Turtle Beach Resort, Manteca, CA

We left Sierra Trails in Mojave late in the morning (surprise, surprise) and had a long drive ahead of us.


It was very pretty traveling through Tehachapi Pass and the windmill farms. A couple of gusts tugged at the coach to make us understand the high wind warnings and the frenzied action of the windmills.


Still, it's fascinating being surrounded with these mechanical wonders.


After a few miles of thumping along on old Highway 99 north of Bakersfield, we gave up and cut across to I-5. From there it was a straight shot north to just south of Stockton.


We are in Manteca, California at the Turtle Beach Resort on the San Joaquin River. The park is green and pretty and we have seen quite a few people fishing. But for us, after driving almost 300 miles, we are ready for a day of rest and recreation.

Not sure where our next stop will be, but it will definitely be north of here.

Sierra Trails RV

We left Ridgeview RV Park in Bullhead City about 10:30 and the temperature was already in the high 90's. Heading west on I-40, we made our usual stops at most of the rest areas and ran into some nasty road construction. The workers had placed cones inside our lane and they had either blown over or someone had knocked them over. But, we spent a couple of miles dodging rolling orange cones. We cutoff onto Hwy 58 at Barstow to head for Tehachapi Pass.


Twenty miles before the pass, we found a Passport America park in Mojave, California. The back lot of the park has pull thru sites which are perfect for an overnighter.


We were settling in when a nice coach pulled in beside us and we had the opportunity to meet a great couple from Tillamook, Oregon. Al and Sylvia were originally from the Seattle area, so we had a fine conversation that lasted a good part of the evening. They'll be leaving in the morning too. Hope we run into them again on the road. (Not literally!)

Bullhead City

OK....here's the update!

Wednesday, we left Verde Valley RV Park and headed north to Flagstaff, where we caught I-40 west. It was a very uneventful travel day (thank goodness) ending in Bullhead City, Arizona, right across the river from Laughlin, Nevada.

We got a wonderful site at Ridgeview RV Resort, sitting on a bluff overlooking the river and the casinos across the way. Not much to look at during the day, but they sure are pretty at night.

The downside to this place is the 110 degree heat. Tooooooo hot! The air conditioning runs 24/7. But the park has a big clubhouse and nice pool.

Thursday, we spent running some errands so we wouldn't go spend the kids inheritance at the casinos. (Ha ha ha.......inheritance.......he he he)

In the afternoon, we decided to take a ride north to Hoover Dam. But a sign along the highway a few miles out of Laughlin caught Doug's attention and we decided to take a detour instead of Hoover. The sign read Christmas Tree Pass. Now, how could we miss such an interesting trip in the 110 degree heat!


So, off we went down another dirt road. (What is it about Doug and dirt roads?) We discovered we were in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and kept going.

Shortly, another sign to Grapevine Canyon detoured us again to a small parking area and trailhead. I remembered reading something about petroglyphs in the area and we decided to hike a short ways into the canyon. It was hot and definitely rattlesnake season. Thankfully, we didn't see any since we were very careful.


What we did see when we reached the entrance to the canyon was these huge boulders covered with drawings. And once we climbed down into the wash that runs through the canyon, it was easy to see hundreds of the petroglyphs as well as caves all through the rocks.


Of course Doug couldn't resist a cave and while I waited below, he climbed up the trail into the rocks.


He made it to the big cave, but decided it might not be a great idea to enter. Although, he could see evidence of fires that had been lit inside. We hiked back to the car instead of going further down the canyon. I had no hat and wasn't prepared for hiking today. We saw zillions of little lizards and birds and rabbits in their natural habitat.

We continued through Christmas Tree Pass, all the time wondering how it got it's name. The road was pretty bad in a few places and we considered turning around but we figured we were halfway to Highway 95 and we might as well continue on.


I noticed a brilliant spot of red on a tree as we wound through the hills and asked Doug to stop. We were both in hysterics to realize the red thing was a plastic pointsettia wired to a tree branch.


And as we continued, we discovered trees covered with tinsel and small Christmas ornaments. Someone has a great sense of humor! It was a wonderful drive and about 6pm we arrived at Hwy 95. From there, it was a 35 mile drive back to Bullhead City.

So, that catches us up to our moving day again.

Verde Valley

Another day on the road, albeit much shorter, brought us through Flagstaff and then south through the Kaibab National Forest.


