On the road again

 Greetings everyone!

It's hard to believe that it's been 5 months since I sat down and updated the blog,    It's not that there's been nothing to write about....   There just does not seem to be the time to get it done.

This post will be a real quick catchup to the current day.

We are currently on the road headed to NY to meet a jet that will take us to Paris, but before I get ahead of myself, let me digress a bit.

After our summer traveling thru the Maritimes, we arrived back in Az in Mid-October.

 

It was time to get caught up on all the annual duties like physicals, dentists, car and bus services etc.

Kate also had cateract surgery on both eyes and had new lenses installed.   Her eyesight is now bionic and he no longer needs glasses.

Before we knew it January had arrived and we were off to Quartzsite.

This year was a bit quieter than usual.  Buddies Rob & Pat could not make it this year and their energy was missed.    We did have an addition to the group however.    The young nomads Chris & Morgan who are full-timing arrived with their Airstream.

We had 6 or 7 dogs at times when everyone was together.

Someone had hit C&M's truck in Austin, Tx so we agreed that Tucson would be a good place to get it repaired.    They stayed with us for a month while that was going on, and when we left last Friday they were still there.   They'll close up the house when they go.

I did get a new flat starlink dish and mounted it up on the roof with a magnetic mount.   Its been working great going down the road and now setting it up on arrival is one less thing I need to do.

We took C&M to a few of the local sights.   Saguaro National Park nearby was one day trip.

Phoebe jumps for joy at the prospect of getting her teeth brushed

We also got to see a couple of Starlink launches from Vandenburg AFB.

We left the house on Friday March 7 for our treck across the US to Albany, NY.

True our usual departure day luck, we left in rain...  then very high winds....  then snow.

Once the snow stopped we were then treated to a series of dust storms in New Mexico.

3 of which had the highway closed for varying lengths of time.

Approaching a dust storm

Highway shut down for about 45 minutes

Further down the road I-10 was closed and traffic was routed into Lordsburg.   The directions sent us thru town on the business route and everyone assumed we'd get back on at the far end of town 5 miles further on.      The problem was that an oversize load had wiped out the overpass that we needed to cross to get back on.   No police were present to direct traffic or let us know what was going on.

Everybody was making circles in town trying to figure out what to do as the town began to fill up with vehicles.    After a circle of town and 45 minutes, I heard on the CB that eastboud was not open, so I headed for the entrance at the middle of town and we once again resumed our ever lengthening trip.

The overpass on left side is toast

This large back end loader hit the bridge and came off of its flat-bed

Just when we thought we finally had smooth sailing, another dust storm hit around Deming, NM.

Once again we were detoured off of the highway onto the business route thru town.   All the entrances were closed so the 7 mile business route became one long parking lot.   Not knowing how long it was going to last, we managed to grab one of the last spots left at a truck stop in case we had to spend the night.

Looking at the traffic backed up for 7 miles thru town

After another 2 hrs or so, the traffic began moving and we once again hit the road.   We finally made it to our stop for the night in Las Cruces.    What should have been a 4hr trip had taken 8 1/2hours.

Saturday was a 500 mile drive to Abilene, Tx.   Not to be outdone by the day before, although the weather was great, the computer system on the engine threw me an error code.    I was able to make it go away but it was something to keep an eye on.

Sunday another 500 miles to a really nice city owned park in Little Rock along the Arkansas River was a rainy drive an another recurrence of that error code.    I need to try and get this looked at.

Downtown Riverside RV Park

The park is right across the river from the Clinton Presidential Library and Park.

A pedestrian bridge takes you across the river to the Library.

Riparian walkway in the adjoining park

The dogs posed in front of the library.   They are sitting on the top of a time capsule that will be opened in 100 years.

Kate is standing on this cool rubberized walkway.   It was amazing to walk on.   Very comfortable.

I think these electric scooters were free to use.   I'm not sure how it works.

We are now in Red Bay, Alabama where the bus was built.   We have a few appointments here for some minor preventative maintenance items, plus I was able to score an 1130 appointment on Thursday at Bay Diesel to have my error code looked at.   Hopefully we'll stay on schedule and be out of here Friday morning.   I do have a few days padded into the schedule if needed, and we are scheduled to be in Albany next Weds the 19th.

Once we get there, I have the usual export stuff to do for the dogs and we will fly out of Newark on April 2nd to Paris.

Just an FYI - I have a facebook page that I've been posting quick updates to.   My buddy Hayden convinced me how much easier it is to do vs the blog.

I like the blog better for its flow and record keeping abilty, but for a quick update as to where we are the FB page is pretty easy.   You might want to check that out too.

It's going to be a great summer so stay tuned.

The long and winding road (to Arizona

Its been about 6 weeks or so since our last post.   We left you in Prince Edward Island in Canada,

Since then, we've traveled cross country and now are just 2 days from the winter shack in Tucson.    Due to my busted wrist its kind of hard to type which has made getting this blog published.   I'll try to bring you up to date as best i can.

 Firstly - here is the map from PEI to where we are today

We crossed the Confederation bridge back off the island into New Brunswick.   The toll was about $66cdn.

We stayed a couple of nights in St John, New Brunswick, then crossed the border into Maine.  Our first night in the US was spent at the Pumpkin Patch RV park just outside of Bangor.   It was a nice quiet park with FHU.

Pumpkin Patch RV Park

Next stops was 2 nights at an RV Park in the Mountains of NH, followed by an overnight at the Turning Stone Casino RV Park west of Albany, NY.     Finally a longer 8hr day brought us to Maumee Bay State Park near Toledo, OH.  The highlight of our visit here was a trip to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan.    If you are ever up this way, the Henry Ford is a must.   Its an eclectic mix of all sorts of exhibits that showcase the gains in Technology over the years.

