Made it to Arkansas

Since the last blog things have gone rather smoothly except we are getting tired. We have seen all this and because we stayed later so Annie could get her shots we have not stopped to see anything new.

We drove uneventfully through the cold country and even passed Santa Rosa to spend the night in Tucumcari, NM. This was OK except we felt the RV park was kinda sleazy. No grass in sight but it had cable TV and WIFI so we managed.

From here we made it to Amarillo, TX and stayed in an older park which was very dog friendly. We arrived early and Shirley did laundry etc. Annie played and it was kind of a day of rest.

We left Texas and drove into Oklahoma. Just outside Oklahoma City where we stayed at a park that included breakfast. This was different for us. Our next door neighbor was a pipe fitter and had just "drug up" (quit his job) this was fun for me 'cause my dad had been a pipeline welder and I kinda know the language of these construction workers.

We awoke to cloudy skies and thunder, and lightening. After a stop at Walmart and the hail stopped we drove all the way to Fort Smith, AR where rain and thunder storms are forecast. If we can survive tonight we will try to make it to Memphis, TN where we should be out of most of the forecast bad weather.

Annie has been wonderful except for tonight; she peed on the rug in our trailer. She had been taken outside four times but just wanted to play, so nature won out. Disappointing, but we have been told they sometimes forget things and revert back to being babies. Hopefully she will remember next time.

Anyway we have had no mishaps other than stuff breaking in the trailer, the shower and toilet not flushing. We have appointments at Airstream in Jackson Center for after our caravan.

Things will be OK.

Which one is Annie?

Couldn't pass these up, saw then at a rest stop.

Part of the decor at the Amarillo RV Park.

Shows the threat of weather.

Annie loves football.

See Ya! Barry, Shirley and Annie

Day three, four and five with Annie

Bakersfield was nice for us, we bought some oranges at a fuel stop and received some for "free" at Orange Grove RV Park after paying $33.00. A nice shower was much appreciated and we parked across from an Airstream from our local unit.

Annie once again proved to be learning and so far there have been no accidents in the trailer or truck. Next morning we drove to Tehachapi where I stopped at a Home Depot to purchase a shutoff valve so we could use our shower and not waste water draining into our holding tank. I left Shirley and Annie to fend for themselves and they did very well, Annie did her business and Shirley visited with passers by.

We hit the road and made it to Needles and stayed at the Elks, we have been there before and it worked out fine. Last time it was in the hundreds, this time it was cold. Annie had to go out at 1 am so we both went out with her to look for coyotes as she did her thing. It seems coyotes will lay under your trailer smelling the dog and as you come out...grab the dog for a nice snack.

We thought it was cold in Needles, our next night was in Winslow. We saw an ad for an RV park and we were tired so we stopped. It was a very nice place, the people were very cordial and accommodating; a great place to take a puppy. We ran the furnace all night as the low was 24 degrees. Annie's trips outside were taken care of by Shirley as I slept. My outside duty came in the early hours. Yes, it was cold.

Weather has been great, if you like cold, highs 54 low tonight here in Grants forecast to be 14 degrees.  Tomorrow we are headed for Santa Rosa, NM then we should start heading to a lower altitude and less freezing weather, but they are having storms in the eastern US. Nevertheless we can do nothing about weather and will survive.

Oh, now I get it, you just look outside.

Shirley & Annie looking at some snow.

Ya' gotta admit, I'm cute.

Shirley and Annie enjoying the morning together.

Annie found a football in Needles.

By the way, Annie just learned how to open her crate.  More to come later.

See Ya! Barry, Shirley and Annie

Annie on the road

We are on the road again. This time well armed with Annie. Getting away was a real effort. Adding a new puppy to our list of things to do was exhausting. The trailer gave us some trouble also, the shower would only issue cold water. So two days before we left I took the trailer to the repair shop for repairs and and now we have a shower leak. Lesson learned is always take it to Airstream in Jackson Center, OH.

As we drove past Stockton traffic began to back up on the northbound side of the freeway. A big-rig truck was on fire and naturally a south-bound looker caused an accident right behind us. Luckily, we got thru OK.

First night was at Atwater, because we got off so late and because it is not crowded. Due to Annie's shots, seeing the vet etc. we did not get away from home until 12:30 but it was worth the effort. Annie got her first exposure to actual play other than at home in her back yard. She loved it! Also, at home she was reluctant to do her bathroom chores outside, but here she was F R E E to do as she pleased. So other than getting up at 2am and 6 am and going outside with her things have been fine. Unfortunately this duty has fallen on Shirley.

Yesterday we arrived in Bakersfield at 3 pm and Annie has seen dogs galore. Things are looking up but we do not know how it will go in rain and bad weather. Wish us luck there.