Our destination was Verde Valley at the Thousand Trails Park. Since we are up in the mountains, we expected the temperature to be quite pleasant. Think again! It was 103 and still rising. As we checked in at the ranger station, we were told that there are only 17 sites with 50 amp power and that they were first come first served. The ranger didn't believe there were any available, but someone might be leaving tomorrow and we could move quickly to claim the site, then let them know at the station. There is a $3.00 charge for the 50 amp sites.

We drove down into the park in the valley where we unhooked the car so we could drive through the 3 sections and find a perfect spot. Lo and behold! The first 50 amp site we saw was empty. Doug quickly brought the coach and backed into it while I called the ranger station to verify the spot was available. Yea!!!! It was. By now, we were both melting from the heat so Doug plugged in the power cord and turned on the air conditioning. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh..........



It's a nice park with lots of trees and grass. Just too bad about the power situation. Doug sprayed for bugs and we finished setting everything in place while the coach cooled down.

After a few minutes to relax, we decided to take a ride into Cottonwood which is only 5 miles away. It's a decent size town with everything we might need for the next couple weeks. Then we continued exploring and followed the signs to Jerome.


Jerome is a historic copper mining town that is sometimes called "America's most vertical city". At one time, it was the 4th largest city in the Arizona Territory and now is a thriving tourist community. Most of the homes and business are perched on the 30 degree incline of the mountain and gravity has already claimed some.


We continued to follow the road and signs up the mountain to the Gold King Mine & Ghost Town. It was getting late in the day and a thunder and lightning storm that had just rolled in kept us from touring the ghost town. It looked interesting, but Doug wanted to get us off the mountain before the storm got crazy.


The storm and 10 drops of rain cooled the air down to the low 90's. It was quite comfortable by the time we arrived back at the coach.

Meteor Crater

We got our usual early start (11am) from Albuquerque and drove west on I-40 through rolling hills. The day was gorgeous, in the 80's and sunny with blue sky all the way.


We stopped at a scenic view pullout at the Pueblo Laguna. It's an old, old indian village and set up in the rest area were a series of shacks filled with Indians selling jewelry. We had a nice visit and found that most of the stones used in the jewelry came from other states. But the Indians made the jewelry.

We continued our journey and hours later, arrived at Meteor Crater RV Park. This is a lovely park that sits only five miles from the Meteor Crater. It's the first, proven meteor crater on earth and is huge. Our intentions were to visit the crater, but you know how it goes with the best laid plans of mice and men. Next time!


The park is spacious with wide sites and very well maintained. By the time we set up and relaxed, the temperature climbed to 103 degrees. Thank heavens for air conditioning!


As the sun went down, the air cooled and we had a pleasant evening visiting with our neighbors. They are future fulltimers and had lots of questions.


This sunset was our view from the front window. What a life!

Bushland and New Mexico

We left Amarillo this morning under grey, threatening skies. It was warm, but not very pretty.


I-40 was our route today and the first thing we saw heading west was this sign for Bushland. How about that? Doug has his own land now.


We enjoy seeing signs that relate to peoples names, but usually, we shoot past them too quick to get pictures.


This was our favorite sight of the day. We crossed back into New Mexico and Mountain Time. It was a lot more fun gaining an hour than losing one. Of course we stopped at the rest area and picked up brochures for the Albuquerque area and stretched our legs.

It was a pleasant drive and once we hit the New Mexico border, the sun reappeared with beautiful blue skies and no clouds. The temperature was in the low nineties when we arrived at the park.


With no trouble, we found Hidden Valley RV Park in Tijeras which is about 10 miles east of Albuquerque. We are packed in like sardines and can't even put our awning out all of the way.


But, we are parked near the end of a row so this is our view out the living room window.


And this is the view from the front window.

It's a friendly park built on a hillside with narrow, winding roads. But we (Doug) negotiated them perfectly with the car still attached. We'll be just fine here for a short stay with some sightseeing.

Moving a Little Early

We had planned on staying at Bay Landing in Bridgeport, TX until Saturday morning. But the weather forecast was threatening and we were just plain uncomfortable in the heat without air conditioning. So, we moved on!

Heading west again, we took highway 380 west to 281 north and then 287 to I-40. It was another lovely drive through small towns, farms and green countryside. Our destination was Amarillo and the Oasis RV Resort.


This is a fairly new park that isn't listed in any of our books yet. I just happened to stumble upon it through a website called RV Park Reviews. The website is reviews by travelers that actually use the parks and rate them. It's a wonderful resource.


