Potlucks, hiking, shows and more

My Tahoe next to the van

When last we talked here Joan and I had returned from a night at the Desert Diamond Hotel and Casino.  We spent a quiet day around the trailer and got ready for a chilly walk around Tucson at Meet Me at Maynard’s.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the start of the big Jazz Festival here in Tucson and finding a place to park during the festival is always a challenge, but we found a lot that seemed to require a $5 payment, but we, and others parking there couldn’t find anyone, or anything to pay, so we took a chance and left the car there without paying.

We parked next to a van that was covered with stickers. One of them "As of today I have been sober 100 days. (then in small print) Well, not consecutively, but 100 days total in my life."

Another stickers said one of my favorite lines from Saturday Night Live: "Live in a van down by the river."

A van held together by stickers

Not looking for any sympathy from anyone back home, but the weather here has been unseasonably cool and wet for the past few days and promises to remain such for the next week or so. Rain and water is a precious commodity around here so we don’t begrudge the locals a little rainfall even if it is a little damper on our time here.

Temperatures are in the 50s and 60s during the daytime, which has everyone here diving for sweaters, coats and jackets.

While at the Meet Me at Maynard’s event some folks from the Voyager RV resort where we stay invited me to join them on their hike Tuesday instead of the regular hiking club here. The official hiking club was heading to Catalina State Park, which is a very long drive and a hike I have done just about every year so I opted to go with my friends.

On Tuesday morning six of us climbed into my Tahoe and we headed to the Douglas Springs Trailhead at the end of Speedway Boulevard. Being that is was the day after a holiday and a regular school day we didn’t expect a lot of hikers. We were wrong. The parking lot was full and we had to park out on the roadway.

The hike is a beautiful one that climbs about 1,500 feet into the foothills and the destination was Bridal Wreath Falls. I did make this hike a few years ago with the resort hiking group and the falls were more like a little trickle.

Entertainment at Meet Me at Maynard's

With all the rain and snow that has fallen here in the last week we anticipated a much better falls viewing and we were not disappointed. It wasn’t Niagara Falls, but it was pretty large and to get close one had to negotiate a number of boulders across the large pond formed by the falling water.

We had lunch at the falls and then headed back down the trail to the car arriving back about four hours after we began. It was a really good day.

Once back home Joan had made up a crock pot full of my homegrown Butternut Squash which I grew this summer. Joan always brings a basket full of the squash with us and once here she processes and cooks up all the squash and then freezes it for later enjoyment. If I do say so myself this year’s squash crop was particularly sweet and good and none of what she cooked for the potluck made it back home.

This week’s potluck was the most attended of any we have gone to during the past five years with about 75 people on hand for dinner.

There is plenty squash left in the freezer, however.

With my friend Mahlon in town from Michigan I did something on Wednesday I don’t usually do, but I went on another moderately tough hike on Wednesday after the moderately tough hike on Tuesday. Usually I leave a day or two in between hikes to let my legs recover a little.

Bridal Wreath Falls

I’ve taken Mahlon on a few of my favorite hikes during the past couple years, but wanted to show him something a little different this year. So we met at the local Costco store and he jumped in my car and we drove 40 minutes to Madera Canyon for a trip up to Josephine Saddle, the approximate halfway point to the summit of Mt. Wrightson.

Mt. Wrightson, as some of you may recall, is the 9,500 peak where I hiked up to last year to leave my brother’s ashes. With the recent valley rain and mountain snow the trip to the summit is a little too treacherous for my hiking skill level, but I was sure we could make it to Josephine Saddle.

I have been up to the saddle five times, including the three times I made it all the way to the summit of Mt. Wrightson. Mahlon and I took the Super Trail to the saddle and we discovered quite quickly that temperatures at the 5,500-foot trailhead were very below that of Tucson.

Neither of us had gloves and Mahlon was wearing shorts. It took us about two hours to make it to Josephine Saddle, which is the location of a memorial to the 1959 deaths of three boy scouts in a sudden snowstorm.

Only the last parts of the trail had some minor snow and frost, but our hands were pretty frozen by the time we got to the saddle. After a quick snack we started back down the much steeper Old Baldy Trail arriving back at the parking lot and car about 11:30 a.m.

Another view of Bridal Wreath Falls trail

I did get a couple good views of Mt. Wrightson peak and, of course, that brought me great memories of my brother. I’m so glad he’s there on the summit because when I’m here he always feels close.

Back at the resort I cleaned up and got ready for dinner and the regular Wednesday night concert. With the concert being “Your Cheating Heart,” a tribute concert to Hank Williams and Patsy Cline I was expecting Joan’s nail marks in my arm as she clenched me tightly during the twangy music.

