Better late than never... VA to Az.

 I left this blog hanging almost 3 months ago.    Today a friend Butch reminded me that I left the blog hanging and that was the kick in the butt that I needed to get back to work and bring things up to date.

As I write this, I'm sitting in the PartyBus in Quartzsite, Arizona, so I have a bit of catching up to do and I'll try to get it done quickly and to the point.

After leaving Shenandoah River State Park, we spent 5 days at Pocahontas State Park outside of Richmond, Va.  It's another state park that we enjoy in the fall.   Our third time here, and still have not made it to the lake however.

Pocahontas Sitem 108

While there I was able to find a really good bagel place.    As close to real NY Bagels as I've had in a long time.    We would up buying 2 dozen and putting them in the freezer to enjoy as we traveled onward.

Next on the list was a stop on the NC coast at the Cedar Point NF Campground.  (50a electric)   It is a really nice campground about 30 minutes from where we used to live in Beaufort, NC.   We had a full schedule of visiting friends and missed many others that we'd have like to see.   But we only had so much time as we had appointments to keep further down the road.

Cedar Point NFCG #33

Among several, we visited friends Donna & Jim in Beaufort, plust Fabian and Sylvania who used to own a restaurant in Morehead City.   They have a great place along the Intracoastal Waterway in Newport, NC

The dogs got to meet their first cat...  A really tame kitten that seemed unfazed by their sniffing.

Phoebe give the kitten a sniff

We set aside one day just for us, and spent it at the beach on Emerald Isle.

While there we saw a pod of dolphins feeding as the moved along the coast.

We had an appointment at Freighliner in Gaffney, SC set for Nov 8 so we had to move on.    When passing thru this way, we always stop at Gaffney as it is where the chassis is built and this particular service center is where they train the mechanics from all over the US to work on them.

We had a normal annual service performed and the next day were on our way.

Next was Misletoe State Park in Appling, Ga, not far from Augusta.    We had a fantastic site on the water and surrounded on 3 sides.    It was at the end of an extremely tight cul de sac and took some work to make it around but soon we were settled in.

Mistletoe SP site #38

Our last night at Cedar Point, our inverter/charger died and the part that charges, and passes the 102v shore power thru to the coach stopped working.    I was able to bypass the unit but it meant that I had no way to charge the batteries other than our solar.    We had some cloudy days ahead and I knew we'd need some help so I was able to order a 50 amp Lithium Charger on Amazon and had it delivered to a maibox etc store near Augusta.   It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered and performed beautifully.

A picture of our site in the morning as the storm clouds moved in.

Really cold weather was moving in so we left a day early and beat feet down to an RV Park north of New Orleans where we spent 2 days.

Sun Outdoors New Orleans North Shore is the name of the place.   It is a tad expensive but has a ton of stuff for families.

Finally we arrived at McKinney Falls SP in Austin, Texas.   We were here to attend a wedding and I had my new inverter shipped to the Bride and Groom's (Kelsey and Jake) house.   Morgan & Chris were waiting for us at the state park in their Airstream and they had already retrieved my inverter so it was on site and i could begin to remove the old and install the new.

First I bench wired up the new one to get it ready to install.

Bench wired with (2) 120 volt legs of 30a each.

The inverter weighs about 70 lbs and is mounted on the ceiling in the basement.   It is a very awkward spot to work, and difficult to lift it in position and hold it while tightening the bolts to secure it in place.

To solve that problem...  I travel with a small motorcycle lift that just happened to be the perfect tool for the job.

Removing the old.   The the new is put on the lift and raised into position.

Inverter installed and working....  Wedding attended and couple married...   It was time for the final push to Arizona.      We broke the trip up into (2) 350 mile segments and left about 250 for the final day.

First night was the Hilltop RV Park in Ft Stockton, Tx.   Dry and dusty but a decent place to overnight in barren West Texas.

Hilltop RV Ft Stockton, Tx

Next was 81 Palms in Deming, NM.    This is a snowbird resort in the winter but was pretty empty as it was still a tad off season.   The owner said that since the Canadians have stopped coming they are really hurting.    We had some exciting T-Storms roll thru and was treated to a rainbow but no pot of gold.

The dogs got to romp in the dog park.  

A beautiful blue sky greeted us for our final push to Tucson.

4 hours later we were rolling up in from of the Mustang Cactus Ranch and we let the dogs out of the bus.

