Palm Canyon

Palm Canyon is located about 20 miles South of Quartzsite Arizona. Perhaps the only native palm trees within Arizona are tucked away in this narrow, rugged canyons on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Since Palm Trees do not produce annual growth rings like shade trees, it's very diffcult to say how old the trees might be. In Palm Canyon, the palm trees are able to survive in the narrow side canyons where direct sunshine is limited but some moisture is available. The survival of these trees is directly dependent on the mircoclimate in this protected canyon. The walls of the canyon a formed from rhyolite, a volcanic rock.

Yuma Territorial Prison

We visited the Yuma Territorial Prison when in Yuma. The prision was in operation from July 6, 1876 until September 15, 1909. this prison has been written about in many western storis and movies. The living conditions at the prison are very diffcult, and add the summer heat (in tripple digits) with no air conditioning. For this time in history this was a very secure prison with cell wall amost two feet thick and reinforced with steel. In the following picture you can see the amount of steel reinforcing they used in the partical walls. This steel was intended to stop inmates from digging through the walls and get into the prison yard. There were also adobe walls around the prison yard.

London Bridge is not falling down

The London Bridge was bought by an American businessman and dismantled in London and reconstructed, block by block, in Lake Havasue Arizona. The bridge was reconstructed on dry ground and the channel was dug under the bridge after the bridge was reconstructed. The channel created a resort island in Lake Havasue.

Hiking in Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon is just west of Las Vegas Nevada. There are no slot machines and you can see the great out doors. As most poeple are aware looking out side is not possible from inside a Casinio in Las Vegas. This was a easy day trip about 20 miles west of Las Vegas. The nearest cloud was over Colorado five hundred miles away.

Quartzsite, AZ

Well we are now in Quartzsite, AZ. I guess it is all that I expected. For those of you who are RVer's, this is a camping mecca. However I think the season really has not started yet. I guess it really starts after the holiday season is over. For everyone else, there are RV's of all makes and kinds that are parked out in the desert whereever they like for nothing. They also have no hookups, meaning no water, no electricity, and no sewer and it is called boondocking. Most of the RV's have a generator and some have solar panels to generate electricity. Joe & I are not ready to go that route yet. We are probably what you call wimps. We are staying in an RV park with all the amenities, such as electricity, water, sewer, laundry etc. We will wander out in the desert and take pics and post them later.

Las Vegas

What a difference 20+ degrees make. We are now currently staying in Las Vegas, NV and the current temperature is 70+ degrees. It is still not warm enough for me to wear shorts, but short sleeve t-shirts are comfortable. So far we have been to Fremont Street, the Hard Rock Cafe, and visited a chocolate factory (always a favorite with a chocoholic).

We have decided to stay in Las Vegas thru Thanksgiving. Joe might be considering how to cook a little turkey in our little oven. Could be interesting. Will have to keep you posted on what we decide to do about Thanksgiving dinner.

Bryce Canyon

During our stay in Utah, in additon to going to Zion NP, we also went to Bryce Canyon, again right after it snowed. Temperatures got up to the 40's. COLD COLD COLD No matter the temperature, the views were fantastic. I thought we were going south to avoid the snow and winter conditions. Just had to stop and see one of this country's natural phenomenon. One of the spires, which are called hoodoo's is called Thor's Hammer. I absolutely do not understand how this rock stays balanced thru all kinds of weather. Mind you that it is on top of one of those hoodoos.

Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park

Today we visited the Kolob Canyons part of Zion National Park, the following pictures are just a few of the many large red rock mountains of Zion National Park. There was a light dusting of snow that fell during the night.

They had a little snow from Monday in the campground near Cedar City where we are staying for the next week. The campground is called Red Ledge and is a Passport America Campground. After the first night the rest of the week is at half price or just over $10 per night.

Pogo Agie River and Mountain Men

We finally left Denver on Nov 2nd and traveled to Riverton Wyoming. We had a very nice visit with Joe’s mother, Dorothy; Sister Mary and brother-in-law Mel. We also dusted off our GPS units and went searching for GEO Caches and of course treasures that we could not live without. We left Riverton on Monday Nov 8th and traveled west too Lander, crossed the Pogo Agie River and over South Pass. South Pass is near where the Oregon Trail crossed the Continental Divide. The Pogo Agie River, Riverton, and Lander areas have history dating back to the mountain man era.

