1 January 2006            Happy New Year

2006 began at San Lorenzo Campground in King City, CA with 9 other rigs from Atascadero. We had the use of a clubhouse and most of the New Year’s revelers gathered throughout the weekend for potluck lunches and dinners, dancing, and card games. Except for I, George, who managed to end 2005 with a knock down sore throat and cold that left me in quarantine for the weekend.  Kathy had a great time and shuttled food to me once in a while.  We managed to make it back to Atascadero before a huge storm hit the central coast on New Years Day.

1/17/6                Creating the Travels

Stopped in Santa Barbara to visit Tamra and learn how to make this web site operate.  Had a great dinner and a couple of games of cards after the “Training Session”

1/19/6                Grandkids and Warranty Work

Arrived in Temecula Tuesday evening and stayed at the Pechanga Casino RV Park.  After quick visits to relatives in the area we had dinner and tried our luck at the games of chance.  The dinner was good.

Early the next morning we turned the motor home into the repair facility and then took the car to the Saturn dealer for a recall issue.

Now for the good part as we visited with the grandkids and of course their parents.  They are all growing so fast it is hard to believe the twins are already 4 years old.  Which makes us all older faster than we want to be.  We spent the next two nights at the repair facility until they completed their 5 hour job over a period of 18 working hours.  What a pain.

But, we did get to play with the kids and spend some quality time with the family, including Frank & Lenora and Andreas, Tamara, Ezra and Delany.

1/20/6                Snowbirding

Arrived in Yuma, AZ, Friday afternoon from Murrieta, CA via CA Hwy 79, County Hwy S2, CA Hwy 78, CA Hwy 86 and Interstate 8.  What a great feeling to meet up with friends also enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.

1/27/6    A Short Week

What a short week !  Although it was the standard 7 days, the time flew and it was time to leave Yuma before we were ready.  We accomplished our goal the get some dental work done in Algodones, Mexico and were very pleased with the professionalism and quality of work at the clinic we chose.  But most of all we enjoyed the warm weather and old acquantances.

On Friday we fueled up and headed for Quartzsite via Arizona 95.  Some friends met us at the turkey leg stand at the “RV Show” and we all wandered about for a couple of hours gawking at this and that. We had our list of things we couldn’t live without and tried to keep our purchases restricted to “the list”, but of course, we didn’t.  Also, several couples from Atascadero had made the “pilgrimage” to Quartzsite and we bumped into each other while wandering up and down the aisles and everyone had to swap stories about what we had or hadn’t bought.

After my legs couldn’t take another step, we loaded up for the trip to Havasu Springs where we stayed the night at the campground that our fishing friends, Burt & Carolyn are wintering at.  Following a rollicking Happy Hour, Carolyn served a fresh striped-bass dinner before we excused ourselves and fell into bed, exhausted.  Remind me to tell the vasectomy joke.

1/209/6            Headed for Home Base

Procrasticating until 1 PM on Sunday the 28th, we reluctantly departed Havasu Springs and headed north on Arizona 95 to IS 40.  After topping off the fuel tank with cheap Arizonaa fuel we headed west for Daggett, our favorite place to stop for food, drink, and a good nights sleep.  But, alas the campground was full, so onward into the sun and increasing wind.  By the time it was necessary to use the sun visors, we were in Boron on CA Hwy 58 and “the” campground had room for us.  For food we were directed four blocks down the street to a Mexican resturant called Domingo’s.  What a treat !  Great service, exccellent food and ggreat margaritas.  This may be our layover stop from now on.

The next day we arrived in Atascadero via Bakersfield, Lost Hills and Paso Robles.

February        R, R & R

Reconstruct, Refurbish & Repair is the theme of February in Atascadero.  Except for a few days of cold and rain, the weather has been terrific and conducive to doing outdoor chores.  Most of the house now has a new coat of paint on the outside, the picket fence has been repaired and painted, the screen door has been rescreened, rain gutters have been repaired, flower beds have been tended and weeds have been sprayed.  Indoor projects have not been neglected and new fancies have begun.  Of course golf has been played at without any significant improvement on the scorecard.  All is well.

March         s s s s s snow

Part One – A Snowbirds’ Nightmare was realized when we woke up to 4 inches of snow on top of the car in the middle of March in “Sunny Southern California”.  Must have been frozen sunshine.  However, before that frightening event, we did get the maintenance on the house completed, plus a lot of yard work.  Wow !

Part Two – We attended an Elk’s group camp at King City with 33 other rigs before we headed north for a baby fix.  While at the campout, Kathy won the ladies golf chipping contest.  Next, we spent 3 days in Sacramento with Benjamin and were rewarded with his first dance while sitting on the floor plus all the other mannerisms he had developed since his last visit to us around Christmas.  Following a short drive south, Kathy led the working party to glue starry border print to the baby’s room at Keith and Sylvia’s in Lodi in preparation of their blessed event expected in September.  We got back to Atascadero in time for George to enter the Elk’s Texas Hold’em Tournament, at which he claimed first prize.  The month of March ended with us camped alongside Mom and Dad’s house to be available to them for assistance, which is now required 24/7.  All is going as best as can be expected.

April          Showers Gone?

Not much to report with regards to traveling the Highways and Byways for the month of April.  We did get a chance to get away the last weekend to Lodi for a couple of days with the kids.  Finally, after what has seemed like an endless procession of rain clouds, we were blessed with some warm and sunny weather in wet and soggy California for the final few days of April.  The “April Shower” thing was beginning to be a bit too much for these two snowbirds.

We are still “camped” alongside George’s parent’s house and have been attending to their needs, which includes maintaining the house and yard.  Kathy has kept busy by doing most of the cooking, mowing the lawn, and painting patio furniture in her spare time.  George, between raindrops, has managed to keep the weeds in check and doing his share of painting.  He has also been mowing and cleaning up the Dempsey homestead across the street, since his brother, who lives there, seems to be under the weather.

May - June        Underway

As remembered, May went by rather rapidly as we continued our nursing and housekeeping duties.  Don, George’s stepdad, continued with the fight of his life while always maintaining a happy and optimistic attitude.  However, early in the month he had resigned himself to being pushed around in a wheelchair rather than using a walker until May 26th when he didn’t feel up to getting out of bed.  On June 5th at approximately 12:15 PM, Don passed on, with Olive, George’s mom, at his bedside.  Also alongside the bed was his daughter, Linda, and of course us.

We were relieved of duties one weekend in May and attended a Elk’s  RV group campout at Casa de Fruita about 158.3 miles north of Atascadero.  Years ago, Casa de Fruita was a very popular road side fruit stand along Highway 152 between Gilroy and Los Banos.  Today, it has grown to a large tourist facility with a motel, gas station, restaurant, a larger fruit stand and RV campground (300+).  It even has its own on and off ramps.  The comradie was great and the wet weather held off until the day of our return to our duties.

Again, on the weekend of June 3/4 we were able to travel with the Elks to Felton which is on Hwy 9, 6 miles north of Santa Cruz.  We’d suggest adhering to the driving directions recommended by the camping guide rather than the apparent shortest route on the map.  On our way there we/I chose the “shortest” route and managed not to kiss any oncoming vehicles or trees with our mirrors, no paint was left on any rocks or trees, as far as we know all of the tires stayed on the pavement and the car was still attached intact to back of the motorhome. However, the color is just now beginning to return to our knuckles and we strongly recommend that travelers with large RV’s and tote’s heed the “Not advised for vehicles with kingpin to axle length over 30 feet” sign. We didn’t see it !

The weather was great, the campsites were great, the scenery was fantastic and the available activities were limitless.  Most of the group journeyed to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz on the open air railroad train and even the fog stayed offshore while we strolled the concrete boardwalk munching on corndogs and popping dippin’ dots.  Some rode the timeless wooden rollercoaster (it was there when I was a kid back in the 40’s) but most of us “old folks” just walked and ate.  All to soon, Sunday was upon us and we reluctantly returned to Atascadero, via the recommended 4 lane highway to Santa Cruz and on south.

Don passed away on the 5th, the funeral was the 9th and after insuring Mom was comfortable and being cared for we got underway from Atascadero on Thursday the 15th at 11:15 AM for Sacramento.

6/25/6         Baby Shower & KLA-MO-YA

Plugged into the Rancho Cordova Elks’ Lodge RV Park, we began our visit in the Sacramento area or more specifically at Ricky, Kelly and Benjamin’s house.  Since our last visit a month and a half ago, Benjamin had grown significantly and had developed quite a personality.  He was cutting more teeth and attempting a modified crawl which put him underfoot in a flash.  On the 17th, we celebrated Ricky’s 30th birthday in 100+ degree weather and dined on famous J R’s Bar-B-Q brisket with all the trimmings.