Fortunately, the music was very good and the singers were very good and entertaining. Even though this isn’t our favorite music we still very much enjoyed the show. The female lead singer was the 2010 Miss Arizona, so that was pretty good too.

After the show Joan returned back to the trailer and I stayed behind to fulfill my chair clean up duties which only takes about 10 minutes.

On Thursday morning, I led the Men’s Bible study and then  Joan and I went grocery shopping at Walmart and then to Fry’s where we picked up some very nice steaks on sale. Too bad for me though, we are not having them tonight.

Miss Arizona 2010 - our singer at the concert

At 1 p.m. we attended the weekly lecture which featured a local medical doctor, who is also a re-enactor, who discussed the practice of medicine during the time of the Tucson Presidio, which was 1775, the same time as the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The doctor was very interesting and wore an outfit that would have been appropriate to a “barber-doctor” of the late 1700s.

He brought some antique doctor instruments and described in detail how they would have been used to amputate limbs or dig out bullets or other fragments from a wound. He also answered questions about herbal remedies and ancient medicine practices.

With a coming rainstorm the TV stations here are going crazy with dire warnings and Winter Weather Warnings about a potential ¾-inch of rain over the weekend.

Thursday night I attended the coed Bible study.

Friday night we had tickets to the 50s dinner show here at the resort. The group - ?? – is one we have seen before here. It is a family of performers and they mix some corny humor with great musical talent playing many of the great hits from the 1950s. I stayed after to help take down tables and set up for the Saturday morning coffee and donuts.

Snow on Mt. Wrightson

On Saturday our dance card was full, literally. First we went to the movies and saw Deepwater Horizon at the cheap movie theater and then returned home for dinner and then over to the ballroom for the dance. The weather was wet and cool and that seemed to affect the attendance at the dance as there were many empty seats at the tables.

The music was good and it is always fun to dance with my honey.

We went to church on Sunday, but before that I did a workout and then helped set up the ballroom for church. After church we met Mahlon and Colleen, our friends from Michigan, for lunch at Zayna’s Restaurant, which serves Middle Eastern food. I’m not usually a fan of the food buy they had a wonderful lamb plate so it was all good. It also works with our new Whole 30 food plan that Joan and I are on.

After lunch we returned home and tried to watch football games. Tried, because of all days for the Direct TV signal to be down it was. Apparently there was a power outage on Mt. Lemmon, the site of one of the Direct TV signal links which meant that we missed all of the first playoff game between Green Bay and Atlanta. We were able to watch other cable channels but not the channel that had that game.

Lots of water along the Romero Pools trail

Even the local bar and grill, which is on the same system as the rest of the area, was unable to show the game. Power was restored in time for the Pittsburgh an New England game so we did get to see that. There were plenty of unhappy Green Bay fans in the park, but considering the end result probably better for them they couldn’t watch.

 Mahlon and I arranged to meet again on Monday for our final hike together while he was here. I picked Mahlon up at the home he and Colleen rented and then drove to Catalina State Park and he and I hiked up to Romero Pools in the mountains. The hike is a 6-mile round-trip hike that rises 1,500 feet into the mountains. It is a pretty challenging hike and even more so on Monday because there was ankle deep water in the wash that is usually dry.

To cross the first time we used plastic bags supplied by the park over our boots and pants, but even those sprung a couple leaks but not enough to soak us. On the way back we just decided to remove our boots and socks and wade across the 45-degree snow melt. It was quicker and easier than trying to salvage the plastic bag method.

We hiked up just short of the snow line and the pools were running so deep with water that we could not risk trying to jump to the other side.

Back down off the mountain I dropped Mahlon off at his rental, we said our good byes and then I returned home to lean up and get ready for Meet Me at Maynard’s Monday night.

Maynard’s attendance was a little down, probably owing to the cold temperatures an threat of rain (it never rained) but still more than 400 walkers showed up to the event. We ate at Hub’s, a downtown restaurant after the walk.

Our lunch spot at Romero Pools

Some Michigan friends arrived in Phoenix recently and let us know Monday they would like to come and visit us at Voyager on Tuesday, Jan. 24. Of course we said yes,

I took my shower early and when Joan went to get her shower she discovered that between the time that I had my shower and her attempt the park had broken a water main and the system was shut down.

With friends coming that left her worrying that she would not have a chance to clean up before their arrival. We’ve had cold temperatures at night but nothing that would cause a water main to freeze and break so we never found out what happened but the water was restored before our friends arrived.

We spent a delightful late morning and afternoon with our friends touring the resort and then taking a ride through the Air Force boneyard and then a quick trip around Saguaro East National Park.

We always enjoy showing off the park and sights to friends from back home.

The friends left and we still had time to make the Tuesday night pot luck. Joan made a very tasty marshmallow and fruit salad.