1829 Rendezvous – Lander, Wyoming

N42° 51' 06.4" W108° 41' 45.5"

1829 rendezvous on the Popo Agie (Popoasia, Little Wind River) north of Lander, Wyoming was the first rendezvous held east of the Continental Divide. There was a small gathering of mountain men on the Popo Agie, and as soon as the trading was concluded, Sublette left for Pierre's Hole in Idaho with the remaining trade goods. Sublette traveled over Togwotee Pass into Jackson Hole and then over Teton Pass into Pierre's Hole. There he found Jedediah Smith, who had been in the Oregon Country for two years, and David Jackson. Robert Newell recorded that at this second rendezvous there was one hundred and seventy-five mountain men.

1830 & 1838 Rendezvous – Riverton, Wyoming

N43° 0' 44.7" W108° 21' 39.2"

The 1830 supply caravan, led by William Sublette, consisted of eighty-one men on mules, ten wagons drawn by five mules each, two Deerborn carriages, twelve head of cattle, and a milk cow. Sublette left St. Louis on April 10th and arrived in the Wind River Basin on July 16th. The supply caravan averaged fifteen- to twenty-five miles a day. Sublette stopped for a rest on July 4th, 1830 at a large rock outcropping on the Sweetwater River. The rock is called Independence Rock.
The Smith, Jackson and Sublette firm collected one hundred and seventy packs of furs with a value of eighty-four thousand four hundred and ninety-nine dollars. This was the firm's most profitable year, but the partners had concerns over the future viability of the fur trade. At the Riverton rendezvous of 1830, Smith, Jackson, and Sublette sold out to a partnership of Thomas Fitzpatrick, James Bridger, Milton Sublette, Henry Fraeb, and Jean Gervias, but William Sublette remained the St. Louis supplier for the rendezvous.
Fitzpatrick, Bridger, Sublette, Fraeb, and Gervias named the new company the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Although the term Rocky Mountain Fur Company is widely used in fur trade history, the period from 1830 to 1834 is the only time that there was an actual company called the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.

Closing note:
We know a mountain man named “Three Rivers” he can mix clear water from the Pogo Agie River, and two other rivers in order to get a orange colored liquid.

Fall in Golden Colorado

We are nearing the end of our work at Dakota Ridge RV Park, our last day of work will be October 30th.

We will be leaving here early November, our current plans are to visit Joe's mother in Wyoming for a few days or week if weather permits. From Riverton we will go south through Utah and Nevada too Arizona. We will spend most of the winter in Arizona this year and go to Texas in February and March.

Then in April of next year we will come back to Colorado and will be working at Chalk Creek Campground next summer. Chalk Creek Campground is in Nathrop Colorado, which is five miles south of Buena Vista. Nathrop is at the foot of the Collegiate peaks in central Colorado and along the Arkansas River. This area of Colorado has some great fishing, river rafting, and hiking trails. Nathrop is 110 miles southwest of Denver, and 90 miles west of Colorado Springs.

Dakota Ridge RV Park

We have arrived back in the Denver area and are at Dakota Ridge RV Park in Golden, Colorado. We have started our part time job as workampers, and so far we enjoy the work. Osaka and Kyota have adjusted to living in the 5th wheel trailer. The RV Park is adjacent to trails that access the northern section of Dakota Ridge (hogback) that is north of Interstate Highway 70.

Our work schedule is currently 3 day on and 3 days off. This may change as the busy season this summer. Sandi is working inside the office and checking in guests and taking reservations. I am outside and start the day with a site check, and collect trash set out by the guests. The rest of my day is pumping propane, escorting guests, and maintance.

So far I love the job and will enjoy the work here.

Branson, Missouri

We stayed at a wonderful campground called Branson Shenanigans RV Park in the heart of Branson. It was within walking distance of several shows and the main strip. The campground was in a forest setting and you could not see any of the city that surrounded the campground. There was a tree blooming just outside our door.

We went to see Tony Roi and the Elvis Experience and yes he was an Elvis impersonator with the looks, the moves and the voice. It was one of the best performances that Joe and I have seen. There were so many different shows that it was really hard to pick.

We also went to Table Rock Lake which is very near Branson. We took the dogs on a walk along the Table Rock Lakeshore trail and had a picnic lunch there too.

Next stop will be Colorado Springs.

GRAND OLE OPRY

We attended the Grand Ole Opry on Friday night. The Opry is the longest running live radio show in America. The Opry was originally held in the Tom Ryman Auditorium, and moved to the current building in 1976. One circular section of the original wood floor was moved from the Ryman Auditorium and inlayed in the current stage floor. As Vince Gill explained during the preshow, this was to insure the circle of great performances would not be broken. The live radio show included the commercials just as they were aired on 650 AM and can be heard in 38 states and parts of Canada. The show is a four half hour segments with a host for each segment. The host preforms during the segment and introduces the other performers.

John Conlee was host for: Bobby Osborn & Rocky Top X-Press, and Lee Brice.
Riders In The Sky were hosts for: Jean Shepard, and Del McCoury Band.
Mike Snider was host for: Jan Howard, Jack Greene, and Holly Williams.
Vince Gill was host for the final segment: The Whites, and The Time Jumpers.





YES, Holly Williams is the granddaughter of Hank Williams, daughter of Hank Williams Jr. and brother of Hank Williams III. She is a great singer and is pictured on stage.



Vince Gill played the guitar with the The Time Jumpers to close the evening show.

You can get additioanl information on the Grand Ole Opry at the web site: www.opry.com

What are the Odds?

FCRV stands for Family Campers & RVer's. Their motto is "Where strangers become friends and friends become family". Please understand that at no time was plans of any kind discussed. We met 3 families at the first dinner of the rally. They had a marble game and Joe & I decided to learn how to play it. After the second dinner we decided to play the game again. At that time George & Betty asked us if we knew Don & Kay McDermed out of Colorado Springs that we met at New Braunfels? Now the world is getting a little smaller.

After the rally we went to Alanta, GA for the night then on to Nashville, TN. We were headed for a KOA, but came across a campground called Two Rivers and decided to stop there instead. Two days later guess who stopped at the same campground and parked 1 rig away from us? The other 2 couples from the rally. They are Chris & Warren and Brenda & Wayne and they had just come from spending a couple of nights in Savannah, GA. They had one of the games that we just learned, so of course we sat out one evening and played it. What are the odds?

We had gotten tickets to go to the Grand Ole Opry for Friday night with shuttle service when we got here. They asked if we were going to the Grand Ole Opry and we said yes. They had gotten their tickets for Friday night when they got here including the shuttle service. What are the odds?

We were outside of the Grand Ole Opry and we starting asking where everyone were seated. If you guessed we were seated together, you would be correct. Again what are the odds?? Unbelieveable!!

Nashville Tour

On our first full day in Nashville we took a local tour buss through downtown and the subdivisions where some of the stars live. Downtown we had a stop at the Tom Ryman Auditorium.

Thomas Green Ryman a prominent riverboat captain and Nashville businessman, Tom Ryman was known for his generous contributions of time and money to the construction of the Union Gospel Tabernacle. In 1904 the Tabernacle was renamed the Ryman Auditorium in his honor. The Ryman Auditorium is used form many shows and concerts. Sandi is standing by the statue and monument in front of the Auditorium. The sculptor was Steve Shields.




This is a picture of the Auditorium Lobby.










The tour also took us through some of the homes of the stars, some of these make Cherry Hills in the Denver area look like starter homes.




Friday night we have tickets to the "Grand Ole Opry".

