2021/07/10 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 23 - Homeward Bound

 We got moving and headed over to family to have breakfast. - THANKS!

I stopped at Desert Oasis Rest Area for quick stop.

The necessary gas at Flying J.

 Made it home and put everything down the drive way.

Mom M seems to have no ill effect from the heat stroke and everybody else is good.

This was a good vacation having the whole family together!

2021/07/09 - Friday - Vacation - Day 22 - Kingman - Family

 Today was not a long travel day.  We left camp after 10.

At our destination, we stopped for gas and then made our way to the RV park - Zuni Village RV Park.  

We visiting with family.  We did go out for dinner at the Black Bear Diner and then back visiting with family.

2021/07/08 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 21 - Monuments

 We got moving later then normal - 10

We finally get to do the Walnut Canyon National Monument Rim Trail.  Mom M stayed at the visitor center while the rest of us (J,C,A,E) did the hike.  The most brutal part is the steps back up.  So many steps!

We headed to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, but the parking lot was FULL and it was more hilly then we expected so we did not stop.  

We stopped for lunch at Hideaway House.

We visited both Tuzigot National Monument and the Montezuma Castle National Monument. 

Dinner at The Crown Railroad Cafe

Back at the RV to relax.

2021/07/06 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 19 - Monument - Free Night

 We left camp at 9 and headed west.

In town we stopped to fill the RV up and start the slow climb over Wolf Creek Pass

We stopped at Aztec Ruins National Monument and A got another JR Ranger badge.

Stopped at Sam's Club to get gas.

We stopped at USA RV Park and because E is with us and he is active military we stay for the night free.

Went to dinner at Anthony's A Taste Of The Southwest afterwards we stopped at Sonic for some ice cream / shakes.

2021/07/05 - Monday - Vacation - Day 18 - Off Road Trail

 We left the campground at 9 and headed into town to get some stuff for the adventure. 

We stopped at Smoothy's Juice Bar and had breakfast.

We stopped at the Great Sand Dunes Visitor Center again.

Before heading up the Medano Pass Primitive Road, we stopped at the base of the big sand dunes.  The sandy part was deep and the 4runner had no issues. We crossed the creek and it was not very deep.  There was a section that had deep nogales.  We stopped along the route to eat lunch, bugs were out also. There was one steep muddy climb and again the 4Runner did great.  Once at the top the down hill side was just a easy dirt road.

Back to the RV to check in on the animals

Went to dinner at St Ives A Pub & Eatery

2021/07/03 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 16 - Across the Plains...

 We left early today, because I have been having a tire that was loosing air very slowly.  We left at 8 and headed to Discount Tire.  It was determined to be a valve stem that needed to be replaced.

Of course gas is needed...

We stopped at Beaumont Rest area to eat lunch.

Then more gas....

Now stop for the night at RJ's RV Park.  A VERY old KOA park (based on the building...)  but this park is very run down!

2021/07/01 - Thrusday - Vacation - Day 14 - Heading West

 We got moving shortly after 9.

Next stop for gas....

We stopped at several locations for Fort Donelson National Battlefield.

Next top for another gas stop

We are camping at Big Springs River Camp in Van Buren MO

2021/06/29 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 12 - Battlefield - Music

 We got a very late start for the day.  We did brunch at Bob Evans.

We headed to Murfresboro to explore some battlefields.

We explored the Stone River National Battlefield, which also has Trail of Tears.

Back to the RV.

 Dinner has to be early today - so dinner at the Opry Backstage Grill at The Inn at Opryland

We headed over to the Grand Ole Opry for some fun entertainment.

2021/06/28 - Monday - Vacation - Day 11 - Natchez Trace Pkwy - On to Nashville

 We left shortly after 9.  our first stop was for gas just down the street at a Sam's Club.

We stopped at several pullouts along the way.  We did Cave Springs, Buzzard Roost Springs, Colbert Ferry Park, Rock Springs Trail, Grinders Stand reconstruction.

from that point forward we did not stop at any of the pullout because we will come back to do the last part of them.

We first stopped at KOA but they did not have anything open for the time we wanted, so we stopped next door and they had plenty of room.

We are staying at Nashville RV Resort and Cabins.

On the way to dinner, we stopped at a place where C can eat some good snacks. - Sunflower Bakehouse.

Dinner at The Grilled Cheeserie.

Back to the RV to relax.

2021/06/27 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 10 - Natchez Trace Pkwy - Another day on the Trace

 We left about 9:30 - Had to pull out of the spot and then load the 4Runner so that takes some time.