Market Days was back for Wednesday morning and my first order of duty was to buy an 8-pound bag of oranges for Joan before they all sold out. After my workout at the fitness center I stopped by the booth with the oranges and purchased them before the event had even started. That made Joan very happy and by extension my life is now good for the next few days at least.

The view of the valley from Romero Pools trail

After Market Days as part of my volunteer job of setting up chairs I was back in the ballroom at 1 p.m. to take down tables and set up chairs for the Wednesday night concert. With all the help it only took about 50 minutes to tear down Market Days and set up 500 chairs for the evening show.

Joan used Wednesday night to have a COR dinner (clean out refrigerator) and we devoured some pork, beef and potatoes that we had left over from previous dinners.

We headed to the “Teen Idols” concert at 6:45 p.m. This was, so far, the best concert of the season and even more so because the performers were actual teenagers. Lots of Dion and the Belmonts, Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, Connie Francis, Ricky (and Rick) Nelson songs and many other classics from the 50s and 60s. Very talented young people sang in this show.

Very sad to learn today of the passing of  Mary Tyler Moore. As a youngster I remember watching her on the Dick Van Dyke show and later, of course, the Mary Tyler Moore show. A classy lady.

Thursday morning Joan went for training so she can volunteer at the health clinic here at the resort, I went to my Men’s Bible Study and we have a lecture Thursday afternoon call “Blood in the Rincons,” which is an historical account of violence in this area in the olden days.

You would think with all the complaining about the weather here that we were in the deep freeze when in fact we've only had two nights below the freezing mark and just a few days in the 50s for highs. Next week we are supposed to be back in the 70s for highs and 40s for lows.

Yes, we are still alive, but wet in Tucson

A Tucson sunrise over our trailer

A lot has happened in the ten days since we last visited here and I apologize for the long absence, but we’ve been very busy. I do appreciate the folks who have left messages for me on Facebook and in emails wondering what happened to the blog. I will try to be more consistent in the future.

When we last visited I had just given myself the shins of an 8-year-old boy by tripping on the non-moving treadmill here at the resort. The wounds are healing nicely, but still continue to be the topic of conversation whenever I wear shorts, which is all the time.

We’ve had some mail issues at this end as the forwarding paperwork we did with the USPS as they neglected to include our space number on our forwarded mail. For most folks here that’s not a problem, but when your name is Jim Smith – it’s a problem. Currently there are three Jim Smiths staying here (that’s actually down one from last year) so the three of us end up sorting each other’s mail when it comes without our space number.

The Postal Service is working on correcting the issue, but for the next week or so it’s going to be fun.

OK, going back to Friday, January 6, Joan attended her first Women’s Bible Study and met with a number of folks she knew from last year. Because of the advanced ages at the resort we are often met with sad news about old friends and new who have either passed or who are struggling with major medical issues. We pray a lot here.

Our lunch spot in the Catalina Mountains

Then on Saturday, January 7, Joan attended aquacize “boot camp” which was much more intense than what she is used to at home. But she seemed to appreciate the workout and plans to continue that and two other days of aquacize while we are here.

Last year I talked to the man who coordinates the volunteers who set up tables and chairs for the many events here. Carl welcomed me to the team and while I initially volunteered only for set up for church on Sunday, I quickly got whirled into helping out with concert set-up on Wednesday and table and chair set-up for Donuts and Coffee on Saturday morning.

One thing I am qualified to do is set up tables and folding chairs. With the size of the set up team it rarely takes more than 45 minutes to set up the ballroom, even when it involves 600 chairs for the Wednesday concerts.

I began that last Saturday and then continued during the week during a couple set ups. I’ve met a lot of new friends doing this so that is a plus as well.

The rest of Saturday was used up reading outside in the sun and watching NFL football.

More from the hike

Sunday was church and just about every day, except for days that I hike in the morning I visit the fitness center. I’m not going to bore you with each of those visits unless I decide to mutilate myself by falling, dropping a weight on my face or other stupid injury there. More NFL in the afternoon rounded out the day.

Not sure I’ve mentioned our new eating plan on the blog, but Joan and since early October have been following the Whole 30 food plan. We used to use the “Cookie Diet” but Dr. Siegel went out of business and so we switched over to this plan, which has succeeded beyond all our expectations. Our daughter-in-law has had great success with it and after seeing her results we heartily embraced it.

It does involve a lot more cooking than we are used to doing and so Joan spends a lot of time prepping meals for us to make sure we don’t violate the tenets of the plan. Basically (and it is a lot more complicated than this) involves eliminating sugar, bread and dairy from your diet. I’ve shed nearly 30 pounds since I’ve started and Joan has shrunk her waistline, but mostly we just feel much, much better than before we started.

