Kansas...finally

Prior to now we have gone to every state in the vicinity except Kansas. Oversight now corrected. We left OKC headed north on I-35. Once over the border we entered the KTA, a turnpike that bypasses Wichita and Topeka with beautiful roads, through even better scenery. Rolling hills, bright green pastures, happy cows. Every 50 miles or so there is an island rest stop between the north and south bound lanes with gas, McDonald's, travel info and picnic tables. There are no hassles with getting off/on the tollroad or finding a parking place big enough for us. The choices are limited, but the convenience cannot be beat.

We camped at Perry Lake (Corps of Engineers) northeast of Topeka. Sure wish I had taken a picture, it is a very pretty spot. Worth a return trip! We walked, rode bikes and rested. We took a trip down to Lawrence; home of KU, fabulous old homes, and the Kansas River. It has a thriving downtown that reminds us of Austin in the early '60's. Another day we drove to Topeka, the capital. The setting is just as pretty, but more industrial than Lawrence.

We are now just southeast of St. Louis. Russell and I have driven through the city but never stopped for any amount of time. Villa Ridge, a very small town is roughly 40 miles out on I-44. The park is a true campground- not a fancy RV resort; great trees, a small lake, fire rings, nice picnic tables. The owner told me the same story as other parks in the area, booked up through Memorial Day. But when I explained our situation, to follow, he said, "you come on in, we'll work this out."

Our situation is that Kyle is meeting us here on Wednesday evening. He and Russell are then driving to Montreal where Kyle will be living for the next several months. so in looking for a place to stay it was important to be somewhere that I would feel comfortable not only in the park, but getting around and doing things. This is such a place, so we will be here for a month. That allows us time to help Kyle, see the city, and decide on our next destination.

Next blog: a trip to the Arch!

Oklahoma City

We had a sunny day for our downtown walk in OKC. I guess everyone begins at the Federal Building Memorial. We had seen pictures of the memorial, but couldn't visualize the before and after. The first thing we recognized was the field of chairs. The field is in the footprint of the original building. The chairs are arranged by floor and east/west location of the person who was killed. So there are 9 rows of chairs in columns of varying number (this is hard to explain) Then I noticed the small chairs. The children. Entering from the west, they aren't immediately apparent. The west side had fewer fatalities. But since the second floor was the daycare center, most of those chairs are smaller. There were also 3 children on the ground floor who came with parents for social security business. The pond on the north side of the field is where 5th St. used to be and where the truck was parked.

To actually talk about all of the scenes and settings would take more than a single blog. We passed on the museum, didn't need all of the details to mess with our overall sense of the place and time. The hurricane fence on the west side is covered with present day memorials and mementos from survivors. A wonderful ranger talked to us for quite some time about the other city buildings that were involved, a 16 block area. Maps on the grounds help to join the past and present. Why are so many people destructive? Whether it's a single death or 168, like at the Federal Building, what is the point?

From there we needed a change of pace and got that by walking south to Bricktown. We enjoyed the old buildings, the canal, the mosaics and other art. Middle of the afternoon was quiet except for the stadium where an early baseball game was going on. There are tributes to Oklahoma  playplayers of the past. Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench get the most attention. We talked about going in for the $5 lawn seating, but it was the last inning. Instead we walked across the street to a Sonic. I got my all-time-favorite summer drink, diet limeade....Yum! On our walk we saw historic hotels, glittering new skyscrapers, new construction, and an oasis park. Of course the Thunder support was everywhere, as it should be. OKC has minor league baseball and hockey teams in addition to their major league basketball team. They are located in Bricktown. Wish Dallas had been smart enough to keep their sports teams downtown.

We wanted to drive around a bit and found a very odd assortment of museums; Banjo, Railroad, Homing Pigeons, China Painters, Red Earth, Firefighters, Oklahoma Land Run, Telephone History, Women Pilots, it goes on. We decided on The 45th Infantry Division Museum, a state run museum. It has an amazing collection of artifacts from every era of American history. I really enjoyed the Bill Mauldin Room containing hundreds of his original cartoons from the 40's and 50's. He was on the staff of the 45th through Europe in WWII and continued to give a view of GI life long after. His characters were true and endearing. Russell couldn't get over the weapons collection, massive! We saw items we never knew existed in wonderful condition. The staff is very proud of their Hitler collection. They have towels, photos, and other household items from his homes and the bunker that was his final hideout. This is a well kept secret that we are very glad we took the time to discover.

As usual, my order of business is out of whack. I have not downloaded my pictures yet. I'll post them later.

The rest of this weekend is being devoted to family. Matt Felty is graduating from OU Law School tomorrow and we are here to show how proud we all are. We look forward to time with all of the Felty clan.

