The RTR

So I made it to the RTR and back.  And lived. :)

The first day driving, I decided to take I-40 as the roads were clear and dry.  It had been snowing and such here, along with the melting and then freezing and icy conditions, I just thought the interstate was my best bet.

So me and Chevy took off about 5:45am that Monday morning, all geared and raring to go.  I-40 is pretty boring, for the most part, but we did good, driving about 14 hours that day.  Stopping to gas up or pee (both of us) and eat occasionally.

Since I had missed my turn off at Santa Rosa, NM to go south toward I-10 towards milder weather and terrain, I decided to just keep to I-40 since the roads were still pretty good.  That is...  until I hit Flagstaff.. :(

It was getting dark and the elevation was a lot higher, and wouldn't you know it, it started snowing on me.  Like, a lot.  Ten miles from Flagstaff I am doing about 40 mph on the highway because I'm too afraid to go any faster due to poor visibility.  So, we limp it in to Flagstaff.  After a McDonald's salad run, I find a Walmart and decide to call it a night.

The next morning I was to head south towards Phoenix and then west on I-10 towards Quartzsite.  This is the scenery that greets me while heading out.

 

 

Pretty, huh?

 

So we get there okay.  Right away, I have no idea where to go, or park, or anything.  But...  Tony to the rescue!!  This is Tony, of Tony and Karen, who I had met previously when they came through my town and got the pleasure of visiting while on their Route 66 tour.

 

So no sooner was I confused about where to park then there was Tony right there saying I could park by them.  (Thank you Tony and Karen!!)   Here is Van Halen's spot.

 



Lots of people attended, lots of awesome people, I might add.  Everyone was so very nice!!  That's one thing I have always said about campers, campers are the most friendly people around.  And this was true of this event, as well.

There were seminars every day, sometimes two.  We met at the central location, here is a quick pic of one of them going on.

You could attend or not, didn't matter.   I hit most of them, missed a few.  Learned a lot.  Lots of information.  There was usually a bonfire there every night, which was cool, lots of hanging out and meeting and visiting.  Some had their own campfires, that was cool, as well. 

One of the seminars, I made this:

And here it is hanging in my van, Chevy had to show herself, as well.

My van setup did pretty good.  Considering.   Of course there are things I'd like to change.  But here is a shot from the bed looking towards the front:

Simple and functional.  It worked for me, anyways. 

I was there for two weeks before I headed back.  Made lots of friends.  Had a great time.  Plan on going again next year. :)

California HulaJohn Planting

I decided for California I would find the town where John grew up to plant the doll.

See, the place where I went, Quartzsite, Arizona, was only about 20 miles from Blythe, California, where John grew up.

Perfect!!

I had talked to his sister, Lisa, before leaving and had a pretty good clue as to where their house was.  See, years before, on our wedding/vacation trip in 2001, we had went there.  He had shown me their former home, and actually visited his neighbor lady that still lived next door. 

"Yes, I remember little John." she had said. 

"That's me, I am little John." he tried to tell her.

But no, she was adamant, he was a little boy that lived next door.  He couldn't convince her that he was all grown up and standing before her.  I remember her house because it sat at the end of the street and was set at a diagonal to the road, and his house was next door. 

Lisa, his sister, had told me at the other end of the road, by the main road, was a bar that their dad sometimes took them to, so look for that.  The Horny Toad Saloon.  That's right folks, that's it's name.  Don't judge.

So, it took going down three roads and trying to back this back butt van out of some dead end streets, but I did finally find the house.  :D   Only....  They had chain link fence around the entire house, so I was a little afraid of going on to the property to plant the doll.    

What to do?

The Horny Toad Saloon to the rescue!!!

 

Yep.. that's right..  I planted the doll at the bar John's dad used to take his kids to at the end of the street where their house was located.  Hey, it's a public place, someone might find it, right? 

It was still kind of early in the day, so there wasn't anyone around.  I left it by the front door.  I hope someone found it.  :)

Arizona Hula Doll

So, I made it there and back!  :)

The gathering, or RTR as it's known, was awesome!  Met many new people, all great people.  I've never been around a group of people so accepting of everyone else in my life. 

There were big diesel pushers all the way down to small cars, no one was shunned for what they showed up in.  Thank goodness, haha.  After viewing some of the rigs, I was feeling a bit shamed for my poor set up.  But no, everyone was just happy to see everyone else there.

So my idea for the HulaJohn planting was to put her at the donation tarp.  The donation tarp is set up so that anyone that doesn't need something can donate it, and anyone that could use it could take it, free of charge.  That was my intention. 

However, when I had mentioned this to my new friends, Diane and Beth, Diane jumped on it.  "I want it!! I call dibs!!" lol.   So, I thought... Cool!!  Someone that wants it and would use it for it's intended purpose.  I did not have the doll on me at that time, was planning on getting it to her later.  This is where things go funny.  :)

Let me set this scene:  In between me finding out Miss Diane wanted the doll and me getting it to her, an unfortunate incident occurred.  I wouldn't put it on here unless she had already publicly told us about it.  (Diane, if you read this and want me to remove it, I will!).   I won't go in to all the details, but lets just say, there was a bonfire and lots of fun and a mix up while she was trying to get back to her rig.  Someone's light had not worked that night and she got confused about where she was and a tumble into a wash had occurred.  Along with other mishaps I will not mention. 

So, in my smartass-ed self thinking mode...  when I did find her the next night, I decided to give her the doll.  She was very happy to receive it!   But then, bwahahaha...   I asked her if she'd also like this...    then slyly pulled out a flashlight.   :D  I wasn't sure how she'd take it, but she died laughing.  So all is good!!  

And that is where my HulaJohn got planted for the state of Arizona!  :)