They ran like crazy into the house for the first time in about 9 months and had a good old time reacquainting themselves to the smell of their part-time home away from all the other homes.

Thanksgiving and then Christmas came...   Morgan and Chris (and Georgie Girl) arrive for the holidays.

Morgan & Chris made us Roulade,  Red Cabbage, German Potato Salad, and Spaetzle all from scratch for Christmas dinner.

All day to cook... and moments to eat.   It was a delicious meal.

Well - we were home for  7 weeks on the nose, and I've been itching to get back on the road.   It was time to wash the mutts, give them haircuts, and then off we go for our normal wintertime desert boondocking.

I took the bus up to Cummins in Phoenix during the 7 weeks for some semi-major preventivie maintenance on the generator, plus some replacement of a few engine parts that I felt were getting suspect.

I brought the bus home straight from Cummins, we loaded it up and left the house on Jan 7.

We drove 4 hrs and spent the night up on Plomosa Rd in Quartzsite.

The next morning we moved on another 4 hours to the Pacific Coast at Huntington Beach, California.

The town takes one of the summertime beach parking lots and turns it into an RV Park right on the beach.  It has 50a and water with a dump on site.    This is our 3rd or 4th time here and we love it.   We have several friends who live here so beside a really nice beach fix we get to catch up with them.

One day Kate visited with her BFF from. College and I strolled the beachfront with the dogs.

Huntington Beach does a fantastic job with their waterfront.   Tons of parking, restrooms, trashbins, volleyball courts and firepits.   It's really set up nice for people to enjoy all season.

Good friends of ours - We met in 2018 on the Queen Mary2  - Catherine & Ken.   We had dinner one night at their place in Newport Beach, then another night they treated us to so Italian food.   

Thanks again guys!

After dinner Kate and I strolled about the Newport Beach waterfront for a bit.   

Newport Beach Pier

Newport Beach Waterfront.

Back at the bus, we took the dogs out to enjoy the last sunset before departure.

After 5 nights at the coast, it was time to head to Quartzsite for our normal get togethers.    This year we are parked in a slightly different spot.   I've been wanting a change of scenery here.   We'll still see our friends, but will have to walk a bit to get to them.    Some friends will be here with us, and others over at the Montana Circle where we have been the last 12 years or so.

Sadly...   Our Canadian friends will not be here.  (are you seeing the trend yet?)

Overzealous untrained ICE goons, Tariff Wars, and that 51st state crap have just understandably put off the Canadians and they are staying home until America hopefully regains some sense of decency. 

Our new spot in Quartzsite

We are still up on Plomosa Rd.   Just a bit further into the desert off the road where it is more quiet.

And with that....   we have our usual Quartzsite Sunset and the blog is back up to date.

Sunset from the bus

Saturday is playoff day...

Across the Atlantic and New York to Virginia

 

I'm playing some catch-up again.

We left you last as we had just boarded the Queen Mary2 for our crossing to New York.

Our first morning at sea dawned clear and calm.      We rushed up to the kennels at 0800 to break the dogs out of jail, and they were extremely happy to see us.

We've done this rodeo enough times now to fall right into our routine.

Breakfast at 0700 at the buffet

Kennels 0800-12noon

12-3 free time

3-6 Kennels

630p to 730p cocktails and starters in Queens Grill Resturant.

730 - 830 kennels - tuck the dogs in for the night

830p back to Queens Grill for Dinner.

It is quite a lot of running around between our kennel duty and meal times.   Frankly, we both got to the point where we just couldn't handle the food anymore...  no matter how good it is.

The maitre d and waitstaff are like crack dealers...  "Have some of this...  try some of that...  how about I make this tableside for you tonight...

Osso Bucco for dinner

Lamb Chops for dinner

I did have one excellent Vegetarian dinner one night.   Kung Pao Califlower.   It was off the charts!   I need to try and make it.    Topped with lightly pickled  julienne vegetables.    Serious yum yum!

Kun Pao Cauliflower

Then there was formal night.    We had shipped our nice clothes over, and it was waiting for us in our stateroom.    So we had to do at least one night.    The second formal night we played hookie and stayed casual and went to the buffet instead for a lighter dinner for a change.

Cherries Jubilee made tableside

Lots of time was spent (like always) in the kennels hanging out with the dogs and other owners.

We had a great bunch of people and dogs, so the dogs got to play loose off of the leash.

