This is the photo of the phone booth for the blog.

We have moved a little farther north in Oklahoma to just north of the Arkansas River. This is quite a large stream in this area with lots of river traffic as well locks and dams, etc. We are about 40 miles from our hamfest location in Ft. Smith, AR. It has been cool and rainy but little wind to contend with. Last night we were down in the mountains next to a river with little internet service and no phone service. Our drive today was mostly in the mountains until we got closer to the river where there are miles of flat pasture lands and lots of cattle. There were several long horn cows scattered in with the black Angus and other kinds of cows. We are currently at the Lake Side campground and will be here until Friday morning when we will move and set up in the late afternoon. Shortly after we got into New Mexico before we got to the Guadalupe Mountain National Park, we went through a small town and caught sight of a phone booth, the first we had seen in years. Of course, there was a satellite dish nearby to represent the current day trends. It appeared to be operational as there was a phone hanging in the corner. It is raining lightly as I write this but the weatherman says it will be warmer and clearing tomorrow and increasing in temperatures through the weekend. Looking for the upper 70's on Saturday.

We spent the last night in Decatur, TX at the local Walmart. It was a bit cold and we wished we had some electricity to plug into. We survived by using the generator in the morning to warm things up. We traveled cross country first north and then east and find ourselves in the K River Campground in the country just north of Hugo, OK near a smaller town of Moyers. This is quite remote, out in the woods near the river. The cell phone signal is not good and the air card signal is little better. Slow, but working. We are in the foothills of the Jack Fork Mountains and not very far from the Kiamichi mountains. We will spend two nights here and then travel north east through the mountains to Poteau, OK which is only about 40 miles from Ft. Smith, AR, the location of our next hamfest on Saturday. We will probably spend a couple of nights in the Poteau area so we can stay away from the big town of Fort Smith, AR. The photo is of the Bryan County Courthouse in Durant, OK. I think this is the front and side view. It is a beautiful structure.

We are still in Rogers, TX for tonight and then we will go to Wetherford, TX to set up for the hamfest on Saturday.

Still not feeling well but better and will be able to work the hamfest without any difficulty. We can set up tomorrow after 4pm, so we will have time to get there, only 50 or 60 miles and a good parking spot.

The photos are of the second unit we encountered. There is another tractor following with some items on the back. I wonder if it is to help pull or maybe hold back on the down grades.

You can see a huge diesel engine on this unit but I can not tell what it is to do with the tanks on both sides. But the engine is huge. I could not tell how many cylinders, but maybe a V12 or V16 engine.

Again, I would loved to have had the time to follow along and watch all that takes place on the trip across the back roads and over the mountains on its way to California and its final location.

I am watching the NCAA but do not get TNT, so do not get to see the Butler game from New Orleans. But, will enjoy the two games that will be on.

Sorry I have not written in a few days but I have not been well, but seem to be on the mends.


This is one of the big rigs we encountered shortly after leaving the Guadalupe Mountain National Park. We were stopped by the local Sheriff and told that there were two units coming that were over 200ft long. Just sit tight until they passed as they took most of the road.

I would estimate that the units were probably 25ft wide and you can see how far they hang over the side. After the second unit came up behind this one I had a chance to talk with the tail escort and ask where they were going and he said California. I ask if they could take the interstate and he said no, they were to wide and to slow. I would estimate they were traveling at about 20 to 25 mph.

I have no idea how long it would take to get to California as they were in Texas and would have to cross New Mexico as well as Arizona to get to where they were going.

There is a fairly long grade up the mountain, maybe 3 or 4 miles long and maybe a 5% grade. On the other side is a shorter grade, maybe 2 or 4 miles long, but some at 7 and 8% grade. I would not be concerned about going up, but down would be another story.

As you can see in the photo there are 6 axles behind the load with 8 wheel on each axle, for a total of 48. The same on the front with a tri-axle tractor pulling the whole rig.

The load is cantilevered on top of the various units to spread the weight as you can only have so many thousand pounds on each axle. These axles are remotely controlled so they can turn to help the unit make a turn. They had a big intersection to turn in, but certainly not enough room for a rig this length.

One can only imagine the problems they will encounter on this trip to California. It would be an interesting trip to follow along and just watch what all it takes to complete this trip. What an adventure.

We spent last night at one of our favorite spots, Guadalupe Mountain National Park. And as you would expect there were no cell phone or air card services, so I could not write a blog.

A very nice drive from Deming, NM. It was nice to get off of the busy Interstate, I10, and on some US highways. We were a little late getting there and got the last pull thru space. The sun was going down behind the mountain, but only about 6pm.

This morning, even before we got up the hikers were coming in by the carload, weighing their packs, stretching and making ready to hike the mountain.

Just after we left we took a state route toward Pecos, TX and were stopped by a local Sheriff stating that there were two big loads coming that took most of the road and that we should pull off where we were and wait for them. Shortly one arrived but they had lost contact with the second one via radio and did not know where they were for sure, but to wait.
These were huge units over 200ft long and I would judge them to be about 20 ft wide with 8 tires on each axle with 12 axles. They were hauling two huge pieces of machinery. I had a chance to talk with one of the escort vehicle drivers and he said they were going to California, but could not take any freeways as they were too big. They were traveling at about 20mph, so it is going to take a long time to get to California.

I will have more photos on tomorrows blog.

We are back on the road again. We spent Friday nite at Holts shell campground. The next morning there were a pair of Roadrunners very close to our spot and Evelyn got a photo of one of them.

