Christmas 2022

This year we went to Mount Pleasant to spend the holiday with Lindsay and Jamie. There was record cold all across the country during this Christmas. Jenny and I stayed in the new RV parked in their driveway. We're calling the new RV the MP3. Anyway, it was cold enough that we were afraid our pipes might freeze. I think we might have dodged a bullet, but I can't be sure. 

Thanksgiving 2022

Another massive undertaking, a chaotic maelstrom of partially organized bedlam. There is more leftover food than we ate. Typical. Jamie's family drove or flew down from NY. We enjoyed having them join us. Today is Friday, leftover day. Let the weight gain begin.

Seth does Halloween

New RV

This is RV #3. The first 2 had 3 slid out rooms. We experienced a lot of unpleasant issues with those slides. They were the source of their nicknames "Money Pit". This one has 0 slides. It is on a Mercedes chassis and has a Diesel engine. We picked it up in North Carolina and spent 4 days getting home. Jenny and I have committed to this one being our last one.

Fall foliage on Blue Ridge Parkway

Aubrey races X-country

Aubrey runs cross country in the fall and high jumps in the spring. There was a state wide X-country meet in Newberry SC over the weekend that Fort Mill HS participated in. I have never seen a running spectacle quite like the event in Newberry. There were over 3000 runners divided into multiple divisions. A couple of the pics shows the line up and the start of Aubrey's race. It was a thundering herd of hundreds of teenage girls. Crossing the course as a spectator could prove fatal. Aubrey finished in the middle of the pack but she had a PR. (Personal Record). There are several more races where she can lower her PR this season.

Finally Home (trip stats)

We started this trip on 2 July and ended it on 8 Sept. 9 weeks. We stopped and made camp 30 times. 15 State Parks, 2 National Parks, and 2 Corps of Engineer campgrounds. There were 38 visits to a gas station. Prices ranged from $5.89 to $3.13. We took the MP into our mechanic today. I had 2 pages of write ups. We took a rock in the windshield in Idaho that left us with a 36" crack. We stopped at a campground in Washington that had bad power. It fried our surge Protector and screwed up the inverter. The # 1 slideout didn't work from day 1. The # 3 slideout quit about 3 weeks ago and the # 2 slideout was showing signs of failure for the last few days. Sounds like we have a slideout problem. Our holding tank dump hose for some unknown reason developed several leaks. Duct tape was somewhat effective, with the emphasis on Somewhat. There are a few more items that need attention and I'm hoping our guy can get things back in working order. The odometer went over 50,000 miles on this trip. From the bottom right corner of the country to the top left corner of the country and back took us 9,410 miles. The trip was frustrating, awesome, enlightening, and educational. Our meet up with the kids and Grandkids at Yellowstone was a highlight. I think everyone enjoyed that get together. I've been looking at all the pics we took and I'm already nostalgic. Davejennyjournal will be on vacation for awhile. This trip is in the can. 

Saint Mary's GA

This will be our last night on the road for this trip. The border between Georgia and Florida is the Saint Mary's river. We crossed over that river and then immediately existed I-95 on exit # 1 to get here. This is a KOA. We have covered so many miles and been to so many different places this trip that it's nearly impossible to keep it sorted out. Our goal was The North Cascades but our link up with the kids and Grandkids at Yellowstone was a memorable adventure. The MP has some very significant problems that will probably take months to get sorted out. We have one more leg tomorrow and we're hoping she'll hold together for that. I'll post some trip stats as a final post for this trip in a day or two. No pics today but I'll post some of the 100's of pics we took while on the road. 

Holt FL.

We are in the Florida panhandle, almost due north of Hurlburt Field where I was stationed for 3 years from '79 to '82. There have been several C-130's flying over the campground this afternoon. This park is called "Rivers Edge". The Yellow River is the river whose edge we are on. We went for a exploratory walk after we got set up and a couple of signs got our attention. Not sure what Damges are but everyone is apparently responsible for their own. Georgia tomorrow. 

Lafayette LA

We drove  400 miles today. The slog has begun. This park is a KOA in the midst of a love bug explosion. They are everywhere. We've got two more, one night stops, at commercial parks before we get home. One in Florida and one in Georgia. We have been out over 2 months now and we will have put nearly 10,000 miles on the MP when we get home. It has got some significant issues that have been exacerbated by this trip. It will be in the shop for awhile for sure. This pic is the MP at rest in our KOA campsite. 

San Antonio (Jenny's dad driveway)

When we got set up I tried the slideout reset procedure for the bedroom slide. It wouldn't go out normally and we were to afraid to fiddle with it for fear we wouldn't be able to get it back in. Since we are finally in a city we figured we could get some help getting it back in if it was stuck in the extended position. The instructions for the reset procedure say nothing about extending it if it's stuck in. The procedure is used to get it back in if it won't retract. I nervously did the procedure and then Jenny and I held our collective breath. I pushed the extend button and------and (pretty suspenseful wasn't it) it extended. We only extended it a few feet. Just enough so that we could get at our stuff that was trapped under the bed. We will be leaving here with the Holiday hordes on Monday. (Labor Day). This Afternoon we are having a small celebration for Jim's birthday. Larson is pretty frail and increasingly incoherent. His care givers are having a difficult time coping with his volatility. I do not envy them. I will see if I can get a few pics of the party.

