Jump to content

tbutler

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    2713

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    44

Blog Entries posted by tbutler

  1. tbutler

    Nostalgia

    By tbutler,

    I’m watching golf today.  I recognize more of the players on the Senior Tour than in the Rocket Loans Championship.  On the news recently they featured the New York Mets celebrating 50 years since their 1969 World Series Championship with a parade.  The players who are still alive rode in vintage Ford Mustang convertibles.  Fifty years ago the Apollo 11 Crew were in their final days of preparation for the first Moon landing.  There are more anniversaries that are happening than I want to admit remembering. 

    Bear with me, those of you who are younger.  Your year will come.  This year is exceptionally significant for me.  I graduated in 1969 from the University of Missouri, Distinguished Military Graduate, on the way to Fort Sam Houston, TX.  Fifty years ago, I was in Fayettville, North Carolina, a newly minted Second Lieutenant in the US Army.  As the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the First Aid Range for the Basic Training Course at Fort Bragg, I was on my first assignment.  My first wife was pregnant, we were expecting our first child. 

    A month later, Apollo 11 would achieve the first Moon landing.  The astronauts would emerge from isolation (to protect us from any Moon germs), on the birthday of my daughter.  The recent TV review of the Moon landing was interesting to watch. 

    Later that year I would receive my orders for Viet Nam.  About that time my parents would adopt a young girl of American/Korean parentage as their fourth and final child.  She was an aunt to my daughter but only a few years older.  She helped raise my daughter and I think my daughter helped her learn English.  The two are inseparable today.

    Louise had just completed her first year of teaching and was a newlywed living with her first husband.  Richard Nixon was in the White-House, Spiro Agnew was Vice-President of the United States. 

     Looking back, fifty years seems to have passed so quickly. 

     
  2. tbutler
    Louise and I were invited to dinner Friday night. The campground owners here at Sandpipers Resort where we have stayed each winter for nine years now invited 14 of us to dinner. It was seven couples who have assisted them in improving the resort in one way or another. Most of them were involved in the construction of a new shower house for the resort this past summer. Louise and I contributed other skills. Louise is writes the publicity materials for the resort and occasionally has articles published in magazines or newsletters. I have been the camp photographer for a number of years providing publicity photos and doing photos for campground documentation and history.
    This was a gourmet dinner for 16 people. The chef for this magnificent meal was our neighbor in the park last year and we got to know him well then. Chef Robert is from Quebec. He and his wife, Lucy, have returned for their second year. Chef Robert worked for a major airlines at their Canadian headquarters, preparing food for the airline executives. He began preparing sauces and other parts of the meal on Wednesday. All day Thursday and Friday he was in the kitchen, chopping, peeling, cooking. When Friday evening came, the community room had been transformed into a fine restaurant. Chef Robert was busy making the final preparations for this nine-course gourmet meal. His assistants, Lucy, and another long-time campground resident, Marijanne, were servers bringing each course of the meal to us in turn.
    The meal started with a little wine and appetizers, an assortment of bitesize crackers, breads, cheese and various additions from peppers to seafood. Then there came Crouton with Camembert Mediterranean, which was listed as each item was on the menu in French with the English translation below. We had Les Antipastos "Sandpipers," Comcombre farci aux crabie et cury (Stuffed cucumber with crab meat curry), soup garnished with pears and carrots, asparagus au gratin. Then came the salade of Padre Pius. The main course was a choice of salmon with side dish, chicken with pink pepper or pork bourguignon. Finally there was desert, a bananas Foster, ice cream, cake combination.
    Just naming these preparations hardly does them justice. Each involved intricate preparations and were presented in a beautiful arrangement on their own plate. Sauces provided flavors that were spectacular. I summed it up at the end of the meal saying, "I have never had such a sophisticated meal." So this is how the other half lives! Wow! We were all satiated. The meal, three days in preparation, had been served over almost three hours and we had ample time for conversation in the meantime.
    I chuckled to myself as we left, thinking that most people would never expect to get such a marvelous meal at a campground. Even more amazing is that the talent for preparing such a meal was right here in the campground with us. But that was the point of the meal. Gary is a retired carpenter and contractor. He has his own wood shop here at the campground. He helped me with my TV remodeling last year. Tony and his wife, Sherry, are in charge of general maintenance, landscaping and mowing, etc. Jamie and Tonya have constructed a wonderful gate and entrance for our park. Jamie did much of the custom metal work, including custom made heavy duty stalls in the shower house. Tonya works on landscaping and grounds maintenance on a regular basis. Bill helped with the carpentry and his wife, Karen, has created a variety of campground logo merchandise. Garland was also a carpentry assistant. Together all the carpenters constructed and shingled the roof of the shower house, built storage shelves, etc. Roy has been the electrician for the project and for other work in the campground. All these amazing talents and more right here in this community of mostly retired people. What a wonderful community we have.
    The owners, Karen and Jay, have plans for more of these dinners for others in the park who have contributed their talents. It is a community where everyone pitches in to help with meals, entertainment, social events, recreation activities and so much more. There is the fudge lady, the blogger, the wine experts, the DJ, the bike ride leader, golf organizer, water volleyball leader, sound technician, plumber, computer expert, welder, truck driver, Spanish teacher, charity organizer, and blood drive organizer. Everyone brings talents and willingly shares them with the community.
  3. tbutler
    Noumea is the capital of New Caledonia. It is the largest city in these islands and has many multi story buildings in the business district and also condominiums and apartments in buildings up to ten stories high. Located on the island of New Caledonia is a large port with shipping facilities as well as docks for cruise ships. We were within walking distance of the city center. Within sight of our ship was the major portion of population and in the opposite direction a large nickel smelting operation. Nickel mining is the heart of the economy of New Caledonia.
    We had two days in port in Noumea. During our stay we took two guided tours on the island. The first was a tour of the botanical garden and bird sanctuary. We were driven by bus to the garden and then toured on foot with a guide. French is the first language of the people here but many including our guide also speak English. We were introduced to a number of trees common on the islands and also saw many of the birds which are common here as well. Other than the waterfowl, the birds were all caged. Louise and I took our binoculars which we found to be very helpful in observing the birds, even those in the cages. Tropical birds have such wonderful colors we enjoyed being able to see them as best we could. The binoculars help by gathering more light which makes the colors more vivid. Even birds in the shadows show nice color in the binoculars. Of course they also help us see more detail that would be missed without magnification.
    The first evening in port in Noumea we were entertained by a local group performing native songs and dances in the theater on board the ship. A troupe of five women and four men entertained us for about 40 minutes. They had two guitars and three ukuleles, all other instruments were made of materials used by the indigenous people. It was a high energy performance with men dancing for one number and then women dancing for the next.
    Our second tour was the following morning. We were taken by bus to a park on the Dumbea River just a few miles outside Noumea. There we were given instruction on kayaking before launching our kayaks for a trip upstream. With about 10 kayaks in the group, we were a small enough group to see and hear our guide throughout the trip. The Dumbea River is a source of drinking water for the city of Noumea and is known for its wildlife. At our put in point, the river is near enough to sea level to be partly salt water but as we move upstream it is all freshwater. After about an hour working our way upstream, we stopped. Those who wanted could swim, we and another couple chose to continue kayaking on upstream for a short distance. This allowed us to get away from the large group and move more quietly. We saw several flocks of birds and some ducks on this part of the trip. We were back at the ship by lunchtime. Having developed a good apatite during the morning, food was welcome. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the ship. At 6:00 p.m. we left port sailing for our next stop in the Fiji Islands.
  4. tbutler

    O Canada!

    By tbutler,

    It has been just two weeks since we crossed the border with Bill and Laura Fejfar into Canada at St. Stephen, New Brunswick. We've seen whales, incredible scenery, the great St. Lawrence Bay and River, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. We've enjoyed the long and narrow fields of rural Quebec and explored Quebec City. There were small towns with delightful homes and buildings. We wished there had been parking places for large motorhomes but had to settle for a drive-by.
    When we did stop we were an object of spectacle. We were photographed and videotaped. Even RV park personnel remarked on our 40-foot Class A diesel motorhomes. Don't hesitate to come to Canada with your large motorhome; just be ready for the reaction. You may not think of yourself as a millionaire, but clearly others do.
    At la Pommerie, our friends Raymond and Francine shared their world with us. We enjoyed playing tennis with Francine for the first time in almost two years. Their park was relaxing after days of touring. Louise and Laura enjoyed several afternoons of cards while Bill and I had time to tend some tasks around the motorhomes.
    We loved the natural beauty of Quebec and found the people to be welcoming and friendly. We were escorted by friends Diane and Pierre through Montreal and to the ski resort, Mont Tremblant. Pierre is a former policeman from Montreal, so I gave him the keys to our car and he showed us the town. Diane made us feel as welcome as anyone could be. We visited many other friends while in Canada and enjoyed seeing all of them.
    We buzzed through Toronto last night on TC 401, one of the best traffic patterns we have seen. Get on the express lanes and just ride on! No sharp turns, no sudden left exits, just a great traffic flow. Tonight we are camped on the shore of Lake Erie at Lakeside RV and Motel in Wheatley, Ontario. We'll explore the southern tip of Canada tomorrow and then bid good-bye to Canada for another year.
    We enjoy traveling in Canada but are always glad to be back in the USA. Our cell service for phone and Internet are once again unlimited and I can get local weather conditions from the Weather Bug! And oh, yes, there will be Wal-Mart Supercenters, eh!
  5. tbutler

