On the Wednesday, December 1, we took the Lazy Daze to Phoenix so that we could spend a few days visiting friends and family and doing Christmas shopping. After setting up at Cotton Lane RV Park, we had lunch at Macayos, and picked up books for Mom's Christmas present.
On Thursday, Earl did Christmas shopping while I went to lunch at the Red Robin with Mom, O'Neil, and Lil.
The next day, I did Christmas shopping. Since I got back early (I'm a much quicker shopper than Earl...he'd spent several hours the previous day doing shopping!), Earl and I had lunch at On The Border. That night we had dinner with Buck and Phyllis at El Paso BBQ and then went back to their place to play dominoes.
We left on Saturday to go back to Quartzsite, stopping at the Safeway to put gas in the Lazy Daze.
During the month, we took the Lazy Daze to RV Lifestyles to get the electric step fixed (it needed a new controller...an item which was replaced under warranty), and to get a small propane leak in the oven fixed. We bought a Wilson Trucker's antenna for our cell phones in the hope that it would allow us to get a signal at the campground where we will be hosting this summer [Note: It didn't...we were apparently too far down in a hole.]
We bought some small cactus from a vendor who sets up here each year, and planted them in the front yard...hopefully, they'll make it through the summer!
Friday, December 31, 2004
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
NOVEMBER 2004
Winter is the time that we can order "stuff" online and have it shipped to us (this is a bit more difficult to do when on the road).
One of the things I ordered when we got home was a small Zip Code book. Back in 1998 when we had started to fulltime, we had purchased a set of two large Zip Code books from the USPS. Not only were they several years old, but they took up a lot of room (and weight) because they were so large. The new book is a much smaller one--it's only 7" x 9." It doesn't contain quite as much information as the big USPS Zip Code books, but it will do fine for what we need it for (particularly in light of the fact that we now have Internet access pretty much on a constant basis, so I can always look up any additional information I need at the USPS website).
More things that we ordered were updated Benchmark Atlases. These are great atlases! The only problem with them is that they only have atlases for seven western states: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. We like them much better than the Delorme Atlases.
And then, of course, there are the Christmas presents. One of the things I ordered for Earl was a Daiwa Spin/Fly combo from Cabela's...now Earl will be able to carry his fishing gear with him in one small, compact package!
Shortly after we got back to Quartzsite, we drove out to Plomosa Road to meet and visit with fellow Boomers, Steve and Pam Ritchie.
On the 23rd, we had an overnight visit with new Lazy Daze owners, Ross and Beverly Taylor. We took them to dinner at Taco Mio, our favorite restaurant in Quartzsite.
Since Lazy Daze motorhomes are factory direct, one has to go to the factory to pick them up. For out-of-state residents, in order to avoid paying California sales tax, one must hire the services of an ICC driver who drives the motorhome across the California border to either Ehrenberg, Arizona or Las Vegas, Nevada (the location is at the new owner's choosing). Since Ross and Beverly live in Fredericksburg, Texas, they took delivery of their new motorhome in Ehrenberg, which is only about 15 miles east of Quartzsite. After a long day doing the walk-through (where an employee of Lazy Daze thoroughly explains the workings of all the systems in the motorhome), and the long drive from Montclair, California, our place in Quartzsite makes a convenient first-night stay. Therefore, we have made an open invitation on the Life With A Lazy Daze RV Yahoo Group for any new Lazy Daze owner to spend the night at our house. This invitation also extends to other Lazy Daze owners, too, not just new owners.
We also took a day to drive down to Yuma to do shopping at Sam's Club, have lunch, and pick up refills at Wal Mart for Earl's prescription (he was able to get the remaining three months worth of pills, so we won't have to make another trip to Yuma just for pills).
We had Thanksgiving with fellow Boomers Sarah and Richard Shong, Mickey and Karen Bennett, Mick and Ann Meilicke, and Bill and Kaaren Payne. They were all parked out on BLM land near Quartzsite where the Boomers hold their annual Boomerang. We loaded up the Lazy Daze, went out, and spent the night. We all had a fun time, and it was great spending Thanksgiving with friends!
Another day, fellow Lazy Daze owner, Shirley Fritz, came by to visit us for awhile.
One of the things I ordered when we got home was a small Zip Code book. Back in 1998 when we had started to fulltime, we had purchased a set of two large Zip Code books from the USPS. Not only were they several years old, but they took up a lot of room (and weight) because they were so large. The new book is a much smaller one--it's only 7" x 9." It doesn't contain quite as much information as the big USPS Zip Code books, but it will do fine for what we need it for (particularly in light of the fact that we now have Internet access pretty much on a constant basis, so I can always look up any additional information I need at the USPS website).
More things that we ordered were updated Benchmark Atlases. These are great atlases! The only problem with them is that they only have atlases for seven western states: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. We like them much better than the Delorme Atlases.
And then, of course, there are the Christmas presents. One of the things I ordered for Earl was a Daiwa Spin/Fly combo from Cabela's...now Earl will be able to carry his fishing gear with him in one small, compact package!
Shortly after we got back to Quartzsite, we drove out to Plomosa Road to meet and visit with fellow Boomers, Steve and Pam Ritchie.
On the 23rd, we had an overnight visit with new Lazy Daze owners, Ross and Beverly Taylor. We took them to dinner at Taco Mio, our favorite restaurant in Quartzsite.
Since Lazy Daze motorhomes are factory direct, one has to go to the factory to pick them up. For out-of-state residents, in order to avoid paying California sales tax, one must hire the services of an ICC driver who drives the motorhome across the California border to either Ehrenberg, Arizona or Las Vegas, Nevada (the location is at the new owner's choosing). Since Ross and Beverly live in Fredericksburg, Texas, they took delivery of their new motorhome in Ehrenberg, which is only about 15 miles east of Quartzsite. After a long day doing the walk-through (where an employee of Lazy Daze thoroughly explains the workings of all the systems in the motorhome), and the long drive from Montclair, California, our place in Quartzsite makes a convenient first-night stay. Therefore, we have made an open invitation on the Life With A Lazy Daze RV Yahoo Group for any new Lazy Daze owner to spend the night at our house. This invitation also extends to other Lazy Daze owners, too, not just new owners.
We also took a day to drive down to Yuma to do shopping at Sam's Club, have lunch, and pick up refills at Wal Mart for Earl's prescription (he was able to get the remaining three months worth of pills, so we won't have to make another trip to Yuma just for pills).
We had Thanksgiving with fellow Boomers Sarah and Richard Shong, Mickey and Karen Bennett, Mick and Ann Meilicke, and Bill and Kaaren Payne. They were all parked out on BLM land near Quartzsite where the Boomers hold their annual Boomerang. We loaded up the Lazy Daze, went out, and spent the night. We all had a fun time, and it was great spending Thanksgiving with friends!
Another day, fellow Lazy Daze owner, Shirley Fritz, came by to visit us for awhile.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
OCTOBER 2004
Before leaving Redding on Friday, October 1, we stopped and had breakfast at I-Hop, picked up our mail at the post office, and put gas in the Lazy Daze. We then drove 66 miles to the Pitt River Campground (BLM). This is currently a free campground, but the BLM is in the process of redoing it, putting in a space for a camp host, and it will become a fee campground. Pitt River Campground is about 4 or 5 miles west of the small town of Fall River Mills south of SR-299. It was such a nice area, we decided to spend a couple of days instead of the one night we had originally planned.
On Sunday, we drove about 70 miles to the North Eagle Lake Campground (another BLM campground...$4 with our Golden Age card, no services) on Eagle Lake north of Susanville.
The next day we drove into Susanville to spend several days at the Mountain View RV Park. We've stayed at this park before when we've visited Susanville. Before arriving at the RV park, we had breakfast at Watson Restaurant in town, and had our propane tank filled. While in Susanville, we did laundry and grocery shopping, Earl went golfing, and we ordered in pizza one night.
Our next stop after leaving Susanville was the Carson Nugget Casino in Carson City, Nevada. The Nugget has a parking lot specifically for RVs and allow them to overnight.
On Friday, we stopped in Pollock Pines, California to pick up our mail. Originally, we were going to stay at one of our Coast to Coast parks there, but decided to head farther west and stay at the Placerville Elks Lodge (which is actually located in Shingle Springs). The Placerville Elks Lodge is a brand new one; in fact, the day we left (Saturday), they were having an open house. It has several RV spots which will have electrical hookups, but they had not yet been put in, so we dry camped. We had dinner at the Lodge that night, and found everyone to be very friendly.
The next day, we drove 63 miles to the Lodi Elks Lodge in Lodi, California, where we spent the next six nights. While in Lodi, we did laundry and grocery shopping. Earl also went golfing at Swenson Park Golf Course and we walked next door to have dinner at Cactus Mexican Dining.
On Friday, October 15, we left Lodi and drove 42 miles to Gus and Judy's house in Modesto. Gus and Judy also have a Lazy Daze...they bought a 1980's-something Lazy Daze which they are in the process of fixing up. That night, we went to dinner with them at a Thai restaurant.
On Saturday, John and Eileen Van Gossen (also new Lazy Daze owners) came over to Gus and Judy's for dinner. We had a fun evening!
Sunday, Gus and Earl went golfing at Creekside Golf Course while I did laundry using Judy's nice washer and dryer (so much better than going to a laundromat!).
Monday morning we had to bid goodbye to our friends, and headed out. Our first stop was the Costco at Turlock where we did shopping and filled up the Lazy Daze with gas. We also stopped at the Wal Mart to pick up propane canisters and a refill on Earl's Pravachol prescription. That night, we stayed at Royal Oaks Resort in Kingsburg, one of our RPI parks.
On Thursday October 21, we headed for Ridgecrest, California, where we had an appointment with the Tire Man the next day to have long, metal tire stems installed (it's very difficult to check the pressure, let alone add air, on the inside duallies). We stopped in Mohave to have lunch at Denny's and put gas in the Lazy Daze. Our appointment wasn't until Friday morning, but we had arrived at the Tire Man early, and since he didn't have any other vehicle in front of us, we got the stems put on today. They did offer to let us spend the night in their lot hooked up to electricity...an offer we took them up on.
On Friday, we picked up our mail before leaving Ridgecrest and headed out to the Elks Lodge in Hesperia, stopping in Boron along the way to have lunch at Domingo's. Domingo's is one of our favorite stops whenever we're traveling on SR-58 between Mojave and Barstow...great Mexican food!
We spent Saturday and Sunday at Two Springs Resort in North Palm Springs, one of our RPI parks. While there, we did shopping at Costco and Trader Joe's (had to pick up our supply of Two-Buck Chuck, you know!).
We made it back to Quartzsite on Monday, October 25.
