Jane and John's News

Flying spuds, drinking and shooting, the GNR

Friday, August 8. 2008

Our last travel installment left off with us exploring beautiful Palo Duro Canyon Park in the Amarillo, Texas area while anticipating our second July 4th party with our good friends at their nearby cabin in the Palo Duro Club.

We all gathered at the cabin and prepared for our gender-specific fun and games

The 'girls' in the middle of drinkin' and gambling

- the guys have their activities (drinking and shooting) and the girls like to drink, gamble and play games (just kidding, although we did enjoy a few adult beverages occasionally and safely.) After getting set up at the cabin at the Palo Duro Club, the girls gathered around the kitchen table and had a good time playing games. The boys, always enjoying things that make a lot of noise, went skeet shooting, used the rifle range, and tested Jeff's new potato launcher (aka 'spud gun') built for brand-new father-in-law, Harry. More about that later! Jerry bought some shotguns, rifles, and his skeet launcher, so the guys all took turns shooting the clay pigeons. Everybody did pretty good with the skeet, but Jerry was clearly the best shot among Jeff, Harry, and myself. Next we tried the rifle range and I shot about 50 rounds from a Ruger Mini-14 (caliber .223) and decided my ear protection (active ear buds that operate on a loud noise and shut off) weren't doing an adequate job with a bunch of rounds fired. My ears rang all afternoon!

Harry at the ready!

The major excitement of the afternoon for us guys was Harry's brand new spud gun. The basic idea of a potato launcher is you jam a potato down the PVC or ABS barrel, remove the end cap, spray in a three-second burst of 'Axe' deodorant (an exciting mixture of propane, butane, and smelly stuff) and ignite the mixture via a BBQ grill sparker. A moment later there is a muffled 'whoomph' and out goes the potato beginning its usual journey of about 200 yards! After a few shots at terrestrial targets, we all wanted to see how high we could launch a spud so the

Potato launcher

tube is elevated and then ignition! That spud was headed for Mars! A Turkey Vulture soaring nearby did a double-take as it saw the potato flying by - it was too funny to believe. Being totally and completely enamored with the spud gun, I took measurements and pictures so I can build my very own copy. Here is a video of the gun in action! Watch for a future update! (For more information about spud guns, Google 'spud gun' or 'potato launcher.') After our respective activities, everybody thoroughly enjoyed eating host Jerry's wonderful Texas BBQ - we had pork, beef and turkey - yum-yum.

After a wonderful July 4th gam with our friends, we pointed the bus north and headed for Forest City, Iowa and our first Winnebago Grand National Rally (GNR.)

Strolling down the main drag at the GNR

Basically an RV rally consists of a bunch of old people that drive their RVs to a predetermined location at a predetermined time and party. The primary difference between partying in your 20s and 30s vs. partying in your 50s and up is most all of us are in bed by 10 PM. The activities are more sedate with eating and talking being some favorite things to do. There were many vendors in attendance at the GNR which provided seminars and many performed free service on their particular products. For example we received another replacement water pump (we're on number four), an overhaul of our Jeep towbar, and a new Sleep Number bed control box/air pump at no cost to us. In spite of the high cost of fuel, almost 1,400 Winnebago RVs attended the GNR - now we know part of the attraction - free repairs! Speaking of repairs, Winnebago cleared up a few remaining problems we were experiencing and now the coach is about 100% functional and in good repair - it's a good feeling for the time being!

A rolling band entertaining the crowd at the GNR (wow - that 'woman' is ugly!)

Our original plan was to point the coach home after the rally, but we couldn't pass up an invitation by Jane's brother Bill to have a rendezvous in Silverton, Colorado - the idea of fellowship with Bill, wife Bettye, and the Corgi boys, cool weather, and doing some Jeep trails together was a powerful incentive. Even though we enjoyed our two and one-half weeks in Forest City (a wonderful small town which epitomizes Americana), it was good to be back on the road again and to have another event to anticipate with eagerness. Off we headed for Colorado and as we progressed further south and west, the weather became more and more oppressive (104 degrees last Saturday in Ogallala, Nebraska) which just taunted us with suffering before our destination in Silverton.

An interim stop before Silverton was the Colorado Springs area. We booked a pleasant and picturesque RV park which we discovered was fairly close to Canon City, and was fairly close to the Royal Gorge. The distinguishing feature of the Royal Gorge is the bridge which rises 1,000 feet above the gorge. The interest of Canon City for us was the Royal Gorge railroad which is a tourist train that travels 24 miles to and from the gorge in a two hour trip. Since we both love trains, we booked a trip for the next day in the 'vista dome' observation car with the 'wine express'

Jane and John enjoy a glass of wine

option. The wine express option consisted of four locally produced wines and a selection of hors d'oeuvres. We boarded the train and looked for a table with our name on a card. We found a table with our name, but our name on two cards with a total of 16 glasses of wines. We were a little overwhelmed but quickly recovered when we realized the 16 glasses of wine were all ours. Shortly after being seated, the hors d'oeuvres arrived and to our surprise discovered they weren't simple cheese and crackers, but an expertly prepared and presented selection of pork loin, steak, salmon and lobster. The wines were quite good but we both agreed the Merlot was a little too dry for our palate. Fortunately the amount of wine in the glasses wasn't quite the amount you would expect in a restaurant, so over a two-hour period we were able to do a good job of packing the wine away in our biological containers.

