Camping in Cottonwood AZ

 We decided not to make the "big trip" this year, and instead, just stay close to home and maybe do a few short trips - with the RV Club and on our own during the summer.  Last year's long trip was quite a strain and Jack, the RV and even I needed a little break.  So, we shall see how it goes...this "staying put" thing!

Our first trip out was with our RV Club, to a campground called Dead Horse State Ranch in Cottonwood AZ.  It's only about a couple of hours from our resort, which was a nice drive, and a change of scenery.  There were about a dozen coaches, so a nice size group of us - not to small or big.  

 Being in a "group" is still kind of new for us, as for the last seven plus years, we've pretty much traveled and camped alone.  There a pluses and minus to that kind of camping.  I enjoy both.  

The coordinator was "on top" of everything for this trip.  She had each evening planned with campfires scheduled and hosted at different sites, people signed up to go to local entertainment (an Escape Room and a BBQ with entertainment) along with various hikes during the day if you wanted.  Two potlucks were also scheduled.  

 

 I, personally love potlucks, it makes cooking and eating so much more easy and fun.  You get to try new foods along with the opportunity to chat with so many people.  We are still getting to know most of the people in the club, so this gave us the chance to mingle and learn about some of the members.

 

 

We pretty much stayed around the park, only going into town one day.  Decided not to do the two evening outings, but joined the other few couples around our campfire and enjoy the glorious sunsets we were greeted with instead.  

All in all, it was a lovely four days.  The weather was cool in the mornings and evenings and warm, sunshine during the daylight.  The group was super friendly and fun and the trip was short and sweet!  It would be fun to do this more often, but as the season is drawing to a close...people are getting ready to "head back home" for the summer, so this will be it for the group until fall I'm afraid.  So, we will be on our own to come up with camp outings!  

Kicking back in Arizona,  Marie

 

 

Completing the Trace...

Our first experience driving through the Natchez Trace was in April of 2012.  We started in Natchez MS and traveled through Mississippi to Red Bay AL where we left it to go to  the Tiffin Service Center to have some work done on our coach.  We never completed the Trace and always promised ourselves that "someday" we would.

That "someday" was last week.  We took up right where we left off...from Red Bay!  This time we spent a little more leisurely time doing it tho.  We decided to camp nearby and stay awhile.  Since we only had a couple of hundred miles left to do, which was easy to do, there were also areas that an RV wasn't allowed to go into that we'd wanted to see.

As typical with me, I "forgot" about Memorial Day coming up until about two weeks before time, and when I went to make reservations around Nashville, found them all booked!  Ugh.  When I located a campground near the Natchez Trace that had a vacancy, I was thrilled and I quickly took it.  The owner was so nice to talk with and assured me we had "full hook-ups". 

Everything went smoothly in Red Bay and we got done two days early, so I called Noel at the campground in Hohenwald and asked if we could arrive early, he said "no problem" and even asked us if we were coming via the Trace.  When we said we were, he explained that a small part was closed down due to construction, and gave us directions as to how to get around it.  Then, we were on our way!

Well...that was the last of the "good vibrations...." When we got there things were quite different... First, no one was there to assist us.  Noel, the owner was out of town shopping, then the camp host wasn't there (emergency).  When I called (help!?? where do I go??).  When I finally go hold of Noel on the phone and talked him into talking me through "where" we were to park...it was a disaster!  This place was horribly laid out, with only a couple usable spots, and those were not available.  The spot he had us going into was about 40+ feet long with electric at the very front and sewer at the very end and big lumps and dips all up and down through the grassy middle!  No way could it work!  Then, after we kept explaining (over the phone) that to him, he said, "how about pulling through it, to the one in front, and using it?"  Well, that meant using the sewer, going up hill!  Nope, that wouldn't work either!  Jack was furious!  A long day's drive to this? ...and Memorial Weekend?  Now what were we going to do?

I got on my phone and started looking again for places and God must have been on my shoulder, because I don't know how I found it, but I did, and somehow another campground showed up nearby!  I called, and would you believe it, they had space?  I grabbed it!  As we left Noel called me back and offered to move someone else and put us in another site, but I told him it was to late, we already were going somewhere else, sorry.  To little, to late.  He apologized and said it was bad timing that he wasn't there when we arrived, and that his host had that emergency.  ;-(

What a beautiful campground we ended up in!  Natchez Trace Thousand Trails...ended up on a "beach site" overlooking their lovely lake, full hook-ups, big, level sites and lovely wonderful people who had tons of fun, wonderful activities scheduled all weekend long...and at cheaper rates than the other place!  Wow!  Makes you just shake your head sometimes...;-)

We faced the water and the grass park was behind us!  Far behind those trees were the "other campers"!

