Retired to Colorado

Winter's Escape '03

Enough is enough (RETURN)

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2/18 Tue Well now, the taxes are cooked, it looks like snow and I ask why am I still here! But I look outside and it's a level 2 county emergency, there is a 100 mile long traffic jam in Cinci, and the RV is stuck in the parking lot. We are Trapped!
2/19 Wed. A call to the snowplow man and the RV is free! Load it up and On the Road Again, all clouds, 37 in Nashville, but no snow.
2-20 Thu. Rain, Rain. Spent night at Hot Springs, AR, "childhood home of President Bill Clinton". Went to the movies, saw "All About Schmidt".
2-21Fri. More Rain. Toured Bath Row at Hot Springs. Forgot to take camera with us. JW wouldn't pay for baths, so we took off for TX, Drove past Dallas and Fort Worth. Saw the sun try to peek through once, but didn't last. Supposed to be clear for week-end.
2-22 Sat. Pushed on to Ft. Stockton, cleared the rain, pork dinner, met guy from CA. with rat dog for a pet. Fuel pump on RV now screaming! for help, everybody closed ,so push-on.
2-23 Sun. Arriving at Big Bend NP, SW of West Texas, which is in the no fly zone, power companies use main resource. Blue Sky, 77F, call home for things forgotten. 3 Buses of 8th graders from Houston.
2-24 Mon. Climbed ridge that overlooks campsite, and across Rio Grande into Mexico. NPS just had a controlled Burn that got out of control. Chisos Mtns. in background. ML loses new hat to the wind from the top of overlook. JW goes off trail, endures lions, rattlers, scorpions, cactus and sharp rocks to recover hat.
2-25 Tue. Walked to the Boquillas Canyon, Mexico crossing closed. Lots of Geologists. MLS lost Camera, JW rescued it from the lions and bears. Dinner at Chisos Basin Lodge. Saw Fox running around at night.		Boquillas
2-26 Wed. Broke camp, drove 40 miles to Camp Cottonwood, at Castolon: No hookups, no generators! Ghost town.		Notch in mountain ridge cut by Rio Grande. (Rio Bravo)
2-27 Thu Walked Santa Elena Canyon, Tuff Canyon and Mule Ears View. And the pigs came at night and the turkeys in the morn.
2-28 Fri Drove to Lajitas, got ripped off! Moved on
3-1 Sat Roping & Stuff. to Celebrate Texas independence, did I miss something?. Arrived Presidio, TX, poor deserted town with great weather, signed up for 4 days Nothing to do but enjoy the weather, go to town to the Dollar Store, warsh the RV
3-2 Sun .More of the same, did laundry , made some phone calls. Airstream group staging for Mexico
3-3 Mon Met Neighbors, lots of Input, more about Yuma. Lots of sun & heat!, may look for a cloud today. Washed Christine, inside and out, ain't she pretty in the morning sun!
3-4 Tue. Decision day, to move on or not to move on, the question of the day.
3-5 Wed Signed up for 3 more days, Presidio is near Marfa, source of Mysterious Desert Lights, in the picture you can see a real unidentified object, the locals call it a cloud!
3-6 Thu More unsuccessful searches for a cloud. Met man from Marfa, the lights are real, any clear night. Rode bike to the high desert for a view of campsite. MLS got nails done at Lorena's
3-7 Fri Date night, no Movie for 300 miles, MLS went to Post Office, did laundry. 'Got Rocks' brought over tomatoes.
3-8 Sat MLS bought new shoes, we went to lunch, and grocery and a pass through the Dollar General Store then off to Marfa to see the lights. Border Patrol says "Nice Vehicle". Not a clear night, no lights, but interesting!
3-9 Sun Off to McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, again interesting. Met man who was USAF at Marfa, he had a buddy who flew a plane and another buddy chased the lights on the ground. They could never get close, they come and go too quickly. Camped in Van Horn		Biggest Something, Sun spots!
3-10 Met chemist, now a KOA short order cook, .... we are now being stopped by Border Patrol again, I wrapped a towel on my head just to see what they would say. Now driving across New Mexico to Benson AZ. Striking distance to Ron and Judy's
3-11 Tue Happy Birthday #62 to Jimmy! Where is my Golden Eagle Card? Now it is off to Tombstone to check out the evil deeds of Wyatt Earp, and Boot Hill..		Four down at the OK corral
3-12 Wed Chiricahua Monument trails, hiked to canyon bottom and back on Echo Canyon trail, then to Hereford, then to Sierra Vista, AZ to get stuff!
3-13 Thru Stay another day, a real town!. Went to Ron and Judy's for dinner and chat at their new house, really nice.
3-14 Fri One of Those days, replaced front wheel hub and bearing on Christine, went to rotate RV tires, 3 bad tires had to be replaced, fixed flat tire on the bike, ML tried to make it a pool day, but NO SUN!, what happened? there is talk of rain?
3-15 Sat Moved on to Tucson, big deal, 60 mile, Exit 264, Beaudry RV, 2 million RV's, & a Campsite. Weather still great.		Goodbye to Sierra Vista!
3-16 Sun Windy, Cloudy and mixed rain, went to San Xavier Mission and to Local Casino to keep out of the rain
3-17 Mon More clouds, move on to Eloy and camp at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Went into Mexico, war zone is the only explanation for this mess, illegals dressed in parkas carry plastic shopping bags and are all staged in a nearby park for the nights border run, the Border Patrol has closed roads to gain an advantage in the chase. Border Guard tells us they will close the border when Bush announces we are going to war. That's closed like you are NOT coming home! But only for three days. We are literally straddling the border as Bush speaks. Mary Lou is called out for taking pictures of entry gate, guard demands to see pictures, turns out this too is a crime. Darkness falls, border patrol seen on every horizon with search lights scanning, there is a knock on the door, Pedro wants to know if we are his ride? Illegals scurry about the campground's shadows, campers cruise about like shuttle buses. The skies clear, a full moon lights the desert floor, the sun rises and all is calm for another day.		Corny as corn in Kansas Approved pictures
3-18 Tue head for Yuma, where the wind is only 50 mph? Spent the day at Organ Pipe Cactus National Mon., drove and hiked the desert, then moved on to Ajo, old copper mining town, 38 miles up the road.
3-19 Wed Made it to Yuma, may stay a week.
3-25 Simply fantastic, just hanging, waxed RV. Planning an excursion to Mexico. Most everybody is from Washington State.
3-29 Saturday Still in Yuma, but many are leaving, chatter around the pool is that the men want to go and the women want to stay because it's still cold to the north. Did the pool party, the mall, the swap meet, the casino, surveyed the foothills for potential home sites, and met a couple from Wash. that just bought land and plans to build in the foothills. AZ has too many places that seem attractive to live. Last night it was Prime rib and Lobster night , right here in Yuma.
3-31 Mon Well just bumming around, gee we have to run the AC in the afternoon, still soaking up the rays.		Lets see, black jack to red queen. Smoke in Baghdad, DJI down 250., Still have to pay the bills.
4-1 Tue Repaired Patio light, some of us went to the pool, and found available sites in Foothills. Explored for and found 13709 S Ave 14 1/2E. Next to Barry Goldwater Range...
4-2 Wed Off to yesteryear, Los Algodones Mexico, 100 pharmacies each with 100 employees, not to mention 2 complete pairs of trifocals for $109, blankets, leather, jewelry and other mass produced stuff.		Margarita lunch, Wall of prescriptions, Need a Pill?
4-4 Fri Ghost town, every day more people pack up and head for home, concluding their 6 month stay. We are scheduled till the 10th, then we head North. Mean time Mary Lou takes Christine exploring in the desert in search of a view and some prime land, Rule #1: Stay out of the bushes. Found a view after an hour or so, but then noticed it was already in use.
4-5,7 Went to visit Dale and Bette at their Foothills lot, great place. Then a pool day, a bike ride, a walk, and I had cloud watch but none to be found. However, we'll hit the road Thur. moving toward Phoenix. Bonita Mesa RV Resort is Spanish for noisy birds and trains. War is on TV and lots of military overhead here with bombs in the distance.
4-8 Tues Wal-Mart for food and ML got nails done. Afternoon was pool for ML and JW is still trying to win the war.
4-9 Wed Took a walk along canal, afternoon at the pool. Carefree day.
4-10 Thur Moved to Pleasant Harbor in the NW Phoenix area. JW had the blahs, went to bed. ML did pool.
4-11 Fri ML to pool. JW bike. Went to see "Anger Management"
4-12 Sat Spent day and night with Libby & John Daws.
4-13 Sun Moved to McDowell Mt. County Park, near Fountain Hills.
4-14 Mon Visit some old friends Bob and Anthi Houston. in Scottsdale. Spent night with them.		McDowell Park.
4-15 Tue Needle Rock, a drive through river beds, and just plain desert then a little Shopping. How old is the guy?
4-16 Repaired bike carrier. Head out for NE Arizona, Beautiful drive out Rt. 87, spectacular views of Four Peaks, met man who was at Pagosa Springs last year, same time we were there, very small world. Camped at Holbrook, ready for the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, and the wind.
4-17 Thur Toured Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, Lunch at Painted Desert. Camped at Grants NM.
4-18 Fri Heading home. Camped at Elk City, OK. Here we had a little rain from a nearby storm.
4-19 Saturday Still headed East. Stopped at Oklahoma City Memorial. Just happens to be 8 year anniversary. Camped at Springfield, MO . Tornados chased ML as she drove through Oklahoma, 10-20 miles back but right on course.
4-20 Sunday Easter on the road. Camped at Greenfield, IN
4-21 Monday Home Again, cloudy and cold.

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