Saturday, December 30, 2006

Mesa for New Years

We arrived in Mesa about 3 PM and found a place to park for the week. We are staying at Apache Wells RV Resort. You can see the exact location by clicking on the "Where are we?' link to the right.

We had the truck and trailer washed in Willcox. They do a pretty good job and sure save my back! When hooked up we are 65 feet long and 13 feet high. That's a lot of area to wash.

The weather was still cold and we even saw snow on the ground in Texas Canyon. I don't remember ever seeing that before. Traffic got heavy before we hit Tucson and the interstate from Tucson to the Phoenix area is always very crowded. It was not a big problem, but it did require a lot of paying attention.

We always cause a commotion when we arrive in a new RV park. All the neighbors come out to see if I can really park this huge thing. Then they all want to talk about the truck, trailer, motorcycle and satellite system.  A couple guys even climbed up into the truck to look at the inside.  I enjoy answering their questions, but it does make setting things up take a little longer.

We finished setting up and then made a trip to Wal-mart to stock up on groceries. We called Mom and decided to go see her tomorrow instead of this evening. We splurged and had Western Bacon Cheeseburgers at Carl's before coming home to rest up for the night. Traveling so far so fast has worn us both out.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Bowie

We got an early start this morning and gained an hour when we crossed into the Mountain time zone so we went further than we had planned. Even with stopping for fuel in El Paso we arrived in Bowie, AZ at about 3:30 this afternoon. There was no reason to stop anywhere else along the way due to the cold temperatures. It never got above 46 degrees anywhere, it was foggy and we encountered drizzle in a couple places.

Whenever we pass through Bowie I think about the family visit to Ft. Bowie when we were growing up in Tucson, and about the return visit I made with my family several years ago to deliver the crossed sabers I had found to the museum there. Now it is a National Historic Park, but it was just some rancher's land when we visited back in the 60's.

There is a lot of snow on the Chiricahuas so it looks very different from the last time we were here.  We will leave here in the morning and stop in Willcox to get the truck and trailer washed. Then it is on to Mesa where we will try to find a place to spend a week or so.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Westward Ho

We are on our way west again. We left Denton yesterday and only drove as far as Abilene, TX where we spent the night in a city park by a lake. It was free but we had no hook ups. We were all by ourselves so it was quiet and peaceful.

Today we drove as far as Van Horn, TX. The wind blew very hard and it was no fun driving. Our fuel mileage was also seriously impacted. About 3 pm we ran into rain and the temperature dropped to 36. That was even less fun.

Tomorrow we will continue west and probably stop in Demming for the night. We don't like to go so far so fast but this weather is no fun. We are hoping for better weather in AZ.

Monday, December 4, 2006

Denton for Christmas

We will be back in Denton tomorrow to spend the Christmas season with Dayna, Chris and the kids.

We headed south as we mentioned in the last post. We spent the first night in Montgomery and had a pretty good shower during the evening and a couple more light showers before morning. That was about it. The next day, Thursday, we drove down to the Escapees park in Summerdale, AL where we had spent a week on the way to TN. We really like it there and since it is close to the Gulf it is about as warm as anywhere in the area. We spent three nights there and just did a little shopping and went out to dinner one evening. Gulf shrimp are good when you buy them near the Gulf!

We decided to return to TX by way of the southern route to try to stay as warm as possible. We spent last night at Poche's Fish n Camp in Breaux Bridge, LA. It was kind of a neat place, but cold and windy. They have about 10 acres of man made lakes that are stocked with bass. The campsites are right on the lake so you can almost fish from you door. It would be a good place to spend a vacation if you are a fisherman.

Today we came across the rest of LA and into TX where we are staying for the final night before driving to Denton tomorrow. We are at the Escapees park in Livingston.

We saw only a little damage while driving across LA yesterday. We took I-10 and then the I-12 shortcut that goes straight to Baton Rouge instead of following the I-10 loop down to New Orleans. There were a few billboards that were piles of bent metal and a couple light posts that had been knocked down, but that was about it. I guess they have gotten things pretty well cleaned up.

We plan to be in Denton until after Christmas when we will head west, so will probably not post much for the next couple weeks. Merry Christmas to all.