April 30, 2021 Under the Covers

 

 

My humans took me outside.  I got to roll.  Then I heard dogs and jumped into the little house that moves.  My humans carried me back to the big house that moves.

It gets light early here in Arizona.  It was a cool evening.  Spouse is antsy to get the bikes loaded so before I can even enjoy my coffee, I help him.  I get ready for my walk and Spouse wants to go too.  Hmmm, he is usually slower… but let’s give it a go.  We cut across the campgrounds and pick up the bridle trail.  It is early and the trees form a cool canopy as we move along the trail.  After a while, Spouse turns around, but I keep going on a nature trail loop.

 

When people drive along I10 through the Sonoran desert, they see NOTHING!  It pegs the bore-o-meter.  But when you are on the floor actually with the flora and fauna looking under the covers, the desert is an amazing place.  Here is what you DON’T see from the highway:

You don’t see the detailed architecture of the cholla cactus, nor do you see their vibrant flowers.

You don’t see the critter condos bored into the ancient saguaros, with their little faces popping out.

You don’t see the lizards and quail and hawks and roadrunners.

You don’t hear the quails frolicking.

Up close and personal, the desert rocks!

 

I made my way back to Hannah, and we readied her for departure.  We begin the long haul to Big Bend National Park in Texas.  But first…  the fight about getting fuel.  Spouse cannot purchase fuel without checking the Gas Buddy app, or in this case, having his gas buddy bitch do it.  But we also need to stop at Camping World.  So I put in Camping World into the GPS.  This means we could be passing cheap fuel at a Walmart.  I think he dreams of cheap fuel and Walmarts.  It turns out there was cheap fuel at the same exit as Camping World and it wasn’t a Walmarts.  I think his faith has been shaken!  Later on the drive, he said he would get gas anywhere that was reasonable and easy.   I will believe that when we see it!

 

East on I10 we head through the winds and deserts.  We cross into New Mexico and the cactus disappears and it is more of a plains landscape.  We ended up in Deming for the night.  In a beautiful RV park…  NOT!  But it will serve our purpose.  With this COVID thing, so many people are RVing we may have trouble getting sites.  We will see…

People ask why I blog.  I do it to keep track of my thoughts.  Through the years, I have gone back to try and remember something and find out I remember if differently now than I did then.  Why not share my thoughts…  scary, I know.  The software is not very cooperative.  I am hoping once I get the cobwebs off me it will become easier to use!

 

 

April 29, 2021 Our first diversion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes, when I am in the little house that moves, I like to bathe myself. I don’t like when my humans interrupt me.

 

Had coffee in the house with Jake and Lynn then took a hike in the nature preserve near their house. The desert can be a beautiful place. The chollas are finishing their bloom and the saguaros are just starting. They have an amazing flower that attracts gazillions of bees. Countless trails weave through the area, and we meandered through enjoying it all.

 

 

  Back home, Lynn made a nice breakfast, then we bid our farewells. We are headed to Big Bend National Park in Texas. So, onto I10 east towards Tucson. Spouse has been watching things on YouTube, so he wanted to stop at Catalina State Park near Tucson. WE were just going to drive through but they had a site available so we took it. It has electricity and water, and there is a dump station nearby. PERFECT! The sites are quite large. We are in campground B. in campground A, the trees are a little more mature, but we are totally happy. The weather is beautiful. Blue skies with white puffy clouds, and about 80 degrees. WE unloaded the bikes and started exploring. It is a small park and I am not sure which trail we ended up on, but I can tell you this… even with an electric bike, this trail was way above my paygrade! I was able to navigate a few stairs before I cried UNCLE! We parked the bikes and hiked for a while. There had been a fire recently so lots has burned. The trail is lined with mesquite trees and cottonwoods, chollas and yuccas. Saguaros stand like sentries on the hills. It really has a unique beauty. Upon return, a shower and a cocktail… Now, I feel our vacation has begun!

April 28, 2021 Surprise! We are early!

4/28/21

 

Purrrrrrrr

We got about 5 or 6 good hours of sleep before some road work in the parking lot began.  Argh!  Oh well.  I did my walk, while Spouse went into Walmart for a few things and then we hit the road.

We were supposed to be visiting our friends (Jake and Lynn) in Phoenix, but since we left a day early, would they have us? Yes!

We pulled into a rest stop to make some breakfast.  Spouse learned that with his new batteries, the generator works differently and our microwave wouldn’t work.  Fortunately, he did figure it out… I hope.

Our biggest event is learning how to use the new GPS.  Sometimes she is bigger than the both of us.  As we approached Phoenix, I was driving and Spouse was violently wrestling with the GPS.  He hit, and she punched back…  he got me in a really bad part of town before he was able to subdue her and get the directions we needed.  I hope we will all become friends again…

We had a great visit with Jake and Lynn.  We originally met them in Nova Scotia, then bumped into them again in Prince Edward Island.  We have been friends ever since.  We played Skipbo, a card game that they introduced to us.  Lynn won once and Spouse won once.  Whalens -1, Browns -1.  To be continued…

We parked in front of their house going the wrong way so we could open our sliders.  It was a cool evening, great for sleeping.

Tomorrow, the pictures will come…  oh wait… do we have the right cord for the camera?

April 27, 2021 You wanna WHAT?

4/27/21

 My humans have the big house that moves at home.  I love this house and will go sleep in it.          

Spouse and I decided to take another big road trip.  We want to visit some friends near Nashville, and Spouse has never been to the southeast in any great degree so with that in mind, our plans started coming together. 

So, the general idea is that we would head east and actually, maybe even look at Texas instead of just driving through it!  Then head thru Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, then north to Clarksville.  After our visit, we will head to Charleston and then in some way will point west.  How we come home will be determined when we feel like figuring it out! 

Whenever we go on a long trip like this, I always lament leaving my orchids behind.  I will have so many that bloom while I am gone.  I will be getting pictures from my friend that is the watering queen.  My kitchen window looks naked without flowers… As for Rudy, he is already in Hannah (the name of our rig) sleeping in our bed.

We decided to leave 4/28…  until on 4/27 Spouse said let’s leave tonite and that way we won’t have the traffic with which to deal.  Do you know how many last minute things come up when someone does that?  Somehow, we think (we hope) we covered our bases and left about 7pm.

We headed east and the first argument… Spouse said to put on a podcast.  I said, we will listen to the Dodger game.  I won.  Fortunately, as the Reds took the lead, we started losing the reception. 

Then came argument number 2.  Spouse wanted to just pull over into a crowded, noisy rest stop for the night.  I suggested we find a Walmart.  With our new GPS, she directed us to get off the freeway, which was fine.  But once off the freeway, it was another 5 miles, and Spouse nearly had a heart attack!  I told him to suck it up and drive.  When we got there, there was a road where we could pull around to the back and be inconspicuous…  kind of…  yes it was not a dead end, but there was NO WAY we could make the turn with Hannah behind us, so Spouse (with a less than cheery attitude) backed up all the way back to the parking lot.  WE didn’t see any other RVs, which seemed odd to us…  then we ended up parking beneath the sign that said ‘No Overnight Parking’.  Oops…

 

               

Testing 1-2-3

OMG! Get the cobwebs off of us! We are heading on the road again... Something for y'all to look forward, right? Ha... C U soon... 2021.. Let's have some fun and hopefully covid won't be an issue...