As we drove toward Fresno, a pick-up truck was on fire again in the north-bound side of the freeway and traffic piled up just before noon. Tough luck for north-bound folks.

My turn to take Annie out before we get ready to leave, so see 'ya later.

Annie's "condo" in the trailer.

Am I to sleep in the crate or look out at the sights?

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Desert Hot Springs

Yesterday I went to March AFB to see the museum. Shirley went to the Living Desert Museum. I had hoped I could do both, but there just is not enough time. Having never been to March it was much better than expected. John, Ray, Dave and I were almost the only people there. The cold must be keeping the tourists away. Shirley said there were not many people at the Living Desert either.

The four of us met a 89 year old man named Ken Wright, who flew for the RAF and later for the US during WWII. We probably spent 1 1/2 hours listening to him. He had a million stories and answered a lot of questions for us. Fascinating! We also managed to look at most of the airplanes.

Our evenings, since Bakersfield have been spent watching the series "Downton Abby" which is on PBS on Sunday nights. We had never seen the series, now in it's third year, but thanks to DVD's we are quickly catching up. I guess you could say we are hooked.

Today, we went to lunch in Palm Springs and then saw the Follies. We almost opted out, but this years show was so much better than last time that we were glad we went. After lunch we had some extra time  so along with Cam and Marcia we toured the Art Museum. It is a beautiful building and has a lot to offer and was well worth the visit.

Evening saw us all gathered in the meeting room where we all ate pizza and visited and the girls played Joker and the guys watched the 49ers whip the Packers. Our two favorite teams because we live near San Francisco and visited the Packers stadium in '09.

No photos 'cause none were taken. It's sure cold here, but Lincoln, is to be 28 tonight. Funny, we left home to find warmer weather and have not found any. Yet!

Tomorrow will be a surprise, 'cause I have not looked at the schedule yet. Need to get propane and go shopping so probably will find time for that as well as finding new stuff to see.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Takes a day or two to remember how to do this. Here are some pictures:

 This is the barn on Shirley's relatives property. The house she remembers is no longer there.

This must be the place.

Lake Williams. The other caravaners were jealous they did not have lake front property.

The Integratron.

A little out of order, but this Shirley also remembers from her childhood.

The "Californians" lay here for their "sound bath."

Inside, its all wood, no metal. The original owner was picked up by people from outer space and is gone!


Still learning how to do this, as you can see. More later.




See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Southwest Caravan

If I ever figure out how to do Blogs again, I will do one a month just to keep in practice. We have no photos because like last year I do not remember how. So hang in there with me.

We are currently on a caravan with the Nor-Cal group of the Airstream group. We have thought of doing this caravan for a long time so signed up. Our first night after leaving home was at Atwater which houses Castle Air-force Base. As with so many bases these days it is now closed but has an interesting museum of aircraft. I have wanted to see a B-36 for years and did so this trip.

We stayed two nights here at a very small RV park on base. It is only 3 hours from Lincoln and makes a nice stop. Shirley had relatives living nearby in Stievenson. We drove out there our first night, Friday the 4th. Next day, 4 other Airstreams arrived and we all visited the museum. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures.

We were to arrive in Bakersfield on the 6th. so we fueled up Sat. night. Good thing, it rained all night. We awoke to being in a lake Sunday morning. Hooking up, I got soaked feet etc, but we made it to Bakersfield in pretty good rainfall but on time. We unhooked and drove to dinner at a buffet, now buffets are not my favorite thing, but it was good and after a difficult day much appreciated.

Next morning we all hitched up and headed over the Tehachapi's where it had snowed the day before. As it turned out it was an easy drive, and we arrived at Joshua Trees Camp Ground just fine.

We had been here the year before and felt a home. Evening found us at a happy hour/soup dinner outside in the cold. Forecast was for 20 degree lows. Early to bed and a great night's sleep. Up at 6:30 showered and fed and ready to go on a ranger led tour of the Keys Ranch. Once again we forgot our camera. Maybe it is good to be on this caravan to get reorganized. Anyway it was interesting, the ranger named Sue, was a great wealth of info. She said she was 69 and I personally think she knew the Keys family.

For lunch we ate at a "Heath Food" restaurant and both of us were ill and did not attend happy hour that evening.

By morning we were fine and went to the Integratron in Landers, CA near Joshua Tree. Now this was a real experience. We have some folks from Delaware and Indiana and whatever they think of Californians has been reinforced. At the Integratron we took a 30 minute "sound bath." We lay on the floor on mats and heard sounds from "pure" quartz crystal bowls. This whole thing was OK'ed by Huell Howser, Rolling Stone, and Anthony Bourdain. We were made younger, given more energy and will now have better health and live forever.