The days are long.   I say that "each day goes slow but the week goes fast."

It was a pretty rough crossing.    At times the wind on the deck was approaching 70mph adding in the ships forward motion.    We had to leash the dogs just to keep them from getting blown away.

Mid week we had a nice enough day to do the normal photo shoot.

Olliver (L) and John (R) the Kennelmaster and assistant

We've made the crossing several times with Oliver and John.   Both are perfectly suited for the job and a joy to work with.

One interesting point was during Covid, when the ship was anchored for over a year, a skeleton crew of about 120 people remained onboard to keep the ship in working order.   Things like running all the faucets and appliances needed to take place.   John was one of those 120 and had some great stories about what it was like.

The ship was darkened to save energy and it was real spooky.   Crew would hide on each other and jump out at the right moment to spook each other.

Kate on Photoday with Paul McCartney

The night before arrival all the luggage is packed up and placed outside before retiring for the night.

Our luggage outside our stateroom

Arrival in NYC is about 5am.    We pass under the Verazzano and by the Statue of Liberty, and are tied up at the terminal before daybreak.

Staten Island Ferry passes by the Statue of Liberty

Around 8a we were released from the kennels and proceed as a group to disembark.

Off the ship, I left Kate, the dogs, and the luggage at the terminal, and shared an Uber with a fellow Kennelmate to Enterprise to pick up our rental.

I had a large Jeep Grand Wagoneer.   I pickup of my precious cargo and proceeded to make the 3+ hr drive up to Northern NY.    On the way we detoured to Oakland, NJ to stop at our favorite bagel shop to pick up some of those round beauties.

The dogs were so excited to get off the ship.   I know they could sense that life was going to return back to normal...  (them spending all their time with us)

The dogs slept all the way north

Back in the bus.... they quickly fell into PartyBus Mode

By our 2nd morning on the ship, I had a scratchy throat and knew that I was coming down with something.

Long story short...  by the 2nd morning in NY I was at an Urgent Care facility being diagnosed with Pneumonia.    Kate followed a few days behind me.

The 10 days that we spent in our old stomping grounds were mostly spent on our back.   All our plans were eventually cancelled and we got to do almost nothing while there.   A full course of 2 types of antibiotics had us recovering from the worst of it quickly, but we were still under the weather for a couple of weeks and are only feeling somewhat normal now.   (Still have a lingering cough)

On October 13 we packed up and finally got the bus back on the road.   It had spent 7 months in Saratoga Springs, NY

Southbound on the NYS Thruway

Our next stop for 6 nights was Artillery Ridge RV Park in Gettysburg, Pa.   We enjoy spending time there but again...  due to our recuperation we had to cancel visits with friends.   We finally were able to get our Covid Boosters and Flu shots, and on our last day there we felt good enought to walk around the battlefield a bit with the dogs as it was a warm sunny day.

Artillery Ridge RV Park Site 406

The pups at the Pennsylvania Monument Gettysburg

We've now moved further south and currently I write from Shenandoah River State Park.   We enjoy this campground and at this time of year it is well positioned to enjoy all that the fall season offers up in this neck of the woods.

Our nearby town is Front Royal, Va which has a small but quaint main st.

Main St Front Royal

Main St Front Royal

We also took a ride up to Winchester to visit an Apple Orchard.   We stocked up on 4 types of Apples plus they actually had some fresh picked corn.   The corn was so good we drove back yesterday (45 min each way) to get some more.

Today we took a ride up onto Skyline Drive.   Running for 105 miles along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is scenic any time of year but fall brings out the best IMO.

This year has been very dry along the east coast and as a result the colors are a bit muted but still pretty.

2 years ago we were here and the colors were just off the charts.

This is our spot at Shenandoah River State Park.   Site #1.  It is 50a and water pull-thru and must be 150' long.   The pull thru sites here are huge.

Shenandoah River SP site #1

Shenandoah River SP site #1

We are here until Monday, at which point we move to Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield (near Richmond) Va.   It's another fall favorite of ours.     After that we have a few days in NC near our old home, then off to SC for maintenance at Freightliner in Gaffney before we start slowly working our way west.   

We have a wedding to attend in Austin Texas mid November after which we'll make the final push to Arizona.

January we are already back on the road for our usual winter time get togethers.   Sadly our Canadian friends are all (understandably) not coming down to the US this winter for the second year in a row, so our winter get togethers will be missing a core component.

See you down the road.