The next day, we had to buy a new satellite dish for the house, since the LNBs on the old dish apparently had gone bad. We also had to purchase two 9-volt batteries for the smoke detectors since they started "chirping" once we turned the electricity back on. (Reminder for next year: buy 9-volt batteries before returning home!)
On Sunday, we drove about 70 miles to the North Eagle Lake Campground (another BLM campground...$4 with our Golden Age card, no services) on Eagle Lake north of Susanville.
The next day we drove into Susanville to spend several days at the Mountain View RV Park. We've stayed at this park before when we've visited Susanville. Before arriving at the RV park, we had breakfast at Watson Restaurant in town, and had our propane tank filled. While in Susanville, we did laundry and grocery shopping, Earl went golfing, and we ordered in pizza one night.
Our next stop after leaving Susanville was the Carson Nugget Casino in Carson City, Nevada. The Nugget has a parking lot specifically for RVs and allow them to overnight.
On Friday, we stopped in Pollock Pines, California to pick up our mail. Originally, we were going to stay at one of our Coast to Coast parks there, but decided to head farther west and stay at the Placerville Elks Lodge (which is actually located in Shingle Springs). The Placerville Elks Lodge is a brand new one; in fact, the day we left (Saturday), they were having an open house. It has several RV spots which will have electrical hookups, but they had not yet been put in, so we dry camped. We had dinner at the Lodge that night, and found everyone to be very friendly.
The next day, we drove 63 miles to the Lodi Elks Lodge in Lodi, California, where we spent the next six nights. While in Lodi, we did laundry and grocery shopping. Earl also went golfing at Swenson Park Golf Course and we walked next door to have dinner at Cactus Mexican Dining.
On Friday, October 15, we left Lodi and drove 42 miles to Gus and Judy's house in Modesto. Gus and Judy also have a Lazy Daze...they bought a 1980's-something Lazy Daze which they are in the process of fixing up. That night, we went to dinner with them at a Thai restaurant.
On Saturday, John and Eileen Van Gossen (also new Lazy Daze owners) came over to Gus and Judy's for dinner. We had a fun evening!
Sunday, Gus and Earl went golfing at Creekside Golf Course while I did laundry using Judy's nice washer and dryer (so much better than going to a laundromat!).
Monday morning we had to bid goodbye to our friends, and headed out. Our first stop was the Costco at Turlock where we did shopping and filled up the Lazy Daze with gas. We also stopped at the Wal Mart to pick up propane canisters and a refill on Earl's Pravachol prescription. That night, we stayed at Royal Oaks Resort in Kingsburg, one of our RPI parks.
On Thursday October 21, we headed for Ridgecrest, California, where we had an appointment with the Tire Man the next day to have long, metal tire stems installed (it's very difficult to check the pressure, let alone add air, on the inside duallies). We stopped in Mohave to have lunch at Denny's and put gas in the Lazy Daze. Our appointment wasn't until Friday morning, but we had arrived at the Tire Man early, and since he didn't have any other vehicle in front of us, we got the stems put on today. They did offer to let us spend the night in their lot hooked up to electricity...an offer we took them up on.
On Friday, we picked up our mail before leaving Ridgecrest and headed out to the Elks Lodge in Hesperia, stopping in Boron along the way to have lunch at Domingo's. Domingo's is one of our favorite stops whenever we're traveling on SR-58 between Mojave and Barstow...great Mexican food!
We spent Saturday and Sunday at Two Springs Resort in North Palm Springs, one of our RPI parks. While there, we did shopping at Costco and Trader Joe's (had to pick up our supply of Two-Buck Chuck, you know!).
We made it back to Quartzsite on Monday, October 25.
The next day, we had to buy a new satellite dish for the house, since the LNBs on the old dish apparently had gone bad. We also had to purchase two 9-volt batteries for the smoke detectors since they started "chirping" once we turned the electricity back on. (Reminder for next year: buy 9-volt batteries before returning home!)
Thursday, September 30, 2004
SEPTEMBER 2004
We left Buck and Phyllis' place on Saturday, September 4, and drove 45 miles to the Elks Club in Puyallup, Washington. We parked next to Glenn and Margo, the people who had set us up with the Direcway satellite Internet system we have. This was a fortunate coincidence, since, while we were at Buck and Phyllis' place, mice (or some other critter) had chewed on one of our cables! Glenn made up a brand new one for us.
On Sunday, we had breakfast at the Elks Club, and then visited with Earl's son and daughter-in-law (Garrett and Angie), and grand kids.
Before leaving Puyallup on Monday, we stopped to do laundry, grocery shopping, and to fill up the Lazy Daze with gas. We then drove 110 miles to Cougar Rock Campground in Mt. Rainier National Park. It was a beautiful day, and the mountain was out in all her beauty. Through binoculars, we watched while three climbers made their way back down the mountain.
View from our campsite:
Glacier which the 3 climbers descended:
The next day, we drove 186 miles to Rufus, Oregon, where we camped at Le Page Campground, a Corp of Engineers park ($8 with the Golden Age Passport; water and electric hookups with a dump available).
Mt. Rainier:
On Wednesday, we drove 116 miles to Haystack Reservoir south of Madras, and camped at the South Shore area (free, no services). Along the way, we'd stopped in Biggs to fuel the Lazy Daze, and also stopped in Madras to get propane and to have lunch at the Black Bear Diner.
We drove 39 miles on Thursday to the Mountain Shadows RV Park in Sisters, Oregon, for the Northwest Lazy Daze group's get together. That night, we attended a potluck, and the next morning, breakfast.
On Saturday, Earl and I took a drive up CR-14 west of Sisters to check out the campgrounds farther up the road (we'd stayed at Indian Ford Campground just off US-20 west of Sisters on our last trip to this area). We stopped to see the Springs of the Metolius River (a large spring pouring out of the volcanic rocks near the base of Black Butte). At this late time, there wasn't much to see, but we've been told that it's a spectacular site in the Spring! We also stopped to visit the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.
After checking out all the campgrounds along CR-14, we decided that Gorge, Pioneer Ford, and Lower Bridge campgrounds looked like good ones to come back to.
At one of the happy hours during the get together, a friend of one of the members brought a couple of their baby llamas for us to see...they sure were cute!
Before leaving Sisters, we did laundry at the campground, then stopped in Bend to get food for Maxx at PetCo. While in Bend, we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up a refill on Earl's prescription and do grocery shopping.
We drove a total of 59 miles to Paulina Lake Campground at Newberry National Volcanic Monument near La Pine. Our original intention was to spend a couple of days here to further explore the area, but when we woke up in the morning, it was raining and cold! Therefore, we headed across the mountains toward the Coast, stopping to spend a couple of days at Timber Valley SKP Park in Sutherlin where we dry camped.
On Wednesday, September 15, we drove 74 miles to Tahkenitch Landing Campground in the Suislaw National Forest near Gardiner, stopping along SR-38 at the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area where we really DID see some Elk! After setting up at the campground, we drove up to Florence to have dinner at Mo's.
Elk at the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area:
The next day we drove down to Winchester Bay to visit friends who were staying there at the Marina RV Park, Richard and Sarah Shong. Sarah came to lunch with us at Fishpatrick's Crabby, where we had some excellent seafood!
On Friday, we moved down to Marina RV Park in Winchester Bay, too, although we stayed in the dry camping area. That evening we had dinner with Sarah, Richard, and others at the Oasis Restaurant.
It rained all day on Saturday, so we didn't do much but sit around the RV. On Sunday, we did laundry and that night had dinner with Richard and Sarah at Pah Tong's Thai Restaurant.
On Monday, we drove 40 miles to the Mill Casino in North Bend (free). After setting up, we drove down to the Ford dealer in Coos Bay, Tower Motor Company, to make an appointment for an oil change on the Lazy Daze. We took the Lazy Daze in for an oil change early on Tuesday morning. While Earl waited with the rig, I drove down to the McDonalds and picked up breakfast. Once the oil change was done, we drove 108 miles to the Elks Club in Brookings where we spent a couple of days.
Ocean views along the Oregon Coast:
On Thursday, we drove 49 miles to Klamath River RV Park in Klamath, California, one of our RPI parks. While we were in Klamath, we drove the Coastal Scenic Highway, did laundry and grocery shopping, and took a trip up to Crescent City where we had lunch at Fisherman's Restaurant. We also visited the Trees of Mystery north of Klamath which we found quite interesting. On the way back to the park, we stopped to purchase some smoked salmon...yum!
The Family Tree
(notice other trees growing from the main tree's branches):
The Cathedral Tree
(a cluster of 6 Redwoods growing out of a single root):
Earl at Nature's Underpass:
Pooped Logger chain-saw sculpture
by Kenyon R. Kaiser:
When we left Klamath on Tuesday, September 28, we stopped to do shopping at the Costco in Eureka. We then continued on to the Boise Creek Campground in the Six Rivers National Forest near Willow Creek, California.
The next day, we drove 104 miles to the Elks Club in Redding where we spent a couple of days. While in Redding, we did grocery shopping, and picked up more food for Maxx at the PetCo.
On Sunday, we had breakfast at the Elks Club, and then visited with Earl's son and daughter-in-law (Garrett and Angie), and grand kids.
Before leaving Puyallup on Monday, we stopped to do laundry, grocery shopping, and to fill up the Lazy Daze with gas. We then drove 110 miles to Cougar Rock Campground in Mt. Rainier National Park. It was a beautiful day, and the mountain was out in all her beauty. Through binoculars, we watched while three climbers made their way back down the mountain.
View from our campsite:
Glacier which the 3 climbers descended:
The next day, we drove 186 miles to Rufus, Oregon, where we camped at Le Page Campground, a Corp of Engineers park ($8 with the Golden Age Passport; water and electric hookups with a dump available).
Mt. Rainier:
On Wednesday, we drove 116 miles to Haystack Reservoir south of Madras, and camped at the South Shore area (free, no services). Along the way, we'd stopped in Biggs to fuel the Lazy Daze, and also stopped in Madras to get propane and to have lunch at the Black Bear Diner.
We drove 39 miles on Thursday to the Mountain Shadows RV Park in Sisters, Oregon, for the Northwest Lazy Daze group's get together. That night, we attended a potluck, and the next morning, breakfast.
On Saturday, Earl and I took a drive up CR-14 west of Sisters to check out the campgrounds farther up the road (we'd stayed at Indian Ford Campground just off US-20 west of Sisters on our last trip to this area). We stopped to see the Springs of the Metolius River (a large spring pouring out of the volcanic rocks near the base of Black Butte). At this late time, there wasn't much to see, but we've been told that it's a spectacular site in the Spring! We also stopped to visit the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.