    Off the Grid

    By tbutler,

    Our destination park for the visit with my brother was Levi Jackson State Park just south of London, Ky. The signage is excellent. The trees on the road into the park need trimming badly. We will leave the park via an alternate route. Kentucky Highway 229 is much more motorhome friendly than the entrance off US 25 that is given in the directions in the campground directory.
    We arrived without reservations. We could have made them several days in advance, but when the awning repair was finished we were inside the reservation period. There was one site left with full hookups. They invited us to take a look at it to determine it's suitability.
    The site has a level concrete pad 10' x 50' with a 20' x 40' gravel patio complete with a fire ring and a sturdy picnic table. In front and behind the concrete pad is asphalt, so the total length of the pad area is about 80'. There are plenty of trees around but none will interfere with our satellite TV. With 50-amp service for $25 a night, this can't be beat. In the typical private RV park, we would have another RV between our neighbors and us, but here the sites are 60 feet wide so there is no feeling of crowding. The park is loaded with families in trailers.
    There is a nice swimming pool and many other recreation facilities in the park, so it is a great place to bring the family. We have one of about 12 pull-through sites. My brother lives about 3 miles from our campsite. Very convenient! The one downside is that there is absolutely no Internet service here. No Wi-Fi, our cell modems don't pick up any digital signal service. Most of the people here don't care, but we sure would be happier with service.
    We can get e-mail and a few other things done on the Internet while visiting my brother. He moved from Minneapolis last year about four months before FMCA was there. A year and a half after losing his job in a merger, he landed an excellent job in retail grocery. His success with the new company translated into a new position he accepted about three weeks ago. He is now the Chief Operating Officer of the parent company of the subsidiary that brought him here to London, Ky. We had a good visit and learned much about his new position. Our father, a lifelong grocer, would have popped his buttons!
    On Thursday we had an 8:15 tee time at a nearby golf course. The course wasn't the fanciest, but we got some practice for the golf tournament at the Monaco International Pre-Rally in Springfield, Ohio, next week. This was important, as neither of us had played golf in three months. It certainly showed. I won't disclose scores except to say that I managed to get one par late in the round, and that was an amazing improvement from the first few holes!
    After golf we drove into Corbin, Kentucky, just a few miles south of the golf course to eat lunch at the Colonel Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum. The museum is combined with a KFC restaurant in a re-creation of the first restaurant Sanders had in Corbin. It was here he developed his reputation for his fried chicken. The simple displays at the museum chronicle his starting days. Not a major museum, just samples of the good old days where Kentucky Fried Chicken really was fried in Kentucky.
    We left Saturday morning to drive to the vicinity of Springfield and the Monaco International Pre-Rally. Parking starts Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and the electric hookups are first come, first served.
  6. tbutler

    On the Road Again

    By tbutler,

    Our summer travels began in April with a trip to Rusk, Texas for a Lone Star Chapter Rally that included a train ride on the Texas State Railroad.  The trip from Rusk to Palestine takes about an hour at 20 miles per hour.  They turn the steam engine around on a triangle track then return to Rusk.  It's a good time getting together with friends and making new friends.  As chapter participants, Louise and I are fickle.  Like our trips to FMCA National Conventions, we'll get there if it is on our way for our summer travels.  We have never been weekend RV'ers.  When we go, we're on the road for months and our journeys are usually guided by family commitments or vast travel plans like our 2006 trip to Alaska.  So this summer we're out West while FMCA rallies in Massachusetts.  Last year we were in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine on our way to Newfoundland and Labrador.  Maybe next year we'll synchronize our travels with FMCA.
    Leaving Rusk, we were headed for eastern Missouri to visit family.  Louise suggested that we make a stop in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  She was thinking horse races but the horses weren't running, the season hadn't started.  So we did the hot baths.  The real old fashioned ones at the Buckstaff Bath House, a hot soak in spring water so hot they have to add cold water, loofa sponge scrub, a Sitz bath, 360o needle shower, massage and hot wax for the hands.  Follow that with breakfast at The Pancake House and you have a great day ahead of you!  We strolled the shops and stores collecting fun stuff along the way, custom soaps for the ladies in the family, wine souvenirs for our wine lovers.  We drove the scenic drives and enjoyed an overview of the area from the tower atop Hot Springs Mountain. 
    Arriving in Missouri we took care of doctors appointments then turned our attention to our children and grandchildren.  Our oldest grandson turned16 last month.  His sister just turned 13.  Mom and dad have their hands full and grandpa and grandma are just grinning!  We have another grandson who will be 16 in November.  He and his dad just took a trip to northern Illinois to get a 1979 Trans Am for his car.  He has a sister who will be 12 and a young brother who is on his way to being 3.  He also has a girlfriend.  Grandpa and grandma are laughing!  Actually, we are quite impressed with the parenting that our children are doing.  They are active parents, involved in their children's lives and doing their best to encourage their children and keeping them involved in school and community.  While we were there we monitored my youngest sister who has gone through a radical masectomy and chemotherapy.  We just received a message from her husband, the reconstructive surgery is complete and she is healing.  We are hoping that this will now be behind her so she get on with her life.
    From Missouri we headed west for a short visit with our friends in Yankton, South Dakota.  Bill and Laura sold their motor home last year but we still like them.   Louise was nursing a sore toe so she wasn't exactly running about.  I played golf several times with Bill and a neighbor and even lent a hand with "The First Tee" instruction one day.  We visited the National Music Museum in Vermillion one day and I highly recommend this as a destination for those interested in music.  One of the unique features of this museum is the iPod guided tour that describes a small percentage of the instruments on display.  That narration is also accompanied by, what else, music.  In fact they have the various instruments that are highlighted playing in the background.  You can see the instrument and also hear it.  What a spectacular experience.  We followed that with lunch and then a visit to Valiant Vineyards in Vermillion.  We also enjoyed an evening concert in the park next to the Missouri River in Yankton.  Evenings were spent in competition as we faced off, playing a variety of games.  The highlight of the visit had to be Czech Days in Tabor, SD.  We had lunch, toured some of the town, enjoyed a celebratory Mass and choir performance, Bill and Laura sang in the choir.  Then there was the beer garden with imported Czech beer.  The evening featured Czech dancers performing traditional dances.
    In late June we headed for Deadwood, SD.  We have been through the Black Hills on many occasions but never been to Deadwood so it was our objective on this visit.  Our campground was humble, narrow sites on gravel.  The town was filled with visitors on the weekend and so did the campground.  From the campground we were able to walk through town and when the day wore on we could take a shuttle back to the park.  With casinos, bars and gunfights in the streets, it doesn't sound like a family kind of place, but it is and there were many families.  The museum in town is a first class museum highlighting the history of Deadwood.  They have an extensive collection of wagons, buggies, stagecoaches, horse drawn hearses and more in the basement of the museum.  We enjoyed all of Deadwood including Saloon Number 10 featuring the murder of Wild Bill Hitchcock and the trial of the killer.  In every case, the professional actors involved children in the skit and took time to detail the actual history as the dramatization took place.  Sunday we did the cemetery tour and then hiked to the Friendship Tower on Mount Roosevelt which overlooks the northern end of the Black Hills.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit.
    To the south of the Black Hills in Nebraska is Scottsbluff.  We had passed through the area several years ago and it looked worth a stop so we made a three day stop there.  This is a prime area for learning about the Oregon Trail and the Great Plains in the mid 1800's.  We drove to the top of Scott's Bluff National Monument and hiked trails to various overlooks on the prairie, played golf at Monument Shadows golf course just below the bluff, and toured the Museum of the Prairie.  The various stories and exhibits transported us to a time of incredible hardship as the pioneers struggled to make their way west through what was at the time a very hostile area.  One hundred and seventy years later, it is hard to imagine that times could be so hard and now the plains so much different now.  In 2004 we followed Lewis and Clark across the country and I had the same impression, from wilderness with life and death struggles to modern times, the world has been radically changed in just the last few hundred years.  That statement comes from the perspective of someone who has lived a significant portion of one hundred years. 
    Next we continue to push west...
     
     
  7. tbutler

    On the Road Again!

    By tbutler,

    Our winter this year was spent in our new mobile home in Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas. The motor home has been seriously neglected during this winter. We don't have to winterize in the normal sense. Tanks are drained and the refrigerator emptied and unplugged. We left the heat on and air conditioning when needed. Tires were inflated to maximum inflation pressure and we were parked on wooden blocks. I did wash the motor home several times through the winter and we were in and out moving items to and from the motor home. Still, we were occupied with the new house more than the motor home this winter. This is quite a change after almost ten years living full time in the motor home.
    Our goal was to leave south Texas on Sunday, May 1. Everything was going according to schedule until Louise came down with a serious cold just days before we were to leave. Fortunately, she had a good head start getting things into the motor home before the cold hit her. The final day was mine with all the mechanical things to tend to, check fluids, fill fresh water tank, move the coach off the blocks and adjust tire pressures. I finished loading the last of my personal items and closed up the house about 5:00 p.m. - yes, 5:00 p.m. We had delays, the starting batteries now 7 1/2 years old decided today was the day to quit. I started the coach using the battery boost from the house batteries. Then the Trailblazer wouldn't shift into neutral for towing. It has a chronic loose connection that no GM dealer has been able to fix. After a number of tries we finally get a shift and we're on our way - out the gate at 6:30 p.m.
    Our first stop was just 200 miles down the road. We were scheduled for maintenance at Iron Horse RV in San Antonio. Top of the list was to replace the starting batteries. Then there was a drip from the hot water heater that turned out to be a loose connection. That took several tries and replacing a broken fitting to finally solve that problem. The water pump was failing so it was replaced. The big job was replacing the refrigerator. The Norcold 1200 had finally become unusable during our last trip of the fall so when we unplugged it for the winter I knew it was the last time it would run. Our food was packed in ice chests for this trip, it would be transferred to our new refrigerator once it was installed.
    We chose to have a residential refrigerator installed in place of the Norcold. Iron Horse identified a model which would come close to fitting the space occupied by the Norcold. It was about 4 inches taller and three inches deeper but was the same width. Removing the old and installing the new took about two days with some interruptions for our tech to do other jobs on our coach and occasional assists working with other coaches. We left Iron Horse RV about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday with good batteries, a working water pump, no drip from the water heater and a cold refrigerator.
    We spent the night at Riverside RV Park in Waco and then drove to MCD Innovations in McKinney, Texas the next day. The first of our pleated shades had broken just before we parked in the fall and we were unable to get repair because the shade couldn't be disassembled. Knowing that all the rest of the shades are 7 1/2 years old, we decided to replace the whole lot. Being on a schedule we elected to have MCD Innovations measure the windows for us and then ship us the shades for self installation later. With the roll up day/night shades and all our other fix ups we'll have a much improved coach. They got us measured Thursday afternoon and we were ready for an early morning departure on Friday.
    Our next destination was Denver, Colorado for a family wedding. It is an easy two day drive of about 400 miles each day. We had never driven the route from McKinney to Amarillo before and I really enjoy seeing new country and a new road. From Amarillo to Denver is a route we've traveled many times. We stayed overnight at the Wal-Mart in Dumas, our first night boondocking with the new refrigerator and it did just fine running on the inverter for the night.
    We arrived at Golden Terraces RV Park about 3:00 in the afternoon on Saturday, right on our planned schedule. Now we have a week of preparation for the wedding. Family visits, planning, scheduling, and on Saturday our youngest niece will be married. For now, we're sitting out a fine spring rain in Denver. The temperature is a cool 43 degrees. Wednesday morning I brushed snow off the Trailblazer. It is good to be back on the road again.
  8. tbutler

    On to Las Vegas!