Interstate 40; Arizona to Oklahoma

We picked up I-40 at Kingman, AZ on Friday and arrived in OKC this evening, Monday. Now to arrive in Oklahoma two days after loosing in the first round of the NBA playoffs is somewhat humbling, but oh well! We are here for several reasons; it's our first time in this part of the state, we've wanted to see the Federal Building Memorial, and best of all, our nephew, Matt, is graduating from OU Law School.

We had some interesting stops along the way, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, and Pampa.  After a fairly big lunch in Kingman, we had resolved to eat a salad at home that night but that was before we stopped at Black Bart's RV just east of Flagstaff. The RV park is in the OK variety, but Black Bart's Restaurant and Musical Review is way better than that. The waitstaff all sing with the awesome piano player. At times they took turns on stage, other times they all broke into song wherever they happened to be. Great fun and good salads too!

We stayed at High Desert RV just west of Albuquerque, a place we have enjoyed before. We got in early enough to have a homecooked meal and see the full moon rise over the mountains.

Pampa was our first stop back in Texas for a year. We stayed at the city park which turned out to be great! It seems that there is so much oil field work in the panhandle that it was available only because they limit stays to 14 days. We were in Pampa to get the vehicles inspected and get our driver's licenses up dated. Mine was expired and could have been handled on the internet, but we were here anyway and I felt like having a horrible picture taken today. Russell had learned that he has been driving with the wrong type of license for an RV our size. He studied all the way over and made a 90 on the written test. He also had to take a driving test and did very well on that one also. The folks at the DMV were very nice and helpful.

We'd had mail sent to Pampa because we expected to be there several days. Fortunately it was already in this morning. The post office in Pampa is a beautiful old building that I really enjoyed visiting. We had expected to be at least 2 days getting all of these things accomplished. We were gone before noon! It was really amazing to have all of these chores; 2 vehicles inspected, a driving test, a license renewal, and mail in a single morning. Small town America is great! Coming out of the post office a tall cowboy was walking in. He smiled, tipped his hat and said, "How'r yew this mornin?" How could you say anything but "GREAT!"

We had lunch in the town of McLean. Now unless you are related to Russell, you probably never heard of it, but Russsell's Aunt Irene, Uncle James and their family lived there for many years. We visited with a couple at the Shell station, which has THE BEST HAMBURGER IN TEXAS, who remembered James owning the Chevy dealership. He asked about all of the kids. Of course the kids are all about 60 now, but it was fun to share a memory.

End of the Rainbow!

My soggy walk this morning was rewarded with a beautiful rainbow coming out of the valley and stretching out beyond the hills. Further examination led me to find the rainbow's end in a field. As picture shows, there is no pot of gold at this end, maybe the farmer on the other side of the hills got the tangible rewards. My reward was the glow in my soul at such a rare sighting. The owner of this field will hopefully be blessed with a bounty of crops due to today's rains.

We are in the small, pop 1000 on a good winter day, town of Aguanga CA. Now for those who don't know, it is 17 miles east of Temecula in the coastal hills. Still in the dark? Temecula, a city of about 100,000, is just about mid way between San Diego and Los Angeles on I-15. This park, Jojoba Hills, sits just north of Mount Palomar. If the clouds clear, we plan to drive there today or tomorrow.

Jojoba Hills is a Escapees Co-op, the jewel in the crown! These folks have it all, including a long arm quilting machine! They have dinner dances a couple of times a month with a live band. The views from the community center hall and pavilion are out of this world breath taking. Tennis courts, horseshoes, putt-putt, extensive library, full size swimming pool, 2 hot tubs, a sauna in both men's and women's restrooms at the pavilion. They have citrus fruit trees, olive trees, various gardens and all kinds of plants from agave to pine. The mechanics shop is large enough to pull in any size RV with tools and equipment to just about do a re-build. The adjacent wood shop would have our son, Kyle, hooked forever. They have it all and more than enough room to make use of it.

Yuma Surprise

We enjoyed a week in Yuma, accomplishing most of what we set out to do. "Historic Downtown" isn't so much, unless you consider that most of the stores are history and probably have been for the last decade. We did enjoy lunch at Lute's Casino. The non-casino restaurant and pool hall has been in operation for over 100 years and does serve a mean hamburger. After placing our order, we found that the speciality of the house is potato tacos, a new one on us. They looked great and calorie-laden. The piano man was very entertaining as is the eclectic decor.

We really enjoyed a walking trip across the border to Los Algadones. Passports are safely tucked away in Las Vegas, but we went anyway with assurances from the border patrol guy on the phone that we would be fine. I got a new hat, vanilla and a purse, Russell got meds and Tequila. We had all we wanted to carry, so planned what to buy on the next trip over. The border patrol officers checked our docs, we had printed off copies of birth certificates in addition to our licenses. There really was only a slight delay, not the horror stories we'd heard. Just as I was walking away, the officer I talked to said, "Don't come back until you have your passport!" I completely believed him! We'll make another trip next winter to catch those other purchases.

