtrip!!!

He has to rest up to prepare for Texas Hold 'Em in Biloxi.

Had a "little problem" today......We made a fuel stop, and entered the wrong driveway, which was adjacent to the gas station. Instead of ending up in the gas station, we were on the "road to nowhere", which dead ended in the woods! No where to turn this big monster around, so we had to un-hitch the Jeep, and back the motorhome all the way back on a very narrow road!

Woke up this morning and ...........no TZ !! Where, oh where, could he be, in this casino town??? Oh, of course!......he went out in the early hours of the morning, before sunrise, to play poker at the Beau Rivage. Silly me! Hope he brings home the bacon. :-)

Update........he's up $55....To be continued........

We went out to eat on New Year's Eve, then a little Black Jack, and a new BJ game called 21+3, where you play regular BJ, but put up a side bet using your 2 face up cards, and the face up card of the dealer. If those 3 cards show a poker hand, like a 3 card flush, or 8,9 and 10, or 3 fives, you win 9 times your side bet. A dealer told us about it and there was only one table for 21 + 3 in the casino. We watched as one player won over $2500 from the side poker bets alone! In less than an hour! TZ has found a new game.
As for me, well, I made my usual $ 50 donation, and walked. They don't call me "Squeaky" for nothing......

On our last day in Biloxi, Tony won almost $1000 playing Texas Hold 'Em :-)) ......OK - let's go shopping!

Tomorrow, we head east to see the Florida Panhandle, en route to see Mom & Dad in Englewood.

TENNESSEE

2011-08-11T20:35:00.017-04:00

Left for a week with Cori & Craig to visit Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Nashville.

Took forever to get here - 800 miles from CT, but today was a 10 hour day due to I-81 completely closed down due to blasting. Did they ever hear of night work??? Bumper to bumber traffic for miles. After a long day, cocktails were in order, and dinner by Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee.

On our first full day here, we went to Dollywood.

The wooden roller coaster was super - very fast but very noisy too. Took a tube ride and we all got drenched! But it was so hot, we welcomed the soaking.

We saw a show featuring birds which were injured and rehabilitated, then trained to perform. Beautiful creatures!

Tuck, the African Pied Crow, took a donation out of Cori's hand and put it in the box

The coal fired train ride was a welcome treat for our tired feet, but the engineer was a little too eager with the whistle - it was so loud that the kids were holding their ears!

The performers in the country music show were very talented and energetic.

One morning we opened the door and were greeted by a group of quacking ducks.

Tony doesn't look so happy about this!

Here's a shot you won't see too often - Tony feeding ducks!

I thought they were going to follow me into the motorhome!

Today, we're heading to a Cherokee Reservation about an hour away, in western North Carolina.

The museum was very well done, depicting life on the reservation in the late 18th century.

Within the reservation, there was an area which depicted venues of various demonstrations of Indian handicrafts:

Making clay pottery

Weaving

Belt made of buffalo hair

This tiny weaved basket goes for $50

Chiseling an arrowhead

A tree becomes a canoe

Council Lodge

Wood and hide drum

Larger weaved baskets range from $100-$400

An elk in the meadow

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

We headed to Nashville, and stopped at The Opryland Hotel. It's a massive building with a magnificent atrium, which has waterfalls, a "river" flowing through it, a rainforest and numerous shops and restaurants. The hotel is such a tourist attraction, that they charge $18 to park your car. Of course, we found another parking lot - for free :-)
Here's a video of the atrium, called "Cascades":
Click the arrow below:

Some other photos of our day:

Orchids growing out of a tree

We stopped for a wine and cheese tasting on the way home, always a good thing.

On another day, we visited Carnton Plantation, a privately owned home which was taken over by the Confederate army and served as a Civil War Field Hospital during the Battle of Franklin.

This is said to be the five bloodiest hours of the war. The battle involved a massive frontal assault larger than Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. The bedrooms upstairs served as the operating rooms, and there are stains on the wood floors where the blood soaked through the rugs. Of the 9,500 casualties on both sides, fifteen hundred Confederate soldiers are buried here, including 4 generals. The 2 acre cemetery is the largest privately owned military cemetery in the country.

Later, we went to The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which was well done, depicting early stars of the genre all the way up to the present.

