'19/#12 The Bridge On This Side Of The Pond

Winslow Arizona was fun and Meteor Crater was cool but we had one more day in Arizona. Our next stay over is in Lake Havasu City, the home of the London Bridge. Actually it would be the new home of the London Bridge.

The story goes that a land developer wanted to build a town in the middle of the desert. Once he got the idea off the ground and it was progressing he wanted to add a feature that would be the center piece of the city and bring more people to visit and stay. Since the rumors (wink,wink) of the Brooklyn Bridge being for sale were unfounded he heard about the London Bridge. It was an all granite structure that was disassembled in England and put up for sale. Robert McCulloch placed the winning bid and moved it to Lake Havasu City and the rest is history or relocated history. The bridge is now the second most visited attraction in Arizona after the Grand Canyon!

We walked down by the bridge through the English Village where all things touristy are for sale. Took our obligatory pictures and went on a boat ride on Lake Havasu. The lake is a boating mecca and the parade of boats in what is now considered the shoulder season was non-stop. Boat races are held on the lake and other events are scheduled around the year that keeps people coming to this man made oasis in the Arizona desert.

Our next stop will be in Death Valley. We will find a place in Nevada for a night or two and continue our adventure. So I will sign off now from our home near the London Bridge (NOT in London) because......

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#11 Rock And Roll Culture And A Hole iIn The Ground

Albuquerque in the rear view mirror and on to Arizona. Our next overnight stay is Meteor Crater RV park but along the way we have to pass Winslow AZ. The song "Take Easy" by the Eagles has made this little town a tourist stop and we are tourists so.... A little turn off of the interstate and we are again on historic Rt 66. This time we are in downtown Winslow Arizona. We were able to park the rig on the street just a block from the "Standing On The Corner" landmark. Lots of touristy pictures and post cards and  a couple of tee shirts and we were again on our way.

Not too far down the road we arrived at Meteor Crater RV Park, our destination for the night. After checking in we called  the crater operations and found out that the hiking tours along the crater's rim were cancelled due to high winds. We opted to just check out the museum and observation platforms. The hike along the rim would have been cool but it just wasn't in the cards this time. The crater itself was impressive. Big enough to hold 20 football games simultaneously and have 2 million people watching in the stands! It is the first confirmed meteor crater and the best preserved in the world. Make you feel kind of small standing next to it.

Not much more to say here but tomorrow is another day. So until the next blog goodbye from our home at the edge of the crater because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#10 Changes in Altitudes, Changes In Latitudes

From big steaks and painting old cars by the road we continued our trek toward the west. Our next stop is Albuquerque, New Mexico. Finally out of Texas and another new destination to explore. Also some business to take care of so we spent two days at the Enchanted Trails RV Park. Like most RV parks along the route and not considered destination parks we had all the amenities expected. There was the highway noise form I-40 just a couple of hundred yards away, there were trains clacking along their way and blowing horns through the night, and to complete the trifecta a small airport not very far away. Land for RV parks is not readily available in nice quiet neighborhoods so these are the sounds we have come to expect and have gotten used to.

In Albuquerque we drove along a stretch of Historic Rt 66. We stopped at a landmark hot dog stand and had a late lunch and explored the area a bit. We were trying to kill a little time before we headed up to Sandia Peak. There is a cable car that takes you to the top and the sunsets are supposed to be magnificent. We rode to the top of the mountain at 10398 feet and were amazed at the views from the top as well as the cable car. Mary has a lot more pictures on Facebook. The sunset was as promised and the temperatures fell rapidly after that. Home to the RV and a good nights sleep.

The next day was all business. The shower seemed to have sprung a leak around the handle and needed repair. Fortunately there was a Camping World right next door. They had the part I needed but as with everything these days it was built like crap and needed a little modifying to work properly. That meant a trip to Home Depot and some creative out of the box thinking. Several hours later everything was put back together a sufficiently caulked. New caulking means we couldn't use our shower so we showered at the bath house and did some laundry while we were at it.

I've said it in the past, this is not a vacation but a lifestyle. Chores need to be done and things happen and need to be taken care of. That is the life of a full time RVer. Our next destination is Meteor Crater in Arizona. WOW! Once we are out of Texas it seems that the states just go flying by.

Well I will sign off now from our home in Albuquerque because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#8 Fun On The Road

This morning we woke to sunshine and 47 degrees. Cold but no tornadoes. Our next scheduled stop is just outside Amarillo TX. After a thousand miles you would think we would be out of Texas. They say everything is bigger in Texas and I guess that includes travel. As soon as we got here we dropped the trailer and went out to be tourists.

