La Canada, CA

Yesterday, we arrived here in La Canada, near Pasadena, a 47 degree change from Needles.  A bit of a cloudy day, but nice and cool compared to Needles.  Don and Betty are well, at least as well as one could expect for 90+ year olds!

Needles was an experience to say the least!  It's right on the Colorado, and that is it's only redeeming value. It appears to be a vacation destination, if loud boats, loud trucks and loud stereos, boobs and bikinis are your thing, that and 108 degrees. Needless to say, we left early the next day, and bombed across the Mohave Desert.  Truly a remarkable place, very stark and arid.  Good to see it once in your life, not sure if more is necessary.  Also, Hwy 40 in the desert is one of the worst roads in America, we're convinced.  Ironically, California has the most expensive gas we've seen so far, and the worst roads. Gas in Arizona was about $3.50/gal, when we crossed the border, it went up a full dollar!

The park we stayed in was out of town a bit, but we think it is more of a mobile home park, with a few rv slots tossed in for some reason.  Don't think we'd ever stay here again, but they had a nice pool, if you don't mind the rattlers!

Anyway, on to some pics!

Camped by the only tree in the park!

Double-wides on the Colorado!

Shouldn't it say "RUN LIKE HELL!" then call? Hmm, must be the heat.

Headed west, across the Mohave.

 

This video pretty much explains the Mohave from Hwy 40.  Up one hill, down the next, repeat. I think the longest straight stretch we measured was about 20 miles.

So we'll be here in La Canada for the next three days, the Silver Frijole hits the road on Thursday. Our next stop is El Capitan near Santa Barbara.  Probably won't post anything new until then, so not to worry!

...but it's a dry heat...

Truck thermometer, yeah, it says 108 degrees, Fahrenheit!

This pretty much says it all, it's hot in Needles, California.  We arrived late in the afternoon, left the truck running with the a/c on for the dogs, until I got the AS up and running it's a/c.  We've been running it nonstop for 3 hours, it's just now down to 79 inside. Also, today is the first day our elevation has been in the 3 digits, I think we're at about 700ft.  If it weren't for the heat, we'd be full of energy!

We left Sedona about 11am, made a few stops in town before heading west.  We stopped back by the Elote Cafe, to buy some spices that they make.  Liz met Jeff Smedstad, the chef, he apparently liked the yo (heart) frijoles sticker we put on the back window of the AS, he might include it in his next book.  Apparently an Airstream is high on his wish list.

Maybe it's the Airstream's new name, "The Silver Frijole" !

One last red rock picture, can't see enough of this!

The Mohave, at 65mph, 105 outside. 

Somewhere near Needles...

Near Kingman, AZ.  Lots of lightning with this rain...

Crossing the Colorado, entering California.  Fifteen seconds later, the roads went to crap...

So we took a quick stroll down to the water, and it would seem that a really big, loud boat is required to live here.  That and a matching truck.  This park is more of a mobile home resort, where people come to spend the weekend, party, get drunk and get sunburned.  Whatever. But the boat ramp was just as entertaining as the Cedaroak Ramp at home!

All in all, the Mohave is really a striking place.  Lots of rock formations, but not much vegetation. That being said, we have no idea why someone would live here...

On to LaCanada tomorrow, to see Betty and Don and land of the freeway.  A new Sam Maloof exhibit opened today at the Huntington Library, looking forward to that.

Sedona, cicadas and a skunk!

Greetings from Sedona, Arizona!  Land of the red rock, cicadas, Pepe' the lizard and one wily skunk!

Okay, the story about the skunk, which fortunately didn't happen to us. We got into Sedona midday Thursday, really wiped out and with sore butts from driving all day, Gallup through Flagstaff to Sedona.  Makes a mess out of four hours road time, not counting stops. We had gone to dinner at a mediocre Mexican restaurant that had been recommended, and were sitting in the FC just enjoying the evening cicada chorus, when out of the rig across the way came a blood-curdling scream, followed by plenty of yelling.  So we ignore, thinking it's some domestic dispute that we didn't need to be involved with.  So we sit there, and all of a sudden the most gawd-awful stench of skunk begins to permeate the air. Quick, slam shut the windows, doors and fans, before it can get any worse.  If you've never smelled the stink of fresh skunk, it's not be missed.  This is nothing like the smell you get when you drive by a dead one along side the road.  Truly a nasty thing.  I swear we heard every other door, window and fan in the park close with extreme enthusiasm.  So as it turns out, we had a chance to talk to the unfortunate family who had the first-hand encounter, and what happen is this:  They had been sitting outside enjoying the evening, a small dog sitting on a lap.  A small skunk sauntered into camp, and the dog leapt off the lap, attacked the skunk which proceeded to do what skunks do. Apparently, this dog had no predisposition to do such a thing, but it got the obligatory tomato juice bath, and all seems good.  The next morning, we saw them hauling a large garbage bag to the can, no doubt contaminated with the previous night's evidence.  So, we're counting our lucky stars the skunk didn't wander into our camp, what with us having TWO dogs.  No idea what we'd have done!

So Wednesday has been truly a great day.  As you know we came here from Durango, at 7000 ft.  Sedona is at 4800 feet, so we're feelin' good.  That and we gained an hour by entering Arizona, which doesn't change to Daylight Savings.  So we got up and hiked up the road and trails to see some really pretty red rock, vegetation, four-wheelers and plenty of pepe's. (lizards)  After that, we spent the rest of the day touring Sedona, saw some cool art, plenty of t-shirts and bought another camera storage card, the first one filled up.  And also found some really cool pepper ristas, see photo below.

Dinner tonight was at one of the best restaurants we ever visited.  It's called Elote', here in Sedona. It's a Mexican restaurant, but this is way better than your average Mexican food. We went early, hoping they opened at four, but asked them for a reservation, only to learn that they don't take them, and they don't open until five.  It was recommended that we return at 4:40, and get in line!  We did so, found ourselves about fourth in line, and it was worth the wait.  The food was excellent, truly a great take on Mexican food.  By the time we left an hour later, the line was at least an hour or more long, apparently this place has quite the reputation.

Okay, now time for some pics!

Welcome to Arizona!

Oak Creek, just behind the campsite, A cool swimming hole here.

Even Polly likes it!  Nice cool water in the middle of the desert.

Airstream in the desert!, Really, lots of trees, grass and space.

Out the other side of the campground.

Okay, the above video is what we heard when we arrived!  The noise you hear are cicadas in the trees, what a racket!  They come and go, kinda like the frogs in the backyard.

This morning's walk, among the rattlers, cactus and pepe's.  

Heard the rattlers, never saw one.

There's a name for this, don't know it.

Pepper ristas!  Knew those scooters were good for something other than scootering!

Downtown old Sedona, Jeep tour anyone?

Entering Sedona from the south, after another roundabout...but apparently this is better than 89A from the north.

So tomorrow we head to Needles, CA and 106 degrees! (but it's a dry heat!)  Should be an adventure, two days to Pasadena.

Some observations...

Pack 'em and stack 'em, can you spot the Flying Cloud?

So as we approach the halfway point of our trip, we felt some observations about RV parks might be order.

1. Almost all parks have had a sewer smell.  This is not pleasant if you like to leave the windows open. That and cow.  Lots of cow.  And where there's cow, there's bugs.
2. Our trailer seems big to us.  But when you set-up in one of these parks, we are really tiny.
3. The bigger the rig, the smaller the dog.  Dashboard pets if you will, we've seen both cats and dogs on the dash.
4. Do you really need a washer and dryer inside your rig?
5. One unwritten rule is that you don't take shortcuts through occupied campsites...we're usually packed in pretty tight, don't be lazy and invade our already small space bubble!
6. Can you shoot hoops in there? Really, some of these fifth-wheels have two stories!
7. Why do you need to watch TV outside your rig?  Seriously, some of these things have outside entertainment systems!
8. One ton pickups towing 3 axle fifth-wheels, and then towing another motorcycle trailer or boat.  How do you turn that rig?
9.  Gotta say, wi-fi is nice, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this!
10. RV parks rarely are the nicest parts of town.  Trains, airports and freeways are usually part of the experience.
11.Just about everyone we've met has been really friendly.  We always learn something new when we talk with our neighbors or another Airstream crew.
12. Back to back hookups are nice, because that way you don't have your neighbors sewer hose at your front door...see #1. However, the downside is that you may be having dinner with whom you may not want!
13. Full-time RV park residents.  Sad truth, but more and more we see kids being dropped off in the park by a school bus.