Once settled in, we used the truck to enjoy the Trace and take in it's beauty.  For those of you that might not know what the Natchez Trace is...it's 444 miles through threes states and 10,000 years of history.  As the US expanded westward in the late 1700s and early 1800s, growing numbers of travelers tramped the rough trail into a clearly marked path.  Where the ground was relatively soft, walkers, riders and wagons wore down the "sunken" sections you see today.  In 1801 President Thomas Jefferson designated the Trace a national post road for mail delivery between Nashville and Natchez.  Today the Natchez Trace parkway creates a greenway from the southern Appalachian foothills of Tennessee to the bluffs of the lower Mississippi River.  It's truly a beautiful drive, and if you ever get the chance to do it, even a part of it, take it!

We enjoyed using it as our "daily freeway" as we ventured into the edge of Nashville or over to Franklin.  We could count on one hand the number of cars we would see on the road with us.  I would tease Jack that he would get spoiled here and not know how to drive with regular traffic again.  ;-)

As you exit the Trace at Nashville, there is a wonderful Cafe there, called The Loveless Cafe.  It's been there since 1952.  Now, there might not have been a lot of traffic on the Trace, but boy there sure was here!  This place was packed, but they know "service"!  ...and food!  Yum!! Nothing like "Southern fried chicken" in the South!  My mouth still waters up just thinking about it! ;-)  They give you a "beeper" and set you free to roam...they have gift shops (plural), a motel, meeting room, catering, and ?? Quite a place!  Super great staff (and did I mention how great the food was?).  ;-)

We took a side trip into Franklin one day and visited the Carter House where the Franklin Battle took place.  It was quite a siege and left both the brick house and the wooden office riddled with bullet holes.  Very interesting town, I wish we could have spent more time there, but it was a long drive from the campground and we had arrived late in the day.  We will remember it for next time!

Back at the campground, activities were going strong.  They had everything from Bingo to BBQ, from live music to ice cream socials, watermelon eating contests to water slides and for Memorial Day they invited Rolling Thunder to do the Missing Man table ceremony.  I had never seen it before and was really moved...to tears.  Very touching, and perfect for the day.  Being a "Navy Brat", military observance is special to me and this really touched my heart.  These men and women who dedicate their time, money and energy to keep the POW & MIA active is really something.   

We met some great people here and had a wonderful time.  I loved looking out my window each day, watching the families enjoy the lake together, watching the geese as they honked at each other in the park beside us.  The night before we left, it gave us a wonderful sunset to say goodbye, come again!  ...I love that, we will!

...on the road to Kentucky,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Texas Adventures - Family & Friends...New & Old!

If you've read my blog before, you know that we come to Texas every year, sometimes more than once or twice!  (it's hard to miss!)  We have a son who lives here...and, it's a big state!  We always see & do something new...but this year, we've lucked out and have (so far) had several wonderful "new" experiences!  Some we expected, and some we didn't!

We came, expecting, and got, a new addition to our little family...a new, beautiful, healthy (thank God) baby Grandson!  My son and his lovely wife gave birth to our last (our children have proclaimed) and 8th grandchild.  We've had the wonderful privilege of being there for each of the births, so couldn't miss out on the last one either, so made sure we were "in Texas" for the big event!  We were all thrilled that all went well for baby and mom and they came home with only two days in the hospital.  Big brother was happy about that as well!

The surprise, for me was getting to meet and know my daughter-in-law's Aunt Michelle.  She had come in from Utah to be with her niece for the birth as well and was able to spend a week.  The two of us really hit it off!  She is just a few years older than my own daughter, but "wise beyond her years", as they say.  We have so very much in common that we ended up talking for hours and hours while we watched and played with Dublin (the big brother) and took care of the home front while mom, baby and dad were at the hospital, or resting at home.  I hated to see her leave, we all did, and teased her about making her miss her flight.  Such a sweetie and welcomed new friend that I'm sure will remain in my life.

We stayed on for several more days to play with both grandchildren and spend time with my son and daughter-in-law as well as to do some work on our rig.  That's the luxury of having a spot at your family's, you can work on your rig, where you can't at a campsite!

