Come to Arizona they said..its warm they said, it doesn't rain they said......forgot to mention snow

I have a bit of free time today and thought it would be a good time to blog.
Today we drove to Bowie, AZ as we continue toward Texas. We got to the RV park early so I know the next two weeks will be busy and I have an afternoon to write and post some pictures.

I last wrote about Sequoia and the bears. What a fun time that was. I still think about it.

We left that area and headed to Arizona stopping near Barstow. On our way to Havasu we saw a big dust storm outside of Needles ( where I was told Snoopy's  brother Spike lives) Anyway we had missed a 30 car pileup near Bakersfield a few days before this so we were very cautious when driving through Needles.

I had been to Lake Havasu in 1985 or 87 but David had never been there! I was shocked at how much it had grown . Houses and stores everywhere! We spent a beautiful weekend there in a warm and sunny spot with lovely sunsets.We did some organizing of some things in our storage compartments and we actually threw out a lot of things we were not using.

We headed to Williams, Arizona so that we could spend some time at the Grand Canyon! How awesome it was. We really feel blessed to be able to see so many National Parks and places of beauty while we are traveling. We spent some time driving and walking on the old Rte 66 and browsing around the stores, train depot and the town of Williams. We drove up to the canyon one afternoon and we were planning to go the next day too! Guess what? SNOW AND WIND! We decided to stay in Williams another day so we could visit the canyon again. When we finally did get back up to the park, the ranger told us it was good we had decided to stay away. The prior day there were white out conditions and we would not have seen anything. There are some of my pictures that you will see the snow still on the ground. No words can really describe the Grand Canyon...you must all go there if you have not been.

Leaving Williams we decided to go to "take it easy on a corner in Winslow, Arizona! What fun that was! The little corner is actually a facade of a corner building but there is a little diner and the town pipes some music into the area! A few other people were there doing exactly the same thing as us! Just a fun thing to do!

We took a scenic ride down toward Rimrock and Sedona what a beautiful ride! Then we met up with Cre and Al Spiller ! I worked with Cre at MMH and we had a lot of fun catching up! They invited us to their home and we watched a sunset from the roof top deck! Had a delicious dinner and dessert and shared so many memories and great conversation! We met them in the morning at Montezuma's Well and took a nice informative hike with Sophie. Then they drove us to Sedona and they were our tour guides, showing us coffee pot rock, the Chapel, Snoopy rock and the airport view ( vortex area) we had lunch at a nice grill and returned back to our RV. The next day  I had a head cold and just didnt feel great so Dave and I just went to see Montezuma's Castle National Park . Dave went up to see Al and Cre for a short time too. All in all it was a great couple of days. We hope some day to visit again! Thanks for being such great hosts!

Sunday we left for the Phoenix area and stayed in Apache Junction. Here we drove to Queen Creek and got to see Pat Burr ( another MMH friend) her sister Rita and their mom. Pat had a house built and has been our in this area for about 2 years. What a beautiful house and pool. Another evening of great memories, food and conversation! The next day we met Rita and Pat for a little shopping some lunch and more great times. Pat and Rita came to see the RV and we just chatted for hours! It is so nice to get to see friends and family on the road! Again we may be back in the area some time!

Until then friends...farewell until we meet again!

 On our ride today we saw fields and fields of cotton and some of it was being harvested. There were little cotton balls all over the side of the road. It really is funny the things you see when traveling.

Now we are on the move to Texas and hope to be there by the weekend! On our ride today we saw fields and fields of cotton and some of it was being harvested. there were little cotton balls all over the side of the road. It really is funny the things you see when traveling.   It will be a push to do that but we are up for the challenge! More to come in December!

Lake Havasu

Rte 66 Williams Arizona

Our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

snow and cold in WIlliams AZ

cold night at the RR Depot Williams AZ

GC

snow at GC

Ravens GC

"taking it easy"

near Rimrock Montezuma Well

lots of captions for this one, 3 nuns 2 nuns and a priest even an altar boy

RED ROCK of SEDONA

AL and Dave

Cre and Sue Sedona, AZ

Sedona

Montezuma Castle 

sunset near phoenix

our drive through Arizona on a crap your pants road.
they were blasting we had to wait an hour to get thru

A trip back East and then West

Blog 11/8/15

A trip back East

We were able to visit a few more days with Joanne and Rick and get ready for our trip home! What fun it is to have time with family!

We left Vegas on October 14^th and had a direct flight into Philadelphia! YAY Kristin picked us up in the wee hours of the AM of the 15^th and let us use our car to go back and forth to our hotel and to visit with her Rod, Sharkey and our little Chuck! It was wonderful not having to rent a car and Kris was so generous to give us use of her car! (Although I think it was easier for her so she didn’t have to drive us back and forth all over the place)

Chuck did not seem to know us when we first got to Kristin’s but by late on Thursday he was retrieving his toy for me! It was good to see him! He and Sharkey seem to be getting along fine!

 Kristin and Rod were so much fun. Mostly we just hung out watching TV and talking about so many things! And eating of course!  Pizza and TJ’s . We never made it to the cheesecake factory this trip; we will have to do that in December! Dave, Kris and I took a trip to a pumpkin place and we got pumpkins, apple cider donuts and lots of “crap”! It was a fun place to visit on a fall day. Speaking of fall we had the best two weeks of the entire year in the northeast seeing the leaves, visiting friends and family! We took a nice walk near Kristin’s and saw lots of beautiful trees! Nothing compares to the aroma or the skies of autumn!