A crane in Tucson decorated for Christmas

I had to learn that many things that I never suspected would contain sugar, does. Bacon, for gosh sakes, most bacon for sale at the grocery store has sugar in it. We have found the rare brands that don’t include sugar and so now we can have bacon, eggs and hash browns for breakfast, so that’s good.

For butter, Joan processes regular butter and filters it through cheese cloth to get rid of the dairy in the butter. Tastes the same so not a problem for me. We’ll keep you posted on the progress of this. Our daughter is also on the same plan and reports good early results.

So where were we?  OK, it’s now Monday and I was off to hike with the easy hikers. I haven’t been doing as many of these in recent years because they are not very challenging and sometimes fairly simple. But I received new hiking boots for Christmas and wanted to give them a few miles before I hit the heights on the Tuesday hike.

My hiking gear - notice no water

On Monday I did a level hike – more like a leisurely walk – along part of the paved loop hike/bike trail that surrounds Tucson. We walked a three mile stretch between Irvington and Valencia roads which totaled six miles by the time we finished. The boots were comfortable and I felt ready for Tuesday.

That night we went for our first Meet at Maynard's walks around Tucson and then had dinner at Thunder Canyon Brewery and watched the College Football Championship. Glad to see Alabama get beaten.

Tuesday morning brought my first chance to head out on a real hike this time a moderately difficult hike in the Dove Mountain area of the Catalina Mountains. There were 23 people on this hike and we broke into two groups and just to push myself I went with the first group and did really well. This was an 8-mile loop hike and I got to see a lot of my friends from previous years.

I should not admit this, but for the first time ever I forgot to take water on the hike. It was such a rookie mistake that I was embarrassed to the point I didn't mention it to anyone. Fortunately, it wasn't so hot that it resulted in me getting cramps, but a mistake I will not make again.

A walk on a level bike path

Once back at the trailer, Joan and I headed to the Tuesday potluck dinner in the ballroom and again the turnout was incredible, one of the largest potlucks we have attended in all the years we’ve been here.

Because of the Whole 30 food plan we had to be a little more selective on what we took, but by avoiding the dessert table we left full, but mostly in compliance with the diet.

After working out Wednesday I headed back to the resort courtyard early on a mission to snag a bag of the most delicious oranges we have ever tasted. We first started buying them last year from a vendor at “Market Days” but as they caught on they were selling out earlier and earlier each week. So I got over to the booth as he was setting up and bought my $4 bag of oranges.

When we came back a couple hours later to actually do all of the Market Days the booth had already sold out of oranges. The vendor had at least 100 bags when I bought my oranges earlier than morning, so apparently, the secret is already out this year.

Sunset over downtown Tuesday at Meet Me at Maynard's

Spent the rest of Wednesday helping to take down Market Days tables and helping to set up 600-plus chairs for the evening concert and doing my Bible study work and reading and Joan was busy paying bills. After dinner, we headed back to the ballroom for the “Motown Magic” concert which was really good, as are most of the concerts that come here.

At my Thursday morning Men’s Bible study I had to be prepared to teach lesson 2, but we barely finished lesson one so I’m on deck next week, with all my preparation already done. So that’s good.

One of the nagging issues at this end is that we have a lot of trash (bills, statements, etc.) that come here that need to be shredded. At home, we have a pretty good sized shredder, but we don’t bring it with us to Arizona as it would take up a lot of space.

The only shredders we could find locally with pretty large ones that we didn’t want to put in the trailer. I found a $8 small shredder on sale at Best Buy online that you use over a trash can. So last week I ordered that and it was delivered to a local Best Buy and Thursday morning about my Bible study and Joan’s aquasize we went to pick it up.

Weather forecast for our first week here

While we were out we stopped at Payless Shoes so Joan could pick up a new pair of loafers to wear around the park. Trust me this took way, way longer than I could imagine. When I go to pick out a pair of shoes, it takes me longer to park the car and go into the store than it does for me to find my shoes. After Joan tried on at least 1,000 pairs of shoes (I only slightly exaggerate here) she claimed a cheap pair of shoes and we headed to Food City to pick up a dish to take to a party Friday night.

Our friends Barry and Darcel (these are the folks we go wine tasting with each year) invited us to their beautiful home in the Cove along with 10 other folks, mostly from the hiking group, for dinner and a game of “Name that Tune.”

For a bunch of old folks we had a raucous good time, that included dancing, singing and generally acting like teenagers. We barely got home in time for the 10 p.m. news, so a relatively late night for us out. If our grandchildren could see us partying like this they would likely be mortified. But it is good to kick back and enjoy life a little.

