Monday, March 19, 2007 El Cajon, CA
Today we made a nice hilly trip into El Cajon, CA to visit all RVers favorite store, Wal-Mart. We also were looking for a good place to get the thermostat and coolant changed. We found a Pep Boys that could do the job, just not today. We had a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant, picked up some groceries and headed back into the hills. We use the Escapees mail forwarding service in Livingston, TX. They have been very efficient. Our first attempt to have our mail forwarded to a post office general delivery address was successful.
Friday – Sunday, March 16-18, 2007 Southern California
Weve had a really relaxing weekend. We were able to get in a little hiking, swimming and sitting around. Were experiencing record high heat in the upper 90s. I must say that I dont mind the heat.
Thursday, March 15, 2007 Phoenix to Southern California
We left Phoenix at about 9:00 AM on Thursday and headed toward Southern California. Our only incident was a session of overheating on a ten-mile incline from 50 feet below sea level to 3200 feet. This was a surprise because the truck had no trouble pulling the load up the hill. I intend to have the coolant and the thermostat changed next week.
We ended up at a recreational area in the mountains east of El Centro and west of San Diego where we intend to stay for about a month to relax and work on getting in shape. The internet access is somewhat spotty here too. Well work on getting a better connection. But were not going to do much of anything for a few days.
Tuesday & Wednesday, March 13-14, 2007 Tucson, AZ to Phoenix, AZ
Since we decided against Life-On-Wheels, we freed up a couple of days for relaxation. We headed to just north of Phoenix to visit some online friends Carl and Peggy, who are also full timing. Their decision was helped along with the arrival of hurricane Katrina to their home in New Orleans. We had a chance to relax and even get in a little swimming.
We had no internet or cell phone service here.
Monday, March 12, 2007 Tucson, AZ
We went to Camping World and Beaudrys parts place in search of a new little door to cover our sewer hose storage compartment. The original must have opened and blown off early on our first day of travel. None in stock. Well try to get one at the Montana Rally in mid April near Santa Barbara.
We finally heard from the Life-On-Wheels people at 11:00 AM. They said that we could get into the three-day Rally (Seminars) if we could get there by noon. That wasnt going to happen. Well have to pick up another one later.
Monday night, we met with friends Roland and Karen and some other friends, Mike and Marilyn, for dinner at a north Tucson resort. It was fun and we got back to Beaudrys by about midnight.
Sunday, March 11, 2007 El Paso, TX to Tucson, AZ
On Sunday morning, we headed off to take a look at the house, in El Paso, that Tinka was living in when we met back in 1985. This is where I convinced her to marry me. The house looked good. The town had grown tremendously. What used to be desert a few blocks from her house is now miles and miles of houses.
We hooked up and at 11:00 we pushed on through New Mexico toward Tucson. In New Mexico, we passed a fantastic rock formation in what is known as Texas Canyon. Next time through here, well take some time to explore the area. Our current schedule didnt allow the time.
We pulled into Beaudrys RV Resort around 3:00 PM, totally confused by the time zone changes combined with daylight savings time. It turns out that Arizona doesnt observe daylight savings time. Beaudrys is a fantastic place. They even have hot tub spaces. All of the sites were quite large, with concrete patios and patio furniture. This facility is huge. They have an RV service area with 50 bays with lifts for the largest RVs. There is also a Camping World onsite. By the way, their restaurants are closed from 2:00 PM Sunday until Monday at 11:00AM
We fired up our new ice maker and the thing started spitting out cubes in about six minutes. Our friends, Roland and Karen stopped by shortly after we were set up. We had a couple of drinks and went to dinner at Famous Sams.
Saturday, March 10, 2007 Pecos, TX to El Paso, TX
In the morning, we headed back to Barstow, TX to take a look at the town in daylight. Unfortunately, the years have not been good to the, once prosperous, farming community. When New Mexico dammed the Pecos River, irrigation became impractical. The cottonwood trees, that were once plentiful, have all died and blown over, along with nearly every other tree in the county. The 30 X 24 old farm house, where Tinka grew up, had been burned down several years ago. All that is left is the foundation and the garage that Tinka used as a playhouse.
It seems that a good paint salesman could have made a fortune in Barstow. Nothing has seen a new coat of paint since being built. Below is Tinkas grandmothers general store.
At noon we headed off to El Paso. Along the way, we reached a maximum altitude of 4683 feet, near Van Horn. We pulled in to the Mission RV Park in the late afternoon. There had been reports that the pull-through spaces at Mission were too narrow for big rigs. Ours is as wide as any and we had no trouble. True, putting out the awning might have been too much.
We met with Tinkas childhood friend Sherrie and, with her, visited her sons art gallery. He was preparing for a showing so we didnt get into his hair for very long. After the art gallery, we went to one of Ricks favorite restaurants, Billy Crews. This is a fantastic steak house on the edge of El Paso, just over the New Mexico border. After dinner, we visited with Sherrie at her home for a while then headed back to Mission RV for the night.
Friday, March 9, 2007 – Weatherford, TX to Pecos, TX
We left Weatherford at about 9:15 AM and headed to meet Tinkas Aunts, Faye and Corky, and her uncle, Laddie for a late lunch in Midland. We had a nice visit and left Midland for Pecos, TX at about 4:00 PM. We arrived in Pecos at around 6:00 PM and made camp at the Escapees RV Park there. The park itself was clean, flat, and not overburdened with frills.
At 7:00 we headed back up the road six miles to the town of Barstow, TX where Tinka was born and grew up. We visited with some of Tinkas family friends, Theresa and Bobbie, in Barstow and headed back to Pecos for the night. It was kind of ironic to start our new life where Tinka was born. Below is Judge Roy Bean’s place.
Well were finally on the way. This is an effort to catch up from for the first week of travel. Internet connections were not always very reliable and truthfully, weve been exhausted.
Tinka returned from Canada after relocating her mother near her sister, who lives in Kelowna, BC. Our plan was to leave town on March 8th, but we had a few things left to tend to and couldnt get it all done on time.
We departed westward on March 9, 2007, a day later than planned. Our goal was to get to Tucson by Sunday, the 12th so that we could attend the Life-On-Wheels Rally. We were on the standby list because of our fluctuating schedule didnt allow us to get reservations in on time.
What sad pictures from Barstow. Very telling for a start to your new life. More later. I have a job to do here at home.
I’m not sure of how to add this comment, but hope it works.
By very telling as a start to your new life, I did not mean anything negative. I guess I was just commenting on the irony of it all. I love your website and all the news about where you go and what you do. Keep it up.
Mom got your letter and pictures of the RV. Enjoy your month of relaxation.
I didn’t know what you meant by very telling but figured you did not mean it in a negative way. Thanks. Tinka
Looks like you guys are having a nice trip. Just curious if you plan to drive the Alcan someday.
Saw the photos of Barstow. Over the past several years my work has taken me near that little village from time to time. Occasionally I drove through to see what was still there. I found mostly empty streets and perhaps a few old ghosts.