    By tbutler,

    Picking up the story where I left off with the previous entry, we are on a trip from Western Oregon to our winter home in the southern tip of Texas. As I write this we have been at home for three weeks. Returning home means a flurry of activities which have now started to normalize. I'm back to writing...
    Leaving the Susanville area we continued south toward Reno, Nevada. Once across the California line the 55 MPH speed limit for vehicles which are towing is behind us. The speed limit rises to the regular speed limit for other vehicles. It doesn't sound like much but getting the speedometer up to 62 or 63 is significant when you are driving all day and on a trip of 2400 miles. At least it sounds and looks as if you are going faster. Counting utility poles goes just a bit faster! We take US 85 south through Nevada. We're through Reno in the early morning and a short jaunt east on I-80 to Fernley to US 95 South. A check with the Gas Buddy app takes us to a service station with diesel at 3.699 which looks really good after purchasing fuel in California and Oregon. Even Seven Feathers Casino in Oregon had diesel at $3.919. It is the 18th of October at this point and the fuel prices are dropping fast everywhere but on the west coast.
    The traffic is really light south of Fernley and there are long stretches of flat straight road that allows faster traffic to easily pass. We cruise on with the occasional slow section through a town. Towns are few and far between on this section of highway so it is generally easy traveling, just keep it between the lines. Cruise control is my standard mode of travel in situations like this. Death Valley lies just to our west and we see highways that lead into the National Park. Our first RV trip west in 2002 we spent three weeks exploring Death Valley and we still have fond memories of that trip and the time in Death Valley. We are talking about our rate of travel and possible stopping points as we travel along. As sunset is approaching we are near Las Vegas. I'm thinking that Las Vegas would be a good stop, we just need to find a good place to stop. Louise starts checking with campgrounds for rates and availability of campsites. We spent last night in a rest area and the truck noise has me wishing for a nice quiet RV park for Saturday night.
    In our quest for our first choice of campgrounds we took a wrong turn and ended up taking a tour of part of southern Las Vegas. While turning around we were on several side streets and passed the pawn shop that is featured on Pawn Stars. We also briefly followed a truck painted with advertising for the Machine Gun Experience. We passed another campground that advertised overnight RV sites and ended up spending the night there. We had water and electric and a good nights sleep. In the early morning we paid for our stay, checked out and continued on our way. Before we left Las Vegas we fueled up at a nearby station which had diesel at $3.659 per gallon. Because we are anticipating less expensive fuel around Phoenix we take on just enough fuel to get us to Phoenix with fuel to run the generator. Highway 95 continues south into California. US 93 takes us on across the Colorado River at Hoover Dam. The new bridge that bypasses the dam is a spectacular engineering project. We've crossed the dam many times while the bridge across the canyon was being constructed. Our last few trips have been over the bridge which is an equally spectacular trip. Large vehicles are instructed to drive the center lanes, presumably to avoid strong winds which frequent the canyon.
    From the Hoover Dam we continue on US 93 to Kingman, Arizona. Here we join I-40 for a little more than 20 miles before US 93 turns south directly toward Phoenix. The desert scenery is spectacular along the way. Part of the route is designated Joshua Tree Forest Parkway of Arizona. Saguaro cactus are common sights along the southern part of this route. Once in Phoenix we used Gas Buddy to find a station with the lowest cost diesel in the area. It was a small station but the pumps were accessible so we pulled in and filled the tank, 95 gallons at $3.259, the least expensive fuel of the entire trip. To get to the station we were on city streets for about 2 miles south of I-10 and then the return to I-10 was about 5 miles to the east. The distance was almost exactly the same, we simply went south then east while the interstate went east and then turned south toward Tucson. Approaching Tucson we saw dust clouds as a storm whipped the area. We pulled off the highway briefly to let the fury of the storm pass then continued on in Tucson. We pulled into Wal-Mart on the north side of Tucson and spent Sunday night there after receiving permission for our stay.
    Up to this point we have been fortunate to have very comfortable temperatures for traveling and with clouds we've had one of our better trips. When it gets really hot we turn on the roof air conditioners to keep the interior comfortable. On this trip we're using the vent air and occasionally the dash air conditioner. Overnight temperatures have been comfortable with only a little light duty from the heater. Even in Las Vegas and Tucson we found the overnight temperatures comfortable.
  9. tbutler

    On to Mount Isa

    By tbutler,

    After experiencing a rash of road repair work on our drive the day before we were pleasantly surprised to encounter no road work on our second day of driving. In fact, with just a few exceptions, this was some of the best road we have traveled. This highway is known as the Flinders Highway and is the only all-weather east-west road through northern Queensland. There were only a few towns in the 652 kilometer drive. One of them is featured in the picture with this posting. The windmill was working, drawing water for the public restrooms in the picture. The road was nearly flat all the way and had few curves. I could set the cruise control and concentrate on staying between the lines. An added plus is that the drivers out here wave at you. Even the native Australians wave at a rental campervan! We would encounter a vehicle every five or ten minutes and were passed by a vehicle only a few times an hour. It was a long trip on a lonely road.
    The truck trains which are posted as being up to 53.5 meters (about 160 feet) long are not driving much faster than we are. We met one or two of them several times an hour but we never had to pass one and were never passed by one so I assume our speed nearly matched their speed. We were driving about 97 KPH which was well under the posted speed limit of 130 KPH (about 85 MPH). The campervan will cruise at 110 KPH without difficulty but it severely reduces our mileage on a liter of fuel. It also makes the ride a little rougher, this vehicle rocks and rolls enough already. Fuel mileage is an important concern because the communities are widely scattered and the distance between fuel stops isn’t posted on any signs. In the US you see signs posted indicating how far to the next fuel stop on stretches of road that have widely separated stations. Here you are on your own. The map we have indicates all the small communities but not all of them have fuel so we have to plan on only the larger communities having fuel. I keep the tank topped off so we have a minimum of ½ tank if possible. We made two stops on this trip, both after about 250 kilometers of travel. Fuel prices are running close to $2.00 per liter at this point.
    Just before reaching Mount Isa the road goes through some hills. The road curves and climbs and descends and our travel is slowed for the last 30 kilometers as we come into town. Mount Isa (pronounced Iza) is a mining town and has the look of a mining town. There are active mines here and smelters with tall stacks spewing smoke. We could see the smoke for some distance before we reached the town itself. The smoke was white in the late afternoon sun and may have been simply water vapor or mostly water vapor.
    We stayed at the Discovery Argylla Big 4 Park which was right on the Flinders Highway as we came into town.
    We parked, hooked up electric and settled in for the evening. Temperatures during the day had been in the upper 30’s, near 100 degrees F. We are running the air conditioning at night now, at least long enough to cool the campervan so we can open the windows and ventilate during the night. By morning it is nice and cool inside and we are glad to see the morning sun.
  10. tbutler
    At first glance this might not be what you think of when you think of going RVing but this adventure was made possible by our RV lifestyle. Staying as long as we are in Denver would have been prohibitive if we weren't living in our motor home. Having all my resources at hand made this work for me.
    Everything has fallen into place and I have just completed my training to fly gliders. I started this quest on Thursday April 23rd and was able to satisfy the FAA authorized examiner on the oral and flight performance exams on Sunday, May 4. These were 12 intense days of work to get to this point. Having never been in a glider before, everything about gliders was foreign territory. Having a private pilot license already made the process much easier and quicker. I didn't have to take the introductory ground school or knowledge test. I did have to take the glider ground school and this was accomplished with the help of John. I had to learn how to fly the glider with an emphasis on what is different about glider and power airplanes. Sean guided me through this process. For the first few days, as with any aerial instruction, we only flew with good weather, light winds and high ceilings. As my skills progressed the weather became less of a factor with the exception of low ceilings. On those days we did ground work, learning to understand performance factors in gliders and exploring techniques of soaring and cross country gliding.
    I made landings right from the beginning and did the take off on my third flight and each flight after that. Each flight was short, the longest being about 20 minutes so the learning was concentrated. I had to make thirty flights, ten of them had to be solo flights. I purchased the 30 flight package to take me through the whole program. It turned out I needed about 3 more flights and finished them off on Friday, May 1. I was signed off to take my oral exam and flight check ride.
    I was set to use Saturday to study for the oral exam and to plan the cross country flight my flight examiner, Quay, had set as one of my practical assignments. I wouldn't actually fly the cross country, just demonstrate my skills at planning one and be able to discuss and explain the reasons for planning the way I did. My plans hit a bump when Louise's mother went back into the hospital. She had been recovering nicely up to this point but was complaining about abdominal pain. Louise and I went to the hospital, Irene was in the emergency room with Louise's sister and her husband as well as Louise's oldest daughter. I brought my study materials along and worked while in the waiting room. Mom was dismissed from the hospital about 8:00 p.m. I went home as soon as I knew she was OK. It turned out to be nothing serious.
    Sunday I was up early to get weather reports before meeting Quay at his office in Aurora, Colorado. He grilled me, in a friendly way, for three hours. Then we were off to the airport in Boulder to do the check ride. I could have flown better but it was good enough to get my license. So now I am a licensed glider pilot. The weather held off long enough for me to fly but it rained on me all the way back to Wheat Ridge. So I beat the weather after all. One more achievement that I always wanted to reach has been accomplished.
    Meanwhile, our plans for the trip to Florida have been canceled. We'll stay here another week and then head for Missouri to see my mother, children and grandchildren. Maybe we'll get to see a shuttle launch next year!
  11. tbutler