A resort sunset

Earlier on Friday I met a Flint friend of mine, Mahlon, who is in Tucson for two weeks with his wife Colleen for some more hiking. Mahlon is a former marathon runner who is in really good shape and likes to do some serious hiking while he is here. He had never been to Seven Falls in Sabino Canyon so we decided to get that hike in before some predicted rain this weekend. (That Pineapple Express that has been drowning California is making a brief but welcome visit here this weekend.) I picked Mahlon up at 8:30 a.m. at his Air BandB and we were off to the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area.

The weather could not have been better, it was cool and dry and the trail was not heavily traveled on Friday so it was a great time. This trail has seven creek crossings and the water was as high as I have ever seen it, but we made all the crossings (14 in all) up and back without getting wet, always a plus.

We spent nearly a half hour at the falls which were particularly beautiful this year. Because of the hike I did have to miss the table and chair set up for the donuts and coffee event Saturday morning. I did make it over to the ballroom to help them clean up the tables and chairs after the donuts and coffee was over.

I picked up our mail, which included a beautiful Hawaiian shirt with aircraft carriers on it that was a belated birthday present from my Dad. He had put the correct address on the envelope, but the postal service somewhere along the line changed the zip code for him which delayed the package for more than a week. But the shirt looks and fits great so there’s that.

As if dancing with our friends at their house on Friday night wasn’t enough, we headed to the resort dance Saturday night to dance the night away in the ballroom. We met up with our friends from Canada, Ron and Kathy and also met another Canadian couple. During my conversation with the older gentleman he asked if I had heard of NHL player Chris Chelios.  “Heard of him,” I said. “He autographed my Chelios jersey a few years back.”

“Well, I coached him as a junior player on my traveling team many, many years ago,” he said. So you can just guess that I had a very interesting time talking to this man.

Joan and I still danced the night away, but what great fun to talk to a man who coached one of my all-time favorite hockey players. Life is soooo good sometimes.

Sunday morning means church, but now for me it means getting up really early to head to the ballroom to help with setting up 500 chairs for the chapel service. I’m enjoying getting to know the men and women who set up the church and the more friends we make here the more our experiences are enhanced here.

After church we headed to Desert Diamond Casino in Sahuarita to take advantage of a free night’s stay in the hotel that we were offered. Unfortunately, we forgot to check which Desert Diamond facility the hotel was in and we went to the wrong one. We already had dinner reservations at the Sahuarita restaurant so Joan stayed there and played until after dinner and then we drove the 15 miles to the right facility for our night’s stay.

The weather took a sudden, but hopefully brief turn for the worse yesterday as that Pineapple Express that has been drenching California has finally moved into southern Arizona. It doesn’t rain much here, but when it rains, it comes down in buckets. It was even cool enough this morning that I wore a sweater and jacket to church, which is extremely unusual.

Joan made her contribution to the Tohono O’odham Indians and we enjoyed a nice night in the fancy hotel.

This week we are expecting our friends from Michigan, Pam and Greg, to fly into Phoenix and we will no doubt be catching up with them and later some other Michigan friends, Barb and Dave who fly in a couple days after Pam and Greg. More on that later. You are now officially caught up.

The Laredo has landed (in Tucson)

Twin Arrows Resort and Casino

Notes to self: Bring lock de-icer every year to the trailer storage. Remember that Arizona does not observe daylight savings time when resetting trailer clocks. Remember that God is good all the time.

 Each year my travel planning routine is the same. I look ahead at our route and plan exactly where we will be each night on our trip west. Using an online hotel booking service I reserve our stops at places we have been before or a brand chain we have stayed in before. This may sound a little over-the-top but I know within a few miles each place I will stop for gas.

The one thing that I can’t plan for is the weather. It has its own plans and I just go with that. About a week out from our trip I begin to watch the Weather Underground site for various places along our route to see if there are any weather concerns or obstacles to my route.

San Francisco Mountains near Flagstaff

This year we seemed to hit a window of good weather through much of the route with the only lingering weather concern in Flagstaff on Tuesday, Jan. 3. For a week there were predictions of cold and snow, including as much as 5-inches on Monday, Jan. 2. We prayed that it would work itself out.

As we traveled across the country I checked the weather site every night and each day saw an improving weather picture for Flagstaff, although snow was always in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday right up until we arrived in Flagstaff Monday night and the weather broke. The one day without snow if Flagstaff for a week was Tuesday, the day we planned to pick up the trailer. Think what you want but I’m taking prayer.

Joan actually came out a little ahead of the Navajos Monday night at the casino, so that was a plus. It wasn’t enough to pay for our hotel, but in the world of casinos a break even is pretty much a win.

We were up early.  Temperatures outside the resort was 32-degrees. Unfortunately that would not be the lowest temperature of the day.

Snow in Flagstaff

One of the things that we do each year is when I store the trailer I retrieve the 12-volt battery and bring it home. Otherwise it would either be gone, or dead as a door nail when we arrived back. I keep it on a trickle charge at home and then lug it all the way back with us in the winter. With the cold nights on the road the battery is one of the pieces of luggage I bring into the hotel room with us at night.

So when we left our four-star room at the Twin Arrows Resort and Casino I lugged the battery in and out of the hotel. It received a little bit of strange look from the bellman who came to help us with our luggage.

As I already said weather was cold, but I was buoyed by the fact that we had dodged the snow. We drove the 30 miles from the resort to the storage yard, stopping first to top off the gas tank for the trip down the mountain to Tucson. We arrived at the storage lot and found that while we had dodged the snow from the sky, we were not completely dodging it on the ground. There was a few inches of snow and ice on the ground at the storage facility in Bellemont, Arizona and the temperature was 25-degrees.

Heading down the "hill"

Here's where it got interesting. We checked the inside of the trailer and found only minor evidence of a rodent visit (the storage owners have been aggressively using exterminators to lessen that problem) and I set to work the hooking up of the trailer. Both storage doors on the trailer were solidly frozen shut along with the latches and locks. Not wanting to break a key off in the lock I took some bottled water we had in the car and began using it to melt the ice around the latches and locks. It took a few minutes but that worked.

I also needed a flat head screwdriver to scrap ice out of the channels of the storage doors which were also filled with ice. The good news was that the battery had held a good charge and worked the trailer stand like a champ even in the good weather.

At this point I had to remove my gloves to do the delicate work of hooking hitches and sway bars from the trailer to the car. Very quickly my hands were frozen to the point of numbness which made it very difficult to work my fingers.  

Removing the tire covers (sun is a tire killer so I have UV covers that protect the new tires we just bought last year) required that I lay down in the snow so I could reach the cover ties behind the tires and release them so I could remove the covers.

More snow as we head down

Of course I should have taken photos during all this, but completely forgot so I have no photos of our predicament at the storage area.

Joan in her infinite wisdom brought snow boots just for this one occasion. I, on the other hand, decided to just bring tennis shoes. So I was frozen both top and bottom while I worked outside to hook up the trailer. As I was just about finished I noticed that the breakaway device on the trailer tongue had been removed. (This device locks the trailer breaks if for some reason – and God please don’t let this ever happen – the trailer should find itself separated from the Tahoe in flight).

The device was not only removed it had been damaged. I don’t know if it was a malicious or accidental thing, but whatever it present a problem because with the device not in the slot, the brakes of the trailer are locked. So I pushed the device as far into the electric receiver as I could (about halfway) and the brakes released. Not wanting to drive 300 miles in this condition I stopped about a mile down the road at a “Camping World” outlet, the same one that winterizes our trailer each year and sought help.

The folks there were very helpful and sold me a new breakaway device and I was on my way 20 minutes later and $10 lighter.

At 5,000 feet the snow is going away

Despite all the recent snow and ice, the freeway (I-40 and then I-17) were dry and clear. Normally I am a very courteous person and brush all the snow off the top of my car before proceeding, but with an 11-foot high trailer the snow piled up on top and the fact my body was frozen it had to be removed by the wind which undoubtedly ticked off a lot of motorists behind me who were bombarded by the snow shower coming off the top of the trailer. In case you were behind a 2007 Laredo travel trailer on I-40 about 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 3, I sincerely apologize.

The trip starts at the 7,300 foot level in Flagstaff and drops to 1,000 feet in Phoenix and then back up 1,000-feet to Tucson which is about 2,000-feet above sea level. As we quickly descended the temperatures rose and the snow on the ground disappeared. At about level 6,000-feet I pulled into a scenic overlook to check all the connections and discovered that while most of the ice and snow was gone, there was still a few icicles on the trailer. Those would be gone soon. By 4,000-feet the now had completely disappeared and the truck and trailer performed well as we hurtled down the steep grade.

About ½-way to Phoenix there is a 5-mile steep grade that always challenges the Tahoe and trailer. I fell in behind a large steel hauling semi-truck and trailer and followed him up the hill with my flashers on because my speed had fallen to about 45 mph. After that large grade it is pretty much downhill from there and very quickly after that we arrived at Bumble Bee Road where we started to see our beloved Saguaro (pronounced Sa-war-oo) cactus just north of Phoenix. The appearance of the Saguaros mark the entrance to the Sonoran Desert, the only place where that species of cactus naturally grow. In case you aren’t familiar the Saguaro cactus and the iconic tall and stately cactus that sometime resemble people with large arms.

The rest of the trip was relatively unremarkable although negotiating heavy Phoenix traffic even in off commute hours is always a little hair-raising.

The appearance in the distance of the various mountain ranges around Phoenix and Tucson always choke me up a little, even more so now that my brother’s ashes are located at high elevations and summits in this area.