Our first stop was at Flying J's for the RV.

We drove 2 hours to get to the location were we left the trace the day before.  Once on the trace, pulled into any pullout that I could fit.  We even drove out to Davis Lake - they had were full!.

We stopped for the night at Campground At Barnes Crossing.

We unloaded the 4Runner and headed out onto the Trace for more driving.  We stopped a the Visitor Center, Old Trace and Confederate Gravesites, 

It was starting to get late and I needed gas for the car, so headed back.

We went grocery shopping and headed back to the RV.

Went out to dinner at Mugshots - it was as good as last time we where here.

Back at the RV to relax.

2021/06/26 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 09 - Natchez Trace Pkwy - Next Section

 Well, again my back is not 100%, so we will go in the afternoon, so we planned to do more of the Trace.

Before getting to the Trace were we left of yesterday we stopped at Starbuck for our morning drinks.

The first stop on the trace today was at the Cowles Mead Cemetery, Next was the Clinton Welcome Center.  We did several stops along the trace - Osburn Stand, a Old Trace location, Overlook at the Trace, Cypress Swamp,  River Bend Picnic Area and then Kosciusko Information Center.  We went into town to grab some lunch (McDonald's) before doing more of the trace north.  We did some time Little Mountain to enjoy the views.  

It took about 2 hours to get back to the RV.

I was checking things, I noticed that the bike rack cups is broken so did some moving of the cups to we don't loose the bikes.

We went to the convention center to check on the square dancing.  We went ahead and picked up our packets and registered for the next few convention.  Was able to talk to several people.  The turnout was very low for this convention.

We headed out for dinner at Babalu - it was good.

Back at the RV to relax.

2021/06/25 - Friday - Vacation - Day 08 - Natchez Trace Pkwy

Because we got delayed, we went ahead and did the Natchez Trace Pkwy instead of going to square dance today.  And I am still not 100% with my back so we want to do the sight seeing instead.

First stop was to get our morning fix - Starbucks.

We headed south to the start of the Trace, We stopped all the different pullout on the right-side (west side) of the road.  We stopped Owens Creek Waterfalls, A sunken trace location, Mount Locust Information Center, and Elizabeth Female Academy.

We got to Natchez about 1:30 and we were hungry for lunch.  We stopped at a small place - The Little Easy - truly southern food.

We stopped at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center and Melrose Estate.  On the way north, just north of Mount Locust Information Center, I did some off-roading on what looks like the very old layout of the trace.

We needed gas for the car, so a stop was necessary.

Still heading north we stopped to find the Rocky Springs Cemetery.  

Back at the RV, it is now dinner time, so out we go again.

Our first choice, the parking lot was FULL and it looked packed.  So we went to our second pick - Logan's Roadhouse.

After dinner the Car needed more go go juice.

Back at the RV to relax.

2021/06/20 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 03 - Recovery Day

 Got a good wake-up call from Mom M.  She sound normal and wanted to get out there.  They never transferred her to the hospital because they did not have any rooms available for her.  So I headed on over to pick her up.  The doctor wanted us not to travel today and take it easy.

First stop was at a pharmacy to get her new meds.....

Back at the RV, it is still to warm for her so we are going to do some driving in the car where we can keep Mom M cool.

Next stop was for some cool fluids. - Starbucks...

We did the Saguaro National Park East driving loop, 

Lunch we stopped at Coyote Pause Cafe and had a good meal.

Next stop was at Saguaro National Park Tucson Mountain District (West) Visitor Center,  I drove several of the dirt roads.

Back at the RV, now we head out for dinner - Chef Alisah's Restaurant

Back to the RV for the night.  The heat of the day has not been nice to the fridge, we lost all the food in the fridge because the heat was to high.

J&C did go to the pool for a nice swim.

Mom M appears to be good showing no signs of having heatstroke!

2020/07/01 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 20 - Cool into Warm

We got moving almost on time, but I had to hook the tow-dolly backup and then load the van.

We stopped in Chester to get fuel for the RV.

Some where along the North Fork of the Feather River we stopped for lunch

We are at E's place were it is warm, so glad that we can plug in and have the AC working to keep us cool.

We ordered dinner and goofed around before calling it a night.

2020/06/30 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 19 - Hot Lake

We slept in a little bit today.

We went back onto the park and got lunch to go from the park store.  We then headed out and stopped in several places along the route through the park.

Going to a different section of the park, we stopped in Chester for necessary gas for the van.

We all started the walk toward Boiling Springs Lake, Mom M made it a little past the bridge, Cheryl made it to the lake and A and I did the loop around the Lake.  You could smell the sulfur in different parts walking around the lake.

It was a long day,  once back at the RV, Cheryl had dinner cooking in the slow cooker all day, we ate dinner and watched a video and went to bed.

2020/06/29 - Monday - Vacation - Day 18 - No data

We left camp spot at 9, but we stopped to dump the tanks.

We stopped for gas for the RV.

We made it to our destination, and they did have availability for us for the two nights.  I did unhook the tow-dolly so I could be closer to the utilities.

Before leaving we had lunch.  We went into Lassen National Park and look at the campground and went to the highest point along the route.  Almost near the top, we did see a bear and its cub down in a meadow.

Back at the RV Cheryl made dinner. 

We played two rounds of 5 Crowns.

2020/06/28 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 17 - Exploring

We left shortly after 9.

We got gas for the RV about an hour later.

Stopped in Eugene at one of the places that Cheryl like for tea stuff and got a few things.

We stopped at a rest area for lunch

We made it to KOA in Central Point for the day

We went for a drive to find out any information or a visitor center for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.  At the top of the pass on SR66 we found a very small building that was open but nobody inside, but it did have information regarding the Monument.

We had dinner Ashland and then went back to the RV to relax.

2020/06/25 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 14 - Long Drive, Falls, Water, Beach, and T???

We got moving shortly after 9.

First stop was at Starbucks to get drinks and my food.

Next stop was gas for the Van

Now our long drive to the southwest corner of the park.  We stopped at Ruby Beach but it was overcast/foggy

We stopped at Quinault lodge for lunch. 

We backtracked a little bit and we walked a nature loop (the falls was not really viewable from the trail).  We drove all the way to the end of road stopping several times along the way to view water falls.

On the way back we crossed over and did the north side of the lake.

Now that we were heading back, the tire sensor light went off and I determined that it was the back driver tire was bad so I drove further to find a safer stop to change the tire.  Once changed, we drove to Ruby Beach and A and I went down to the beach and walked it.  The fog was still covering the area.

Next stop was dinner at a place in Forks.

We stopped again for gas.

Back at the RV, I loaded up the Van on the tow-dolly and took Turquoise for a long walk.

2020/06/24 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 13 - Animals, Fort, & Fall

We finally got moving around 10.

Our first stop was at Starbucks to get our drinks and food items.

Next stop was at the Olympic Game Farm.  We got a loaf of bread and started the driving around the park.  I went through all the bread just with the yaks and bears, so we stopped at the entrance and got two more loafs. The Roosevelt elk, Sika deer and American bison got another loaf and then returned to the bears to feed them the last loaf of bread.

We got lunch in Sequim.

We explored Fort Flagler Historical State Park, brought back a lot of memories from about 40 years ago when I was there on a week long school trip.

Next stop was the Ludlow Falls.

Back at the RV to relax and have leftovers for dinner.

2020/06/23 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 12 - Views, Drive, and Falls

I got up about 7:30, we finally got out of camp about 10.

1st stop was at Starbucks,  but the wrong one, so off to the one that we put our order to.

We stopped at the visitor center and was able to get our stamps for National Park Pass book and A was able to get her JR Range book and she also got the badge for it ahead of time. 

Next stop was at the very end of the road going to Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.  We then stop at the center and did a little bit of shopping. 

I went ahead and drove the dirt road to Obstruction Point Trailhead.  That was an interesting road and views were cool!  Two different ranges were saying make sure we don't get a flat tire... we were good this time. 

On our way back down, we stopped at the park sign really quick and then headed to go get lunch.

Next stop was at Madison Falls, very short walk to it.

Next we drove to Sol Duc Trailhead, but we didn't do the walk/hike. We drove around the hot springs resort area and we stopped at Salmon Cascades area.

Heading back to the RV we determined we still had plenty of sun,  so we stopped and did the hike to Marymere Falls.  Most of the hike has a very slow rise, but the last section is interesting.   You have to cross a one log bridge,  then climb several steps to get to the first viewing area, then several more steps to the other viewing area and head back down to cross that one log bridge again.

On the way back to the RV the van needed more juice.

We ate leftover for dinner.  Turquoise is definitely feeling better, but not 100% yet.

I am doing laundry tonight and while I am waiting I decide I might as well do the blog....