2011/04/28 - Thursday - NPS and Locks

We picked up GG about the time we set, but I still did not have the address for the Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Park, so we did some searching, but finally put the name into the car computer and it put us close,  but we did have to drive around and we finally found the little brown signs pointing us in the right direction.  GG just could not believe they had a NPS in downtown Seattle.  We spent about 2 hours there, Amanda doing her Junior Ranger Program.

We left there to go find a place to eat, we finally found a place near the locks.  The place had very good hamburgers (Hamburgers Harry's).

Next stop was the locks (Hiram M Chittenden Locks) - We spent an hour there enjoying the view.  You are able to walk across the gates, over the dam, and the fish ladder (with view area).

We stopped back at L&G place to get a letter for GG, and to ask if R&B would like to join us for dinner but they declined. So we went and had some ice cream for dinner.

We dropped off GG and headed back to L&G for the night.

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The next three days will be interesting. I am not sure if we will have internet connection for the next two nights and I will be driving ALL day on Sunday (some where in the time of 18 to 20+ hours of driving...)   -  So I may not post the daily entry but I will make sure to catch up and fill in the days...

O thanks for taking the time to view my entries (even though I don't know who you are, but I can tell somebody does view them)

2011/04/27 - Wednesday - Maintance

Today was the day to get the Van worked on by L.M. business.  I thought I knew where it was, but I had to call him to ask for the address (I did not remember).  By the time I called, I was in Everett, so it took me longer then I should, but finally I made it.

We walked over to a place for lunch and had a good meal.

Got all the items taken care of and we were off, but before getting to GG, we stopped for gas, and the lines were long at Costco.

I drove GG and us to a restaurant in Snohomish and the food was good, but GG surprised me and paid the bill - I thought I was taking her our for dinner!

We got back to L.M. place, he of course was working on his Jeep.  Now it was ready - tomorrow he will put it into the trailer ready for the weekend.

2011/04/26 - Tuesday - Train Water

We slept in today.  When we finally got moving, it was time for lunch, so we stopped in Fall City.

We went ahead and passed the Snoqualmie Falls and headed on up the road, we finally ran out of road past North Bend, so we returned to North Bend and stopped at the train depot (William Henry Taylor Railroad Park), but it was closed. 

We stopped in at the Snoqualmie train depot (Northwest Railway Museum) and walked around.  It started to rain, so I went and got the van and picked up the kids.  We stopped at the falls and checked it out.  It was raining very lightly (sprinkling).  Amanda did get some pictures but the mist was flying around.

Next stop was for some clothes for Amanda, she need a new pair of jeans and some shirts and we stopped at another place to get some other items.

G.M. made spaghetti dinner.  After dinner, we went and worked on L.M. Jeep - getting it ready for this weekends trip.

2011/04/25 - Monday - Money :(

It was decided that the Adults was going to a casino for the day, so Eric and Amanda stayed back at the house.

GG, L.B, R&B piled in my van and we head out.  The casino was not to far, Uncle R gave me directions and of course we found it without any problems.

I spent way to much money - I played at little slot machines and after lunch I played a few hands of poker but of course I lost my money. 

On the way home we stopped at the Safeway store to get a few things for dinner.

Dinner today we had the same amount of people, but we changed out two for some of L&G "Boys".  Again a good dinner and of course a lot of laughter!

L.M. worked on his Jeep some more and we made it back into the house before 10:30.

2011/04/24 - Sunday - Family Time

We got up in time for the breakfast that the Lodge offers and had a great conversation with the managers!

We made it to church with plenty of time.  Eric was not feeling to well, so he stayed in the back of the church.

After service we went and visited with L.S. at her work place.  We then went to Bu.P. place and visited with him, then Br.P. came out and talked.

We left for Woodinville and made it in time for the family dinner.  We had 15 people over for a good family dinner! (GG, L.B., D&T, R&B, L&G, J.M & A.M., F.M & ?.?. and of course me and the kids).  A good time was had by all.  After words we had a big group play a card game called Golf.

L.M. worked on his Jeep for the rest of the night, we did not get back into the house until close to midnight.

2011/04/23 - Saturday - Drive, Drive, and Drive

All of us did not sleep to well in the van, but hay - it was cheep!!!

We left at 7 and drove the rest the way through California, but before leaving California I got gas at Weed.  Next we drove through Oregon, but before leaving, we stopped and got a few items.

Now in Washington, it was time to get some gas, so before heading to Packwood, I got some gas when I got off of I5.  Yes I made it all the way through Oregon without doing a fill up.

We made it to the lodge a little before 7, so today was a 12 hour drive and the total time to get here was 18 1/2 hours - not bad!

I called Mom M and we went to dinner at the Blue Spruce.  After dinner we went to visit with some friends.

Now back to the lodge to catch up on Facebook and get the blogs done.

2011/04/22 - Friday - Start of Drive

I was able to get off work early so of course when I got home we started go get ready.  Also I was lucky that Cheryl also was able to leave work early. 

We (Eric, Amanda, and Jesse) was able to leave at 6.  Of course the traffic through LA was slow going, but the biggest problem area was before Hwy 14.

We only went through one area that had rain, and that was around the Gorman and Fraiser Park area.

We made it to Woodland, Ca about 12:30am and called it a night. - So I got 6 1/2 hours of the drive done!

2011/04/21 - Thursday - The Olde Ship

I got up early this morning to get into work early - needed to train some people...

Still no success on getting the photos I want onto a 4 gig card - I am trying to get photos where the family has been identified (face recognition) and not just the face part of the photo, I want the whole original photo.  Picasa is frustrating me.  So I want to select all the photos that we are in and trying to do the copy into another directory but still no luck!

For dinner we went to "The Olde Ship" to finally do Amanda's Birthday dinner

2011/04/20 - Wednesday - Dead?

Well, the laptop that I have been using for several years seems to be dieing - it will bootup but short while later it will just freeze - so I think another bites the dust...

I did work on some laundry and worked on the RV.  I made the bed, cleaned up a little more and brought out the winter items to see what I will be bring for next week.

2011/04/19 - Tuesday - State - Quick?

Well yes, the state of California did issue and deposited my refund very quickly it only took them 1 week - that is good.  Now how much longer will it take the Federal Government?

I left my phone at home and I felt naked without (even though I had my work phone).

Well I made reservations for Easter Weekend (Saturday) at a "Lodge" in Packwood, WA - I checked three different web sites and only one site had something, but it was still higher than what Mom M had checked out.

2011/04/18 - Monday - Hmmm Title?

Title of the post - yep - well - nothing - well it was a Monday  :)    And today was not sunny - it was trying to sprinkle.

I did a little bit of laundry and Cheryl did some shopping before coming home.

Well yes another exciting day at the May Family Household!

2011/04/17 - Sunday - Bike Ride?

the morning start late today - we did not get start until almost 11:00.  Cheryl of course went and got her drink from Starbucks.

I went and filed the tires up on the tandem, but when I tried to ride the bike the paddles would not put power to the wheels - the chain moves forwards and backwards.  So now I need to get the bike fixed - bummers!  No ride for us.

The rest of the day we relaxed, we did this and that.  I worked on the route for our vacation this year - it will be a straight run to Detroit, but on the way home, I am still working on that.  We will be visiting around three of the Great Lakes and I know that we will be stopping in Elkader to visit family.  But based on today price of gas - this trip will take all of the vacation fund money - so we need to save a little more for the trip...

2011/04/16 - Saturday - Dirt Devils Run - Rattlesnake Canyon

The day started out early - I was up at 5:30!

We (Eric and I) left at 6, but returned to get my bluetooth headset and we are back on the road (only lost about 5 min)

On our way to the trail-head, I realized that I do not have my camera nor my hat (bummers). 

We stopped at McDonald for breakfast (which was next door to the place we others were meeting for breakfast), but I went ahead and headed to Lucerne for my necessary gas stop.

We got to the trail-head for Rattlesnake Canyon about 8:30 and we were the first ones there.  about 20 min later we had one other family join us.  At 9:30, I made a call to find out where our trail leader was at and they were on there way.  The two of us went ahead and aired down our tires.  Finally the rest of the group made it and they proceeded to there air down.

The group finally got moving sometime after 10:00.  Since the last time I have done this run, they have put up signs near the start to keep you speed down to 15 mph through the ranch area.

The canyon seemed to have more sand and several more rocks to keep you slow going.  I did have to strap one of the potential Dirt Devils members.  We missed the little canyon (on the right) near the top of the canyon so no exploring of the mines - also I did not notice any post/signs to stopping you from going into that canyon.

Our leader missed the necessary right turn to head to 2N02 road and we drove about 15 minutes in the wrong direction (I understand that he has done that before).  When we finally started west on 2N02 he found the lunch spot - even though it was about 12:30.

The Droid battery died (even though it was on the charger) and it has corrupted My Tracks - so I have lost all of my recorded tracks!  I did start recording a track shortly after lunch on EveryTrail.

We turned off of 2N02 onto another route that takes you by Heart Break Ridge.  I did spot the two potential members through the hardest spot and it took a little effort for the second guy, but no straps were needed!

We stopped for bit at the end of the trail before heading to the main road (HWY 38).  Once we reached 38 we aired up.  One member head down towards Big Bear while the rest of us headed up on over towards Redlands.

The drive home was uneventful (good thing) and back home to relax.

Well, my left arm is sunburned as well as my face.  Hopefully it does not hurt in the morning.

2011/04/15 - Friday - Done?