Family Campers & RVer's Retiree Rally

We spent the last week at the Ladson Exchange Park Fairgrounds in Ladson, South Carolina. Ladson is northwest of Charleston. There were over 300 RVer's including at least 2 tenters from as far away as Canada and there were 10 families from Colorado at this retiree rally. We spent the time doing things like playing games of all sorts, programs, eating, evening entertainment and meeting lots of new people. The rally had two evening dinners included, also a red hat luncheon and these were all catered by a local restaurant. The entertainment included gospel singers, a blue grass group, an Elvis impersonator and our own FCRV talent show. The rally was a week long and ended with a international parade of states and provinces that had attended the rally. Each state or province would parade across the stage and recited a cheer or song representing their state or province while making as much noise as possible. It was definitely a noise parade. A person had a really hard time hearing anything else since it was indoors. And of course that is the time that Tiffany called from Samoa. I had to exit the building to hear her and she opted to call back on Monday night.

We had a very good time and met famlies from Colorado, Canada and Illinois. I do believe that we will be doing this again next year which will be in Canton, Texas in March 2011.

Next stop is Nashville, Tennesse.

Augusta, Georgia

We spent a few days in Augusta, Georgia. We got to see a little of Augusta before the big event "The Masters". We visited Sandi's Aunt Nina and Uncle Wally who live in the town of Modoc, South Carolina which is not far from Augusta across the Savannah River. Modoc boosts a convience store, a gas station, post office and a soon to be paved road to the J. Strom Thurmond Lake. Nina & Wally gave us a guided tour of downtown Augusta including where the Masters will be played next month. It is good that we will be gone before the golf crowd comes to Augusta. Neither Joe nor I play golf but I like to watch it a little on TV but not get out there and actually swing a club.

Next stop is the FCRV Retiree Rally in Ladson, South Carolina which is just outside of Charleston.

Savannah, GA

I took the dogs for a walking tour through some of the downtown parks in Savannah. They are called "squares" and are located about every four blocks, and are surrounded by colonial houses and buildings. The squares have a lot of trees and spanish moss shading the walkways.

Back on Tybee Island we went to a restaurant called "The Crab Shack" they supposedly had 78 alligators, but we only saw a few baby alligators. The crab shack also had a "Cat Shack", and the cats actually used it. The cat shack was outside of the restaurant and the cats used it for dining just like people. We assume the restaurant worker feed the cats. The restaurant featured southern boils as thier speciality.

I went on a tour of the light house and old fort that has been on the island from colonial times through World War II. The last night on the island, and I took some pictures of the light house at night.

Tybee Island Light Station

Yesterday we arrived in Tybee Island which is near Savannah Georgia. Tybee Island is an small tourist town east of Savannah. There is a campground called Rivers End Campground is owned and operated by the City of Tybee. This campground is just like a typical commercial campground and a great place to stay. Rivers End Campground is the closest campground to downtown Savannah. Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day and Savannah boosts to have the second largest St Patrick's Day Parade. I remember Boston, Chicago, and Denver also claim to have large Saint Patrick's Day Parades.

One land mark on the island is the Tybee Island Light Station. Order by General Oglethorpe, Governor of the 13th colony in 1732, the Light Station has been guiding mariners safe into the Savannah River for over 270 years. This Light Station is one of America's most intact having all of its historic support building on its five acre site. The current Light Station displays its 1916 day mark with 178 steps and a First Order Fresnel lens which is nine feet tall. Tybee Island has a lot of great dinning and sea food restaurants, along with beaches on the Alantic Ocean, and Savannah River as it enters the Alanti c Ocean.

Geo Caching in New Orleans

We found that City Park has a lot of Caches most have been set since Katrina and are well maintained. City Park is north of the Downtown and French Quarter, and close to the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

The best cache and hiding place I have ever seen is a cache hidden as a lag bolt in a telephone pole. The actual cache is a mirco stainless pill capsule. The picture on the left shows the bolt head in the telephone pole. While the picture on the right shows me retrieving the capsule containing the log from behind the bolt head.

