January 17, 2010


We pulled into Quartzsite, a small town east of the Colorado River in western Arizona, in the early afternoon. We were immediately immersed in the bustle of activity headed toward the RV Show.

We opted to get out of the mess and look for a place in the desert on BLM land to boondock (dry camping). It is amazing to see this many RV’s in one place; thousands and thousands of all types and sizes, in all directions. It is predicted that there will be over 1 million visitors here during January and February.

Quartzsite originally started out as a Mineral and Gem Show in the 60’s, and now has expanded to include one of the largest RV, Craft, and Car Shows in the country. Fellow RVers told us that everyone should see this at least once and they were right.

We found a place in the desert with a view of the mountains and plenty of space. As soon as we unhook the RV, we head to the Big Tent for the Show.

They were selling anything and everything that you could possibly need or want, from RV supplies to satellite dishes, to Billy Bob’s pulled pork sandwiches. We walked booth to booth for 3 days and did not even make a dent. Along with hiking in the desert, we did get our exercise.

We especially enjoyed our evenings around the campfire, listening to howls and yips of the desert coyotes.
Tomorrow, we leave for Phoenix...good timing since they are predicting several days of rain!

Jan. 13-17

We arrived at Marnie and Chuck Bartolini’s in Sun City, Mesquite, NV on Wednesday afternoon.

It was so good to see our Alaskan friends and relax for a few days. Their new home was lovely and it had a panoramic view of the mountains and a mesa.

We enjoyed working out at their Club House. It had a fantastic work-out facility, including pools and jacuzzis. Marnie and Chuck showed us around the local area.  We had a fun day seeing  Mesquite, Snow Canyon State Park and St. George.

We also went to a Car Show on Saturday at the local Casinos. There were several classics that we wanted to take home, including a sweet 65’ fastback Mustang. On Sunday, after we said our good-byes, we got the

on the road to Quasrtzsite, AZ

January 7-16, 2010

We are back in the Mile High City of Denver. Dan and Gail picked us up at the airport and we headed to Niwot to spend the night with them. The next morning we prepared the 5th wheel for our next 9,000+ mile adventure. In the afternoon, we drove down to Littleton to spend some time with Eric and Holly. They took us out to dinner at the Grand Lux for my birthday. It was a great meal and a fun evening.

 On Saturday, Bob took Eric to the IMAX theater to see Avitar. Holly and I opted to go shopping. We said our good-byes that evening since we planned to hit the road early.

We woke Sunday morning to sunshine, a beautiful day to travel. We were on the road to Utah by 9 am, stopping in a little town called Beaver for the night.

On Monday, we had hoped to camp at Moab and go to the Arches National Park, but there was too much snow. Since we wanted to hike, we opted to continue south to Zion National Park. We arrived at the south entrance in the early afternoon.

Watchman was the only campground open and it was nearly empty. We found a great spot on the Virgin River surrounded by majestic towers and cliffs of red rock.

After setting up camp, we hiked along the Virgin River over to the Visitor Center. Back at camp, it was time to relax and watch the light change as the sun set.

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast outside before exploring the park. We drove the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, up switchbacks and through a tunnel originally built in the 1920’s. Since the tunnel was built for 1920-30 model cars, today’s huge RV rigs need to be escorted through with a pilot car.

Next we enjoyed the 6 mile scenic drive along the Zion Canyon floor ending at the Temple of Sinawava. We took a 2 miles hike along the Virgin River along the bottom of a narrow canyon. On the way back, we took another 4 mile hike on the Emerald Pools trails.

We met another couple from Scotland and enjoyed a nice chat with them. Toward the end of our hike, we saw several deer and some wild turkeys.

When we got to the 5th wheel, we had some hot stew waiting for us in the crock pot.

