Hello from Princeville on the island of Kauai, HI

Hello from Princeville on the island of Kauai, HI

Sunday morning March 29, 2009 (first travelogue of this trip)

In the past we have noted that Pat has earned several great trips through her association with Stampin' Up! (http://stampinlady.com/). This was our eighth trip. The first trip was a cruise to Bermuda in 2002. That was followed by Hawaiian cruise in 2003. All of the trips have been cruises with the exception of this trip. I should add that all expenses are paid by Stampin' Up!

This trip was to the fabulous Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort (map). This resort is located on the north western coast of the “Big Island” (Hawaii). The resort is huge and has several buildings spread over a vast area. While you can walk to the various locations, it is much more convenient (and fun) to take either a boat, or a train.

The resort is located right on the beach. Several folks saw whales from their rooms. Our room did not have a direct view of the ocean. Our view was of the beautiful golf course. The landscaping is beyond description.

Stampin' Up! paid for five nights plus air fare. To give you a feeling for the quality of this facility, we went in a day early and paid for one night ($290). They also provided a very generous daily food allowance. As if that were not enough, they provide great gifts each night in the room.

We rented a car since it is very hard to do any sightseeing without one.

One of our self-guided tours took us on the northern part of the island loop over to the east coast and close to Hilo. One of our stops was at the great Akaka falls. There are two huge falls and you walk through what we would think of as a rain forest. The next day we went down the western coast to the Kona Coffee area. This is a designated area 1 mile wide and 50 miles long that produces the very special Kona coffee. We toured a great little coffee plantation (Holualoa Coffee Company) that grows and processes the coffee beans. Most of the plantations are rather small farms passed down from generation to generation.

On Tuesday we took a 10-hour bus tour that made the full circle trip around the island (260 miles). Our driver talked non-stop the whole trip. I found his presentation fascinating. The three highlights of the trip were the tour of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park where we observed the Kilauea Caldera, the hike to the Thurston Lava Tube, and the rainbow falls.

All of the Hawaiian island are formed from volcano eruptions. There are still active volcanoes and Kilauea is one of them. Recently, the Kilauea crater blew open and we were able to observe the steam coming from the opening. We ate lunch at the hotel overlooking the crater. The Thurston Lava tube is fascinating. You hike through a very dense tropical forest and then enter what is essentially a long tunnel. The tunnel is formed by cooled lava surrounding the lava flow. When the flow stops, the hot lava flows out, leaving the tube. This tube is perhaps 100 yards long and the bore is about 10 feet in diameter. Lava is very porous and we had water dripping on us as we walked through the tube.

The Big Island has landscape extremes. On the north west part of the island it is basically a desert. The land is mostly covered in lava. As you head south along the west coast, about half way down there is increasing amounts of vegetation, especially in the Kona Coffee area. Further south, there are stretches where there is almost no vegetation. On the east coast, the type of lava has produced abundant vegetation. Indeed, this is where the vast sugarcane fields produced great corps (sugarcane is no longer grown in Hawaii because of economic issues). In addition to the vast farm areas, there are several rain forests.

I will continue our discussion about our adventures on this island in the next installment.

Pat on the trail to Akaka Falls

Kilauea Caldera

Trail to Thurston Lava Tube

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 Quartzsite, AZ

Sunday morning January 18, 2009 (Fifth travelogue of this trip)

We are at the Eagle Bus Rally (map). Actually, this is a combined Eagle/GMC/Flxible bus rally (yes Flxible is spelled according to the company name). There are close to 100 buses here (33 Eagles). The space alloted is a bit small, so we are kind of close together, but it is not too bad. Some of late comers had to park a bit off site, but they are close enough that they can participate in all the activities (coffee and donuts in the morning and h'orderves or pot luck at night,plus nightly bonfires and our board and general meeting). I have attached a picture that shows some of the rally.

If you have been following our blog, you know that we came here from Indio where we did two trade shows. We need to catch up on the FMCA rally in Indio. There were over 1500 coaches in attendance and lots of activity in the vendor area. Talking to many vendors, I got the same answer: lots of interest, but not much in the way of sales. That was true for our booth. We think that we had good contacts – both in terms of quantity and quality.

After the FMCA rally, we pulled under the palm trees and camped for a couple of days. The weather was great, getting into the 80's during the day. On Tuesday we traveled a bit over 120 miles east to Quartzsite.

We have written a bit about Quartzsite in the past. It is a crazy place to say the least. In the summer the population is less than 4,000. However, in the winter that number grows drastically. I have heard that during the December/January time frame over 1 million people will send a few days in the area. Quartzsite is in a basin and when you approach from either the east or west, you will crest a hill and see a sea of recreational vehicles of every shape and size.

This time in January is the peak population period, since the huge RV trade show is in full swing. This is a huge tent with several hundred vendors (we do not vend there). In addition, there are acres of “swap meet” booths all over town.

When we are here, we dry camp (no electrical/water/sewage hook-ups). We have solar power (not too effective this time of year when the sun is low), a good generator and lots of water, sewage capacity. We could probably dry camp for a couple of weeks before we would have to dump and get water.

From here we head to Yuma, AZ to stay with some good friends for a week or two.

That is all for now.

Eagle Bus Rally in Quartzsite

Hello again from Indio, CA

Hello again from Indio, CA

Thursday evening January 8, 2009 (Fourth travelogue of this trip)

We are at the FMCA rally in Indio (map). This is just a few miles from the Polo Grounds were the dog show was held.

As we had mentioned, the dog show was very interesting. I wish we could tell you that is was profitable. That was not the case. Indeed, it was the first show/rally that we have been to where we were skunked! We did talk to quite a few folks and they all liked the idea of protecting their pets/investment. The way they set up their booths is quite a bit different that what we are used to, and as a result, our booth was somewhat hidden by adjacent booths. In addition, we observed that these folks are very focused on dogs, and if you are not selling dog related products, they just walk on by. We are convinced that this is a good market, but we have to figure out how to get folks to think about our product.

On Sunday we moved to the Indian Wells RV park for a couple of days. That allowed us to charge our batteries and do several loads of wash. I also finished an install that I had started quite some time ago. The installation was very complex because of the generator control circuit. The installation was quite troublesome for some very strange reasons, but I got it done yesterday after setting up the booth at this rally. Thankfully, the folks have been very understanding.

Today was the first day of the show. The attendance seems to pretty good. We will get the official number in a day or two. Lots of folks have stopped by the booth and seem interested in our products. With the economy in the toilet, we will see if this interest turns to sales in the next two days of the show.

Pat did her Stamping craft class today and I do my safety seminar tomorrow.

That is all for now.

UPDATE (Friday Morning): When I was writing this blog last night, we noted that the bus started rocking quite a bit. We saw at least on neighbor come outside and look around. It turns out that there was a 4.5 earthquake about 8:00 PM last night in San Bernardino. At the time we thought about the possibility of a quake shaking the bus, but the TV (LA stations) did not have a banner on the bottom of the screen. This morning, they have had a couple of news story on the quake. It shook things pretty good, but there was no major damage or injuries.

We talked about earthquakes, and decided that the big old bus would probably be a great place to be if the BIG one occurred (assuming you were not next to trees or buildings).