We stayed in the area, went shopping, worked on the motor home, and played golf while continuing to get our Grandson fix with Benjamin in the evenings.  On Thursday the 22nd we picked up Laurie at the Sac airport and on Friday we moved to the Lodi Elk’s RV Park near Keith and Sylvia’s.  Dinner, that night at the Elks’ was great.

Saturday, Keith and Sylvia were flabbergasted when they opened their door to Aunt Laurie for their couples baby shower.  Big Surprise !  The party was great and the kids were overwhelmed with the baby presents received.  We had the opportunity to display our baby changing talents in a game, the ladies won hands down, but it was the grandparents that excelled on both teams.  Sylvia’s sister, Mary, hosted the party and provided a grand enchilada dinner topped off with her mom’s strawberry shortcake specialty.

The next day, we again visited with Keith and Sylvia for a few hours before heading for the airport to drop off Laurie and the beginning of our summer wanderings.

By the time we were passing Redding on Interstate 5 about 5:30 PM, the temperature gage outside the motor home had risen to 115 degrees and the motor temperature gage was edging toward the “H” as we began the climb up the pass to Mount Shasta.  The inside of the motor home was also climbing, so we decided to stop at a rest area, start up the generator to run the air conditioner and play cards for awhile.  After an hour or so the outside temp had dropped to less than 100 and we continued our journey.  Considering the forecast for the next couple of days was more of the same we decided to travel until dark.  Which just happened to be the Indian Casino, Kla-mo-ya just north of Klamath Falls, Or. on US Hwy 97.

While traveling across the causeway just north of Klamath Falls we noticed what appeared to be ground fog hanging over the water and road about 10 to 12 feet deep.  This was strange considering how warm it was and we soon found it to be “bugog” (my new word).  This went on for about 5 to 10 miles and the front of the motor home was grossly yuck!  By 9:00 PM, the casino was a welcome sight, we had some dinner, did some gaming and went to bed tired.

6/26/6        Early Start

On Monday, at first light, 5:00 AM, we were wide awake and smiling at our good fortune of having left the casino with some of their money, instead of contributing to their expansion plans.  After debugging the windshield, we were underway north and stopped in La Pine for breakfast.  Ever northward we next stopped at our favorite Safeway fueling station in Madras for much needed fuel at $2.89 per gallon; the cheapest we’ve paid for diesel since the end of March.  At 8:30 in the morning, the temperature was up to 86 as we left Madras and by the time we stopped at Sage Hills Golf and RV Resort near Warden, Washington it was 101.

Although we were 2 days ahead of schedule, we checked in and got reacquainted with our friends, Bob and Nancy Richey who are workcamping at the resort.  The golf course is in excellent condition, the RV sites are big, grassy, well maintained and the staff is the friendliest bunch we’ve ever met .  What a great place to start our “vacation” !

7/11/6        Sage Hills

For 10 days we stayed at Sage Hills enjoying great company, played golf everyday, dined on scrumptious dinners and consumed at least a case of beer per day not to mention the wine and other libations.  We were invited to a potluck dinner on the first of July and George was included in the Birthday celebrations for two of the staff.  Reluctantly we left Sage Hills after the 4th of July but our time there will always be remembered as the place where we gained more weight than wanted, even with all the extra exercise.

Athol, Idaho was our next stop after stopping in Spokane to pick up our mail.  Next to the pump house at Kathy’s sister Laurie’s we plugged in for the night.  Thursday was laundry day and George prepped the pontoon boat before we moved on to Bayview at the southern tip of Lake Pend O Reille later in the afternoon.  After putting the boat in the water, we moved the motor home to our favorite space looking out the marina channel with the boat moored directly in front.  We’re set up for the summer !

7/26/6        Lake Pend Oreille

After nearly a week of “yachting” and fishing, not much catching, but still enjoying the beauty and wonders of the lake, a local Spokane TV station broadcast a weather warning for a thunderstorm passing through the area with winds 40 to 60 MPH.  We were having an improptu party with some friends from across the lake, who thought it prudent to get underway and get home before the storm arrived.  Sure enough, within the hour the storm hit with high winds, lots of rain and lightening. We secured everything outside, doubled up the mooring lines on the boat, and retreated to the motorhome for dinner.

George has installed on the motorhome a VHF radio for communicating with the boat when George goes fishing on his own and to monitor the weather channel.  We usually leave the VHF on so we can hear who’s catching what, where and with what on the lake. We had just finished dinner and were playing cards when we heard over the VHF a one way transmission of what seemed to be a response from the marinas’ floating patio cocktail bar to a call for help.  Turning down the squelch we could barely make out the panicked voice of a woman pleading for help but she was so distraught that she couldn’t provide information regarding her location, and when she did it was obvious that she was confused.  It was about 8 PM, the storm was waning and clear skies were beginning to appear in west.  The woman at the marina was trying to calm the distressed woman on the radio as we grabbed our foul weather jackets and headed out the door to the boat moored in front of the motorhome.  We broadcast that we were underway to begin searching around Hudson Bay Marina which was mentioned in one of the garbled transmissions, next we made a sweep of Scenic Bay and then on out onto the main body of the lake.

Meantime, the distressed person and marina were still trying to communicate with each other and finally it was determined that the distressed boat might be up the lake about 15 miles “across from” what’s known as Whiskey Rock, Whiskey Rock being on the east side of the 4 mile wide lake at that point.  By this time we were around a point called Cape Horn and could hear the May Day caller a little clearer, we made contact with the distressed caller and confirmed their location.  The sunset was glorious and could have been classified as a sailors delight, but by this time it was beginning to get dark.  Another boat was also searching the south end of the lake and once we heard the location we both headed north.  Since he was faster he took the east side of the lake enroute to Whiskey Rock while we searched up the western  side.  We spotted some debris along the west shore and were heading to investigate as the other boat was completing his search up the west side.  He had reached Whiskey Rock and was turning to join us on the west side when he spotted the distressed vessel, a sail boat.  Our debris turned out to be broken up docking and foam floats.  The sail boat appeared to have gotten its main sail jammed half way up or half way down the mast depending what the skipper was trying to do when it jammed.  In any event he wanted a tow back to a Bayview marina and the other boat took up the tow. We confirmed all was well and no more assistance was needed then headed for “home”.  In the mean time jabber on the VHF called off the county rescue boats, one of which had just gotten in the water at the south end and another that had gotten underway from the north end of the lake.

We tied up in front of the motorhome, poured ourselves a drink, finished our card game and an hour later heard over the radio that everyone was tied up safe at McDonald’s marina. Sleep came easy.

8/5/6        PULS Reunion

The weather on Lake Pend Oreille returned to very pleasant following the short vicious storm in mid July and we spent many hours “yachting”, fishin’, and tannin’; but, still not much catchin’.  Bob and Nancy Richey from Sage Hills visited during one weekend and Cliff and Arlene Dunn from Atascadero stopped by with some friends on their way to Massachusetts.

As scheduled, the Puls family reunion was held at Laurie’s Wild Spirit Ranch in Athol, Id. and a grand time was had by all.  All being; Jerry, Nancy, Jeff and Livia and Kayla with a friend from Billings, Ricky from Sacramento, Kenny and Briana from Wisconsin, us from Atascadero and of course, Laurie and Jason.  Laurie provided a scrumptious turkey dinner and afterward we celebrated Christmas in August, the theme of Laurie’s reunion.  Gifts were exchanged that evening and the next day everyone migrated to the lake for water activities and a Bar-B-Que.  On Monday, all the girls were escorted to Silverwood Amusement Park by Kenny and Jason where they all got photographed in costumes in addition to enjoying all the rides.  The reunion was a great success.

During our stay at the lake we met a lot of new friends who came to vacation and of course we kept in touch with all our “old” friends, Ron and Robin, Bear and Sandy, Ivar and Jody and Dale and Janette to name a few.  We “toured” and “yachted” many of them and kept the local mercantile hopping to keep us supplied with beer and ice.

The last week before we left the catchin’ began to improve.

8/18/6         Two Rivers Rendezvous

On the 11th of August, I hooked up the boat behind the motor home and left beautiful Bayview headed for Two Rivers, Wa., with Kathy following in the car.  The trip was only 118 miles but it sure is a lot more fun traveling together than taking separate vehicles.  Most of the gang was already there and all ten rigs had campsites in close proximity to each other.  In addition,  there was another group of friends from Ellensburg staying at nearby Seven Bays.

