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Sweet Georgia. Home again. Till the next time.

Some troubles

We are on our way home. Staying in Clinton OK tonight. Today on the road our slide almost got loose. The wind is horrific. All the jostling unhooked the inside straps and I looked over and saw the couch leaning backward and off the floor in the front. Bruce looked in the rear view mirror and said "oh, oh." The slide our was coming out. Well, a quick stop at Home Depot and a little screw and a little labor by 'the man' and all is well.
Other than that, our trip has been very easy with not weather problems.

Lake Powell

These pics of Lake Powell speak for themselves. The middle one is Navaho Canyon inlet. Look at the designs in the huge rocks.

Monument Valley, Lake Powell

I could never capture the beauty of Monument Valley or of Lake Powell. I will store in my memory the sites. The people in this area of the country are the friendliest I have ever met, and I've met some. They always have a smile for us and are always eager to please. Tomorrow we will go on a boat ride through some of the canyons.

Sunday Mass

Today we went to mass at Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Page Arizona. The church was small and friendly and warm. The deacon had long gray hair and a long gray beard. So typical of these locals. The priest was very pious I could tell. Sitting next to me was an old native american woman who depended on me to show her where we were in the mass. When they passed the collection basket, she placed in a clear sandwich bag full of pennies.
I loved this church and its people.

Monument Valley, Lake Powell

Monument Valley is wonderful. Cannot capture its beauty on camera. Likewise for Lake Powell. The pictures give you a taste of what we have seen but do not tell the story.

Moab

Early today we left our Moab campground and I will miss the little town. The other picture is one of Bruce's favorites. He calls it a "rest stop". It was just sitting along side of the road. We visited Monument Valley today and we are now at beautiful Lake Powell. I'll post pictures tomorrow. We are having a wonderful, fun time. Wait till you see the view from Arvie this time!

Rain in the desert

Today the temperature has dropped almost 40 degrees. From close to 100 down to 60 for highs. No wonder they told us to be prepared for any weather. Arvie is so upset he is bleeding (leaking) a little. Bruce is sure he can apply the necessary band-aids. Two nights ago we went into Moab and saw Robin Hood. We both loved it. Same era as Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. Yesterday we drove to Blanding to visit the Dinosaur museum to get Cutter a gift. We got him a real dinosaur tooth.
Today we head for Lake Powell and hope it warms up.

Scenic byway 12, more Hoodoos

The trees are Aspens. We traveled during different times of day because the colors change. These same scenes would look totally different with other sun light.

Bryce Canyon NP

Yesterday, Tuesday, we took a day trip to drive National Scenic Byway 12. We stayed at a hotel near Bryce Canyon and toured for two days. In the picture are the Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon. They took my breath away. Miles and miles of huge canyon filled colorful statue-like stone mini castles. What a sight!

North Entrance/Canyonlands NP

Today we visited the other side of Canyonlands. The views were even more spectacular than the Needles. The desert flowers never cease to amaze me. They are all so special because they work so hard to exist.

Last night Bruce and I went into town and had a great steak dinner. The restaurant was the former site of the home of the billionaire who discovered uranium in the nearby mountains.

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The Needles/Canyonland NP

Yesterday we went to the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park. In this picture Bruce is standing in front of Newspaper Rock. The petroglyphs etched into the surface are at least 2000 years old. Probably done by the Pueblos. We also took an off road jeep trip and B had a ball. I took several advil afterward.

Today we will take some time off from touring and stay at our campground most of the time.

Arches National Park

We have pictures of us inside this arch. If you look closely, you will see the silhouettes of some people inside it. We were told the temperature was going to 103 today. However, we were comfortable because of cool breezes. I don't think it got out of the 80s.

Arches National Park

Today we visited Arches National Park which is a short ride from our RV park. We had a lot of fun and met some very nice people. We took two challenging hikes along the way and spent several hours exploring.

The city of Moab is quaint and Western. Tonight we will go there for dinner.

I took this picture while sitting at our picnic table at our campsite.

Moab

We are here! RV park is more beautiful than I imagined. I am exhausted so I will post pictures tomorrow. Wait till you see the view we have from our site.

New Mexico

We are spending the night in Grants NM, about 100 miles west of Albuquerque. Another KOA in the desert. The ride here was unique but not pretty. Traveling west always makes me appreciate the eastern states and the Appalachians. We hit a strong head wind on this leg of the trip and Bruce could not drive more than 50 mph. He said it would have been easier riding a horse. Well, although it is still daylight, we are going to try to sleep. Big day tomorrow. Utah here we come.

Texas Sky

We have seen some beautiful skys. This one is in Amarillo. It was followed by a wind storm and a quick drop in temperature.

Amarillo

Well, here we are in Texas. Bruce is enjoying the new friends he has made. The gentleman he is talking to has been at the same two KOAs as we have. Several of us are traveling the same route. Our RV park is in the middle of nowhere beside a cow pasture. Traffic so far has been light. Especially for a holiday weekend.

We have not hit any really bad weather. We are enjoying ourselves, "roadin' with the roadies".

TEXAS

Old Mill in Little Rock

Believe it or not, that is not wood. It is concrete. The artist is a descendant of the Aztecs from Mexico. Bruce and I visited the Old Mill in Little Rock today and it was beautiful. Tomorrow we will jump back on Route 40 and continue Westward.