One of those things that are a must see when traveling is Cadillac Ranch. A series of old Caddys buried on end in the ground by a farmer has turned into a historic roadside landmark. Visitors are encouraged to "tag" the cars with their own art work.  This miscreant was spotted at the ranch equipped and ready to do her graffiti.

She must be a Tampa Bay Lightning fan as am I. Hope they can find their way back into the hunt for the Stanley Cup.


On the way back we decided to eat at another landmark. This is the Big Texan Steak Ranch, the home of the 72 ounce steak challenge. Yes, 4 1/2 pounds of steak in one sitting in one hour. Believe it or not there have been at least a dozen successful challenges just since the first of the year. Imagine how many didn't "meat" up (pun intended) to the challenge. As for my traveling companion and graffiti artist her 8 ounce challenge was too much for her. A doggie bag was needed and will be enjoyed at a later time.

We will call it an early night tonight with Albuquerque NM our destination tomorrow. So I am saying goodnight form our home in Amarillo because......

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#7 A Night On The Road

We spent two nights in Livingston Texas getting our satellite receiver set up. Customer service with DirecTV has taken a real down turn since being taken over by AT&T. Stereotypical overseas outsourcing made the process excruciating. Then the process for returning the old receiver again was anything but efficient. What was supposed to be a simple drop off at FedEx wound up costing us around $20. Later customer service from AT&T told us to go back to FedEx and get the package back! Like that was going to happen. Maybe we were supposed to chase down the truck and hi-jack it to get the receiver back. Now we have to rely on the incompetents at DirecTV to credit the money to our account. I'm not holding my breath.

In Livingston we stayed at the Escapees RV park. We are Escapees members and take advantage of the hospitality shown members when ever we pass through the area. Other than the TV issues we enjoyed the down time and the breakfasts that they have to help support Escapees C.A.R.E. This is a rehabilitation  system tailored to RVers who for one reason or another can't travel and/or take care of themselves. It is another case of RVers taking care of RVers.

We left Livingston knowing that it was going to rain all day. It did rain, and thunder, and lightning, and got windy but we kept on going as safely as possible. Then the weather reports started talking about possible tornadoes. Shortly thereafter tornado reports started popping up around us and the wind really picked up. That is when we got off the road and found a safe place to wait it out. Luckily it only took about 15-20 minutes before it all passed. We just recently heard about two tornadoes that set down near the area we were in. Unfortunately there were 40 injuries, 4 missing and 3 dead. We feel very lucky and send our condolences to those affected.

Speaking of weather....three days ago Mary was complaining about the heat in Pharr TX. The temperatures were in the 90's every day. Well today we arrived in Sunset TX and the afternoon temperature is 50 degrees and the over night low is expected to be in the upper 30's and Mary is still not happy. What to do? What to do? I guess we will turn on the heat and soldier on here in our home in Sunset TX because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#6 A Short Blog

On the road on Denton Texas.
Rain all day with thunder storms a pop up tornados. Dodged the worst of it and another hour 'til we stop for the night
I'll try to blog more later.

On the road between homes,

Frank and Mary

'19/#5 One Shake Of The Jello

We were supposed to be on the road today but like I say, our plans are written in jello. Nothing major. Just a problem with our TV receiver. It is being replaced but we have to be somewhere that it can be shipped to us. Tomorrow we will be on the road with a side trip to Livingston Texas. That is where we can pick up the receiver. We will also be there for a couple of days. That will change the itinerary that we had planned. The two most important tools in an RVer's kit are a sense of humor and the ability to adapt. Living on the road is always an adventure.

Back to our original plans. The truck is serviced and washed, the trailer is road ready again, and has been washed and waxed. Inside we have put most of our stuff away in travel mode and a weeks worth of meals have been pre-cooked to make things easier on the road. Not only won't we have to cook but we also won't be filling up our kitchen waste water holding tank or emptying our fresh water tank so fast. That will require less hooking up and disconnecting hoses while on the road and allow us to enjoy more of our travels.

There are a few places we want to stop at along the way. Being a tourist and exploring the country is what RVing is all about. Because of the recent jello shake we will be crossing Carlsbad Caverns off the list this time. This is two years in a row we haven't made it there. Maybe on the way back or next year? We will be taking 2-3 weeks to and go through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and finally California where we will be staying for the summer.

We will keep everyone up to date on our travels and adventures as the calender marches on. Well it looks like or laundry is just about done. This is the last load before we depart from our home in Pharr Texas because......

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary