Another year finished

Another end to another year. In looking back over the many years, a lot of things have changed. From the way we live, eat and sleep as well as what we do.

I remember years of working, some times 7 days a week to retiring and working part time to going on the road and traveling this beautiful country.

Were still working part time at engraving and working as many hamfest as we can find that are on or near our travel path.

For the past two years we have worked our way west for the winter. We generally spend January and part of February in Mesa, AZ then going to Quartzsite and Yuma with a quick weekend trip to a hamfest in Palm Springs, CA. Then back to Yuma for the Gypsy Journal Rally in March and then work hamfests in Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and back to Indiana.

We did make a side trip to Taos, NM for a 3 day hamfest which was the first time we had done a convention of this type, but it worked out well. Next year they are planning on having it near Bryce Canyon in Utah. We will not be able to make it as we will be in the Eastern part of the country.

This year we will do about the same, except we will go to Mississippi for the Handicapped Travel Club rally and then back to Indiana for our round of Dr. appointments and then we plan to work our way back to Florida and do the hamfests in that area and spend the winter in that area.
All we have to do is decide on which hamfests we will work without driving all over the place and from one state to the other. Just a matter of sorting them out.

Last evening we went to the Organ Stop Pizza restaurant for a great pizza and great organ music from a huge organ, one of only a few in the country.

So, here's hoping you all have a safe New Year's eve as well as a great New Year.

Here is a photo of Nancy and I and our "professor" mentioned in the blog. Sorry for the out of focus photo but it is the best we had of the old man.

Christmas is over and we hope all had a very Merry Christmas and will have a happy and safe New Years celebration.

Not a lot going on here in Arizona. A bit cool at night but warms up nicely as soon as the sun comes up.

Today we took a ride on the Light Rail. It runs from Tempe all the way to the north west side of Phoenix, probably some 40 miles or so. It is propelled by two power units that are located between the three cars with a drivers position at both ends. When they get to the end of the line the driver pulls down the shades and goes to the other end for the trip back across town.

We rode to the end of the line, got off, had lunch and got back on and came back to where we started, got in the van and drove home.

They are planning on continuing it on to the east side of Mesa in the near future, so it will go a few miles farther to the east.

Shortly after we got on an old fellow got on with a back pack and an arm load of files and papers. Promptly sat down, cross legged, and proceeded to drop a bunch of papers on the floor. He picked them up and just stuffed them in a folder and proceeded to shuffle through all kinds of papers, all in disarray and shove them in somewhere else.


He proceeded to open up the backpack take out a set of headphones and hook them up to some device and seemed to talk into it as if making notes or something. He loosened his tie, rolled up his shirt sleeves and continued to shuffle papers from one place to another all the way to the ASU campus stop. He grabbed everything up and got off the train, and proceeded to roll down his sleeves, adjust his tie and pull up his pants and walk off.

We finally decided that maybe he was a Professor at the university. He appeared to be a very unorganized individual.

People were getting on with bicycles, baby carriages and all sorts of things. No one seemed to have a ticket and no one was checking for them, only the driver appeared to be an employee. People just seemed to come and go when ever it stopped.

An interesting day with quite a variety of individuals encountered.

It was cold again this morning. I do not know how cold as the sun was up early and shining on the sensor for the thermometer and it said something ridiculous like 87 degrees and you know that is wrong with all the snow on the ground.

We talked with the park manager and she said that I10 was closed in both directions until the afternoon due to the snow and ice buildup. You can only imagine the mess of traffic that was backed up in both directions.

We got away about 9:30 and headed west. I saw a gas price of $2.99/gal and I pulled in and filled up. That is the cheapest we had paid for the motorhome.


The rest of the drive was uneventful and boring as is most interstate travel generally is. One big truck after another and speeding cars trying to get ahead of everyone.

We did see an interesting thing however, last night as we were approaching Deming, NM we passed a relatively slow moving vehicle with its emergency lights flashing. It really was two vehicles, one towing the other. They both were Honda Elements and the front one had been hit in the left rear and the rear one had been hit in the left front and down the side. Both were probably totaled and someone bought them and will put a rear clip on the front one and make one good car out of them. We ask each other how long they were going to drive like that? Well, this morning when we pulled in to get gas, there they were, just as we had seem them, the night before, getting fuel. Apparently they stayed in Deming somewhere and were headed west and to a new home.

The photos are of the snow in Deming, NM and a mountain in western New Mexico.
The Arizona sign and a photo of the Texas Canyon between Wilcox and Tucson, AZ.

We are currently in Mesa, AZ and will be here for 5 or 6 weeks until we go to Quartzsite and on th Palm Springs, CA and then to Yuma.

It was cold this morning in Ft. Stockton, only 23 degrees and windy with just a skiff of snow on the ground. We got unhooked and on the road a little before nine and headed west on I10.

Shortly after we got on I10 and a few miles before it joins with I20 we came to a stand still in both lanes. We could see vehicles for miles just sitting and not moving. I turned on the CB radio and learned that a semi had spun out attempting to get up the grade (over the mountain) and was blocking both lanes. The amount of snow laying along the highway had been increasing and the pavement was wet and the bridges were beginning to get some slick spots, so driving was getting a bit dicey.

Before long a sand truck came along on the berm and up a ways he cut down over the side of the embankment and on to a frontage road and on up the hill to the next exit and came back and apparently they got the guy going again and things began to move, but only at a snails pace.

The sun had come out from under the clouds and was beginning to melt the snow and ice on the road. By the time we got closer to the hill the snow was much more evident and even after we got over the hill the traffic was moving at about 30mph for many miles and then things got back to normal. We only sat for about 45 minutes.

We stopped at Van Horn, TX for fuel and a Subway and then changed drivers and Evelyn drove about 90 miles to the next rest area while I took a quick nap or two. We changed drivers and headed for El Paso and took I10 through town rather than the Mountain Express, which we learned later had been closed by snow earlier in the day. Traffic was heavy but it moved pretty good without any big delays.

As we got near the west edge of town that the east bound traffic was backing up and finally stopped for some reason. Shortly after we got out of town we crossed into New Mexico and about 10 miles before Las Cruses there is an inspection station that is being refurbished and the right lane is closed for some road work as well. The traffic was backed up for 7 miles when we got in line and much farther back as we were in line for 1.5 hours before we finally got moving again. We finally made it to Deming, NM and the Dreamcatcher RV Park, our destination at 7:30. I had been behind the wheel for over 5 hours, not driving but just in the seat watching the semi in front of me.

The snow increased from the state line and it looks like there is 3 or 4 inches on the ground here.

I did hear on the CB that I10 had been closed this morning in New Mexico. Not sure just where but it could have been on most of the grades as there was still a lot of ice along the road and it appeared to have been plowed in some areas.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better, however it is 26 degrees as I write this. The sky was clear so maybe it will be sunny tomorrow and the roads clear.

Our photos are of some of the snow along the highway today. The antenna tower was most interesting as the frost was heaviest on the upper portion as you can see. The mountains were beautiful with the new fallen snow.

We are back on the road. We left the Lone Star Corral this morning where it has been cool and rainy for the last few days. Tonight, we are in Fort Stockton, TX and at 8pm the temperature on our outside thermometer says 30.7 degrees and it is not very warm inside either, so it will be early to bed with the bed warmer and electric blanket on.

The trip across US90 was fairly good with a fairly strong wind from the north. It kept your attention staying on your side of the road.

we turned north on US285 at Sanderson, TX which was a nice two lane road with very little traffic but a headwind that would hardly let you stay in overdrive at nearly full throttle. So I do not expect the fuel mileage to be real great.

Tomorrow it is off to ElPaso and points west on our way to Mesa, AZ.

The photo is the mascot at the Lone Star Corral