There were some new signs around Phoenix advertising the unwelcome presence of wild donkeys, which of course prompted a new discussion of loose cattle by the road. Joan rejected my suggestion that she might like to learn how to drive and pull the trailer.

We refueled at our usual spot on Wild Horse Road in Chandler and then for the next 90-minutes I drafted a Fry’s Grocery store semi-truck most of the way to Tucson. They drive at a perfect speed for me and the trailer and they save me a lot of gas too.

We arrived at the resort earlier than we ever have both by date and time of day and we were quickly checked in and with help from the security folks got the trailer parked and then spent the next 90-minutes getting water, electric, sewer and cable hooked up. Our plans were to go grocery shopping and eat in, but by the time we finished with the trailer we scrapped that plan and ate at the restaurant here at the resort. Shopping will be tomorrow.

Everything in the trailer is working well. We did have one glitch as the slide-out must have gotten bent in storage and would open properly until a pulled out the bend. I still need to organize the “basement” under the trailer, but there is no hurry on that.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017: We are now completely settled. We have done our shopping trip to stock the shelves and we went to our first concert “Class of ‘67” which is actually Joan’s high school class. It was another Lonely Street production and this one included many of the biggest hits from 1967. We enjoyed the concert and were really ready for bed by 10:30 p.m.

For the second day I was up early. The first day I got up even earlier that I originally thought because Joan mistakenly set the microwave clock to the wrong time. So instead of getting up at 5:30 a.m. I was up and at it at 4:30 a.m. I found this out when I arrived at the fitness center, which is supposed to open at 5 a.m. and found the cleaning service still in the room vacuuming. “You guys are kind of late?,” I said. “No, you are kind of early,” the woman running the vacuum said, pointing up the clock that showed it was 4:50 a.m.

Treadmill injury

On Thursday morning I got up at the right 5:30 a.m. and headed back to the fitness center. Here’s where that gets interesting. As most of you know I hike a couple days a week in the mountains around Tucson. I often deal with difficult trails that threaten to trip me up all the time. So far I haven’t had a major fall or injury on a hike in the mountains.

After completing my weight work out I headed over to my favorite treadmill and before even turning it on I put my foot up on the edge to climb aboard and promptly fell opening abrasions on both shins as I went down in a heap on top of the treadmill. A lady a couple treadmills down asked it I was OK and of course I felt stupid and foolish but said I was OK. Later when I got off the treadmill and looked in the mirror I found both legs bleeding and bruised. Now I need to come up with a better story than this to explain my fall.

I did have to recount this story 16 times at the Men’s Bible Study session Thursday morning as the wounds are quite noticeable and heck, you can’t lie I Bible study.

Joan walked the park this morning and then enjoyed a lingering visit to the jacuzzi at the pool. I, on the other hand, am in the trailer putting this version of Grandma’s Recess together.

See you again in a few days.

Mileage out: 62560

Time out: 7:29 a.m.Time in: (At storage) 8:15 a.m.

Mileage out: (At storage) 62598

Mileage in: (Tucson) 62878

Time out: (At storage) 9:05 a.m.

Time in: (Tucson) 2:06 p.m.

A walk in the Texas-New Mexico and Texas park

Hello New Mexico!

If yesterday was a Sunday drive, today was a walk in the park. An easy peasy drive through three states ending up at the Twin Arrows Resort and Casino. As I write this Joan is making a reparations payment to the Navajo Nation at the slot machines. I am back in the room writing this and watching a really, really incredible Rose Bowl.

But today started in Amarillo at 39 degrees and ended in Flagstaff at 39 degrees. At times the temps soared into the low 40s but quickly retreated to the 30s. Also notable today is that Joan took the wheel for the third straight day and she did a really great job of driving and I did a great job of napping.

I must say though that Joan has an interesting driving manner. I rarely get to drive as a passenger with her so the last three days have been very instructive. For one thing, she talks to every car (OK, almost every car) that passes her. The conversations go something like this:

A dusting of snow and snow capped mountains behind

“Move over sweet cheeks.”  “Move it GMC.” And my favorite so far, “Little white truck you better keep your speed up, I don’t want to play games with you.”  All this while understanding that none of them can hear her.

Somewhere along the road in New Mexico I spotted a perched hawk that was dealing with an angry crow that was basically hopping up and down on the hawk’s head. I imagined that the hawk was telling the crow: “Listen crow, I’m trying to find some tasty little mouse and you are simply distracting me with the idiot harassment. Let’s do this crow. Let me find the mouse and I’ll leave you the scraps to pick up later because that’s what you do best.”  Hey, if Joan can talk to cars I can dream up imaginary conversations between birds.