New Orleans

We spent several days in "The Big Easy". We visited the French Quarter. We walked down a lot of the streets, including Bourbon St, and I enjoyed lunch of a muffuletta and Joe tried boudin. I can not imagine Mardi Gras in these little streets and all the people crowded together. This time of year it was pretty quiet. We also toured the city to see all of the reconstruction/damage done by Katrina. It is hard to imagine all the damage done. We drove down streets and would see one house was repaired and the next was boarded up. It appears that raising houses is really big business. It is hard to imagine all of the water that was in New Orleans from Katrina. South of the French Quarter is the Mississippi River and on the North side of New Orleans is Lake Pontchartrain. Both the river and lake are higher than some parts of New Orleans, and the city is only protected by the levee's.

Kumbaya too

Joe introduced Laynie & Jay to a colorful fire, which we put what we call colorators in the fire. For those who do not know what a colorator is, it is a copper tube with holes and a vinyl garden hose inside. We throw the colorators in the fire and when the copper and vinyl hose burn they produce lots of color like blues, greens, purples and reds.

The dogs were introduced to some cows from afar. We did not let them get to close. The cows could not figure out why they were barking and definitely not afraid of them.

Kumbaya

We traveled to Dallas, but only stayed a few days. We spent time with a friend Laynie and went geocaching too while we were there. We then went to Crawford TX and stayed at Laynie & Jay's new RV resort at their land & cabin called Kumbaya. We introduced Laynie & Jay to geocaching by letting them find caches around their land. I think we created more converts to geocaching.

Kyoto thought she would help me do dishes. She cleaned off that pesky residue left on a fork before I washed it. I think that Osaka and Kyoto are adjusting just fine to the life of travel. They do enjoy all the smells.

Our next stop will be New Orleans

Potluck baskets

We stayed at a campground call Hill Country RV Resort in New Braunfels and we really liked it there. The people were very friendly and there were so many activities. We went to one potluck and there were a number of things (whatever they were called) that carried all of their place settings things needed for a potluck. I commented that I thought it was a really good idea and that I would like to look at them closer to see how they were made. It just so happened that the person who heard that comment was the lady who not only knew how to make them but made all of them. Her name is Mary Davis and she said that she made them and gave them to only the people that were coming back to Hill Country every year. I told her that I belonged to a camping organization called FCRV and in the state of Colorado it had 800 family campers who would love to do a project like making these baskets, that is what she called them. She decided to tell me how they were made and gave me a few hints. I took notes, but they really did not make sense until she gave me a basket that had been given back to her for repairs to look at. Needless to say, I set about trying to write a complete set of instructions. I also wanted to make a basket before I left New Braunfels. Well guess what? I made the basket, but the handles are knitted and I do not know how to knit! I have figured out how to do the knit & purl stitches, but the starting and finishing seems beyond me at this time. Mary gave me 2 handles that she knitted for me, so my basket is complete. I guess I will keep working on learning to knit or subsitute a web strap in its place. Anyway I will have a potluck basket to bring home.

We met another couple from Michigan, Elaine & Mel Winters at the potluck. Elaine wanted to make a potluck basket too, so I gave her what instructions I had written at that time with pictures of my step by step process of making my basket. Together I think they make sense. I told her to be careful as the basket info was guarded info. To continue to with the small world concept, Mel works for the Sheriff's dept in Berrin Springs, Michigan and will be patrolling the FCRV national campvention this summer. We left literature with Don & Kay McDermed to give them about FCRV.

Our next stop will be Dallas.

Last Saturday we met Patty, Larry and Sierra at Cabela's and did a little shopping. This was Sierra's first visit to a Cabela's and she spent some time feeding the fish. Patty and Larry then took us to a restaurant call the Salt Lick. It is a barbeque restaurant and I knew it had to be good because there were lots and lots of people waiting outside for a table. It turned out that our wait was 35 to 40 minutes. And was it good you might ask? Was the wait worth it you might ask also? The answer is YES!!! It was very good. That is why everyone was willing to wait for their table.

I think everyone knows that Texas is known for it's barbeque. New Braunfels has a hugh German influence too. So if we were eating out it was either barbeque or german foods. One could gain a lot of weight here.