Brackettville Tx.

We are camped at Fort Clark Springs. It was an actual Calvary Fort in the 1800's. All the historic buildings are now privately owned. People are living in the old barracks and housing. We got here pretty early so we went irnto town to eat lunch. Doing online research Jenny found several eateries that looked acceptable. They were all out of business or closed for reasons unknown. We made our own lunch at the MP. There is a big spring here. The 9th largest spring in Texas. It fills a swimming pool that is a major attraction. The pool been closed for 6 months. The spring has dried up. Anyway, Brackettville won't make our top ten list. We are in SA tomorrow and will be there for several days. The pic was taken during a bike ride in Marathon. I thought it was clever.

Seminole Canyon SP

Jenny and I have stopped here several times over the years. It's on Highway 90, our preference heading east, over interstate 10. There is also a challenging mountain bike trail that follows the canyon rim. With recent rains the trail was pretty muddy. I had some cleaning up to do after I got back. The southern border of the park is the Rio grande. It has a robust flow I guess because of the recent monsoon rains. We will move a little further East tomorrow. Should be in S.A. on the 1st of Sept.

Marathon Tx.

 This is the location of the famous, Gage Hotel. It is on the National Register of Historic places. We are staying in an RV park just down the street. The Hotel has a kinda swanky restaurant. I had to put on long pants and a collared shirt because we have dinner reservations at 6:00. I went on a bike ride around town and took these pics. The Hotel has a 29 acre garden, a green, well watered attraction that unfortunately also had a copious number of mosquitoes. They apparently liked that the garden was well watered. There has been a really ugly black cloud hanging out east of here all afternoon. We are pretty sure it will move overhead around 6:00. The RR track pic is just plain art. The illusion of the tracks coming closer together as the distance from the camera increases is called something. Just can't remember what. Does Aubrey know what it's called? We move to Seminole Canyon State Park tomorrow and I doubt if it has  good cell. So don't be alarmed if we are incommunicado.

Van Horn Tx.

We Pulled into Guadalupe Mountains NP just to stoke our nostalgia. That place really tugs at my heart. Things were pretty warm there and our inverter doesn't work so we decided to drive another hour to get here. We have full hookups here and there is a very nice hotel in town (Hotel El Capitan) that has a very good restaurant. Weirdly, things are very green here. This is late August in West Texas. In fact there is water puddled around everywhere. We are headed to Marathon tomorrow. 

Santa Fe day 2

We went downtown today to absorb some of the art scene. There was more eating and drinking but we have returned to the MP and will be headed to Texas and maybe GMNP tomorrow. If the temp is too high at the park we will probably continue to Van Horn. We are not in a hurry and won't be in SA until the 31st.

Santa Fe NM

This is our 2nd year attending the Everett  family mini reunion. The weather was iffy this morning but I got a ride in anyway. Everyone else went into town. Jim and Anne have a great  house with a spectacular view. The group is all assembled and we are trying to drink some of their rather large collection of wine. We have left the MP at a commercial campground and are staying in a king size bed in one of the their many bedrooms. It really, really beats the heck out of a bed that is in a slide that won't extend. Trust me. We move back to the MP tomorrow night so that we can continue our trip south.

Monastery of Christ in the Desert

We had a pretty busy day today. We hiked around the lake some this morning and had some pretty views. The lake is low enough that the boat ramps are unusable so there was no one on the lake in a boat. The drive to the Monastery was on a 14 mile, very scenic, dirt road along the Chama river. We were greeted by a Monk that had been living in the Monastery for 40 years. I can't really say enough about the scenery. It was awesome. The road, not so much. There were 20 something Monks living there, all of them pretty old. It was interesting talking to our greeter.(More below)

He was wearing a full length black habit from the neck to the floor. After that we moseyed on over to Abiquiu and ate a late lunch followed by a visit to the Georgia O'keeffe museum. This was a good stop but there is much more to see and do here so we will have to come back. We will be in Santa Fe tomorrow and for several days after that, visiting with a bunch of people named Everett. We are only 69 miles away. 

Abiquiu NM

That is pronounced (Abba-Q). I think it is famous for being the location of the home and studio of Georgia O'keeffe. I suspect some people reading this might not be aware of Georgia O'keeffe, if not, a Google search will probably result in a few thousand results. We are camped at a Corps of Engineers Campground above Abiquiu Lake. We have driven by this lake several times in the last few years and Jenny has always expressed an interest in stopping. So here we are. There is a Monestary near here. 14 miles up a dirt road that follows the Chama river. The drive is supposed to be really cool and the Monastery is also supposed to be pretty cool. You can spend the night there but you can't talk to anyone. It's the silent treatment. Kinda like ghosting someone on the internet. That's right up my alley. Every Tuesday the community of Abiquiu has a farmer's market. Today is Tuesday. There was a lady there selling Tamales. OMG, they were spectacular. We go to the Monastery tomorrow. I'll take some pics. 