Well, Cheryl got home about 11:30 pm last night and again back at it around 8:30.  So she will be resting this weekend!!!.

I don't think Amanda will be going with me this Saturday - she was not feeling good last night and today she has been napping and getting lots of rest.  So I have convinced Eric into going tomorrow.

We did go out get our lunch tonight for tomorrow and of course dinner for tonight.

Maybe I can get to bed a little earlier tonight so I can get up at 5:30 in the morning!

2011/04/14 - Thursday - Over Flow

Well, Cheryl got home about 5:00 in the morning.  And she was back up at 7:00 (in the morning) working more on the issue she has been working.  Again she is not home at 11:00 pm again.  Hopefully she will be able to work from home tomorrow.

I replaced the overflow bottle and made sure the radiator fluid was topped off, so "Blue" (Jeep XJ) is ready for Rattle Snake run this Saturday.

Oooops, I left the side gate open and Turquoise was roaming around it front, and one of the neighbor kids knocked on the door to tell us - Thanks!

2011/04/13 - Wednesday - Long Day

Cheryl called and said she will have to work late and as of 11 pm, she is still not home.

Amber got out on Monday morning was caught by a neighbor this evening and they brought her back - so now she back inside. 

I took the kids to Subway for dinner (Amanda's request).
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As you can tell, I have started my blogging again - lets see if I can keep it up again.  I know some people say they get a crack at that I write about things, and others can't believe I write about some of the mundane stuff, but I noticed that I have looked back into my old blogs and it was interesting.  So I hope you keep commenting and reading the blogs...

2011/04/12 - Tuesday - Finishng the paper work

I finally got my hair cut - it was getting a little long for me.

I know - you really wanted to know that.   Well I also use this blog as a way to keep track of things - sorry but our lives is not always fun and games - but life goes on.

I checked the taxes and they have been accepted, so I printed off the paper work.

I did call my brother to check if I was still able to spend the week after Easter with him and he said yes, I might be able to ride with him the following weekend, with a long Sunday drive home.

I also called GG and she is excited that we (the kids and I) are coming up.

2011/04/11 - Monday - TAXes

Today I finally finished doing the taxes.  We are getting refund from both - we have not got a refund from state in a long time!  One of these years I will get the taxes done before April!

I was able to upload all the photos from the weekend to our Smugmug site and copied all of them to the NAS.

2011/04/10 - Sunday - Drive Home

Last night we all slept good - no major interuptions (exept for the late and early arrivals of the planes going over).  We were able to sleep in a little bit.

Mom D went up for gospal hour, and Amanda and CJ went up to dance some more.

We got things ready - I loaded the van onto the trailer.

Cheryl and I went up to gather the youth display case and we of course chatted with more friends.

We did not win any of the grand prize money, but our good friend B.A. did - we are happy for her.

We finally got the kids out of the dance all and we were heading home.  We did stop at the rest area to dump tanks and eat lunch.

The drive home was good, but when we got gas at Costco, the lines were really long - 6 to 10 deep.  And I had to spend almost $250 - the van also need gas.

Finally home, we unload and relaxed.  Work tomorrow, hopefully a good night sleep.

2011/04/09 - Saturday - Dance, Dance, Friends

The morning did not start of good.   We had people setting up for a dog thing at 3:30 in the morning, running the engines, talking loudly, and making a lot of noises.  I thought about going out and yelling at them, but no.  But I found out that at least two others did go out and had a few words with the workers.

Once we got moving, the kids went and danced, while Cheryl and I did some necessary things to get ready for the days events.

One of the things was to get a new outfit for our self. 

Lunch was at the camper.

We had to have Eric sit in our parking spot while we went and got ice cream for the kids social.

We had dinner and before we knew it, it was time to head back into the halls.

We got to watch the competition, there was only one square of kids, but we had four squares of adults.

We did walk in the Grand March to hold the SCADS sign.  We did dance a tip before heading to the plus hall.

I was asked to help with an issue with a person that tried to say to somebody that they could not dance with his little one, so I had a few words to try to get this person not to say that somebody could not dance (which I don't think made a difference - this person was being non understanding). 

Cheryl and I was able to have a good time talking with old friends.  After the main dancing was done, we went out to eat at Denny's to talk some more.

Now I hope we could get a peaceful night!

2011/04/08 - Friday - Relaxing and Dancing

The night was not all that peaceful - with the airplanes landing until past midnight and then starting back up around 5:30 in the morning.

We relaxed in the morning.  Mom D and I went up to look to see what was going on with all the setup for the convention.

Chris, CJ, and Amanda went to the zoo to have a little fun exploring and taking pictures.

I found out that they are going to have some type of service dog thing on the lawn area outside of where I am parked, after some discussion with the wagon master I will not need to move.  but Saturday should be interesting with all the extra people running around.

I was able to take a nap and enjoy some time with some friends.

Chery was able to leave after picking up Eric and headed on down.  Mom D made some dinner and we got ready for the Square Dancing.

Cheryl and I walked around and said hello to several people.  I stayed and was able to dance a tip.  It also started raining off and on.

I did attend the VIP/Committee gathering after the dancing was done, and we were recognized for our efforts.

2011/04/07 - Thursday - Drive to San Diego

First on the agenda was to get a new antenna for the Jeep ("Blue" - it broke off last weekend).  Once I paid for that, it was time to get some liquid gold into Blue.  By that time, it was close to lunch, so I text a co-worker to see where they were going for lunch.  Lunch was at the Thia Corner.

 Once back at home, I started getting things ready for this weekend.  I got the clothing in the RV, it was time to move it forward.  But the engine battery was DEAD!!!  Jumping didn't even work.  So off to the auto parts store to get a replacement (still under warranty).  I took the RV over to Costco to make sure all the tires are at the correct tire pressures (even though the Smarttire did not show any of the tires extremely low)

We almost had everything ready before Mom D called and said she was ready (early!).  So got the last minute things into the RV and we (Me, Amanda, CJ - and the two dogs, and three cats) went and picked up Mom D.

About halfway to San Diego, we stopped at an In-and-Out for dinner.  We did have some rain during our drive, but other wise it was a easy drive with hardly no traffic. 

Once we got to the parking lot (with a little extra driving (because I got off the wrong exit))  We found somebody that could help us find an acceptable place to park for the weekend (both of the Wagon Masters were already out for the night (and it was not even 10:00 yet))

So we are realativily close to the dance halls - so we should have fun.

Hmmm as I am typing this it is raining hard - this should be interesting tomorrow - hopefully the rain will go away for the weekend.

2010/11/26 - Friday - Out With The Die Hards Dirt Devis

The day started out a little slow, we waited for the third family to arrive. W.S. And I did a little driving around waiting, I finally got the call and we guiding them into camp. After the C's got things ready we headed out. I let Amanda drive most of the day.

On the way, W.S. Starter bolt disappeared so we had to repair that. When we got close to our destination I took over the driving. We finally made it to the Calcite Mine. The group did some exploring around some of the mines (the mines are dug out troughs - no caves)

On the way back to camp we went pass it and headed to the gas station. Topped off the tanks and one the way back I let Eric drive back to camp.

While at camp a question was asked if we wanted to go out to eat, so the group went to Alamo (mexican restaurant) for dinner.

Back at camp relaxing.

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2010/07/29 – Thursday – Joshua Trees

I woke up early, and we got going early – I wanted to get moving before the heat of the day.

Our first stop was at Joshua Tree National Park, Cottonwood Visitor Center.  We tried to get the Junior Ranger Program booklet, but they are out.  We drove down to the springs, but you cannot get to the water.  We stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden and did part of the walk.  We stopped at the parking lot for Barker Dam.  While Amanda and I was hiking towards the dam, we got to watch mountain goats playing on the rocks.  After the hike, we had lunch.

At the Joshua Tree Visitor Center did have the Junior Ranger Program booklet, so Amanda started working on it.

Amanda suggested that we go to the other visitor center – Oasis Visitor Center.  So I did.  Amanda then completed her booklet and also got the other stamp for her book.

We stopped at the KOA in Banning for the night.  We unloaded the van and went to Gramma’s Country Kitchen for dinner.

Now back at the RV to relax. 

2010/07/28 – Wednesday – Drive Down to the River

Well, we are still heading towards home.  We left Prescott where it was cool.
One section of the drive down from Yamell was interesting – I was only doing about 20 to 30 mph. with lots of hairpin turns, it somewhat reminds me of the drive to Shaver Lake.  The uphill drive as two lanes, were as the down hill is mostly single lane.
On our way to our stop for the night I noticed that it was getting hotter and hotter.
We stopped at the KOA in Blythe and it was hot - over 100.  I almost missed the exit, which is immediately after the checkpoint.

2010/07/27 – Tuesday – Well and Castle

We got moving late, but no big deal, we only have two places to go to today.

Montezuma Well was our first stop for the day.  When you arrived at the parking spot it just looks like a mound ahead of you.  But when we made it to the top, you look down into the whole.  We also walked down into the bowl.  Once back up out of the bowl, head to the outlet of the water.  The water seeps through the side of the bowl and into a canal that was built over 1000 years ago.  The water flowing in the canal was crystal clear (unlike the river, all muddy.)  Amanda worked on the pages of the Junior Ranger program booklet pertaining to the well.

We had lunch at a picnic area that has the canal running around the area.  The locals play in the canal.

Montezuma Castle National Monument is about 11 miles south of the well.  It is a short walk before you can see the cliff dwelling.  There is no pathway up to the dwelling.  Amanda finished the booklet and obtained her Junior Ranger badge.

We returned to the RV, and we had to do a load of laundry.  We relaxed and Mom M made dinner.

2010/07/26 – Monday – Repairs and Relax

I made the call to a mobile repair guy for the busted stud. 

I took the trailer tire over an America’s Tire and got a that replace.  They had that done under 30 minutes!

Back at the RV, while waiting for the repair guy, we did laundry.

The RV repair guy (Mobile RV Specialists) arrived and repair the trailer, he is also going to repack all the bearings.  I feel you can’t just repack one, might as well repack all and the last time they were done was in 2007.  He did have to leave to get a new stud and lug nuts.

Total time to complete the repair and maintenance was about 3 hours. 

We made a decision about staying here another day.  Also the weather was not looking good – the monsoons was kicking up and it looked dark in the direction we needed to go.

We went to Walmart to get a few things that we have run out of.  We did stop at In-N-Out to get some drinks and the kids got some animal fries.

Mom made dinner and we are enjoying a relaxing afternoon and evening.

2010/07/25 – Sunday – Gaining Altitude

Our first stop was just down the road from camp – gas.

Our next destination was a major climb from the Phoenix area.  Along the drive I kept a keen eye on the transmission temperature, I also watch the tire temperature.  The rear passenger trailer tire was getting hotter then it has every gotten – 161 degrees.

As we were getting closer Prescott, I noticed that the trailer tire (that was having the heat problem) was causing a pulsating feeling in the RV.  I was going to pull into a America’s Tire, then I remember that they are closed on Sundays.

We pulled into the RV park we had chosen, but they did not have anything that I could fit in.  I had to back out into traffic to get out of the park.  I did get directions to another park that should be able to accommodate me.

Once, at the next RV park, they had room for me for the next two nights.

We got the RV setup and unload the van.  We then started to get the bad trailer tire – the tire had started to bubble and delaminate.  Eric and I started to get all the lug nuts off, but I broke one of the lugs off – !#$%^&* – great.

I have made several phone calls and hopefully I will get somebody to come and fix the lug (with a new lug nut).

We then drove into Prescott and we stumbled upon a western street demonstration / fair.  We watched that for about an hour. 

We did head on out to go see Tuzigoot National Monument.  Amanda did get her Junior Ranger booklet with covers Tuzigoot as well as Montezuma Castle and Well.  We did walk the ruins and enjoyed the view (and the flying ants)

We returned back to Prescott and had dinner at the Palace Restaurant & Saloon.

2010/07/24 – Saturday – Apache Trail Loop

The road getting to the first lake was paved but a little slow going, but I loved it.  Once you climbed up out of the canyon, the road turns to dirt and the fun really begins.  This next section of the road is a normal forest service type road, gravel, with some minor potholes, and the normal washboards.  Most of the road was just one lane, I was sure glad we did not have that many traffic heading back to town.

Once you reach Roosevelt dam, the road finally turns back to paved.

We arrived at our destination – Tonto National Monument.  Amanda got her Junior Ranger Program booklet and started to work on.  We did not do the trail up to the ruins because it was hot and they had the ruins closed because of bee activities.  Amanda did complete the booklet and got her badge.

   Our next stop was in Globe for lunch.  We did take the quicker route back to the RV.

We headed back to Goldfield to finish our explore of the little ghost town.

We did the mine tour and walked around some more and visited a few more stores that was closed yesterday. 

We headed back to the Steakhouse and Saloon to get a drink.  While in there it started to rain.  We watched the lighting and rainbow show.

Now back in the RV to relax for the evening.

2010/07/23 – Friday – Heading to a Junction

Our first stop was half way to our next destination. 

We stopped at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  Amanda got her Junior Ranger program book, she was instructed to do all the pages.   It took her about two hours to complete the booklet.  After getting her badge, we had lunch in the RV.

We arrived at the Mesa–Apache Junction KOA Campground, so we are going to spend two night here.

After setting up camp, we headed on over to Goldfield Ghost Town.  We did the train ride, and walk around the grounds a little.  We had dinner at the Stakehouse and Saloon in the town.

2010/07/22 – Thursday – West Side / East Again

Today we went to the West side of Tucson - the Saguaro National Park.  The West side visitor center it a newer building, but the loop road is not paved like the East side.  Also, the Junior Ranger program is the same, so Amanda did not do it again…

When we finally left the park, it was late for lunch.  We noticed a Hooters on the way, so we stopped to have lunch.

Sabino Canyon visitor center was our next stop.  We were just in time for the last tram up the canyon.  It was a little expensive for a trip up and back, but for all day it would have been fine.  It was a nice canyon, and it did have some water running it, because of the recent rains from the monsoons.

Back at the RV we noticed that it has been raining and the dog run area was totally under water (it is a catch basin for the park).

Amanda and Mom M made dinner and now we are getting ready for our next leg of the trip – Apache Junction (Phoenix area)

2010/07/21 – Wednesday – Drive to Tucson

The mapping program (Street Atlas) was not routing correctly back to I10, but of course I just followed the signs.

We finally stopped for gas about half way to Tucson.

After driving around Tucson, we finally found the campground that family member recommended – Beaudry RV Resort.

We had lunch and unload the van.

We headed over to the Saguaro National Park – East.  Amanda got her Junior Ranger program booklet and started to work on it.  Javelinas were resting just outside (on the back side) of the visitor center.  We did do the driving tour, and that took about an hour to do, with a lot of photos being taken.   Once we returned to the center, Amanda got her badge for competing the booklet.

We went out to eat at a steak place that was in the RV campground brochure.

2010/07/20 – Tuesday – Found Both Parks

Our first park for the day is Chiricahua.  Amanda got her Junior Ranger program book and started to work on it.

We headed to the top to the Massai Point and had lunch.  A Mexican Jay was really brave and eyeing our lunch only a few foot from us!

We headed back down to the Echo Canyon trail and hiked down to the Grotto area.

We headed back down to the Visitor Center so Amanda could get her booklet signed and obtain the patch that they give out.

Our next stop was to head to Fort Bowie National Historic Site via the Apache Pass (the same one that I did not take the RV on).  The drive was over the pass was good, the gavel road was in excellent shape.  We headed for the other way to get into the fort, but they really don’t want everybody to get to the fort that way.  The walk to the fort area was only about 500 feet (not that 1.5 miles walk).  Amanda again got her Junior Ranger program and got a patch for completing it.

I headed back over Apache Pass and back to the RV.  We let the dogs and then headed over to the relatives for the evening and dinner – another good meal.

2010/07/19 – Monday – Fort to Far

We left Silver City heading for I10. 

On the way down, I made a phone call to a relative to see if they would like to have some company for the next to nights.

Once on the I10, I noticed a sign pointing to Fort Bowie.  I started to drive to it.  The road was not the greatest, but it was at least paved.  I did get a phone call back while heading to the fort.  About an mile before the tail head, the road turned to gravel.  I made it to the parking area, but not a lot of room to turn around.  The temperature was hot and we did not want to walk the 1.5 miles to the fort.  We did have lunch.  I was able to get turned around, because I walked up the road and really did not want to continued. 

We headed back down the road and headed towards the relatives.

Once at the relatives, he directed us to a local RV park for us to camp for the two nights.

We had a good dinner and a good night of watching TV and talking.

2010/07/18 – Sunday – Catwalk

Today we have a drive.  We headed to Mogollon.  The drive up the mountain to the town reminded me of a forest service road.  The road was one line with blinding corners – you could not speed!

The town did have a privately run museum, an art studio, and a very small cafe.  We had lunch, hot dogs, hamburger, and grilled cheese sandwich.

Our next stop was at the “Catwalk of Whitewater Canyon”.  You have to pay a parking fee ($3).  We started up the canyon.  Mom M made it about a 1/4 mile up before she was not feeling good, so she return back to the van.  Amanda, Eric and I continued.  It was really interesting to be walking above the canyon floor on the corrugated walkway.  We made it a little over 3/4 mile up the canyon.  We started to return and it started to rain, thunder, and lighting.  We made it back to the van before getting to wet.

We return back to camp and then headed back out for dinner.

2010/07/17 – Saturday – Around Town

We scheduled this day as our relaxing day, so we slept in and didn’t start exploring around town until after lunch.

We got lunch at Subway. 

Silver City Museum is a one house with some different items on display (art work, photo gallery, and some old picture of the town)

The Western New Mexico University Museum had a lot pottery collection on the main floor, the top floor had history about the university and the basement had a few older items as well as an old mockup of a class room.

We did drive around a little to explore the town.  The town is not built on flat ground.

Dinner we returned to the Red Barn.

Note: I talked with the park owner and told him about the problems I was having uploading photos, so he removed the bandwidth limitation.  The limitation was not working properly for uploads, by removing the limitation, I now can upload photos to my Smugmug account.

2010/07/16 – Friday – Gila Dwellings

We took NM15 to get to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.  The drive took us through the forest with lots of twists and turns and steep elevation changes and I noticed several road I could explore in the jeep.

We stopped at the visitor center so Amanda could get her JR Ranger book.  We were informed about Senior Ranger Program, so Mom M and I took a booklet to also do.

We went for the hike to the cliff dwellings.  Mom M and Eric went ahead and walked back to the van, while Amanda and I waited for the Ranger to do the 1:00 talk.  The talk was about an hour long.

During the talk Mom M was talking with other rangers at the parking lot, she also was able to complete her program, so she got her certificate and patch.