After the Colorado Springs area we headed closer to Silverton and spent a night at Ridgway State Park, and then drove the twisty two lane mountain road over elevation changes of 6,000 feet to 11,018 feet (Red Mountain Pass), down to the 9,000 feet elevation of Silverton. Finally we have our cool weather - as I type this in the afternoon, it is a delicious 66 degrees! There is a funny story about our reservation we thought we made for the RV park here, but our dear readers will need to wait for the next installment to hear the details.

Until the next time, may God richly bless you and keep you healthy!

Posted by John Canfield in Travel diary at 15:20

Which Sun Vally, Arizona ?

Thursday, July 3. 2008

We learned that there are two different ones, so you have to know which county!! Our destination was The Petrified Forest and The Painted Desert National Park in Navajo Co. It was a most interesting National Park. We spent the night at the “Root 66 RV Park”… and no, that’s NOT a typo on my part!!

Jane with new Geocachers Bob & June

As we pressed further East, we stopped at Bluewater Lake State Park for a few days, and met a really nice couple, Bob and June, from Albuquerque. We even introduced them to Geocaching, and wouldn’t you know it! Novice Bob found the cache!! He’s ready to strike out on his own!!

On to Albuquerque, where again we meet up with the Topley clan by coincidence and go to Daniel and Jenn’s “co-ed” baby shower! Never had been to one of those before!! They got many really nice things for their baby boy who will be born in August. (John's note - I'm hoping that's my last baby shower!) We attended Blake Road Baptist Church, and really enjoyed worshiping with fine group of believers! We even were greeted and hugged by about six young children…so special!

Our next stop was Cochiti Lake Core of Engineers Park. The lake was created by one of

Cochiti Lake campground

the ten largest earth-filled dams in the United States, along the Rio Grande. Odd thing about this park is that our electrical box was on the wrong side of the RV (left instead of right), so John had to do a bit of maneuvering so our electrical cord (on the left) would reach the box! Guess whoever laid this place out, didn’t have a clue to how RVs were set up!! We loved having 50 amp service, though!!

While here, we did some more Geocaching which took us to La Bajada hill. The road (or what was left of it) was part of Route 66 back in the 1920’s and 30’s. Most interesting terrain with very many volcanic rocks all over! The next day, we planned to go on a short (remember that word) outing to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument only a short distance from our camp. The “rocks” are actually mounds of tuff (or volcanic ash and pumice) resulting from volcanic eruptions 6-7 million years ago. After visiting the monument, we were going to go to the Pena Blanca Post Office to mail a package and some letters. Remember I mentioned “short” outing? Well, we made a wrong turn (even with GPS…no wonder we call it BD for “blind and dumb”)! In this area of New Mexico, there are several Indian Reservations and Pueblos, and I do believe we drove through all of them!!! We finally made it to the Post Office in a round-a-bout way (about a 60 mile detour), and back to our coach! Needless to say we had a late lunch! John was fit to be tied that we made the wrong turn, but Jane just told him that we were seeing things that most Anglos never get to see (though I’m glad no one stopped us to ask why we were there)!

Jane finds the cache on top of 'La Bajada' hill

On to Santa Fe, and on our trip into the old city, we learned there was some sort of festival going on, since there was a parade, craft tents set up in the square and live music. We finally found a parking place and visited the Georgia O’Keeff Museum where we also saw many of Ansel Adams’ photos. We strolled down to the square where rock music was heard, and after the song was finished I looked to see who was speaking…a male voice, with long blond hair, and a short little turquoise dress! Well, that will attract attention, for certain - just like the days of Boy George! Some things never change!! Sunday, we attended First Baptist Church, and had a wonderful worship experience with that body of believers!

Heading further East for our Forth of July festivities with our friends, the Rohanes in

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Amarillo, TX, we find ourselves at Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the Mesquite campground. 50 amp electrical (and the electrical box is on the left side of the RV where it should be!) and water! We are parked next to a beautiful red bluff…another part of God’s world, and we are so blessed to be here and are thankful to all our friends for “following us” in this very lengthy blog!

Blessings to you all, and have a wonderful Independence Day celebration…stay safe!

Posted by Jane Canfield in Travel diary at 10:02

Travel update: San Diego - Williams, Arizona

Friday, June 13. 2008

We left our little ranch May 26 headed West to San Diego for a wedding and planned stops in Las Cruces, NM to visit friends (the Topleys) and then on to maintenance stops in the Phoenix area, a stop in Yuma to visit our RV friends Cliff and Mary, and finally to San Diego as the western terminus of the trip.

We stopped in Phoenix at the Freightliner dealer for repair work and at the nearby Cummins dealer for a service campaign. (There seems to always be something that needs attention on our coach.) The Topley's daughter, Jennifer, was marrying a Naval Lieutenant in a ceremony on a Naval facility in San Diego, and being a long, long-time family friend, we wanted to be there.

The closer we got to San Diego, the more traffic we encountered, the higher the fuel prices became and the stronger the wind blew. We even had to stop at the California state border and answer questions like, "do you have any plants, vegetables, seeds, conservatives, etc. with you?" Naturally Jane being 110% honest admits to having two potted African Violets. Oh boy. The parking brake goes on while the fruit inspector scratches head unsure about the classification and status of our African Violets. Off he trots to find an expert in the classification of house plants while the traffic behind us backs up. No problem for us - we can make a pot of coffee, fix lunch, watch TV while he learns about African Violets. A couple of minutes later he returns and much to our relief we find out that we don't have to burn, surrender or otherwise destroy our house plants. At least we had it better than two U-Haul box trucks that were being driven by a couple apparently moving to California. The inspector had them open the roll-up door and for a while, we thought they were going to unload the truck. We figure the inspectors are extremely suspicious of anybody actually moving to, and not from California and they assume a moving van is carrying drugs or even banned house plants.

After leaving the inspection stop we are enjoying a nice ride in the desert until we get near the mountains when the wind is blowing about 40 mph and of course the wind direction is not in our favor. Still we enjoy the scenery and after getting into the mountains (large hills?), the air temperature drops about 20 degrees providing a much needed relief from the heat. We finally arrived at our RV park after some interesting local street routing by our GPS.
One interesting note about the Interstate highway system in San Diego is that there are usually no exit numbers and you have to make do with just the street names. If you are looking for exit number 25 on I-8, chances are good it isn't there. We postulate that California can't afford to put exit numbers on most road signs due to a constrained state budget and besides why bother - everybody knows where they're going anyway (numbers? .. we don't need no stinkin' numbers!)

After months of planning and work, Jenny and Jeff were successfully married in a beautiful ceremony on the water at a Naval facility. Jeff had his Naval buddies perform the "sword" ceremony where the newly-married couple passes under an arch of crossed swords.

Jeff & Jennifer - a handsome couple!

The Naval sword ceremony

After the kids were married we had a chance to relax (okay, relax more) and do some sightseeing. We always enjoy touring ships and quite pleased to discover that San Diego recently acquired the USS Midway aircraft carrier (CV-41) and turned it into a floating museum. (In prior years we have toured the Aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and the battleship USS Alabama and other smaller vessels.) After several enjoyable hours of touring the ship (pictures in our gallery) we later went on an enjoyable dinner cruise around the harbor with the Topleys, Rohanes, and Linda French.

Jane and the USS Midway, CV-41

Since diesel was over $5 a gallon in California, we were hoping to avoid buying fuel there and fortunately we left just before it was time to pump liquid gold into the Jeep. Off we go back to the East on I-8 headed to Gila Bend, Arizona. Somewhere along the way we had to stop for a Border Patrol inspection which is a fairly common event in the Southwest. We felt sorry for the agents since they were dressed in dark green uniforms and the temperature was around 100 degrees. (We wonder what bureaucrat came up with the brilliant idea to use a dark color in the desert.)

We arrived at our stop for the night in Gila Bend after filling up the coach and Jeep with much cheaper diesel - even so it cost almost $400! Ouch! Since most campers have the good sense to not be in southern Arizona in the summer, we had the RV Park almost to ourselves. We spent two days there since it was inexpensive and it was a good place to get some chores accomplished but we paid a heavy price for this - the temperature reached 110 degrees and our air conditioner could only manage to keep our coach cooled to 89 degrees in the heat of the day. We put up with it knowing we would soon be in the cooler climes of northern Arizona.
The plan was to travel north to Interstate 40 and be a tourist in the Williams, Arizona area, and then slowly work our way to Amarillo for a July 4th party where we will hook up with the Topleys and Rohanes again. Williams is a little

The Grand Canyon Railroad - headed to the canyon

famous for the bit of Route 66 preserved in downtown and for the Grand Canyon Railroad depot, the origin and terminus for the 65 mile rail trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Also being rail fans, we planned on taking the train and looking at the amazing beauty again of the Grand Canyon. It has been probably 30 years since we were here last and just as spectacular as we remembered it. The train ride was fun taking about two hours each way. We chose the 'luxury' car which is on the end of the train with a platform on the rear which allows for some nice pictures (a few pictures in our gallery.) The car was extremely comfortable and had an attentive hostess and a full bar. On the return trip, the train was "robbed" by desperadoes which put on a good show and while it was all in fun, they actually were looking for money in the form of tips. We leave Williams tomorrow and travel a little more to the east - stay tuned for more!

Posted by John Canfield in Travel diary at 12:09

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