Big Bend National Park

If you are wondering where the blog has been this past week, we have been in Big Bend National Park in Texas where there is no cell service which means no internet and no blog!

We've had a good time exploring the park.  We were camped at the west entrance for a couple of nights and then inside the park on the east side in the Rio Grande Village for three nights.  We had lots of wind on a couple of days.  Temps in the mid 30's early morning and high 90's late afternoon.  In the Chisos Mountains it was a cool 68 degrees at noon and then up to 95 in the lowlands an hour later! 

There weren't many flowers blooming yet but I took a few pictures of some of the ones we saw:

There were more trees on the Chisos mountain but it seemed odd to have a pine tree next to a cactus! It was definitely arid in the park.   There are such unusual rock formations.  Lots of rocks piled on top of each other like totem poles!  Different kinds of rocks from volcanic to sand stone.

The Rio Grande River is interesting. The parts we saw are not very wide, greenish and almost stagnant in some areas!  In the above picture the gorge between Mexico and the U.S. is amazing at over 1500 feet straight up!

We saw a bobcat, roadrunner, deer, turkey vultures, a possible rare black hawk  (they nest near the campground and another tourist thought it was the hawk) or it could have been a black vulture.  We saw a road kill Javelina (a wild pig).

We had a delicious dinner at the lodge in the Chisos mountains.  We had planned to sit on the patio after dinner to watch the sunset through "the window" the area in the bottom picture on the above collage.  The problem was, it was too cold!

From our campground there was a beautiful sunset with a full moon.  The Rio Grande River is in the lower cornerof the first picture.  One day we took a ride to the Boquillas Canyon.  The park had warned of Mexicans selling their wares on the U.S. side which is illegal.  In the picture you can see a horseman going back across the river and two in a small boat and a group on shore.  They left walking canes on the U.S. side.  None of us tourists went over to see them.  I guess they "trust" you will leave the money there for them.  It's amazing at how easily they can come across the river there, and there are border patrol everywhere!

Loving the national parks..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Hallelujah sweet cream pancakes!

This morning Ted took me to the Flying J for sweet cream pancakes!  They are sooooo yummmmmy!  I asked why they aren't making the batter for sale any longer and the waitress brought the manager over.  I think he thought I was going to complain about something when I asked about the pancake batter.  He went in the back and found one last bag that  had expired in January.  It hadn't been opened so I'm not worried about it being expired.  He also got me the name of the manufacturer and it is in San Antonio which is just southeast of Boerne where we will be going! 

After enjoying pancakes, we headed on down the road and are in Van Horn, Texas.  Tomorrow we will head down to Big Bend National Park.  We are going to spend two nights at the west entrance and then go over to the east side of the park for three nights before heading toward Boerne.

Hallelujah, sweet cream pancakes..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Almost good news - we are on the Road Again!

This morning about 5:40 a.m. the wind started blowing like crazy and it was starting to rain!  So we got our chairs put away before they blew away and got the RV ready to roll!  We were so early we stopped and had breakfast before heading to the RV Repair shop!  The RV service guy was working in a steady rain shower and found that we need a new rotor kit, caliper assembly and new pads for the brake that was wrecked when the bearing failed.  Of course it would be a week before they could get the parts shipped to them.  Ted asked them to cap off the bad brake and put fluid in to see if we would have brakes on the other 5 tires and then we can call ahead and order the parts to be shipped to Texas to have repaired there.   They did that and it worked!

We took off from there around 12:30 pm.  We went southeast and arrived in Lordsburg, New Mexico around 6:00 (lost and hour crossing into New Mexico).  It was a pretty drive through some mountains even though it rained most of the drive.  There were a lot of unusual rock formations.  I didn't get good pictures because of the rain but there were lots of huge rocks on top of small rocks.  It kind of made me nervous to think of them falling off on top of us!

Happy to be on the road again..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Happy spring!

Today was a "fate worse than death day" for Max!  He got a summer haircut.  It's getting pretty warm for him so decided it was time to shave him.  Looks like a different dog.  His legs are longer and he looks skinny!  He's got so many old age warts and bumps he looks pretty funny...but he's cool again!

While he was getting his shave we had lunch again at the Native New Yorker Restaurant.  They have good food and are right next door to the theater.  After lunch we went to  see Alice in Wonderland.  We missed the Imax 3-D showing but still enjoyed the movie. 

Tomorrow we are going to try again to get the brakes fixed and move on down the road.  We have an 8:30 a.m. appointment and hope to get them working again.  As before...will keep you posted!

A cool and happy dog..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Repair phase of our trip!

I guess we are learning that some times you just have to hunker down and be patient!  Another RV'er, Carol, mentioned that they were in the "family - visiting phase" of their trip and Ted said and we are in the repair phase!  We got to the brake place at 8:00 yesterday (no small feat) and they decided our rig was too large for them to work on.  We did go over to the tire place and get that done and we have an appointment on Tuesday to have brakes fixed.  It's an RV place and they know the size of our rig!

Yesterday we went to another shopping area and made an appointment for Max to get a haircut.  It's getting warmer and he's very hot with his cocker cut!  He'll look skinny and long legged again but he'll be cooler!  We also went to the movies and saw Green Zone.  I wasn't sure what to write about the movie.  I guess I would say if you belive there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq you would like the movie.  Matt Damon was good in it.  It was one of those kind of jerky movies and the theater was small so it made my eyes crazy!

Today we are just hanging out at the campground, catch up on blogging, do some chores, probably sit outside with a glass of wine this afternoon.

Sunny afternoons and a glass of wine..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Wishing & hoping & thinking & praying!

We "think, wish, hope and pray" that our slide-out is fixed so it will slide in and out without problems!  The RV repair guy finished up this morning.  Ted and I ran some errands so that if things go well with the RV brakes in the morning we can get on the road tomorrow!  We have an 8:00 appointment so will get the RV ready to roll tonight so tomorrow we can get up and get going early.  While they are working on the brakes we hope to take the new aluminum rim that arrived today, the new tire and the spare tire that's on the RV to the tire place.  They will put the new rim on the spare and put back on the trailer and put the steel rim on the new spare tire.  Ted explained that we will keep the spare on because it has some wear and will better match the other tires so that we don't get one tire doing the majority of the work!  Whatever...we just hope we can get it all done and maybe get out of here by noon!  Not that it hasn't been fun!

We are moving on down the road east and south toward Big Bend National Park in Texas.  It will probably take at least two days to get there depending on when we leave tomorrow!  Will keep you posted!

Tonight is bingo night!  Since we were so lucky last week we are not hopeful for any bingo's tonight but we will give it a good try!  They have good popcorn and homemade desserts at intermission (sound's like dinner to me)!

Hoping things will be all repaired by tomorrow..."Ain't Life Grand!"

St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day to all!  We are still in Apache Junction waiting for the service man this afternoon.  I had called so we would be on the schedule for Tuesday but of course, got bumped until today.  They do have authorization from insurance so that will help.  We will only have to pay $200 deductible.

They had a St. Patty's day parade in the park this morning.  It lasted about 15 minutes and was very festive.  We were parked on the parade route so got our chairs ready, a glass of ice tea, and a green "saran wrap" bow on Max!  We were hoping to see the leprechaun with the pot of gold but haven't seen a bit of his green self yet!

A day to enjoy Green Beer!..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Superstition Mountain and the historic Apache Trail

Today we took a drive to the Superstition Mountains along the historic Apache Trail.  We stopped at the Superstition Mountain Museum and took the following pictures.

 
Ted had noticed a red Cobra go by while at the museum and it caught his attention.  We drove on up the trail and came upon the Cobra at a view point.  As we drove by he said "I wonder if that is Dan Shinn" Sweetwater High Classmate of '64?   So we turned the big truck around and drove back.  It definitely looked like Dan and he was getting ready to drive off so I jumped out of the truck and called to him.  He had no clue who I was (since I'm not the classmate and we are not in San Diego)!  I said who I was and by then Ted had caught up to us.  None of us could believe it!  It was definitely a "fancy meeting you here" moment!

They were on their way to Tortilla Flats for lunch so we all took off for the Superstition Saloon and Restaurant.  Tortilla Flat was a thriving stage coach stop on the Apache Trail over 100 years ago.  In 1904 they had over 125 residents, a U.S. Post Office, school, church, zoo, livery, general store and of course a saloon!  Most of the town was destroyed by a flood in 1943.    The walls of the restaurant are papered with currency from visitors from all over the world! 

We had a good lunch with Dan and his friend Marty and caught up with their lives since the 45th class reunion last August.  Dan is definitely having fun with that red Cobra of his and people stop and take pictures and talk to him about it! 

After lunch and a walk about the ice cream shop, we started back and stopped at the Canyon Lake overlook for a couple of pictures.  It is a pretty lake 10 miles in length with 28 miles of shortline.  There is a nice campground there with water and electricity.  There is a boat ramp and boat rentals.  We saw one brave water skier on the lake.  The air temp was 58 so we imagine the skier was pretty chilly!

From there we stopped at the Goldfield Ghost Town.  It is definitely a tourist spot with a Gold Mine Tour, Wild West Show, a couple of shops, restaurant and saloon, trail rides, gold panning and more.   Fortunately I was able to keep Ted out of the Bordella!

Enjoying our small world..."Ain't Life Grand!"

The slide-out saga!

The saga continues!  We are not leaving today as planned.  The RV repair service was out for several hours yesterday and of course they can't get to the pin that is sheared on the slide-out!  There is a hole about the size of a fist that they are supposed to use to get their hand inside to exchange the shear pin!  So they will be back on Tuesday to cut a larger hole in the bottom so they can actually get to it.  They were impressed as to how the trailer is constructed but that isn't much comfort to us right now!  They will also submit the problem to the CSP warranty insurance company and which we hope they will cover and not drop us!

Last night was spaghetti dinner night.  We joined a couple hundred other people for dinner.  It was very good and a lot of very friendly people.  At least we are "stuck" in a nice park and not along the side of the road!!!

We will be here at least until Wednesday and will do a little sightseeing with our extra time here.  We are not too far from Superstition Mountain and not sure what else we might do.  We might go  back to Phoenix to the Flying J for sweet cream pancakes one morning!  I did find out that they are no longer selling the batter, I was bumed!

Taking life easy in Apache Junction..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sagauros in Arizona

Last night was bingo night at the RV Park!  I told my friend Peggy that we were playing bingo and she said "you have finally consumated your retirement"!!!!   Ted and I have played at a couple of RV parks before and never won anything.  Last night we both won a bingo of $40 each!  Whoo-hoo!

While out looking for a nail place yesterday I saw a couple of Sagauros Cacti and took these pictures.  This extraordinary plant exists only in the Sonoran Desert - unique to Arizona except for a few strays in neighboring states and northern Mexico.  They weigh at least 6 tons or more and reach 150-175 years on average.  The arms don't form until a saguaro is 50-75 years old!  Seed production is 40 million in a lifetime with roots radiating web a few inches under the ground!

Waiting for the RV Repairman..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Apache Junction, Arizona

This morning we headed south to Apache Junction.  We saw a lot of vehicles coming south with snow on them!  Glad we missed it!  It was in the high 60's here in Apache, mostly sunny and no rain! The RV park is part mobile home park and part RV park.  They put out a newsletter and boy do they keep busy here!  Every sport from shuffleboard to golf, potlucks, exercise, computer and art classes!  There were five activities that started by 9:00 a.m. this morning according to the schedule!  We are here until Saturday morning unless....

When we got here this afternoon I put out the RV slide that holds the sofa.  It stopped right before it got all the way out.  Ted had to help it to get it the rest of the way out.  We really haven't had much trouble with this slide before.  If it is the shear pin, it isn't the one by the motor that we can get to.  No, that means the whole sealed bottom of the RV will have to be removed to get to it!  So....not sure what might happen yet!

Trying to keep a good thought..."Ain't Life Grand!" 

Sedona, Arizona

This morning we dropped by a local Ford Dealership.  Some of the running lights on the truck stopped working.  Ted checked the fuses and there was one that was out but required a special tool to remove it.  We thought this would be an "easy fix"!  I've decided that doesn't exist!  Anyway, they did replace that fuse but said that wasn't the problem.  They said we have an area in the wiring that is shorting out and either one or both of our fuel tanks have to be removed to get to it and that it will be 5 to 6 hours of work and $500 to $600!  They said that it may work off and on but needs to be fixed.  Funny thing, we took off for a drive through Sedona and it worked the whole time.  For that much money, we've decided to make sure it really wasn't fixed by the fuse they replaced and to not have it repaired at this time!

We had lunch today in Sedona at Red Rock Barbeque.  We had a great beef brisket sandwich.  They are really doing a lot of road work in the area and really making the area villages nice.   It is about 45 degrees and still some recent snow on the taller mountains around Sedona.  The creeks are really full around our campground and in the Sedona area.  The rocks are so red and the area is so beautiful, the camera just doesn't do it justice!

Beautiful countryside..."Ain't Life Grand!" 

The Road to Valley Verde AZ

Yesterday we left Vegas for Valley Verde AZ. We went from desert scenery to snow and pine trees! Through Williams and Flagstaff there was lots of snow on the ground. While driving we actually drove through a small snow squall. The snow melted on the windshield as it was a warm (brrrr) 38 degrees! It looked beautiful!

Here in Valley Verde (near the town of Cottonwood), it sprinkled a bit last night and this morning. Very cloudy today! Good day to stay in doors and play cards and eat soup for lunch! Tonight we will have Calzone (from Dream Dinners)!

Snow from afar..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Valley of Fire Picture

For some reason, the pictures are giving me trouble lately!  Maybe Google did something to "improve" the Blogs!!! LOL

Anyway, here is the picture I couldn't get to show up in the last blog!

Valley of Fire State Park

On Thursday we decided to visit the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. On the way is a Flying J and I was dreaming of sweet cream pancakes! Also we were going to buy some batter to send to Peggy and for ourselves! We got to the Flying J and they have pizza and Mexican fast foods and no pancakes - bummer! So we settled for Denny's before heading to the park.

Our camping neighbor had told us about the park and how beautiful it is. On the drive there it was looking pretty scrubby but we went around the corner and voila! Saw the most beautiful red mountains. The pictures don't do the area justice. The rocks have so much character as you can see in a few of the pictures and we didn't even see everything there is to see! There are many sandstone formations weathered by the eroding forces of wind and water.

There is a campground in the park with water and electricity and surrounded by beautiful red rocks. We think we might try it next time through the area.

In the evening we had a great dinner with friends David and Debbie Hawkins. David is in the middle of "tax season", as he is a CPA and my former boss from 1981 to 2000! It was nice he took time to visit with us as his mom is also in the hospital.

Yesterday I went to Dream Dinners to stock up on food again and today we are heading east to Arizona.

Enjoying the red rocks..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back in Las Vegas!

We drove back to Las Vegas on Monday.   Fortunately there were no blowouts or truck problems! 

On Tuesday Ted got a massage.  Our friend David Hawkins' knew Ted was having problems with his shoulder and set it up for him.  It was a full body massage but he worked specifically on Ted's shoulers.  He felt a lot better after the massage.  The masseuse suggested some exercises to help Ted loosen up his shoulders further.

We went to a Goodyear place to order a new rim and tire for the RV to replace the one ruined by the bearing problem.  In Pahrump they told Ted it was a standard rim but here in Vegas they aren't so sure and are checking on it for us.  We may have to wait until we get to Texas.

Today was "senior day" at Boulder Station Casino.  For once Ted and I were both lucky, albeit at different times but nevertheless, we came out ahead at the end of the day.  We didn't win the "senior drawing" but hey, we tried.  It was a fun day of gaming!

Playing on the casino's money..."Ain't Life Grand!"