    One of Those Days

    By tbutler,

    It all started as we prepared to depart from a one-night stay at a campground on Matagorda Bay in Texas. We couldn't resist a morning walk along the seawall in Palacios. When we returned I completed most of the outside work while Louise cooked breakfast. French toast was delicious and welcome on this cool coastal morning.
    We were just beginning to clean up the kitchen when Louise reached for the refrigerator door to put something away. She pulled the right-hand door on the two-door Norcold 1200LRIM just as she had hundreds of times before. This time the door came off the refrigerator and dropped to the floor! The bottom of a bottle of wine broke from the bottle. A plastic container of tea dropped to the floor and the lid popped off. A variety of other jars and bottles rattled on the floor with the trays that contained them. Louise stood there in shock - holding the door and just looking at this completely unexpected mess on the floor.
    I finally took the door from Louise's hands and placed it on the floor out of the way. We used half a roll of paper towels to clean up the liquids and rinsed the other containers before putting them back in the half-open refrigerator. As Louise continued with the cleanup I began to analyze the door and the hinge on the refrigerator.
    How had this unimaginable mess occurred? My post-crash analysis showed a piece of plastic about 2 inches long by 3/8 inch that was held in place by two screws with a metal plate of similar dimensions backing the plastic. Further analysis showed a screw hole in the bottom of the door - but no screw. We had lost a key screw in the door and the door had been hanging by the plastic for who-knows-how-long. When the plastic failed, there was nothing to hold the door on the lower hinge. The upper hinge is simply a pin on the refrigerator that inserts into a hole in the door. Since the pin is inserted from above, the entire weight of the door rests on the lower hinge. When the lower hinge fails, the door falls and "down will come cradle, baby and all!" So if you have this model of refrigerator, get down on the floor and look up under the hinge to see that the screw that anchors the door to the hinge is still in place. Without it, the door will eventually fail.
    I found that I could put the door on the upper hinge and, with the lower hinge in the open position, the hinge supported the door while the vertical section pinned the door against the refrigerator. The door doesn't open normally, but we can reach around to get anything stored on the right side of the refrigerator. A healthy application of Gorilla Tape made sure that the door didn't move off the lower hinge. There was one small glitch: The door kept dropping out of its latch, which sets off a beeping alarm. Louise can't stand to listen to the beep, so I got a few washers to insert under the door to lift it about 3/16 inch and that did the trick. No more beeping.
    We traveled non-stop for about six hours before arriving at Rayne, Louisiana, just before sunset. This is a place of special memories for us. We purchased our current motor home at a rally at Rayne. There is a convention center with hundreds of RV hookups. We were told to stop by any time the facilities weren't in use and stay overnight or for a few days.
    Sure enough, the convention center was completely empty. We pulled in, followed shortly by another motor home. We talked briefly with them. We were looking for 50A, they were happy with 30A. We went on to look for our spot.
    We arrived at a point where a turn was going to be difficult, so I elected to drive through the dump station. We were almost back to the main road when, WHOA! I hit the brakes. There, resting on the windshield right at eye level was an electrical wire, a single cord of insulated wire supported by and wound around a bare metal wire. It was twilight and I felt lucky to have even spotted it in time to stop. It would likely have cracked the windshield or even worse if it slipped off the windshield onto the front cap of the motor home.
    I put Louise into the drivers seat and went outside to assess the situation. We could unhook the car, 20 minutes, and then hook up the car in the morning, another 30 minutes. Or I could find something to raise the wire above the motor home. One option was to get on the roof and walk the wire down the roof as we passed under. Then I thought of the wash brush. With its extended handle and a rubber covered handle, I thought it would work.
    We started off and I had to shout instructions through the window to tell Louise if there was a problem. After a short trial, I moved to the other side of the coach and used a radio to communicate with Louise. We eased our way along without a hitch, over the satellite dome, the front air conditioner, fan vents and sewer vent. Finally the back air conditioner and the ladder and we were free!
    We found a place to hook up and plugged in. In about 30 minutes a city employee showed up to collect our camping fee. Water, electric and a dump station for $20 a night. I told the employee about the low-hanging wire. We had encountered more than our usual challenges in a single day on the road. The refrigerator was working, maybe better than before. The encounter with the wire hadn't damaged the motor home - or me.
    We slept well that night. The next morning, the electrical company was out with a truck and secured the line. We were on down I-10 headed for Montgomery, Alabama, and our next adventure.
  12. tbutler

    Our 2020 Travels

    By tbutler,

    Despite COVID we hit the road June 11, 2020.  We felt that we would be able to travel safely in our motor home.  In fact, that proved to work well.  We left Edinburg, TX headed north for Missouri.  The first thing we noticed is that there was very little traffic of any kind.  We drove through San Antonio on I-435 and I-35 at the posted speed limit during "rush hour."  This continued as we drove through Austin and Waco.  We stopped for the night at a Walmart in Georgetown, Texas.  A brief visit to the store confirmed we were allowed to stay.  There were no other RV's on the lot that night.  In fact, we saw only a few trailers the previous day, not a single motor home traveling with us or on the southbound highway.  This continued to be the case until we got to the Oklahoma Turnpike and I-55 in Missouri.  Travel through Dallas was at or near the speed limit with the exception of one small delay for an accident. 
    We stayed at an RV park in Oklahoma.  Check-in was at a motel office.  The office personnel were not masked, there were no barriers (plexiglass) so we stayed as distant as possible, wearing our masks.  Fueling was pay at the pump so that required no contact.  We made a brief stop at Walmart when the DEF indicator showed us getting low on DEF.  The afternoon of the third day we pulled into our daughters home in Foristell, MO.  We had them install a complete RV site, concrete with full hookups when they built their home.  It is a rural area and there was plenty of space.  We paid for the improvements as we have several family members in the area and normally spend a month or more there. 
    With family now, we quarantined for a week, talking only at a distance and with masks on.  Early on in the COVID outbreak I started using a infrared thermometer to monitor our temperatures and I also purchased an oximeter to monitor our oxygen levels.  I did the same for our families we were visiting.  Temperature monitoring was easily understood.  The oximeter took some explanation.  My doctor recommended it as a way to determine when to seek medical help if you were feeling ill.  COVID attacks the lungs and when oxygen levels in the blood drop below 95%, the danger of damage to the brain increases.  That would be time for help.  I continue to monitor those conditions today. 
    We left Missouri in mid-August, headed for Colorado to visit our family there.  We were going to provide support for our daughter who had foot surgery scheduled in early September.  We have been staying at a humble but affordable RV Park in Aurora, Denver Meadows.  Office and maintenance staff at this park were always masked.  Once surgery was completed and our daughter was able to fend for herself again, we left Denver.  That was September 6.  During the entire time in Denver we were never able to see the Rocky Mountains.  Fires in the area had us in a smoky haze the entire time.  At times it got somewhat better but then the wind would shift and we were back in heavier haze and smoke.  We even had a small fire break out just across the creek from the RV park.  That was extinguished without danger to us but there was a fire department vehicle parked on our side of the creek the whole time. 
    The next leg of our trip was to Oregon where we had service scheduled on our coach.  We traveled through Utah, staying a couple of days at Golden Spike RV Park in Brigham City, UT.  Again we found staff masked and following COVID protocols.  We had passed the area of the Golden Spike National Historical Park near Promontory Point, UT, numerous times.  Each time we remarked we'd like to see that monument.  We spent an afternoon at the site.  The visitors center was closed except for the gift shop.  The outdoor exhibits were well worth the stop.  They had one of the two replica steam engines out for display.  The engine (one of two replicas) is an exact replica of the original engine used by the Central Pacific Railroad during the building of the western part of the Trans Continental Railroad.  The other engine is a replica of the engine used by the Union Pacific Railroad which built the eastern part of the railroad.  While the engines are exact replicas, they were way to beautiful to look like the working engines that were actually used.  The engine was under steam and we had a nice visit with one of the staff when they came out to release steam from the engine.  We could have stayed to see them move the engine back into storage, something that is done each evening. 
    As our journey continued into Idaho, we could see evidence of the fires on the west coast.  We were once again in a cloud of smoke.  We enjoy the trip across Oregon on US 20 and this was our plan on this trip.  Our daughter who lives in California and has relatives in Oregon advised us to check on the fires as they were near our destination.  We found that roads we normally travel were closed due to the fire.  We made an overnight stop at a rest area near Brothers, OR.  The next morning a quick check of road conditions indicated one route that would not take us too far out of our way to Coburg, OR.  That route took us up and over mountainous terrain.  One stretch had over 30 switchbacks, none too severe and traffic was light so our slow speed didn't back up a huge line of traffic.  We reached I-5 about 30 miles north of Coburg.  As we continued, the smoke became heavier and visibility dropped.  When we parked at Cummins that afternoon, I got out to hook up the power and found that there was more than smoke.  There was ash falling in fine flakes.  I was leaving footprints in the ash.  We stayed indoors until time to check in the next morning.  A day later we were at the REV Group service center.  There we could monitor air quality by how far we could see across a neighboring parking lot.  There were four large light poles that served as markers of the air quality.  For several days we could only see one of the four light poles, about 200 feet away.  Things began to improve and a week later we could see all four light poles.  Then the rain came and the air cleared.  Several more rain showers had most of the fires under control. 
    At both service centers there were waiting rooms and we used them.  Distancing and masks were required.  There were a few people who couldn't talk without removing their mask temporarily.  One couple who refused to wear a mask were isolated in a separate room at the REV Group facility.  Later we learned that COVID is rarely transmitted through contact with surfaces.  It is almost always transmitted through the air.  Still, we were conscious of touching surfaces and kept hand sanitizer with us in the waiting rooms.
    We had a week off from the service center while they were waiting for parts so we drove south to Sutherlin, OR.  We stayed at the Umpqua Golf Club and RV.  Again, everyone was following COVID protocols, masks and distancing.  We played golf almost every day while there.  We also got in a family visit and had lunch at a restaurant in Roseburg one afternoon.  We found early on when restaurants were open that if we ate at off hours, we could be almost alone in the restaurant.  In this case we also had an outdoor table. 
    Once repairs were completed, we headed south for our Texas home.  Traffic remained light to moderate and we made good time.  We left Coburg on the 16th of October and were in Edinburg on the 22nd. 
    We and our families remain COVID free and both Louise and I have completed the vaccine regimine.  We made our first trip of 2021 to Tallahassee, FL for a Monaco International Pre-Rally before attending the FMCA Convention in Perry, GA.  Our summer travels will begin in late May and we plan to be out over much of the same territory during the summer of 2021.
     
