Winter Road Trip (3-5-23)

 Once mid January arrived and the weather was horrible, we looked at a map to see where we could go to explore-we were specifically looking for someplace new.  We decided to make a small loop, staying within the state of Arizona, but hopefully heading someplace warmer.

The trip didn’t go exactly as planned-but we had a great time nonetheless. Our first, brief stop was Quartzsite AZ. This is a haven for RVers in the winter, and the town hosts one of the largest RV shows in the area.  We- the 4 of us- found a spot to park for two nights, and waited for the “Big Tent” RV show to open. In the meantime we met with friends Debbie and Al for lunch and just generally wandered around. Although we spent very little time actually exploring the RV Show, we spent a fair amount of money, since Paul decided our tow bar for the Jeep needed to be upgraded.

Leaving Quartzsite, we headed for Yuma, AZ, where we encountered our first change of plans. We decided we were really enjoying resort life, so we extended our stay for a few days.

Also on the agenda was dinner with friends, and getting the rigs washed and waxed.  The guys were happy with the results, and very happy they didn’t have to do it themselves.

Of course, no trip to Yuma is complete without a side excursion to Los Algodones Mexico.  We headed there for lunch and shopping, buying some of the ingredients for our margaritas.  Liz and I also apparently bought other things, but our memories of the purchases are clouded by the margaritas we had with lunch.

Next stop on the itinerary was a short one at Painted Petroglyphs Campground.  This is a wide open BLM campground in the desert.  Naturally there were petroglyphs, which took about 30 minutes to explore.

We also drove around the area, and ended up unintentionally trespassing on private property. Luckily no one chased us off, and we saw a really interesting grave site.

 

After leaving there, we were headed to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, but we stopped for lunch in the small town of Why AZ, which resulted in our second change of plans. The town looked interesting, so we found an RV park and stayed for two nights.  After setting up we drove back into town and walked around. The town square was really pretty, and definitely gets plenty of use by the locals.

As an added bonus to our unscheduled stop, we visited Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to hike one of the trails.  Paul and I have been here before but Liz and Randy haven’t.

Arriving at the Wildlife Refuge, we checked in at the visitor center to find out about camping. We know there are close to a hundred dispersed boondocking sites, but wanted some insight as to where would be a good spot for us. After driving around a bit, we found an awesome spot to spend a few nights. Mind you, the weather is still not great, no sitting outside, etc. but warm enough to explore….

We drove the Pronghorn Tour Loop Rd.and although we saw exactly zero pronghorn, I  was amazed at the number of hawks there are on the refuge.  It was the wrong time of year to see a Gray Hawk (which would have been really cool) but we saw tons of red tailed hawks, and  I even saw my first Northern Harrier.

This is when the “Merlin Bird ID” comes in very handy!

The four of us hiked Cienega Trail, which is a 1.5 mile birding trail.  The most interesting things on the trail were the trees.

Paul and I also hiked 4 mile Mustang Trail, and although we didn’t go all the way to the end, it was a good trail, and good exercise.

Our plan was to boondock in the Patagonia area of Arizona, but the recent rains made the roads too slick for us to deal with.  Instead we headed for the small town of Sonoita.  Along our travels, we were trying to find ways to connect with friends who live in the area.  We missed a few due to last minute plan changes, but we did manage to connect with a few as well.

As I said, Sonoita is a small town, and doesn’t have much going on- but it does have a good brewery.  In fact we liked it so much we ate dinner there twice.  The rest of our time was spent driving back to Patagonia to explore.  The Paton Center for Hummingbirds there is a great place to spot all kinds of birds, not just hummingbirds. We found it to be a very relaxing and enjoyable place to hang out.

Although I saw the Violet Crowned Hummingbird ( a new variety for me) getting a picture of one turned out to be an exercise in frustration.  We visited the sanctuary several times over the course of a few days.  I had my good camera at the ready, but it jammed before I could get a picture (this is not my picture.)

The following day Paul and I went back, specifically to see if I could get a picture of this bird- and I forgot to put the battery back in my camera! 

Armed with an annual pass to all Arizona State Parks, we made the effort to check out Patagonia Lake State Park. There is a campground here, but the lake is very popular with boaters, and the campground books out months in advance.  That’s ok, we were just there for lunch.

The Sierra Vista area of Arizona has a lot of interesting things to explore.  We have spent some time here but Liz and Randy have not, so we were happy to head back there.  Then we realized the drive to El Paso to check on Paul’s mom would be a lot shorter from here than from our house- so we left the rig with Liz and Randy and took off for El Paso, returning a few days later.

