Thursday, April 30, 2015

Marshfield, MO

Well here we be in Marshfield, MO....we only spent one night in Texola and then on to Tulsa where we spent a couple of nights waiting for the rain and weather to pass.  Marshfield is about 20 minutes west of Springfield Mo.....where we found a Culver's!  Culvers is home to Butterburgers and frozen custard....we have one back in Lafayette and just love the food.  They are hard to come by out west....so it was a long deprived Culver's winter....LOL!  Tasted so good!
We decided to 'hang out' here in Marshfield at the RV Express, right off  I40.  Nice sites...back ins and pull thurs.....
Nice big concrete pads, but you are a little close to your neighbor.  Plus you are right next to the interstate....so there is road noise, but we didn't find it too bad.  Things quiet down in the evening and night time hours.   Our reservation back in Indiana doesn't start til May 4th so we decided to stay here 5 nights.  Our next stop will be a familiar campground in Litchfield Illinois called Kamper Kompanion.  We have stayed there several times.  It is literally in the middle of nowhere, but a great overnight stop and it is also a passport america park.....$17.50 a night Sunday-Thursday.  We will spend just one night there and then it is back to the ever lovely AOK in Indiana.  Not our favorite place to stay, but pretty much the only game in town....and they know it!  Oh...if you want a little more info and some photos of Tucumcari check out my Art Blog.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Tucumcari, New Mexico....

Yes...we made it out of Sedona and on down the road to Albuquerque and now we are in Tucumcari New Mexico.  That is a mouth full so I started calling it TuCan City!  LOL!  Interesting little place on the historic route 66 highway.  Had a fabulous dinner at Del's Restaurant....great salad bar included with the meal.  Billy had his fav Chicken Fried Steak and I had a NY strip.  All very tasty and modestly priced.  The town itself has seen better times, but they seem to be hanging in there with a few more restaurants and a couple of tourist type shops.  We are headed out to another interesting restaurant called "KIX"....a 50 style diner for breakfast!

We are at the AOK...nothing special, but certainly fine for a night or two.  The winds have  been really bad......25 to 30 mph with 50 mph gust.  Looks like rain is on the horizon as well.  Plan on staying put one more night then we are on our way along I40 to Texola, Oklahoma.  Keeping an eye on all the nasty weather.....hoping to avoid the bulk of it. 

If ya want to see some of my Albuquerque zoo pics and a little about Jerome AZ  and the Ghost Town click on the link to my art blog.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Sedona

We certainly have enjoyed our visit here at the Distant Drums Rv park.  The layout was a little different and there are some tight turns.  In fact, we are still not sure just exactly how we are getting out of the site we are in.....
 They give you the street signs in English and the native language.....neat!
We are on a corner lot...you can see that it is kinda a jack-n-jill set up, but your neighbor's rear only comes up about 1/4 of the way.  Unfortunately we can't just "pull out" the turn is too tight either left or right and the street ahead is a dead end with no turn around.  So I think our plan will be to pull forward down the dead end street and then back up into the street on our right.  Then we can make the turn!
Lot spacing isn't bad...but once the truck is parked you don't have much 'patio' room for chairs and such.
The surrounding view is pretty awesome!
We took a day and headed over to Red Rock State Park....truly spectacular views there

Birds are lively and everywhere!
Yesterday we headed over to Jerome....what a neat place that was.  I have a ton of photos and I'll share some next post......

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

North we go....

Today we head north to Camp Verde and an rv park called Distant Drums.  Before we go, we are going to have our rig weighed here at North Ranch.  We are both really worried about the numbers.  We know we are over....but by how much?  Could get scary....we shall see.

Much to do.....so I'll sign off now.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

North Ranch

Well here we be at North Ranch and it has been a very good week.  We reacquainted ourselves with the little town of Congress and Wickenburg.  Wickenburg seems to be a growing community which does have an interest in the Arts.  Next time we come, I'm hoping to have an opportunity to check out the Art Club.  They have their own building and offer classes as well as exhibits.

North Ranch itself doesn't seem to have changed much.  It is still a very friendly, well maintained community.  We saw several 'lots' for sale, some vacant and some with small homes and we did meet with a realtor to talk with her about the area.  I don't think we are quite ready yet, but eventually this is probably where we will end up.  At first we both thought we would like to be 'out' in the country on at least an acre of ground, but we really like the sense of 'community' here in the park. 

Many of our rv friends have also settled here in North Park.  In fact, last night we were invited over to Jim and Ellie's home for happy hour and a fish fry.  We meet some "new" rv friends and had a wonderful meal.  I hear this kinda thing goes on quite often here!

We will say our goodbyes and be heading up to Sedona on Tuesday.  Looking forward to doing some hiking there and checking out the beautiful scenery.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

The Trip back to Indiana

We had planned to spend the summer out west this year, but things have happened back in Indiana which require us to be there sooner...rather then later.  The first event..a happy one...our son and daughter-in-law are in the process of buying their first home.  It is quite the house and their closing date is set for June 1.  So happy for them and us because this means we can now sell our home.  Back to Indiana we go earlier then expected to get our home on the market and hopefully sold before the end of summer! 
Unfortunately our next bit of news was not so wonderful.  My step father is having some health concerns which require my attention....we have to be back in Indiana by the first week of May to deal with those issues. 
As of now, we plan to leave Yuma on the 8th and travel to Congress Az.  We have been wanting to make our way back to North Ranch (Escapee's Park) for a while now so that will be our first stop on our journey.  Then I think we will head up to Sedona and spend a few days there before heading east to Indiana.
It has been very busy here...as usual....many goodbye parties, hugs and waves as day by day a few more of our Yuma friends head out.  We will be one of the last to go and the park is already like a ghost town! 
It has been a great winter!  I'll leave you with a photo of my latest pet portrait.  This is Rosie the sweetest little pup that was adopted from a shelter here in Yuma.  Her portrait was my gift to them for adopting Rosie and giving her a wonderful forever home.
and in response....they gifted me with this beautiful handmade quilt made by Rosie's mom!
I can't tell you how surprised I was and truly touched by their generosity.  On the back is a little handwritten note thanking me for the portrait!  I will treasure it always.....