Moab day 2

I had another good ride today. As I've said before I think Moab is the mountain biking capital of the known universe. There are a lot of biking destinations that have man built obstacles. There are none of those here. They are not required. I only took one pic. The route of the trail I was on is marked by a line painted on the slick rock. We are in New Mexico tomorrow. 

Moab Ut.

As we were sitting outside yesterday afternoon watching the dark clouds roll in we noticed way off in the distance a rain shaft that stayed in the same spot for over an hour. Turns out is was over Moab. The downtown flooded. There is mud and dried mud everywhere. Water was knee deep in a few of the businesses on main street. We talked to a long time resident and he had never seen anything like it. The Utah TV stations covered it extensively but it probably didn't make the national news. Things like that are becoming pretty common. I had another good ride before we had to exit our site. Before we left we drove to Dead Horse Point and had a look around.

Dead Horse day 2

We stopped here because the mountain bike trails are spectacular. They really are. This may be my favorite place to ride. We broke camp and drove into town to have an issue with the MP attended to and the guy who I arranged to meet us never showed up. Oh well, we've gotta roll with the punches. We move to a commercial place in Moab proper on Monday and we'll try again to find a mechanic. We're not dead in the water without one but what we've got is pretty inconvenient.

Dead Horse Point SP Ut

Just a short post from our new location. We briefly stopped at Green River Ut. To have our tire fixed and fill up the MP water tank because there is no water at the campground. This is the monsoon season in this part of the country. It rained some today and it is strangely foggy here now. I'm using the visitor center wifi because we don't have very good cell at the campsite. More tomorrow. 

Fred Hayes SP at Starvation Reservoir

We are in Utah. The MP held together today. The Starvation Reservoir name came from the early Mormon settlers who had to put up with many hardships to make a living here. I guess Starvation was one of the hardships. We pulled over at a highway maintenance area and had lunch. We had a good view of a lake. That one pic is Jenny making a phone call from our campsite picnic table. I climbed up a hill and took a pic of the site from above. We are at a state park near Moab with good mountain biking tomorrow. That park has no water so we have to haul it in.

Bear Lake East Beach CG ID.

Things went pretty well until we got close to the campground. We got an alarm on the tire pressure monitor that the left front tire was rapidly losing air. We were on the State Park road about 7 miles from the campsite when this occurred. No where near a city of any significance. Turns out the valve stem was leaking. There was a crack in the rubber.  Using some unconventional Aggie engineering I was able to slow the leak using a toothpick. That enabled us to get into our campsite. We called Coachnet, RVer's AAA, and they found someone who was willing to drive out here and put on the spare. So, I think we are back in business. We are in Utah tomorrow. 

Nampa Idaho (near Boise)

We have had a great visit with Dean and Beth Hosch and John and Sandy Dudek. There was wine tasting, great home cooked meals and a rather pathetic round of golf. Jenny won. Thank you Dean and Beth. We head further south tomorrow. 

Hell's Gate day 4

I'm sorry to report that virtually nothing blog worthy happened today. I did get in a bike ride. I have encountered horses on the trail each time I have ridden. Biking on horse trails is less than ideal. You should probably think twice before attempting it. We were out and about in town and I felt obligated to take those 2 pics. They come with no explanation. During our stop yesterday at the Nature Conservancy property for our box lunch (with Cheetos) we encountered some wildlife. I'm not sure what you call a herd of turkeys but I think there were around 40. The deer is a Mule deer. We had to shoo it off the trail so that we could pass. The property had many fruit trees. Apricots, apples and peaches. The peaches were really ripe and juicy. That last pic is Jenny enjoying her box lunch. She had fritos instead of Cheetos. We leave tomorrow for a 2 night visit with some Tega Cay friends who live near Boise.

Hell's Gate day 3

Today was our jet boat ride into Hell's Canyon. The boat had 43 pax and 3 enormous Ford engines. The engines powered pumps that spewed high pressure water out the back. Our captain told us that when the boat was on the step it's draft was only 12 inches. We went up river 54 miles. There were some exciting rapids but the boat was pretty big and we were doing them in reverse, so I didn't get too excited. We stopped for over an hour at a Nature Conservancy property for a box lunch. My box had Cheetos. Wow, I had forgotten how delightful Cheetos were,  but I digress. The property was once owned by some guy who used to fly into it. Jenny is standing on the runway in one of the pics. Calling it a runaway is a stretch. Anyway, the boat ride plus a couple of stops took almost 7 hours. I would rate the trip 5 stars. We are here one more day.