Heading Home Soon

Hello to our RV blog readers!  We've been hanging out in the California desert for just about a month now, enjoying the warmth, sunshine, and for hubby - a few rounds of golf. Here's a selfie taken poolside on a recent sunny day.

Believe it or not, we've had quite a few days of really (and I mean really) windy weather.... which means lots of sand and debris in the pool - yuck. Apparently spring is "wind season" for desert dwellers.  As mentioned, hubby has had some fun golfing of late.  Here's a photo he took on one of the courses last week:

A very picturesque course in La Quinta. Note the green off in the distance, across the gulley of rocks and brush. 

That day he was golfing with his buddy Phil, and snapped this one:

They had a great day!  

Jinx the RV cat has enjoyed his time OUT of the RV, where he has the run of the place and can actually go outside without his jacket and leash!  Here he is, napping under a bush -

Yes, we'll admit it, we've had some real lazy days.  But soon, all that will change as we once again pack up the Winnebago Journey and begin our trek up the entire west coast to our home in northern Washington State. Our final leg of this trip will be approximately 1350 miles.  We plan to go a bit further per day than we did on our trip east - in order to get to "home sweet home" no later than May 18th.  We hope you'll continue to follow along with us on the home stretch of this journey!  Be watching for more posts soon!

Camp Life

Greetings from Arizona, where the sun is shining and spring has well and truly arrived! Hard to believe it's been two weeks since our last update! We traveled from Dallas through west Texas, & spent a few nights in Odessa. To all you Texans out there, no offense, but west Texas is SO flat and brown and blah! We traveled through the huge city of El Paso (crazy, nutty drivers there!) and back into New Mexico where we spent a few nights in Deming. We have spent the last week and a half or so in Arizona, first in Benson and most recently in Casa Grande.  Both RV parks were lovely, but there was one really awful thing about Benson - the trains.  I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that they are extremely LOUD and frequent. One night I was awakened (for the umpteenth time) at 3 am by the train blowing it's horn while passing by.  Between 3 and 4 am I kid you not, I counted 5 trains go through town. I realize they HAVE to blow their horns, but oh my word.  We truly do not understand how people can live there.  Then it was on to the Casa Grande RV resort.  Really enjoyed it there, even though it (like all the southwest parks) was all gravel.  Jinx enjoyed "dove-watching" every day at this park.  Hubby played golf one day, we did a little sight seeing, shopping, and caught up on motor home cleaning as well as laundry. Very laid back on our way back west. One afternoon we drove the 35 miles north to Chandler Arizona where we lived exactly 10 years ago.  It was fun to drive past both the golf course where John worked and the hospital where I worked.  We had lunch at a Greek restaurant, and I finally got to buy a few small items from a store called "Lush" that I'd only heard about, but had never been to.  

For the rest of this post, I thought I'd show a few photos of our everyday "camp life" in the motor home.  I haven't taken that many inside snapshots, but will post a few that I have.  Hope you'll enjoy.

Okay, so this first one is not an inside photo... just a shot of our Winnebago Journey and our junky little car (which is I'm afraid, on it's last legs) in a pull-through site.  This photo was taken on our way south, back in October - somewhere in Oregon. Pull-through sites are ever so convenient when you only plan to stay one night and not unhook your car (also known as a "toad").

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Here's Jinx in the living room area on his kitty blanket.  You can see the kitchen sink, stove area, and spice rack in the background.

The bedroom.  I hate this bed.  Hate may be too strong of a word, as I'm able to sleep on it every single night, but it does "cave towards the middle" and I despise that.  Dear hubby denies that there is any "caving" going on.  There is.    This shot was taken back in January.  I can tell because I see the flannel sheets are still on the bed.  Love flannel sheets in the cold weather!

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A side view of the bedroom, showing the closets, drawers, and mirror.  They are all part of the "slide out" section of the bedroom.  In the mirror you can see the window on the other side of the room.  Looks like it was just about dusk when I snapped this one.

