Priest Gulch Campground and A Day in Telluride

At Priest Gulch Campground, Dolores, Colorado...

It was a little less than a hundred miles from our spot near Durango to Priest Gulch Campground near Dolores, Colorado. The drive here was beautiful, the last 30 miles or so being along the highway 145 portion of the San Juan Skyway, a scenic loop that includes Cortez, Telluride, Ouray, Silverton and Durango. 

Priest Gulch is a medium-sized RV park with spaces and cabins along both sides of the Dolores River. There are mountains all around, and the small river valley park is certainly among the most scenic I've ever seen. Our RV site backs up to the crystal clear stream, and it's very peaceful to sit on the riverbank and listen to the sound of the water spilling over the rocks in the riverbed.

The park is situated on both sides of the river, and coaches must cross this bridge to get to the other side.

Here's a photo of Phannie crossing the bridge over the Dolores River.

Bubba and his family pulled into the park a bit later after a 900-mile drive from Fort Worth. Parking side-by-side, we had our own grassy area to sit and visit while we enjoyed the cool mountain air.

We fixed a fajita dinner for Bubba and his bunch, knowing they would be tired on arrival and not in the mood to prepare anything.

After a day of resting up from our respective journeys, we decided to go to nearby Telluride and check it out, as neither Sandy nor I had been there before. We woke up on this morning and noticed 49 degrees on the outside air temperature. This must have something to do with the chill in the coach, I thought, still being unaccustomed to summer in the San Juan mountains. I turned around and flipped on the heater, not fully appreciating how absurd such a low temperature must seem to someone in, say, Texas this morning. Phannie's lounge (fancy term for the main living area) warmed up quickly, and I sat at the computer to see what was going on in the world.

Before long, Sandy wandered in and, as we had breakfast, we decided on some warmer clothes, based on what we were seeing on the temperature gauge. The forecast high for today was 71.

The drive up highway 145 became ever more scenic with every curve, like in this photo of Priest Lake, which is the headwater for the Dolores River.

We parked at a wealthy enclave named Mountain Village just across a ridge from Telluride, which was accessed by way of an aerial tramway. We all piled on, but Sandy stumbled a little trying to catch the gondola opening. (The tramway doesn't stop unless there is an emergency.) Her awkward flop into the car was the subject of a good bit of merriment among us, as was her reaction to the gondola ride itself (she suffers from acrophobia). I think this will be evident among the photos published below:

 Bubba and LouAnn give Sandy a hand in jumping aboard the moving gondola.

The expression on her face says it all...

Bless her heart! It was hard to make fun of her, but we were able to rise to the occasion.

Safely on the ground in Telluride, we paused for a photo, showing her much more relieved:

Notice that we're wearing long sleeves, and I was regretting that I hadn't brought my jacket. Telluride is a marvelously scenic old mining town that has been discovered by the rich and famous, so everything is quaint but modern and, oh yes, expensive. The median price of a house here is $1,100,000.00.

Since the gondola ride made us hungry, we stopped at Brown Dog Pizza for some really good pizzas, then the girls went shopping. Bubba and I walked around a bit, but mostly held down some chairs at an outdoor cafe. By this time, I was kicking myself for not bringing a jacket.

As you know, I love finding and photographing odd stuff and curiosities that I see, and as Bubba and I wandered around, I happened to notice this sign outside a small downtown store:

If it's hard to read in this photo, the sign says, "Please, No Peeing. Thanks." Now the idle mind being the devil's workshop, as it were, I began to wonder how significant this problem must be for the proprietor to have hung out this sign? And for what species is the admonishment intended? Surely not humans; the well-heeled denizens of this mountain resort can't be that liberal! (Maybe they can.) Assuming I'm right about this, then the culprit must be a dog, I guess, even though the sign doesn't say that. Given the placement of the sign near the sidewalk, are we to assume that dogs in Telluride are smart enough actually to read the sign and, thereby inspired, be civic-minded enough to hold their bladders? We may never know. 

It wasn't long until the shopping trip was over, and we headed back to the tramway. Sandy did much better on this trip up and over the mountain, although we did hear a few yelps as the gondola jerked upon entering the stations.

LouAnn and Sandy, whose countenance is much more at ease on departure from Telluride, which you can see behind them.

As we leave the tramway station and return to our car, we see this decorated lampost--further evidence that Telluride is a beautiful place and kept that way for the enjoyment of all. Don't miss it, but don't forget your wallet.

What a fun day! It's hard to imagine how anyone could get tired of traveling and seeing new and wonderful things as we did today.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.

Durango: A Real Find in RV Parks

At Sky Ute Casino RV Park, Ignacio, Colorado...

We have arrived in the Durango area for three days before heading to Priest Gulch Campground near Dolores, Colorado, where we'll meet friends Bubba, LouAnn and daughter BreAnn. I almost don't want to tell you about the Sky Ute RV Park, because finding it was a real coup, and it already stays full most of the time.

The RV park is located beside the Sky Ute Hotel and Casino just north of Ignacio, Colorado. It is run by the Ute Indian tribe, on whose reservation it it situated. 

The Sky Ute Hotel and Casino, viewed from the RV park.

Our space at Sky Ute RV Park

You can tell from the photos that it is a classy resort, with asphalt and concrete spaces complete with curbs, grills and picnic tables. The unreal part is that the space rental is only $30--but it gets better: If you have Passport America, it is only $15 a night, no matter how long you stay! Of course, this is an incentive to lure gamblers to the casino, but playing the games is not a requirement for staying here, luckily for us. The fifteen-dollar rate is about one-third the price you'll have to pay in Durango.

The only drawback is that it requires a little extra driving to Durango, 16 miles away.  But that didn't bother us; accustomed as we were to living in a big city, that is almost next door! One word of warning if you think about coming here: Make your reservation well in advance; Sky Ute has been discovered, I think.

We finally found some of the cool air we've been hoping for since we left Texas!  The elevation here is 6,500 feet and, during the day, the temperature is about ten degrees cooler than Albuquerque. But during the evening is when it cools off quickly. Our first morning here surprised us with an outside temperature of 53 degrees! I didn't turn on the heat in Phannie, although it would have felt good. I knew it wouldn't be long before the intense sunlight would be heating things up rapidly.

We will be joining our friends at Priest Gulch, Bubba's favorite campground in the whole world. We've never seen it, but we understand that it is a beautiful RV park beside a mountain stream. We're looking forward to sending you photos. After four nights there, we'll be headed back to Durango, where we'll be meeting Tyler and Mindy and the grandsons, who will fly in and join us for a ride on the train to Silverton next weekend.

Thank you, Lord for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.

Mae is Back Home; Our Last Day in ABQ

At Enchanted Trails RV Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico...

We happily picked up our little red car from Reliable Chevrolet; she sported a new left front wheel bearing and a new hubcap, as the old one had a crack in it. Getting up to speed afterward, it was clear that the bearing was indeed the problem, as Mae now rolled along smoothly and silently. We're still very happy with how reliable and nearly trouble-free she has been. Besides the 75,000 miles she has been driven, she has been towed by Phannie for at least another 35,000. I'm attributing some of the laudable service to her upkeep, about which I'm pretty fanatical on all of our vehicles. I'm shooting for 150,000 miles as a goal before thinking about a trade.

Looking for something to do to escape the heat, we drove to the National Museum of  Nuclear Science and History, another of the surprisingly excellent museums in Albuquerque:

This was a fascinating look at the history of nuclear power in our country, and we could have spent a lot more time here than we did. I was primarily interested in the World War II period, as that's when everyone, including me as a kid, became aware of "the Bomb." I'm always fascinated with history, and I learned quite a few things here that I didn't know. Here are some examples:

• Both Germany and Japan were working on the development of an atomic bomb immediately prior to and during the early years of WWII; the U.S. simply beat them to it. 

• The development of the bomb was called the Manhattan Project because the Northeast Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, charged with the project, was headquartered in Manhattan, New York.

• The Manhattan Project cost $2 billion ($30 billion in today's dollars).

• The bomb dropped on Hiroshima (Little Boy) was smaller than the one dropped on Nagasaki (Fat Man), but it did twice as much damage. The difference was due to the rather substantial difference in the design of the two weapons. 

• Unlike Fat Man, Little Boy was untested before it was dropped; they were just hoping for the best.

• One man apparently survived both blasts. A resident of Nagasaki was visiting in Hiroshima at the time the first bomb exploded, but managed to escape and return to Nagasaki, only to be there when the second bomb exploded. He survived both blasts and lived to an old age. I'm not sure if he was the luckiest or unluckiest man who ever lived.

Here is a photo of Little Boy (foreground) and Fat Man:

Little Boy weighed 9,800 pounds; Fat Man was 1,000 pounds heavier. The bombs were dropped from 30,000 feet, a height unreachable by Japanese anti-aircraft guns. Both detonated at 1,900 feet above the ground.

Outside the museum was a collection of several military aircraft, including bombers and fighters. Here is a photo of a B-29, the type aircraft used to drop the two atomic bombs:

Besides the B-29, a B-47 and B-52 were available for visitors to view, in addition to an F-4 and F-15, among others.

I highly recommend all of the museums we visited here in Albuquerque. I have mentioned only a very few of the exhibits that are definitely worth seeing.

I also have a few more restaurant reviews:

Needing a barbeque fix, we dropped in to Pepper's Bar-B-Q and Soul Food, a hole-in-the wall joint run by a black gentleman who moved here from Denton, Texas. 

Now some of the best food I've eaten has been in soul food places, so we strode in, undeterred by the um, location, and ordered a brisket sandwich, a rib sandwich and sides of fried okra and corn on the cob. Now I can't include this restaurant in my favorite restaurants list because the brisket and ribs were merely okay--not terrific--as would have been required to be listed. However, the corn on the cob and the okra were fresh, not frozen, something almost unheard of in most BBQ restaurants. They were both delicious. 

What Pepper's did give me was an opportunity to add not one, not two, but three! items to my list of curiosities and oddities (you know how I like these). The first was obvious at the table--a bottle of Pepper's Slurp and Burp BBQ Sauce. Is that not the best name ever?

Actually, the sauce was quite good--something I would buy if I didn't already have some Blues Hog back in Phannie.

The second oddity was discovered in the bathroom--a soap dispenser whose design was clearly meant for something else:

The third was a bit of a surprise, when Sandy pointed out the photos on the wall behind where I was seated. Somehow, I was oblivious to it when walking over to the table:

Now, I swore off ranting and raving about politics in this blog some time ago but, if you knew me, you would know why I call this an oddity.

If you find yourself in Albuquerque, you just might want to come to Pepper's for the food besides the BBQ, such as fried chicken or catfish. (Oh, by the way, we also had some killer blackberry cobbler, too.) I just can't put the restaurant on the list for the reason already stated.

The other restaurant I'll mention is the Crackin' Crab.

Who would have thought that a seafood restaurant totally landlocked in the middle of the desert would have really good, fresh seafood? They must fly it in every day, and that's why the prices are about $25 a head if each orders one pound of seafood, which was quite adequate for us. Frankly, I think it was worth it, considering the product. 

What you get is a bucket of boiled seafood--you can choose among shrimp, crab, mussels, crawfish, scallops and the like, cooked in a seasoned boil such as cajun (spicy) or lemon pepper. We chose shrimp and king crab in the cajun seasoning, and the boil includes a potato, corn-on-the-cob and sausage. The shrimp were large and delicious in the seasoning, but the king crab, although very fresh, seemed overwhelmed by the spiciness. I think it would have been better to have ordered it unseasoned with a side of melted butter.

If you didn't have your quota of playing with food when you were a kid, this is the place for you. The table is covered with butcher paper, and you are issued a plastic bib when you sit down. When the bucket comes, you pour everything out on the butcher paper and get with it, using the shell-cracking tools they also give you. I think we used several dozen paper towels to keep ourselves recognizable. Yes, this will go on the list; it was as much fun as it was good.

Now that we are leaving ABQ, I will announce the winner among the restaurants we have reviewed here, and that is (drum roll) the Frontier, downtown on route 66. For flavor, variety, value, history and uniqueness of the experience, it can't be topped. I almost wish we weren't leaving so we could go back once more.

Well, it has been quite a great visit here in Albuquerque, I'm actually glad Mae threw a wheel bearing here, as we had more time to enjoy the place, especially the history of Route 66 so evident here. I'll leave you with a couple of photos that will remind you older folks of the history of Route 66 in what I think was the exciting golden age of travel in the U.S.:

Remember Burma Shave?

The Wigwam Motel - Actually on route 66 in California; most of the old teepee motels along route 66 have been torn down.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.

Mae Goes to the Shop; We Go Stargazing

AT Enchanted Oaks RV Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico...

I had been noticing that our toad, Mae, has developed a slight noise in the front end that sounds a little like a mudgrip tire on asphalt. That certainly isn't normal, so we made arrangements at Reliable Chevrolet here in Albuquerque to get it checked out the next day after we leave it with them later. They will give us a loaner car to drive, a nice touch, for sure! 