We traveled back to Mesa to have the new spring U bolts torqued again and then on to Nancy B's for the night. Sunday morning it was back on the road to Tucson to visit friends and spend the night in their big parking lot.

This morning, we left about 10:00 and headed east on I10 toward New Mexico. We are currently we are at the Dreamcatcher Escapees park in Deming, NM. A nice stop over for the evening, about 2 minutes from I10.

We will be in Texas tomorrow evening on our way to our first hamfest on the trip back to Indiana.

The two lower photos are of rock formations at the Texas Canyon in eastern Arizona.

The rally is over and we got away from the fairgrounds about 10:30 after Evelyn dropped off some mail and made a quick stop at Walmart and then came back to the big parking lot and hooked up the van.

Currently we are at Gila Bend, AZ, one of our most stayed at camping areas. This is just a handy place to stop with a free RV dump station and free water as well as a half price campground or a large boondocking area depending on what you are looking for. Oh, and did I mention a Subway close by.

Tomorrow we will be off to Mesa to have the new spring U bolts torqued again and pick up some mail and get a haircut and then it will be off to Tucson to visit friends and then toward Texas and our next hamfest on March 19 at Midland, TX.

Then it is on to Weatherford, TX for another hamfest on March 26. Then on to Ft. Smith, AR for the Hanging Judge hamfest on April 2.

Then we will visit friends in Arkansas during the week and then be in Memphis, TN for a hamfest on the 9th of April. Back to Cherokee Village to visit friends and pick up mail and head for Kansas City, MO for a hamfest on the 23rd of April.

Then it is off to the Lewis & Clark College in Godfrey, IL (near St. Louis) for a hamfest on April 30th.

Off to Indianapolis to start Dr. appointments starting May 2 with a physical.

Other than that, we will have an uneventful month of March and April and then the fun begins with Dr. visits, eye exams, etc. getting ready to hit the road in June or July.

Not really sure what we will be doing in between but we have the National Handicapped Travel Club rally in Bancroft, WI September 21 thru 24. There is a hamfest in Baraboo, WI on the 27th of August. There is a lot to see and do in that area, so we may just spend that time enjoying the weather and the things available to do.

The Gypsy Journal is over, all but the coffee and donuts in the morning. It has been a fun rally with many interesting seminars mostly related to RV driving and systems as well as crafts and outdoor activities.

I attended several seminars regarding more technical items like the charging of batteries and one on traveling the Great River Road from Bemidji, Minnesota to the mouth of the river in southern Louisiana. There certainly is a lot to see along that route. Big cities as well as smaller ones like Hannibal, MO and Natches, MS.

In Natches, the river brought the barges down to be unloaded from many places further north. The barges would be cut up for wood as they could not go back upstream. The bargemen would walk back up the Natches Trace to Nashville, TN. Many stopped along the way for various reasons, some to stay on a permanent basis.

You can walk across the river at Lake Itasca, the head water, in Minnesota on large rocks, or there is a walking bridge you cal walk across. The drive down from Minnesota to the mouth in Louisiana is about 2995 miles, much shorter if you take the water route.

The people from the Park of the Sierra campground were there giving out discounts on park fees to new people that visit the park. We were there last year and really enjoyed the area. The park is only a few miles from Yosemite National Park and a little farther to the National parks to the south.

At the closing ceremonies they thanked all of the volunteers that helped with the rally and had another prize drawing. As usual we did not win anything, but we did have a good time and learned a lot.

Hopefully we can make the rally in September just after the Handicapped Travel Club national rally in Wisconsin. We will have to make a quick trip from Wisconsin to Celina, Ohio, but maybe we can make them both.

This afternoon was the opening ceremonies of the Gypsy Journal Rally here in Yuma, AZ. It was warm but there was a cool breeze and it was blowing quite hard and gusty at times. There were several units that came in today, but they said it was a difficult drive with the gusty wind.

There are still a few not in, probably due to the wind but they will not miss much.

We had a door prize session this evening with a lot of nice prizes, many from local restaurants and eateries. Many only good at this location, so people could use them while they are in town for the rally.

There will be several seminars tomorrow and I have decided to attend the Gypsy Journal FAQs and the Safe RVing, The Choice is Yours and the Ea$y Money concert at 7pm. And that will probably finish the day for me. It will probably be quite cool by that time.

Of course there will be coffee and donuts in the morning before we start the seminars and there will be an hour and a half for lunch.

Our photos are of Dome Mountain between Yuma and Quartzsite on road 95.

We are back on the road again after our stay in Mesa, AZ and having some suspension work done on the motor home. I think we are ready for the road and a summer of traveling.

We are currently in Gila Bend, AZ waiting to go to Yuma for the opening of the Gypsy Journal Rally at noon tomorrow. At that time they will start parking the early arrivals so the next day will not be so hectic for the parking crew.

I have looked at the lineup of seminars and there is something for everyone and maybe too many for some. It will be difficult to choose which ones to go to and which ones to pass up as they are at the same time as another that you would like to hear. Nick will be presenting several and I am sure those will be great. We will determine what ones to go to when we get the final lineup.

We will get an early start in the morning as it is over 100 miles from here to Yuma and we want to be in line before noon.

Hopefully we will be able to write a blog each night to keep all aware of what is going on at the rally.

Our photo is of the desert at Quartzsite in the are of the hamfest in January. Not nearly as many units as before.