  13. tbutler
    The giant sequoias and redwoods of California are trees without parallel. To walk in a forest of such magnificent size is a privilege that few people in the world have. There is no way to read about the sequoias and redwoods and truly appreciate them. Our base camp was at Visalia, CA. We hiked numerous trails in Sequoia National Park. To see trees partially burned out and still standing tall and strong was amazing. Realizing that the branches of these trees are the size of the trunks of what we would consider huge trees is also amazing. It is no wonder that loggers looked at these trees and immediately thought about the tremendous amount of wood they would provide. Unfortunately or fortunately perhaps, there is no way to fell one of these trees and get useful lumber from them. Walking up to a log in the forest provides another way to drink in the majesty of these giants.
    After admiring the General Sherman and Grant Trees, we hiked the Congress trail at a leisurely pace, learning more about the sequoias as we walked around and through them. The Congress Group is an impressive assemblage of giant sequoias. These trees reinforce each other through interlocking and sometimes shared roots. The Big Trees Loop Trail is a shorter trail among some very large trees. Finally one of the most spectacular view points in the park is at Moro Rock. There are rails all along the way for safety. The steep climb up stairs and ramps is not for the feint of heart. It leads to a windy spot atop a narrow bare rock. From there the view is shear rock faces and deep valleys. You get a real top-of-the-world feeling from that point. There are bears in Sequoia National Park, we saw one that retreated across the road ahead of us. We saw a few deer but wildlife is not the high point here. The trees are the stars here.
    In the Redwoods, we never made it to Redwood National Park but found plenty of redwoods at Humbolt Redwoods State Park and along the Old Redwood Highway. Our campground at Redcrest on the Old Redwood Highway was an excellent point from which to explore the entire Redwood area. We were in fact camped under a redwood tree in a grove of redwoods. We were a short drive from Humbolt Redwoods State Park. The redwoods are the tallest trees, towering over even the sequoias. I rode my bicycle along the old redwood highway in the early mornings feeling both insignificant and the luckiest person on Earth at the same time. We enjoyed a number of trails among the redwoods and learned much about their history and life cycle. We also drove our car through a redwood tree and explored a tree house in a redwood stump. Redwood trees can and are used for lumber so it is only through the efforts of conservationists and preservationists that the old large trees remain.
    There are small plots of land with redwoods throughout the area. We walked one small plot from one end to the other. Along the way there were interpretative signs. The trail was small and there were no other hikers. The feeling of being alone in a large forest all alone made one feel like a "hobbit," a tiny being in a much larger world. We saw fallen trees with new trees growing from the dead trunks lying horizontal on the ground. We stood beside root balls that were three times our height and walked along the tops of logs well above the forest floor. The scenes were magical in their beauty and we often walked in silence simply admiring the majesty of it all. The sequoias and redwoods are some of the most amazing living wonders of the natural world.
  14. tbutler
    In our first year of full-time living in our motor home we enjoyed a number of deserts in California. Since then we have visited deserts in other areas and always enjoyed the experience. Having taught school all my life, I had never had the privilege of traveling extensively in the cooler months of the year. This, it occurred to me, was the reason I had never spent time in any desert.
    Our first real desert experience was Joshua Tree National Park near Palm Springs. We stayed in Indio, CA, for a week in early March while exploring the southern part of Joshua Tree. We hiked to several oasis and gold mine sites enjoying exploring the unique terrain and identifying various kinds of cactus. Following that week we had a meeting in San Diego and spent a week there. When we left San Diego we decided we had to see the rest of Joshua Tree so we headed north to Twentynine Palms.
    Twentynine Palms is the "home town" of the U.S. Marine Corps Desert Warfare School and a more appropriate place couldn't be found. The Marine Corps Base is just north of Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park. We stayed at Twentynine Palms RV Resort, which offered a free round of golf per person per day at the adjacent golf course. They even had tennis courts, though they weren't well cared for, they were playable. We took advantage of all those resources as well as the national park. We stayed for two weeks before departing there for our next desert.
    While at Twentynine Palms we explored one of the most spectacular oasis I have ever seen. Just west of town is Fortynine Palms Canyon. The hike from the parking lot takes you up and over a ridge and then down into the canyon. Along the way there is a spectacular array of cactus. As you approach the canyon, you see the palm trees around the oasis. They stand as a glaring patch of green against a backdrop of desert brown. There at their base flows a spring that supports a whole living community. In the dead fronds hanging from the palms a world of birds live. There is a constant coming and going and a cacophony of chirping comes from within the dead foliage that most homeowners trim from their palm trees. We rock hopped around the pools of water and enjoyed the view before returning to the car, the setting sun lighting our way.
    Our most extensive hiking experience in Joshua Tree was the seven-mile loop at Lost Horse Mine. We followed the trail from one gold mine to another. There is a large stamping mill at Lost Horse Mine while the rest of the mine sites along the way were mostly holes (deep foreboding holes) in the ground. A few had remnants of the equipment used for mining and at one site we enjoyed the sight of the old rusted box springs of a bed in the corner of the remains of an old mining shack. Most of the miners lived in tents so this was likely the mine owner or superintendent's home. The last mile of the hike was the toughest, slogging our way through the sandy bottom of a dry creek back to the parking lot.
    We also enjoyed climbing over large granite boulders at Jumbo Rocks Campground. This same granite formation provides some excellent rock climbing experiences in the northwestern part of the park. We saw hundreds of climbers out scaling the sheer faces of rock. There are numerous schools that will take you out here so you can learn the skill of rock climbing. We passed on that!
    The Cholla (Teddy Bear) Cactus Garden has a spectacular assemblage of Teddy Bear Cactus. These when viewed at sunset are as beautiful as they are painful! The sun shining through the thousands of slender spines catch sunlight forming a halo around the cactus. From Salton View you can look out on the Salton Sea and the area around Palm Springs, California. You are also looking out at the southern end of the San Andreas Fault. This was one of our last stops before leaving Joshua Tree National Park.
  15. tbutler
    Immediately after leaving Joshua Tree National Park we turned north to Death Valley. Our base of operations was just inside the Nevada state line at the Longstreet Casino in the Amargosa Valley. We arrived and parked at our very nice campsite, which was flooded in just an hour or so as the sprinklers came on at the golf course. We moved to a different site.
    It turned out that the Casino was celebrating their seventh anniversary and we would enjoy their celebration. They had scheduled David John and the Comstock Cowboys, a western singing group that we had seen several years earlier at a convention in Reno. We were there for each of their performances through the weekend. We even got the lowdown on the singing group from the parents of one of the band members who was sitting at the same table with us. We added to our collection of their albums and still enjoy the great campfire songs they sing.
    From the Amargosa Valley we traveled through Death Valley Junction into the park. Once we turned toward the park, we could coast most of the way to Furnace Creek and the park headquarters. On our first trip into the park we drove south from the headquarters to Badwater, which is near the lowest point in the park, more than 260 feet below sea level. Along the way we stopped to see the Artists Palette, the Natural Bridge and the Devils Golf Course.
    The following day we contrived a bicycle ride from Zabriske Point, coasting down to Badwater Road to Golden Canyon. It turned out the wind blowing through the valley was strong enough that Louise had to walk her bike the last quarter mile. We locked up the bicycles at the Golden Canyon parking lot and then hiked back to Zariske Point, where we had left the car. On the hike we took a side trail to see the Cathedral formation and had lunch on the way back from that side trip. Sitting in the shelter of an overhanging rock in the narrow stream, we were joined by a Raven that waited just a few feet away from us as we ate.
    We continued on over Manly Beacon and then to Zabriske Point. We lost a hat along the way when Louise bent over to tie a shoe. I started to go after it, but after we watched it cross the second line of hills, I decided it wasn't worth it. Death Valley is a desert virtually without plants. It is just bare naked rocks! As a retired earth science teacher, I found the exposed rocks and the erosional features laid bare to be quite amazing and in their own way beautiful. It is obvious that there are periodic heavy rains within the park as the evidence of water erosion is everywhere. In fact I remarked to Louise that I would rename the park, "Erosion National Park." Once we arrived at Zabriske Point we retrieved the bicycles and returned to camp.
    The next day we drove to Dantes View, which overlooks Badwater from 5,600 feet above and just two miles from the lowest point in Death Valley. The view was spectacular and I formulated the plan for the next bike ride. The next day, Louise drove me to Dante's view. I unloaded my Bike-E and coasted from there to Furnace Creek, a distance of 23 miles. I had to pedal just a few times, but most of the time I was just enjoying the ride. Coming off the alluvial fan at Dante's View, Louise clocked me at 35 miles per hour -- coasting! What a ride!
    We moved to the Stovepipe Wells Campground after several weeks. This was the only campground in the park with hookups and it only had 30-amps and water. We stayed for just four days as the temperature was now hitting 100 degrees every day. From Stovepipe Wells we explored the northern end of Death Valley, including Scotty's Castle, the area around Ubehebe Crater and Emigrant Canyon. We also saw the Desert Pupfish in Salt Creek.
    Our favorite adventure in this part of Death Valley was a hike to the Keane Wonder Mine. The trail to this abandoned gold mine features the remains of a tramway used to bring the ore down the mountainside, several entrances to the mine and the main shaft opening and processing center at the top of the tramway. The trail is a torturous 1,300-foot climb in about a mile of trail. We had lunch at the mine site and enjoyed a spectacular view across the valley before descending. At the base of the mountain is the mill, which we explored after the hike.
    Our egress from Death Valley provided another thrill. Departing from Stovepipe Wells to the west on California Highway 190 provides some heart stopping driving for RVs as the road is narrow with no shoulder and steep drops. Louise had a spectacular view out the passenger window when she could open her eyes. I bought a paperback book, Death Valley '49, written by William L. Manly, one of the guides who led a pioneer group into Death Valley. After finding a way out, Manly returned to save the pioneers who had been left in Death Valley. No one died in Death Valley, but the wagons were abandoned and most of the oxen eaten while in the valley and on the way out. The tale was a riveting description of the hardships endured by these '49ers as they traveled west to a better life.
    Our final encounter with Death Valley on this trip originated from Visalia, CA. I got checked out in a Piper Arrow at the Visalia airport. From there we flew over the Sierra Nevada to Death Valley making a landing in the park at the Furnace Creek airport. This airport is the lowest airport in the US being almost 200 feet below sea level. We had lunch and then took off for the return flight. We circled over the Keane Wonder mine and flew east to the Amargosa Valley and our campsite at the Longstreet Casino. Then we crossed Death Valley again headed westward over Scotty's Castle and Ubehebe Crater. Continuing on east, we crossed over Yosemite National Park, we saw frozen lakes and Half Dome from the air. We landed in Columbia, CA had dinner and then flew back south through the central valley of California at night.
  16. tbutler
    The previous two adventures occurred in our first year of full-timing in the motor home. By 2005 we had been in our new motor home for several years and were in our fifth winter in south Texas. We were getting a little stir crazy sitting in one place for four months, so in early March we decided to take a couple of weeks and head out west to Big Bend National Park. We would arrive during the peak season at Big Bend, spring break for colleges. Big Bend lies at a road to the end of the world! It is about 50 miles from town of Marathon to the park, with nothing along the way.
    The Rio Grande Village RV campground (the only one with hookups) doesn't take reservations so you have to get there early and wait for someone to leave. We stopped at a rest stop north of the park and stayed overnight getting up at dawn to enter the park and line up for a campsite. We were lucky, being third in line we got a site and settled in for a stay of eight days. After checking in at the Park Visitor's Center, we set out to enjoy something we couldn't at our previous desert visits. We now had a Chevrolet Trailblazer 4WD for our toad so we took the Glenn Springs 4WD road back to the campground. Slow, rugged, beautiful scenery, this was our first real 4WD experience. Once back at the campground we broke out the bicycles and rode back to a viewpoint where we could watch the sunset colors on the spectacular Sierra del Carmen Mountains.
    We were lucky this time, the desert was in bloom. We hiked from the campground to the hot springs. Along the way we saw spectacular flowers of all kinds. I love to take pictures and this keeps us from wearing ourselves out on hikes. When I get out of breath I stop to take a picture or two! Along the trail we found a tiny cactus with a huge bloom. Any other time we'd have walked past and paid no attention to this tiny jewel of a cactus but today it was begging for attention. There were fields of cactus in flower, ocatilla and yucca also blooming spectacularly. We lounged in the hot spring then jumped over the wall into the Rio Grande for a cool dip. Back into the hot tub to warm up before heading back to the campground.
    The ultimate 4WD road, the River Road, runs from one side of the park to the other paralleling the Rio Grande River. Along the way we explored the Mariscal mercury mine, enjoyed the gypsum cliffs and the view of Mule Ears Peak. Stops for wildflowers and the mine plus the scenery and I had to empty my compact flash card for the camera several times. The drive took the entire day. The road would descend into one arroyo after another. We watched the sunset on the way home and arrived back at the motor home in the dark.
    On a hot day we headed for the Chisos Mountains and hiked the Window View Trail to an opening in the rock that looks out on the desert from 1,600 feet above through a gap in the Chisos mountains. We ate lunch at the overlook and then returned to the car to continue exploring. In the Boquillas Canyon we enjoyed the call of the canyon wren. People used to cross into Mexico here, wading across the river. Now it is illegal to do so. It is also illegal to purchase the goods offered by Mexican artisans who offer hand carved canes and other merchandise for purchase. They wade across the river and leave the goods on the river bank with a can for payments. In a previous short visit we had stopped at St. Elana Canyon and hiked the trial into the canyon. This hike is spectacular and not to be missed. You can almost reach out across the Rio Grande and touch Mexico.
    Big Bend National Park is one of the least visited national parks, so most times of the year there will be few people in the campgrounds or on the trails. It is well worth the trip to reach this out-of-the-way gem of the U.S. National Park system.
  17. tbutler