The Territorial Prison was another nice surprise. It is a fraction of the facility that existed for 33 years around the turn of the last century. It was complete built by the inmates, a total of over 3000, and very advanced for its time, but overcrowding caused its closure in 1908. The buildings were later used as temporary housing for the high school at which time the mascot became, and still is, The Crims.

We walked along the Gila and Colorado Rivers which converge at Yuma. We walked under the single lane Ocean To Ocean Highway Bridge. And through the very popular park that provides sandy beaches along the Colorado River.

We were not able to see the 2 military installations, so that too will wait for another trip.

Yuma, AZ

For the last week, since the rally, we have been at Rovers Roost in Casa Grande. Most of that time I was sewing...YEAH! Russell was working, but not having as much fun. Both of us were enjoying the park and the town. I talked to several park folks about other SKPs (Escapees') parks. Everyone recommended that we come to Yuma. They said the SKP park, town, and Mexican border town of Los Algodones were all very safe and well worth a visit.

Driving to the Escapees Park southeast of town we passed the Marine Corps Air Station. It was fun to see a few jets land, and plan to take a tour if possible. We had a late lunch and then went to the downtown visitors center. What we found out was that there is even more here than advertised.

The vast irrigated farmlands were no surprise as we drove in; we've been on this stretch of I-8 before. This is the route we drove coming back from San Diego a few years ago. This is a continuation of the Imperial Valley of California. The bounty of produce from this region is courtesy of the Colorado River and its many irrigation channels. We walked along the banks of the river and stood at the point where STEAMSHIPS docked here! The safest way to transport goods to the southwest was out of San Francisco, around the Baja, through the Gulf of California and upriver on the Colorado. Today we walked the grounds and museum of the Quartermaster Depot.

The town appears to be prosperous, clean, and very historic. We hope to visit the old town, the Territorial Prison, a few produce markets, the Yuma Proving Ground in addition to the MCAS. That is certainly a full week!

Phoenix Rally

I kept thinking that I should write a post each day of the rally, but just lacked the energy at the end of the day. This is really good news, however, because several days later, you just get the highlights instead of that blow-by-blow description that gets much too detailed!

The basics:

• We managed to dry camp for 5 nights without water refill, having tanks emptied and electric provided only by our generator. We were completely self contained. Many folks do this for weeks at a time, but this was a first for us.
• We attended our first rally and really enjoyed it. The seminars, interaction with other campers, and exhibits added to our knowledge of RVing.
• We met many new folks and hope to stay in touch with them. We have new friends in Washington state, Massachusetts, New Mexico and British Columbia.
• Russell installed a new solar panel to help give our new house batteries a boost. A rally is a great place to do this because the vendors either have what you need right there, or manage to get it for you in a timely manner. There is also a wealth of tech help to draw from.
• The entertainment was truly entertaining, and geezer rated. Shows started at 7 and were over just after 8, just the right time to drag our old, tired bodies back to the rigs.
• We left without buying a new rig, not that many salesmen didn't try to change that!

A few details:

• Over 3,800 rigs were camped at the show, which was held at the Phoenix International Raceway.
• Assuming 2 people per rig, and guessing at the number of people who got day passes, there must have been about 10,000 people in attendance.
• All of the campers got a 4-digit number. A total of 4 people each had the same number. The game was to find at least 1 other person with your number. I found 2! We each got a t-shirt and a chance to win one of the many big prizes. No wins here!
• The best seminar we attended was led by a personal trainer who taught about a low impact approach to walking. She was great and I walked with her each morning. The class grew each day!

The layout:

• Picture a Nascar track. There is a large oval infield with a fenced perimeter. Next is a track, also fenced, then the grandstands are on 2 sides of the track. Of course there is lots of parking for all the folks who come to fill the grandstands. All of that fencing is designed to keep people safe and out of designated areas. There is 1 tunnel to allow people into the infield.
• The rally was set up in the infield. That meant that all traffic (trams, golf carts, vendors, RVs, workers, campers, day-trippers) was routed through this 1 2-lane tunnel! You can see the problem! Campers were arranged throughout the parking lots. Trams ran all day and into the evening to transport folks to and from, but we found it was just as efficient to walk. There was a single fenced-off lane for pedestrians.
• Phoenix! Saturday's temps were in the 90's! The other days weren't as hot, but OMG, Saturday was not good!  The huge tents that housed exhibits and seminars could only open the flaps and pray for a breeze. The mornings and evenings were very pleasant fortunately.
• The grandstands were only open in the evening for the entertainment. Handicapped seating was on the track, the rest of us were in the stands, behind the fence. The first night, getting out was a nightmare because of the way they were funneling everyone to specific tram pickup points. The remaining nights split the traffic flow in two directions; tram riders and walkers. That eased congestion and frustration immensely!