The Rally

Well we finally made it to the Phoenix Rally on the 22nd. It was our first and we said we would try it and see what it was about and maybe love it or hate it ... we were prepared mostly to hate it I think.

Anyhow here is the overhead photo of the Phoenix International Raceway with approximately 3,800 RVs in attendance ... OK go ahead and count 'em. We actually ended up on Thursday morning quite near the track which was an easy walk or tram ride for us to the infield where all the displays were as well as the entertainment.

The parking was well handled in our area of a massive paved parking lot which was meant for a bunch of race fans in cars.

The parking dudes snuggled us really close to the neighbors but we lucked out by having a trailer to the left in the picture and plenty of space for both of our vehicles.

Here is a really cool night shot of the thousands of buses lined up in the starlight.

On Friday night we walked over to the stands and saw Bill Cosby perform. He hasn't changed in the last 30 years and was as funny and entertaining as ever. We are sitting here in the stands over the finish line at the track and he is on a stage in pit row so we could never get closer than about 200 feet but the large screens really helped.

Then on Saturday night Martina McBride performed and she really wowed the crowd. She has a powerful voice and a wide range of music that was really awesome. Even if you weren't a pure country music fan she could captivate you with her voice.

I would estimate that there were between six and eight thousand folks here all over 55. The grounds were closed from the outside so only the attendees of the rally could participate in the event ... really unique crowd.

Well let's see we are in a large parking lot with no sewer or water available so the only way to get the bad stuff out of your tank is with the help of the "Honey Wagon" to suck it out of your vehicle. And for the power they had massive generators spaced throughout the lots to give us enough 30 amp power to run the AC units on the 80 degree days.

On Sunday night we were treated with the performance of Ticket To Ride a Beatles impersonator group that was really authentic in the song performance as well as the costuming. We really got into it by clapping and swaying to the sounds of Hey Jude and many other Beatle hits. What a great night!

And then on Monday it was time to leave as all 4,000 of our vehicles had to hit the road by 10am. It looks serious here but no fiberglass was broken as a number of these elephants were moving at once. Everyone behaved and exited in an orderly manner.

At about 10 the place had emptied out and we got on our way to Tucson ... we had no hurry to go the 118 miles so waited til the bus traffic had thinned out a bit.

The rally was an absolute hit and we will do it again if we can ... amazing time and met some really great folks that we will see down the road in the future.

On Sunday night the 18th of March after our snowy mountain experience we arrived in Phoenix at the El Mirage RV Country Club and Golf Resort ... OK. In spite of the pretentious title it was a wonderful place and a super place to either stay for a short time or for the winter.



The sites are 40 by 40 feet and very well cared for. The facility is absolutely first class with the the advertised golf course and tons of amenities. This is truly a place you can spend the winter and not ever need to stray outside the high security gate.

I'd rate this as one of the top ten of the over 200 parks we have stayed in so far, from the washateria to the nail salon ... Hey I didn't go to the nail salon, but it is next to the laundry room. Bottom line is that they have it all here and it is first class and the management is as well.

We started off from Deming on the 17th and rolled down IH-10 for about 50 miles until we hit Lordsburg and US 70 which ran toward Phoenix ... OK looks like fun. This is a really picturesque two lane road and very little traffic. Here is Ol Jo's Cafe in Duncan Arizona and she swears she doesn't remember the place ... go figure.



Then coming around a bend we saw Mount Graham and it was the first snow scene we have seen in a long time. This is a 10,000 foot mountain and pretty spectacular even at this far away.

We wanted to make Phoenix but were tired and couldn't go much further so landed the Flying Scotsman near Globe, Arizona at the Apache Gold Casino RV resort. Really it is a large paved parking lot adjacent to the casino with some hookups. Nice quiet place but no other amenities except the casino. And in this picture you can see the gathering storm. We are at 3500 feet here.

That night it rained and sleeted and we woke to 40 degrees and light rain. Then we were off to Phoenix a mere 120 miles away. About 5 miles from where we left the rain changed to sleet and then snow and this guy coming down the road said it all.

As we went west on 70 we climbed to over 4500 feet and it began to snow pretty heavily. Here's Buster supervising the mountain climbing in some pretty cool conditions. Bandit's under the seat ... smart cat.

Seeing this terrain under this type of weather is really beautiful ... high desert and tons of snow ... breathtaking but we are so glad we stayed 200 miles south of where we planned and at least 2000 feet lower.

The bus handles well yet the winds and snow were a bit of a chalenge ... the view unsurpassed!

And the sign says, "Runaway Truck Ramp." What about a runaway bus ....?

We are now safely warm and snug in Phoenix in one of the finest RV parks we have seen ... more about that later.

Weather Divert!

OK, pilot talk meaning we can't go where we want and need an alternate destination.

After several hours of looking at the weather patterns and what was happening in this end of the country we made the decision not to head toward the northern side of Arizona and the Monument Valley area. We were really set on going there but the weather warnings were pretty harsh from all sources and with the wind and storm warnings we need to get beyond it as soon as possible.

Then what? Well we decided to head straight to the Phoenix area and get stuff done before the rally on Thursday the 22nd.

We stuck a pin in the map about 300 miles down the road and Deming New Mexico came up. We would have liked to stop in Las Cruces to see my niece but the timing, weather, and schedule now can't support stopping ... crazy weather.

After tooling down IH-10 for many hours at 70 miles per we stopped at this rest area just prior to Van Horn. This is west Texas at its finest. Right now about a 30 mile an hour wind from the southwest and yet no indication of the weather to come.