    Our New Home

    By tbutler,

    Arriving in Auckland, New Zealand, our first stop is of course to pass through customs. We filled out the arrival card answering questions about the contents of our luggage, etc. Then we face the agents and answer questions about our answers. It is all pretty routine.
    Next, we need to find a way to get to the rental agency to pick up our campervan. We inquire at the airport information desk and are assured that a shuttle will arrive shortly to take us to the rental agency. Within about 15 minutes, the shuttle arrives. It is a small van with a small covered trailer behind. I load our luggage into the trailer and we hop on the van.
    We arrive at the rental agency and check in with the receptionist. We are assigned an agent to take care of us. We go through all the paperwork, questions are answered, and we arrive at an agreement on the details, insurance, additional charges, etc. I elect to go with a full insurance package since I’m going to be unlearning driving and learning it all again. There are many exceptions in the insurance language and we discuss all of them.
    Next we are taken to our campervan. We would call it a Class C. It is not new, it has 194,000 kilometers on it. For a rental vehicle it really doesn’t look as bad as one would expect with that amount of travel. It has been well maintained.
    We are given a 15-minute introduction and then the keys. We have propane for the stove and water heater. There is an extension cord that plugs into the 220V connection, which is standard in all campgrounds. Standard current in both New Zealand and Australia is 220V alternating current at 50 cycles per second. This requires an adapter for some electrical equipment we bring with us.
    Interestingly, most things that have a charger, such as computers, cell phone chargers and many others, will operate on 220V current and on the U.S. standard 110 V current. All that is needed for these devices is an adapter that links our standard plug configuration with the slanted blades that the outlets here have.
    I have a razor and we brought a small portable radio that only operates on batteries or 110V. For this equipment we need an inverter and I have one that I’ve used in the car for years. It plugs into the 12V outlet in the car and provides 110 V AC for computers, etc.
    These vehicles have the same 12V outlet and it works fine for providing 110 V electric when we need it. With the inverter, we can have electric even when not plugged into the campground electric. The only thing that operates off the house batteries when we aren’t plugged in is the refrigerator, which is a small (think dorm room) regular refrigerator that keeps everything quite cold and freezes things that need to be frozen.
    The fresh water tank is gravity fill only. The water pump provides all water -- there is no city water connection in lieu of using the water pump. You fill the fresh water tank and then use the water pump. We find the fresh water supply lasts about two days just doing dishes. Gray water is stored in a gray water waste tank and is emptied with a small 1-inch hose. Toilet wastes go directly into a small storage tank, treated with chemicals. It operates much like the outhouse toilets at some parks, just a holding tank for wastes only.
    The entire tank assembly comes out of the campervan and then is emptied and flushed in specific disposal drains for black wastes. It holds about 3 gallons when full and, since little water is added, will fill much slower than the black water tanks we have at home.
    The hot water heater is the same thing we use in the U.S. Ours wasn’t working. We found that out when we got to our first campground, turned on the gas and turned on the water heater. I knew exactly what was wrong. It would light and then shut off. The thermocouple that senses the flame was not working. We boiled water on the stove for washing dishes for almost a week before we could get it fixed. When we returned to the rental agency, they had it fixed in 15 minutes.
    Despite our small size, we have a four-burner gas stove top and a microwave. A one-piece, single-basin sink with a drain board made of stainless steel completes the countertop. We have place settings for four people, glasses and coffee cups in one drawer, dishes, bowls and saucers in another drawer and pots and pans in a third drawer.
    There is a small built-in trash can on the inside of the door below the kitchen sink. A slide-out pantry with two shelves for cans and boxes of food handles most of our food storage needs. There is a closet that has four hangers, a broom, a hose for filling the fresh water, and a bag with the hose for emptying the gray water. Below the closet is a small built-in electric heater that can be set to maintain temperature in the campervan.
    We have seven overhead cabinets for storage of lightweight items. The dry goods -- bread, rice, etc. -- are stored in one. The remaining cabinets hold our clothes and my camera, computer accessories and electrical adapters.
    Above the closet and the cab is the bed, along the front of the bed is a label that says in bright red letters, “MIND YOUR HEAD.” I wish I could. I’ll have a permanent dent in my forehead by the time we finish this trip. Actually, by the second day I found that the bed could be lifted into a raised position when we are moving about the campervan. A ladder that stores on the bed is placed in position and hooked over the edge of the bed when it is time to retire. The mattress is thin but most welcome at the end of a day. There is also a cargo net to keep someone from falling out, but I refuse to use it.
    We have bag chairs and a folding table for use outside and I store these on the bed during travel. I’ll put the cargo net up to make sure they don’t come sliding off the bed while we drive.
    There is a second bed in this vehicle. That is in the rear of the vehicle where the dining table can be removed and the cushions rearranged to make a bed. We are not using that bed because we make use of that area for too much other activity. The table that fits in that space is unusable. It is supported by a single leg which inserts into the floor. The leg is removable and the table top is stored in a special slot behind the driver seat. We tried using it for several days and now have stored it permanently away. It was necessary to twist the table out of the way to get past it and sit on the seats. We’re using the camping table that was for outdoor use as our table in the camper.
    We also have a television, which is for use with DVDs only. We have no antenna, so no television for four months! As mentioned above, we have a radio and get a little news, especially local news, from that. Most of our news from home comes from the Internet.
    The bathroom is an oversized closet. There is a medicine cabinet above the folding sink. It folds into the wall right above the toilet. The shower is in the same small space and soaks the entire room, including the toilet when used. The bathroom is our least used space. It is nice to have the toilet instead of running to the campground restrooms in the middle of the night.
    We may find ourselves freedom camping (boondocking) at some point in the trip and may make more use of the bathroom. Here in New Zealand there are few approved areas for freedom camping, and there are strict regulations (as in a law) regarding this practice.
    The vehicle itself has dual rear wheels and a front engine. The engine has pretty good power for the size of the campervan. Handling is as one would expect with a vehicle of this size. Actually, I feel more comfortable with our motorhome than with this vehicle. It bounces and sways quite a bit on uneven roads, which are the rule rather than the exception.
    The vehicle is manufactured by Mercedes-Benz and the engine is a diesel. The transmission is automatic PRND and has the shift lever on the left side of the driver. All other steering wheel controls, are similar, with the turn signal/dimmer switch and windshield wipers on the left of the steering wheel. The Headlight switch is on the right side of the dash. There is an interlock that prevents the vehicle from shifting into gear if the electric is plugged in. I’ve tried everything! Hey, I just wanted to move it a few inches ....
    Next: We actually drive and go to a holiday park (campground).
  18. tbutler