Once we arrived, we discovered it's a Passport America park and we received a small discount. The clubhouse/check in office is fantastic. Very upscale, spacious and well appointed. The manager couldn't be any more friendly and helpful. The park is huge and not very full.


The sites are mostly long pull-thrus with a few back-ins sites, as well as level with concrete pads, patios and modern hookups. Personally, I like some trees and green to break up the parking lot look. But, it sure is easy to park!



We'll be here until Sunday morning, then we'll continue on to Albuquerque.

Tornado Watch

Our travel day brought us to Bridgeport, Texas on the shores of Lake Bridgeport. It was a pleasant drive down a smaller highway through farms and ranches and dozens of small towns. I definitely prefer these roads to the interstates. But Doug likes to make time buzzing straight to the next destination.

We arrived at Bay Landing Thousand Trails where we will stay for the next four days. The sun was shining and the park nearly empty.


Our site is so long and backs up to the lake. We could put three motorhomes in our site and never bother anyone.


There's a nice patio with picnic table, barbecue and fire pit just outside our door. The only downfall is the ants. Doug has been very busy poisoning the anthills.


This is directly behind our coach where the trail to the lake starts. It's actually a man made lake that is 8 miles long and 3 miles wide for water conservation.



It's a nice fishing lake with rental boats at the clubhouse and right now there is a very rocky beach because the water level is quite low.


We wandered along the beach looking for treasures but only found bottles, cans and junk. Still, it was a fun afternoon.

That fun afternoon quickly deteriorated after dinner when the clouds rolled over us and the thunder and lightning storms started. We tuned to the local tv station to find there was a tornado watch being announced for this county. The park ranger told us to head for the concrete restrooms if the alarm was actually sounded. Great!!! This wasn't in our plans!

It was a very restless night, waiting, wondering and watching the sky.

We Hit the Jackpot

Today was a travel day. We were so glad to leave Fort Stockton with it's horrendous winds and nasty rv park.

I-10 was our route winding through lovely, green hills where wildflowers graced the sides of the highway. Purple, lavender, orange, white and two shades of yellow with an occasional bright red thrown in for contrast. The sun was shining and the wind was manageable.


We passed through miles of windmill farms. And the closer we got to San Antonio the warmer and nicer it became. We left I-10 and headed south in search of the Thousand Trails park where our reservations had been made. Following a number of backroads, we passed through Bandera and Pipe Creek and there were few signs to guide us.

Finally, we stumbled upon Medina Lake Thousand Trails. The car was quickly disconnected from the coach and we drove through this gorgeous park to find a site that was perfect for us.


What a find! All of the sites are surrounded by trees and grass and deer. We were extremely lucky to find one at the end of a row with a big "front yard". There are two picnic tables and a barbeque and no one next to us.


And the entire park is full of deer, jack rabbits, squirrels, ducks and birds. At one point, there were seven deer in our "yard" and close to 60 in the field across from us. Doug sits at the picnic table and practices his deer whisperer routine. It's amazing how close they will come to him.


It is so quiet and peaceful here, that we are hoping to extend our stay to two weeks. There is so much to see in San Antonio and we would like some time to just relax and enjoy the wildlife and greenery. We hit the jackpot with this park!

Not Too Sure About Texas

We managed to leave Edgington RV Park by 10am. It's a good time to start our travels because the morning traffic rush is over and we can have the roads fairly uncongested. The trip took us south on Hwy 54 through some very barren, uninteresting terrain. About 85 miles later, we crossed the border into Texas at El Paso.

The navigation through this huge city was relatively easy and soon we were in the foothills. The scenery improved dramatically! The hills were green with new growth and there were some interesting rock formations.


Traffic remained light, so we stopped at a couple of rest areas. In Texas, the rest areas are very nice. (so far)


They aren't huge, but we had no trouble finding a place to park right next to a covered picnic area. We stretched our legs and continued on. Soon, we crossed from Mountain time to Central time and instantly lost an hour. The day got shorter as we went instantly from 2pm to 3pm.

There are a few small towns on I-10 in west Texas. We stopped for diesel in Balmorhea and considered spending the night there. The price was right ($10) but the park was a wide open space with lots of wind and we had very poor phone reception. We can deal with most obstacles, however being able to stay in contact with family and friends is a high priority for us.