Last night we all shared experiences during happy hour and learned the wind was to come up. Well it did! All night the wind blew and we were shaken and rocked and kept awake by a flapping vent, that we finally awoke enough to close.

Tired but undaunted, we drove the 42 miles to Desert Hot Springs where the wind is still blowing hard!

This is the first place we had cell service so this is our first blog.

More later.

See Ya! Barry and Shirleyl

Cheyenne Wyoming

We finally started our trip homeward in earnest. The route taken was convoluted at best. We wanted to see new country and we wanted to avoid adverse weather which was abounding all over. From Iowa we decided to take US 30 westward. This was interesting, all the little towns etc. we even passed a place claiming to be the birthplace of Andy Williams. Never knew he was from Iowa. US 30 was the old Lincoln Highway and has a lot of little towns with great histories. We didn't stop except for water and fuel.

Our night was spent at Black Hawk Lake in Lake View IA. We just sorta pulled in and found a place. We were entertained by kids, little kids, riding their bikes and one little guy was not going to loose a race no matter what. The night was quiet and we woke up rested and ready to go.

We ventured, northward, up to US 20 which goes a long way west, but it was so bumpy we decided 30 was better. So we headed southward, once again. Finally we got back to 30 and found a campground for the night at Ft. Kearny State Park, NE. This was very interesting because of the prices. Not only did you pay for camping, but for water and electricity and a car fee. How do they think you will arrive there? Walk in? Anyway we felt cheap so we dry camped. It was very nice, peaceful and quiet. Next morning we drove by Fort Kearny, funny I am reading the autobiography of Buffalo Bill Cody and he spend a lot of time at this fort. Next trip in the area this will be a must see.

Next morning, must have been June 7th, we drove for awhile on I-80. Construction for miles and miles. Finally got tired of that so drove back up to US 30, ultimately 30 turns into 80 at Cheyenne and we stopped at an information station and found out there were tornado warnings and severe thunder storms forecast. The tornado did not hit but we sure got into a big hail storm. Sounded like rocks hitting our metal home. We did suffer some pock marks, but they are mostly on the very top and not visible.

There were three other Airstreamers here, heading for International so we visited with them before the evening storms. Next morning one of them had a cracked Fantastic Vent which he fixed with duct tape, the RVer's friend.

The morning was beautiful, naturally, and we headed onward. This night, the 8th, we spent in Ft. Bridger, WY. Very nice camp run by an older couple and we had a nice stay, including cable TV which held very little interest for us. As we left we realized the old fort is still there and we plan on a revisit here too.

The wind had plagued us all day the 8th and this morning was no easier so we stopped at Wells, NV for the night and to get some rest. We stopped at around 1:30 in the afternoon and took a nap. The wind was cold, the morning had been down to 42 degrees and the wind was very cold. As we were reading someone knocked on our door. It was Larry Warren. We had not seen them for about two years and we had a great reunion. We had caravanned with the Warren's on all our caravans except the Civil War series. They were one of the first couples we met in Airstreams and they are like family.

It was their anniversary so we shared our gift from the Kentucky Caravan we had received for our anniversary, a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon. Two anniversaries with one bottle. Next morning we all said our goodbyes and they headed eastward and we continued westward.

Our last night on the road was spent in Dayton, NV at a primitive State Park. Dayton for those of you who have never been there is near Virginia City and is known for its early discovery of silver. When we used to drive by there to Yearington to visit my uncle and aunt it was not much more than a wide place in the road with a few old buildings and a ranch or two. Now it has merged into Carson City and for the area is bustling.

Next morning saw us headed up the hill to Lincoln. Took almost 4 hours because it's windy and all up hill. We arrived home around noon and hit the ground running. Lots to do when you have been gone for 4 months. Our neighbors had taken good care of our house and everything is green and beautiful. The only down side is it turned hot on Monday, the day we arrived. They have had a beautiful and mild spring here and so far they have all let us know we missed some beautiful weather. We have not yet told then we had some beautiful weather where we were too.

Black Hawk Lake in IA

Shirley at Ft. Kearny, NE. There were some bull frogs in the lake.

We had a little happy hour to relax.

The camera battery died right here. I was going to show some of the local industry.

Some of the Airstreams heading for International.

Never knew this was here. Just above Cheyenne where the Lincoln Highway ends.

Is that Annie Oakley?

Certainly a different look from the South.

Stopped at a rest area and saw this old Navion.

Enjoyed this place.

Didn't see Jim Bridger here but it was named after him.

We were told to look out for rattlers.

Primitive but quiet.

So we are home, safe and sound.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley