We were so close but I decided I did not want to volunteer in the beautiful Sonoran Desert so back we came to cold Connecticut after calling our supervisor at Organ Pipe. I was sooooo close but we are back in New England for the December holidays.
The weather held for us so we arrived in the beginning of December not having to winterize and we had a chance to empty the rig and winterize it properly. It is sad to see the rig all set for the New England winter as we are looking out from our home. Oh well, all things happen for a reason!
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Off to AZ
We finally left on election day. We voted by absentee ballot. The weather was warm and we left about 10AM. We spent the night on the road and traveled towards southwestern PA. I looked at the map of PA to discover the Flight 93 Memorial was near so we stopped. It was cold and cloudy in the coal mining part of western PA but the memorial to the 54 passengers and crew was very well done. Of course I remember 9/11 very well and remember the plane crashing into a field in PA instead of somewhere in Washington, DC. I was extremely impressed with the national park service
finished project. It is well worth the stop.
After the NPS memorial stop, we traveled on into Ohio joining I-70. We stopped at our grandson's place in Lake St. Lewis, MO for one night, then we all visited the Western Expansion Arch. We went to the top of the arch showing a grand view of the area and the Mississippi. John and I had been there before but never to the top of the arch. The museum was closed for repairs but we had been there before. Nevin had never been to the Arch before so it was great for all!
After our goodbyes we headed thru MO into OK and the Texas panhandle joining I-40 in OK. I wanted to go north around the Santa Fe area in NM so we found a state park called Villanueva State Park, and took a break for a few days. We went to Fort Union NM, the biggest fort in the west long ago. It is just ruins now but spread across the plain. It was very, very windy. The fort was nicknamed Fort Windy and I could see why so. It was a supply fort for a whole network of smaller forts in the territory. You could see the old road and wagon wheel tracks from the time when oxen pulled all supplies wagons.
The B was pushed around by the wind on I-25 and a large plastic barrel blew into our rig so we headed back to the campground to wait out the wind in NM. The winds of the west are very different from the east and wind warnings are best to be listened to!!!!! The next day it was colder but no wind. We headed towards Petrified Forest and stayed at Holbrook, AZ before doing the tourist thing, hiking the Blue Mesa trail. We stopped at the Painted Desert Inn in Petrified and talked to the volunteer who was there.(We volunteered there in 2013) Then we visited the visitor center and got to talk to one of the rangers we had worked with. We headed south towards Globe, AZ for I changed my mind about going to Death Valley National Park. I did not think we had enough time before volunteering at Organ Pipe National Monument in December.
We toured Tonto National Monument, another cliff dwelling, (very good stop) talking to the volunteers there and then headed to Globe where we spent the night. It was cactus country right next to a very low Lake Roosevelt. It was part of Phoenix water supply and very low.
Since it was almost Thanksgiving we decided to spent it in Poncho Villa State Park, right on the border of Mexico and New Mexico. It was a great historic find. The park was on land that was an army base in 1915. Poncho Villa raided Columbus, NM and killed 18 people in 1915. The army sent a force into northern Mexico to capture the bandit but they never did catch him. That was before the US entered WWI and the technology of warfare was changing quickly. In the force that was chasing Poncho Villa they used airplanes and trucks to carry the troops but the gasoline had to be carried by mule train. I thought that very funny. Anyway, there was a museum at the state park that was interesting for it had local pre WWI artifacts. History came alive for me that was before only a tale in my high school text books.
Then..................I felt funny and I decided I did not want to be so far from civilization for the month of December so after Thanksgiving, I called our ORPI supervisor and told her we were headed home. The EZ up she had received that I bought for us to use at ORPI I donated to the park. I was soooo very sad and made my apologies but back we came to cold New England. Bah Humbug....and I was looking forward to a Ajo Christmas. We have been there at that time of year before and I wanted to do it again. Oh well, you plan and then life happens.
finished project. It is well worth the stop.
After the NPS memorial stop, we traveled on into Ohio joining I-70. We stopped at our grandson's place in Lake St. Lewis, MO for one night, then we all visited the Western Expansion Arch. We went to the top of the arch showing a grand view of the area and the Mississippi. John and I had been there before but never to the top of the arch. The museum was closed for repairs but we had been there before. Nevin had never been to the Arch before so it was great for all!
After our goodbyes we headed thru MO into OK and the Texas panhandle joining I-40 in OK. I wanted to go north around the Santa Fe area in NM so we found a state park called Villanueva State Park, and took a break for a few days. We went to Fort Union NM, the biggest fort in the west long ago. It is just ruins now but spread across the plain. It was very, very windy. The fort was nicknamed Fort Windy and I could see why so. It was a supply fort for a whole network of smaller forts in the territory. You could see the old road and wagon wheel tracks from the time when oxen pulled all supplies wagons.
The B was pushed around by the wind on I-25 and a large plastic barrel blew into our rig so we headed back to the campground to wait out the wind in NM. The winds of the west are very different from the east and wind warnings are best to be listened to!!!!! The next day it was colder but no wind. We headed towards Petrified Forest and stayed at Holbrook, AZ before doing the tourist thing, hiking the Blue Mesa trail. We stopped at the Painted Desert Inn in Petrified and talked to the volunteer who was there.(We volunteered there in 2013) Then we visited the visitor center and got to talk to one of the rangers we had worked with. We headed south towards Globe, AZ for I changed my mind about going to Death Valley National Park. I did not think we had enough time before volunteering at Organ Pipe National Monument in December.
We toured Tonto National Monument, another cliff dwelling, (very good stop) talking to the volunteers there and then headed to Globe where we spent the night. It was cactus country right next to a very low Lake Roosevelt. It was part of Phoenix water supply and very low.
Since it was almost Thanksgiving we decided to spent it in Poncho Villa State Park, right on the border of Mexico and New Mexico. It was a great historic find. The park was on land that was an army base in 1915. Poncho Villa raided Columbus, NM and killed 18 people in 1915. The army sent a force into northern Mexico to capture the bandit but they never did catch him. That was before the US entered WWI and the technology of warfare was changing quickly. In the force that was chasing Poncho Villa they used airplanes and trucks to carry the troops but the gasoline had to be carried by mule train. I thought that very funny. Anyway, there was a museum at the state park that was interesting for it had local pre WWI artifacts. History came alive for me that was before only a tale in my high school text books.
Then..................I felt funny and I decided I did not want to be so far from civilization for the month of December so after Thanksgiving, I called our ORPI supervisor and told her we were headed home. The EZ up she had received that I bought for us to use at ORPI I donated to the park. I was soooo very sad and made my apologies but back we came to cold New England. Bah Humbug....and I was looking forward to a Ajo Christmas. We have been there at that time of year before and I wanted to do it again. Oh well, you plan and then life happens.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Winter plans
We went to Maine for 5 days in September in between doctor visits. Boy, I sure hope we can get to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in December. We know even with our tiny rig we can live easily in the beautiful Sonoran desert. It has a great VIP campground. See below.
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| The Sonora building houses laundry, bathrooms ,freezers, dining/game room & covered patio with grill |
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| The only campfire ring in the whole park is in the VIP campground |
Acadia NP and Cobscook Bay, Maine
We traveled to Maine to see the new addition to Acadia and hopefully meet Linda and Howard from RV Dreams.com who are volunteering there. They held a boondocking rally in AZ several years ago which we attended. We met them in Acadia and we met a ranger we knew and worked with from Organ Pipe Cactus NM, AZ. Sardius is a Texan who worked in ORPI the 2 years we were volunteering there. What a surprise to meet a westerner ranger this far east!! So 3 people in one day in another national park whom we just bumped into with no meeting plan. It is amazing how small this world is!!
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| We went to Cadillac Mountain & the very top was soooo busy for a mid week September day. We were told the mountain road was closed for 3 hours just before we traveled it. |
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| Yup, it looks like the Maine coast! I wanted to visit the new Schoodic Woods Campground on the Schoodic Peninsula which has been opened just a year. (Sorry, no pix!) The national park campground is fantastic. It does not have showers but the roads are paved, the sites are level gravel, private and beautiful. There is a walk-in tent area, a section for small RV's or tents with electricity and great bathrooms and a section for large RV's with electricity and water at each site. It is very well planned with a dump station also. As always we just arrived and got a site midweek. We never make reservations. On the weekend we were not so lucky so we headed home stopping at a Walmart on the 8 hour travel home. We also stopped at a business called Humble Abodes (we're beekeepers) which makes wooden ware for hives. It being Maine we ordered and paid for the frames during the week heading to Acadia and on the way back on the weekend when they were closed, we picked up our purchase that was left out for us. Where else could you do this? Love Maine & Humble Abodes!!! We went to Campobello Island, New Brunswick, to see FDR's summer home, which is an international historic site. It was an easy over the border trip at Lubec, ME. We stayed at Cobscook Bay State Park that has lots of beauty but no amenities and we watched the huge tides from our private site. I even walked the dog in the AM in my PJ's because it was such a quiet place. We did not see another person the whole time we were there. The tides were quite high going from mud flats to very deep pools of ocean. Lubec is at the start of the Bay of Fundy. Beautiful place!!!!!   |
Sunday, August 21, 2016
2016 Summer Travel
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| Verona Beach State Park, NY were we saw a beautiful sunset. |
We are now looking forward to, after medical problems fixed, going to Organ Pipe National Monument in AZ for the month of December. We are volunteering there for one month and traveling all November in the southwest to areas we have not been to and then after volunteering, traveling back home again in the winter of 2017. WE SHALL SEE if life and plans go together!
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| ORPI , AZ were we hope to spend Christmas |
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| The Volunteer In Park Campground in Organ Pipe above and Sunsets in ORPI below |
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Catch up
We traveled to GA and FL for 5 weeks from the third week of January to the end of February. We had a condo in Orlando for the one week the first of February so it was nice to have space while it was cold. Two daughters visited us in Orlando. We traveled to visit friends in Englewood and started north again. I had enough cool, damp weather so back we came and had to winterize the rig again. We tried again in March on Easter for 1 1/2 weeks traveling to TN and GA. That was much nicer. We saw an early spring in the south with flowering trees and did not have to winterize arriving home. Spring in Connecticut was terrible. We had heat early April then cold so things froze and our spring buds just never formed again. No flowering trees or many flowers this spring! Apples and peaches will be premium in a few months.
The PW is cleaned and waxed and ready to go for the summer. I will be using it for my Wilton, CT NPS site Weir Farms volunteering once a month and hope to travel to Washington state by way of the Canadian Rockies this August and we have been penciled in for volunteering in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for the month of December so we have plans.
We are off and running in 2016. Happy Travels Everyone!
The PW is cleaned and waxed and ready to go for the summer. I will be using it for my Wilton, CT NPS site Weir Farms volunteering once a month and hope to travel to Washington state by way of the Canadian Rockies this August and we have been penciled in for volunteering in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for the month of December so we have plans.
We are off and running in 2016. Happy Travels Everyone!
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