We hope to return to Zion next fall to do more hiking and exploring. In the meantime, we decided to get on the road to Mesquite, NV to see our friends, Marnie and Chuck Bartolini. It was a lovely drive through St. George, Utah, the corner of Arizona, and into Nevada. It is a unique part of the country and we marveled at the rock formations, as we followed the Virgin River all the way.

December 11-January 5, 2009




We returned from Mexico to Colorado to spend a few days with Eric, Holly, Dan and Gail. Eric and Holly took us to the Avalanche versus Calgary Flames NHL hockey game at the Pepsi Center. It was an exciting game and a fun evening.

Before we left for Alaska, the four of us met Dan and Gail in Golden, CO for an early Christmas celebration. The special was all-you-can-eat ribs and we certainly got our money's worth!

Arriving in Alaska, Jeremy picked up his shivering parents at the airport and built us a nice fire in their fireplace when we got to their house. We spent a few days with Jeremy and Lalanya in Anchorage enjoying their lovely home decorated for the holidays, before driving to Sterling.

We spent 3 weeks enjoying the holidays with family and friends. Christmas day was relaxing and we all enjoyed our tradition of king crab and shrimp for dinner.

 Another highlight was getting our grandparents’ fix, babysitting for Randi Marie and Justin’s little guy, Rylan on New Year‘s Eve. He was so much fun and it was hard to give him back.

We welcomed 2010 mesmerized by the “blue moon” shining across our lake. Before we knew it, we were on our way back to Anchorage to catch our flight back to Denver.

Saturday, November 28-December 11, 2009


Early Saturday morning, Eric took us to the airport to catch our flight to Cabo San Lucas for two weeks of fun in the sun with our friends Rik and Valerie Taylor from Calgary. Bob quipped that he was ready for a vacation after all that traveling back and forth across the country!

We met up with Rik and Valerie in Phoenix at the airport and continued on to Cabo, arriving at 1:30 pm. After making our way through all the time share hawkers, we were on our way to the Playa Grande, a lovely resort on the ocean.

Not knowing what to expect, we were all pleasantly surprised when we walked into the beautiful condo with a balcony overlooking the pool and ocean.

We welcomed each day on the balcony with a beautiful sunrise and just outside our door, we could see the sunset in the evenings.

After an early dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Romeo and Julietta’s, we watched a couple get married on the beach. The reception was just below our deck and we all enjoyed listening to the music until we could not keep our eyes open any longer.

The weather was perfect and we loved falling to sleep hearing the waves crash and feeling the ocean breeze. We spent many mornings walking the beach watching for whales, enjoying the huge surf, and, of course, collecting shells.

 We often would go back again at night and walk or just relax in the Adirondack chairs and hammocks.

With not many people around, it was easy to find a spot at the many pools and hot tubs to enjoy the sun, happy hour and swimming. One day we walked over to Medano Beach to people watch and see all the action.

Another day, we walked to town to one of our favorite places, the fruit stand, to enjoy some delicious, perfectly ripened and juicy fruit.

 A few days before we left, Val and I spent the day shopping and getting a fantastic massage for $30.

Our second week, we moved next door to the Finisterra where we met Rik and Val five years ago when we came to Cabo with Jeremy and Lalanya. While we were there, we had some lovely meals together on our balcony, reflecting on our day and how fortunate we all were to be able to travel and enjoy our retirements.

On two different occasions, we went to dinner with a close friend of Rik and Val’s named Clacerio who has lived in Cabo for many years. We had a wonderful time listening to his many stories and adventures. He introduced us to some good tequila, called Centenario. Not being tequila drinkers, we assumed that you drank it like a shot. After setting our glasses down after our first toast, we realized that everyone else was just sipping their tequila. We had a good laugh and a fun evening.

Gratias, Rik and Val for inviting us to share two weeks in Paradise. We will treasure all of the good memories.

November 19-27, 2009

Days 74-82

On early Thursday morning, we left Missouri headed to Colorado. We were in Kansas before we knew it and it was as flat and treeless as we remember. There were multiple wind turbines scattered throughout farm fields, creating a blend of new technology with the old.

