Well, we achieved escape velocity by 10am yesterday...after a last minute flutter when the satellite internet dish wouldn't stow properly and a pair of broken glasses when Tom tried to wedge into a compartment to turn off a valve to prevent the fresh water tank from overflowing. But today was the day and that was it. We had a long day crossing the desert, enjoying the "dancing" windmills in Banning Pass near Palm Springs and then rush hour in Phoenix. 360 miles down, only 2300 more to Miami. We're staying with friends Al and Donna in Chandler and tonight we're on to Tucson and visit with other friends. Weather is sunshine and temps in the 80's. Looking forward to some travelin'...happy trails

Here we go...

Can't believe it's been two weeks. And in that time our plans have changed again. Looks like we're heading out in the morning bound for Miami, Florida to attend to family matters. Ah humidity and bugs...it's been such a long time! Ah, the warm Atlantic and Keys, ah fried bananas, black beans and lechon asado...it too has been a long time.

So, these past days we've been spent readying the RV for the trip...grease, some fluid changes, cleaning out and reordering the basement and making sure the worms are all buckled up for the trip!

Have really enjoyed the time here in the Corona area. Managed to help out with compost and garden project here in the park. Also managed some time in the organic garden nearby at Glen Ivy along with some volunteer work with Riverside Waste Management in their public composting program. Some great hikes and swims...not bad but where did the 2 weeks go?

Also had some time with my mom who's improving a lot since the second surgery for a broken femur. Her attitude and outlook both have improved. Hopefully she'll continue improving and will actually enjoy getting out more. Nancy's adjusting to das "boot". The stiff walking boot to try and heal a badly torn achilles tendon in her right foot. It's been nearly 8 months since the original injury and still shows little improvement. We're going to try a bit of immobility for awhile.

That's it from here...hasta la vista for now folks

From along the trail...

Well, Interstate 10 that is...we left our "home" at Lynx Lake Monday after a wonderful stay, good weather, good visits with friends and still with that special sense the Prescott remains "a place of the heart" for us in our travels.

We dropped down the "hill" along Hwy 89 and by noon we found ourselves in Congress and 15 F warmer. Time to change clothes to tshirts, shorts and sandals...time to readjust to 80F. Spring was well on, too, as we enjoyed the mallow, brittle bush and lupines along the roadside and desert for pretty much the whole trip. We decided to make for Desert Center, CA as a good overnight spot. We shared the night with others too tired to continue on in an abandoned space in what's left of a town. Although there is a RV resort, recreational lake and golf course a few miles to the north but the gas station/garage, market and small snack shop are boarded up. The only operating business appeared to be the US Post Office and a small cafe. The town appears to survive, if you can call it that, on the railroad workers that may still live around and the state highway department garrisoned here. If you look on any map, you'll see why this place is called Desert Center...

Off to Palm Springs and on into SoCal later today. Need to get some new window screens. These 10+ years of desert sun have left ours brittle and bedraggled. Nancy has done her best to keep them stitched up, but there comes a point. Time to support the economic recovery a bit.
Happy trails

Prescott and the Central Highlands of Arizona

We left Yuma along I-8 after finally finding a tire facility that had a compressor large enough to air-up our tires. These tires at 110psi require more of a compressor than is normally found at fueling stations, and the inside dually rear tires require more "personal contortions" than can be made at a truck stop. Anyway we dawdled a bit and made it to Gila Bend, rested fueled up and weighed in on the truck scale...always a moment of truth as it had been 2 years since our last encounter with a truck scale. We weren't disappointed much by the fact that we hadn't lost much weight and still tipped in at a little over 27,000 pounds, and still under our GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating).

(From Left, Donna Ellis, Ms. Nancy, and Lori Nash preping the evening meal)

Spent a few days with friends in Scottsdale, a couple of hours up the road from Gila Bend. Mike and Lori are former fulltimers and may be again someday. They've both just retired in the past several months so it's great to see them catching up on household projects and making plans. We also enjoyed visit with other friends Al and Donna, also former RVers. Dinners, restaurants, a birthday party, bookstores and thrift stores and wonderful bike rides along the famous Scottsdale GreenWay urban park system filled our time nicely. Weather was great as temps in high 70s. Enjoyed seeing the rebirth of farmers markets in the greater Phoenix area. It was great to see they're even growing food in some urban and suburban farmsteads, in addition to the over 50 golf courses and countless yards landscaped straight out of the midwest designs and irrigated with scarce Colorado River water.

We moved up to Lynx Lake, in the Bradshaw mountains about 8 miles from downtown Prescott and took up residence...one of our favorite spots. We camp hosted here back in 2001 for the summer season and have always enjoyed the mountain breezes through the Ponderosa Pines, Junipers and Oaks. There is a 60 acre lake about 1/2 mile from our camp site. It always reminded us of our home back at Big Pond, Pa tucked in amongst the White Pines and Oaks. We're operating here off our solar electric battery system. We'll stay through Easter when we'll begin heading back west to California. Meanwhile, we'll visit with friends at the Highlands Center and others in town. We'll do a visit to our optometrist and Tom will do his not so regular medical visits, blood work etc. And did we mention walks in the woods? A great place with trails everywhere. But we're taking it slowly as we've been at near sea level for months, and the change in conditioning required here at 5600 feet ASL can leave you gasping a bit. Also, as signs of the times, Tom came across this sign while on a trail nearby...
So until another day...we hope you're enjoying life and springtime wherever you be. Happy trails, tom and nancy