The entire day today was driven on I-40 with a speed limit of 75 mph. The miles really roll by at that speed and on those occasional times when the speed limit drops to 65 mph though a city it feels like you are walking. And even at 75 mph, most drivers in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona view speed .limits more like speed suggestions. We got passed more times that a Matthew Stafford football game.

Joan driving, sometimes she even opens her eyes

We saw some snow on the ground from an overnight passing storm but the weather today could not have been more perfect for driving. The light cloud cover made my sunglasses unnecessary, which I appreciate because I’m not a fan of wearing them.

The Navajos are some of my favorite people. We have spent a lot of time touring and visiting the Navajo Reservation in past years. I recalled today a conversation I had with a Navajo guide we hired to show us through Monument Valley two years ago.

The "Do Not Enter" sign has nothing to do with the Arizona sign

After we had become comfortable with Sam (his name was much longer and harder to pronounce so that was the name he asked us to call him) I asked him what Native Americans prefer outsiders to call them. “We call ourselves Indians, so that is good with us, as long as you are respectful.”  Later I asked him about the whole Washington Redskins controversy and he said it was a non-issue to most of his people. He pointed out that a Navajo high school had adopted the “Redskins” name and many of the tribe members wore Redskins logo jackets. Joan and I witnessed this more than once. Just an observation that I recalled today while not driving.

Well tomorrow we pick up the trailer and head down the hill (7,000 feet of hill) to Tucson for our winter getaway. I probably won’t post tomorrow, but look for something this weekend. A big shout out to our friend Greg who was kind enough to stop by our house and check the front door to make sure I had locked it on the way out. I did.

Mileage out: 61973

Mileage in: 62560

Time out: 8:08 a.m. (CST)

Time in: 3:26 p.m. (MST)

A pleasant Sunday drive through three states

Trust me this is the Oklahoma State sign - Joan took the photo

Today was a leisurely Sunday drive compared to yesterday’s long distance marathon. The weather has been improving as we travel west and we are praying that it holds up for Tuesday in Flagstaff. Last year picked up the trailer and headed down the hill just two hours before a foot of snow hit the area. The forecast calls for none of that this year.

We left the Quality Inn this morning in bright sunshine and except for a couple brief overcast periods. As promised the hotel made fresh bacon and sausage as I requested the night before. Even with late arrivals it appeared there couldn’t have been more than ten people in the hotel overnight. Traffic was light and Joan spelled me for a 100-mile stretch through Oklahoma so I arrived fresh and hungry into Amarillo tonight.

We have never come through Oklahoma when the wind wasn’t blowing at gale force. Until today, there were winds but the least wind we have ever encountered crossing the plains. Likewise, in the Texas Panhandle the winds were there but nowhere near what we have struggled with before.

Where better a place for a wind farm than Oklahoma?

Temperatures got to 60 degrees – with one stretch at 64 -  for most of the afternoon and it was warm enough for us to walk to a nearby Red Lobster restaurant instead of getting back in the car and finding a restaurant in town. This is our fourth stay in Amarillo and we used to go to a wonderful Mexican restaurant, but we are on a special diet right now which prohibits the eating of cheese, bread and sugar. And what is Mexican food without cheese?

Gas prices have been steadily falling since we left Michigan and tonight I topped off the tank for $2.06 a gallon here in Amarillo at the Flying J station near the hotel.

Every year we come through the panhandle we see the remnants of the harvested cotton fields, but today we saw the huge truck-trailer sized bales lined up in the fields. It was a pretty impressive amount of cotton.

We passed the usual landmarks, the huge cross just east of Amarillo and the leaning water tank, but because I have taken those pictures every year, I gave the camera rest today.

Texas - Joan did better - note the blue skies

We listed to a variety of XM stations today, including Radio Classics (“The Shadow Knows….”), sports stations and the NHL broadcast of the Toronto versus Detroit outdoor game.

I really love the 75 mph speed limits on the Oklahoma turnpike and the panhandle section of I-40 in Texas. The miles pile up pretty quickly with that limit.

At one point, we passed a Quad Graphics truck and Joan remembered that my brother-in-law Jeff works for them in West Virginia. 

When you think of people who have to work holidays – police officers, firefighters, etc. – it is good to remember that a lot of long haul truck drivers are still on the road delivering the things we need to live on. It was surprising to see how many trucks were on the road today – New Year’s Day.

Also I always think of my Dad when I am in Amarillo as he has fond memories of his days here as a World War II Army Air Corps enlistee. "The only place where you can be up to your waist in mud and have sand blown in your face!"  "The only thing that stops the wind is the barbed wire."

Flagstaff tomorrow!

Mileage out: 61338

Mileage in: 61073

Time out: 7:59 a.m. (CST)

Time in: 5:30 p.m. (CST)