After checking out all the campgrounds along CR-14, we decided that Gorge, Pioneer Ford, and Lower Bridge campgrounds looked like good ones to come back to.
At one of the happy hours during the get together, a friend of one of the members brought a couple of their baby llamas for us to see...they sure were cute!
Before leaving Sisters, we did laundry at the campground, then stopped in Bend to get food for Maxx at PetCo. While in Bend, we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up a refill on Earl's prescription and do grocery shopping.
We drove a total of 59 miles to Paulina Lake Campground at Newberry National Volcanic Monument near La Pine. Our original intention was to spend a couple of days here to further explore the area, but when we woke up in the morning, it was raining and cold! Therefore, we headed across the mountains toward the Coast, stopping to spend a couple of days at Timber Valley SKP Park in Sutherlin where we dry camped.
On Wednesday, September 15, we drove 74 miles to Tahkenitch Landing Campground in the Suislaw National Forest near Gardiner, stopping along SR-38 at the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area where we really DID see some Elk! After setting up at the campground, we drove up to Florence to have dinner at Mo's.
Elk at the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area:
The next day we drove down to Winchester Bay to visit friends who were staying there at the Marina RV Park, Richard and Sarah Shong. Sarah came to lunch with us at Fishpatrick's Crabby, where we had some excellent seafood!
On Friday, we moved down to Marina RV Park in Winchester Bay, too, although we stayed in the dry camping area. That evening we had dinner with Sarah, Richard, and others at the Oasis Restaurant.
It rained all day on Saturday, so we didn't do much but sit around the RV. On Sunday, we did laundry and that night had dinner with Richard and Sarah at Pah Tong's Thai Restaurant.
On Monday, we drove 40 miles to the Mill Casino in North Bend (free). After setting up, we drove down to the Ford dealer in Coos Bay, Tower Motor Company, to make an appointment for an oil change on the Lazy Daze. We took the Lazy Daze in for an oil change early on Tuesday morning. While Earl waited with the rig, I drove down to the McDonalds and picked up breakfast. Once the oil change was done, we drove 108 miles to the Elks Club in Brookings where we spent a couple of days.
Ocean views along the Oregon Coast:
On Thursday, we drove 49 miles to Klamath River RV Park in Klamath, California, one of our RPI parks. While we were in Klamath, we drove the Coastal Scenic Highway, did laundry and grocery shopping, and took a trip up to Crescent City where we had lunch at Fisherman's Restaurant. We also visited the Trees of Mystery north of Klamath which we found quite interesting. On the way back to the park, we stopped to purchase some smoked salmon...yum!
The Family Tree
(notice other trees growing from the main tree's branches):
The Cathedral Tree
(a cluster of 6 Redwoods growing out of a single root):
Earl at Nature's Underpass:
Pooped Logger chain-saw sculpture
by Kenyon R. Kaiser:
When we left Klamath on Tuesday, September 28, we stopped to do shopping at the Costco in Eureka. We then continued on to the Boise Creek Campground in the Six Rivers National Forest near Willow Creek, California.
The next day, we drove 104 miles to the Elks Club in Redding where we spent a couple of days. While in Redding, we did grocery shopping, and picked up more food for Maxx at the PetCo.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
AUGUST 2004
Before leaving Gillette on Sunday, we stopped by the Flying J to fill up the Lazy Daze. We then drove 102 miles to the Lost Cabin Campground in the Bighorn National Forest (located on US-16 west of Buffalo, Wyoming). The campground has no hookups, but water is available. Fee is $5 with the Golden Age Passport.
The next day, we drove 103 miles to Greybull, Wyoming, where we dry camped at Rick and Carol Lechner's place (soon-to-be Lazy Daze owners). On our way, we stopped in Worland to see the Toth statue located on the grounds of the Washakie County Courthouse.
Toth statue in Worland, Wyoming
September 28, 1980
N 43° 01.023', W 107° 57.335'
Earl and I had dinner in Greybull that night at Buffalo Rose Restaurant.
After bidding goodbye to Rick and Carol on Tuesday, we stopped to fill the Lazy Daze before heading out. We drove 150 miles to the Ocean Lake State Wildlife Management Area near Riverton, Wyoming (free, no services). This was a nice quiet spot next to the lake.
The next day, we drove 132 miles to Grand Teton National Park where we camped in the Colter Bay Campground ($6 per night with the Golden Age Passport...no hookups, but fresh water and a dump are available).
On Thursday, we drove into Jackson to do grocery shopping and send back the extra DW6000 Direcway modem which, as it turned out, we didn't need after all. We stopped and had lunch at Picas.
The following day, we picked up our mail and then took the Signal Mountain Road scenic drive. Beautiful scenery!
Tetons:
Sixty to 75 million years ago, the Teton Range and the valley of Jackson Hole were an arched block of sedimentary rock that ancient seas had deposited. About 2 to 13 million years ago, the Teton Range began to rise while the valley floor dropped. At the same time (and this still happens today), the valley itself slowly widened at the rate of about one foot every 100 years. This continual fault action normally creates a deep, steep-sided valley; however, several times massive glaciers 3,000 feet thick slowly flowed across the valley eroding, transporting, and depositing huge quantities of rock and glacial debris (the valley's true floor, for example, lies buried beneath 26,000 feet of debris that form today's valley floor).
On Saturday, August 7, we left Jackson and drove 128 miles to the South Tourist Park in Idaho Falls, Idaho (free, water and dump available). After setting up, we did shopping at Sam's Club.
The next day, before we left Idaho Falls, we stopped at the Home Depot and Albertson's to do shopping (bought a new barbecue at Home Depot). We also stopped to view another Toth statue which is located at the North Tourist Park.
Toth Statue in Idaho Falls, Idaho
November 18, 1980
N 43° 30.663', W 112° 00.946'
We drove 65 miles to camp at a BLM area along Birch Creek north of Mud Lake, Idaho. We left a donation of $3 (no facilities). This is a nice quiet area to the west of SR-28.
The next day, we drove 77 miles to Craters of the Moon National Monument, stopping in Arco, Idaho to do laundry and fill up the Lazy Daze. We also had lunch at Pickles Restaurant while in Arco.
We found a great spot to park in -- at the highest point in the campground with a view of the lava fields.
Craters of the Moon
Picture on the left is a view from our campsite
Picture on the right is one of the many volcanic cones that dot this area
The fissure vents, volcanic cones, and lava flows of the Great Rift Zone began erupting about 15,000 years ago and ceased on 2,000 years ago. Geologists predict that the landscape will erupt once again!
The next day when we were getting ready to leave Craters of the Moon, I accidentally locked my keys in the Honda (we use Earl's single key to put in the ignition). That meant that we had to stop along the way to find someone to jimmy the door open -- which we did in Carey, Idaho, to the tune of $30! An expensive mistake that we'll make sure never happens again!
We drove 106 miles to Fort Running Bear RV Resort near Mountain Home, Idaho, one of our Coast to Coast parks.
On Wednesday, we drove 76 miles to the Playground RV Park in Meridian, Idaho, a Good Neighbor Park. We took the Honda to Dirty Harry's Car Wash to clean it, and then had dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's home in Kuna, along with my mother. This was the first time we'd been in their new house (which Andy had built -- he's a home builder in the area). It was a beautiful house!
The next day, we had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, stopped at the Wal-Mart to pick up Earl's prescription for Pravachol, and stopped by the Post Office to pick up our mail. Mom, Earl, and I then went by one of the houses that Andy had almost completed -- another beautiful house! If you'd like to look at pictures of some of the houses my brother has built, go to the website for his business: Timberstone Builders. On Friday, we drove 53 miles to the Simpson RV Park in Nyssa, Oregon, where we visited with my aunt, Ilene Suiter. Earl and I brought back Chinese food from the local Chinese restaurant for dinner for the three of us.
The next morning, we washed the Lazy Daze and then went by Ilene's place for coffee before heading out. Her son and daughter-in-law were there visiting, too. This was the first time we'd ever met them. After leaving Nyssa, we drove 102 miles to the Cold Spring Campground in the Payette National Forest near Pine Ridge, Idaho ($5 with GAP, no services).
Sunday we headed north, stopping in Lewiston, Idaho at the Flying J to fill the Lazy Daze with gas, and then continued on to the Latah County Fairgrounds in Moscow, Idaho. While this campground isn't free, there is no pay box, and the past several times when we've been here, we've never found anyone in the office to pay, which was true this time, too. After setting up, we went across the street to shop at the Safeway store.
The next day, we drove 108 miles to the Elks Club in Spokane, Washington. When we went to plug in, I noticed that the electrical monitor we keep plugged into an outlet, was giving strange readings. We unplugged from the electric, and I took the monitor out to check the electric at the post. Everything was OK there, so we plugged in the RV again...but the monitor still wasn't reading correctly inside. So we called Steve at the Lazy Daze factory for some guidance. He had us run through some procedures, and then told us it was probably something wrong with the converter. So, since it was hot, we pulled off into the empty lot so that we could run our generator and A/C (it was in the high 90's!).
We then headed down to an RV center we'd used in previous years, but it was no longer there! We ended up at Freedom RV and made an appointment for the next day. We had dinner that night at Applebee's.
The next morning, we drove the Lazy Daze down to Freedom RV. The problem turned out to be in the wiring for the exterior 30-amp outlet on the rig. When the outlet had been installed at the factory, the insulation on the ground wire had been stripped back too far. After awhile, that bare wire touched the screw which hold the outlet to the rig and shorted out -- and, in the process, also shorted out the 15-amp GFCI fuse which had to be replaced. Fortunately, all the work was done under warranty, so we didn't have to pay anything for the repairs. When we got back to the Elks Club, we moved back to our space and plugged in.
On Wednesday, Earl went golfing at Liberty Lake Golf Course. That evening, we went out to dinner with George and Mary Doran at the Spokane Club. It was great to see them again!
On Thursday, soon-to-be Lazy Daze owners, David & Verna Renggli came by the Elks Club to visit us on their way to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Earl also took the Honda to Valley Honda to have the oil changed. That evening, we had a barbecue at the Elks Club -- everyone brings their own meat, and a side dish to share with everyone.
Friday, we picked up supplies at Johnson RV, and bought a collapsible clothes hamper and a small Shark vacuum at Linens 'n Things. That night, we had dinner at the Thai Kitchen. We've eaten here before, and the owner recognized us even though it had been a couple of years since we'd been there!
Saturday, we drove out to Airway Heights to drive by the log home that we had built during the 80's and then stopped by the Longhorn BBQ for lunch.
On Sunday, we had breakfast at Marie Callender's with George and Mary. Afterward, we did laundry and went by PetCo to pick up more food for Maxx.
When we left Spokane on Monday, August 23, we stopped by Albertson's to do grocery shopping and fill up the Lazy Daze with gas. We then drove 99 miles to the Lake Gillette Campground in the Colville National Forest near Ione, Washington.
The next day, we drove 103 miles to Bonaparte Lake Campground in the Okanogan National Forest near Wauconda, Washington. Along the way, we stopped in Republic and had lunch at the Sportsman Roost, and then picked up a couple of sweatshirts as it was a bit on the cool side and we had left Quartzsite without any.
On Wednesday, we drove 73 miles to the North Summit Sno Park at Loup Loup Pass on SR-20 west of Okanogan, Washington. We hadn't originally planned on staying here, but had stopped for a break. It was a huge, clear area, and would be perfect for setting up the satellite Internet tripod (it had been a couple of days since I'd been able to download email!)... so we decided to spend the night. Later in the evening -- and again the next morning -- we had a small herd of cows visit us!
The next day, we drove 94 miles to the Newhalem Creek Campground in the North Cascade National Park. This is a beautiful area...we'll definitely have to come back and visit when we can spend a few days. We did take a walk through the woods...it was quite dark with all those big trees looming over us!
We arrived at Buck and Phyllis Draughn's place in Woodinville on Friday, having traveled 117 miles. Along the way, we stopped at Buffalo Run in Marblemount for breakfast. That night, we had dinner with Buck and Phyllis at their house.
We stayed with Buck and Phyllis for eight nights. While there, we cleaned the Lazy Daze inside and out, including giving the rig it's first wax job -- the white areas got one coat of Finish First; the red areas two coats. Earl also changed the oil in the generator. Earl golfed twice at Battle Creek Golf Course and once at Snohomish Golf Course, and we had dinner out -- once at Las Margaritas and once at Thai Woodinville.
The next day, we drove 103 miles to Greybull, Wyoming, where we dry camped at Rick and Carol Lechner's place (soon-to-be Lazy Daze owners). On our way, we stopped in Worland to see the Toth statue located on the grounds of the Washakie County Courthouse.
Toth statue in Worland, Wyoming
September 28, 1980
N 43° 01.023', W 107° 57.335'
Earl and I had dinner in Greybull that night at Buffalo Rose Restaurant.
After bidding goodbye to Rick and Carol on Tuesday, we stopped to fill the Lazy Daze before heading out. We drove 150 miles to the Ocean Lake State Wildlife Management Area near Riverton, Wyoming (free, no services). This was a nice quiet spot next to the lake.
The next day, we drove 132 miles to Grand Teton National Park where we camped in the Colter Bay Campground ($6 per night with the Golden Age Passport...no hookups, but fresh water and a dump are available).
On Thursday, we drove into Jackson to do grocery shopping and send back the extra DW6000 Direcway modem which, as it turned out, we didn't need after all. We stopped and had lunch at Picas.
The following day, we picked up our mail and then took the Signal Mountain Road scenic drive. Beautiful scenery!
Tetons:
Sixty to 75 million years ago, the Teton Range and the valley of Jackson Hole were an arched block of sedimentary rock that ancient seas had deposited. About 2 to 13 million years ago, the Teton Range began to rise while the valley floor dropped. At the same time (and this still happens today), the valley itself slowly widened at the rate of about one foot every 100 years. This continual fault action normally creates a deep, steep-sided valley; however, several times massive glaciers 3,000 feet thick slowly flowed across the valley eroding, transporting, and depositing huge quantities of rock and glacial debris (the valley's true floor, for example, lies buried beneath 26,000 feet of debris that form today's valley floor).
On Saturday, August 7, we left Jackson and drove 128 miles to the South Tourist Park in Idaho Falls, Idaho (free, water and dump available). After setting up, we did shopping at Sam's Club.
The next day, before we left Idaho Falls, we stopped at the Home Depot and Albertson's to do shopping (bought a new barbecue at Home Depot). We also stopped to view another Toth statue which is located at the North Tourist Park.
Toth Statue in Idaho Falls, Idaho
November 18, 1980
N 43° 30.663', W 112° 00.946'
We drove 65 miles to camp at a BLM area along Birch Creek north of Mud Lake, Idaho. We left a donation of $3 (no facilities). This is a nice quiet area to the west of SR-28.
The next day, we drove 77 miles to Craters of the Moon National Monument, stopping in Arco, Idaho to do laundry and fill up the Lazy Daze. We also had lunch at Pickles Restaurant while in Arco.
We found a great spot to park in -- at the highest point in the campground with a view of the lava fields.
Craters of the Moon
Picture on the left is a view from our campsite
Picture on the right is one of the many volcanic cones that dot this area
The fissure vents, volcanic cones, and lava flows of the Great Rift Zone began erupting about 15,000 years ago and ceased on 2,000 years ago. Geologists predict that the landscape will erupt once again!
The next day when we were getting ready to leave Craters of the Moon, I accidentally locked my keys in the Honda (we use Earl's single key to put in the ignition). That meant that we had to stop along the way to find someone to jimmy the door open -- which we did in Carey, Idaho, to the tune of $30! An expensive mistake that we'll make sure never happens again!
We drove 106 miles to Fort Running Bear RV Resort near Mountain Home, Idaho, one of our Coast to Coast parks.
On Wednesday, we drove 76 miles to the Playground RV Park in Meridian, Idaho, a Good Neighbor Park. We took the Honda to Dirty Harry's Car Wash to clean it, and then had dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's home in Kuna, along with my mother. This was the first time we'd been in their new house (which Andy had built -- he's a home builder in the area). It was a beautiful house!
The next day, we had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, stopped at the Wal-Mart to pick up Earl's prescription for Pravachol, and stopped by the Post Office to pick up our mail. Mom, Earl, and I then went by one of the houses that Andy had almost completed -- another beautiful house! If you'd like to look at pictures of some of the houses my brother has built, go to the website for his business: Timberstone Builders. On Friday, we drove 53 miles to the Simpson RV Park in Nyssa, Oregon, where we visited with my aunt, Ilene Suiter. Earl and I brought back Chinese food from the local Chinese restaurant for dinner for the three of us.
The next morning, we washed the Lazy Daze and then went by Ilene's place for coffee before heading out. Her son and daughter-in-law were there visiting, too. This was the first time we'd ever met them. After leaving Nyssa, we drove 102 miles to the Cold Spring Campground in the Payette National Forest near Pine Ridge, Idaho ($5 with GAP, no services).
Sunday we headed north, stopping in Lewiston, Idaho at the Flying J to fill the Lazy Daze with gas, and then continued on to the Latah County Fairgrounds in Moscow, Idaho. While this campground isn't free, there is no pay box, and the past several times when we've been here, we've never found anyone in the office to pay, which was true this time, too. After setting up, we went across the street to shop at the Safeway store.
The next day, we drove 108 miles to the Elks Club in Spokane, Washington. When we went to plug in, I noticed that the electrical monitor we keep plugged into an outlet, was giving strange readings. We unplugged from the electric, and I took the monitor out to check the electric at the post. Everything was OK there, so we plugged in the RV again...but the monitor still wasn't reading correctly inside. So we called Steve at the Lazy Daze factory for some guidance. He had us run through some procedures, and then told us it was probably something wrong with the converter. So, since it was hot, we pulled off into the empty lot so that we could run our generator and A/C (it was in the high 90's!).
We then headed down to an RV center we'd used in previous years, but it was no longer there! We ended up at Freedom RV and made an appointment for the next day. We had dinner that night at Applebee's.
The next morning, we drove the Lazy Daze down to Freedom RV. The problem turned out to be in the wiring for the exterior 30-amp outlet on the rig. When the outlet had been installed at the factory, the insulation on the ground wire had been stripped back too far. After awhile, that bare wire touched the screw which hold the outlet to the rig and shorted out -- and, in the process, also shorted out the 15-amp GFCI fuse which had to be replaced. Fortunately, all the work was done under warranty, so we didn't have to pay anything for the repairs. When we got back to the Elks Club, we moved back to our space and plugged in.
On Wednesday, Earl went golfing at Liberty Lake Golf Course. That evening, we went out to dinner with George and Mary Doran at the Spokane Club. It was great to see them again!
On Thursday, soon-to-be Lazy Daze owners, David & Verna Renggli came by the Elks Club to visit us on their way to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Earl also took the Honda to Valley Honda to have the oil changed. That evening, we had a barbecue at the Elks Club -- everyone brings their own meat, and a side dish to share with everyone.
Friday, we picked up supplies at Johnson RV, and bought a collapsible clothes hamper and a small Shark vacuum at Linens 'n Things. That night, we had dinner at the Thai Kitchen. We've eaten here before, and the owner recognized us even though it had been a couple of years since we'd been there!
Saturday, we drove out to Airway Heights to drive by the log home that we had built during the 80's and then stopped by the Longhorn BBQ for lunch.
On Sunday, we had breakfast at Marie Callender's with George and Mary. Afterward, we did laundry and went by PetCo to pick up more food for Maxx.
When we left Spokane on Monday, August 23, we stopped by Albertson's to do grocery shopping and fill up the Lazy Daze with gas. We then drove 99 miles to the Lake Gillette Campground in the Colville National Forest near Ione, Washington.
The next day, we drove 103 miles to Bonaparte Lake Campground in the Okanogan National Forest near Wauconda, Washington. Along the way, we stopped in Republic and had lunch at the Sportsman Roost, and then picked up a couple of sweatshirts as it was a bit on the cool side and we had left Quartzsite without any.
On Wednesday, we drove 73 miles to the North Summit Sno Park at Loup Loup Pass on SR-20 west of Okanogan, Washington. We hadn't originally planned on staying here, but had stopped for a break. It was a huge, clear area, and would be perfect for setting up the satellite Internet tripod (it had been a couple of days since I'd been able to download email!)... so we decided to spend the night. Later in the evening -- and again the next morning -- we had a small herd of cows visit us!
The next day, we drove 94 miles to the Newhalem Creek Campground in the North Cascade National Park. This is a beautiful area...we'll definitely have to come back and visit when we can spend a few days. We did take a walk through the woods...it was quite dark with all those big trees looming over us!
We arrived at Buck and Phyllis Draughn's place in Woodinville on Friday, having traveled 117 miles. Along the way, we stopped at Buffalo Run in Marblemount for breakfast. That night, we had dinner with Buck and Phyllis at their house.
We stayed with Buck and Phyllis for eight nights. While there, we cleaned the Lazy Daze inside and out, including giving the rig it's first wax job -- the white areas got one coat of Finish First; the red areas two coats. Earl also changed the oil in the generator. Earl golfed twice at Battle Creek Golf Course and once at Snohomish Golf Course, and we had dinner out -- once at Las Margaritas and once at Thai Woodinville.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
JULY 2004
We left Quartzsite on Wednesday, June 30, headed for Montclair, California to pick up our new rig.
We stopped for lunch at the Desert Center Cafe in Desert Center, California, and then made another stop at the Trader Joe's in Palm Desert to pick up a case of Two-Buck Chuck wine. We arrived in Ontario and checked into the Motel 6, then walked over to the K-Mart next door to pick up a couple of light jackets -- we hadn't brought any with us since it had been hot in Quartzsite, but was cool in Ontario. We had dinner at the Marisco Eldorado, a Mexican food restaurant near the motel.
We got up early the next morning, had breakfast at the Plum Tree Restaurant in Montclair, and then headed to the factory. We arrived a little early, so walked Maxx around for a bit before going inside.
Most of the morning was spent doing the walk-through of our new rig, and in signing all the paperwork. About noon, the ICC driver showed up, and we headed off for Ehrenberg, Arizona where we were to take possession of the Lazy Daze. For the first part of the trip, Earl road with the ICC driver, and I followed in the car. At a rest stop, Earl and I changed positions, with Earl driving the car, and me riding with the ICC driver.
We arrived in Ehrenberg around 4:00 PM, appeared before a Notary, and signed all the paperwork necessary to take possession. We then headed back home with our new rig. Had dinner that night at Taco Mio to celebrate.
We spent the next few days loading up the Lazy Daze in preparation to head out after the Fourth of July holiday was over. We could only do loading during the early morning hours and at night since it was simply too hot during the day to put in much physical exertion.
The day before we were going to leave, we fueled up both the Honda and the Lazy Daze, sent off the paperwork to our mail service, Alternative Resources, for registering the Lazy Daze in South Dakota, and had dinner at Mark's Family Restaurant.
On Wednesday, July 7, we headed off to the Escapee's park in Casa Grande, Rover's Roost -- a trip of 234 miles. That night we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel and fueled up the Honda.
Until we get to Alamogordo, New Mexico, where we will have all the tow equipment installed, Earl is driving the Lazy Daze, and I am following along behind in the Honda. That night we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel and fueled up the Honda.
The next day, we went back to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then drove 164 miles to the Elks Club in Willcox, Arizona where we spent the night. Prior to arriving in Willcox, we stopped in Benson to have lunch, and put gas in the Lazy Daze.
Friday, we drove 136 miles to the Escapee's park in Deming, New Mexico, Dream Catcher. Since our appointment with the towing equipment installer isn't until Monday, we decided to spend a couple of days here. After parking, we went to the Post Office to pick up our mail and then had dinner at the Jumbo Chinese Restaurant.
On Sunday, we drove 129 miles to the Elks Club in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We did laundry after arriving, and then had dinner at Applebee's.
The next day, we drove down to Rick's Automotive and Lube where we were having all the tow equipment installed on our motorhome and car. Since we didn't really have anyplace to stay other than the Lazy Daze, we hung around while they were doing the work, walking down to have lunch at Clark's Family Restaurant and drove the car to Wal-Mart to do shopping. All the work wasn't completed on Monday, so we returned to the Elks Club that night.
On Tuesday, we returned to have the work completed on the installation of the towing equipment. After everything was done, we paid the bill, hitched up, and headed off to spend the night at the Valley of the Fires National Recreation Area about four miles west of Carrizozo on US-380 -- a trip of only 73 miles. This campground has water and electric hookups for $11 ($5.50 with the Golden Age Passport). The last time we were here, it was raining, so we hadn't taken the one-mile trail, with interpretive displays, through the lava flow. We did so this time, and found it to be very interesting.
Valley of the Fires National Recreation Area:
The Valley of the Fires Recreation Area is on the northern tip of a lava flow that stretches up to five miles wide, and is 165 feet thick and 44 miles long. Between 1,000 and 1,500 years ago, a series of steaming vents fractured the valley floor, spewing molten rock south across the valley. The lava here did not come from an actual volcano. Instead, the lava escaped through vents, flowed south, and buried everything in its path except for sandstone hills called kipukas. At the edge of the recreation area, you'll see Little Black Peak, thought to be one of the last vents to open.
When taking the self-guided walk, you can see jagged aa and rippled pahoehoe lava surfaces as well as buckled pressure ridges. Other sights are large round holes formed by gas bubbles and lava tubes where molten rock flowed through channels beneath a thin surface of cooled lava.
On Wednesday, we drove 164 miles to the Elks Club in Las Vegas, New Mexico where we spent a couple of days. That night, we had dinner at the Pizza Hut, and the next night we walked next door to have dinner at Kocina DeRaphael, a Mexican food restaurant.
While we were in Las Vegas, Earl went to a doctor to have a cortizone shot in his shoulder which had really been hurting. The doctor also gave him a prescription for Pravachol -- which he had been on before, but had never bothered renewing his prescription.
Friday morning we left Las Vegas and drove 242 miles (one of our longer days) to the Vogel Canyon Picnic area. Vogel Canyon is located in the Comanche National Grasslands, a few miles south of LaJunta, Colorado. We had stayed here the previous year and decided to come back -- it's a pretty area, and very quiet.
Vogel Canyon is a tributary of the Purgatoire River Drainage and two permanent springs, located at the bottom of the canyon, support a variety of wildlife. American Indians lived in the canyon between 300 and 800 years ago and left rock art which is visible on the canyon walls. During the 1870's, a spur off the Santa Fe Trail (Las Animas to Trinidad) was developed by the Barlow and Sanderson Mail and Stage Line. Sections of the stage coach road and ruins of the station can still be found near the picnic area.
Before leaving LaJunta, we stopped at the Safeway store to do grocery shopping, and then stopped at the Flying J in Limon, Colorado to get gas for the Lazy Daze. We ended up staying the night at the Municipal VFW Park in Brush, Colorado, a trip of 188 miles. The first night at this park is free and has electric hookups, plus water and a dump are available (after the first night, the fee is $10).
On Sunday, we drove 220 miles to Chadron State Park, the oldest state park in Nebraska (located south of Chadron), stopping to have lunch at Runza in Sidney, Nebraska and to do laundry in Alliance. The fee at this campground is $16 for a site with electric. Water and a dump are available. We tried to find one of the places listed in the Don Wright's Guide to Free Campgrounds book, but we couldn't find it. The next day, at a lunch stop, we found out the place we were trying to find was actually south of Chadron State Park, not north of it, as Don's book had indicated!
Chadron State Park:
Monday, July 19, was Earl's 65th birthday. We celebrated his birthday by traveling 193 miles to the Ainsworth RV Camper Park in Ainsworth, Nebraska. This is a city campground with electric hookups for $7 per night. Water and a dump are available for an additional $3.
We spent two days in Ainsworth doing grocery shopping, and taking the Lazy Daze to the local Ford dealer for it's first oil change.
On Wednesday, we finally arrived "home" in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after having driven 257 miles. After setting up at the Westwick RV Park (not one I would go back to, but it's one of the ones in Minnihaha County that we can use for registering to vote), we drove down to Alternative Resources (our mail service), to pick up our mail. That night, we ate dinner at the Outback Steakhouse, finally celebrating Earl's birthday!
The next day, we went down and registered to vote and then did shopping at Sam's Club. I also made online reservations at a U.S. Forest Service campground near Rapid City. Normally, we do not make reservations when we travel, but with the Black Hills being such a popular tourist destination, we thought it might be a wise thing to do.
On Friday, Earl went golfing at Prairie Green Golf Course. Afterwards, we did grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.
When we left Sioux Falls on Saturday, we drove to DeSmet, South Dakota to visit one of the Ingalls' homestead (as in Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame).
The house "Pa" built on their DeSmet homestead:
The Ingalls moved to DeSmet in 1879. When they first moved here, Pa had promised Ma that they would never move again, and he kept his promise: Pa, Ma, and Mary lived in DeSmet until their deaths. Five of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books were written about DeSmet and the surrounding area: By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.
After touring the Ingalls Homestead, we went on to Huron and spent the night parked next to the James River at the Lakeside Use Area -- free, no hookups. Drove 177 miles today.
The next day we drove up to Aberdeen to see the Peter Toth sculpture, but found that it was no longer there. The last information I had about the sculpture was from 1993, and at that time, it was in need of "urgent" treatment. Guess either the termites or the weather finally did it in.
Peter "Wolf" Toth is originally from Hungry. He settled in Akron, Ohio, in 1958 with his family after fleeing the Russian military there. He traveled the country for 30 years, creating wooden Indian faces, called the Whispering Giants. He's carved at least one in each state. Toth says he shares a kinship with the struggle of the American Indian, and his carvings are his way of honoring them. "Wolf" is an honorary Indian name.
We stopped to do laundry while we were in Aberdeen, and then went on to Roscoe where we spent the night at the Roscoe City Park -- $5 for a site with electricity, with water and a dump available (total mileage, 128). One of the front tires on the Lazy Daze was flat so we pumped it up. The next morning, it was down a few pounds, so we pumped it up again and drove by a tire shop to have them check it out. The guy took the tire off, checked it thoroughly, but couldn't find a thing wrong with it, so put it back on (we've never had another problem with it, so don't know why it had gone flat).
The next day, we drove 124 miles to the Farm Land State Recreation Area east of Pierre, South Dakota, stopping in town to put gas in the Lazy Daze and shop for groceries.
On Tuesday, June 27, we made it to the Badlands. We stayed at the Cedar Pass Campground in the park near Interior. It was a bit too hot to do much exploring -- we need to come back in the spring or fall when the temperatures are cooler!
Badlands:
This area was once part of a large salt water sea -- for about 30 million years, layers of mud, sand, and gravel were laid down. Upheaval and volcanic activity pushed the sea floor up. As the water drained away, it left behind broad, marshy plains where three-toed horses, sabre-toothed tigers, and other prehistoric animals roamed. Rivers flowing to the east from the Black Hills cut into the deposits and with the help of wind, rain, and snow, thousands of tons of sedimentary deposits were carried away.
When we left the next day, we took the Badland Loop Road through the park to Wall. We had breakfast at Wall Drug, and then stopped by the Western Art Gallery (part of Wall Drug) to visit with Carol, a woman we'd met at Cotton Lane RV Park who works here during the summers.
The story of Wall Drugs starts in 1931 when Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought a drugstore in the town of Wall. They gave themselves five years to make a go of the drugstore, but by 1936, business was still bad and they were wondering what they would do once their five years was up (this was before Mount Rushmore had been completed, and it was during the Depression).
During July of that year, while Dorothy was trying to nap but couldn't because of the noise of all the cars going by on the road, she came up with the idea of putting out signs along the highway advertising free ice water. And the rest, as they say, is history.
After visiting with Carol for a few minutes, we were back on the road headed for Oreville Campground in the Black Hills National Forest near Hill City.
The next day, we visited Crazy Horse Memorial. We had first visited this monument in 1990. Below is a picture from our first visit and one from this visit which shows the progress during the intervening 14 years.
Crazy Horse Memorial
1990 visit:
2004 visit:
The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, was born in Boston of Polish Descent. In 1939, Ziolkowski was asked by Gutzon Borglum, the Mt. Rushmore sculptor, to be his assistant. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Ziolkowski to carve a monument in memory of the Lakota's hero, Crazy Horse. The memorial was dedicated and the first blast took place on June 3, 1948. The first blast took off just 10 tons of rock...millions of tons have been removed since. Ziolkowski, and after his death, his family who continue the work, accepted no government funding, either from the federal government or from the State of South Dakota. All work is funded by the public through entrance fees, sales, and private donations to the nonprofit Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.
On Friday, we took a drive on the Needles Highway and visited Mt. Rushmore, stopping in Custer State Park to have lunch.
Views from the Needles Highway:
Mt. Rushmore:
We left the Black Hills on Saturday, July 31, stopping in Custer to dump our tanks. We drove 125 miles to Gillette, Wyoming where we spent the night at the High Plains Campground.
We stopped for lunch at the Desert Center Cafe in Desert Center, California, and then made another stop at the Trader Joe's in Palm Desert to pick up a case of Two-Buck Chuck wine. We arrived in Ontario and checked into the Motel 6, then walked over to the K-Mart next door to pick up a couple of light jackets -- we hadn't brought any with us since it had been hot in Quartzsite, but was cool in Ontario. We had dinner at the Marisco Eldorado, a Mexican food restaurant near the motel.
We got up early the next morning, had breakfast at the Plum Tree Restaurant in Montclair, and then headed to the factory. We arrived a little early, so walked Maxx around for a bit before going inside.
Most of the morning was spent doing the walk-through of our new rig, and in signing all the paperwork. About noon, the ICC driver showed up, and we headed off for Ehrenberg, Arizona where we were to take possession of the Lazy Daze. For the first part of the trip, Earl road with the ICC driver, and I followed in the car. At a rest stop, Earl and I changed positions, with Earl driving the car, and me riding with the ICC driver.
We arrived in Ehrenberg around 4:00 PM, appeared before a Notary, and signed all the paperwork necessary to take possession. We then headed back home with our new rig. Had dinner that night at Taco Mio to celebrate.
We spent the next few days loading up the Lazy Daze in preparation to head out after the Fourth of July holiday was over. We could only do loading during the early morning hours and at night since it was simply too hot during the day to put in much physical exertion.
The day before we were going to leave, we fueled up both the Honda and the Lazy Daze, sent off the paperwork to our mail service, Alternative Resources, for registering the Lazy Daze in South Dakota, and had dinner at Mark's Family Restaurant.
On Wednesday, July 7, we headed off to the Escapee's park in Casa Grande, Rover's Roost -- a trip of 234 miles. That night we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel and fueled up the Honda.
Until we get to Alamogordo, New Mexico, where we will have all the tow equipment installed, Earl is driving the Lazy Daze, and I am following along behind in the Honda. That night we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel and fueled up the Honda.
The next day, we went back to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then drove 164 miles to the Elks Club in Willcox, Arizona where we spent the night. Prior to arriving in Willcox, we stopped in Benson to have lunch, and put gas in the Lazy Daze.
Friday, we drove 136 miles to the Escapee's park in Deming, New Mexico, Dream Catcher. Since our appointment with the towing equipment installer isn't until Monday, we decided to spend a couple of days here. After parking, we went to the Post Office to pick up our mail and then had dinner at the Jumbo Chinese Restaurant.
On Sunday, we drove 129 miles to the Elks Club in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We did laundry after arriving, and then had dinner at Applebee's.
The next day, we drove down to Rick's Automotive and Lube where we were having all the tow equipment installed on our motorhome and car. Since we didn't really have anyplace to stay other than the Lazy Daze, we hung around while they were doing the work, walking down to have lunch at Clark's Family Restaurant and drove the car to Wal-Mart to do shopping. All the work wasn't completed on Monday, so we returned to the Elks Club that night.
On Tuesday, we returned to have the work completed on the installation of the towing equipment. After everything was done, we paid the bill, hitched up, and headed off to spend the night at the Valley of the Fires National Recreation Area about four miles west of Carrizozo on US-380 -- a trip of only 73 miles. This campground has water and electric hookups for $11 ($5.50 with the Golden Age Passport). The last time we were here, it was raining, so we hadn't taken the one-mile trail, with interpretive displays, through the lava flow. We did so this time, and found it to be very interesting.
Valley of the Fires National Recreation Area:
The Valley of the Fires Recreation Area is on the northern tip of a lava flow that stretches up to five miles wide, and is 165 feet thick and 44 miles long. Between 1,000 and 1,500 years ago, a series of steaming vents fractured the valley floor, spewing molten rock south across the valley. The lava here did not come from an actual volcano. Instead, the lava escaped through vents, flowed south, and buried everything in its path except for sandstone hills called kipukas. At the edge of the recreation area, you'll see Little Black Peak, thought to be one of the last vents to open.
When taking the self-guided walk, you can see jagged aa and rippled pahoehoe lava surfaces as well as buckled pressure ridges. Other sights are large round holes formed by gas bubbles and lava tubes where molten rock flowed through channels beneath a thin surface of cooled lava.
On Wednesday, we drove 164 miles to the Elks Club in Las Vegas, New Mexico where we spent a couple of days. That night, we had dinner at the Pizza Hut, and the next night we walked next door to have dinner at Kocina DeRaphael, a Mexican food restaurant.
While we were in Las Vegas, Earl went to a doctor to have a cortizone shot in his shoulder which had really been hurting. The doctor also gave him a prescription for Pravachol -- which he had been on before, but had never bothered renewing his prescription.
Friday morning we left Las Vegas and drove 242 miles (one of our longer days) to the Vogel Canyon Picnic area. Vogel Canyon is located in the Comanche National Grasslands, a few miles south of LaJunta, Colorado. We had stayed here the previous year and decided to come back -- it's a pretty area, and very quiet.
Vogel Canyon is a tributary of the Purgatoire River Drainage and two permanent springs, located at the bottom of the canyon, support a variety of wildlife. American Indians lived in the canyon between 300 and 800 years ago and left rock art which is visible on the canyon walls. During the 1870's, a spur off the Santa Fe Trail (Las Animas to Trinidad) was developed by the Barlow and Sanderson Mail and Stage Line. Sections of the stage coach road and ruins of the station can still be found near the picnic area.
Before leaving LaJunta, we stopped at the Safeway store to do grocery shopping, and then stopped at the Flying J in Limon, Colorado to get gas for the Lazy Daze. We ended up staying the night at the Municipal VFW Park in Brush, Colorado, a trip of 188 miles. The first night at this park is free and has electric hookups, plus water and a dump are available (after the first night, the fee is $10).
On Sunday, we drove 220 miles to Chadron State Park, the oldest state park in Nebraska (located south of Chadron), stopping to have lunch at Runza in Sidney, Nebraska and to do laundry in Alliance. The fee at this campground is $16 for a site with electric. Water and a dump are available. We tried to find one of the places listed in the Don Wright's Guide to Free Campgrounds book, but we couldn't find it. The next day, at a lunch stop, we found out the place we were trying to find was actually south of Chadron State Park, not north of it, as Don's book had indicated!
Chadron State Park:
Monday, July 19, was Earl's 65th birthday. We celebrated his birthday by traveling 193 miles to the Ainsworth RV Camper Park in Ainsworth, Nebraska. This is a city campground with electric hookups for $7 per night. Water and a dump are available for an additional $3.
We spent two days in Ainsworth doing grocery shopping, and taking the Lazy Daze to the local Ford dealer for it's first oil change.
On Wednesday, we finally arrived "home" in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after having driven 257 miles. After setting up at the Westwick RV Park (not one I would go back to, but it's one of the ones in Minnihaha County that we can use for registering to vote), we drove down to Alternative Resources (our mail service), to pick up our mail. That night, we ate dinner at the Outback Steakhouse, finally celebrating Earl's birthday!
The next day, we went down and registered to vote and then did shopping at Sam's Club. I also made online reservations at a U.S. Forest Service campground near Rapid City. Normally, we do not make reservations when we travel, but with the Black Hills being such a popular tourist destination, we thought it might be a wise thing to do.
On Friday, Earl went golfing at Prairie Green Golf Course. Afterwards, we did grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.
When we left Sioux Falls on Saturday, we drove to DeSmet, South Dakota to visit one of the Ingalls' homestead (as in Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame).
The house "Pa" built on their DeSmet homestead:
The Ingalls moved to DeSmet in 1879. When they first moved here, Pa had promised Ma that they would never move again, and he kept his promise: Pa, Ma, and Mary lived in DeSmet until their deaths. Five of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books were written about DeSmet and the surrounding area: By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.
After touring the Ingalls Homestead, we went on to Huron and spent the night parked next to the James River at the Lakeside Use Area -- free, no hookups. Drove 177 miles today.
The next day we drove up to Aberdeen to see the Peter Toth sculpture, but found that it was no longer there. The last information I had about the sculpture was from 1993, and at that time, it was in need of "urgent" treatment. Guess either the termites or the weather finally did it in.
Peter "Wolf" Toth is originally from Hungry. He settled in Akron, Ohio, in 1958 with his family after fleeing the Russian military there. He traveled the country for 30 years, creating wooden Indian faces, called the Whispering Giants. He's carved at least one in each state. Toth says he shares a kinship with the struggle of the American Indian, and his carvings are his way of honoring them. "Wolf" is an honorary Indian name.
We stopped to do laundry while we were in Aberdeen, and then went on to Roscoe where we spent the night at the Roscoe City Park -- $5 for a site with electricity, with water and a dump available (total mileage, 128). One of the front tires on the Lazy Daze was flat so we pumped it up. The next morning, it was down a few pounds, so we pumped it up again and drove by a tire shop to have them check it out. The guy took the tire off, checked it thoroughly, but couldn't find a thing wrong with it, so put it back on (we've never had another problem with it, so don't know why it had gone flat).
The next day, we drove 124 miles to the Farm Land State Recreation Area east of Pierre, South Dakota, stopping in town to put gas in the Lazy Daze and shop for groceries.
On Tuesday, June 27, we made it to the Badlands. We stayed at the Cedar Pass Campground in the park near Interior. It was a bit too hot to do much exploring -- we need to come back in the spring or fall when the temperatures are cooler!
Badlands:
This area was once part of a large salt water sea -- for about 30 million years, layers of mud, sand, and gravel were laid down. Upheaval and volcanic activity pushed the sea floor up. As the water drained away, it left behind broad, marshy plains where three-toed horses, sabre-toothed tigers, and other prehistoric animals roamed. Rivers flowing to the east from the Black Hills cut into the deposits and with the help of wind, rain, and snow, thousands of tons of sedimentary deposits were carried away.
When we left the next day, we took the Badland Loop Road through the park to Wall. We had breakfast at Wall Drug, and then stopped by the Western Art Gallery (part of Wall Drug) to visit with Carol, a woman we'd met at Cotton Lane RV Park who works here during the summers.
The story of Wall Drugs starts in 1931 when Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought a drugstore in the town of Wall. They gave themselves five years to make a go of the drugstore, but by 1936, business was still bad and they were wondering what they would do once their five years was up (this was before Mount Rushmore had been completed, and it was during the Depression).
During July of that year, while Dorothy was trying to nap but couldn't because of the noise of all the cars going by on the road, she came up with the idea of putting out signs along the highway advertising free ice water. And the rest, as they say, is history.
After visiting with Carol for a few minutes, we were back on the road headed for Oreville Campground in the Black Hills National Forest near Hill City.
The next day, we visited Crazy Horse Memorial. We had first visited this monument in 1990. Below is a picture from our first visit and one from this visit which shows the progress during the intervening 14 years.
Crazy Horse Memorial
1990 visit:
2004 visit:
The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, was born in Boston of Polish Descent. In 1939, Ziolkowski was asked by Gutzon Borglum, the Mt. Rushmore sculptor, to be his assistant. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Ziolkowski to carve a monument in memory of the Lakota's hero, Crazy Horse. The memorial was dedicated and the first blast took place on June 3, 1948. The first blast took off just 10 tons of rock...millions of tons have been removed since. Ziolkowski, and after his death, his family who continue the work, accepted no government funding, either from the federal government or from the State of South Dakota. All work is funded by the public through entrance fees, sales, and private donations to the nonprofit Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.
On Friday, we took a drive on the Needles Highway and visited Mt. Rushmore, stopping in Custer State Park to have lunch.
Views from the Needles Highway:
Mt. Rushmore:
We left the Black Hills on Saturday, July 31, stopping in Custer to dump our tanks. We drove 125 miles to Gillette, Wyoming where we spent the night at the High Plains Campground.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
JUNE 2004
Vickie from Lazy Daze called on the 7th to give us our pickup date -- Thursday, July 1!
We made a day trip into Phoenix on the 9th to do shopping at Sam's Club. We stopped at Cracker Barrel to have lunch, and at Tomahawk Truck Stop to fuel up on our way back to Quartzsite.
Ordered a new battery for our Toshiba laptop and a battery watering system for the Lazy Daze (the rear battery is hard to get to, so this system will make it easy to keep the batteries properly filled with water).
We had a very nice visit with some fellow SKP's -- Lee and Ken Jacobs -- who spent the night with us hooked up beside the house. I'd had some email correspondence with Lee in the past, and had been reading her posts on the Escapees Discussion Forum for some years, although we'd never met. She and Ken were on their way to Oregon from Mexico, where they spend the winters in Mazatlan.
We made a day trip into Phoenix on the 9th to do shopping at Sam's Club. We stopped at Cracker Barrel to have lunch, and at Tomahawk Truck Stop to fuel up on our way back to Quartzsite.
Ordered a new battery for our Toshiba laptop and a battery watering system for the Lazy Daze (the rear battery is hard to get to, so this system will make it easy to keep the batteries properly filled with water).
We had a very nice visit with some fellow SKP's -- Lee and Ken Jacobs -- who spent the night with us hooked up beside the house. I'd had some email correspondence with Lee in the past, and had been reading her posts on the Escapees Discussion Forum for some years, although we'd never met. She and Ken were on their way to Oregon from Mexico, where they spend the winters in Mazatlan.
Monday, May 31, 2004
MAY 2004
We sold our Chevy this month! Scott Gardner from California drove over with his father on the 7th to buy it. Earl took him out for a test drive, he handed us the cashier's check, and off they went! Prior to Scott coming to get the truck, we took it over to the Chevy dealer in Blythe for an oil change, lube, and tire rotation. Also had an oil change done to the Allison transmission since we had just over 25,000 miles on the truck.
We drove over to Phoenix on Mother's Day to visit with Mom for a few days -- she was down from Idaho for doctor's visits and to take her car back to Idaho (my brother, Andy, flew down from Idaho to drive her back).
On Monday, Earl and I had breakfast at Ollie's Omelet House (Mom couldn't go because of her doctor's appointment). We picked up more Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe's, went by PetsMart to buy a new collar and get a new tag for it (with another telephone number), and then drove downtown to Mr. Telescope to buy a good pair of binoculars for bird watching. Since Mr. Telescope was in the same strip mall as AJ's Fine Foods, we walked over there after buying the binoculars to buy sauces.
We had lunch at Takamatsu, and that evening, we took Mom to The Cheesecake Factory. They have really good food there, but for dinner, the sizes are so huge, the next time Earl and I go there, we'll order one dinner and split it (which we saw a couple doing). The cheesecakes are really yummy, too! The next day, we shopped at Sam's Club, and then left on Wednesday.
I completed loan papers online for the Lazy Daze, and got a call the next day that our loan had been approved.
Glenn & Margo Pollock from Maxwell Satellite arrived on Saturday, May 15, and parked next to the house. They set us up with the Direcway Internet satellite system. They stayed around until Monday morning to make sure everything was functioning correctly. I cooked dinner for them both Saturday and Sunday nights -- they provided the pork chops on Sunday.
Paul Schuh, who together with his wife had purchased our Arctic Fox, came by on the 17th to buy the Yamaha 3000-watt generator which we had purchased the year before. Since the Lazy Daze comes standard with a generator, we no longer needed the Yamaha.
We drove over to Phoenix on Mother's Day to visit with Mom for a few days -- she was down from Idaho for doctor's visits and to take her car back to Idaho (my brother, Andy, flew down from Idaho to drive her back).
On Monday, Earl and I had breakfast at Ollie's Omelet House (Mom couldn't go because of her doctor's appointment). We picked up more Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe's, went by PetsMart to buy a new collar and get a new tag for it (with another telephone number), and then drove downtown to Mr. Telescope to buy a good pair of binoculars for bird watching. Since Mr. Telescope was in the same strip mall as AJ's Fine Foods, we walked over there after buying the binoculars to buy sauces.
We had lunch at Takamatsu, and that evening, we took Mom to The Cheesecake Factory. They have really good food there, but for dinner, the sizes are so huge, the next time Earl and I go there, we'll order one dinner and split it (which we saw a couple doing). The cheesecakes are really yummy, too! The next day, we shopped at Sam's Club, and then left on Wednesday.
I completed loan papers online for the Lazy Daze, and got a call the next day that our loan had been approved.
Glenn & Margo Pollock from Maxwell Satellite arrived on Saturday, May 15, and parked next to the house. They set us up with the Direcway Internet satellite system. They stayed around until Monday morning to make sure everything was functioning correctly. I cooked dinner for them both Saturday and Sunday nights -- they provided the pork chops on Sunday.
Paul Schuh, who together with his wife had purchased our Arctic Fox, came by on the 17th to buy the Yamaha 3000-watt generator which we had purchased the year before. Since the Lazy Daze comes standard with a generator, we no longer needed the Yamaha.
Friday, April 30, 2004
APRIL 2004
We made another trip over to Phoenix around the middle of the month for shopping, stopping first for breakfast at Taco Mio. Picked up more Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe's, more wine glasses at Pier 1 Imports, stopped by Mom's house to pick up the dog dishes which we'd left when we were there last month, then stopped at Costco on our way back out of town. Had lunch at Tomahawk Truck Stop.
Ordered a bunch of things from Camping World, and stuff from other places such as microfiber towels, sauces that we have difficulty finding in the stores (Roasted Chipolte and Raspberry Sauce -- yum!), and books from Amazon.
Maxx went to the veterinarian for renewal of his heartworm pills. Since he hadn't taken any heartworm pills since November, he had to have a blood test done, but he's a real trooper -- he's also a pudgy little trooper: he weighs about 2 pounds more than he should, so will be going on a diet!
Ordered a bunch of things from Camping World, and stuff from other places such as microfiber towels, sauces that we have difficulty finding in the stores (Roasted Chipolte and Raspberry Sauce -- yum!), and books from Amazon.
Maxx went to the veterinarian for renewal of his heartworm pills. Since he hadn't taken any heartworm pills since November, he had to have a blood test done, but he's a real trooper -- he's also a pudgy little trooper: he weighs about 2 pounds more than he should, so will be going on a diet!
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
MARCH 2004
Ron and Anita Wilson stopped by for a visit on their way through Quartzsite. We had a nice visit with them, and took them to Taco Mio for lunch.
During the month, we spent a few days in Phoenix to do shopping and visit friends. Since we no longer have an RV in which to stay, we stayed at my Mother's place in Glendale (she's spending the summer at my brother's place in Idaho). After arriving in Glendale, and unpacking the car, we had lunch at Takamatsu, and then went to Trader Joe's to pick up a case of Charles Shaw wine (Two Buck Chuck). The next morning, we had breakfast at Ollie's Omelet House, shopped at Sam's Club where we bought a 12" LCD TV with DVD, and Pier 1 Imports where we bought wine glasses and a couple of tables -- one for the end of the couch, and one to put by Earl's side of the bed. That evening, we had dinner at the Outback with Buck and Phyllis, and then went to their place afterward to play Mexican Train Dominoes. The following day, we had breakfast at I-Hop, Earl golfed at Falcon Golf Course, and that evening, we had dinner at El Paso BBQ. The morning we left for home, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
George Bruzenak came to spend a few days with us -- he parked his New Horizons next to the house. His dog, McDuff, and Maxx get along well, although they didn't really play together. McDuff really enjoyed roaming around the fenced yard -- something he doesn't get to do a lot of. I fixed a couple of meals while George was here -- a pork roast and the Chicken Mushroom Dijon which Gisela had given me the recipe for when she was here back in January. One night George barbecued lamb for him and me, and a steak for Earl. One morning we hiked to the top of Q Mountain (and I was really, really sore for several days afterward!), and that night we had dinner at Taco Mio. The next night we had dinner at Best Chinese.
View from the top of Q Mountain:
(Note our house with the black Element parked out front and George's New Horizons fifth wheel at the side, near the top of the right-hand picture.)
