Quick Trip to Texas

Heading out next week for Texas.

My RV sister is having to go to south Texas for a business luncheon, taking my other sister who works for her with her.  For this trip, she traded for a Class B RV that they are taking for this trip.  So my mom and I are going to go, also.

While on this trip, mom will get to visit with her sister's in Rockport, Texas.  Mom and I will stay in Rockport a few days while my other two sisters are doing their business thing.

After their business luncheon, they will pick us up and we will head to little sister's place near San Antonio for a few days. 

Here is the rig we're taking, along with a few pics of the inside:

The thing is pretty roomy inside for a Class B.  Three seperate sleeping areas, and full bathroom.  The dinette slides out giving it an open feel.  I like it.  :)  Hope Van Halen doesn't get too jealous, haha!!

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!  :)

Planning January Trip

I know it's only November, but I am already planning my upcoming trip to Arizona this next January.  :)

-The place:  Near Quartzite, Arizona

-The reason:  Annual gathering of people for the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous

-The purpose:  To attend the seminars, meet the many wonderful people I have gotten to know, check out the desert

-The stay: About two weeks boondocking in the desert

-The companion:  My co-pilot, Chevy, as far as I know (although my mom has threatened to go)

-The route:  Will take the more southern route along Highway 10 to avoid more of the nastier weather that may appear on Interstate 40

-The miles:  About 1140 miles one way.  Plus driving in between to nearby towns for supplies.  Will be splitting this into a few days to get there and back.

-The Hula planting:  I know for sure one will be planted in nearby Blythe, California.  This is the town John lived in up until 6th grade.  We went through there in 2001 and he showed me his house and the town and told me his growing up memories.  With the help of his sister, I am planting one in that town.  For Arizona, not sure yet.  But I will be planting one on this trip, I am hoping a spot just inspires me.

High School Story

True life story of what happened to me in my junior year of high school.


Was at a new school, in the small rural town of Erick, Oklahoma.  We had just moved there, I was a junior in high school at that time.  I realize now that it was not a big deal, being a small town, but I was new there and very nervous about fitting in.


I had and English class assignment to write a story.  Well..  my brain took over, haha.  That's all I got to say.  I got creative, haha.  I handed in my assignment.


The day came for the teacher, Mrs. Reynolds, to talk about the stories she read.  She got in front of the class and decided to read one she found pretty good.  And OMG, wouldn't you know it, she was reading mine!!   I could have crawled into a hole in the floor if there was one.  


I sat there, frozen in embarrassment, listening to her read to my fellow classmates my story.  So worried about how they would react to it, stupid worry.


Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds, for never disclosing the source of the story.  :)   Here is a gist of what I wrote to the best of my knowledge:


"I am here, sitting in the dark.  Alone.  Scared. 


I see no light, I have no way of moving. 


Suddenly, a small dot of light comes on.  I can see it, through the murky water. 


There is an eye peering down on me.  Looking at me.   Judging me.  I don't like it here.  This eye is still staring down on me. 


Again, I am left alone.  In the dark. 


All of a sudden I see a bottle above me with the words 'D R A I N O" on it.  (I did mis-spell this in junior high, lol)


Some thick stuff comes splashing down upon me, weird stuff.  And then..  I start moving.


WHOOSH!!!!   I start descending downwards, like a kid on a waterslide, down, down, down.


I am free!!!!!!  Weeeee!!!!


I am hair ball."






Yeah..  such was my brain in high school.

Van Halen Is Home!!

She is home..  and I'm $1900 poorer...

But DAMN she runs awesome!!!  :D

Some Sad News

Yep...  it's the transmission. 

Got the call today, finally, the tranny is busted.  Yee.  But, it will get fixed and get me off to see places again.  Oh, and they said the dying problem it had when putting it into reverse is caused by the tranny locking up when trying to go into gear.  So this fix with take care of that is well.

I'll be a little poorer, but that's life.  Ready to get that beast back and finish redoing/rearranging the inside.  Saw this pic earlier today, liked it, it's fitting....

Van Halen Heading Into Shop

Will be taking the girl to a mechanic next week to see about the tranny issues.

It did a few things that made me nervous.  A big rev up in first or second gear, then jerking when it got into gear.  I was told that is the tranny slipping.  Not cool.  As she is still drive-able now, went ahead and made an appointment to a guy both my dad and uncle liked and trusted with their transmissions.  They both have been working on cars all their life, so if they trust him, I'll trust him.

Will probably need tranny rebuild.  Ugh.  Not $$ cool.  But, better than being stranded on the road later on, miles from home.  Has got to be done if I want to keep taking her places.  Here is a good reason right here:

If you want to see places like this, you must keep the Van on the road!!   :)

While she's getting the tranny fixed, will also have the mechanic look into the dying putting it in reverse thing as well. 

After that, will have to figure out how to replace el fund-age, lol.  That, and figure out where I'm heading next.  There is the RTR (a gathering for like minded peeps) in Arizona in January I'll definitely be going to.  But before that?  Who knows.  Depends on how much $$ is left over.  Maybe a little trip early November, so I'll be around come Thanksgiving.  Can't give up that turkey, yo!  :)

Look What Came In

Woohoo, lookie what finally came in.  :D

First time in my life I've had one.   :)

So now you're thinking "Where is she going now?" right?   Haha!   I wish!!   I might use it in a few months to visit Mexico for a day, but otherwise, there is no country that I'm planning on hitting soon.

Then again, I keep hearing how you'll be needing these to fly in the next few years, some states already requiring it.  So it was just a good idea to go ahead and get 'er done.  :)

That Famous Road

Here is a pic of those do do's on that somewhat famous road....   haha

Here is that same scene...

 

 

Spider Rock Near Chinle, Arizona

Thought I'd post some pictures from our time at Spider Rock, near Chinle, Arizona.

We actually slept in a hogan.  I didn't know what that was until I saw it.  The man that runs the campground gave us the background on it, his uncle built it, and lived in it, raised 11 children in it.  It is made of logs and dirt.   He, Howard, built two smaller ones at the campground.  The logs were fashioned in a hexagon type of structure and was filled in with dirt.  Dirt floor, as well.  The temperature inside was always pleasant, even through the hot hours of the day and the cold temps at night.  Here are some pics:

 

Interesting, huh?   I got the twin bed, slept pretty good.  Tim got the bigger bed, it was hard, he said his back hurt less, go figure.  Nathan chose to put up his tent and slept in that. 

 

The next day, the doggies had to stay inside the Hogan (prounounced Ho-Gan according to Howard) while we went on a tour of Spider Rock.  Tim made sure Howard would be our tour guide, lol.  What can we say, we liked the old coot.

 

The tour lasted about 4 hours, here are some pictures from it:

 

 

 They called this the 'White House'..  you can barely see the white part back there.  There were many ruins on the side of the rock, many footholds and lots of pictographs, as well.  Very interesting.

 

 

 



Scenes Around Moab, Utah

Thought I would share some of the views we had around the Moab, Utah area.

 This is where I decided to plant the Hula doll.  It was at the visitors center, lots of people around, so I decided to put it in a spot not quite as noticeable, yet hopefully found.

The next day, we went to Canyonlands National Park, here are some pics from there.

 

These last pictures are at Dead Horse Point...  Way back when, someone decided to coral the horses there, but forgot to get them water, they all died.  The Colorado river can be seen, the view is breathtaking.  I feel bad for the horses, though.  It was also the scene where Thelma and Louise found 'the Grand Canyon', so says Wikipedia.

After we left Moab, Utah, we headed south towards Chinle, Arizona.  Will post about that next.  :)