The object of the rendezvous is for a bunch of friends from the Ellensburg, Wa. area and Bayview, Id. area to get together for a great time playing golf, gambling, water sports and consuming lot of food and beer, with a lot of emphasis on consuming.

A lot of golf was played and one golf course could not accommodate 18 golfers showing up all at once, not enough carts.  I think we played every course within 60 miles of the camp ground.  Of course we had a golf director(Bogey Bob), who tried to match handicaps and partner up “equal” teams, but try as he might there was always a great disparity between team scores.  However, young Nevada seemed to walk away with a good share of the total prize moneys.

Speaking of money, Ron claimed he was a constant winner at the Two Rivers Casino but to my knowledge he was the only one.  I know Kathy and I were not blessed.

Bear and Sandy had brought their jet ski’s and we had the pontoon boat to tour Roosevelt Lake which included the Spokane River.  On one such tour with 10 people on the party boat we were taking turns riding the jet ski’s as we made our way up the Spokane River.
My turn came but there wasn’t a life jacket that I could get the straps connected so I tied it together with small line and away I went with the fast jet ski (60 MPH).  I had the time of my life roaring across the water with tears streaming out of my eyes (no glasses) and my jowls flapping against my ears.  But, on trying to step from the ski to the party boat, the ski moved out and I did the proverbial splits into the lake.  Trying to lift me onto the boat (no boarding ladder) was another highly laughable matter.

All to soon it was time to pack up.  Kathy stopped off at Spokane to pickup mail and we retreated to Laurie’s in Athol.  Later in the afternoon Lil’ Bit had a seizure and we ended up having her put to sleep.  Her time had come, she was 15 and a half years old.  The next day we winterized the party boat, hooked up the car and headed south (Laurie and Jason were vacationing in Yellowstone).

8/21/6        Sage Hills - Crooked River - Redding

Before we departed Idaho we stopped at the Flying J, Exit 2, for fuel at $3.35/gal. and then on to Sage Hills via Interstate 90 and State Rt. 17 for a visit with Bob and Nancy.
Of course we played some golf and stuffed our faces.  After the weekend we headed south on 17, then US Hwy 395, then west on State Rt.14 to US Hwy 97.  In Madras, Or. we again got fuel at the Safeway for $3.26/gal. and then on to Crooked River.

We finally located Bert and Carolyn’s newly purchased home and waited for their arrival from Portland with their first load of furnishings.  They finally arrived, and with Pizza for the evening meal after cocktails to toast their new “investment”.  The next day we helped off load the trailer and boat full of treasures from storage in Portland.

In the late afternoon of the next day, Aug. 22nd, we got word that Sylvia had given birth to William Jay Korver at 3:55 PM at a weight of 7lbs. 5oz. and 20.5 inches long.

The next morning the Thompsons headed back to Portland for another load and we continued on south.  After a short stop at the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino, which added a little to the fuel fund, we pulled into the Elks Lodge in Redding for the evening; anxious for the next day when we would see the new born.

8/24/6        New Baby

Southbound on Interstate 5 from Redding, with a stop at the Rolling Hills Casino near Corning with favorable results.   As we neared our normal turn off on US Hwy 12, Kathy directed me unto a “shortcut” to Lodi.  It was a shortcut, but a very narrow farm road which left us both rather nervous; Me, from trying not to hit oncoming truck mirrors with our mirror and Kathy from looking straight down into water ditches flying by, every time I dodged a mirror (no shoulder).  But, we did make it to the Lodi Elks Lodge without incident and was ready for a cool beer as we checked in at their cocktail lounge.

The precious new born was at Dameron Hospital in Stockton in the neonatal ICU and we headed that way as soon as we got leveled and hooked up to water and electricity.  William had arrived a few weeks early and was being observed for a few days due to a fever.  Sylvia was discharged right after we arrived but had to return every 3 hours for a feeding. She/they stayed at her fathers house located within a few blocks of the hospital which made the trips a little more bearable than it would have been from their home in Lodi, 12 miles away.

On Sunday, everyone was relieved and happy when William got to come home.  The dogs were curious but well behaved toward the “intruder” to their domain.

So cute, so small, so wonderful.

8/29/6        Atascadero

On Tuesday, Aug. 29 we left the new parents to their pride and joy and headed south on US 99 to Fresno for fuel ($3.09/gal.).  Our intent was to stop at the Lemoore Tachi Palace Casino and spend the night, but as luck would have it we depleted our gaming allotment within an hour or so (i.e.: no luck).   Consequently, there was no reason to dry camp in the hot parking lot when there were perfectly wonderful hookups at the Atascadero Elks Lodge a couple of hours away.

Atascadero was about the same as when we left in June with no major changes.  We visited with lots of friends at the Elks, Moose and VFW and got brought up to date on the latest news and rumors.   Had dinner with Mom several times and learned she was planning on a trip to see daughter Sharon in Oklahoma in a couple of weeks for about a month visit.

Tammy drove her new RV up from Santa Barbara to show Mom and us.  Mom was quite impressed and her face was all smiles as she reminisced her travels while sitting at the table onboard the RV.  Tammy and Jacob brought the motor home up to the Elks Lodge and we did some OJT in leveling, hooking and unhooking and exploring all the features of her new toy.  I told her she should have paid more attention when Dad was setting up camp when she was younger; of course that was close to 30 years ago.  Anyway, she has a super Class B Airstream that just fits her fine.

9/10/6            Hobson Beach County Park

What a great weekend with Tammy, Lance, Laurel and Maryn !

We left Atascadero, Ventura Rincon bound on US Hwy 101 on Wednesday the 6th.  The plan was to dry camp along the Rincon for the night then check out other campgrounds in the area to camp the remainder of the week.  As we passed Hobson Beach we noted that it had quite a few empty spots, which is unusual, so we quickly pluggged into an available space.  The next day we checked out the other campgrounds and none measured up to where we were.

In addition, while we were away, the space next to ours became available and upon our return we paid for the site for Tammy to use with her new rig later that night.  The park began to fill up and more than one new arrival wanted the “empty” space.  But, we held it until Tammy and Jacob arrived after dark.  They had to work the next day so again the space had to defended angainst newcomers.

Lance arrived on Saturday with the girls, Decker was sick and stayed home with Stacy.  What a joy to see them and oh how they had grown in the last 6 months.  Lots of pictures were taken as we played in the sand, played hide and seek behind palm trees, pretending to drive Te Te’s (Tamra) motor home, ate miiature hamburgers, had breakfast on a stick and pretended the big motor home was a fast food restuarant.  All in all, great time was had by all and everyone left about noon on Sunday except us, since we had decided to stay another day.  By the time we left on Monday the campground was again pretty empty, down to 4 occupied out of the 33 spaces that were full over the weekend.

9/11/6                Ontario Elks Lodge # 1419

Departure from Hobson Beach was accomplished before checkout time but after giving OJT to our camping neighbor on how to retract the awning on his new trailer.  The ride to Chino was uneventful but the Chino County Campground was closed due to some electrical problem and the nearby Chino Hills State Campground had a steep dirt entrance that Kathy declared was not going to be traveled by her motor home.  Consequently, we finally put the jacks down at the Ontario Elk’s Lodge around 3 PM.

The reason for visiting Chino was to tour the Alfa manufacturing plant and we started out by car to see about accomplishing that goal.  Well, the Trailer Plant was in Chino and the Motor Home Plant was out near the Ontario airport.  We didn’t get any “touring” done since it was quitting time by the time we located the right plant and since they only did tours on Wednesday’s.

During our wanderings, Kathy had spotted a Joann’s store so I went back to the Lodge to watch the football game while Kathy did what Kathy does best; Shop !

9/12/6            Colorado River Oasis RV Resort

After breakfast we hooked up and headed for the Alfa Motor Home Plant to talk to service manager Jose Jara about our problems with the coach.  He was very helpful but could not fit us into his schedule, so off we went to the Alfa Trailer Plant to sign up for an appointment.  Don’t ask me why, its just the way they do it.  Appointment - 10:00 AM Nov.27.

By 11-ish we were done with business and heading east on US Hwy 60.  We contacted Kathy’s brother, David, in Palm Springs and he met us for lunch at the Agua aliente Casino.  Lunch was great and all too soon David had to go back to work and we continued east on IS 10.  WITHOUT A NICKLE INTO A SLOT MACHINE !

By 4:3o PM we were nestled in at Ehrenburg, AZ.  Winds from the south came up and later in the evening a fantastic light show of lightning lit the skies.  The Phoenix TV stations were reporting a sand storm in progress and we began discussing whether we might be staying put for a while.  Sleep was restless as  the wind buffered the coach hlf the night.

9/13/6            Saguaro SKP Co-Op

Waking to a bright and clear sky, we checked the weather report and decided that it would be a good idea to hit the road without taking time to cook breakfast.  It was forcast that another sand storm would probably develope around Phoenix in the afternoon and hopefully we would be past there before such an ominous event.  We fueled p at the Flying J, $2.73/gal., bought a couple of breakfast burittos, and headed east.  In Tuscon we stopped at Camping World for some RV stuff and noted some fierce looking thunderheads forming to the east.

After our shopping we continued on toward Benson and it wasn’t long before we began to encounter we t pavement and rain drops.  Around mile marker 290 the highway patrol was working a roll over accident alongside the highway, and within a mile another, then another, and another, and another, all within a stretch of about 5 miles.  Then - we hit the downpour for about a mile before turning off at Benson and our destination of the Saguaro RV Co-Op.  The rain stopped shortly sfter our arrival and we set up camp for a few days.  This SKP has Wi-Fi for $2/day and less than $1/day for longer periods.  Total Miles- 307 in 7 hours.

Our stay at the SKP was very relaxing while I brought the BLOB up to date, Kathy got the laundry done and we played some golf, plus naps, TV, and reading.

9/16/6        Truth or Consequences

As we were crossing the Continental Divide about 1 PM MDT we started seeing more and more bugs trying to cross Interstate 10 heading north.  We pulled into one of Butterfield’s stage stops to check tires and discovered the bugs were grasshoppers.  They were every where and it was difficult to even walk without stepping on one.  It didn’t take long to get back on board and underway.  The highway pavement was covered with the smashed critters, especially on the south edge.  Not many made it across all the way.  Another thing of note was that if the shoulder was made of light colored gravel there were significantly more “bugs” waiting to get squished than if the shoulder was made of the common black macadam.  This phenomenon lasted for about 10 miles then everything was back to normal with the common flies, bees and butterflies decorating the
windshield.  Also of note was the exceptionally green desert for this time of year.

We arrived at Aunt June’s and exchanged hugs and kisses.  It’s hard to imagine that it had been over a year and a half since we’d been here.  What’s nice is that they are reestablishing a golf course within a couple of blocks from her house.

9/19/06    Heading North    Walensburg, CO

Prior to arriving at Aunt June’s, I had been on the phone with King Controls, who makes the satellite dome on our RV, because we were having trouble locking onto a satellite and after some over the phone troubleshooting, they were to send me a diagnostic tool and it had been delivered to Aunt June’s.  Following the troubleshooting chart it was determined that I had to return the whole satellite receiver to their home plant, which we did at a substantial shipping fee. Sure hope this is worth it.

After doing a few chores around the house we headed north on IS 25 bound for Denver in hopes of finding some record of Kathy’s parent’s wedding place.  In an effort to bypass Albuquerque and Santa Fe we turned east on US 60 to State 3 at Encino, then north to IS 40.  Continuing east on IS 40 we turned north on US 84 and then onto IS 25 toward Colorado.  Saw more antelope and deer on 3 and 84 than we did cars as we sang “Home on the Range” while admiring the changes in scenery.  Got off the bus and walked around an old pueblo and 15th century mission in the middle of New Mexico, a place called San Gregorio Abo, amazing.

After topping Raton Pass at 7834 feet, we noted the weather was beginning to turn threatening and we decided to stop for the night at Walsenburg.  As I was hooking up, the threatening turned to vicious and we were glad to be off the road.

Oops!        While we sat warm and cozy in the motor home we watched a group of workers trying to put plastic sheets over a double wide that they had been trying to put together as we arrived.  The wind was unrelenting in not letting them accomplish the cover-up.  In fact, at one point if they had not let go of the plastic, they all would have wound up in Kansas.

While planning our next day activities we noted that what we had thought was an embossed county seal for Denver County on a Birth Certificate, was in fact a notary seal for “The Mountain States T and T Co., Denver.  Oops! Again

Considering the weather reports, it was decided to head southeast the next day to eventually visit my sister in Woodward, Oklahoma.

9/21/06    Un-naked Sheep

We awoke to a clearing sky and sunshine after a night of wind and rain.  Being in no hurry to catch the east bound storm we had a leisurely breakfast and finally got underway about 10:30 AM.  To the west, the foothills above us were coated with a dusting of that white stuff and the morning weather report warned of another round of snow in the higher elevations in a couple of days.  Time to go.

We traveled northeast on State 10, then east on US 50 until we caught up to the tail end of the previous nights storm at Lamar, where we found a campground with Wi-Fi.  An interesting sight along the way was a flock of sheep that had obviously been sheared recently and all of the sheep were wearing jackets !  Ain’t seen that before !

9/22/6    Fragrant Wi-Fi

As we approached Lamar the day before in a light rain, we had noted several feed lots about town and the next morning with clear skies the welcome sun warmed us but also the surrounding cattle pens.  Our noses told us it was time to depart along US 50 toward Kansas.  At Lakin, Kansas, we turned south on State Rt. 25 to Hugoton, then east on State Rt. 51 to US Hwy 83, then south to Liberal.  At Liberal we wandered about looking for an advertised “Dorothy and Toto’s House”, but when we found it, there wasn’t any RV parking available and we were rather disappointed at its exterior touristy appearance, so on we journeyed to Oklahoma.

At Turpin we turned east on a county road that took us through a place called Floris according to the map, but of which we never saw or were looking somewhere else as we passed through on our way to south bound US Hwy 270.  At Elmwood, US 270 joined with US 412 into Woodward, our destination.

9/24/6    Rough Roads

Arrival at my sister Sharon’s was a surprise in that we had indicated we would not be arriving until Saturday.  But, o’well, here we were a day early, dry and almost out of fuel.

We had a nice lasagna supper, got the latest word on Dean’s recovery from his fight with a  skill saw, and were tucked in and snuggly when mother and her escorts, Cheri and Joann, arrived at 3 AM.  Later, when we got up, I told my mother that if she had come with us instead of flying from California, she would have been here a day earlier.

The next day the wind howled as normal for that neck of the woods and again rain from that storm we had been dodging caught up to us again.  But, we were all snug in Sharon and Dean’s refurbished double wide.  He has done wonders since we had seen it 2 years ago in a dealers lot as a trashed repossession.

Sunday, after breakfast, we said our good-bye’s, got some fuel (90 gal. @ 2.50/gal), the most we have ever put in the tank at one time, and headed south on US 183.
There are only two things bad about visiting my sister; 1) All roads into or out of Woodward exercise your shock absorbers to the max, test the soundness of your tires and jar your teeth;  2) the incessant wind.

After about 3hours of travel, when NASCAR’s race in Dover was being shown on TV in sporting bars around the nation, we drove by the past residence of Carie Nation.  Which probably explained why there were no open bars, sporting or otherwise along our route.  The people round there must still be afraid of her ghost and her wagon full of bricks.

Crossing the Red River into Texas, we were still looking for an open bar to no avail as we turned east on US 287 at Vernon, then southeast on Texas 25 at Electra, around Wichita Falls to southbound US 281.  Just south of Jacksboro we set up camp at Fort Richardson State Park, broke out the portable satellite dish and got to watch the last couple laps of the race, with toddy in hand.

9/25/6    Buzzards and Camels

Waking to a beautiful morning of sunshine, warm and no wind we casually departed Ft Richardson south on US 281, headed for Wimberly and the Woodcreek RV Park.  Along the way on the crest of a distant hill we noticed a group of what appeared to be odd looking oil well pumps.  Odd indeed, by the time we crested the hill they had moved and those pumps turned out to be grass munching camels.  Hi-Jolly would have been pleased to see the sight.

Later on down the road we spotted a couple of buzzards having dinner on some roadkill varmint alongside the highway.  As we drew nearer, they continued to dine and we both started to comment on the fact that they had awfully brave buzzards in Texas.  They just kept chewing until we were almost on top of them when one jumped, flew west and barely cleared us as we passed.  The other opted to head east across our path and also managed to not be hit.  However, his (or her) leap to safety also included the entrails of its interrupted dinner.  Without a doggie bag they streamed away from its beak for about 10 feet at a 45 degree angle and most of the mess splotched across the front of the motor home.  Yuck !  Where’s that rain we’ve been trying to dodge ?