Well, can't think of anything else, but check back occasionally, no doubt we'll add more to this list!

Durango to Gallup, NM

Not much to report, had a nice evening with Bob and Margy at their backyard campfire.  Beautiful sunset, nice way to spend the last night in Durango.

Today we made it to Gallup, drove through the Navajo reservation.  Not an up and coming area, we'll just leave it at that.  We did see Shiprock, a volcanic lava structure, not unlike Beacon Rock in the Columbia River Gorge.  You can see it from many miles away. 

We pulled into the rv park in Gallup, located on Route 66.  There was another Airstream, a 2006 28' International, it looked brand new, but is used very frequently.  A very nice couple from Phoenix were the occupants, Trevor and Murial.

Tomorrow, on to Sedona, AZ.  Now for some pics!

The view out over Margy's pasture.

Backyard (or front?) firepit.

Margy and Bob with all the dogs!

The first attempt at the group photo, kinda like herdin' cats...

Put a leash on 'em and this is what you see!

Out walkin' the dogs, last time up D Bar K...

Crusin' down 140, and turns into 170 here! Probably be in NM less than 24 hrs...

Wiiiiiiide open spaces...

Shiprock!

Tomorrow, Sedona!

Last night in Durango...

Tomorrow we hit the road again, after a very nice stay in Durango.  Aly was here for a few days, finally got to ride horses with Margy, on the day she left!  Bob took us and our scooters into town to ride the Animas river trail.  We really enjoyed the trip, except for the fact we missed our final destination by a bit and had to back track.  Jeff and Bob headed down to the San Juan today for a day on the river.  Jeff caught one, actually hooked it at his feet!  Really pretty river. Okay on to the pics...

Off to wrangle some horses...

Go Vandals!

Check out these boots, and the mud!

Let's hit the trail...or road as the case may be.

Polly and the deck, it's become her favorite place to beat up
with Chile dog...and keep an eye on the horses from a safe distance!

7 miles along the river...on a scooter!

The river right through Durango...

Not quite combat fishing, but close!

See the fisher bird?

I kicked more fish than I hooked! The rainbows would hang out in the lee of your feet.  At one point I counted about a dozen here.

Post fishing...

So tomorrow we hit the road for Gallup, NM.  Should be an adventure.

Durango, Colorado, 7000ft.

Okay, time to get caught up.  We successfully made the drive from Moab to Durango, the last few miles proving to be the hardest.  Somewhere along the way, the dishtub in the sink was launched completely over and out of the sink! While this may not seem that big of deal, it contained a few dishes, which when launched, scattered glass everywhere.  In addition, the large door under the sink detached itself from the cabinet. (Note to Airstream: you should thru-bolt the doors, it works just fine and is a better way to go for those large doors.) We really have no idea when we hit a bump that would do this type of damage.  However, the roads between Moab and Durango aren't the smoothest.  Oh, and when we got to Margy's, we had inadvertently left the water pump on, and of course the bumpy roads opened the kitchen faucet, which proceeded to empty the freshwater tank into the grey water tank!  Alright, on to some pics!

Just south of Moab...

Tourist trap, yes, there is a hole, on the other side!

Another hole in the rock, Wilson's arch, on the road, south of Moab

Out walking the dogs, we have a couple loops, and at 7000ft, we're sucking wind. Do the dogs notice the altitude?

Our campsite, Margy's front yard and veggie garden. What you can't see is the mud on the front of the Flying Cloud...

Nicki, Aly, Margy and Nicki's son Lee, goes by Bubba.  Durango was having an Oktoberfest party downtown, beer at 11am anyone? Check out Aly's new hat! She has some s**tkickers to match!

Should probably mention that Alyson flew here on Thursday to visit, she goes home to WL on Sunday. So Friday the 16th was our 13th wedding anniversary! My how time flies!  The whole pile of us went to Tequila's, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Durango.  Last night's thunderstorm was truly spectacular, Lots of big lightning,thunder and rain to match.  Both dogs ended up on the bed, Lily was completely undone by it, Polly was just cool with it, mostly worried about Lily.  But it passed and all is good, do Airstreams attract lightning?

Hangin' on Margy's deck, Aly with that new hat playin' some Trisha Yearwood.

The view from the deck...