    Our Trip Continues

    By tbutler,

    Our first stop on our way north was in San Antonio. I had an appointment at Iron Horse RV to have a new set of house batteries installed. We've always had good service experiences with them. This time was different. The LIfeline batteries we specified weren't there, they hadn't been ordered. The person who took the order didn't realize that Lifeline batteries were not the brand they carry and hadn't said anything to the parts department. They arranged to get the batteries the next day and we had the install done a day later than planned.
    We planned to spend the weekend in San Antonio and visit friends that live there. Friday night we went their home and had a nice visit. The last time we saw them they were living in a motor home at a park in Phoenix. He had secured a job in San Antonio and they were planning that move. It turns out he got the job but it was temporary so he had to find another. We had an evening of laughs and memories and then made arrangements to meet them on the Riverwalk Saturday afternoon for dinner.
    Louise and I had a leisurely morning and then caught a city bus downtown to the Riverwalk. We spent an hour walking around before settling down at the bar to meet our friends. They arrived shortly after and we enjoyed a nice meal overlooking the Riverwalk. It was Saturday night and the place was jumping. We had a nice visit and walked a bit before they drove us back to the RV park. Sunday was devoted to getting the motor home ready to leave first thing in the morning.
    Monday morning we set out for Austin. Louise had a meeting there in the afternoon. We arrived at McKinney Falls State Park about 10:00 a.m. and checked in. I unhooked the car and got it ready for travel while Louise got ready for her meeting. She got away in time to have lunch with the before meeting gossip group. She returned with stories to tell that evening. She had another meeting at the State Capital on Tuesday morning. I broke camp and drove to a nearby Home Depot store where she would meet me following her meeting. Everything went according to plan at her meeting and we were on the highway by 1:00 p.m.
    We headed north toward Dallas. The timing and our rate of travel suggested we would reach Dallas just about 5:00 p.m. We knew the trip out of town would be slow but manageable so we continued. Traffic in Dallas was as expected but by 6:00 p.m. we were in free flowing traffic again on our way up US 75 toward Oklahoma. Our stopping spot for the night would be at the KOA at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma.
  19. tbutler
    After a short stay in Denver, we headed west to California. In Denver we had a couple of days of nice weather followed by snow, rain and cold. We were busy visiting, but the cold and wet weather was something we don't find pleasant. It even managed to snow enough one morning to turn the foothills white.
    I took care of a few tasks around the motor home while Louise assisted her mother with trips to the beauty shop, grocery and other shops. Our friends Bill and Laura stopped by for a morning visit. We went to breakfast and then they helped us set up our new Wii game. We had parted just over a month ago and were glad to make this connection as they were headed east and we were on our way west. When Thursday arrived I topped off the air in our tires. It was 80 degrees when we rolled in and low 50s when we left, so the tires were a little below specs.
    Leaving Denver we encountered a few sprinkles but it was otherwise dry. A tailwind eased us across Wyoming. We stopped in Rawlins to fuel at the Flying J. Their website showed that to be the lowest price for fuel this side of Winnemucca, Nevada.
    Louise took a turn at the driving, taking us almost to the Utah border. We pushed on through Utah, passing through Salt Lake City just before sunset. The setting sun was directly behind many of the highway signs, making the trip much more interesting. There were several turn decisions we had to make simply based on what looked right and our experience of passing through Salt Lake City numerous times before. West of SLC is a rest stop on the hill overlooking I-80. We've stayed there in the past and always found it a quiet rest for the night. It didn't disappoint us this time, either. After a stint of 590 miles, we needed a good night's rest.
    The next morning we were into Nevada in less than an hour of driving. A stop a Wells got us propane at 50 cents per gallon less than anywhere along our route. Another 180 miles down the road at Winnemucca, we stopped for the cheapest diesel we'll see until we're out of California.
    Our stop for the night was the Wal-Mart in Carson City. We pulled in just as the sunset was fading from the sky. Louise made a heavy hit on the groceries before we crossed into California. She was careful not to buy any fruits and vegetables, which are prohibited at the border crossing into California. We had covered 470 miles on our second day. This leaves just over 100 miles for our last day.
    Our route will take us over the Sierra Nevada at Carson Pass on California Highway 88. The climb from 4,000 feet at Carson City to almost 8,000 feet at the pass goes easily enough, though we certainly aren't the fastest vehicle on the road. At the pass is an overlook where we stop for breakfast.
    The trip down the western slope is more interesting. It is now mid-morning and the traffic coming up the mountain is heavier. The warm weather is perfect for motorcycles and there are numerous groups of 10 or 20. They are later joined by a sports car club. We must have met more than 100 sports cars on their way up into the mountains.
    We arrived at Gold Strike Village near San Andreas, Calif., just before noon. This will be our home for the next month. Temperatures are pushing their way toward the upper 90s, so I work quickly to get the basic hookups made. A rest in the air conditioning is followed by a stint putting the all-important front sunscreens on the motor home and getting the Trailblazer ready for travel.
    After a much needed shower, we're off to see our granddaughters and family. It has been just over a year since we last saw them and that's too long. There was a welcoming smile from the 3-year-old and a stare from the 1-year-old that said clearly she didn't recognize us. We had to admit that we wouldn't have recognized her, either. She had changed so much. Where did those curls come from?
    After this visit, we'll be part of her short-term memory. We'll be back in the spring to solidify that memory. It takes her about two hours to warm up to us. By bedtime she is falling asleep sitting next to me on the couch. The drive was well worth the reward.
  20. tbutler
    For a week we’ve been following the Murray River east from Adelaide toward the Great Dividing Range, the mountains which feed the headwaters of the Murray. The Murray also is the boundary between the state of Victoria and the state of New South Wales. Thus we’ve been exploring both the northern part of Victoria and seeing the territory of New South Wales across the river. As we leave Wodonga we are headed east into the Snowy Mountains, part of the Great Dividing Range. Historically, this range of mountains impeded migration of people into the central part of Australia. Today the mountains still present challenges to travelers.
    Near the town of Carryong we crossed the Murray. We stopped at a scenic view point which overlooked the wide valley of the Murray River. The flooding river had resulted in moving an entire town out of the valley and the outlines of building foundations were still evident in the exposed flood plain of the river. We visited with a man who stopped at the site. He was a train engineer who had operated the trains on the route into the mountains for many years. He told us about the village. He also spoke of the rail line which now is a bicycle trail. He has ridden the entire route of the bicycle trail many times and looks forward to the day when two trestles are converted for the bike trail.
    From the viewpoint, we begin our climb into the mountains. We have chosen a little traveled route which will take us to the highest town in Australia. Cabramurra is a company town for the electric company which runs five dams and power plants on tributaries of the Murray River. We saw the dams and reservoirs on our drive into the mountains but the power plants are all built underground. Near the town of Cabramurra we saw one of the tremendous power switching and transformer yards that supported this huge operation. From there we descended on the east side of the Snowy Mountains into the valley of the Snowy River.
    Travel through the mountains was slow and we emerged from the highest elevations in the late afternoon. We decided to stop for the night after seeing a wombat and kangaroo, both live and both near the road. Pulling into the first park that we came to, we made camp for the night. This was not a franchise park and it condition showed it. The owners were friendly and they even had complementary internet, a welcome change from many of the parks we’ve visited up to this time.
  21. tbutler
    We are now in Warrenton, Missouri, parked in my mother's driveway. We had a nice visit with my sister and her family in Kansas City last weekend. My sister is recovering from knee replacement, a familial weakness that will likely catch up with me some time in the future. She is hobbling around on a crutch but is healing and will soon be out dancing again. While in the Kansas City area we enjoyed staying at the Smith's Fork Campground. It is located just below the dam at Smithville Lake, a Corps of Engineers flood control lake. The campground is run by the Smithville Parks Department. They have 30- and 50-amp electric with full hookups at very reasonable rates. With a senior discount the 50-amp electric cost just $23 a night! They have almost 80 spaces, some pull-through sites and the whole park is beautiful. A 14-day stay limit keeps turnover high. They don't take reservations but they take gate reservations. I don't know exactly what that means, but if you are interested, call ahead as this is a popular fishing and family campground.
    Leaving Smithville, we decided to drive smaller roads directly east rather than heading south on I-435 to I-70. The traffic on the smaller roads was light and local. We seldom were holding up traffic and if they couldn't get around us they usually turned off at the next town. We enjoyed seeing some towns we had only heard of before and a few we had never heard of before. We were surprised to find a very nice looking large resort in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The Elm's Resort was designed by Kansas City architects, Jackson and McIlvain. The grounds are beautiful. The road through town is torturous for a motor home but we navigated it without a problem. It is very rugged terrain and the road turns every block or two as you go up and down hills. Not the place to zip through in a hurry but definitely worth a stop. I am really enjoying traveling the backroads rather than the interstate highways. The pace is much more relaxing and the scenery is so much more interesting. Even if we don't stop, we get to see so much more of America once we are off the interstates.
    We found a nice roadside picnic area to stop at for lunch just before we reached U.S. 65 north of Marshall, Missouri. The whole area of this drive we saw beautifully cared for farms and homes. The area had a prosperous look even in this economy. South of Marshall we hit I-70 and zipped across the rest of Missouri to Warrenton, Missouri where my mother lives just a half mile from where my grandparents lived during my childhood. Crossing the Missouri River near Columbia, Missouri we did see that the river is bank full to slightly above. North of our crossing the flood plain was covered with water, evidence of the storms that passed through in the last few days coupled with snow melt from the northern Rockies.
    At Mom's house we have 50-amp electric that I installed several years ago. There is water and sewer available about 75 feet from our rig. The macerator I installed several years ago comes in handy here. We shower and wash dishes in moms house but if need be, we can empty the waste tanks without moving. Mom has a list for me, her to do's. This time the list is small; replace a porch light, trim some shrubs, glue this, fix that, all minor things that help her stay in her home a little longer. Along with her list, I have my own. A drawer railing rear support gave out when we got here. Too many bumps and cheap supports. I replaced those last night. I've replaced most of these cheap adjustable plastic supports for the rear of the drawer railings with a sturdier support I found at Lowe's. The replacements aren't adjustable and are a heavier plastic. I haven't had to replace one of them yet so they seem to be doing the job. Checking the roof when we got here, I see I have a big cleaning job to do. We were parked under a really nasty tree in Denver at The Prospect RV Park. Sappy buds rained down on us as the tree leafed out this spring. I haven't found a good way to remove the sap yet.
    While on the roof I also noticed that the anemometer that automatically retracts our awning has been broken once again. I put a protective frame over it to keep tree branches from getting it but this is the second time that hail has gotten it. I guess it needs an umbrella to protect it from the hail. I have a replacement ordered thanks to the help of Freedom RV in Wentzville. Unlike the other RV place in Wentzville, Freedom RV called me back! And they could get the part I needed. I can do the install on this, I watched the first time it was replaced and replaced it myself the next time. This will be the third replacement. I'd just remove it but it is so handy to have the awning automatically retract when the wind picks up.
    This morning we make a run to St. Louis to visit our doctors. We scheduled two doctor appointments for each of us, our GP for exams and renewing prescriptions and an annual check with our dermatologist. Next week we'll visit our optometrist with the dentist to follow. We are tied to our home physicians for routine care by the medical insurance from our school districts. It is how we manage most of our medical care as full time RV'ers.
  22. tbutler
    Anyone who visits the Pacific Northwest will see ample evidence of the logging industry in this part of the country. As you drive the roads you will see hills and mountains that have been give hair cuts. Sometimes a whole hill or mountain is devoid of trees. In other locations you see patches removed from the rest of the forest. You are sharing the road with trucks loaded with logs and the empty trucks folded up for their return to the forest. The Olympic Peninsula which has been our primary objective this summer is largely devoted to Olympic National Park but the fringes which remain are the domain of the timber industry.
    Within Olympic National Park the forests are mostly untouched, trees are left to grow and die by natural processes. Under these conditions, Douglas Fir trees which are the dominant species here grow to 300 feet tall and have diameters over 12 feet and live for hundreds of years. The are quite simply breathtaking when you stand beneath them and look up to their upper branches. Their massive straight trunks, almost devoid of limbs in their lower reaches, seem to stretch to the sky. We need our National Parks to preserve sights like these for ourselves and for our children. Outside the National Park, trees like this are seldom seen.
    Beyond the protection of the National Park, trees are a commodity. They are grown like a farmers crop, they are a farmers crop. Seedlings are planted within a specified short period after the forest is cut. With the abundant rainfall typical in the northwest, they will grow to five feet tall in a matter of three or four years. At this point, the tree farmer decides how to manage his crop and thins the stand of trees accordingly. Within 50 to 60 years these trees will grow to 60 to 80 feet tall and a diameter of about 14 inches. This early growth is the most rapid and most productive. Having all been planted at the same time, they all grow to look like one another. This makes them easy to harvest. The harvesting equipment is designed specifically to handle trees of this size.
    We spent a morning touring the timber industry on a guided tour. The tour took us through a mill which processes logs into a variety of rough and finished dimension lumber. After that we went into the forest to see how the trees are harvested and processed for shipping to the mill. Our tour guide had a degree in forestry and had worked in the industry most of his career. He was a good ambassador for the timber industry.
    Gone are the days of individual loggers scaling the trees and cutting the tops then felling the trees with hand saws or chain saws. Machinery has taken over here as it has in many other areas of farming. Trees are cut by machines. A different machine will turn the tree into a series of logs, stripped of their branches and some of the bark, cut into sections to fit on a truck in just a matter of seconds. A computer controls the actual cutting operation while the operator moves the arm to drop the logs where desired. As several of us stood watching this machine process tree after tree into logs ready for the mill, we remarked how this machine could do the work of 50 men working by hand. When the operator of the machine stepped out of the cab to take a break we were amazed to see that he had an artificial leg. Our guide explained to us that this young man had cancer as a youth and had his leg amputated. His leg is not the ultra-modern leg you see on the news and in athletic events these days. His leg was a stiff prosthesis which he moved around by swinging and dragging it into position. So here we had the work that at one time would have been done by 50 burly woodsmen, Paul Bunyons in a previous era, now done by a single man with an artificial leg.
    Another machine will load the logs onto a truck which will transport the logs from the forest to a mill or in some cases to a port where they will be loaded onto ships. We saw huge stockpiles of logs at every major port in the northwest. At the mill, the mechanization continues. Arriving at the mill I observed a collection of rusty buildings that I was to learn held modern machinery. Logs are moved to conveyers by large machines. The conveyers carry the logs along an assembly line or perhaps it should be called a disassembly line. The last of the bark is stripped from the logs then they are lined up for the saw. They are placed on the saw table by a machine controlled by a computer. The computer using inputs from sensors and imaging devices decides exactly how to position the log on the saw table. With each cut, the log is first squared and then sectioned into dimension lumber. The operator at the computer sets the priority for the dimension lumber that is desired based on market conditions. If the price for 2x4's is better than 2x6's then the computer will try to cut as many 2x4's as it can from each log. The rest of the operators job is to watch the machine operate and deal with any breakdowns which may occur.
    From here lumber goes to the kiln where moisture is cooked from the wood. The final step in the process is to shave the lumber to its final dimension. The classic 2x4 ends up being 1 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches when ready for market. This mill has the capability to produce everything from railroad ties to finished 2x4's.
    The tour we took is offered in Forks, Washington by the Visitors Center in conjunction with the Timber Museum. Tours are free and are scheduled each Wednesday morning during the tourist season. The number of people who can participate on a tour is limited by the size of the van. If you tour the Olympic Peninsula you should put this tour on your agenda. It gives an interesting insight into an industry that is often maligned but is absolutely necessary for our modern society.
  23. tbutler
    We have been home from the sea for just over three weeks now. I had grand plans for our return. I had outlined on my calendar the progress of work that should take place upon our return. We are in the process of putting a manufactured home on a lot at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas. The home was ordered in December 2009 and delivered to the sales lot in late January. The lot which would be our home was occupied by another couple who had decided not to follow through on their commitment to put a house on the lot. We negotiated a takeover of the lot as soon as they were going to return to Canada rather than waiting for their contract to expire.
    I had established the Monday after our return as the day for the concrete crew to show up and begin work for the concrete pad for the house. Eight o'clock came, Nine o'clock passed and still no crew. I called the contractor who was on another job and would be on our job Wednesday. Oh, well, I went shopping for a few supplies we needed and rewired the electrical outlet from a 240V 50A motor home box to a quad 120V 20A outlet box. I was now ready to operate any power equipment.
    Shortly before noon on Wednesday the contractor showed up with equipment. Our first task was to do some digging to relocate a sewer connection to a more convenient place for the manufactured home. That turned into an epic adventure, exposing problems that would have haunted us for some time related to the plumbing. We dug and dug, some with the backhoe and some by hand. With the guidance and assistance of my friend Bill Fejfar (pipewrenchgrip) the main sewer line was replaced and connections for the home were installed. Bill was a plumbing contractor for many years and his knowledge was invaluable to me. Then we spent a day installing the feed lines to the sewer and another day putting in the sleeves for the electric and water. Finally, the connections were all in place and it was the weekend. The next week the crew began work on the lot in earnest. Being environmentally and engineering aware, I had the topsoil removed to be replaced with consolidated fill material which in south Texas is called caliche, a weatherd degraded limestone. We got some fine grained material and that was packed firmly in place and leveled by machine and then finally graded by hand. Forms were put in place and steel reinforcement added to reinforce and strengthen the concrete. By Friday afternoon I was on the phone with the dealer for the home requesting the tie down anchors be put in place in preparation for pouring concrete.
    Monday arrived and the forecast was for rain so no concrete would be poured. It did however pour rain, almost three inches. Louise and I went furniture shopping. We spent the day and found basic furniture for three of the rooms in the home. We set a delivery date for May 6 and congratulated ourselves for finding a good sale and furniture we liked. When we got home I inspected the forms and my heart fell. The rain had been so heavy that the caliche had washed into the footings and there was water standing in the forms. This would cause a major delay. Tuesday came and it rained another inch or more. More of the caliche slumped into the footings and water was standing almost a foot deep in the footings. This was disaster. We had a little more rain on Wednesday, then clear, warm breezy days for the rest of the week until Saturday night when we got another set of thunderstorms and an additional inch of rain.
    Monday I played golf. It rained Monday night. Today I played tennis until we got rained out. The forecast for the rest of the week is for partly cloudy to sunny skies and very little chance of rain. The crew showed up this morning to remove the iron and the forms in preparation for starting over with the grading, packing, forming and returning the steel to the forms. Meanwhile my son gave me a suggestion for getting the concrete trucks onto the soggy lot without getting them stuck. He is an engineer and worked for the electric company and the highway department. With luck, we might pour concrete by the weekend. I hope. My patience is wearing thin...
  24. tbutler