9/26/6    New Places

Our accommodations in Wimberly was not exactly as planned at the Wood Creek RV Park.  No one to greet us and no one camping.  The place was a “ghost camp” with nothing but empty spaces and overgrown roadways.  It had been over two years since we had stayed there, but we were sure surprised at its closure.  Our trusty Good Sam RV Park Guide did not have any listings for Wimberly but we sort of remembered seeing a place nearer town once upon a time.  Sure enough, we were fortunate to get a space for a couple of days at the Sleepy Hollow, but only two.  The coming weekend was a Wimberly special events day and all spaces had been reserved.

Jean and D E  Williams, Kathy’s second cousin, phone hadn’t changed and after we leveled up and plugged in, they picked us up for dinner in San Marcos, some 15 miles away.  Jean managed to dazzle us with her zipping around town to the restaurant which totally confused Kathy, but DE and I enjoyed the bikini bodies laying along the lawned banks of the San Marcos River as we passed through the University.

We visited at their house the next day, shared some family stories and pictures and again went out for some great food in the evening.  Later in the evening we made contact with Glenn Carvel, another second cousin to Kathy, who lives near Houston and made arrangements to meet the next day.

9/27/6        More Food

Travel from Wimberly through San Marcos was not quite as exciting as a couple of days before but we did manage make our way on the twists and turns of Texas 12, 32 and 80  through town.  No time for bikini watching.  Southeast on Texas 80 to IS 10 at Luling we were headed east again.

After setting up at the junction of Texas 99 and US 90 Alt. we had some visit time with Glenn reviewing pictures and trading family tales.  Then, off to eat and drink at Pappasitos while planning with Glenn to visit another second cousin who was a camp host at Huntsville State Park, north of Huston.  Stuffed again !

9/28/6         Huntsville    Another Fuel Warning Light

Due to construction there was only one way to depart the USA RV Park on US 90 A and Texas 99, luckily it was the way we wanted to go to catch the Houston circling route Texas 6 and 1960.  After two hours of stop and go we had traveled one third of the way around the city to northbound IS 45, burned more fuel than was on our budget and couldn’t find a service station capable of getting into with the car in tow.  Even after we were north bound on IS 45 there was nary a truck plaza and we had to drive by dinky car service facilities.  The fuel warning light had come on back on Texas 1960 and was getting brighter every time I glanced at it.  The decision was made to exit the next off ramp and get enough fuel to feel reasonably safe in reaching an advertised truck plaza, 22 miles up the line, even if we had to uncouple the car to fit into a fueling lane.  Wrong exit !  By the time we found a place to big enough to uncouple the car and turn around we had gone four miles into the woods and heading to we don’t know where on Calvary Road.  Four miles back to the freeway, the light seemed be getting brighter as we headed back toward Houston.  We blocked traffic into and out of the first service station we came to and I splashed five gallons into the tank to get us to the afore mentioned truck plaza.  Outrageous at $2.67/gal.

But, Huntsville State Park exit showed up first, so we parked for the day.  We got a site next to Kathy’s cousin and were just finishing setup chores when Jenifer and her husband Joe finished up with their camp hosting chores.  We got to know each other and as the evening progressed, it seemed as though we had known each other for years.  Glenn drove up from Houston the next day and we enjoyed more story telling and picture viewing.  The day was topped off by a potluck Bar-B-Que.

Huntsville State Park is 2,083 acres surrounding 210 acre Lake Raven and is noted for it population of Pileated Woodpeckers. And they are big !  And, maybe not so well known is the role it plays in maintaining the American Alligator population.  It seems, from good sources, that the Alligators located at the Brazos Bend State Park have their hatchlings relocated to Lake Raven where they are allowed to grow until just before the young ones become sexually active.  Somehow, the soon to be mommies and daddies are rounded up and returned to the Brazos Bend State Park.  In the mean time, up at the Huntsville State Park, campers are warned not to antagonize or feed the abundant number alligators, let your dog or child run loose or play Crocodile Hunter.

10/2/6        Tennessee Colony

On Monday, after bidding goodbye to Jenifer and stopping to get a wheel alignment we were on our way north on IS 45 and US 79 toward Palestine, county seat of Anderson Co.
There was a little delay as Kathy returned to the tire shop with a tool that the mechanic had left in the wheel well and had fallen out with a thump and a bump, no damage done.

Durham Avant’s third son, Mason had settled in the area known as Tennessee Colony about 25 miles northeast of Avant Prairie that Durham had obtained in 1834 as a Spanish Land Grant.  Several years ago we had visited the area, but were not aware of Mason’s location or occupation.  Mason was a merchant, post master and civic leader.  He donated the land for the colony cemetery where he is buried and of course we took lots of pictures of tombstones.

As we traveled from Anderson to Henderson County, the road turned noticeably rougher.
Later we discovered that Mason and others, under the direction of his brother William,  were commissioned in 1850 to build the road between the county seats, Palestine and Athens.  So much for their engineering skills.

10/3/6        More Tombstones

We spent the next two days at a RV Park located off of Avant Rd. in the town of Tool, about 40 miles northwest of Tennessee Colony.  Thanks to the Descendents Report of William J. Cole that Charlie Boggs had researched and produced, we were looking forward to visiting the cemetery of Tool and to gather additional information on Durham and the family of his first son, William.  Both Durham and William had Texas State Historical Markers at their graves and we were able to obtain all the background information used to authenticate the markers from the Historical Commission in Athens, county seat of Henderson Co.

10/4/6        Churches and Bars

We left Tool on Texas 274, late Wednesday morning, crossed Cedar Creek Reservoir on Texas 334 then northeast on Texas 198 to IS 20.  After about an hour of boring interstate highway driving we decided to change direction on a more interesting route.
At Texas 31, we ventured southeast and stopped at a marker claiming to be the only International Boundary within the continental United States.  The marker was on the left side of the road and on the right was a welcome sign to Louisiana.  The stone marker was erected about 1836 and “Separated The Republic of Texas from the United States”.

Six miles after the marker we joined up with US 84 in Logansport.  On the 187 miles of US 84 across Louisiana to Vidalia, there are 38 towns, crossroads and wide spots in the road, we counted about 138 churches or signs pointing in the direction of one (most of them Baptist), 8 bars or cocktail lounges, and one National Forest.  On the banks of the Mississippi at Vidalia, we spent the night and watched barges and other water craft comin’ and a goin’ before going to bed.

10/5/6        Low Branches

Another late morning start on Thursday, we crossed Ole’ Miss to Natchez, did a U-turn a couple of miles down US 61 and finally got back on US 84 east.  The ratio of bars to churches remained about the same, the highway was nice, with the woods cut back enough so that you didn’t feel like you we traveling in a tunnel.  Boredom began to set in about the time we decided to try make Pensacola before stopping.

So, we took the next yellow line heading southeast which was not as straight as depicted on the map.  Although the drive was slow, the variation of home styles was interesting with groomed opulence to overgrown shanties situated alongside each other and all with rocking chairs on the porch. We joined up with US 98 at Columbia and followed it to Mobile, Al.

It was getting on toward quitting time in Mobile and US 98 traverses right through the middle of the city.  The avenue we were on had large trees along the route with BIG limbs over the roadway, and they were NOT trimmed much higher than our motor home.
As we drove along, the antennas were clicking on the limbs and every once in awhile both Kathy and I involuntarily ducked when we approached a particularly low one.  Pensacola Naval Station was reached by 6 PM even with a late start and a slow road.

10/9/06    Broken Trees and White Beaches

The original plan to reach Jacksonville, FL for the 608 reunion was to depart Pensacola, drive for a couple hours along US 98, spend the night at some romantic beach campground and arrive at the Mayport Naval Station on Tuesday. Eh !  Two 200 Mile days and no hurry.  After about 2 hours of stop lights and traffic at every beach access we made a joint command decision to head north for the interstate.  By 7:15 PM, we had set up camp and joined the weekly ice cream social at Pelican Roost RV Park on the Naval Station.  Check out the Tiretracks and Footprints link and zoom into our camp site.

The trip along the beach showed homes being rebuilt, broken and laid down pine tree forests but the ever present beautiful white beaches and blue water.

10/16/6    Mayport, Jacksonville and Ships Reunion

The Pelican Roost RV Park was comfortable and laid back.  Kathy won at Bingo on Wednesday after we played a round of golf at the base’s “Windy Harbor Golf Course”.
The course didn’t live up to it’s name for our round, but, we encountered a new golf mind game when we came across signs warning of alligators purportedly watching our play from the ponds.