The bathroom sink area.  Yes, there are two glasses on the counter.  One for the humans, and one for the feline. He prefers to drink out of a glass on the counter.  I know it's crazy, but that's how it is.  The shower is just to the left. I didn't take a pic of the separate toilet area. Heck, it's a toilet in a small room, not photo-worthy, in my humble opinion.

Easily my FAVORITE feature in our motor home is this.... the washer/dryer. Uh huh, I love this thing.... and it works slick as a whistle!  I use one Tide "Pod" per load.  Once the clothes are washed, this magical machine goes directly into DRY mode.  This has saved me countless hours just sitting around a laundromat (or as they say in other places, "launderette").

Since we were speaking of toilets earlier, here's Jinx the RV cat in front of his kitty "crapper".  He is a master at slipping in and out of that little swinging door above his head.  The mat on the floor is an ingenious invention that catches any little bits of litter that come off his paws on his trip out the swinging door.  Thank you, WalMart!

A view from the "navigators seat" on the road.  You can see I need some tools for the trade.  I have the ever-unreliable "Maggie Magellan" on my lap.  On the dash are the camera and both cell phones, what looks like a bag of kitty treats, and my notebook.  My dear daughter in law will vouch that I cannot leave home without a spiral notebook.  It's full of dinner menus, grocery lists, and these days, explicit directions to the next RV park!  I do check the Google Maps app on my cell phone a LOT.  It has saved our behinds more than once when "Maggie" has steered us wrong - or tried to.

Our last photo shows where Jinx loves to ride.  Used to be, he'd get all worried and need to be locked in his crate for the drive.  Not any more. He hears his Daddy start up that big ol' diesel engine, and Jinxie knows we're going bye-bye again. He hops right onto the dinette seat and has a snooze, till we pull in to the first rest area. Then he jumps down and demands a snack! 

We hope you've enjoyed our little tour around the RV.  Next stop: 

"CALIFORNIA, here we come..... right back where we started from........."

 :-)

Week Eight: A Review

Hello from Texas!  Hard to believe we've been on the road eight weeks already! Time to recap last week's RV travels and adventures.  We started last week in Arkansas- Hot Springs Arkansas to be exact. Unfortunately we didn't take many photos at all in Hot Springs.  The weather was cold and dreary for the most part, and we had a sick cat.  Jinx was unwell on Saturday and Sunday.  We never did figure out just what the problem was, but since he wasn't "deathly ill" we waited it out a bit before rushing him to the Vet. Luckily, after two days, he was his yowling furball self again.  For that we were so thankful!  Do you think it's crazy to say prayers for your ill pet? Well, I don't - so quite a few were sent up on his behalf.  On Monday, he was feeling better, so we did go out for a bit of sight seeing.  We drove to Hot Springs National Park. It was in a rather odd setting... the visitors center is located in a former bath house, with other bath houses surrounding it. I think we probably should have taken the time to take a dip into the hot springs...oh well.  Did you know Hot Springs was the boyhood home of our President Bill Clinton?!  He was born in Hope, Arkansas, but moved quite early on, to Hot Springs.

We stayed at a real nice RV park there called Catherine's Landing.  It was beside Lake Catherine, and if the weather had been nice, we would have done some kayaking.  Alas, the weather did not cooperate.  We also noticed some liquid leaking from our junky little car.  The hubs determined it was a radiator leak, so off to WalMart we went.  WalMart has everything an RV'er needs, right?  After purchasing more DexCool and a "stop radiator leak" preparation, we returned to the RV and attempted a fix.  Since I am writing this several days later, I can say "so far so good" for the radiator fix. 

On Tuesday morning we left Arkansas with our next destination set for Terrell Texas.  Terrell is about 35 miles East of Dallas, and we made that our home base for four nights while we explored a bit of Dallas. We stayed at Bluebonnet Ridge RV Park which is a very nice place.  Too bad the Bluebonnets are not yet in bloom. 

There was one place that we HAD TO SEE while in Dallas....  The Texas School Book Depository, which is now a museum.  We really enjoyed the museum, which helped us relive that fateful day when President Kennedy was assassinated.  They did not allow ANY photos at all to be taken inside, a bit disappointing.  Once we were done, we walked outside and John ran into the street where the motorcade went. There, they have marked with an "X", both spots on the street where the President was shot.  John took the next photo from where the 2nd shot hit President Kennedy.  I wasn't at all happy that he'd gone into a very busy street, but sometimes men run wild, I guess!  You can see moi` in the left corner of the photo, in the blue coat. The window that the fateful shot came from is not on the top row, but the next one down, on the far right.

The next photo is a much less "risky" one, taken by me of J on the "grassy knoll" which is right nearby. 

It was a lovely, sunny day in Dallas.  A bit nippy with the wind, but not bad. The next day was sunny as well.... and we headed back into the "Big D". This time we decided to check out the George W Bush Presidential Library.

We'd visited the Reagan Library back in October, so might as well check this one out too.  It was brand new, interesting, and very high tech. We were given iPods with which we could listen to extra commentary, take photos, or videos.  We still preferred the Reagan Library, and highly recommend it to anybody, no matter what your political persuasion.  The GW Bush Library was worth the visit too.  Glad we went.  Here's a shot I took of one of the dresses that our First Lady Laura Bush wore.  

We took lots of other photos inside, but they are on our email accounts and the internet here doesn't allow much downloading, so I gave up.  

Yesterday (Saturday) we left the Dallas area.  It was one heck of a gorgeous sunny day, with temps reaching 83 stunning degrees.  We even had to turn on the A/C for a while.  We reached our present location about 3 pm and after setting up, sat outside with a beverage taking in the lovely weather.  We knew it was coming --- but can you say "denial"???  This morning it was a whopping 18 degrees.  By mid morning, tiny white flakes accompanied by wind were drifting past our window.  Here's the view:

Yes, just above is the picnic table where the three of us sat and lounged in our shorts, just yesterday. No wait, just TWO of us were in shorts! Anyway, today we are hunkered down, bundled up, & trying to keep this tin can warm while not using up all our propane in the process!  Tonight we'll be watching the Academy Awards and sipping on some sort of soup to warm our insides.  

Our last photo shows Jinx the RV Cat - taken this morning. We are SO happy he's feeling fine again.  He sends a big Texas HOWDY to everybody who reads our blog :)

See y'all next time!   

Memphis Part Two: Graceland

The day after the big storm dawned bright and sunny.  This was appropriate as we were about to check another one off our bucket lists, Graceland!  Yes, both of us had Graceland on our bucket lists.  John has been an Elvis fan "forever", and as for me, well, I became a fan as a very young kid. One of my brothers, Steve, was/is a huge Elvis fan. In my family you couldn't miss the sound of "The King" permeating up the stairs for everyone to hear. So, it was off to Graceland with high hopes.  We were not to be disappointed.

Here's Suz, outside the Graceland complex.

Once you purchase your ticket, you then get on shuttle buses that take you across the street to the Graceland mansion.  Here's a view from the street, looking in.  Did you know Graceland encompasses 13+ acres?  We had no idea.

Here's my "Mr Wonderful" on the steps leading into Elvis' home. What a dream come true for us!  Many people say that they are surprised at the size (or lack thereof) of the home.  Visitors are NOT allowed upstairs at all, but the main floor and the basement did seem somewhat small for such a huge star. Somehow, that fact endeared him more to me.  He didn't need the biggest house in Memphis. Graceland was built in 1939 and Elvis was the second owner. He purchased the home and acreage in 1957 at the age of 22, for around $100,000. The home and property was named "Graceland" by the first owners and Elvis decided to keep the name because his mother liked it :)

Again I must remind everyone that the photos taken inside were done without flash.  Many didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but that's okay.  Here's a shot of the living room.  This home is a time capsule, still the same from the day Elvis died in 1977. 

The dining room.  

We went downstairs and saw the "Jungle" room. Again, not great quality, but you can see the green shag carpet on the floor.... the exact carpet was also on the ceiling. We were told that Elvis actually did some recording in this room, but I can't remember which song(s). 

Here's a close up of the chair seen above. Gotta love how the arms were carved to look like... well, like some jungle creature!

After touring inside the main home, we went outside. Who knew Graceland had horses?  Apparently Elvis kept horses as well.  

There are several other buildings on the property.  One of which houses the "Hall of Gold". I guess we shouldn't have been surprised that Elvis had SO many gold records?!  Amazing.

Here is one of my personal favorites.  It's the song I remember playing on our old record player downstairs as a small kid.  Over, and over, and over.

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Another building showcases many of Elvis' jumpsuits and awards. 

Just love this portrait of the young Elvis.  We learned he was such a down to earth kind of guy, giving lots and lots of money to charitable institutions and needy persons.   

We then went out to the "Meditation Garden". Here, Elvis is laid to rest next to his mother, his father, and his grandmother.  

I love this portrait of a very young Elvis and his parents.  Did you know he was a twin? I think I'd heard that years ago, but had forgotten it.  His twin brother, Jessie Garon Presley was stillborn 35 minutes before Elvis Aaron Presley made his appearance. Imagine if there had been TWO like Elvis?!  We considered going to his birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi but didn't make it. Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis in 1948.

Here's another view of the graves.  The grave closest to us in this photo is his grandmother's, Minnie. I had no idea that she lived at Graceland with him! 

We went to several exhibits across the street from Graceland. His airplane, the "Lisa Marie" is there, as well as stuff about his movies, his car and motorcycle collection, and how he loved Hawaii.  Shoot, I sure wish I'd been able to see him in concert!  Guess this is about as close as I'll ever get.

Here's our buddy, the White Knight.... checking out one of Elvis' Cadillacs, and on the table inside his private jet!

We enjoyed nearly everything about Graceland. The folks who work there, while well organized, really don't seem to have their heart in it.  Definitely not like Disneyland, where everybody is all smiles and pleasant.  Oh well, it didn't really affect our enjoyment of this very special place.  One thing that bugs some folks is that there are gift shops every time you turn around - although not in the mansion itself. It IS a money making venture, so I guess that's not too surprising. I didn't find it annoying.  It's pretty easy to ignore a gift shop, even if you are forced to walk right through it.

Elvis' demise was sure one sad story. Unfortunately so many big celebrities get caught up in prescription drugs and other bad stuff.  I'll never forget the day he died.  It was the day my first born son came home from the hospital... his name is Aaron.  Seems fitting, somehow.

Next up.... we head further south again!

Memphis Part One: Sun Studio

We never really planned to go to Memphis, but when the weather got a little warmer, we decided to head north and check it out. Memphis, particularly Graceland, was on both of our bucket lists - so we were thrilled to finally go there.  Our campground was the Graceland RV Park, and our rig was parked on "Don't Be Cruel Lane".  :)

The RV park was located behind the "Heartbreak Hotel" and down at the end of "Lonely Street".  Seriously.  Graceland itself is on Elvis Presley Blvd, so it's clear they really get into the Elvis theme in this part of Memphis. Some may think it's dumb or cheesy, but I liked it. I think hubby did too, huge Elvis fan that he is!

As you can see by the above photo, the weather was not exactly pleasant when we arrived. It was warm, but certainly not sunny.  On day two, we'd heard a storm was coming, so we got going early to visit Sun Studio and the Rock n Soul Museum - with the thought that we'd be back before the worst of it hit.  One great thing is that there is a free shuttle from in front of the Heartbreak Hotel that takes you directly to Sun Studio in downtown Memphis. We took advantage of the shuttle that blustery morning.

Here's John, in front of the historic place...

Again, just keepin' it real folks... here's Suz, getting a bit wind blown in front of a photo they call the "million dollar quartet". Do you recognize the four guys? 

Of course it's Elvis at the bottom right... and the other three are Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.  Sun Studio and Sun Records helped launch the careers of all of these guys, plus MANY others as well.

We went inside and took the little studio tour.  Upstairs they have Sam Phillips office (original owner of Sun Studio) all set up, similar to what it would have been like in the 1950's.

This post is really going to show my age I'm afraid.  The next photo shows broken records on the floor.... apparently Sam Phillips was known to toss records he personally didn't like onto the floor and break them. I'm sure a LOT of people didn't know that records could be shattered like that...(literally), but.... as the older person I am, I clearly remember the old 78's that if dropped, were toast.  

