HEADING HOME

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.