The ship’s reunion was the normal reliving of past incidents and misadventures.  The reunion was being held near the Jacksonville airport which  turned out to be about 25 miles from where we were camping.  We made the trip every day and twice on Saturday.  Rather than making the trip on city streets and freeways, we elected to use the Mayport Ferry which turned out to be very relaxing, especially when we would miss one or two sailings while enjoying the view, food and drink at nearby restaurants.

10/17/6    Scarecrows and Submarines

Leaving the Pelican Roost Campground we boarded our favorite ferry and headed north to  the east coast Submarine Base of Kings Bay in Georgia.  Back about the time I retired from the Navy, a new Submarine Base was created from an antiquated Army Base and now a spacious navy facility with “new” buildings and roadways exists.  Also a campground for the military including us retirees.  At the main gate of the base is the sail and topside deck of a submarine surfacing from the ground. Very impressive.

The nearby town of St Mary’s was decked out for Halloween with its annual display of scarecrows.  A lot of the local organizations and businesses put together a scarecrow or a scene with scarecrows and display them along the streets of the town.  Quite a variety and lots of imagination.

Our original intent was to play some golf, but the first day we were there they were overseeding the greens and tees, and the next day it rained.  O well, we shopped at the Exchange and Commissary, had a couple of beers at the Shamrock Pub, and did household chores like laundry and window washing.

Routes Traveled - FL St. A1A, US 17, IS 95
Total Miles - 59, Travel Time - 2 hrs 15 min

10/19/6    Old Houses and Submarines

Again wandering north we got totally turned around in Savanna, Georgia while trying to find a restaurant that was recommended by one of the attendees at the 608 Reunion.  But, eventually after a few around the block u-turns we found “UNCLE BUBBAS”, famous for grilled oysters and other seafood delicacies.  Other than a dead end parking lot in which we had to uncouple the car to turn around, we had a passable lunch, Kathy bought a cook book, and we got to see the owner and celebrated TV Cook,

A few more miles north was Charleston, South Carolina, where I resided just prior to my retirement from the Navy.  We stayed at the Air Force Base recreation area but had to uncouple the car again at a dead end road before we arrived at the campground because of misdirection or dumb.

The next morning we wandered about Goose Creek and the Naval Weapons Station until we found my old house on Kennington Dr.  The walkway bridge was still there but the fanciful rock stream and pond had been replaced by lawn.  Peeking in the back yard, I was pleased to see that the patio and brick bar-b-que were still intact.

Back to the campground and hooked up, we again headed north and was doing fine until I, George, spotted a sign directing the way to the CSS Hunley Museum.  After a lot of turns this way and that, and Kathy’s knuckles showing loss of blood we finally found the entrance to where the old submarine was being stabilized from its watery grave a hundred and fifty years ago.  But, it was only open to the public on Wednesday’s and Sundays.  A day late or three to soon, what’s a guy to do except try to get out of the maze without running into anymore dead end streets.  After an unexpected tour of the “used to be” Naval Base, which is now a police training area, we finally got back to northbound on US 17.

Routes Traveled - GA St. 40, IS 95, IS16, US 80,IS 516, US 17, IS 526, IS 26
Miles Traveled - 258, Travel Time - 7 hrs 30 min

10/20/6    Beginning the Quest

Following our tour of the decommissioned Charleston Naval Base we sauntered north on US 17 through Myrtle Beach neighborhoods we probably shouldn’t have with the rig and tote.  But, we made it without incident and safely arrived at the Elks Lodge in Wilmington, NC.

Wilmington was the town in which one of Kathy’s Great Great Grandfathers, Abram Weaver was married to Susan Bobbitt and we were wanting to find out more about her and where they lived after the marriage.  The local library provided some information, but we were directed to the state archives in Raleigh for additional resources.

We dined on the Fear River while touristing and left Wilmington with a lot of anticipation to what we would find at our next stop

Routes Traveled - IS 26, US 52, US 17
Total Miles - 189, Travel Time - 5 hrs

10/22/6    Got an Egg ?

The Rocky Mount Elks Lodge advertises its location as being on Church St. off of State Rt 43, near IS 95.  Don’t believe it !  They are on Church St., one block away from US 301, some 6 miles away.  After a phone call we finally arrived at the lodge.  As we were  checking in, which amounted to haveing the first beer on them, one of the first questions asked was, “Do you have any eggs ?” It turned out that the designated cook for the  NASCAR party that was in progress needed eggs for salmon patties and didn’t want to miss any of the race to go to the store.  We happily donated to the cause and enjoyed an afternoon watching the race and stuffing ourselves with party favors.  Great Lodge.

The next couple of days were spent at the library researching another branch of Kathy’s elders, Avent or Avant depending on what census you were reading.  Could not specifically pin point any direct lines to the local Avent’s in the area, but we did visit a community called Aventon and speculate on what it was like to live in the area around 1830 ishes.

Routes Traveled - IS 40, US 117, US 301, NC Rt 43 (north & south), US 301
Miles Traveled - 163,         Travel Time - 4 hrs

10/24/6    More Library-ing

After leaving Rocky Mount we were officially westward bound.

The North Carolina Library and Archives in Raleigh had a lot of resources to help us explore the past and we took advantage of their free access to Ancestery.Com and other internet genealogy sites that require paid membership.  After many books and records read and copies made of what may or may not be of value to our research we left for Salisbury.

Routes Traveled - US 64/264
Miles Traveled - 55,    Travel Time - 1 hr 15min

10/25/6    Chili Cookoff

The Rowan County Library at Salisbury is where we had first been bitten by the Genealogy Bug back on November 3rd, 2000.  It again proved to a gold mine of information about western North Carolina and our forefathers.  Particularly, now that we think we have some idea what we are looking for.

Our accommodations for our 4 day stay  in Salisbury was at an Elks Campground on High Rock Lake, which used to be the Yadkin River.  From what we learned it is probable that GGGrandpa Weaver lived and worked  some where under the water before migrating to Missouri and Texas.  At the lodge , George was invited to play Texas Hold’em and shared the pot when the game got down to two remaining players.  A weekend Chili Cookoff and campout was planned by the Lodge and we were invited to join in the fun, food, and festivities.  All in all we had a great four days and only had to put up with one rainy day.

Routes Traveled - IS 440, US 1, US 64, IS 85
Miles Traveled - 135,  Travel Time - 3 hrs 30 min

10/29/6    Catfish on a Mountaintop in Tennessee

Good title for a song !

We cruised into Gainesburo, Tennessee on State Route 56 looking for a campground to spend the night.  Gainesboro is the county seat of Jackson County, a county that we suspected was the birth place of J J Stubblefield, one of Kathy’s GGGGrandpappies.  The  local library and courthouse were our next intended resources to glean information from and verify our “premature” conclusions of where he had migrated from prior to his residence in Texas.

Gainesboro is attached to the side of a mountain ridge which falls of into a hollow that leads to the Cumberland River.  The founding fathers in 1820, as they laid out the town, did not foresee that George and Kathy would one day be visiting in their 40 foot house on wheels dragging an automobile.  Consequently, while getting the lay of the town, a wrong left turn led to no way out except State Road 53 which went up and over the top of afore mentioned ridge into the community of Granville.  All roads which would have gotten us back to Gainesboro required a turning radius a lot smaller than what our house was capable of doing.  Eventually, we got back to the crossroads of US70N and State Route 56 and low and behold was a campground we had passed earlier but was some 18 miles from our original destination.

The Campground had all the amenities, a restaurant and a pond in which you could fish and the restaurant would cook for you the fish you caught.  We opted for their “all you can eat” platter of catfish and fries and left the catchin’ to them.

Traveled Routes; US 85, US 601, US 70, IS 40, TN St 56, TN St 53, US 70N, TN St 56.
Total Miles - 415; Travel Time - 13.25 Hours

10/30/6    Singing in the Rain

After another stab at visiting Gainesboro, with the car, we obtained a little info on the area but were directed to the State Archives for any historic records that hadn’t been burned in the court house fire around 1860.  Although quaint, it appears the current courthouse is not far from the same demise if they don’t get rid of the cluttered records and stacks of un-filed papers.  So, by noon we were hooked up again and on our way to Nashville.

Two Rivers RV Campground is one of three or four campgrounds located within a mile of the Grand Ole Oprey, and here we settled for the next few days.  Again, we gathered a lot of copies of records and hopefully we’ll be able put some of the information into an understandable record or story.  The weather made it easy to visit the library with it being rainy and foggy three out of the four days we were there.