Oh, one of the few things we did while in Sierra Vista is go see the movie ‘80 for Brady’.  I admit I am biased, being both a Tom Brady, and New England Patriots fan, but I thought the movie was a lot of fun. It brought back some great memories. 

The Super Bowl the women were trying to attend was the Super Bowl of 2017.

 Lots of my friends thought at the time that I must have loved the game because the Patriots engineered the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. BUT- we were losing for most of the game! 

 

It wasn’t until there was less than 2 minutes on the clock that we tied it up (from 28-3 to 28-28).

Everyone was shocked and awed when the Patriots won the game 34-28!

What made it extra special is that the original game was played on mine and Paul’s wedding anniversary, and we went to see the movie on our anniversary. Fun day!

From there it was time to head home, since we had visitors arriving soon.  On the way, Paul and I stopped in Phoenix for a couple of doctor appointments. 

Moving East (09-20-22)

 Once we were done Jeeping in Colorado, we headed east.

We had a specific destination in mind- New Orleans.  We have been there several times and didn’t necessarily need to go back, but I had a reason.  

I am a diehard New England Patriots football fan, but also a diehard Tom Brady fan, and (Tom) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were playing the New Orleans Saints on a day we could get there, so we bought tickets and headed in that direction.

 

Our first stop was a repeat visit to our friends Tom and Dianne, on our way out of Colorado.  I was so excited about the fresh veggies from their garden that they were willing to share, that I didn’t get any pictures of Tom and Dianne.  Oh well…we will be back.

Leaving them, it was Labor Day weekend and we snagged a spot at Santa Rosa State Park in New Mexico. We were surprised there was availability at this park on Labor Day weekend, but when we got there and realized the nearby lake is at 7% capacity, we understood why. Instead of swimming, we headed to “The Blue Hole”. 

This is a very small lake- 80 ft in diameter at the surface, and 80 ft deep-its one of the most popular scuba diving destinations in the U.S.  It is a natural artesian well, fed by a spring, with the water cycling out every 6 hours.The water was stunningly beautiful but at 60 degrees I didn’t feel like plunging in,  so we observed for a while and then left to explore the rest of the town.

Our next stop on our way to Louisiana was at our friends’ house in Abilene TX.  Wil is a fraternity brother of Paul’s and we stop and see them whenever we are nearby.  After a terrific dinner our first night, we left them for the day so they could work, and headed to Frontier Texas, a local museum showcasing what the Texas frontier was like, back in the day.

I thought it was interesting that this area was a frontier more than once. Very early on, native Americans peacefully lived in this area, until the Comanche Indians, who had the advantage of access to horses, and the expert ability to ride them, invaded the area and took it over.

It wasn’t long before businessmen from the east discovered that Buffalo hides were valuable and hunted them almost to extinction.  From 40 million strong the buffalo numbers were decimated and they came close to extinction.

The museum had some interesting holographic images of people who told their personal story, that made the history lesson more interesting.

After leaving Wil and Gayle, we spent one night on the road before arriving at Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville LA, for a week.  We have been here once before and I have to say- Betty’s is a unique experience.  Unfortunately for us, this time around, Betty was on vacation, so not there, and in fact, we were the only guests in the RV Park.  Betty did call us twice to make sure we were having a good time. Her friend Brenda filled in for her,and we had a great time getting to know her, and her dog, Hitch.

After a month of being busy in Colorado, we were ready for some “down” time and found it difficult to get moving every morning. We did manage to do a few things in the week we were in Abbeville, but not many-

The most important thing we wanted to do is head to Buck and Johnny’s for a rip-roaring Zydeco breakfast.  The music was awesome, but the service was terrible –so slow that we never got a chance to dance before they closed.  Next time, we will be the first ones in the door.

Our other major outing was to Rip Van Winkle gardens.  This property was originally the home of Joseph Jefferson, who, it is said, played the role of Rip Van Winkle over 5000 times (in the early 1800s), so its no surprise that the gardens are named Rip Van Winkle Gardens.

The property was eventually sold to John Bayless, who soon sold the salt mine beneath the land and lake (to Diamond Crystal), and built a new, expensive home along the banks of the lake.  In 1980 a Texaco drilling rig, located on the lake, pierced the caverns of the salt mine, flooding the entire mine. The resulting vortex swallowed the entire lake, 65 acres of land, 5 barges, 2 drilling rigs, and Bayless’s brand new house.  All that remains of the house is the chimney. Remarkably, no one died.

Paul had heard the story of the vortex, so it was pretty neat to be here and see where it happened, first hand.  When I did a web search, pictures and videos showed up of the actual disaster, but there were no clear pictures worth sharing (google Lake Peigneur disaster). 

The gardens themselves were ok, and included the original house,  but it was clear that we were past peak growing season here.

Pretty much the only other thing we did all week was go out to dinner at a restaurant that had live music.  I had the most relaxing time that I have had in a long time at a restaurant. I told the waitress we were not in a rush and she paced the meal perfectly.

I laughed at the menu, because on one side of it, there was literally nothing I was willing to eat.

But after a beer or two, I did try alligator bites, and determined that they tasted “like chicken”.

There was a one man band, playing music I enjoyed, so the whole night was a “win”.

And then we arrived in New Orleans.

As soon as we bought our tickets to the “Saints” game, we booked an RV park.  It’s only one mile from the Superdome, and we have stayed there before, so we were happy to be walking distance from both the superdome, and Bourbon Street.

We have surprisingly discovered that we are over Bourbon Street, but we did walk to a restaurant on St. Peter’s street called The Gumbo Shop- we both had Jambalaya that was delicious. 

We met several people at the RV park who were also there for the game (mostly Saints fans) and we were happy to hear that they planned to walk to the game as well. Even still, we did a test walk the day before, just to make sure.  It took us 18 minutes to get to the stadium.

I knew this was probably (hopefully?  he needs to retire) the last time I would see Tom Brady play, so we paid to get decent seats.

To our surprise, a “hockey” style fight broke out during the game.  Although not physically involved, I could see from the sidelines, that TB12 was definitely part of the fracas.  

The team, and Brady, didn’t play their best, but they ended with a win, which is mostly what counts, so I was happy.

I promised the couple in this picture that I would share the photo on my blog…..Although they were the ONLY ones standing, and several people behind them had asked them to sit down, they refused, continuing to block everyone’s view.

As far as our trek eastward, the term “in for a penny, in for a pound” came to mind. Our good friends Mike and Julie are spending the summer in North Carolina, a “mere” 800 mile drive from New Orleans, so, yep, we decided to beeline there to spend a week with them before heading back west. 

New England- PATRIOTS (09-09-19)

Our stay in Boston was short, but exciting (for me, anyway).  Our first day or so was spent unwinding, and unpacking back into the truck camper, while it was at my brother's house.  Two days later we moved it to a campground.

We had lunch with my brothers and sisters and spent as much time as possible with our son Stephen, who is quite camera shy.

A couple of months ago I realized that we would be in Boston for the New England Patriots season opener. I looked for tickets- they are sold out-so all tickets are re-sale ones.  After gasping at the price, I put the idea of attending on the back burner.  For a week or so.  Then I decided that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to see the Pats, and Tom Brady, in person. So I closed my eyes and bought the tickets- 3 of them because when I asked Stephen if he wanted to go, "Hell Yeah" was the response.

Having never been to a professional football game, I didn't know when we should get there and what to expect, so I reached out to a cousin who has season tickets.  He put me in touch with his brother, who would be attending the game, and who happens to have a parking spot within walking distance of the stadium. People who live near there rent out their lawns for parking.  That made such a huge difference- close parking and someone who knew the ropes!

I realized after I got the tickets that they would be revealing the 2018 Super Bowl banner before the game, so it made it even more special.

The Reveal included live music accompanied by a synchronized light show from bracelets worn by the audience. Past players were brought onto the field, including Rob Gronkowski, who retired last year.

Our seats were exceptional, as we were able to watch the players on the sidelines.

We could see the entire field, although we had to stand most of the night because everyone in front of us was standing.

I really enjoy watching the game on TV and was nervous that being at a game in person might be a let down, but I worried for nothing.

Many times the action was right in front of us, and we could hear the players yelling (when the crowd wasn't going nuts).  The game sounds completely different in person than on the TV.

To say I thoroughly enjoyed myself would be a gross understatement.  I had so much fun, it went from "Once in a lifetime" to "When can we go again?".

The icing on the cake was that The Patriots beat the Steelers 33-3.

Being in Boston for such a short time, we didn't have much time to visit, but we did squeeze in a pot luck dinner with my childhood friends. We have known each other since we were 2-3 years old, and we all grew up in the same neighborhood.

The only one of us not in this picture is Sharon, probably because as she likes to point out nowadays, she is the youngest of us!