We drove north into Kentucky to see the Lost River Cave.

It consists of a cave with a river running through it. We rode along the river in a small boat, and in some sections, the ceiling was so low that we all had to bend way over so as not to scrape our heads!

Animal life consists of bats, crickets, craw fish and cave fish. The bats and crickets are able to exit the cave to forage for food, and their excrement becomes fish food (!). The fish have adapted to the darkness and are thought to be sightless and since they have no preys, they do not have to be camouflaged, therefore their skin is translucent.

Outside, there is a canopy with a beautiful chandelier hanging from the center, where functions are held.

During the Civil War, the area was used by the Confederate Army.

Tomorrow, Cori & Craig fly home out of Nashville, and we continue down to Red Bay, Al, to leave the motorhome with the manufacturer to finish up with some repairs.

GREAT ADVENTURE

2011-07-21T19:05:00.004-04:00

We're on the road again, this time with Christie, Leo and Andrew, the first roadtrip for Christie and AJ. The temperatures are soaring close to triple digits, and the best place for us to park ourselves is at a waterpark. We'll save Great Adventure til tomorrow, and head for Hurricane Harbor to soak for a few hours.

AJ does not look too happy about the shark!

On our second day we hit the amusement park in the morning, then came back to the pool at the campground during the hottest part of the day, and returned to Great Adventure for supper and more rides. Here are some photos of Andrew on the kiddie rides:

Bucket looks a little tilted......

Mr. Goose came to taunt TZ

The boys are tired after a long day

"Louie the Lip"

Green Lantern

Andrew feeding the geese potato chips

Buddies Forever

CEDAR POINT, OHIO

2011-07-07T20:11:00.013-04:00

We're on the road again, this time to take Ariel and Nicole to Sandusky, Ohio, to Cedar Point Amusement Park. This place is like Great Adventure on steroids. There are about 15 roller coasters, live entertainment, a museum, arcades, a beach, hotels and a water park. It's located right on Lake Erie, with an adjacent marina, offering fishing charters. The weather is great and we have three solid days to spend here. Think we'll need every bit of it to see everything.

Our Chef tending to our steaks

There is a vertical ride called The Dragster, which jettisons you to a speed of 120 mph in less than 4 seconds, then ascends 420 feet in 5 seconds, and descends in another 5 seconds. (Great Adventure in NJ has a similar ride called King Da Ka). On our first day here, everyone went on except me (too chicken), but as they waited on line over an hour, I repeatedly watched the ride over and over, and desensitized myself to the absolute horror of it. By the second day, I took my inaugural ride on this nightmare. It's hard to describe, but I'll try: the acceleration is instantaneous, if you can imagine - I mean, think about it......in 5 seconds you're clocked at about 120 mph. 5 seconds!! Then, during the ride up, all you see is sky! Just straight up! You spend about one second at the top, then - whoosh - you drop so fast that your brains are scrambled. And in no time, it's over! People wait in line for HOURS for a 17 second ride. This one is strictly for the thrill-seeker. And often, the operators suspend operations, while the switches cool down, or whatever. This can happen repeatedly throughout the day, adding to your wait. And......once in a while, it gets to the top, only to stop and slip back down .......backwards!! Ah....... I don't think so....once was enough for me, thank you very much. Here are some short videos of The Dragster; Click the arrow below to see the ride:

Click the arrow to see a shot of how fast it takes off from a dead stop:

Click the arrow to see a shot of it passing me at it's top speed before it ascends:

Click to see the ascent:

We took a high speed ferry to nearby South Bass Island, and rented a Golf Cart to check out a few spots.

One of the attractions was Crystal Cave, which is actually a huge geode!

Tony was able to get in one of his famous naps on the way home:

GETTYSBURG 2011

2011-05-24T14:02:00.001-04:00

Left on our first trip of the spring with Mike & Pam -

Meeting up with the RV.net group over the next few days. The four of us rolled in a day earlier than the rest of the group.
We explored the Battlefield with a Civil War expert who gave us insight on this great battle at Gettysburg. Although the first shots fired to start the Civil War were at Fort Sumpter, SC, the Battle of Gettysburg was the greatest battle of the war. In the 3 days of this horrific battle, 10,000 died -bodies scattered in 6,000 acres of rolling meadows. The battlefield is dotted with 1,300 monuments of the participating states, some large, some small, but all very powerful.