Rockin' in Little Rock

It was a long day on the road. But the scenery was pretty and we made a lot of stops. Our RV park has huge rigs and we are having fun just watching them come in. Tonight I made a big macaroni salad for us with tuna and eggs. Bruce will make breakfast for us in the morning because he knows if he doesn't, he'll starve.
We will stay at this KOA for a couple of nights and check out Little Rock tomorrow.

On The Road

Westward Ho!

This is where we are going. Bruce is pointing to the place on the map.

We took one more quick trip to Walmart today. Good old Walmart. The great American experience! I sent our itinerary to our children and tonight we will do all the last minute things. Canyonland here we come.

The Final Rush

Ok, got the meds, finally. Washed all our clothes and packed up Arvie. Got all the food ready to load. Will do that tomorrow. We have yard men coming over tomorrow to mow and weed and Tony will come a couple more times while we are gone to do the yard again. Newspaper and mail are stopped. New alarms are installed. Tomorrow we finish packing Arvie and I give him a good cleaning inside. Last minute trips to Walmart continue. ie small bug spray we can carry, spray neosporin, new case for camera, etc.

Getting excited

Today we said goodbye to Shannen and Bill and Cutter and Roni. We won't see them again before we leave. Tomorrow we finish our trip itinerary and Thursday we finish last minute things to get Arvie ready then Friday we pack.

time getting close

leaving soon. reservations made. trip all mapped out. The only thing left to do is plan itinerary while in Utah. Then we pack up Arvie and we are off.

preparing Gracie

Today I took Gracie to the vet to have her nails clipped. Gracie and I walked into the lobby and everyone yelled "Gracie's here! Get the muzzle." No joke. Dr. Mills came into the room with a little muzzle in his large hand. He tried one more time to make friends with Gracie. He sat on the floor and called her sweetly while Gracie growled and showed her teeth and shook so badly I thought she was going to faint. So, I had to place the muzzle on her and she was so scared she pooped right there on the floor. Poor little doggie. I wanted her nails clipped because she sits on my lap a lot while we are traveling and sometimes scratches me. I also had to get her perscriptions refilled.

Arvie

My new camera arrived in the mail today, so here is the pic I promised.
Arvie in all his glory. 31'long, one large slide-out, one bathroom including shower, one separate private bedroom plus two other turn down beds, full kitchen, dining area, living area, outdoor awning, storage basement etc. etc.
Arvie is in our driveway patiently waiting for us to ready him up for the drive.

Da Meds!

We have begun to plan our prescription renewals. We must contact our doctors and make sure we have enough meds to last the entire trip. This will take a few days because between the two of us we have a lot of perscriptions. That is how we stay healthy.

Start moving

This one may sound like overkill, but at the age of 65 it is very helpful. We are now walking more on the treadmill. We want to be able to take the hikes and sightseeing tours without huffing and puffing. We have decided to tell everyone we are 40 years old, so we better act it! (Kidding of course. It has been a long time since we could pass for 40.)

Stop the shopping

We have learned from past experiences that it is it is a good idea to limit our grocery shopping in the days and weeks before we leave on a trip. It is no fun to return home to a lot of spoiled food. So last night at Kroger we exercised restraint and only purchased necessities. Well, that and a few little candy bars from the 10 for 10 bin. We are also beginning to keep our eye out for foods to take with us. So we bought some canned fruit that was on sale and some bottled salad dressings.

Maintaining Arvee

Fixing the sink took longer than anticipated. Bruce says that if it leaks now, he is going to just put a bucket under it.
Someone mentioned to us that we should check out Lake Powell while in Utah. So we will. And we will try to rent a boat. We are open to all suggestions.

May 5, 2010

Bruce is having a little trouble finding a part he needs to fix Arvie's kitchen sink. In the mean time, we have purchased several audio books and movie DVDs. We really enjoy listening to our books while we travel.
A couple of weeks ago, we sent Arvie to the RV doctor for his check up. He got a new cover for his slide out and a tune up. All in all, he is in pretty good health.

May 1, 2010

Bruce backed Arvie into the driveway today. Then he began to check it out and found two leaks, one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. He thinks he can fix them.
Hope so. We'll see tomorrow.

April 30/Friday

Started to check out Arvie today. Bruce and I found some old bread that needed to be thrown away. Then Bruce realized that the gas had been left on. So now we need to get the propane tank filled.
Tomorrow we will pull Arvee into the driveway to work on him some more. As soon as I get my new camera I will post a picture.

Gracie

APRIL 27, 2010

Judy and Bruce will be joined on their trip by their dog, Gracie. Gracie is a four year old black Pomeranian. Gracie enjoys traveling in Arvie. She sits up front on the dashboard. Like most dogs of her breed, Gracie barks a lot. We have tried to train her to just do a guttural growl instead of barking. We have had limited success with that. We'll tell you more about Gracie in the future. She has quite a back story.

Pre prep for trip West

APRIL 26, 2010

Bruce and Judy are planning a trip to Utah and the Western states. They will travel from Georgia in their 31' class A Winnebago. They have named their RV, "Arvie". Today Bruce and Judy have declared that Arvie is a boy. That is a very big step in their preparations because now they know how to address Arvie in future blogs.
We will let you know more about our pre prep in the following days.
Judy and Bruce Diaddigo