During the month, we spent a few days in Phoenix to do shopping and visit friends. Since we no longer have an RV in which to stay, we stayed at my Mother's place in Glendale (she's spending the summer at my brother's place in Idaho). After arriving in Glendale, and unpacking the car, we had lunch at Takamatsu, and then went to Trader Joe's to pick up a case of Charles Shaw wine (Two Buck Chuck). The next morning, we had breakfast at Ollie's Omelet House, shopped at Sam's Club where we bought a 12" LCD TV with DVD, and Pier 1 Imports where we bought wine glasses and a couple of tables -- one for the end of the couch, and one to put by Earl's side of the bed. That evening, we had dinner at the Outback with Buck and Phyllis, and then went to their place afterward to play Mexican Train Dominoes. The following day, we had breakfast at I-Hop, Earl golfed at Falcon Golf Course, and that evening, we had dinner at El Paso BBQ. The morning we left for home, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
George Bruzenak came to spend a few days with us -- he parked his New Horizons next to the house. His dog, McDuff, and Maxx get along well, although they didn't really play together. McDuff really enjoyed roaming around the fenced yard -- something he doesn't get to do a lot of. I fixed a couple of meals while George was here -- a pork roast and the Chicken Mushroom Dijon which Gisela had given me the recipe for when she was here back in January. One night George barbecued lamb for him and me, and a steak for Earl. One morning we hiked to the top of Q Mountain (and I was really, really sore for several days afterward!), and that night we had dinner at Taco Mio. The next night we had dinner at Best Chinese.
View from the top of Q Mountain:
(Note our house with the black Element parked out front and George's New Horizons fifth wheel at the side, near the top of the right-hand picture.)
Sunday, February 29, 2004
FEBRUARY 2004
We sold our fifth wheel this month! A nice couple from California, Paul and Joan Schuh, drove over on the 5th, checked out the rig, and bought it. We took them to lunch at Taco Mio, and then, since they have a short bed truck, and a part needed to be installed on the fifth wheel king pin prior to them being able to pull it, we pulled the fifth wheel up to Paul's brother's place in Lake Havasu City. Now we really are stuck here until we get our Lazy Daze! Now that we had the fifth wheel sold, we could concentrate on selling the Chevy.
During the month, we took a day trip into Phoenix to do shopping, stopping at Tomahawk Truck Stop for breakfast. Earl bought shoes at Famous Footwear, we got more Noni juice at Vitamin World, and went shopping at Costco. We also had lunch at Macayos with George Bruzenak (he's spending some time at Cotton Lane RV Resort).
One day we drove out to Palm Canyon, and hiked up into the canyon to see the palm trees that grow there in sheltered canyons. These palm trees are probably remnants from an era when this area was wetter and cooler than at the present time. Though few in number (less than 100), these trees, plus probably one or two other groves around the state, are the only native palms in Arizona. Palm Canyon is part of the larger Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.
Palm Canyon:
Earl also got a cortisone shot in his shoulder which has been hurting him. He'd had one when we spent the 2001/2002 winter in Texas, but I guess it'd worn off.
During the month, we took a day trip into Phoenix to do shopping, stopping at Tomahawk Truck Stop for breakfast. Earl bought shoes at Famous Footwear, we got more Noni juice at Vitamin World, and went shopping at Costco. We also had lunch at Macayos with George Bruzenak (he's spending some time at Cotton Lane RV Resort).
One day we drove out to Palm Canyon, and hiked up into the canyon to see the palm trees that grow there in sheltered canyons. These palm trees are probably remnants from an era when this area was wetter and cooler than at the present time. Though few in number (less than 100), these trees, plus probably one or two other groves around the state, are the only native palms in Arizona. Palm Canyon is part of the larger Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.
Palm Canyon:
Earl also got a cortisone shot in his shoulder which has been hurting him. He'd had one when we spent the 2001/2002 winter in Texas, but I guess it'd worn off.
Saturday, January 31, 2004
JANUARY 2004
We started out the month looking at motorhomes. We saw a Rexhall Vision 26' Class A which we liked. We also liked the Bigfoot Class C's, although they were more money than we wanted to spend. We sat down with a salesman to talk price on a Fleetwood Tioga 26-Q, but before making a final decision, decided we'd drive over to Montclair, California to see the Lazy Daze Class C's.
So, on Wednesday, January 7, we hooked up our fifth wheel for the drive over to Montclair. We stopped in Rancho Mirage to have lunch at I-Hop, and then dropped the fifth wheel off at the Elks Club in Ontario prior to going to the "Mothership" (Lazy Daze factory). We wandered through all the models on the floor, and really liked the 23.5' Twin/King model. After talking with Tim Pease, getting a brochure and one of the options price sheets, we went back to the fifth wheel to pour over the information we'd received. That evening, we went to the Elephant Bar for dinner.
The next morning, we had breakfast at Miltie's, and then went back to the Mothership to take another look at all the models. Afterward, we sat down with Tim, and put in an order for the 23.5' Twin/King model. Then we went back to the Elks Club and hooked up our fifth wheel for the trip back home. Before leaving, we stopped to do shopping at Costco, and then stopped in Banning to have lunch at Burger King.
Once home, I put ads on several Internet sites -- RV Trader, RV Trader Online, etc. We also took the fifth wheel over to RV Lifestyles for servicing -- repack the wheel bearings, fix the window in the door which had come loose, and put in new batteries and a new inverter (which we'd fried on an earlier occasion).
Lloyd arrived in town to host the WIN's (Wandering Individuals Network) gathering out on Plomosa Road. We drove out to where he was parked to see his new New Horizons -- he'd gone from a 28' fifth wheel down to a 24' fifth wheel.
We had the fence across the front of our property put in, with one 16' gate plus a walk-in gate. Once that was done, we got more 12" square red tiles to make a walk from the front steps to the walk-in gate. Now all we need are some plants, but that'll have to wait until at least this Fall.
We walked over to the RV Show a couple of times -- fortunately, we're only about a quarter mile from the Big Tent, so we don't have to worry about finding a place to park! We finally broke down and bought satellite radio -- Sirius. It'll be nice when we're out in the middle of nowhere to be able to listen to the radio!
We saw several friends during the month who had come for the big RV Show: Ken & Debbie Toth came by for a visit (they're the couple who had purchased our New Horizons and Freightliner last year), and we went out to dinner at Taco Mio; Bill and Gisela came over for dinner one night; David and Sandi White (Arctic Fox owners who live in Glendale) came by for a visit; and Meg and Mel Rich (New Horizons owners) also came by for a visit toward the end of the month.
Handlebar Jim made another dinner this year, so we drove out to "Boomerville" to have dinner with more friends. We also went out one more time to have dinner at Bill and Gisela's rig.
On the 26th, we hitched up the fifth wheel and drove to Cotton Lane RV Park where we spent the next couple of days. Once we arrived and set up, we had lunch at Chili's, and visited some auto dealers: we checked out the Chevy Tracker, the Jeep Wrangler, and the Suzuki Vitara. The next day, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then drove up to the Honda dealer on Bell Road to look at the Honda Element, which we ended up buying. Mom met us at the dealership, and from there, we went to the Elephant Bar for lunch. That night, Earl and I had dinner at JB's.
On Wednesday, prior to leaving, we parked the fifth wheel and the Element in front of our storage room, and proceeded to empty it. Between both vehicles, we were able to get everything out of the room! Sure saves on paying to rent a truck, and then trying to find someplace to return it! That evening, after unloading everything from the fifth wheel and the Element, we had dinner at Taco Mio.
So, on Wednesday, January 7, we hooked up our fifth wheel for the drive over to Montclair. We stopped in Rancho Mirage to have lunch at I-Hop, and then dropped the fifth wheel off at the Elks Club in Ontario prior to going to the "Mothership" (Lazy Daze factory). We wandered through all the models on the floor, and really liked the 23.5' Twin/King model. After talking with Tim Pease, getting a brochure and one of the options price sheets, we went back to the fifth wheel to pour over the information we'd received. That evening, we went to the Elephant Bar for dinner.
The next morning, we had breakfast at Miltie's, and then went back to the Mothership to take another look at all the models. Afterward, we sat down with Tim, and put in an order for the 23.5' Twin/King model. Then we went back to the Elks Club and hooked up our fifth wheel for the trip back home. Before leaving, we stopped to do shopping at Costco, and then stopped in Banning to have lunch at Burger King.
Once home, I put ads on several Internet sites -- RV Trader, RV Trader Online, etc. We also took the fifth wheel over to RV Lifestyles for servicing -- repack the wheel bearings, fix the window in the door which had come loose, and put in new batteries and a new inverter (which we'd fried on an earlier occasion).
Lloyd arrived in town to host the WIN's (Wandering Individuals Network) gathering out on Plomosa Road. We drove out to where he was parked to see his new New Horizons -- he'd gone from a 28' fifth wheel down to a 24' fifth wheel.
We had the fence across the front of our property put in, with one 16' gate plus a walk-in gate. Once that was done, we got more 12" square red tiles to make a walk from the front steps to the walk-in gate. Now all we need are some plants, but that'll have to wait until at least this Fall.
We walked over to the RV Show a couple of times -- fortunately, we're only about a quarter mile from the Big Tent, so we don't have to worry about finding a place to park! We finally broke down and bought satellite radio -- Sirius. It'll be nice when we're out in the middle of nowhere to be able to listen to the radio!
We saw several friends during the month who had come for the big RV Show: Ken & Debbie Toth came by for a visit (they're the couple who had purchased our New Horizons and Freightliner last year), and we went out to dinner at Taco Mio; Bill and Gisela came over for dinner one night; David and Sandi White (Arctic Fox owners who live in Glendale) came by for a visit; and Meg and Mel Rich (New Horizons owners) also came by for a visit toward the end of the month.
Handlebar Jim made another dinner this year, so we drove out to "Boomerville" to have dinner with more friends. We also went out one more time to have dinner at Bill and Gisela's rig.
On the 26th, we hitched up the fifth wheel and drove to Cotton Lane RV Park where we spent the next couple of days. Once we arrived and set up, we had lunch at Chili's, and visited some auto dealers: we checked out the Chevy Tracker, the Jeep Wrangler, and the Suzuki Vitara. The next day, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then drove up to the Honda dealer on Bell Road to look at the Honda Element, which we ended up buying. Mom met us at the dealership, and from there, we went to the Elephant Bar for lunch. That night, Earl and I had dinner at JB's.
On Wednesday, prior to leaving, we parked the fifth wheel and the Element in front of our storage room, and proceeded to empty it. Between both vehicles, we were able to get everything out of the room! Sure saves on paying to rent a truck, and then trying to find someplace to return it! That evening, after unloading everything from the fifth wheel and the Element, we had dinner at Taco Mio.
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