Gen Rbt E Lee, on Traveler

Pam and Mike, with our Guide

A Virginia Snake Rail Fence

We had a great trip and enjoyed the company of our RV.net friends as always.

HEADING HOME

2011-03-14T09:37:00.004-04:00

We landed in Forked River, NJ, where Tony's sister, Loretta, and Greg live.

They have a wonderful home on a canal, and have a couple of boats and a jet ski, so this place is definitely rockin' in the summer.

Greg restores old wooden boats, and outboard motors. We spent a couple of days here before ending our trip.
The last stop on our winter trip was at our favorite restaurant,"Rhodes North", in Sloatsburg, NY, to see Tyler and Doreen.

We had a delicious lunch and headed home, at last.
We arrived in Connecticut to see some lingering snow scattered around (!). We put over 5,000 miles on the motorhome, and almost 4,000 on the Jeep. It was a great trip, but we can't wait to see our family! Thanks for following along - Stay tuned for the next trip, and Ciao!

THE CAROLINAS

2011-03-08T09:01:00.004-05:00

We landed in Myrtle Beach for a few days. Weather here is cool and windy, with some light rain. We met Tony's childhood buddy, Richie, and his wife Karen, who have a home here. Richie's sister, Marie, and her son Bob were in, visiting from Long Island. We feasted at Umberto's at Barefoot Landing, and a good choice it was. This eating has got to stop!

Our campground is adjacent to the 'famous' Apache Pier - the longest wooden pier on the east coast. We took a walk on it and the sights were wonderful: gentle waves kissing the sandy beach, the sun glistening on the water, the sea gulls anxious for a treat, and fishing lines dropped, waiting for the season's first catch.

The view back to our campground

We drove north to Hampstead, NC to see my friends, Maryann & Mark. Haven't seen them in a few years, so it was nice to get back together.

We have never used the DVD player in our center console, because there was no sound, and Mark fixed it in a matter of seconds - now Tony can watch a movie, while I drive. All the comforts of home!
It's raining so hard, that we delayed leaving another day. When we leave NC, we'll take a couple of days to arrive in Forked River to see Tony's sister, Loretta, and Greg.

ALABAMA

2011-03-04T18:51:00.005-05:00

Our front step has been broken for over a month, and we've had to use a folding step which we had available. On our way into Red Bay, Al, we missed the turn, and pulled into a service station to get directions. However, 'the last person' who came into the coach forgot to take the step in, and left it in the middle of the service station. So, we had to then use blocks of wood for the next two days. We spent two nights at the Tiffin campground, and were able to get our front step fixed, but the other repairs will have to wait until the next time we come down here.

We gave our neighbor Linda a call, to ask how much snow was left on our back deck....she took a look and discovered that the cover on our hot tub has blown over. Tony called our other neighbor, Vinny, who went to get a first hand look, and informed us that the water in the hot tub had just about evaporated. Since strong wind is common in this area, before we left, Tony had used a bungee cord, as well as a plank of wood on top of the cover to keep it in place. The problem is that the heater and circulating pump were still on, but there was only about a foot of remaining water, in the hot tub, and the air jets had ice on them. Not good. We probably blew out the motors. We'll have someone check it out fully, and soon!

So, I am driving, but fully immersed in this conversation between Tony and our neighbor, and I missed the exit for our campground. I pulled into a service station, which was not meant for a 40 foot rig, towing a car. After realizing we had to make a U-turn, I turned onto this two lane road, with a dirt embankment on the other side. Tony was 'strongly encouraging' me to continue into the turn, but I choked, thinking the motorhome would either sink in the dirt, or slip down the embankment. So now I am stopped, ACROSS THE ROAD, blocking both lanes of traffic, with cars building up on both sides. You can't back up while towing, even though I tried a little bit, but the towbar and car looked jackknifed, so I bit the bullet and listened to my husband, and continued into the tight turn onto the dirt. I held my breath and prayed, and ........yes! we made it! I'm sure this was very comical for all of the onlookers, but I was not amused, and neither was Tony. We both needed an adult beverage when we got to the campground!!

And if my nerves were not frazzled enough, after I checked in at the campground, the owner tells me that a bad storm is headed our way tonight ......and tells me if she needs to reach me, she has my number. I asked, "How bad??"....she replied: "Maybe a tornado". (WHAT???) "We had one in the next town last week", she added. (GREAT!) She continues with: "Oh, don't worry - My house is 75% underground, so ya'll can come over and hang with us for a while". All I could think about was the tornado scene in The Wizard of Oz, and instead of a house, our motorhome flying up in the sky. Hopefully, we'll get out of here in one piece tomorrow. Stay tuned!

PS - No tornadoes......just lots of rain.
Heading to Myrtle Beach for a few days.

UPDATE: The hot tub has been re-filled and is HOT!! Woo-Hoo!

ARKANSAS

2011-03-01T21:26:00.001-05:00

Our one night stopover through Arkansas was in Little Rock; our campground is right on the banks of the Arkansas River, facing the Downtown skyline - very pretty and all lit up at night.
We were recommended to try the "Flying Fish" Restaurant - it was crowded and we had a finger-licking good meal, with crawfish chowder, catfish and shrimp. The theme on the inside was 'everything fishing', with trophies and photos posted, and on the outside of the building, there were five older outboard motors mounted high on the wall.

These are for you, Greg!

Tomorrow we'll arrive at the Tiffin manufacturer, to see if they can fit us in for some work.

TEXAS - heading east

2011-02-26T18:49:00.005-05:00

We're headed east and it will take 3 days to get to our next stopover, 90 miles east of Dallas, where Tony wants to look at some RV lots near Lake Fork. Today was a long drive, and the area was studded with cattle ranches, oil well drilling rigs and not much else.

My Coach Butler had plenty of time to ........well, you know:

Notice the open mouth :-0

We pulled into our campground, and had to search to find a site with running water. Finally, we decided on a spot, but the overhanging tree branches were about to scrape the motorhome, so Tony had to get out the ladder, and assemble his trusty little saw, and cut down the branches. It was about 80 degrees in the sun, and he was NOT a happy camper, but.........alas! Success:

I must say, he has everything he needs in the rig. After this exercise, he needed a shower and a bourbon!
We found a very nice resort - Holiday Village of Lake Fork (hvfork.com), which offers building lots, condos, and an RV Park, with amenities of a pool, fishing ponds, clubhouse and a huge lake with what is called the best bass fishing in Texas - we saw photos large mouth bass of over 18 lbs!!! (Are you getting this, Dick ?) Tony settled on a great property, facing east, and in a nice quiet area with very friendly neighbors, who just happen to have a motorhome similar to ours. Here he is with the paperwork officially making him a Texas landowner:

No more "TZ"....now it's "Texas Tony"

The following photo is of our new neighbors, and after we have the cement pad poured, the plan is to put up a "car port" like this:

Our next stop will be in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the way to Alabama.

NEW MEXICO-On the way east

2011-02-23T19:23:00.011-05:00

We started driving east, but we're in no rush ........ Still cold and snowy back home in CT!
Tony, the Coach Butler, found some time to catch some zzzzzz's, his favorite pastime.

We allowed a full day in Deming, to take the long drive to the Gila ("Hee-la") Cliff Dwellings. Along the way, we came upon the Santa Rita Copper Mine - an open pit mine one mile wide and 1600 feet deep.

The mine is active 24/7 - since 1910, 2 billion tons of material has been moved. Each year, 200 million pounds of copper are produced.
We crossed the Continental Divide along our route - at this elevation, it was quite cold, and there was snow on the roadside.

We came to a small mountain town called Pinos Altos (Tall Pines). Here, there were a number of attractions:

The site of Judge Roy Bean's Store

The Old Opera House

An historic Museum

And of course, a Saloon

The drive to Gila National Park and the Cliff Dwellings was named the "Trail of the Mountain Spirits" National Scenic Byway; here's a peek of the beauty we saw along the way:

The scenery was breathtaking, with rolling mountains and steep drop-offs.... and no guard rails. It seemed we were on top of the world.
The Gila Cliff Dwellings are a group of caves and are some of the most spectacular archeological sites in the area. It is believed that they were formed about 28 million years ago, as the result of two large volcanoes erupting. Artifacts and studies on the wood used to form the wall supports suggest that Native American tribes (originally the Mogollons) lived here as early as the 1200's.

We hiked along a half-mile trail to the caves, then 175 feet up to the caves, which sit at about 5900 feet elevation. The trail was rough, uphill and grueling, and we utilized the benches along the way.

Tony Z doesn't look too happy -
it was a long day,
and he missed his nap!!

We're smiling, because it's now downhill all the way!

ARIZONA, with a short trip to Las Vegas

2011-01-31T12:57:00.048-05:00

We made it to Arizona, and during the ride, Tony got in another nap in order to re-charge for the Mansfield's visit!

Here's the famous "Bunkhouse" or Guest House for those friends visiting Barbie & Uncle Pete; We love the eclectic assortment of artwork and trophies throughout the Bunkhouse, which is, by the way, a 2 bedroom home.

Here is the main house - a wonderful adobe atop a hill, with breathtaking 360 views.

Note the inclined walkway,
which has been named: "The Ho Chi Min Trail"

Here are the three Mansfield "puppies", TJ, Harley and the ever frisky Rosie; I actually tried to have them sit and pose, and you can see how that turned out:

And some views inside the house:

The powder room is decorated in the "Day of the Dead" very popular around here - but I can attest that the Mansfield's are definitely not devil worshippers:

Tony inadvertantly cracked a tooth, so he and Peter immediately called their Campfire Club buddy, Dr. Finn, who advised them to yank out the broken piece. So, the guys disinfected a pair of pliers (with Tequila, of course), and out it came!

We drove south to Nogales, AZ, a border town, to have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and on the way home, we stopped to visit a grotto, to light a candle for our late friend Scotty, a CFC member. The grotto is built into the face of a rock cliff, and you need to climb steep stairs to reach it. A mother promised to have the grotto built if her 3 sons would return from the war; now, people light candles there for the sick and departed. It is as full as it can be, and every time we are in the area when we visit, we light a candle for Scotty.

By Thursday, all 10 of us have arrived at the ranch. We went to the Gem Show in Tucson, where merchants from around the world gather to sell to eager jewelers and shoppers with lots of money to spend. There are huge tents all around Tucson for this once a year extravaganza. We all contributed to the cause, to help the economy, of course!
Chuck found himself the perfect seat made out of carved wood from Thailand.......

Afterwards, we had our own little tailgate party in the parking lot:

And by then, we were ready for dinner at our favorite restaurant in Tucson, Vivace.

Our hosts for the week, Barbie and Uncle Petey

Millie and Chuck from Scottsdale

Marlene and Dave from Albuquerque

Suzie and Stuart from L.A.

And Us!

We are at 4800 feet elevation here at the Mansfield's, and it's been extremely cold - yesterday morning it was 9 degrees!!! Colder than back home. They've broken all records going back over 25 years. Sure, we come for the warm weather, and it's freezing.

We needed more firewood, so the He-Men were on it:

As Stu said: "How many Senior Citizens does it take to chop down a tree??"

We all prepared our favorite dishes each night - you can be assured that we ate very well. Here was our contribution - "dungie" crabs:

After 8 days of R & R, we headed north to visit with my high school friends, Doreen & Bill, who recently moved from Long Island to Oracle, AZ, just north of Tucson.

We had to unload some food from the motorhome, which was placed in storage while we were there, and OMG what do you think we made?

There's those crabs again!

We were out and about one day, and came across a common sight in AZ - look closely there's a roadrunner in the photo:

Beep-Beep

We flew to Las Vegas where our friends Carol & Vinny picked us up in a van, so all six of us could be together as we traveled during our 4 days here. As we drove on the highway, there was a mattress in the lane up ahead, and someone pulled over to retrieve it. Carol warned Vinny to avoid it, but nooooo, Vinny had to drive over it. We felt the bump as we drove over it, and then heard people honking at us and pointing to our van. Well, we realized that we were dragging the mattress under the front wheel !!! It was absolutely hysterical! We pulled over, but not before we captured a photo of the mattress from the van window:

Bet you've never done this before!

You can't make this stuff up !!!