It was time to move on though, so we decided to see another part of Texas that we haven't seen before, and that is the eastern part, known as the "Piney Woods".  It's really the last section of Texas that we haven't seen yet, so we checked out several areas and decided on a COE park called Buckhorn Creek at Lake O' the Pines outside of Jefferson.  I had read an article about Jefferson that sounded like a great place to visit, so off we went (only about 3+ hours away).

Nice drive, and the park turned out to be just beautiful!  Great, large sites.  Each separated with grass and trees and plenty of space in between.  We have a nice view of the very large lake right in front of us too.  Our first night here our next site neighbors came over and introduced themselves and chatted for awhile.  So friendly.  We got a spectacular sunset that night!  One of the prettiest I've seen in a long time...a "warning" of the rain storm to come the next day tho...and did it ever!  Sure enough it came in with full force!  Lightening and thunder and buckets and buckets of rain!  Sure was glad we were all settled in with good books and plenty of food!  ;-)

I had taken a picture of our lovely site the day before, and on a whim, posted it on Facebook  Not something I usually do actually, but it had been so pretty, I just did it.  Well it must have meant to be, because an old friend of mine (one I haven't seen in over 25 years!) saw it and contacted me and said "OMG Marie, you are only a few miles down the road from where we live!  Call me back and let's get together!"  I was ecstatic!  We did and was able to arrange a time for us to meet at their home and have a lovely evening together.  I had no idea that she lived in this area...had I not posted that, I would have missed her, and gone on my way...Thank goodness for tiny miracles!

Elaine & Jack on their boat touring lake Simpson

We took a drive today out to Caddo Lake to check it out and see if we could take a boat ride.  It was all booked up for today, so we booked one for tomorrow, so decided to just take a drive "around" and see what we could see.  We had no direction, we just drove here and there...we ended up at one point in front of a little Cafe.  When we parked the car, there was a beautiful 1968 bright blue Mustang convertible parked near us and as we were getting out, two nice ladies (that looked to be in their mid 40's) came out and started to get in it.  I commented to them that "I should have known that that lovely car would belong to two lovely ladies such as yourselves!"  They thanked me, and we walked over and started talking to them, about the car at first and then in general.  We four must have stood there talking about "traveling the byways" for almost 40 minutes!  Such fun!  They were absolutely delightful!  Two great friends who loved to travel hither and yon, having great adventures whenever they can.  Jack pretty much talked the owner of the car into getting a little "Tear Drop" camper to attach to the back (she was thinking of "something" to pull behind).

They insisted I get in behind the wheel!  Such fun!  ;-)

They suggested a fun General Store in the town of Jonesville. It's been in operation since 1847.  So, when we left the Cafe (after a great lunch!) we decided to check it out).  Well...Jonesville turned out to be a Post Office, that General Store (T.C. Lindsey & Co.) and a couple of old abandoned buildings that used to be a Cotton Gin & storage buildings.  That's it.  That's the town!  The store was quite something to see tho and well worth the trip (so were the old buildings, I thought).

It's so much fun to meet new people, to share stories, to laugh and learn new things...this is why I love this life of ours...

...kicking back in Texas,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

It takes all kinds...

Every January we return to San Diego CA for a few weeks to visit friends and family.  We lived in the area for many years, and after we retired, almost five years ago now, we sold "everything" and bought our sweet home on wheels, and hit the road!  Without a 'sticks and bricks' abode, we camp in Mission Bay when we return. 

San Diego proper has three campgrounds to choose from, kind of like a Goldilocks situation:  #1 Campland on the Bay - the most expensive; has all the bells & whistles with a restaurant, pool, clubhouse, store, planned actives, etc.  #2 Mission Bay RV Resort - next price down; still on the bay, but no bells & whistles, just a snack bar, and without all those "b & w", quieter.  #3 is Santa Fe Park RV Resort - the least expensive of the three and across the way, tucked into the hills, no bay view/traffic view instead (they do have a pool tho).  Probably less kids due to no bay (I'm guessing).  Like Goldilocks, it's whatever meets your needs (and pocketbook). 

We don't have any kids (or grand kids with us) and in January, no need for a pool, etc. so  no need for all the bells & whistles, so Mission Bay RV Resort meets our needs just fine.  We like the view of the bay and seeing the sunset (when it graces us with one!) and the quietness of the park...usually. 

Now, in these four plus years of constant travel (we don't season stay, we are 'on the move' all year long) we have camped at all kinds of parks and seen all kinds of people and all kinds of rigs.  People watching is part of the fun!  Getting to meet people, learning new things and ways to do things is part of the adventure.  But every now and then, you see someone or something that just makes you go hm mm...