After that, we decided it was time for lunch, so we drove to La Salita, a restaurant in east Albuquerque recommended by cherished readers (and fellow foodies) Bob and Jo, whose blog, "How to Love Where You Are and Eat Where the Locals Eat" has been a favorite read for a very long time. Like us, they publish a list of favorite restaurants on their blog. (That may be where I got the idea; I can't remember.) They had specifically recommended the chile rellenos, and that's what we ordered, along with one of La Salita's combo plates. We noticed on their menu that they had won a citywide award for the best chile rellenos, so we were expecting a treat; we were not disappointed. The large chile was of the Hatch variety, and we ordered it stuffed with avocado. It was perfectly fried in a light batter, with all the flavor of the chile and the richness of the avocado inside. It was swimming in some killer green chile sauce that I would have licked off the platter if there weren't other diners all around. The chile pepper of the relleno and the sauce would have wide appeal because it wasn't too spicy. Personally, I like spicy chiles, but Sandy--not so much. It was a perfect compromise. We enjoyed all the rest of the dishes, too, and we agree that the relleno probably has no equal. This place will go on our list, too. Thanks, Bob and Jo, for the tip!

Afterward, after driving around doing some sightseeing, we returned to Phannie in our loaner car and took a nap. At dinnertime, we still weren't all that hungry after our sumptuous repast at La Salita, so we fixed one of our signature Thai salads with Korean chicken in it for a light meal. 

I was still thinking about the show we saw in the planetarium a couple of days ago, where we learned that we had forgotten some of our meager knowledge of astronomy. When it was nearly dark, I suggested we go stargazing and see if we could identify some of the planets, stars and constellations we had seen in the show. Sandy eagerly agreed, so we hopped in the car and turned westbound out of the RV park onto route 66. In about five miles, we found a little-traveled side road, upon which we turned and drove a short distance before parking and turning off the lights. 

Once it was fully dark, we could make out the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, even though there was a half moon out and we weren't far enough from the city to achieve the ideal blackness we would have liked. We also learned from the planetarium show that we would have the good fortune of being able to see four planets this evening: Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. We could make out Jupiter and Mars, but Venus had already set by the time we were parked. We weren't sure about Saturn, as it wasn't immediately distinguishable.

Then I remembered that there were apps for the iPhone that would give you a map of the night sky, so I quickly downloaded SkyGuide. What came up on the screen was certainly worth more than the $2.99 I paid for the app. 

The app knows where you are and, as you move your phone around the sky, the names of the major stars and planets appear on the screen along with a depiction of the constellations and an artist's rendering of them. Not only that, but the app plays soft ethereal music as you enjoy the quiet starry darkness around you. Coolest thing I've seen in a long time!

The clear night skies are a very appealing part of the great southwest for us. Sandy and I still recall a moonless winter night years ago when we were driving along a country road near Flagstaff. I happened to notice that the stars seemed brighter than usual, so we stopped and turned off the lights and lay back on the hood of the car. The black sky was ablaze with a million points of light, and the Milky Way was easily visible. It was like nothing we had ever seen, and we stayed there in utter amazement until the cold drove us back into the car. We're hoping to see something like that again now that we have this cool new app on the phone. 

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day. 

A Busy and Fun Day in ABQ

At Enchanted Trails RV Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico...

We stayed busy seeing the sights in Albuquerque, beginning with a trip to the Corrales Growers' Market, where we bought some jelly, pecans, red and green chiles and chile powder, all of which were produced locally. Farmers' markets are always a must stop for us, and this one was especially enjoyable, as a couple of entertainers were on hand singing western songs, one of which, "Ghost Riders in the Sky," is a favorite. I'm looking forward to using these new spices to make my own version of New Mexican red and green chile sauce. (Please don't tell anyone I know in Texas; I don't think sauces from New Mexico are legal there.)

After this, it was lunchtime, so we stopped at California Pastrami to split a hot pastrami on rye sandwich with a side of slaw. Now this wasn't as tasty as what you get at the Stage Door or Katz's in New York (as if there could be any better), but it was really good. Good enough, in fact, to go on our list of favorite restaurants on this blog.

Having gone for a few hours without shopping, Sandy felt obligated to correct that omission and save her reputation. So, I dropped her at the Coronado Mall, where she picked up something for the grandsons, who will be joining us in about a week in Durango. She returned to the car rejuvenated, chatting merrily about what she had found for "the boys." 

She is truly the ultimate Mimi, complete with a license to spoil. Me? I don't remember saying no to, well, anything. I see my role as making sure the funds are readily available. I guess that makes me just as complicit, doesn't it? 

After that, we made a stop in Old Town and took in a couple of the exquisite museums found there. At the Museum of Natural History, we decided to see a show in the planetarium. This was excellent, and we were a little surprised at what we had forgotten about what we see in the heavens. 

We then went over to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History to take in the Route 66 exhibit. This was a very enjoyable and nostalgic visit to a simpler time when Americans were beginning to enjoy traveling their country in the postwar years. I love this historical period, and I applaud those who are attempting to save the iconic buildings along Route 66 as it traverses Albuquerque and much of the width of New Mexico. 

Here is an iconic, art deco gateway sign the city has erected over U. S. 66 in downtown Albuquerque:

Do you remember these old signs at Chevrolet dealerships?

After enjoying the Route 66 exhibit, we strolled through the art museum, which had some very nice paintings. I'm not quite sophisticated enough, I suppose, to enjoy modern art all that much, so we didn't spend much time in that section. We saw later a couple of oil paintings with a western theme that we thought were spectacular.

The first one below was painted by Ernest Blumenschein in 1920. "White Sun and Star Road" was his impression of the angst among native Americans as a result of forced assimilation and the resultant loss of culture, as well as the generational reorientation of attitude between the elder man in the background (sadness) and the younger one in the foreground (definance); this is so well borne out in their expressions. The photo doesn't begin to do justice to the artist's magnificent work, including his amazing capture of the light from the noon sun that is overhead the two men. I would return to the museum again, I think, just to take another look at these paintings.

  
The next painting we liked was by Santa Fe artist Tom Palmore. He painted "Survivor" in 1995. It is a perfect rendering of a coyote and one of the most popular paintings in the museum. Again, the photo is wholly inadequate to portray the breathtaking likeness to the real animal.

After our afternoon at the museums, we stopped at Pad Thai, a tiny, family-run Thai restaurant where they know what they're doing with Thai food. Since the restaurant was named for the iconic Thai dish, that's what we had, along with a beef salad and chicken satay. It was among some of the best Thai food we've had and it, too, will go on our best restaurants page on this blog.

Chicken Satay

Pad Thai

 What a fun day in Albuquerque! We're glad we're staying a couple of extra days because Mae has developed a little mechanical problem, and we have to get that checked out. (Yes, we are still enjoying the novelty of being able to linger in a place as long as we need to or want to. That's among the many benefits of being retarded retired.) We'll give you an update on Mae in the next post.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.

Still Hot: ABQ is Not Any Cooler

At Enchanted Trails RV Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico...

We launched successfully from Fort Worth on our way to Colorado, stopping the first night in tiny Crosbyton, Texas to visit friends and then on to Albuquerque. Crosbyton has a nice city-owned RV park that is free for the first two nights and $10 thereafter. Can't beat that deal, although they have only 30-amp service. We made do for one night without all the A/Cs running, but that's not something we would want to do any longer than that in the summertime.

Enchanted Trails is a Passport America park here in Albuquerque that is very nice for $20 with the PA card. (Good for two nights only.)  We enjoyed this old (Packard, I think) pulling a camper trailer as a piece of yard art:

It was 105 degrees here when we pulled into register, so I haven't made much progress in getting out of the heat, have I? They say it's dry heat but, guess what? I still sweat! My tolerance for heat never was very good, but it is definitely getting worse. I hope we find a cool place where we're going.

Not wishing to cook anything, we elected to try the Frontier Restaurant near the UNM campus for dinner. This place has been around forever, and it is always crowded with a line to order at one window and pick up at another. It's a rather large restaurant, having started as a single room many years ago and gradually expanding into a couple of side buildings. We had read that the food was good, plentiful and cheap, and that proved to be true.

We had a plate with a taco and an enchilada covered in red chile sauce, a green chile cheeseburger and a cup of green chile stew, followed by a killer cinnamon roll. Fresh flour tortillas were hot off the griddle. It was all delicious, for only a little over $20. What a deal! I like Tex-Mex, but I'm really enjoying the New Mexico version, too. I had forgotten how good it is.

 I didn't show photos of the green chile cheeseburger or the green chile stew; They were probably half eaten by the time I took the photo. Suffice it to say everything was wonderful. This place will definitely go on our favorite restaurants list. Besides, any restaurant that sports a life-sized portrait of John Wayne can't be all bad. (Reminds me of a time in our country when things made sense):

On this trip, I'm trying to focus more on parks that give good discounts, like Passport America. They are not everywhere, but the price is right when you find them.

Tomorrow will be a down day, as we rest up from the 350-mile drive here today. That's just too long a leg, in my view, to be much fun, although Phannie purred flawlessly all the way.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.

Yes, Stuff Breaks...It's How You Deal With It That Matters

At Northlake Village RV Park, Roanoke, Texas...

One of the things RVers have to accept is that there will be things that break from time to time, especially on a motorhome, where you have a house and vehicle combined. Such is the case with Phannie this week, just as we were getting ready to raise the jacks and head north to find cool surroundings (please God, let it be soon). 

In this case, a couple of unrelated things conveniently broke about the same time. A check valve near the water heater failed, leaving us with no hot water, and a leak developed in the gray water system. The check valve was an easy fix for Barry, the local tech whom we called: 

He found the gray water leak to be caused by the washing machine drain line's having broken at the point where it enters the gray tank:

It's not surprising that a few things come loose from time to time. Driving your house down the road for tens of thousands of miles tends to have that effect. It wasn't long until Barry had fashioned a new drain line section and secured it to the tank. Problem solved!

Fixing things that break seem to fall into three categories: 1) Minor repairs that I can do myself, 2) minor repairs that I can't (or don't want to do) and are done onsite by a tech, and 3) major repairs that require a shop visit. Most of Phannie's fixes have fallen into the first and second categories. Only on a couple of occasions has a shop visit been required. And only once in the five years Phannie has been with us has a tow been required--for a broken accelerator link. There has never been a problem with the engine or drive train, thankfully. All things considered, we think we have been very fortunate; in all that time, Phannie's downtime in the shop has been no more than a few days.

To give you a sense of the kinds of things I'm willing to repair myself, here is a list from the last few months:  Several burned out bulbs (that I've replaced with LEDs), a broken tail light assembly replacement, a broken bathroom light switch, some broken drawer latches--well, you get the idea. If it's much more than that, or the weather isn't just right, or if it's something really dirty or smelly, I'm calling for a mobile tech. And yes, this can be a little pricey, but tech guys have to eat, too, and I don't think I've ever seen an armored car following a hearse to the cemetery. I may as well spend it now; my comfort is worth something.

The dentist installed my new crown yesterday, and I think we have taken care of all the incessant medical appointments. Mae has had an oil change and a wash job, and she will get her tires rotated today. Tomorrow will be departure day on our way to Colorado. Yay! These posts will be a bit more regular with the change of scenery.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.

Ugh! We're Stuck Here in the Texas Heat (But Not For Long)

At Northlake Village RV Park, Roanoke, Texas...

One of the things we had been looking forward to after jettisoning the house was escaping to cooler climes for several summer months before the unrepentant Texas sun begins its fiendish rendering of my ample adipose tissue. Well, that escape hasn't happened...yet. We're sitting here in north Texas for a while, working on a special project that, hopefully, will delight grandsons Mason and Pryce. I'll tell you about the project a little later; certain things have to fall into place for it to happen as hoped. We were planning to have made our trek to Colorado before now, even having made reservations at Mountaindale RV Park near Colorado Springs. We were to join several of our friends there in the cool mountain air. 

Sure enough, after a spring that was about three days long, the summer sun has begun its usual microwaving of the north Texas plains, and here we are, reluctantly, in the middle of it. It's easy to tell when the temperature outside approaches 100 degrees: All three of Phannie's air conditioners are humming during the daytime.

But not for long. The things required of me--routine medical tests, mostly--will be finished in a couple of weeks and we will then launch for Durango, Colorado just after the July fourth holiday. Mindy and Tyler and the grandsons will fly into there later in the month; we will see them along with Bubba and LouAnn, who will arrive in their motorhome. We have tickets to ride the old steam train from Durango to Silverton. Grandson Mason--and his brother, Pryce, to a lesser extent--are batty over trains, and they will have a grand time doing this.

We are set up pretty nicely here at Northlake Village, north of Fort Worth, for a month. This is a nice park, and we were lucky enough to get perhaps the best spot in the whole place:

Here's a photo of the park office:

Another real plus is the park wi-fi, which is remarkably fast, unlike the dreadful drip of bandwidth of most other RV parks. This proves that good internet can be had, if the park owners are willing to spring for it. Good for you, Northlake.

During this interlude, Sandy and I went to our dentist, Dr. Novo Cain, for a cleaning and checkup, only to find that I had a small cavity beneath an old crown. Sandy, who has had almost no cavities in her lifetime, also had none this time, of course. I went back the next day to get the cavity fixed and a new crown installed which, of course, made another payment on Dr. Cain's Mercedes. I grumble about our constant visits to health professionals but, by golly, I haven't been around this long without doing something right, I guess. I'm glad they found the cavity on the routine x-ray before I even knew there was a problem. By the time it would have begun to bother me, it would likely have been much worse. 


How about an update on our new residential refrigerator, now that we've had it for a couple of months? Well, I can report that this upgrade may be the best one we've done so far. It would be difficult to describe what a profound difference it has made, especially since we are fulltiming. It was one thing to put up with the old Nevercold while we were part-timing but, somehow, the new fridge makes Phannie much more homelike than we ever imagined it would. If this upgrade is something you may be contemplating, I think your reaction would be no different from ours.

I'll close with a shout out to my friend Ed Dray, another fulltimer whose new book, "My Journey to the Clouds," is now available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book and soon will be available at Barnes and Noble for those with Nooks. Ed asked me to edit the book, which I gladly did. Although I've done a good deal of writing, this was the first book I had edited. I am grateful to Ed for his acknowledgement of my effort, one that turned out to be an enjoyable and illuminating experience for me. Ed also asked me to provide an introduction in the book, which I was happy to do. If you enjoy reading, I think you would find Ed's book to be an interesting perspective of the life of a corporate pilot and the value of perserverance in pursuing your dreams. There is much more, however, in terms of personal stories and the value of faith, family and a positive attitude when terrible things happen. You can find out more here.

Since we're largely in a holding pattern here in north Texas, posts will be a little more sparse until we start moving again. But never fear, I'll be back soon.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day. 

Homecoming: We Visit Our Folder

At Escapees Rainbow's End RV Park, Livingston, Texas...

I know I was going to talk about an average day as a fulltimer, but I've changed my mind; It just doesn't interest me very much. In fact, it's because of do-nothing days that I am not a daily blogger. I just think that if I'm not interested in what I write about, the readers will be disinterested as well. I have evidence of this in reading the blog statistics. When I publish under a post title that sounds interesting, I get a lot more hits, and vice versa. And frankly, I have difficulty making something interesting out of, say, vacuuming the car. Now, that's not to say anything against daily bloggers, some of whom are good friends. (I can hear you typing your snarky comments now.) Curiously, I enjoy reading a daily blog; I guess I'm just too lazy to write one.

I will say a couple of things about our routine days: 

1) Our habit patterns from pre-fulltiming days haven't really changed much, and I doubt if yours will, either, if you're thinking about doing it. For example, we like to sleep in in the morning and stay up late at night; we always have. We will get up and get going early for special occasions, like going to church or going with friends on an adventure, but we're not sure what kind of company we are when we do that.

2) If we have a do-nothing day, we always try to do something productive as well, so as not to feel that it's  a wasted day. Since the RV is our house, there's always some small household chore that needs to be done; it's just that we don't spend much time doing these. In a tiny house, chores are tiny, too, but they still give a sense of accomplishment. Then there are all the entertainment resources, books to be read and the Internet. How in the world could anyone be bored?

Okay, that's about all I'm going to say about do-nothing days; my eyes are beginning to glaze over. Instead, lets talk about our trip "home" to Livingston, Texas:

We have returned to our current residence of record, the sprawling Escapees complex in Livingston, Texas that houses our mail folder--that serves as our "home" at 237 Rainbow Drive. Our folder is quite nondescript among the 15,000 other folders of fulltimers and, although Sandy would like to spruce it up a bit, maybe by adding a plastic flower or something, I don't think they would go for that here at Escapees Mail Service. They're pretty serious about their business.

Escapees Mail Facility in Livingston, Texas

We are not here merely to pick up our mail, which is usually sent by Escapees to wherever we tell them. Our mission is to get new registration stickers for Phannie and Mae, an annual obligation that requires us to return here once a year. Obtaining a sticker requires a vehicle inspection, and we will have to get that, too, while we're here.

The Escapees headquarters is about six miles southeast of Livingston on state highway 146, identified by this sign:

While you're looking at that sign, take a look at the original photo below from which I removed some unwanted objects with a really cool program called Movavi. (I've mentioned this before in the blog, but for you new readers, you need to see it again; you need this. It's not nearly as complicated or expensive as some other programs. By the way, I have no connection to Movavi other than as a customer.)

Notice the overhead wires and the speed limit sign above. These are not to be found in the preceding photo. Removing them with Movavi is so simple; you just highlight the areas to fix and click on a button, and the program does the rest. It seems to know what is supposed to be in the background behind the objects removed; I can't imagine how it does this. Yes, there's a small cost for Movavi Photo Editor--about forty bucks. But that's not a lot, considering what it does. I haven't even gotten into the other editing features; just the unwanted object removal is more than worth its cost to me. 

We have a nice shady parking spot with just enough of an opening for our dish to see the satellites it needs. The concrete pad is still wet from where I gave Phannie a bath. It wasn't a full bath; she was only dirty from about her waist down. Saved myself more than a hundred bucks.

We're parked very near the RV park office:

It contains a very nice laundry room:

Here's the main headquarters building where the mail service is:

Here's our house:

The inspections and the sticker acquisitions went off without a problem, except that our bank account is nearly $500 smaller.

We ate at a very good catfish joint just south of Livingston on U. S. 59. Here's a photo of Hughes Catfish Inn, and I'm adding it to our favorite restaurants list.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.

Fulltiming: Things That Didn't Surprise Us

At Sunset Shores RV Park, Willis, Texas...

The simple life. Before we pulled the trigger on fulltiming, we already knew that we were going to simplify our lives dramatically. Having owned Phannie for over four years while part-timing, we knew, for example, how easy it was for me to maintain the coach and for Sandy to do housekeeping chores. And so it has been. There's really not that much to do, maintenance-wise, other than keeping the tires aired up, the fluids checked, the tanks dumped and the occasional wash job (often done by mobile wash services). Oh yes, and then there are the minor things that break and that can be fixed by someone inept like me. We occasionally need the services of a professional if we need some work on the entertainment system or the house electrical or plumbing systems or something like that. Other than regular maintenance visits--for which I am fanatical in their accomplishment--I can think of only one time in five years that Phannie had a mechanical problem that required her to be towed to the shop, and that was because of a broken throttle link. 

Sandy is equally delighted with the ease of housekeeping. Vacuuming takes all of ten minutes, and the rest of the inside chores about twenty more. When we think about the large houses we've owned, one with acreage, our mind reels as to what we were possibly thinking back then. God was good finally to give us clarity of thought.

Accepting, and even celebrating, change. Sandy and our daughter, Mindy, will admit that they were never very fond of change. I think women, especially, need to feel secure and are leery of anything that threatens that security. Change can certainly do that, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the individual. 

Change, however, is inescapable. In a preceding post, reader Bob made a comment about the inevitability of evolving in our thoughts and opinions over time. He reminded me that the only thing really constant in life other than our faith and devotion to each other and our family is change. When I look back over the ten years represented by this blog, I am astonished at how radically our thinking and our circumstances have changed. Who would have thought that someone like us would be our happiest living in less than four hundred square feet when we once thought we had to have four thousand? The fact that we were able to make a change like that is evidence that we had finally obtained the wisdom that maturity is supposed to bring. We were not surprised, then, when we drove away from the stick and brick house with no regrets. 

We celebrate change now, even though every new destination represents the unknown and the unfamiliar and yes, change. Not everyone is comfortable with that, but we see it as new opportunities for learning and adventure. I can't imagine staring at the same four walls day after day instead of experiencing the excitement of what the view might be like around the next curve.

We knew the RV community.  I can't tell you the number of folks who, when we told them of our fulltiming plans, wrinkled up their noses as if they smelled something unpleasant; or worse, they audibly gasped, as if we told them we had leprosy. One thought we had fallen on hard times and were being forced to go and live in "one of those trailer parks." Little did he know that our financial circumstances were probably much more solvent than his. Indeed, at the time he was making his sneering comment, he also revealed that he was about to spend tens of thousands on repairs to his house. Pity, I thought.

The fact is that the RV community, like the rest of society, is diverse. There are some parks in disrepair or in scary locations that cater to a questionable clientele, but these are the exceptions. RV parks, in the large majority, are patronized by folks just like us. Some of the nicest, most well-adjusted (and, dare I say, well-heeled) people we have ever met in the last ten years have been found among the RV community. So we weren't surprised at this aspect of our new fulltiming life either. We were going to be among our own kind (except for the well-heeled part).

Okay, there you have some of the things that didn't surprise us. Next time, we might talk about a typical day when we have no outings planned. That should put you to sleep, if nothing else will.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.