So we continued east until we came to Fort Stockton. It's a decent size town that we will explore more tomorow. Tonight, we are tired of driving and I found a park listed in our Passport America book for $10 a night. As we drove into the park, we weren't too impressed. We booked three nights because we didn't really want to be driving on Easter Sunday, then drove to our site.


Ouch!!! It's terrible. We had a heck of a time getting level and then discovered broken glass, nails and garbage everywhere. We cleaned up what we could and kept repeating it's only until Monday. Then the party at the neighbors started. Loud, obnoxious, rude are just a few of the words describing their antics. Despite the rules clearly stating "no open fires", they had a huge blaze next to their rundown rv. By 10:30pm they were really going strong and we are rethinking our stay here.


Unfortunately, this place will be getting very poor reviews from us.

OK....here's the deal......we are having a tremendous windstorm of 41mph winds. I can't upload any photos for this entry. But, if it all dies down tomorrow, I will add them to this blog post. Check back soon........

Alamogordo!

Again, rain and sleet on the roof! We packed up the last minute stuff and hit the road out of Pinos Altos. Since we were going to stop at the Walmart in Silver City (6 miles away), I just followed Doug and the motorhome in the car. The gas station at Walmart is kinda snug and maneuvering was easier without the car hooked on behind. The snow was coming down pretty good as we got off that hill!

We used our Walmart card and saved some money on diesel, then hooked up the car and pointed south. It was a nice drive back through Deming and then on into Las Cruces. Las Cruces was a much bigger city than we were expecting and we got to drive right through town. Narrow lanes and lots of traffic, but we made it. Then we continued north on US 70 through San Agustin Pass, past the Holloway Air Force Base and the White Sands National Monument to the much smaller city of Alamogordo.


We found the Edgington RV Park just two miles past Alamogordo. I had called last night to see if they had room for us since it's a fairly small park. All we gave them was our name, but the owner, John saw us coming down the road and waved us in through the exit of the park, guided us to our spot and took the time to introduce himself, his wife and the park. What neat people! We have never been treated like long lost relatives at a park before! John & Barbara brought us brochures of all the things to see and do in the area and visited and answered all of our questions.



The picture of our site makes it look barren here, but it's quite the opposite. In front of us are almond trees, pine trees, a huge willow tree and many others I can't name. It was just desert when John & Barbara bought the property 25 years ago. He has planted every tree himself.



He also built the fishing pond in the middle of the park. It's stocked with catfish, bass, blue gill and some koi. Doug can hardly wait to start fishing. Since we still have fish in the freezer, he'll probably just catch and release.


Here's the pond from the other side. There's a little dock and a picnic table. Quite refreshing!

I spent the evening going through brochures and I hope a week is long enough to see every thing!

And most important........Happy Birthday Mom Bev!!!!!!

Pinos Altos (Tall Pines)

Ha! You probably thought we were going to Silver City after yesterday's post. Fooled you! Actually, we are about six miles north of Silver City in the teeny, tiny town of Pinos Altos. 150 years ago, gold was discovered in these hills and this rough and tumble town grew almost overnight.


We are parked in an old apple orchard/rv park called Continental Divide RV Park. It's full of old, crummy trailers and converted rvs, but it's central to all of the things we want to see and the price is right.


We drove a narrow, windy road up into the mountains where the continental divide runs right through the rv park. Since we are at 7000 feet, I'm guessing the nights will be below freezing. And the scenery here is so different from the desert. It's green and there are trees everywhere. It almost reminds us of Idaho.


After we got all set up, we took a ride through historic Pinos Altos. This is the museum and yes, it's as old and rustic as the picture portrays. This was Grant County's first private school house, built around 1866. We didn't have a chance to go inside, but we certainly will before we leave.

This is the opera house. It was built in 1969, capturing the flavor of an old west opera house. According to the signs on the front doors, it is still used to present old fashion melodramas. I would dearly love to see one of those!


And this is the historic saloon, built in 1865. There were several more historic sights such as the original cemetary, the first courthouse and Judge Roy Bean's store site. But we didn't get pictures of everything. Maybe later.

Tomorrow, we will check out the Silver City visitor information center and the local rockshop for maps of the old mines in the area. Most of the mines are on BLM (bureau of land management) property and are open to anyone. Of course, we won't enter the mines themselves, but there is plenty of rockhounding material in the tailings piles.

Lots to report in the next week as long as the weather continues to be good. There are reports of heavy winds and a few rain showers over the next few days. Wish us luck!