Amanda and I returned to the van, then we all headed to the visitor center so Amanda and I could turn in our programs.  Amanda got her badge, while I got a patch, and both of our certificates where printed on a printer.

For the return trip, we took the NM35, NM152, NM180 back.  It has a little less dramatic drive and its about 20 miles longer, but it might be a little faster.

We went to Wrangler’s Bar & Grill for dinner.

We also did a load of launder to cap the night off.

2010/07/15 – Thursday – Searching

Our first stop for the day was at San Lorenzo – Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.  We did go into the visitor center, but they really had nothing else (especially with the RV).

A necessary stop for gas was required.

Our next stop was at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.  We stopped into the visitor center, but they also do not have really anything for the RV can do.  I did receive some information about the route I was planning to take, based on that info I had to change plans.  We headed back the way we came.  We stopped at one of the viewing areas for lunch.

We had passed highway 60, so we backed track to get to the 60.  The other route would have had us drive on gravel roads for several miles!

We stopped at the Very Large Array (VLA).  We watched the video about the place and we opted out of doing the walking (self guided tour).

Our next stop was at a very small (one store town – Datil) to get gas.

We crossed the continental divide.  We have been watching the lighting for about an hour before we finally was driving through the rain.

We finally made it to Silver City KOA.  We paid for three nights.

We went out to eat at a place called the Red Barn (owned by a May family – no one we know)

2010/07/14 – Wednesday – Missions With A Little Salt

Today is our second day here at Mountainair.  On the agenda is the three missions. 

We drove back to Gran Quivira to tour the ruins.  On the drive back into town, I got a call, so we pulled over to handle some issues. 

Back at the RV, we had lunch.

The second mission is Quarai.  Amanda got her JR Ranger book and with that being completed,  we did the walking tour.

The last of the three missions is Abo, Amanda again asked for the JR Ranger book, and completed that – so she was able to get all three ribbons.

Going back through town, I stopped to check out a different place for dinner but they were not open for dinner – hmmmm

We noticed on the map from the monuments that it shows salt lakes, so we dove out to them.  There was no signs about the lakes, but they were mostly dried up lakebeds.

Returned back to the RV and watched a movie.

Dinner was at the same place as yesterday (the only place in town).  We stopped at the very small grocery store and another store to get a few items.

We loaded the van onto the trailer when we returned to the RV, getting ready for the drive tomorrow.

2010/07/13 – Tuesday – Billy the Kid

When we left the RV campground, we stopped just down the road to get propane for the RV, the meter was reading empty.  We then stopped to get gas.

During the morning drive, we were climbing into the hills.  One of the towns we came through had a museum.  Lincoln boast about Billy the Kids  resided in the town and he shot the sheriff.  We did purchase the necessary ticket to tour the town.  We also stopped in one place to have lunch.

Our next stop was a Fort Stanton, but they are closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the grounds look big.

Our next stop was in Capitan to see the Smoky Bear Museum.  It was interesting to see the history about Smoky Bear.  I had left the RV running to keep the inside cool, but when I looked at the gauges, the engine was hot as well has the transmission temperature was hot – not good!  I started to drive and both temps started to drop – so all is ok.

Next stop was in Carrizozo, NM for gas.

Street Atlas was trying to route me on some farm roads that would require a 4x4, so finally we found the correct route to our next destination.

The road from the south is very remote.  We stopped at Gran Quivira (part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions).  Amanda was able to get her Junior Ranger badge from this location – it only took about an hour for her to complete it.

We have made camp in Mountainair for two nights so we can explore two more missions.

Once we unloaded the van, we headed out for dinner.

I also worked on a load of laundry.

2010/07/12 – Monday – Visit the Water

The first thing on our agenda was to go see Bottomless Lakes.  We took the high road and looked over the different lakes.  The southern most lake allows swimming and it even has a roped of area for the more sallow area.  All the lakes are sunken lakes with artesian feed water and are anywhere between 30 to 100 feet deep.

We came back to the RV to have lunch and we watched a movie.

Our next stop was at Bitter Lakes Wildlife Refuge.  We got into the visitor center before it closed for the day.  We watched one of their movies.  We did the driving tour around the Refuge and Amanda took lots of photos.

A quick stop back at the RV and it was time for dinner, so we headed into town and ate at a Golden Corral Buffet.

2010/07/11 – Sunday – Heading to Alien Town

The drive started at 9:00, most of the morning we had very little traffic on the road.  What was on the road was tarantulas, millipedes, and turtles.  Also we noticed a lot of signs warning about water on the road.  And the recent rains have really made a mess of the farm roads.

Lunch was at one of Texas picnic areas

At the gas stop, you really didn’t want to look on the ground, it was just crawling with lots of bugs.

Our stop for the next two nights is in Roswell, New Mexico.

We did go into town and found a IHOP for dinner, on the way back to the RV, we stopped at a market to get a few things.

2010/07/10 – Saturday – Drive Across Texas

We left the campground headed for DFW airport.  We dropped of Cheryl for her flight back to home.  Getting in and out of the airport was easy, but the lady at the toll both asked if I picked up the Van at the airport – NO

We headed west on state route 380 – not a bad two lane road, the small towns along the route.

We stopped early in the town of Haskell at a city run
RV camp spot.  The first night is free – what a deal.

We walked about four blocks to a DQ to have dinner.  As we returned back to the RV it started to rain on us. 

2010/07/09 – Friday – Grassy Knoll

Today we slept in,  because both of the kids are not feeling.  Eric has an ear infection and Amanda is having stomach problems.

Amanda stayed home, while the rest of us went into Dallas to explore.  We stopped by the Grassy Knoll and looked around, but we did not do the 6th floor tour.  We did stop at Subway for lunch.

Our next location, we drove over to Grapevine to do some wine tasting.  We did buy one bottle that had a apple taste.

I wanted to see if the departing terminal at the DL-FW airport could handle the RV, and it can, I had to do some driving around, but we finally found the correct route.  Also we did have to pay to do that – they have toll booths to exit (even if you just drive through.)

Cheryl did talk to the kids doctor to get a prescription for Eric’s ear, so we made our way over to a CVS.

I loaded the van onto the trailer right before it started to rain for the night.

Cheryl did make dinner.

2010/07/08 – Thursday – Drive

Today all we did was drive to Dallas (not the most direct way.)  The traffic was not to bad, except in the downtown area of Dallas. 

We are staying at a park were the wifi is terrible, very slow, and cost us to log on.

We did go out to dinner, but Amanda stayed back at the RV, because she has not been feeling to well all day – not sure what is going on.  And Eric seems he is trying to have an ear infection, so we stopped by Walgreens to get him some ear drops.

2010/07/07 – Wednesday – Diamonds Are To Be Found?

After leaving the campground our first stop was to get gas.

Today was a drive not on a freeway, but the smaller highways.  I had to drive a little bit through the rain.

Our next stop was at the Crater of Diamonds State Park.  This park is where you look for the diamonds out in the field and what ever you find you get to keep it, but of course it cost to go out into the fields and of course they do have items (tools) to help in your search.

Well, we did not found any diamonds, so no new bling for anybody – sorry dear.

We did have a late lunch at the cafe on site.

We made it to Texarkana (on the Texas side) to a KOA for the night.  We got the RV setup just in time before the rains started for the night.

2010/07/06 – Tuesday – Fun in the Park

Today was a day to go play at the Magic Springs/Crystal Falls Amusement Park.

The KOA park shuttled us to the amusement park.  We did all the roller coasters that we could – one of them was emergency stopped, so we could not ride that one.

We called for the KOA shuttle so we could return back to the RV to change and have lunch.

Once we returned back to the amusement park, we did get rained on while we were playing.  We played in the water park until it was closing time. 

2010/07/05 – Monday – Hot Springs

We toured around the area of the Hot Springs.  We drove the northeast side of the park and went up into the lookout and loved the view from the top.  Back down into the old town, we finally found a place to park.  But before heading to the visitor center, we stopped for lunch.

Amanda got the paperwork for the Junior Ranger Program.  We toured the three floors and the basement.  Again it only took about two hours for Amanda to complete the booklet.  We also toured an art gallery that had some Ansell Adams pictures on display.

We then drove through the southwest side of the park and enjoyed the drive.

We also made the drive to the ORV Offroad Park (only 3.5 miles away from the KOA campground) to see the location, but of course the van is not able to go on the trails.

Back at the RV, we reviewed our route and added a few more places to stop before we get to Dallas/Fort Worth. 

We also made a decision to stay here another day to do the amusement park (Magic Springs).

We did go out for dinner – Waffle House.  Then a stop was made at Wal*Mart to get a few things.

2010/07/04 – Sunday – Bye King, Hello Hot

We left camp and headed to the airport to drop off Mom D.  We could not get very close to the terminal, but we did drop her off at one of the airport shuttle parking lot areas.

Along the route to Little Rock, we stopped at one of the rest areas on the I40 for lunch.

We stopped at the Little Rock Central High School and again, Amanda was able to get her Junior Ranger program done in about two hours.

Our final stop for the day was at the Hot Springs KOA and by some miracle, we are able to get two nights.

We ordered pizza from the campground for dinner.

2010/07/03 – Saturday – The King

We took the tour of the Graceland and other attraction, like the car museum and the planes. 

The day was hot and the internet connection was terrible, the RV park was having electrical problems because of the heat.

  We had dinner at the Hart Break Hotel. 

2010/07/02 – Friday – More War Time

We lift our camp which only had one other camper – a troop of boy scoots tent camping.

Our stopped at the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center was an unplanned stopped, we spotted the signs so we had to stop.  Amanda was able to do her Junior Ranger program.  It took about two hours to complete it and return back to the RV.

We stopped somewhere in-route to Memphis for lunch. 

We pulled in the RV park across from Graceland and yes they had a spot for us for the two nights.

We called Marlow’s and they came to pick us up in a pink limo.  The place was good and then we also returned back to the RV in the pink limo.

2010/07/01 – Thursday – Natchez Trace and War

We left camp about 9:45.  We made our way around / through Nashville. 

We made our way to the start (Northern End) of the Natchez Trace Parkway.  We stopped at several of the turn-outs along the way.  At around noon we stopped and had lunch at one of the turn-outs.  We only did about 70 miles of the Parkway.

Our next stop was at the Shiloh National Military Park.  Wow I did not know it was a big battle area of the civil way!  Amanda was able to get her JR Ranger Program completed.  And we did part of the driving tour.

The park ranger was able to give us a list of RV camp sites close by, so we picked on just down the road from the park.  When I pulled off the road I was not sure about it.  It is a small park and it had nobody manning the office, so I left and at the next intersection went into the store and asked about it. 

So we returned and set up camp.  Some time late the owner drove by and asked for some money ($15).   The only amenities is water and electric, so no internet tonight.

Amanda and Cheryl made dinner and we are now relaxing.

2010/06/30 – Wednesday – Country Music Museum

We did not get moving quickly this morning.  But I did get a phone call about the RV tire being ready. 

Once we left the campground our first stop was way back down south of Nashville to Franklin to the Discount Tire to pickup the RV tire.

Next stop was back in Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  We spent most of the day there.  We even met a So Cal Square Dance in the museum.

We walked around town a little and stopped at the Opry Original and Mom D got what she wanted.

We wandered around town and finally had dinner close to camp

Cheryl, Mom M and I went to grocery shopping.

I checked all the tires, put the van back up onto the trailer and got things ready for tomorrow. 

2010/06/29 – Tuesday - Nashville

We got a little late start, but no big deal, today was a short drive day.

We stopped at Flying J’s for our necessary gas before crossing into Tennessee.

We passed through Nashville and stopped south of it at a Discount Tire to get a new rim (to replace a out of balanced rim.)  We finally found somebody that could supply a rim, so I left the tire for them to replace it.

We found the RV campground (KOA).  The park is still recovering from the flood about two months ago.  With the van unloaded, we headed out to get the tickets for the Grand Ole Opry.

We headed back down to retrieve the tire, but when they dismounted the tire, the sensor got busted.  So I left the tire there while a new sensor is expressed mailed to them to replace the broken one.

Returned back to the RV for a quick change of clothes for Mom D (she wanted to to be a little warmer).

The show at the Grand Ole Opry was  good!!!

2010/06/28 – Monday – Caves

Our first stop was Mammoth Caves.  We got our tickets for the History Tour.  We did our shopping and went back out to the van to wait.  While we waited it started to rain.

By the time tour started the rain had stopped.   The tour has some interesting features.  When we got out the rain had returned and we got wet!!!

We took a round about route and did both ferries in the park.

We did stop for a late lunch at a DQ in Brownsville.

We made it down to the Lost River Cave and did the tour and enjoy it.  We did have rain before the tour, but when we got back out it was drying out.

The trip back, I decided to take a more scenic route.  When we got close to camp and I noticed the freeway was stopped!  We then got caught in the traffic getting back to the RV.

We did laundry tonight.

2010/06/27 – Sunday – Abraham Lincoln

We left the KOA campground about 10:00 – so that was not bad for the Sunday after the NSDC.

Our first stop was at Abraham Lincoln Birth Place.  Amanda got her JR Ranger booklet.  She discovered that we needed to go to his boy hood place.

Before heading to the boy hood place, we headed to lunch with one of Cheryl’s ROTC Friends from High School.

After lunch we finally found Lincoln Boy Hood Place.  Amanda was able to complete her JR Ranger booklet and got her badge.

We stopped for gas before we stopped for the night.  Next stop was at KOA and found out they did not have full hookup so we went to the next exit and found Cave Country Campground for the next two nights.

We did go out for dinner at one of the local eateries.

2010/06/26 – Saturday – Bats, Horses, and Dancing

We started out the day going to Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.  We did the tour and got a mini bat as part of the tour.

We stopped at Church Hill Downs and Mom D, Mom M, and Jesse did the museum, while Eric, Amanda, and Cheryl waited in the van – we took a little over an hour to tour the museum.

We stopped for lunch before heading over to the convention center to dance.

We all did do some dancing, but Mom D did head out to the van to relax near the end of the evening.  We finally left the convention center at 11:30. 

So I would call the 59th National Square Dance Convention a success and we had great fun.  We have already paid for the next three convention in previous years, but the Little Rock was announced this year so we have paid for that now.

• 2011 – Detroit
• 2012 – Spokane
• 2013 – Oklahoma
• 2014 – Little Rock

2010/06/25 – Friday – Dancing

We got a little slow start but we did manage to leave about 10:00. 

We did get to dance a little and we did a lot of walking.

We had a good dinner with the current Youth Chair and the Spokane Youth Chair.  We discussed what worked and did not worked.

We did stay for the after party in the youth hall until it was closed at 11:30.

2010/06/24 – Thursday – Sick Plain Dancing

Amanda had gotten sick over the night and was not able to keep anything down.

Cheryl did laundry, while the rest of us slept or worked on the computers.

By late afternoon Amanda was feeling better.  Jesse, Eric, and Mom M went and picked up Mom D from the airport (her plain arrived late, but that was no big deal).  We then stopped at Sonic for dinner.

When we returned Amanda and Cheryl was ready to go, so we got dressed and headed to the convention center, while Mom D and Eric stayed back at the RV.

We got back to the RV around 11:30 and we all headed off to bed.

2010/06/23 – Wednesday – We Made It!

We left at 9:00 and was on the road heading to our furthest East destination.

We stopped for lunch about noon.  We got into Louisville at what we thought was 2:00 but I guess we crossed the time line into Eastern Time so it was 3:00. 

We stopped at the convention center to pick up our packets and found out we had already paid for RV nights, but I already knew that I did not want to dry camp (with only electric available) especially with 6 people that will be in the RV.  We then headed for the RV park (KOA) where I had already made reservations for the weekend.

After setting things up, Cheryl made dinner, and then we got ready to head back to the convention center.

Amanda did dance one tip.  We also walked around to get the lay of the land.

Also note, the drive was good!!!!

2010/06/22 – Tuesday – Pop – Another Tire

This morning we got up early so we could be at Discount Tires at opening time 8:00, and we managed to do that!

It only took an hour to get the tire changed (they had to go get the tire from another store), so we where on the road at 9:00

We had lunch at the Largest McDonalds (which sets over the freeway)

All day, I have been watching the Smart Tire System (especially the temps) but all have been looking ok.  All of a sudden we hear this loud POP, I looked out both of my mirrors and can see tire shrapnel on the driver side, but I could not feel any problems – then I notice that it is a semi trailer tire that had exploded (the semi was passing me at the time). 

The good news is we were all good on our tires!!! hurray!!!

We stopped for the night at KOA in Illinois, but we thought we had enough time to go see the arch.  So we unload the van and headed on down.  We got there and found out it was all sold out.  Amanda was able to do her Junior Ranger program. 

Finding a place to eat was interesting, we drove around and finally found a Burger King to eat a late dinner.

Once back at the RV, I loaded the van, but I will secure it in the morning.

Next stop Louisville.

2010/06/21 – Monday – Tires!!!

We started the day at 9:00.
We got into Amarillo and we found a Discount Tires, so we stopped to replace the bad tires – that took about 2 hours.  During that time we also had our lunch.
About an hour before Oklahoma City, we felt another tire develop a bubble, so we stopped and changed the tire.  So that makes it three RV tires and one trailer tire.  So now this is our new record for replacing tires.  One good thing is we have had NO BLOWOUTS (knock on lots of wood!!!)
We stopped in Oklahoma City for the night at about 7:30, we walked across the road to eat dinner.
Again we are using the parks wifi, but it drops you connection all the time (about every few minutes)
We have already looked for another Discount Tire place and hopefully we will be up early and be at the store at 8:00.  So that means we have to get up earlier then our normal time.

2010/06/20 – Sunday – Long Drive and Another Tire

We left camp at 9:00 – so the day started off good.
We crossed the state line and changed our clocks to Mountain Standard Time. 
We stopped at a rest stop for lunch.
Our next stop is Flying J’s in Albuquerque, but about 3 miles before the exit we had another tire develop a bubble so it was shaking the RV.  We got gas and then drove around to the truck area to change the rear driver outside dually.  Now we will have to get that tire replace in Oklahoma.
We stopped in Tucumcari Flying J’s for gas and now we are at the KOA Tucumcari, NM.
When we stopped the wind was really bad so I did not setup the satellite, but we are using the parks wifi and it is extremely slow.

2010/06/19 – Saturday - Drive and Fixing

After getting up, I went out and check the RV out.  Well I noticed that the front passenger trailer tire had no tread, but it was still holding air.   So I changed the tire.
Cheryl did some research and found a Discount Tire in Flagstaff so we stopped to get two new tires.
After leaving, we noticed a fire was relatively close to town, so I took the business loop out of town (because the interstate was close to the smoke and listing to the CB the interstate was slow)
We stopped in William at Flying J’s for the necessary gas.
We have stopped in Holbrook (KOA) for the night and we had dinner at their grill.
Well, I am having major problems trying to get the Satellite Internet to connect – so we are using the SLOW campground connection

2010/06/18 – Friday - Start the Vacation with a problem

We only got 22 miles before I had to stop and change the front passenger tire – the tire was starting to separate (creating a bubble in the tread and causing a vibration in the RV.
We did stop a the Flying J’s for our normal fuel stop in Barstow.
We finally pulled into our night stop 1:30 AM

Almost time to leave

Well I finished the last item to get ready for the RV.  I put the necessary connection for a set of tail lights that I put onto the van when it is on the trailer.  I also checked all the tires on the trailer and the RV.

The RV is mostly loaded and is ready.  Its getting late, and we still have to go to work in the morning…

Getting Ready For Our 2010 Vacation

I am currently home for lunch and we have a few things to do before we leave on vacation this Friday.  

I am posting this to dust off the dust and making sure things still work…

I will hopefully post more tonight!

Heading Home

The camp all seemed to get up about the same time and start getting ready to leave.

I even let Eric drive the Jeep up onto the trailer – it did make me a little nervous but all went well.

The traffic heading home on 86 was not to bad a little heavy but was moving, this could not be said about the 10.  Slow most of the way until the 10 and 60 split.  Then again a little slowdown at the 60 and 215 merge.

The trip was good and nothing existing – which is good!

Saturday Fun and Fixing

We left camp about 9:00 and heading north towards the phone booth.  Once we got on the mesa top – I was looking back toward camp and I noticed another club  member coming into camp, so we stopped and waited for him to join us – so now we have seven vehicles. 

We played on/in/around the mud hill going toward the phone booth.  One hill climb, Dan made it to the top, but Jeff couldn’t get the traction on the hill climb he was doing – it took some time for him to turn around.

We finally made it to the phone booth and looking around we noticed that a helicopter was coming to medi-vac somebody out.  We watched he helicopter land.

After lunch we headed further north to explore some more areas.  Bill then broke hill driver rear axle, but a few of use wanted to do a little section before heading back to camp. 

Dan then broke his passenger front leaf spring.  So we spent the next 3 hours fixing it.  We finally got back to camp about 6.

Dinner with family and friends and then setting around the camp fire.   A good Saturday!

Light Day of Wheeling

We all seemed to get a slow start for the day.  Of course I had to take care of the dogs in the morning – we go for a short walk.
We (4 vehicles) got going on our little off roading trip about 10:00.  Eric join me for this run.  We played relativity close to camp and we stayed on the north side of S22.
At one point I thought I got the Jeep (CJ5 - ‘Green’) stuck but with the V8 and a little extra power, I was able to get myself unstuck.  With the street tires, I really don’t get a lot of traction and I need some type of locker in the front.  But I am happy with what I am able to do with ‘Green’ so far.
We return back to camp about noon and had lunch, the group decided that they didn’t want to go out in the afternoon, they just wanted to relax.
Some time in the after noon I did run Turquoise around – me driving the Jeep and him running beside me.  It seemed like he was having fun.
I took Eric into town to get a few things – supper glue, paper towel, and toilet paper.  So far the supper glue is somewhat working on keeping Eric glasses together.
After dinner we sat around the camp fire, but the wind started to pick up and drove all of us back into our respective campers about 9:30.

Thanksgiving Day

We got a lot of our packing down on Wednesday so this morning we did not need to do a lot.  We left the house some time around 11:00 to head over to Mom D for Turkey. 

We had 4 different families (Mom D, D&M&J&R, Y&Y&C, and of course us four.)  Turkey was good and we all seemed to have a good time. 

We left almost at 3:00 to head for Truckhaven hills.

About and hour into our drive, the inside passenger rear tire blows.   It did no damage – so that is a good thing.  The Smartire never did give a squawk about the blown tire. We got the tire changed in a really good time.

We got into camp about 8:00 and Jeff lead the way into camp.  He found a faster straighter route.

I set everything up and then went and sat around the fire to enjoy some time with some friends.

PVD Over – Heading Home

We slowly got things ready to go around the RV.  I help a friend trying to get his satellite  TV working. 

We said our goodbyes and heading down the road.

First stop was at Kramer Junction to fill up the RV with some go go juice.  Everybody else got lunch and I ate a lunch-able that we already had in the the fridge.  I also noticed the the Jeep was dripping radiator fluid – it doesn’t like being bounced around so the whole must be getting bigger.

I stopped at a new RV dump location, but they wanted $10 , so I left and stopped at the other place that is only $7. 

I took a little different route today to getting home, I decided I didn’t want to take the 210 because of the winds – I was getting pushed around good, so I dropped down to the 60.

On the way down to the 60, Cheryl called and said that they heard a pop, but all my tires were good.  About 10 minutes later, I get a warning from the SmarTire system about the front driver side trailer tire low on pressure.  I finished transferring onto the 60 and exited the first exit, so I could double check the tire.  By the time we stopped the pressure on the tire had dropped another 8 pounds.

Eric and CJ helped in changing the tire.  Once the tire was off the trailer, we could see that a big chunk of the tire is missing on the inside, but the tire was still holding pressure (I will take a picture of it on Monday).

We made it home and got everything put away.  The Jeep has dipped a lot of radiator fluids out, so no driving it until I get it fixed.

Fish and Raffle

I got up early so I could go on a ride with the leader that was doing Fish Canyon.  I did wakeup Amanda also so she could also ride with another friend which was also going on Fish Canyon

I had a good time riding with S.G.  Fish Canyon was more technical then I remember from many years ago.

We got back to camp about 3:00 and I talked to many other friends before finally getting my chair and setting it up for me to enjoy the raffle.

Well, for this year PVD raffle including the kids raffle – we got nothing.

I am tired so off to bed early tonight…

Exploring and Lookout City

I got up early – but had a good night sleep.

I was able to get a ride with some friends and we went exploring south of the PVD main camp.  We drove from the top of the pass from Trona to Panamint Valley on the old Nadu Road.  We got back to camp about 1:15 – Just in time to get ready for my next adventure.

After squaring away a driver that I can ride with, I started the drivers meeting, at least half if not more were new to PVD and of course new to the Lookout City Sunset run.

Our first stop was on the roadway to collect everybody after leaving camp.  When we were waiting for everybody we had a jet flying over us doing flybys – really COOL!  We had a total of 33 vehicles.

We even got back to camp in a very good time – good group!

While we were out we heard about a bad rollover from a non-event  group run on South Park, with bad injuries.  We all need to pray for the people in the rollover for a quick recovery.

Cheryl and Eric made it out in about four and half hours – traffic was good.

Time for bed, 6:30 will come early.

Broken

Of course I didn’t get a good nights sleep, so hopefully I will tonight.  But the day started out nice and sunny with a few clouds.

I went and helped out setting up the cook tent.  A little after noon, I came over to get some food. 

I worked on getting the Dish TV to work but I think the switch is broken so we can only use one of the LNBs.  I am going to find out why I have gone through two switches already.

The jets did buzz us a few times so that is always a cool thing.

In the afternoon I was going to help set up sign for the run, well the Jeep CJ5 “Green” started to leek radiator fluid from the bottom of the radiator – so that means I will not be able to go anywhere with it this weekend.

I came back to the RV around 9 and watch TV for the evening.  Now I am tired so I should sleep good.

PVD Bound

I got off work a little early for me.  It only took about an hour to get the last of the item in the RV and rolling down the road.  Amanda, CJ and I left about 5:30. 

We made good time, all the freeways were moving and no real slowdowns anywhere.

We did stop at Cramer Junction to get fuel and somewhat of a dinner.  We did forget the ice, so I will have to tell Cheryl to get it on her way up on Friday after she picks up Eric after school.

We also stumbled into Chef Andy’s group also heading up to PVD

We got into camp about 10:30 and finally got everything setup about 12:00 including the wind generator, but I still cannot get the Satellite TV working yet, but as you can tell if you are reading this on the 12th, that I was able to get the internet working fine.

It is almost 1:00 in the morning and I need to get some sleep – hope we have fun here at Panamint Valley Days

2009/10/19 – Monday - Vacation Day

I did not get up until noon – vacation day for me so I could relax and get a few things done around the house.

I got the RV cleaned out – now it is ready for packing when the time comes for our next adventure.

I finally got a copy of the RV engine key – I had lost my key on vacation – so now we have two keys like we should!

Next thing I fixed was the internet satellite dish – I needed some bolts that have been lost – so now that is fixed.  I set the dish up so we can have Dish up and going.  We received our switch for Dish, but that did not work, so now I will wait for a new switch (not a used one).

I was still busy working on things and Cheryl wanted to do a few more things, so we did not got to Group tonight.

2009/10/18 - Sunday - Drive Back Home From ODF

Both of us sleep in today, I started around 9:00 to get things put away and ready. We did not leave until 11:00 (saying goodbye to friends and taking our time putting things away).

We did stop at Flying J’s to get gas and empting our tanks.

The trip back was nothing like getting to ODF – the freeways were all moving with no stop and go.

We got home about 3:00 – and did our normal car shuffle and got everything put away.

Cheryl and Eric did go to the Croakers dance and said it was a good dance.

Cheryl and Amanda went and got some pumpkins and now Amanda is carving them.

2009/10/17 - Saturday - Jeep and Raffle

We got up a little late – Amanda wanted to wake up earlier, but it turned out ok. We got everything ready.

I went over to A.C. and she stated that I have to put on the spare dress that she had so I could drive in the Powder Pull trail.

Once we finally got going, I drove the CJ5 “Green” over to the start of the trail.

Amanda did all of the driving of the trail. About 1 or 2 into the drive, the Jeep was getting very HOT, so we stopped to cool down. We started to go and we caught up to the two in front and then the Jeep stalled.

Well, the Jeep was not getting any fuel, we finally determined that the ground lead on the fuel pump was no longer connected. That was fixed and all is good (until I get home and do a more permanent fix).

One the way out of the canyon, the temp on the Jeep was much better!

Back at camp, we started the generator to cool down the 104 temp inside the RV (with the windows open). The cats were panting.

At 4:30 the temp stats 105, and now the inside is finally down to 97 and still going down.

We had dinner and now it was time for the Raffle. I did win one bag of goodies. I did get a registration for TDS – so I guess I need to go now.

After all the hoopla was done, we sat around a fire and enjoyed the rest of the evening. (we didn’t get back to the RV until 1:00 a.m.)

2009/10/16 - Friday - Travel Day to ODF

We started the day early – Amanda and I started packing the RV and getting the Jeep ready to go.

About an hour before leaving a stray dog was wondering the neighborhood, with the help of a neighbor we was able to capture the dog. We called the animal control to come pick him up. On then continued packing while Amanda and the neighbor took care the of the dog. Finally the animal control guy showed up. The dog was chipped so he was able to call the people that owns the dog and have them come and get it.

We finally got on the road about noon, but we had stops to do. First mail off the Smart Tire computer and monitor (its on the fritz). Next stop Ralphs for the stuff for the cats. Last stop was at Fresh and Easy to get the last minute items.

Traffic was not good – it was slow going. A vibration had started to get worse. I got off the freeway but could not see which tire making the vibration. Back on the freeway – not 5 miles later the diver front tire blows! (I was still stuck in traffic going only about 15 mph). It took me awhile to change the tire ( A CHP and the Highway Service person stopped by to offer help). I headed on over the America’s Tire to get a new one.

When we got going the freeways were slow again. Our next stop was at Flying J’s, we when next door to get dinner from McDonalds.

We finally pulled into camp about 8:00!

We got all setup and chatted with friends.

2009/07/11 – Saturday – Valley and Mountains

Well this morning the RV was getting warm, when I looked at the time, it was 9:30 – hmmm lat for us – o-well we slept in.

We finally left to head into the park – Yosemite.  It took us about 1 hour to get into the park.  I made the turn to head up to go to the tunnel view and drove the tunnel (both directions) and then stopped to take the necessary photos of the valley.

House Keeping store was our next stop – Mom M got her pennies pressed.

Our next stop was at the parking spot for the visitor center.  Now it was lunch time.  We found both penny press and eat lunch at the Grill (Burgers and Dogs).

Back to the van – we got ready for our hike .  We did the lower Yosemite Falls.  Eric, Amanda, and I also scrambled up to the base of the falls.  Amanda wanted to cross the water, so we started to cross, Eric made the last leap across, then I made it over, but Amanda slipped and fell into the water. She also hit her knee and stomach, but she was ok.  We climbed up to near the base, but the spray was a lot more on this side (west side.)

Our next stop was the visitor center.  Amanda had completed her junior ranger paper, so she was sworn in as a junior ranger.

We then stopped at the Samuel Adams gallery and Amanda got a few items.

The drive out was a little hectic, but we got back to the RV in reasonable amount of time.   We went out to eat at one of the local dinners. 

Back to the RV to load the van on the trailer, relax, and I through the ball for the dogs a few time.

Tomorrow is the drive home.

2009/07/10 – Friday – Park Fun

The camp power was cut off at about 6:00 – I had to turn off the satellite equipment because of low battery.

We finally left camp at about 9:00 and headed for Tioga pass. 

Tioga pass is a very hard pass to climb – I was down to 20 mph for quite a few miles.

Finally we made it to Yosemite.  The roads are tight.  The driver mirror almost got hit a few times, so I would hit the branches on the passenger side a few times so I would not get hit by the passing vehicle.

We did not drive the RV into the village, we headed outside the park to find a camp.  The first place was all booked up, so we went into Mariposa and found the fair grounds – they found a location for me so I don’t have to disconnect the trailer.

We got everything squared away and unloaded the van – so we went back into the park.

We had dinner at Curry Village and then we found a program to watch about Ansell Adams.  While we were waiting for the program, we watch a mule deer walk by.

The drive back to the RV was ok – now we get to drive back into the park again tomorrow.

2009/07/09 – Thursday – Drive Time

I got up and took the dogs for a walk and got to meet RV-Dreams Journal owners - They are very nice, but of course it was a short meeting because they were working and of course work never stops.

We finally left about 9:30 and headed south.

I pulled over at a pull out for lunch and I walked the dogs. Turquoise did find the creek and played in it.

The drive around lake Tahoe was slow going because of the traffic.

We are camped at Willow Springs RV park. We went to dinner a short walking distance up the road at a very nice small restaurant.

O – and no phone works here – my work phone works thought the satellite only.

2009/07/08 – Wednesday – High and Steam

We left camp late – I slept in but we finally got going around 10:00 – I could not find the engine keys for the RV.

We stopped for gas and kept on heading to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Our next stop was the North entrance to the park. Amanda got her Junior Ranger booklet and started to fill it out. Amanda, Mom M and Jesse listen to one of the ranger talks on bears. We also noticed that they are doing a control burn in the area.

We stopped at several of the pull outs. We even did some of the short walks for the Junior Ranger booklet.

We finally arrived at the south entrance about fifteen minutes before closing. Amanda got her Junior Ranger badge and we even got our few trinkets.

Now it was time for to camp – we made it to Chester. I found the RV campground that one of the bloggers that I follow works at for the summer (but they are not working today)

Trying to find a camp spot for me was a little hard, we drove through the campground and found one, so back to the office to register and then back to the camp spot. I pull in forward into the spot so we could unload the van. We even tried to get the satellite to work through the trees but were unsuccessful.

I unload the van and we went into Chester to find a place to eat.

Back at the RV, I loaded the van so we are ready to leave in the morning.

2009/07/07 – Tuesday – Tubes Away

We left camp about 9:30 and headed south east.  We crossed back into California before our first stop. 

We stopped at Klamath Wildlife Refuge on our way to the Lava Beds National Monument.

We stopped at a few pull out locations before getting to the visitor center.  Amanda did get her booklet for the Junior Ranger program.  We watch one of the videos as one of the Ranger led program.  We drove the auto cave tour.  We walked in several of the caves (lava tubes).  We returned to the visitor center so Amanda could get her badge.

I took the road less travel to exit the park – South East.  The road was not to bad, but I could understand why some people might not want to take it.  The road is paved, but it is not all that smooth.

Amanda and Mom M. looked for an RV park  and found one really close to our path.  We turned west to find the RV park, but I traveled about 10 miles before turning around to find the RV park only to find it about quarter a mile the other way that we turned west at.

We pulled into the first RV park and had a pick of locations. 

We did have a little bit of rain while  we are relaxing.

2009/07/06 – Monday – Trapped Water

Well, time to get going took LONGER then normal (see yesterday.)  Got the RV read, then get the trailer re-attached, and then finally get the van loaded and secured. 

We headed on into Creator Lake National Park.  Near the lip of the creator, it was sure slow going trying to climb the road.  When we finally see the water, we had to stop for some road construction. 

We stopped at several location along the west ridge.  At the main ridge lodge/ranger station, Amanda got and started her junior ranger program.  But the requirements to fulfill is to much – we would have to do two ranger programs and one of them being at 5:30 at the campground – so that means she will not get this one.  She did do all but one sheet.  We also stopped on our way out of the park heading to Klamath Falls.

Amanda suggested that we stay at Klamath Falls because between there and our next destination, it seems to be no RV campgrounds. 

So we are camped at the Klamath Falls KOA.

We did unload the van and we went for a drive.  Amanda had already found a restaurant, so we stopped at it for dinner.

Once back at camp, I loaded the van back on the trailer.  I also went ahead and checked and topped off all the tires (RV and trailer).

Now it was time to relax.

2009/07/05 – Sunday – Starting Home

We finally got everything loaded and headed on our way.

We stopped sometime after lunch for gas for the RV – 53 gallons worth!

Amanda looked for an RV camp close to Creator Lake – Diamond Lake

Well, we will never stay at this RV park again.  They do not allow any trailers (boat, car, or box) at any of the sites – so I had to take some time to unload the van and unhook the trailer (I was not pleased)

It took a bit to finally get the satellite pointed through the trees, but we got online, but we could not get our dish-tv online. 

We watched movies – 2004 and the 1956 versions of Around the World in 80 Days.

2009/07/04 – Saturday – Drive

Mom M and I drove her van to Packwood to unload items that she wanted to keep. 

We stopped at my old grade school to look at the museum they have inside and to help in identifying some of my old grade school classmates. 

On our drive back, we finally stopped to get some food outside of Randle.  The drive back was good.

We did watch fireworks out in the distant tonight and pre-paired for departure tomorrow.

2009/07/03 – Friday - Gorge

I was feeling much better, so Cheryl scheduled us for a cruise on the Columbia River.

We sat round resting and getting things taken care of.

We left and stayed on the Washington side until we crossed at the Bridge of the Gods.

We found the place, and waited for our time to board the boat.

We were escorted to our seats.

As we were eating dinner, I kept going out and taking a few pictures. We first went down stream and before the locks, we turnaround and then headed upstream, past our starting location and then again turnaround to head back to the dock. The total time on the water was 2 1/2 hours.

Once off the ship, we drove to H&E W for a really quick visit. We got back to the RV really late.

2009/07/02 – Thursday – Errand and Forts

I was still not 100%, but we went and did some Errands – Mom M got some things squared away with Family maters.

We stopped by Fort Vancouver.  Amanda got her Junior Ranger Badge for completing the necessary pages.

We went to one of Cheryl’s bank and where she did some necessary work, the rest of the family rested in the basement (the cafeteria) until she had completed her work.

We did fill up the water in the RV and Eric did drive a tractor and had a blast doing it.

2009/07/01 – Wednesday - Sick

I was Sick.  So I just laid on the couch all day

Cheryl, Amanda and Mom M. did errands.

2009/06/30 – Tuesday – Final Leg

We left Grants Pass at 9:00.  I drove for about an hour before finally getting gas.  I always forget that only the gas attendant can pump the gas and almost got in trouble.

Next stop was at Bob Dickman Tire Center to get the driver side rear out side tire sensor replaced and get the trailer tire replaced.  That took about 2 hours, but all is good now.

We got to our final stop around 3:30.  We got the RV parked and started enjoying talking with Mom M and Luke and Grace.  Unfortunately, L & G had to return home. 

We went to dinner at TGIF and then stopped at Safeway for some goods.

Once back at the RV, I set up the Satellite.  But I found out that my local channel will not display, because we are outside of the spot beam for Dish for local channel – bummers.

2009/06/29 – Monday – Traveling Along

We left camp a little later then I wanted to – 9:30.

Our first stop was at Flying J’s for gas and breakfast.

About 12:15 the tire sensor went off for the front driver side trailer tire.  The pressure was going down fast and I was about a mile away from an exit!  I started to slow down and finally got off the freeway, once I stopped, the pressure for the tire was zero.

Eric helped with changing the tire.  Once the tire was off, we noticed that a bubble had developed on the inside and had finally pop, which resulted in the flat tire.  I got the spare tire added to the sensor monitor and we were back on the road in a very quick fashion.

We stopped at another Flying J’s for lunch and fuel.  I pulled over in the parking lot and ate my lunch (salad) before hitting the road.

We were about to stop for the night, we heard a big thud and I thought I blew a tire, but the sensor never squawked, all my gauges are fine and I can not see anything wrong out my mirrors, so we keep on going.

We are now at Grants Pass for the night.  We went next door for dinner and got a 10% discount by showing that we are camped next door.

I check all over, under, and top to see what the noise was.  I think I found the noise – it seems to be a flashlight had fell out of it holding place and thumped on the floor in the doorway – so I think all is well for tomorrow.

2009/06/28 – Sunday – Start of Trip

Let me set things up. Saturday morning Mom M. got a phone call notifying her that her dad has passed on. So our last day at the 58th NSDC was slightly clouded about the fact that my Grandfather has pass away.

But now we have to figure out what to do, so this morning, we got a ticket for Mom M to fly back up to start handling the arrangement of things to do.

We had a hard time getting ready to leave. After doing some running around, we finally left around 2:30 – we had to return to the house to get some last minute items. We were finally on our way.

Heading up over the grapevine, the tire sensors alerted me that my tires were hot so I slowed down and take the pass at a slower speed.

We did stop at Flying J’s to fuel up and then stopped at Jack-N-The-Box for dinner.

We are now stopped at Kit Fox RV camp ground in Patterson for the night.

2009/05/20 – Wednesday – Jelly Arms

Today is my third day of furlough. We all took our time to get up, eat breakfast. We did things on the computer and then it was time for lunch.

CJ and I took the trailer that had all the signs and went and placed all the road sign (4 small one and 1 big one.) I did get a minor blister in my palm trying to secure the small signs.

One of the vendors showed up, so I placed him in the main camp area on the Northeast corner (hopefully I put him in the correct place)

After dinner (Amanda made it – Thanks!); CJ and I put up the Ranch Sign and the East and most of the South stakes. We still need to do more stakes, but we totally ran out of light and were doing some of them in the dark. O man my arms are really sore – and we need to do more.

I got a phone call from Mom M and we talked for little while.

I some how did not take any pictures today – bummers.

2009/05/19 – Tuesday – Shopping and Relaxing

Another day off on Furlough – I still got up at normal time like I was going to work – I don’t know about that….

We all ate breakfast and we did a little research on some Geo Cache and around noon we finally got ready for leave.

First stop, Slash-X – It was Closed! hmmm don’t know why.

We stopped at the National Park Service for the Mojave Preserve and looked around – it is small but has a good map display.

Now in town we stopped at Home Depot to get a few things (stakes, ribbon, and batteries), next it was time for Lunch at IHOP.  We then stopped at Vons to get a few other items and replenish.

We stopped at Flying J’s to refuel, and did two Geo Cache that was really close to the road.

“Blue” needs some tlc, so I am going to take it easy this week.

Amanda did cook dinner tonight and I started the fire to relax at for the evening.

We did have two campers (one group) come in today, but they did camp a little bit away.

CJ wanted to do the telescope, so I got it out and set it up for him.

Now the fire has died down and I am leaving what little wood I have left for tomorrow.

2009/05/18 – Monday – Interesting Weather

We all slept in a little today.  We had clouds this morning so it slowly warmed up. 

We did not go anywhere today – it has turned out to be another do nothing day.

I did make and received a few phone calls.  Worked on the computer, ready bogs and just enjoying a relaxing furlough day.  I did get invited to go with a group to dinner on Thursday night – so of course I said yes.

Sometime in the afternoon, I  noticed in the distant that it looked like rain.  The rain and the wind made for some very interesting dust storm.  We only got a few drops hitting the side of the RV (wind driving the drops.)

We only had four different people pass by today – two different motorcycle couple, and two different vehicles – Nobody stopped.

The cats are doing ok – Amber still will hiss at Moonstone, but Moonstone and Pearl do play together a little bit.  Turquoise does play with Moonstone, in fact, Moonstone will lay down and curl up on Turquoise – I will try to get a picture next time he does that.

I did get the Jeep “Blue” cleaned up inside and got all my stuff organized in the back.  I may regret for not getting everything that I normally carry, but time will tell.  I did check my fluids and I had to put water and some oil in to top things off.

I think tomorrow we will run into town to get a few things.

I wrote this out by the fire – it is a little windy but still nice to sit out side.

We had a late night visitor – He dropped off a few things for the Cafe.

2009/05/17 – Sunday – And Now No One Is Here

I and the kids got up late.  I did turn the generator on, in the hopes to keeping the RV cool during the day.

All of us did play on the internet most of the day.  We watched several DVD’s all through out the day.

I even got a nap in a little bit in the afternoon, so that was really nice.

The other group packed up; so we are the only ones out here at the HDR camp.

I noticed from my emails and twitter that home had an earthquake – 4.7,  Cheryl felt it and a few things moved around but no damage – which is good

I am out by the fire doing more internet stuff this evening.

Maybe tomorrow, we will be more productive.

2009/05/16 – Saturday – HDR Pre-run

With the help of S.G. we got Baby Beast ready – CB added, Fire Extinguisher secured, Wind Generator setup and a few other minor items.

The Dirt Devils finally showed up little after 9:00, we got ready and left for the trail.

Once on the trail, the first obstacle was ruffed up more – Baby Beast made it but it was not very easy. I stalled it a few times and finally made it through it.

One our way to the next obstacle was having a little problems getting over some rocks, that’s when I am expecting I don’t have four wheel-drive. Sure enough after looking I don’t have four wheel-drive, I can get the Jeep into low, but the front wheels will not spin.

Not having four wheel-drive made it very interesting to climb some of the hills.

About 30 minutes later I noticed that I did not have normal breaks. After a few more minutes of driving, the front breaks were working (I could skid the fronts), but the back breaks were not working.

At the lunch stop, that is when we found out that I broken the back break line. So after lunch I headed back to camp. We unloaded the Jeep and I headed home with Baby Beast.

I surprised Eric when I showed up at home; I did the vehicle swap and started back to camp with “Blue”. The Jeep (XJ) has a vibration at 70 so I kept it round 60 to 65 the whole way back to camp.

On the drive back to camp, I talked with my Mom and Cheryl.

I also found out that our Friend L.S. lost her mom today – so our thoughts are with her

Once back at camp, I talked with the other camp for a while, and then went into the RV to watch some movies.

O and it was HOT today!
--------------------

Thanks Mom for the call.

2009/05/15 – Friday – Travel Day – Start of Furlough Week

I did the normal work day

I finally got home and we got the last of the items it the RV. For the last three days, we have been doing things to get ready. So tonight, I had a few items – clothing, computers, and the animals.

Amanda, CJ, and I left the house about 7:00 PM. Our first stop was at Fresh and Easy for the last minute items to get.

Next stop was at Flying J’s to get everything topped off and drained and more last minute items.

The road (Stoddard Wells Rd) into the HDR camp location is a little ruff so it was slow going. A small group was already park near the main camp at HDR and enjoying a fire. I finally found the location where I will camp for a week.

With the help from S.G. and the kids, we got most of the RV setup and the internet running.

Bedtime came a little after 1:00 AM.