We met up with another couple, Roseanne and Ron, who live out here in Henderson, NV, and ate at our favorite restaurant in Las Vegas, Roma Deli. The table we are sitting at is the only granite table in the place; Celine Dion had it made for her when she eats here with her family, and we always request it when we come. Bill is ga-ga over Celine, and I thought he would kiss the table.

Here are the three buddies who met in Viet Nam, over 44 years ago -

The Robin Hoods

Roseanne & Ron

Carol & Vinny

We drove to the Hoover Dam to see the progress on the new bridge. In 2009 when we were here, the work was about halfway done, and was completed recently. The road to the Hoover Dam is now just an outlet road with a turnaround; you can no longer drive from Arizona to the Dam. You have to drive into Nevada, and follow the signs to the Dam. Here's a photo from last year's construction project, followed by the finished bridge, about 1.3 miles long:

This was taken in 2009

Here we are today in front of the span

Here's all six of us

The Hoover Dam was a magnificent engineering feat - a marvel to look at every time we see it.

We saw the Criss Angel show at the Luxor - the magic acts were great - this stuff always drives me crazy. How do they do it???
During our stay in Las Vegas, we walked around in Caesar's Palace and Bellagio, where Ron works. The feature exhibition in the Bellagio was a tribute to Chinese New Years - the year of the rabbit.

We had dinner in Morton's Restaurant, where Ron, Jr works, and feasted on incredible food and service.

Later, we heard the magnificent David Osborne at the piano in Bellagio's.

We took a ride to Phoenix to see Uncle George, Carol and Michelle who was in from San Francisco.

A few years ago, after Aunt Lee passed away, Tony planted an orange tree in her memory. This year, we were able to pick the fruit, and Uncle George also gave us some picture-perfect ruby reds from his grapefruit tree.

A little crooked, but the grapefruit tree survived the frost

Drove back to spend more time with Doreen & Bill. Their community in Oracle, Saddleback Ranch, is still under development, but there's plenty to do - We joined a Putter's group, made greeting cards at a crafts meet, shot some pool, drooled over the new model homes in this Robson community, did some shopping and had some great meals at local restaurants.
This is one of the many exquisite sunsets from their patio, which has a 180 degree view of the Santa Catalina mountains.

On the docket is a Native American Fair with 140 artisans, music, food and dance. Also, just up the road is Biosphere 2, which served as an incredible science experiment between 1991-1993.

Four men and four women spent two years totally enclosed in a sphere, completely cut off from civilization. They were responsible for harvesting their own food from 4 different biomes: savanna, desert, ocean and tropical forest. They had 250,000 gallons of emergency water, but by the end of the two years, the entire supply was unused, as they acquired water from condensation within the sphere. This one-of-a-kind facility sits up on a ridge at 4,000 feet, in the middle of a high desert. It was recently named one of the 50 must see "Wonders of the World", with real-time research on the future of the planet.

Tony won this painting from his bid at the miniatures show
at Settler's West Gallery in Tucson

Tony bought me this magnificent piece of Santa Clara pottery
at a Native American Art Festival

At another Artisan Show in Oracle, we bought Doreen & Bill
this painting as a housewarming gift

We ventured out to an indoor range to get in some shooting. Bill & Doreen have never even held a gun (I remember how that felt), but by the time we left, well, just suffice it to say that Doreen was Annie Oakley reincarnated.

On our last night here, the sky was lit up with stars, so much so that it was as if we were in a planetarium. The communities here are essentially set in the desert, and its about 10 miles to the nearest town, so there was very little ambient light. Wish I could have captured it in a photo.

We leave Arizona tomorrow, and head east to Deming, NM, which will be our base while we venture out to see nearby ancient Indian cliff dwellings.

NEW MEXICO

2011-01-29T19:03:00.001-05:00

We finally got out of Texas - it took us 3 days from Austin. I-10 from one end to the other was almost 900 miles!! We're just passing through New Mexico and spending the night in Deming. Our campground is in a valley, surrounded by rugged mountains - very picturesque.

We made our obligatory stop at Wallyworld (Walmart) to stock up on a few supplies. Tomorrow we'll head down to Sonoita, AZ, where we'll stay at Barbie & Uncle Pete's for a week or so. Wonder what trouble the guys can get into together ??