The other thing we did at Kristin’s was we did a face time with Gavin and it was then he realized we were taking a vacation and coming to visit him!

Sunday the 18^th we took a train from Philly to Hartford!  We saw a few flurries in CT! It sure beats driving! Korin, Brian and Gavin picked us up in Hartford! Brian has a new truck and it was so good to see them all! Gavin was quite happy! They dropped us at Barbara and Charlie’s who so generously let us borrow their car for the time we were home. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family that takes care of us!

We stayed with Korin and Brian while we were home. We had such a great time! We were able to help them out with the bus and some day care! Dave visited Lucy; we spent lots of time with Gavin and saw some special people while we were in CT/MA! If we didn’t see you this visit we will try again in December!  Dottie, Kathy, Diane, Sandy, Val, Flo, Deb! It was great seeing you all! Mary, Dolores and Kathy! We will do it again in December and hope some more MMH people will come! To my WCMH people I will really make a date with you in December! Carolyn and GB, hope to see you guys again too! Dave left on Friday the 23^rd, and I stayed another week. On Saturday the 24^th I got to see some of my cousins from Florida as we had a memorial for my Aunt Eleanor who passed away in August. It was somber with bagpipes by Aldwin and lots of food and family. Got to see Amy, Shelly, Greg, Ricky Meredith, Cindy, Andrew, Steph, Tate, Cal , Barbara and Charlie, and Karen as well as cousins Doreen, Donna, John and one of my cousin Bills sons Nick! I also got to see my cousin Joe and his wife Sally and my mothers’ only living sibling my Aunt Mabel! ice day! If I forgot anyone, sorry!    

Well the following week flew by and Gavin and I had lots of fun! On my last night he wanted to go out to dinner with “Just Grammy “and though I tried to talk him in to letting mommy go he and I went to the 99 and had a fun dinner together and talked about the party we would have when we got back to the house! It was only 2 days till Halloween so we bobbed for apples, and tried to eat donuts hanging from strings and just had a great time! He also tried talking me into staying for Halloween but I needed to get back to Vegas so Dave and I could continue our trip!  Always hard to say goodbye but we will be back for the month of December!

On my return to Vegas I went to see Ragtime with Joanne, Rick and Dave! Great musical! We spent the weekend near Sam’s Town and had fun with Joanne and Rick! We celebrated Precious birthday! We had an early Thanksgiving ham with them and went to church on Sunday! All in all it was a short but sweet weekend!  Again saying goodbye is hard but hope we get to see them again next June in Minnesota! So long for now Las Vegas!

On Monday the 2^nd of November we headed out and went west into California! We stayed in Mojave then headed to Three Rivers and Sequoia National Park! That was just an awesome site! The trees are so big and beautiful and to make it more spectacular there were several inches of new snow! We had rain overnight with thunder and lightning but at 6000 feet it had snowed! In face we could not go everywhere in the park as we didn’t have chains for our tires! We went to the Giant tree forest and saw General Sherman tree! Awesome! The USA has some beautiful artwork by God and so many people do not realize! There is beauty EVERYWHERE!

In our campground there were some resident bears and they put on a show for us, climbing trees and shaking branches to drop the nuts on the ground! So smart those bears!

Well just as quick as that it is time to leave California and head EAST. We are now in Lake Havasu AZ and having a great time in another beautiful area!

Tomorrow we continue our trip East and a bit North to the Grand Canyon and then to visit some friends and finally to head toward Texas late in the month! More adventures to come!

Sorry the pics are  out of order! Wifi is MEH!

Tonopah, Bishop and Death Valley

We have been staying at Joanne and Ricks to watch GB and Precious! Long morning walks in the desert peppered with some park walks and they seem happy.

 Last week we drove to Bishop CA and there was a car show in town so we went to that , had some lunch and went to K-Mart. We got a new vacuum, a Kenmore and we love it! The ride was beautiful! Rolling hills to huge mountain passes. We have said all along that there is beauty in all of our travels.

Sunday and Monday it was cold and rainy and actually we saw some snow on some of the higher mountain tops.  3 wet dogs ...need I say more?

One day this week we went to the Tonopah Mining Park and did a little tour. There is silver in them hills! It was a learning experience and we enjoyed it. In the few times I have been to Tonopah I had never gone to this park.

One of our favorite things to do in town is to watch or listen for the cruiser. The speed limit in these small towns drops from 70 to 25 in a matter of a mile or two and the town must make good revenue on all the tickets they give out!

On Thursday we went to Death Valley National Park. It was very hot there but again such beauty. The ranger thought we would be interested in some of the wildlife and told us to be on the lookout for TARANTULAS !   WHY would he think I would be interested in that? I kept my eyes open but I never saw one...THANK GOD.

We had both been there before but it was so interesting and you can always find something you didn't see last time. I remembered the dates that are grown near there and were so delicious and I  found them in the general store. They are as sweet as I remember.

Dave has been puttering around the RV fixing things straightening things out and getting ready for a month of travel in November. But first we are going back to the northeast for a little family and friend time! It should be lots of fun.

In the mean time we are enjoying our time and loving the big sky, the sunrises and sunsets and endless views !

 Car show Bishop CA

 THE WESTERN END OF RT 6

 SKIES

 solar energy plant out side Tonopah

 A desert plant

 snow on the mountains

 the mining park

 that pic says it all! HOT

 mining park

 It didn't feel like we were at sea level!

 

  Desert dog and the burro outside Beatty NV

 More skies

 IT SURE IS HOT IN DEATH VALLEY

 190 feet below sea level, From 6200 above...my ears were popping all day!