The state capitol and its auxiliary buildings are very impressive with a lot of fancy stone work and its location on top of the hill in the middle of town.

Routes Traveled  - IS 40, TN St 155

11/2/6        Stinkin’ Jim’s

We woke to a bright and sunny day for our travels down the Natchez Trace Parkway.  A highly recommended journey when you have a lot of time and want a relaxed and beautiful trip.  The Parkway is a four hundred and forty four mile two lane highway from near Nashville to Natchez, Mississippi.  There are no stop signs or stop lights on the entire parkway, the speed limit is not over fifty miles per hour, and there are plenty of places to safely pull off the main road to read the historic markers and view the vistas, in addition to accesses to the local roads and highways.

George had been on the Internet and had located a campground just off the parkway near the town of Houston, MS.  It was about half way along the route and sounded like it was an easy and close place to stay for the night.  The first turn off of the highway was easy enough although we had to travel on into Houston to get turned around because we missed it.  After we got onto the right road, it just got worse until we finally arrived at Stinkin’ Jim’s, four miles through the woods and bayou’s on a gravel road (no place to turn around).  Stinkin’ Jim’s turned out to be a staging area for horseback trips into the adjoin National Forest and had no hookup’s as advertised.  We were invited to stay the night but we did not want to dry camp.  There was room to turn around through the horses, horse trailers and people scratching their heads.  We did and were backtracking to the Parkway without delay.

By now the sun was beginning to go down as we headed for a National Forest campground we had passed ten miles earlier on the Parkway.  We found the turnoff without incident but missed the next one in the dark and again had to go to the next town, New Houlka, to get turned around.  On the way back we spotted some signs off a distance from the road about where we thought the campground was supposed to be.  Kathy went off to read them with a flashlight and I followed.  It was the Davis Lake Forest Service Campground but it had closed two weeks ago.  The Ranger allowed us to put our jacks down and dry camp without a fee in the boat trailer parking lot.  We had a stiff drink, ate some food and got some sleep.

Traveled Routes - TN St 155, IS 40, Natchez Trace Parkway
Miles Traveled - 294, Travel Time - 9 hrs

11/3/06    Passing the Peak Fall Colors

On bright and sunny morning we ate breakfast while watching the surface fog dance and swirl on the lake.  Just as the day before, the sky was blue and the air had a bite to it as we got back on the Parkway.  When we had left Nashville many of the trees had dropped most of their leaves or were a thousand shades of brown.  During the previous day on our way south we noticed the brown and bare foliage becoming more colorful and today the colors were becoming more vivid.  In addition to getting warmer as we traveled south, the leaves began to green out and by the time we got to Natchez there was hardly any color except green.

An exceptionally smooth, easy road, Historic Sites, Indian Mounds, Fall Colors and misadventures made this segment of our journeys very memorable.

Our residence for the next couple of days was the River View RV Park in Vidalia, LA, where we had stayed on our way to Jacksonville a month ago.  Across the river we visited the historic town, Natchez, the Melrose Plantation, had some very good tamales and Margaritas at Fat Mama’s Tamales and had modest luck on the riverboat, Isle of Capri, moored on the Mississippi.

Traveled Routes - Natchez Parkway, US 61, US 84
Miles Traveled - 274, Travel Time - 8 hrs 15 min

11/6/6        It’ Raining, It’s Pouring, We’re not Driving    Livingston

Sitting here in the Escapees RV Park in Livingston, TX, we are glad that we pushed a little yesterday.  Our trip from Vidalia, LA was very pleasant, we stopped for some shopping in Mansfield and got set up while it was still day light.  But, as we watch rigs departing the Campground this morning we are not envious in the least, the man upstairs is moving a lot of furniture and it is pouring buckets.

Routes Traveled - US 84, TX St 7, US 59, US 190, TX St 146
Travel Miles - 309 miles,  Travel Time - 7 hrs 20 min

11/8/6        Huntsville    Sheriff John

The time spent in Livingston was rewarding in that we found a gold mine at the Polk County Memorial Museum regarding GGG Granddaddy Stubblefield.  He was a founding Commissioner of Polk County when it was formed in 1840, was the first Sheriff and served for two terms.  The museum had research notes from a local historian who had written several books about Polk County and we were able to copy relevant material about Grandpappy.

All in all, a fruitful stop before moving a few miles to the east to visit new found cousin Jenifer at the Huntsville State Park.

While having the motor home checked and realigned at the same place we had it done a month ago, (wasn’t satisfied), we roamed about in the car and came upon Stubblefield Lake in the Sam Houston National Forest.  A very small lake and not much more than a wide spot on the West Fork San Jacinto River, but about half a dozen fishermen were catching 4 and 5 pound catfish at a very respectable rate.  Got a call into the National Forest Service for information on the naming of the Lake.  Who knows what we’ll find out?

Routes Traveled - Texas 146, US 190, IS 45
Distance Traveled - 100 miles,  2 hours

11/9/6    Georgetown

We got an early start from Huntsville and checked into the Civil Engineers Campground on Georgetown Lake before noon.  We visited an old friend at the local library, copied old wills at the courthouse and visited Southwestern University, where our John Stubblefield was president pro tem of its founding committee.  Evidently looking lost and a bit out of place, we were fortunate to stumble into the Senior Advisor to the President for Strategic Planning and Assessment, Dr. Ronald Swain, who took us under his wing and provided us with copies of the founding committee’s minutes and promise of further help once their library dried out from a recent flooding.

Still, another good day of sleuthing.

Routes Traveled - IS 45, Texas 30, Texas 6, US 79, Texas 95, Texas 29
Miles Traveled - 170, Travel Time - 3 hours 45 minutes

11/10/6    San Angelo

Other than stopping at all historic signs along the way, if safe to do so and without shaking everything out of the cupboards getting on and off the highway, our goal was just plain west, warm and dry.

At the Goodfellow Air Force Campground in San Angelo we rested for the afternoon and night overlooking Lake Nasworthy.  Worthy of a repeat stopover.

Routes Traveled - Texas 29, Texas 71, US 87
Miles Traveled - 200, Time Traveled - 4 hours 45 minutes

11/11/6        Pecos Bound

Continuing west, the scenery got flatter and flatter as we passed through the old oil fields of the 1930’s.  Just before Rankin on US 67, Kathy saw a cougar some 50 yards off of the highway and starred speechless, while fumbling to grab the camera, pointing her finger and trying to tell me to look.  I saw maybe a tail disappear in the scrub oak, but Kathy was chilled, thinking that something that big was wandering about, that close to town.  In the desert I don’t see how you can justify calling a big brown cat a “Mountain Lion”, so, our sighting will have to be classified as a “Cougar”.

Later, at Horsehead Crossing of the Pecos River, we disturbed a flock of wild turkeys as we pulled into the crossing’s historic sign turnout and it was lucky that there was not any traffic as they scattered across the highway.  Again, camera not quite at the ready.  Memories are great though.  Next time you see us, ask why its called “Horsehead Crossing”.

Routes Traveled - US 67, IS 10, US 285
Miles Traveled - 221, Time Traveled - 4 hours 45 minutes

11/14/6        Van Horn     New Clues

Sunday, everything was closed up so we played 18 holes of golf on the only golf course in the county.  It was unique in that it did not have a single sand trap !  Instead, where sand traps would usually be, there would be a collection of large rocks haphazardly placed.  If you didn’t ricochet off into the desert or another fairway when your ball entered one of these hazard areas, then it might ricochet back at you on its way out.  A whole new definition of hazard.  Another unique feature of this course was that it only had 14 holes with holes 1, 2, 3 and 7 being repeated for 10, 11, 12, and 13, In addition, the second hole was being overseeded so 18 was designated as its replacement.  How many times did we play hole 18 ?  After golf we took a drive to the nearby, nearly ghost town of Toyah to see what had lured Great Grandpa Cole to move his family from Uvalde County in 1888.

Monday, the library beckoned with its wealth of local history and stories and we found several new clues with regard to where Great Grandpa Cole resided along with some interesting tales in which his brother Andy was mentioned.  We also paid a visit to the court house to get copies of some land and marriage records of Andy’s and do a marriage record check for Kathy’s mom and dad which we haven’t yet located.

We were off toward Fort Davis on Tuesday to track down Grandpa’s residence based on the information gleaned from the Pecos library.  As it turned out he had made a five-year lease on two sections of land to raise his sheep in Jeff Davis County but used Toyah in Reeves County as a mailing address.  The Jeff Davis County Clerk is housed in the old jail, which made for some interesting storage of the old court records in and around the cells.

From Fort Davis we drove up to and by the McDonald Observatory, encountered some stiff winds and spent the night in Van Horn for a net westward travel of 59 miles for the day.

Routes Traveled - Texas 17, Texas 118 and IS 10
Travel Miles - 166, Travel Time - 7 hours 30 minutes

11/15/6    Good Roast Beef

A short calm day of driving, a short shopping spree at Wal-Mart in El Paso, an early arrival at Aunt June’s and a great roast beef dinner made for a very relaxing day.

Routes Traveled - IS 10, Texas 375, US 54, Texas 3255, New Mexico 213, New Mexico 404, IS 10, IS 25
Travel Miles - 251, Travel Time - 6 hours

11/17/6    Short Visits and Lunch in Passing

We popped Aunt June’s garage circuit breaker several times due to our poor power management.  The girls had a relatively short shopping spree while I cleaned the windshield and front end the next day.

The morning we left we took Aunt June for a short demo ride in the motor home and then we headed for Hatch.  A couple of months ago, Hatch suffered through some serious flooding from the monsoons but the pepper crop did not seem to be ruined and we picked up our annual restock of chili.

Kathy’s brother, Frank had left his home real early in the morning and was eastbound for Atlanta.  We both arrived in Demming about the same time and had a short visit while having lunch.  Frank and Lenora had already covered over 600 miles for the day.  Too much for us to do in one day, anymore.  We continued on for another 167 miles for a couple of day’s rest in Benson, Az.

Routes Traveled - IS 25, New Mexico 26, IS 10
Travel Miles - 284, Travel Time - 6 hours 15 minutes

11/19/6    Havasu Springs

The NEW Wal-Mart in Benson was having its grand opening and Kathy checked it out, but we mostly relaxed and soaked up the sunshine and warm.

Next stop was a visit with Bert & Caroline Tomson at Havasu Springs where we joined them for a turkey dinner potluck after the daily “Social Hour” overlooking the lake.

Travel Routes - IS 10, Vicksburg Rd., Arizona 72, Arizona 95
Travel Miles - 328, Travel Time - 7 hours 45 minutes

11/21/6    Thanksgiving with friends

After another “social hour” overlooking Lake Havasu with Bert and Caroline we unhooked the next morning for a short trip to Indio. But, not before Bert went out in the morning a caught some bass for us to take along.  He goes out fishing way to early for my bones !

Stopped in Parker for a haircut and fuel.  Last time we’ll be seeing $2.41 per gallon for a few months.  On State 62 between Earp and junction US 95 an eastbound truck kicked up a shower of gravel that hit the windshield and caused a crack that extended itelf  the rest of the days travel.

By 2 PM we joined Ron and Robin Carter at Indian Waters RV Resort in Indio where we’ll stay for five days.  The resort put on a Thanksgiving Dinner where we stuffed ourselves, and then after a nap we all went to a local casino.

Routes Traveled - Arizona 95, California 62, California 117, IS 10
Travel Miles -153, Travel Time - 4 hours 45 minutes

11/26/6    Ontario Elks

Sunday after Thanksgiving was a short day of travel and a lot of off loading of the motor home at Lance’s house in preparation for giving up our home for some warranty repairs.

The grandkid’s had grown another foot or so even though it had only been a couple of months since we had seen them.

We had dinner at Outback in Ontario and spent the night at the Ontario Elks.

Routes Traveled - IS 10, CA 79, CA 74, IS 215, Lance’s, IS 15, IS 10.
Travel Miles - 146,    Travel Time - 7 hours 15 minutes

11/27/6    Giving It Up Is Hard To Do

On the 27th we turned the motor home over to Alfa for some factory warranty work.  We had made the appointment in September to have the living room slide adjusted and fix a 12 Volt short associated with the slide, but during our trip to Florida and back the other slide needed some fixin’, the heating and A/C thermostat had gone to lunch, and a 110 volt short had disabled the entertainment system.  What should have taken at most a week to do was strung out over two weeks accompanied by a lot of frustration in dealing with the service writers and extended warranty company.  We finally got our home back on the 7th of December and even then had wait and have a couple of items reworked.  All in all, a very frustrating experience, but everything is now totally operational, almost.

The only gratifying thing about the whole experience was staying with Lance and Stacy and the grandkids while the house was in the shop.  What started as a “Sleepover” with lots of smiles, turned into a puzzled “Are you leaving yet ? “, and then “Please don’t go.”
We shopped, made a gingerbread house, got sick with the kids and had a great time.
In addition, we had visits with Kathy’s brother, Frank and Lenore and niece Tamara, Andreas and kids

12/7/6        Pickup and Reload

On Thursday we picked up the motor home, returned to Stacy and Lance’s to move all our treasures back into the motor home.  By the time we were reloaded it was dark and we opted to stay at the nearby Pachanga Casino RV Park.  The casino was kind and we won enough to pay for the camping fees, dinner and breakfast.

Roues Traveled - CA 60, IS 15
Miles Traveled - 60 miles, Travel Time - 5 hour 30 minutes

12/8/6        Northbound

After breakfast we headed north, with a quick stop at the kids’ to retrieve some more treasures, on our usual route between Murrieta and Atascadero.  But on CA 71 the traffic was stopped at Chino for a fatal accident and we were dumped onto the surface streets.  After several u-turns we finally managed to make our way to CA57 and continue our journey.

The rest of the trip was pretty routine until we stopped for some fuel ($2.99/gal) in Santa Maria, where it started to rain and George began to not feel well.  By the time we arrived in Atascadero he was past feeling and quickly plugged us into the Elks RV Park.  The Elks RV Club was having its Christmas Party which we had reservation for.  So, Kathy attended the party and George stood guard over the cammode in the motor home.

All was back to normal in a couple of days and then we had a couple of dinner nights with George’s mother and  a welcome visit from Tamra in her new rig.  Of course we had to make the rounds of our former haunts, spread season greetings and partake of holiday cheer.  All to soon it was time to leave for our Christmas destination.

Routes Traveled -  IS 15, Ca 91, Ca 71, Ca 60, Ca 57, IS 210,IS 5, Ca 126, US 101
Travel Miles - 331, Travel Time - 8 hours

12/20/6    Christmas with kids

Wednesday was a nice day to travel with no wind and lots of sunshine.  Before we left we had to partially un-decorate the motor home to the point where we didn’t have any flapping garlands or light strings.  After what seeemed a long stop for propane we snuggled into the Lodi Elks RV Park for the week.

My how they grow ! ! !   William and Benjamin, that is.

Routes Traveled - US 101, Ca 46, Ca 41, Ca 33, IS 5, Ca 12
Travel Miles - 247,  Travel Time - 5 hours 45 minutes

12/25/6    Move to Cordova Elks

Christmas Eve we had a family dinner with Keith and Sylvia and included her father, Arnold and his wife Catherine, Ricky and Kelly and us.  Keith cooked up a fabulous prime rib and Sylvia did her magic with pumpkin cake.  William got to open his presents while we all took pictures and pictures and pictures.  Very early Christmas morning we moved from the Lodi Elks to the Cordova Elks near Ricky’s and got there soon enough to open presents with Benjamin and take more pictures and pictures and pictures.

12/27/6     King City

We spent a few days hanging at Ricky’s, shopping and enjoying Benjamin.  On Wednesday, we up really early and took the motor home in for an oil change and service.  Shopping made the time pass quickly and by noon we were on our way to King City with a fuel stop in Santa Nella on IS 5.  We should have cut over to US 101 at Santa Nella on State 152 but we opted to try a different way via State 198 further south.  When we came to the sign warning that the road was not advisable we would have had a go around trip of 3 hours or chance it for a 1 hour trip.  Actually, the 49 mile trip from Coalinga to San Lucas took 1 hour 15 minutes and it did have some squeaky spots but the scenery made up for it.

San Lorenso County Park at King City was our destination for an Atascadero Elks campout to ring in the New Year.  By Friday, there were over 35 rigs in attendance and a great time was had thoughout the weekend.

Unfortunately, we had to drive Atascadero to attend a funeral for Donnie McNerlin, son of our close friends Don and Mary McNerlin on Saturday, the 30th.  But, we were back at camp for the evening “Riches” BBQ and card games.  New Year’s Eve party theme was “Rags” and a few brave souls did their best to play the part of hobo’s, without the stink.

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