On Sunday we took Patty, nephew Gene and Renae and Gene's daughter Sierra on a short geocaching experience/lesson. There is nothing like the actual event in geocaching. Reading about it and actually doing it are definitely two different things. The first two caches that we took them to, we could not find them. The caches were supposed to be located in a high people traffic park. They were probably removed by "muggles" who did not know what they were for. We then took them up the canyon and let them find some caches that we had already found and I think they were hooked. I don't think it will be long before they buy their first GPS unit and are on their own way to geocaching.

San Antonio visit

On a nice day we met Joe's sister & brother-in-law, Patty and Larry and they took us on a tour of the Alamo and the Riverwalk in San Antonio. We started at the Alamo which is in downtown San Antonio. We were not allowed to take pictures in the Alamo so no pics, but we had a nice tour with lots of history.

We then walked to the Riverwalk and had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack. We did not sit outside on the patio as the wind was still pretty chilly. After lunch we took a boat-raft-gondola ride(whatever it is called) all around the waterways. It was an interesting tour of the city. Now I see why everyone talks about the Riverwalk in San Antonio. I thought it was very nice and a definite a must see. We did not get a chance to do any shopping as we left the dogs in the car. We might come back to the Riverwalk later this week to do some shopping, actually window shopping as we don't have anyplace to put anything extra in the 5th wheel.

Believe it or not, we came all the way to New Braunfels, TX to meet Don & Kay McDermed from the Gray Wolves chapter of FCRV out of Colorado Springs. It is a small world we live in!!

GEO Caching in New Braunfels Texas

Sunday the 21st, the weather was sunny and warm with high well into the 70's. We walked along a nature trail in Panther Canyon which is a part of Landa Park and Open Space. We also went GEO Caching along the trail in the canyon. The trail was easy and along a dry drainage gully, the terrain off the trail to the caches was difcult.

This first picture is Kyoto helping me check out one of the caches.

The second picture is Sandi, Osaka, & Kyoto taking a photo oop along the dry creek bed.

Sand Dollars

A sand dollar that we found while walking along the beach on Padre Island. There were a lot of broken sand dollars washed up after a high tide. This is the largest and most complete one I found.

We are now inland at New Braunfels which is outside of San Antonio. New Braunfels is a area with a lot of German immigrants there are a lot of German shops, bakeries and restaurants.

Corpus Christi

While here in Corpus Christi we have had two days of rain. This was when there was snow in Dallas and all 49 States. The rain has stopped and we had a warm Valentines Day.

There is a fishing pier located close to the campground and we saw some Blue Herons.

We were also able to visit Padre Island and Mustang Island State Park. The beach was closed to campers and RVs because of high winds and high tides.

Portuguese Man of War

Another discovery found on South Padre Island

Portuguese Man-of-War Physalia physalis

Anyone unfamiliar with the biology of the venomous Portuguese man-of-war would likely mistake it for a jellyfish. Not only is it not a jellyfish, it's not even an "it," but a "they." The Portuguese man-of-war is a siphonophore, an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together.

Portuguese Man-of-Wars, Portuguese Man-of-War Pictures, Portuguese Man-of-War Fact... The man-of-war comprises four separate polyps. It gets its name from the uppermost polyp, a gas-filled bladder, or pneumatophore, which sits above the water and somewhat resembles an old warship at full sail. Man-of-wars are also known as bluebottles for the purple-blue color of their pneumatophores. The tentacles are the man-of-war's second organism. These long, thin tendrils can extend 165 feet (50 meters) in length below the surface, although 30 feet (10 meters) is more the average. They are covered in venom-filled nematocysts used to paralyze and kill fish and other small creatures. For humans, a man-of-war sting is excruciatingly painful, but rarely deadly. But beware—even dead man-of-wars washed up on shore can deliver a sting.
Muscles in the tentacles draw prey up to a polyp containing the gastrozooids or digestive organisms. A fourth polyp contains the reproductive organisms. Man-of-wars are found, sometimes in groups of 1,000 or more, floating in warm waters throughout the
world's oceans. They have no independent means of propulsion and either drift on the currents or catch the wind with their pneumatophores. To avoid threats on the surface, they can deflate their air bags and briefly submerge.