    Perth

    By tbutler,

    We left Ledge Point after a drive through town to get a look at the community. The housing was upscale beach housing with beautiful homes with a second story that looked over the dunes to the sea. The dunes all along this coast are very well preserved. Walkways are provided at specific places and people seem to stay off the dunes other than through the walkways. This is nice to see and seldom seen in the US. Dune erosion can be quite serious. Once the plants have been disturbed, the dune is free to move. Regular ocean breezes will move particles up one side of the dune and they tumble down the other side. Once sand grain at a time (actually many at a time) the dune moves further inland. If there is no plant life to anchor the dune, it will move into a street or road, a lawn or a field. Once the plant life is gone, it is virtually impossible to stop the movement of a dune. At the upper end of South Padre Island near where we live in the southern tip of Texas, the dunes have reclaimed the highway north of the town. You can drive north of town until the roadway disappears under the dunes.
    We had reviewed the brochure for Perth and the main thing we wanted to see was the Fremantle area which included some of the early buildings in the downtown. The focus of the area seemed to be the prison so we put that address into the GPS. One more time, we can’t say how valuable the GPS has been on this trip. It routed us on high speed motorways right to downtown and then we were off within a couple of blocks of the prison. The city of Fremantle has a Park and Pay lot at the prison. You pay your fee at a station, get a receipt and put that on the dash. The camper wouldn’t fit in any of the parking spaces but they were end to end double spaces so I parked in an empty pair at the far end of the lot and used part of the space in front of us. The lot was never full while we weren’t blocking a spot that could have been sold.
    The prison was the state prison for Western Australia. It was built in the 1860’s and that says a lot about the nature of the prison. It was added to and expanded several times. By the 1960’s there were severe crowding problems and the conditions in the prison must have been quite frightful. There were several prison riots, one in the 1960’s over the quality of the food and another in the 1980’s related to the overcrowding. The prison was finally closed in 1991. There were a number of tours available but the general information was dreadful enough we didn’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon in the prison. We left there with a bus route and schedule for the free shuttle around Freemantle. Using the map we headed for the Maritime Museum on the docks. A short walk to the bus stop and a short bus ride and we arrived about 2:00 in the afternoon.
    Outside the Maritime Museum an extensive set of low walls listed all the people lost at sea in a long list of shipwrecks. Everywhere we go on the coastline of Australia there are extensive lists of shipwrecks. The coastline has it hazards as all coastlines do and many of the wrecks occurred before accurate navigation techniques were common. Even in recent times, shipwrecks occurred in some cases because navigational hazards weren’t well plotted. The museum itself had a number of interesting displays including one documenting a 1980’s series of circumnavigations of the globe by Jon Sanders. His boat and equipment he carried were displayed. The boat was displayed at a steep angle and a marker near the ceiling behind the boat showed the height of a 30 foot wave that overtook the boat on one of his trips. Jon saw it approaching and hung onto the mast as the wave washed over the boat.
    There was an extensive exhibit with models of the America’s Cup yachts from the beginning of the competition to present day. They were displayed in sets for each year and it was really nice to be able to look at the progression of changes in the design over time. One of the yachts, the Australia II which was sailed by the Perth Yacht Club, was on display, full size. An early ferry and fishing vessels from small to large were also there to be seen. We spent several hours and if we had been there earlier in the day we would have spent a few more.
    Leaving the museum, we caught a bus to the prison. It went out of service while we were on the way so we switched to the other free bus route and took a bus to the nearest stop to the prison parking lot. We walked back to the parking lot by a different route which gave us a chance to view a large athletic field called The Oval. We were able to peek through the fencing along one side and see the stadium. We arrived back at the parking lot with a few minutes remaining on our parking pass.
    Putting the address for the Central Caravan Park into the GPS put us on the way out of town to a location near the airport. The route started a bit slow with stoplights but they were well timed and we didn’t have to stop at many. Soon the lights gave out and we were on the Great Eastern Highway headed out of town. It was a much faster trip than I anticipated in early rush hour traffic. Our park is near the Britz office and the airport because we will turn in the camper in two days. We’ll spend the next two days getting everything ready for the next leg of our journey, an air flight to Sydney.
  25. tbutler
    Here is another question. In a recently posted picture the ground looked rather dry, not the lush green paradise that many imagine for New Zealand. Let me assure you there are many places that are lush and green. The North Island and indeed much of New Zealand has experienced a rather dry summer. They are quite a bit behind their normal rainfall. So farming areas are dry. The moist rainforests, protected by shade from trees holds moisture better and tree roots help the forest absorb almost every drop of water that falls there. Right down the road from the picture of the farm on the shore is a forest preserve. The picture with this posting shows that green forest, it makes quite a contrast.
    There is a rainy season as well. It varies in different parts of the world but winter and spring here will be wetter than the summer or fall. I mentioned in a previous post that this is hurricane season in the southern hemisphere. Hurricanes and tropical storms will deliver large amounts of precipitation this time of year but they are hit and miss and everyone pretty much is rooting for a miss on that rain.
    Louise and I had compared some of the places we were seeing with what we are used to seeing in California during fall visits when the hills are a golden brown color. Some areas here look like that right now. There is some irrigation here but not too much. We have seen only a few of the large sprinkling systems that are common throughout the prairie in the US.
×
×
  • Create New...