Spring of 2004 Trip Log Check www

Spring of 2004 Trip Log (RETURN)

5/12/04	We're off to the great unknown, plan to see the beginning of the Lewis and Clark reenactment of the Corps of Discovery , Then chase the sun. The day starts with Xtine pretending to have a dead battery, when I hooked up Mary's Jeep to provide a jump, Xtine locked her car with the keys in it and running. Camped at Marshal, IL. I captured dinner.
5/13/04	Off to Casino Queen on the Mississippi, nearest to St. Charles. RV park at the Casino. Day two of cloudy and rain. Well, it took Mary only 20 min to win $100 so we went to dinner.
5/14/04	The weather was chilly, rainy and just as it was described 200 years ago, as the Corps of Discovery embarked from Camp River Dubois, IL. THEY'RE OFF
5/15-Sat	Visited St. Charles, watched expedition boats land, visited concessions, meeting and dinner at Magpie with ORC members
5/16-Sun	Pounded the road to Tulsa OK
5/17-Mon	Pounded the road to Amarillo, TX, lost hub cap
5/18-Tue	Pounded the road to Santa Fe, NM. Pounding may not be the most descriptive term, since we start about 10 and quit at 5.
5/19-Wed	Bummer JW got a terrible tooth ache and dehydrated, required two days downtime but we are on the mend. Santa Fe has very kind weather.
5/20-Thur	Mary's Birthday, she's 73.
5/21 -Fri	Big day, went 7 miles down the road, to Santa Fe, off to see the sights, Oh look Xtine broke the heater valve, lost all water right in the middle of town, the tricks she has! Found parts 2 miles down the road. Loretto Chapel Miraculous Staircase, free standing, as in no supports.
5/22- Sat	Up and at'm, rolled to Bloomfield NM
5/23 - Sun	Hooked -up and started to roll down the highway, soon horns were blowing and great balls of blue smoke from the rear, what the hell. Expecting the worst I race to the tow-bar, Xtine's brakes are locked on full, and smoking hot. Seems she had a kink in her cable, pry this & hammer that and she's a happy "toad" again. So we moseyed over to the 4 Corners Monument, jewelry and dancing and Navaho Chants, great stuff. Return to RV to find an alarm screaming, now what? Camper batteries are dead, lets see have the Navajo ever heard batteries? No primitive camping as planned...so it's on to Utah in search of batteries. Camped at Bluff, UT
5/24-Mon	Added Oil and Muffler after a trip through the Valley of the Gods. Lots of Indian legends, the only thing out here is a Bed & Breakfast. Climbed switchbacks and drove to top of the bluff for a great view of Southern Utah.
5/25 Tue	On to Monument Valley, and the Gouldings Trading Post but didn't wait for a sun rise. Then on to Page, AZ, gas now $2.12. Searched for tour that would raft us under the old Navajo Bridge, Best offer was a 3 day float, and had to walk out of the Grand Canyon for only $2400.
5/26 Wed	The Navajo Nation guards Antelope Canyon but we broke down and paid for a tour, worth the time, and onto Tuba City, but not before a stop at NAPA for two new house batteries.
5/27 Thus	Grand Canyon and onto Flagstaff
5/28 Fri	Fixed flat bike tire, worked on stop lights for the RV, been working on this for three years, I wired it my way!. Laundry day.
5/29 Sat	Lazy day around Flagstaff.
5/30-Sun	Toured the Sunset crater, not to be confused with a real crater. Also checked out the Wupatki ruins. Gee it's about 100F and Xtine is running hot, imagine that.
5/31-Mon	Traveled through Sedona, lunch at O??, Moved on to Cottonwood, small AZ town, Stayed Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Had to try the Denver Scramble at Denny's
6/1-Tue	Worked on the cooling problem. Soaked up some sun, trying to get the Ohio chill out of my bones. Great view, tire work, haircut, and of course Wal-Mart. Bought new TV
6/2-Wed	Cleaned up front of Jeep and RV, rode bike a little....crashed again. Temp = 108. Lazy day, tried riding on the trails, waxed parts of Jeep and RV. Drove off to town with water hose hanging on the car, now need new hose. Went to movie.
6/3-Thur	No Plans. Moved on to Casa Grande where the Temp hit 122F. Quail Run RV Park, nice place, but empty.....too hot.
6/4-Fri	Oh good, the Temp hit 126F, can this be real ? Breakfast in the Sun! Right on the hood of the Jeep, saved doing the dishes.
6/5-Sat
6/6-Sun
6/7-Mon	Played at the pool. Did Outlet Mall
6/8-Tue
6/9-Wed	Played at the pool.
6/10Thur	Survived the heat, very lazy, moved on to Tucson, Ajo Way. The Germans came with a 1000 " El Monte's" Visited Saguaro National Park, [Sah-Wah-Roe] ,Western Way RV Park
6/11-Fri	Went shopping
6/12 - Sat	Moved to Voyager RV Resort
6/13-Sun	Went to Xavier Mission
6/14-Mon
6/15-Tue
6/16-Wed
6/17-Thur
6/18-Fri	Visited PIMA Air Museum
6/19-Sat
6/20-Sun	A 2.3 mile walk in the desert, no clouds, 100+, a little water, tough but stayed off the 6 O'clock news. Catalina State Park.
6/21-Mon	Wal-Mart for Drugs then onto Movie
6/22-Tue	Moved to Tombstone Territory. Dinner in Tombstone	.
6/23-Wed	Sierra Vista Mall & Movie. Lots of talk about the monsoon season, lots of lightning and little storms in the area.
6/24-Thur	Uh Oh, Lazy day at the pool and JW went to town (Sierra Vista) and bought "new" used laptop and stuff.
6/25-Fri
6/26-Sat	Moved to Patagonia State Park, nice place. Went to Nogales, mistake! A little scary, U-turned and came back.
6/27-Sun	Watched 4 dogs swim across the lake then we went back to Tucson and the Voyager
6/28-Mon	Missed out on Sloppy Joes for lunch,
6/29-Tue	Signed up for another week, pool, nap and shopping.
6/30-Wed	Propane truck came today, good for another month. Grounds keeper gave warning of monsoons, told us how to know when they are coming, evidently it gathers on the mountain tops, SE, E, then the N, Tucson gets surrounded like Custer, then the water flows deep in the street..
7/1-Thur
7/2-Fri
7/3-Sat	Went to Beaudry to view the Southwinds, drove the 32V, terrible prices, and they want to dicker, we walked.
7/4-Sun	Picnic! This was a trip, they got there early, filled their trays, and as you eat your cake the tables are packed up, chairs are put against the wall and all are out of there in less than an hour. No time for chit-chat, but we met Gloria and Bob (McMasters), very nice and showed us around and filled us in on what is going on, and showed us their place in the Cove..
7/5-Mon
7/6-Tue	Lazy day w/biking and lazing around. Went to grocery.
7/7-Wed	After months of hard travel Misty finally made it to AZ, just in time for a good old Steak at the Dusty Trails Steak House
7/8-Thur	Pool Days
7/9-Fri	She wanted to see the red rocks of Sedona, so we gave her a puzzle.
7/10-Sat	Sabino Canyon offered a place to get out and walk with the mountain lion. Thanks for that warning! Mexican dinner with mariachi band.
7/11-Sun	Pool and toured model homes in the Bay area at Voyager.
7/12-Mon	Misty back to OH. Finally got Sloppy Joes for lunch, and the rains came in the form of a light shower, not a monsoon.
7/13-Tue	Too much of a good thing, so we move on. Its beginning to feel like home, hot and humid. Moved on to Phoenix, McDowell Park. They said it hadn't rained in 90 days, that night thunder, lighting and rain! I have got to figure something to do with these powers.
7/14-Wed	Went to Fountain Hills for dinner, got stopped for DUI, by a 15yr old cop. Problem is, I haven't been drinking. Eventually I convince him it was perfectly normal to pull into the left lane, have wife yell NO , so back to the middle, then to the right lane for a turn. He called this weaving , but sent me on my way. Now it is very hot and humid. So we are out of here tomorrow.
7/15-Thur	Arrive at Meteor Creator. This is a very strange enterprise, interesting and well done but no government involvement, all private money. Campground is right on old Rt. 66, which has all been returned to the desert. Huge light shows during dinner, distant lighting. Then thunder, lighting and rain at night. No need for air conditioner tonight. First night with no AC since Flagstaff on May 30.	I dug this hole all by myself in just one day!
7/16-Fri	Today we head for Canyon De Chelly (Shay), toured south rim, pretty amazing, deep straight walled canyon which ancient people lived in, some Navajo still do.
7/17-Sat	Moved on to Mesa Verde, just to camp and climb to the top of the Mesa.
7/18-Sun	Moved to Durango-Rain
7/19-Mon	Durango-Rain
7/20-Tue	Moved up rt. 550 to Montrose- Had to climb over Molas Pass amazing ! Found public park, Molas Lake. Just before dropping in on Silverton.
7/21-Wed	Went to Black Canyon of Gunnison, then across 50 to Salida- Monarch Pass. Found Hub cap! for my 2000 tioga.	I'll take the WEST ... You can have the REST!
7/22-Thur	Moved to Limon CO-good by to the West, Hello Heartland, miles of nothing, but unfortunately a strip of storms has laid in all along I-70.	Did I tell ya I found my own little Glacier!
7/23-Fri	Moved to- Salina, KA Rained all day, rained all night and it's still raining. Ducks swimming at campsites instead of pond.
7/24-Sat	Off to ? yep more rain! Columbia MO,	This is what we see in Kansas, for 2000 miles.
7/25-Sun
	Home again