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

Olgivy Road, Yuma Area

Well, we've moved along and find ourselves in a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) area about 10 miles west of Yuma off I-8...quite a change from Tecopa over 350miles to the north. Our trip took us south across the Mojave Preserve and through the historic railroad town of Amboy complete with its cinder cone crater and straddling US Rt 66, the Mother Road of America. We found a nice spot to spend the night along the road and enjoyed spring wildflowers the next morning on a walkabout of the area. Later we drove through town and spotted the "shoe tree" next but didn't find any explanations from some folks we met in Amboy. Probably somebody had an extra pair and decided to leave a legacy...and so did many others! One of those many surprises and curiousities we've found along the road these many years.

Later that day we passed through Blythe and took the back road south along CA 78 to Olgivy Road/CA 34. It was a narrow rolling road with no shoulders and a bicycle tour group heading north. Felt badly for them because the traffic was pretty heavy, with a lot of trucks and RVs. Sure they were looking forward to a quiet and scenic ride, but that certainly didn't appear to be the case Tuesday.

Here we've come to make our annual dental visit in Algodones, BC, Mexico a few miles to the east and south of here. We've been making our annual trek here since 1995 and have had the same dentist almost since then.Yuma is the winter lettuce and greens capital of the country with many growers and packers taking advantage of the milennia of flooding from the Colorado River. It's a large winter gathering destination point for Snowbirds and RVers from all over the US and Canada. It's also home of the Yuma Proving Grounds where the US Army has a large R&D facility and the MarineCorps has a very active airbase. For us it's been a great winter climate, lots of public (BLM) land and plenty to do, or not, and a close proximity to Mexico.

We're taking advantage of the same income disparity which draws so many Mexican nationals here for work. It's quite surprising and sobering to see the many greybeards and snowbirds treking across the border for the relatively "low cost" dentists, optometrists and prescription drug pharmacies. Dental costs are roughly a third or less for standard procedures in the US, and many of the dentists are trained in the US. Quite a national statement to realize so many visitors are retirees without insurance taking advantage of this disparity to buy name brand & generic prescription drugs as well as getting new dentures, implants and all types of dental care. We try to point this ironic disparity to fellow bordercrossers while waiting in line often for over 1 1/2 hours to walk back through the border. Few seem to appreciate this irony. Fewer still have an appreciation of the efforts taken by many Mexicans to make the difficult journey to cross the border without documents looking for a job. Lately we have begun seeing Mixtec Indian women selling chiclets trinkets and when possible begging on the street. They are always surprised when we talk with them and tell them we know of their village. They are always pleasantly surprised and even proud of their homeland in Oaxaca over 2500 miles to the south. They remain very secretive of their circumstances as they are trying to eke out a living on the margin...but it appears a better opportunity here than in the hills of Huahuapan de Leon, Oaxaca.

That's it for today. We'll soon be heading east towards Phoenix-Scottsdale to visit friends and continue our annual medical visits. Hope this finds you well and keep in touch...tom and nancy

Spring time departure

It's official...spring and our departure from Tecopa. It has been windy with near white-out conditions on Sunday due to the akili dust and near 5omph gusts! We're also finally back traveling. Our first day out we went 120 miles to Amboy, CA and old Rt 66. It was tough leaving as we'd met some wonderful people, had a great work experience at the Hot Springs and enjoyed much of the natural history of the area.

Tom made another camping visit to Death Valley...this time to the west side of the valley into the Panamint mountains near Telescope Peak, the highest in Death Valley at over 11ooo feet. The car camping experience is still a bit rough, but improving. Only problem is to remember everything and not worry about the hard rear floor of the car. Just add more padding next time!Seems my back and hips don't enjoy the sleeping arrangements. There was lots of walking and photo shooting and the weather was great.


More recently Ms. Nancy enjoyed her trip to Las Vegas with a wonderful meal at an East Indian lunch buffet. Later it was a trip to her favorite, the Barnes & Noble for an afternoon of tea and magazines. Tom enjoyed this as much with his favorite coffee. Finally a stop for some fresh produce, groceries and Trader Joes and then the 80mile ride home and a soak in the hot baths before bed. Can't beat it as a trip to the big city, even if it is Las Vegas.

We're now heading on to Yuma, AZ area and the annual dental visit via the scenic route across the Mojave Preserve, 29 Palms area and then along the west side of the Colorado River down to Winterhaven, CA just west of Yuma.

March comes roaring in

Tecopa continues to enjoy southerly winds bringing clouds and some warmth. Spring is definitely here and even some disparate wildflowers have been observed nearby.

Death Valley National Park is relatively close so we've made a few forays there to observe the bones of the planet and "long time"...the geology of periodic ocean, lakes, layering, uplifts and faults over millions and millions of years. It is a really humbling experience. Here's one of Ms. Nancy at Badwater, 232 feet below sea level and the lowest point in continental US.


Tom has been rediscovering car camping with a recent trek to Death Valley with Priscilla Prius, queen of the desert. He recently took off for Death Valley again and ended up driving all the way over the Panamint mountains on the west side of valley. Here the Panamint range is to the east near sunset at Panamint Springs.

The little Prius is proving to be quite a comfortable ride and a geat sleeping berth. More to follow as he's hoping to venture out again in a few weeks.

The time is running on our stay here and we're looking to leave around the 22nd of March for Arizona. Hope to make it to Las Vegas at least once more. Happy trails...