I need to explain that ALL pictures taken indoors were done so without flash. This was a rule that was strictly enforced.  Hence, the quality of these photos are not that great. Sorry 'bout that.

The tour then led us down stairs where the actual recording studio still stands (and functions) to this day.  We were told they do tours during the day and recordings in the evening.  There is acoustic tile all over the walls and ceiling. They leave studio instruments in there at all times.  Suz checks out the drum set below:

Our tour guide was great -- she played music for us and told stories about how everything happened back then... how Elvis came in and cut his first record, paying $4 to do so. Sam Phillips (owner of the studio) wasn't impressed until one day when Elvis sang "That's Alright". The rest is history.

Next, we hopped the free shuttle again, and went downtown near Beale Street to the Rock N Soul museum.  I had NO IDEA that the Gibson guitar company/factory is located in Memphis!  

Here's the hubs in front of the Rock N Soul Museum.

We spent a several hours enjoying the exhibits here.  So many people got their music start in Memphis - we sure learned a lot. A couple of my personal favorites, Issac Hayes and Al Green are two examples.

Another favorite from years gone by was Minnie Pearl.  I had to take a photo of a dress she wore for the Grand Old Opry many, many years ago. 

Again I have to remind our readers that without flash, the photos didn't come out as clear as we'd like, but we're posting them anyway.

The next four photos convinced me that I am indeed a relic and should be in a museum.  Anyone who remembers seeing/using these things in real life apparently can qualify as an antique.  Oh well.  First up, the old radio.  We had one of these in the basement when I was a kid.  Not exactly this model, but very similar.  It was on this contraption that I played the aforementioned 78 RPM records.  The radio/record player now resides with my older brother, Steve, in the Seattle area.

The transistor radio....  yes, I had one. Not sure if it was mine or my brother Brian's, but it was oh-so-cool in it's red leather case, with a little carry handle. Yes, I remember laying out in the sun in the summer, transistor radio next to my ear. It was just what you did back then.  We really didn't worry about skin cancer. We worried about being tan. Dumb, I know, but you live and learn.

I honestly don't know HOW MANY pairs of saddle shoes I owned, but there were lots. My mom even got "saddle soap" so I could keep them clean. They were cute and comfortable, so who could complain? Yes, I really DID think they were cute, back then. :)

The juke box.  They did have even earlier versions, but this is the one I remember.  Hubby said he had these type too, in England. It's kinda sad that they are a thing of the past.

After viewing the Rock N Soul museum we wandered over to a Starbucks while waiting for the free shuttle back to the Heartbreak Hotel. The shuttle driver had warned us earlier in the day that it was "gonna get stormy about 4 pm", and sort of advised us to get back to our abode before then.  Our timing was great.  We were back in our motor home by 3 ish and took Jinx out for a bit of fresh air.  He didn't like the wind, so was back inside in no time.  Right on cue, at 4 pm, the rain began in earnest. It rained and it blew like crazy.  At 4:20, John and I heard some strange sounding sirens.  It didn't take us long to figure what the heck they were. After all, we'd heard those tsunami sirens in Maui a few years back... they were TORNADO sirens. OMG. I quickly brought up Memphis weather online and there it was in black and white.  TORNADO WARNING!  The website said that if you were in a car, get out of it, and go into a building or storm shelter. Okay... well, that applies to motor homes too, right?  I was ready to head for the Heartbreak Hotel, with Jinx on his leash... but John phoned the RV office.  He asked, "should we evacuate to the hotel?"  The girl who answered the phone, OVER THE TORNADO SIRENS, said "oh, no worries, it's just a warning".  Well holy crap.  It's JUST a warning. I kept running around the RV, looking out every window for a funnel cloud, thinking we were about to fly to Kansas. In the end, after lots of prayers, they lifted the warning. All right, maybe we overreacted... but I've never been in a tornado and really don't want to break that record. I honestly don't know how people live in tornado prone areas, and I'm thankful that we don't have them in the Northwest. Yes, we have active volcanoes, tsunamis, and falling trees, but please NO tornadoes!

Next time: Memphis part two - Graceland!