On a walk around the campground one afternoon we came across what we considered a very ingenuous setup!  Someone had created a wonderful play area for their cats (or small dog) leading in & out of their rig through a small window through a series of screened tunnels into both shaded and sun areas.  Very nice and kind for the animals, and it looked fun too! 

On the other hand, we experienced our first "clean-freak" (I'm not sure what else to call him).  You see, he evidently didn't like dirt, dust or leaves to settle around his rig, as twice a day he would get out his large leaf blower and blow off every little thing all around his rig, his car and his neighbor's area!  Ah, the wonderful sound of a leaf blower while you are enjoying camping...nothing quite like it!  ;-)  Now I understand that Mission Bay RV Resort with it's tarmac sites, and bay views might attract the non-camping-type camper, but that does seem a bit excessive...

Oh well, it takes all kinds...  We were graced with a beautiful sunset before we left!  Thanks Mission Bay, we will be back again!

...on the road, Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

It's not all fun and sunshine!

Life on the road isn't always "fun and sunshine" even though it appears like it is from my blogs.  Like life itself, it has it's ups and downs.  Lucky for us, it's mostly ups...but when the downs do come, yuck, they aren't fun!

Take this last week for instance...It started out just fine.  We headed out of Florida, heading towards Dallas to see my son and his family for a couple of days before heading to San Diego/north county for a month (Jack anyway...me, that's another story).  We had to make it quick because we needed to be in San Diego by end of the first week of March at least.  That gave us about two full weeks - no problem!  Plenty of time to stop in Dallas for a couple of days and stop in Glendale AZ to visit friends there as well.  Easy peasy...

One of the "codes of the roads" RVers live by, is the weather.  You check it daily, sometimes, several times a day, if you have to, depending on the time of the year.  As we traveled west the weather started getting worse and worse.  Each day the Dallas area's weather report got worse, so by day three of the trip, it wasn't looking good, and we knew we were going to have to turn and forgo Dallas and head toward Houston.  Dallas was snowing.  We don't do snow, ice or hail.  I was heartbroken.  I was going to miss seeing my grandson crawl for the first time...something I had been looking forward to for months.  They sent me a video.  Next best thing...I guess.

On to San Antonio we headed.  Colder and colder it got, but "ok" so far, so off to Ft Stockton the next day.  Oh my, that's when it hit!  Snow & ice, yikes!  Not fun.  By the time we pulled into the RV Campground, our windshield was three quarters covered in ice, and of course the wipers were only partially working.  Thank goodness Ft. Stockton RV Campground has a great little cafe attached that serves nice hot, homemade meals - which half the camp was there taking advantage of!  When we pulled in, 3 more RVs were right behind us, in the same condition we were in.  As we sat in the cafe that evening, we all shared how much fun (not) the drive had been and how (most of us) were headed west as fast as we could! 

We decided to go ahead and leave the next day and head out to Las Crusas  NM, it turned out ok, but it took until almost mid afternoon before we hit "dry freeway".  That night rewarded us with a beautiful New Mexico sunset to help us forget the last harrowing days.

The following day, the Arizona sun was a welcome relief from all that cold.  It was to be a quick visit with our friends in Glendale, then on to Yuma for a couple of days, that's all.  That was the plan anyway. 

We were all set to pull everything together, and I'm pushing the button for the last slide in...and guess what?  It doesn't come in...again!  Ugh.  This has happened once before, so we know what the problem is.  Jack tries to fix it, but no luck...and guess again, it's Sunday, no less.  That limits our options on getting a mechanic out to fix it.  Several phone calls later, and Ron's Mobile Service will try and make it out, but most probably it will be the next morning at 8:30.  So, we are stuck in Yuma another day.  We can't really go anywhere because "Ron" just might be able to make it...

Monday morning comes, and Ron shows up right at 8:30!  By 9:30 he's on his way again, and we are pulling everything back together and getting ourselves "outta here"!  I'm doing the final check, behind the rig, making sure the lights are working etc. and not looking at the ground (hey, the lights are up at the toad & the rig!) and don't see this guy's "decorative" bricks sticking out from his mobile unit, and trip over them.  Down I got, splat face first onto the tarmac!  Ouch!  Took the skin right off one of my hands, my knee and bruised up my leg and other hand pretty good too.  Nice.  So then spent the next half hour cleaning it up and bandaging myself.  Jeez, all I wanted to do was leave!

Sometimes the joys of "the road" is just finally arriving safe and sound where you were headed for in the first place!


...kicking back in California,  Marie