After 323 miles we were tired and glad to see the Little Vineyard RV Park in Deming, New Mexico. OK now this isn't any relation or similarity to the Vineyards in Grapevine. It's a nice park but just a 20 acre piece of gravel with some hookups in the middle of nowhere.

Now this is a dirty HHR. Don't know where the dirt came from as we have been on the highway for several hours but it is pretty covered and gray.

RV oddities now. If you have a 5th wheel trailer and want to haul a car also here is an option for you. This guy has a semi pull the 5th wheel and puts the little car up on the back of the tractor ... pretty unique but really smart. The car gets down on ramps that are stored beneath it on the back of the semi tractor and he has removed one set of the rear truck wheels as they are not needed for the light weight of the trailer.

On the morning of the 15th we left New Braunfels after dumping our sewage on the ground. The Hill Country RV park sewer was blocked and management said just open her up and let it flow .... yuk. Don't think we'll stay there again.

We were really off then and headed for Fort Stockton a 313 mile run and averaged about 7.7 MPG. I put the cruise on 70 and the Flying Scotsman purred along  IH-10 very smoothly. The picture below is of a rest stop somewhere before Fort Stockton and the wildflowers were great even on a gray day.

Speaking of the wildflowers we were disappointed earlier as the flowers were nonexistent in Bryan and very sparse even the hill country around New Braunfels. Too much rain this year I guess.

After the day's run westward we came to the planned stop in the Fort Stockton RV Park. The view from the front of the RV of the west Texas scenery was really neat.

This park was a pretty good one with nice wide gravel spots and friendly management.

And in the nice sunset you can see the bus which is the second from the left. The departure road from the park is right in front making our departure easy.

The sunset was the result of a gathering winter storm and we spent the night looking at the Weather Channel and going over possible options to our westward journey.

On the 14th we departed Bryan for the last time in a while; not intending to be back there until around the first week of October or so. Here is Buster supervising us prior to our first fill-up of the trip at the Kroger in Bryan. If you look close you can see the posted diesel price of $3.89 and with our Kroger discount we got our fill at $3.69 a gallon. For the fill of 53 gallons, about a half tank, that's $195.57.

Then we were off and the first stop was to say goodbye to our old friends in the New Braunfels and Canyon Lake area. One of our all time favorite places has been the Gristmill in Gruene and we met there for some good food and yak.

Here is a shot of the entrance to the Gristmill as well as of the Gruene dance hall famous for its patrons and performers like Willie Nelson and many other country stars. We were surprised that the place was hopping and packed on a weekday night.

Here are Ella (Pat and John's granddaughter), Pat and John Neely, Jo-Anne, Pat and Harvey Hueter, and the other ol boy in the crowd. It was a nice setting and the walls were all moved back so we could enjoy the outside air on a 70ish afternoon.

Great meal for all, good service, and having the good friends to enjoy it was wonderful!

On the 12th Leigh and Brooks met us at Mom and Dad's place after the kid's stay here. It was great to see little Ev with his great grandparents and I hope he will someday relish the contact he has had with these wonderful folks some 94 years his senior.

Dad is really doing great and has actually started to put some paint on a canvas again after many years. He is painting a picture of a waterfall that he photographed on a visit to Venezeula more than 30 years ago ... neat.!

The Flying Scotsman is on the loose and heading West!!

We have accomplished all of the land-bound chores and are now free to roam again and will be on the road tomorrow to points known and unknown. Here is our schedule for the next week or so and I promise many pictures to come.

Our next real time demand is a Rally in Phoenix on the 22nd so we intend to slowly work our way toward there over the next week or so.

Tomorrow night we will be in New Braunfels for the final farewell to old friends in our old stomping grounds.

Thursday is Fort Stockton which is a pretty good 330 mile run and we have done that piece of IH 10 many times over the last 35 years. In fact I have flown the same route and gotten fuel at many of the places along the same road in a helicopter ... not many places in west Texas for fuel or food for airplanes or motorhomes.

On Friday we hope to be looking for UFOs in Roswell and then land in Albuquerque for Saturday night.

Sunday is somewhere between Albuquerque and Monument Valley, UT. Monument Valley and the Four Corners is why we are going the direction we are as we had briefly been through the area at least 35 years ago and now want to redo that wonderful part of our country.

So by a week from now we should be in the vicinity of Phoenix and the Good Sam rally there.

Right now that is the plan and weather permitting we will try to stick to it ... stay posted.



Last Friday we wangled our last dinner at our favorite restaurant Christopher's into their piano bar and it was 3 hours of quiet piano and several courses of the finest food in a setting rivaling any in Europe. 

OK then ...

Leigh and Brooks had back to back weddings to shoot last weekend. They had one in Dallas on Saturday and then one in Houston on Sunday a very unusual combination. They did the one on Saturday as usual and used their normal sitter.

On Sunday as they had to come by the Bryan area on the way to Houston we agreed to sit the little guy for the 12 or so hours of the wedding. We got them a room at the local Homewood Suites but before that his parents dropped the little guy off at our place in the RV. Here's the little man ready to start the office duties.

And Everett asking, "Can I pet the cute kitty?" Well let's see Ev, Bandit is growling and his ears are flat and he is ready to hiss and strike ... so ... probably not a good idea.

And then after we got over to the hotel, we settled into a quiet time in front of the TV ... well not quite. Here is Grandpa ... well ... being Grandpa and Ev saying, "I'm not really with this man, he just found me in the fitness room."

And finally after all that excitement we settled into the normal routine of intensely responsible baby sitting until Mom and Dad got back from Houston.