Lets finish the details of the CA/AZ trip

Lets finish the details of the CA/AZ trip

Saturday afternoon March 28, 2009 (ninth travelogue of this trip)

Well, it seems a little strange to be finishing up this extended travelogue so belatedly. It further seems strange to be posting this information from Hawaii. That will be the subject of the next travelogue. Since we got home, I have been going at full speed on several projects. One was getting our taxes ready for our tax person. That takes a full 4 days of work to sort out all of the business records and expenses. You would think that I would use some sort of good business accounting system, but so far that has not happened. Given my tendency towards procrastination, I would probably not keep the records up to date anyway.

Now to our trip home. After our wonderful, extended stay in Yuma, we headed home on March 2. The journey home was about 1200 miles, and we decided to break the trip down into smaller legs than we normally do. We have a goal to schedule shorter travel days, but somehow that does not always work out.

Our first stop was the Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, AZ (map). This is a casino between Phoenix and Flagstaff on I-17. We have stopped there before and Pat rates it as one of the better casinos. Our next stop was the Sky Casino (exit 102 on I 40 in NM) (map). We had not stopped there before. Again, Pat enjoyed the casino and came out ahead at these casinos. From there we made our traditional stop at the Wal Mart in Trinidad, CO (map). We tend to stop there, as it allows us to arrive home in the middle of the next day. We arrived home home March 5 about noon.

On the last two legs of the trip we fought gusting cross winds most of the way. Some were very strong and at least one semi was blown over after we went through the area. Fortunately, the bus does pretty well when subjected to these terrible conditions, but it is still not a lot of fun. We did hit a good weather window for our trip home. A day or two after we got home we had a small snow storm. Given the road to our house, we would not want to be driving the bus in the snow.

Periodically we update the statistics of our travels in the bus. We started our maiden voyage on March 6, 2006. In the three years since, we have spent 517 nights in the bus, and traveled over 50,000 miles. We have had almost no problems during that time – quite a feat give the age of the bus (over 24 years old) and the fact that it was modified/maintained by a crazy engineer {grin}. We feel very fortunate that we are able to travel in our very comfortable, fully equipped bus.

I have attached a photo of the Shepherds and Hackenbruchs.

That is all for this trip

The Shepherds and Hackenbruchs

Hello one last time from Yuma, AZ

Hello one last time from Yuma, AZ

Sunday afternoon March 1, 2009 (eight travelogue of this trip)

I guess we have been having too much fun to do much posting on the blog.

Ed and Stevi got back from house sitting on Friday. They has been in Prescott and it was much cooler there. Indeed, the last of the snow melted the day they left to return home.

We had planned to take in a couple of movies on Valentines day, but we did not get around to it. Instead we went the next day. We saw two movies and got several discounts to where the four tickets only cost $20. The first movie we saw was “He is Not Really All That in to You”. It was, at best, a so-so movie. The next one was: “New in Town” and it was absolutely a great movie. The setting was New Ulm, MN and they hit it dead on. Minnesota people are really super folks, but their accent and life style are different from what we are used to. We called the kids and told them they had to go see it.

We did a bit of grocery shopping and running around the past couple of weeks. I finished up the two articles I was working on and have started a third. Actually, it is the fourth since I have a third article that is nearly finished, but we are not sure where it will be published. I did a few other business related items, some small projects on the truck and bus, a bit of reading and some relaxing. Pat also did a bit of work, but mostly read and relaxed. We walked most days.

Pat had a gift credit card that was going to expire at the end of February. She had been wanting a Wii and Wii Fit. We were able to get those and she has been getting started on working out and doing baseline measurements. It looks like it will be a great way for her to work out in the bus (and home) and the games are fun.

I mentioned shopping. When we go the the local grocery store (Fry's) it is quite an experience. Pat described it as going to a store in Denver that is crowded to the max (with small isles), but the difference here is that everyone here is over 70 and are in absolutely no rush. Indeed, they read every label in great detail.

A week ago Friday, some good friends drove into Yuma and we all went out to dinner. Sean and Louise have a fabulous blog about their full-time travels in a beautiful,unique Bus (http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/). Our paths seem to cross once or twice a year and we always have a great time talking about our travels and lots of other things.

Last weekend I dropped Pat off at one of the local casino and then I went to a hamfest (folks who are interested in Ham Radio technology) and then to a neat car show. The hamfest was not a good one. I have given quite a bit of thought about getting my Ham license for many years, but just can't justify the cost or time resource required. I still like to follow the technology. The car show was rather small, but had great cars. There are a huge number of street rods, classics, and customs down here. The average age of most “snow birds” is at least 60 and many are financially set and can afford the “toys”.

I mentioned that we had gone to see the flowers in the desert. I have attached two pictures of the flowers and one of Pat standing in front of an Ocotillo (sometimes called “Vine Cactus”). This is a curious, and unique desert plant of the southwestern United States. As you see, they can grow quite tall and have flowers on the tips of the spines during a small period in the spring. The purple flowers carpet the desert this time of year if the weather is conducive.

Today we went shopping with Ed and Stevi and tonight we are going to splurge and go to Red Lobster for dinner.

Tomorrow we start our journey home. It will be a struggle to leave these great folks, wonderful surroundings and outstanding weather. Today it is close to 90 degrees.

That is all for now.

Carpet of flowers in the desert

Close-up picture of flowers

Pat in front of an Ocotillo

Hello again from Yuma, AZ

Hello again from Yuma, AZ

Sunday afternoon February 15, 2009 (seventh travelogue of this trip)

It does not seem possible that we have been here over a month! We enjoy it here immensely! We have been having quite mixed days in terms of activities. I have had about equal parts of working on the bus, relaxing, and business. As noted last time, I saved up quite a few small bus projects and am at least half way through the list. In terms of relaxing, I have been spending quite a bit of time outside chatting or relaxing (you really want to enjoy the great weather). I even found time to read a great book (Chuck Yeager autobiography).

For work, I have written two articles under tight deadlines. One is for Plant Services (http://www.plantservices.com/) and the other is for Bus Conversion magazine (http://www.busconversions.com/). The former article is titled “V-belt maintenance in a Struggling Economy” and the latter is titled: “Bus to Trailer/Toad Wiring Conversion System Using Standard Relays”. Just to let you know, the word “toad” has been coined to describe a towed vehicle. I have also drafted a third article that may be published as a digital paper at Plant Services.

The Bus Conversion article came about because of one of my projects down here. It is a real challenge to convert bus wiring (separate brake and turn lights) to typical car/trailer wiring with combined brake and turn lights). I got tired of buying after-market units, only to have them fail after a year of so. I fabricated a system using four automotive relays (I use these same relays in our fire suppression systems).

Pat has been mostly relaxing. As we mentioned last time, we have been walking almost every day. We have both been sticking fairly close to our diet (Pat is much better than I am!).

The main reason we are here is to hang out in good weather. We can conduct business from here and not freeze to death {grin}. If you have been following this travelogue/blog, you know that we had several events in late December and early January. We then planned to hang out in good weather until the first week or second week of March. We had thought we would stay here for two to three weeks and then travel to the Death Valley area and then on to Bakersfield, CA for some races. That would add another 900 miles to the trip. Given the impact of the economy on our finances, we thought we would stay put here.

Ed and Stevi extended the initiation to stay with them, again this year. While their invitation was to stay as guests, we felt that we should help share the costs. That makes it fair for both of us. We just love it here and enjoy their company.

Speaking of the lot, I have attached a photo. You can see that it is far more than a “lot”. In addition to the full hook-ups for the RVs, it has a neat little casita. It also has some great landscaping. The casita has a small living room, and bathroom/utility room. While small, a person could live in it if you wanted to.

I have also posted a picture of the neat Triumph that Ed and Stevi have. It has a Ford engine and really rocks. Ed had just given Pat a ride.

This week Ed and Stevi are house sitting in Prescott, AZ. We are kind of watching the place while they are gone.

This is a desert area, but we had a heck of a rainstorm last week. Ed said it was at least a ½ inch, but I would bet it was closer to 1 inch. This is causing the desert to bloom. Yesterday, we drove out to look at the beautiful flower. We will take a picture or two in the next couple of days and post them.

That is all of now.

Our Cozy Nest in Yuma

Pat and Ed in the Triumph

Hello from Yuma, AZ

Hello from Yuma, AZ

Saturday evening January 31, 2009 (sixth travelogue of this trip)

We are staying with some good friends (Ed and Stevi Hackenbruch) in an area called Foothills in Yuma (map) . There apparently is not a good satellite view of this area. It is too bad, because it is a great area.

We left Quartzsite on Monday (January19) and drove about 80 miles south to Yuma. We stayed here last year as noted in our blog (here) . We had so much fun last year, that we quickly accepted the offer to stay again.

As we noted last time, the Foothills is a very unique area which is focused on RV owners. Each lot is quite large and is set up for two RVs with water and sewer as well as 50 amp electrical service. At least 50% of the lots remain setup for RVs but many have either modular or adobe style houses. Some have both. Many of the RV lots have casitas which are small buildings (primarily adobe style) which have a small room, and bath room. Ed and Stevi have a washing machine and refrigerator in theirs and Stevi uses it for her art studio (beautiful wood burned spoons and forks, and equally beautiful decorated gourds). Most of the lots have short brick walls surrounding the lot.

We have been doing a bit of sight seeing in the area, including a day in Algadones, Mexico, the local flea market, and some shopping for supplies. We have also been doing a lot of relaxing and enjoying the great weather. I have done several small projects on the bus and have a few more to attack.

Ed and Stevi have a ritual where if someone draws blood, they both go for ice cream. Those who know me very well, know that I have made sure we get to go for ice cream fairly often {grin}.

I have been doing a bit of bike riding and Pat and I have been walking at least 30 minutes most days. Some of you may recall that Pat broke her foot in October and it was not treated properly at the time(emergency room in MO). When we got home we saw a specialist and she had to be in a special boot until about two weeks ago. She is enjoying walking without that d*#n boot!

Yuma has a large agricultural base. They grow a huge amount of lettuce, and cabbage. They also have some great orchards, and we stopped by today to pick a bucket of oranges. You use a special orange grabber with a basket that plucks the oranges from the tree. You go out in the orchard and fill a 5 gallon bucket to the brim for $5. I have posted a picture of Pat with the picker (not great quality, but you can get the idea).

We will be here for another week or so. From here, we are not sure what we will do. We had planned to go to Shoshone (our favorite hideaway in the Death Valley area) and maybe Bakersfield to see some friends and go the the famous drag races. That is quite a long way out of the way. Since we have to cut back quite a bit (terrible economy), we may stay here a bit longer and then head home so that I can generate a bit of income by preparing some of my project cars for sale.

That is all for now.

Pat picking oranges
(sorry about the picture quality -- not the best lighting situation)

Hello from Yuma, AZ

Hello from Yuma, AZ

Sunday evening; February 3, 2008 (Second travelogue of this trip)

Our current location is here (you should be able to click on the word “here” and it will direct you to the map). There is no satellite image for this location, so click on “Map” rather than “Satellite” if our location does not show up.

Well, a lot of fun things have occurred since our last travelogue. And one not so fun. While we were in Indio, a fellow showed up and knew about every stop we would make on this trip (I had posted the information on one of the bus forums). He was interesting to talk to a first. But at the conversion went on, it became less fun (he was loud and a bit obnoxious). I was able to excuse myself, and I thought that would be the end of it. However, when we came back from dinner in Quartzsite Thursday evening, they were parked next to us. They jumped out of their bus and kind of “pounced” on us before we could even open the door. The rest of the evening was not very pleasant to say the least. He was even more obnoxious and loud this time and his wife was kind of weird. We were able to get away from them after about an hour and half of “pain”. The next morning we had a breakfast appointment with a friend. When we came back, the “stalkers” were gone (whew!). We were prepared to pack up and move if we had to.

On the positive side, we got to meet some great bus folks that were in the area. We also spent some time in the big RV Tent where there were a lot of vendors (some that we knew from our membership in PRVVC: Professinal RV Vendors Chapter of FMCA). It was fun to talk with them. We also purchased a few things at the show. In addition, we did some shopping in the flea market that was close to the tent. I should mention that there are huge flea markets all over town. We bought lots of little things at what we think were very good prices.

Saturday we left Quartzsite and traveled to Yuma (about 80 miles) to stay a couple of days with some friends: Ed and Stevi Hackenbruch. Well, that couple of days has expanded quite a bit. Our plans are to leave on Tuesday or Wednesday and start heading to Shoshone, CA (our favorite little town).

Ed and Stevi live in their bus full time. In the winter they stay in Yuma and in the summer they travel to Washington where Ed works as a heavy equipment operator. Ed and Stevi are absolutely great hosts and we have had a ball with them (and there great beagle: Dexter). Dexter is a hoot! He has a very special schedule: he goes for a walk in the desert with Ed each morning, eats exactly at 5:00PM and then goes for a ride on the golf cart. Last night Ed and I were in our bus looking at the computer. Dexter came to the door and then went and sat in the cart staring at us until Ed took him for his ride.

We have done a lot of fun things with Ed and Stevi. One day we went to Algodones Mexico (about 20 miles away) and did some very fun shopping. Pat bought a purse, a couple of light jackets and a bracelet. We also bought a couple of colorful blankets as protective covers for our bus seats. The day we went was the last day you could get back into the US without a passport (we left ours at home). We also went to the Yuma flea market which is quite “upscale” with great merchandise. Actually we went there twice. We have gone out to eat several times and just plain had fun!

It is very hard to explain what their “lot” is like. This whole subdivision (several square miles) is aimed at folks who live in RVs . There is also a mix of permanent homes, but RVs out number permanent structures. The lots are laid out for two RVs and most have great looking brick walls surrounding them and fancy gates. Many have casitas (small buildings with varying levels of amenities). Theirs has a bathroom with washer and a room that Stevi uses as a workshop for her work with decorated gourds (she does great work). The attached photo that Stevi took shows their lot and our buses as well as the casita. Even the picture does not convey how neat the area is.

Guess that is all for now.