After a few days in Ohio, we were off again.  One night at an RV Park near Madison, Wi was exchanged  with a planned stop at a Harvest Host Strawberry Farm.   Temps in the 90's would have meant long generator hours at the farm so we decided to go for the electric hookups instead.

Our next stop was the Porter Sculpture Park in South Dakota.   A neat place in the country with enormous metal sculptures.   Temps were still warm during the day, but being further west, the dry air allowed things to cool down at night.

The next night found us at Badlands National Park for 2 nights.   Beside the badlands we visited Wall Drugs.

Finally - a long 90 minute drive brought us to the Black Hills, and the Sheridan Lake National Forest Campground.    

When we arrived, there was nowhere to conveniently unhook the truck, and the lady at the contact station was giving me a hard time about where I was parked.    She said I was blocking the entrance even though Rob drove around me in his bus.  So in my rush to get unhooked I tripped over the tow bar and hurt my wrist,   Eventually after a second set of x-rays 2 weeks later,  I learned that it was broken in 2 places.

While in the Black Hills, we visited the sights including Mount Rushmore,

Our site at Sheridan Lake NFCG

The Crazy Horse Memorial under construction.

You can see what it will look like when completed.    I came here as a teen and there was hardly anything done.    It's taken a long long time to get here, but I can see definite progress.

Next on the hit parade was Devils Tower Wyoming.    We stayed at the KOA right at the base.

climbers on the tower

A week or so after we were here a climber tragically fell to their death.

Moving on, next stop was the 7th Ranch RV Park in Garryowen, Mt.

What a nice surprise this place was.   We chose it for the proximity to the Custer Battlefield, but it was a pleasant oasis on the Montana High Prairie.

Sunset from our site

Last Stand Hill at the Battlefield.   In the middle of the gravemarkers is one with a blackened face, that stone marks where General Custer fell.

Next stop was Fairmont RV Resort near Butte, Montana.   We spent 2 nights here and visited the Clark Mansion in Butte.    Built by Copper Baron William Clark it is an impressive local monument.   Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas) is named after him. 

It was here that friends Ron & Maxine joined our traveling group, and now we had 3 PartyBusses on the move.

Finally we arrived at Glacier National Park.  Our objective here was Huckleberry Picking.   Last time here we discovered a motherload of Hucks.   But unlike last time, the park was crowded (was empty last time) and the Hucks had come in early.   Our motherlode had been discovered and picked clean.

So...  we had to content ourselves with the scenery.

Last time the St Marys Campground in the park was empty.   This time it was bursting at teh seams as was all the nearby RV Parks.   We got online and Kate found a nice place about 9 miles away.   A Blackfoot Native owned park.

After a few days - Rob & Pat headed home.    We'd been traveling together since June.

Ron & Maxine would now travel with us for a few weeks.

On a hike in Glacier we spotted this moose across the lake.

After Glacier we moved to Jim & Marys RV Park in Missoula, Mt.    Kate and I had been here a few years ago and loved the park.   Full of flowers and with good access to Missoula.   I had an appointment here with an Ortho Dr who confirmed my wrist had 2 fractures and that I would need to keep the cast on for 6 weeks.

Downtown Missoula

After Jim & Marys, we headed to a new RV Park up in the mountains just outside of Lincoln, Mt.  We arrived in some pretty strong winds that were gusting well over 40mph.

There was a forest service crew staying there in big white tents.   While they were out working 2 of the 3 tents were blown down and a lot of the contents scattered.   When they arrived back from a long hard days work in the forest, they had to clean up their camp.    The decided to break camp and move.   It was long after dark when they finally left.

Next was a favorite of Kate and I....  Bakers Hole NFCG just outside of West Yellowstone, Mt.

Its located in a beautiful spot and is real convenient for day trips into the Yellowstone NP.

Madison River flows thru Bakers Hole

Yellowstone Falls

Hayden Valley in YNP

Old Faithful blows its top

After a week at Bakers Hole, we were off for 4 nights at the Gros Ventre CG in Grand Teton NP.

The fall colors added to the beautiful scenery.

A Bull and Cow Moose took up residence right behind our bus.

Jenny Lake in Teton NP

Old Mormon Barn in Teton NP

Next stop was about 350 miles south into the Wasatch Mountains of Utah and Deer Creek State Park.

The park is just a few miles from Sundance, Ut

Fall Colors in Sundance

We found a good self service Doodlewash to clean off some of the road grime.

A wet Annie

A clean Annie

Our site at Deer Creek SP

After 6 days at Deer Creek it was time to say good bye to Ron & Maxine.   They headed west and we continued south,   Our next stop was another 350 miles to Wahweep on Lake Powell outside of Page Az.

Its starting to look like the Southwest

Lake Powell

Glen Canyon Dam

While at Wahweep, we finally got to see some Northern Lights.   I keep close tabs on Geomagnetic conditions and was hoping all the time while we were way up north in Newfoundland that we'd see some. It took traveling south to 36°N to finally see some.

Some greens and reds

You can see the Big Dipper on lower left

Well that brings me to today.   We left Wahweep yesterday and traveled about 180 miles south to Camp Verde, Az.   Not far from Sedona.   We are here for 3 nights and then will make the final 180 miles or so to Tucson where we'll park the bus for a bit.

I have to bring it in for service a week after we get there and that might turn into a 2 day trip, but that is about it,

The map below shows our travels this trip since leaving in April.   It was a fun summer.

All that remains is to close the loop.

So next up will be our winter travels and then off to Europe, the UK, and Ireland next summer.

We fly to France on April 2nd so i'm busy planning that one now.