© 1996-2010 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
Portuguese Man-of-Wars, Portuguese Man-of-War Pictures, Portuguese Man-of-War Fact...
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/portuguese-man-of-war/ 2/11/2010

What is this print in the sand?

What animal made this foot print in the sand?









I am sooo glad that I am not in Denver putting up with all the snow and cold right now.


It finally got up to 71 degrees for a couple of days in Brownsville and 73 on South Padre Island. Joe actually started wearing shorts, but I need temps in the 80’s before I can do that. We visited South Padre Island two days. The first day we walked the beach and surf and did some geocaching too. We checked out RV’s parked on the beach dry camping and some with solar panels or wind turbins. The sand was pretty hard packed, but both of us have serious reservations about parking our 5th wheel out there. I doubt we will ever park out there. The second day we had lunch at “Dirty Al’s”, a restaurant recommended by my neighbors Susan & Harley, which turned out to be very good and very popular just as they said. And we walked the beach again.

Oh I forgot, Kyoto tasted her first saltwater and she did not like it.

I definitely feel guilty.
I just know I should be at work somewhere. Time will change that I guess.






Did you figure out what the print in the sand was? It’s a 9½ lb long haired minature dachshund leached to a 210 lb man trying to pull him along with all her might.

Our next stop is Corpus Christi, TX.

Guess where it was 68 degrees today

Brownsville, TX

I was wearing a sweater on top of my clothes and of course Joe was wearing nothing on top of his clothes. We spent the day just wandering around the city to see what was where.

This campground that we are staying in has lots and lots of trees, such as palms, pines and deciduous trees, so there is lots of shade. Everyone we saw today stopped to talk to us and the most common thought was this is the coldest winter Brownsville has seen in the last 8 years. ???
Most of the people here are definitely snow birds. They spend the winters starting in Nov. or Dec. thru Apr. or May here every year. What is amazing to me is the mobile homes mixed in with the RV's. We are at the Breeze Lake RV Campground, they have a web site at the following link: http://www.breezelakervcampground.com/.

Tomorrow we will check out South Padre Island which is not far from this campground that we are staying at.

Later,
Sandi & Joe

Who is known as the "Hanging Judge"?

We are in Del Rio, Texas for this week. We are visiting Sandi's Aunt Edie & Uncle Jerry and seeing the sights around town.

We spent yesterday touring downtown Del Rio and a natural spring that comes up in town. We went out and saw the Amistad Dam which holds back three rivers, the Rio Grande, the Pecos and the Devils river. The dam is shared by Mexico and USA. The surface area that the Amistad Reservoir covers is approximately 65,000 acres. Believe me it is huge!

As to the title - Who is known as the "Hanging Judge"? That would be Judge Roy Bean. But in reality he never hung anyone. The harshest sentence that he ever handed down was expulsion. In the case of a horse thief, he would fine him everything that he owned including his horse and gun, then expel him from town with the threat of a noose if he ever came back. We visited the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry, TX. There was a cactus garden beside the center with lots of different kinds of cactus, including one called candelilla that produces wax, that I had never heard of before.

We also saw the place where the Pecos River flowed into the Rio Grande River above the Amistad Dam. There sure is a lot of water here.

Buddy Holly's Home Town

One of my musical idols in my youth is this town's hero for what town in Texas?

Yes, you are right if you guessed Buddy Holly's home town is Lubbock, Texas.

We spent today wandering around Lubbock, Texas. We walked the disc golf course at Mckenzie Park with the Kyoto and Osaka, because we left the discs at trailer. This was the first time that I saw a disc golf course that gave you three different options for every hole and there were 21 holes. Some of the holes were very, very, very long.

We still needed to wear our jackets as the wind was pretty strong, but the weather is warming up.

Our first day traveling

Well believe or not we finally left town on January 22, 2010 on our new "Grand Adventure". We traveled to Lamar, Colorado and stayed the night. It was definitely uneventful and unexciting. Just being on the road is exciting to us right now. We are headed to many places in Texas now.


We decided to create a blog as trying to email everyone is rather time consuming. So for time being we will try this.