We stopped for lunch at a rest area and took a walk. We noticed a row of limestone posts and learned that they were original fence posts that were used because wood was so scare on the Kansas plains. We stopped for the night in Hays, Kansas enjoying a warm evening and a lovely sunset. We were up early and on the road to CO. It was good driving, the sun was shining and we could hardly believe that we were on our last leg of our itinerary. We arrived at Dan and Gail’s, (Bob’s youngest brother and his wife) around 3:30 pm. Since September 14, when we left Tacoma, WA, we have logged 9000 miles and visited 26 states. It is good to see family again and take a break. On Friday, we spent the day winterizing the 5th wheel which we will park in Dan’s yard until January. On Saturday, we packed one bag for our trip to Mexico and one bag for our trip back to Alaska before leaving for Eric and Holly’s house in Littleton. It was so good to see Eric and found it hard to believe that nearly 2 months had passed since we last saw him, as he and Holly left for Europe and we headed East.

 We missed Holly who was visiting her family in Alaska. Eric took us to downtown Denver to a film festival that he had been going to all week. We saw The Passenger Side, an independent film that was interesting, especially the Q & A at the end with the Director and the actors. We spent most of the week relaxing and enjoying our time with Eric, working out at his gym, and hiking around a nearby lake. One night, we met Shane Seba, one of Jeremy’s childhood friends, and his girlfriend, Jessica at a Sport’s Bar to watch the Avalanche play. Before we went in, we stopped at the beauty school next door to see if Bob could get a quick haircut. Two hours later he joined us at the bar. I was worried that he either had been mugged or ran off with one of the students. It wasn’t a bad cut and they did not charge him since it took so long (must have been the scalp massage). We all had a good laugh and teased him the rest of the evening.

On Sunday, Dan set us up with flight along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains with his friend Steve. We met him at Broomfield Airport which sits at 5500 feet elevation.

Steve, an experienced mountain pilot, climbed to 16,000 ft. to try to cross the Continental Divide. Every time we tried to cross the 14,000 ft pass, a strong downdraft hit us and we had to turn away from the pass. We flew south along the Range for a great sight seeing trip.

This was the first time we had flown around Colorado in a small plane and made us wish we had our Super Cub here for some flying fun. Thanks Dan and Steve for a fun day.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Eric, thankful that we could be there with him and for many our blessings, including the opportunity to travel the USA. That evening Bob and Eric were invited by Eric’s friend Chris to go to the Bronco’s vs Giants game at the stadium.

It was Bob’s first NFL game and he was thrilled. There were 72,000 fans screaming for the Bronco’s, especially after they won.

November 16-18, 2009

Days 71-73

We arrived in Loma Linda, MO on Monday afternoon to visit our friends Dave McCloud and Louise Schirmers, friends who formally lived in Alaska. Bob and Dave worked together for almost 30 years at Weaver Brothers.

 They have a lovely home on a golf course. We were able to get our morning walk in on the course, moving very fast to stay warm. The weather was on the cool side while we were there, but naturally warmed up after we left. Dave and Louise showed us around Joplin. At one point when Dave drove us around this marker, we were in 3 states: Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas.The afternoon before we left, Dave and Louise took us to Branson, MO. Since there were not too many headliners there at this time of the year, we went to the Acrobats Of China show.

 It was an amazing show of agility, strength, and balance, impressive acrobatics, drumming, and juggling. On our way back to Loma Linda, we stopped at Lambert’s, famous for literally throwing hot rolls to the customers. If you are not paying attention, you might get one in the head! It had good food, but the portions were huge and they kept them coming. It was a fun day even if we had to “crawl” home at 50 mph due to transmission problems, but we made it. We wish that we could have had more time, but we needed to leave for Colorado. We hope to get back there again. Thanks Dave and Louise for your wonderful hospitality, yummy venison dinners, and taking your time to show us around.