July 9, Tuesday - On the Road Again!

We plan to have a lot more days sitting at campsites than days moving down the road.  Moving days are really not much fun.   Yesterday was our second moving day so far.

We left the Meteor Crater RV park right on at 11:30am.   Of course I'd been up since 7am, done two loads of laundry and packed up our outdoor space.  Putting things away is a BIG part of travel preparations.  Driving down the road in a shaking tin can is not conducive to things staying in place unless a little bit of thought has been put into it.  I'm taking my packing responsibilities seriously! Besides putting everything away we also have to "un-hook" and run through a checklist. 

RV'ing requires that you manage your own waste.  Your trash, yes.... pack that and take it to the nearby dumpster.  Your gray tank (thats sink and shower water) and your black tank (that is the toilet flushings) must both be emptied.  This is a pretty simple task once you know what you are doing, but is daunting when you first do it.  There are hoses, and lifts, and levers, and see-thru elbows.  There is an order of flushing and the clear flush at the end.  There are enzymes to be added.  There are plastic gloves.   It is all quite lovely.   LOL.   No, really, it is pretty simple but definitly a required step before hitting the road.  Although I'm not opposed to doing it, and I certainly help, so far John has been in charge of the waste management pre-travel requisites.

Unhook the power, lock up all the basement drawers, bring in all the slides, bring up the jacks, check the air in the tires, fuel up and air-up if necessary.  This all takes time... we planned to leave at 11 and left actually at 11:38am.

We are traveling in "chase" mode at the moment still.   This is for two reasons..1) we still need one part to make the hitch work, and it should arrive today.  and 2) because we are still learning the RV driving characteristics and would like to feel 100% about that before adding 10 foot and 4000 pounds.  What this means is that I travel with Tucker in the Jeep and follow John and Loki in the RV. (Look for a future post on Loki getting lost in the RV on travel day).   We have handy/talkie radios and stay in touch.   It works but it will be nice to ride together.

We pulled over just north of Flagstaff for lunch after the first hour, stopped once or twice to refill our respective water bottles and pulled into Monument Valley just before 5pm. 200 miles traveled.

It takes about 45 minutes to set up again.  Then relax, dinner and bed.  Long day. 

Super beautiful area.  We can't wait to explore tomorrow.

July 8, 2019 -  Last night in Winslow

We love food.  We really do.   One of the things we look forward to on this trip is the opportunity to have some great meals that we would not normally be able to get on St. Croix.  We also look forward to some great home cooked meals, some nights grilling at the campsight, some packed picnics while on the road . . . and grocery shopping.   You can only relate to that last one if you have lived outside of the US for awhile and when walking into a stateside supermarket feels like an adult foodie's trip to Disneyland.   Grocery shopping is amazing, but I digress.

While in Phoenix we had some good food.  We found better sushi at the local Fry's SuperMarket than anything we've yet had on St. Croix.  We were introduced to a great Chinese food mini-chain, George & Sons and ate there a couple times.  (Thanks Denny!). John found a great hole in the wall Thai  restaurant in Fountain Hills that had killer Phad Thai, Le Me,  and another Mexican Restaurant,
El Encanto that he said had amazing tamales.  BUT. . . to be honest we really had not yet had a meal that we both felt worth raving about.  Until our last night in Winslow.

Winslow is not a town you really would expect a great meal at.  Besides 'standing on the corner' there is not much else there.  We really wanted a great meal and the reviews for La Posada were stellar so we decided to head in for dinner but we were not prepared for the amazing service and meal we had there. 

First, La Posada is a restored hotel located right in downtown Winslow.  It is gorgeous. 

I love this style of construction and the old details were preserved in the restoration.  You walk past a beautifly wildflower garden as you enter.  Just Beautiful.    The restaurant is called 'The Turquoise Room' and we were recieved and skillfully seated by a charming host.  Our server, Joanie, was amazing from the start. We started with a pitcher of Sangria.  It was perfect, not too sweet, potent and delicious.  Joanie introduced to the menu and told us of the specials.  We opted for her recommendations.  We started with fried squash blossums... oh my goodness.  Yumm.  John ordered the WILD WILD which was an elk, quail and bison plate that was SUPERB.   I ordered a chicken dish that included a fresh corn tamale and a green chile sauce that were equally impressive.  All the meats and vegetables are local arizona raised/grown in ethically sound ways.   We were so impressed by the kitchen.    This Chef is amazing.  The Hotel is beautiful.  If you ever find yourself going cross-country through Arizona, we would highly recommend this as a stop.  Perfect ending to our 3 day stay in Winslow.

Monday, July 8 - Falling Stars 

"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day

For love may come and tap you on the shoulder, ...  some starless night,
and if by chance you feel you want to hold her,
you'll have a pocket full of starlight"

This catchy song has been going around in my head for days now since our visit to the Meteor Crater in Arizona.  Wow... talk about the ultimate falling star!   Meteor Crater is a big brown dusty bowl in the middle of nowhere and one of the most interesting things I've seen in awhile.  50,000, yes FIFTY THOUSAND years ago, a meteor zoomed through space, entered our atmosphere and at an amazing speed of 26,000 mile per hour struck the rocky desert plain with an explosive force of more than 20 million tons of dynamite.  The resulting crater is HUGE.  HUGE.. and was created in an instant!
Yet it is not the biggest one on Earth by a long shot.   I was not really expecting to enjoy this stop too much but I was wrong.   It was very interesting to see, the interactive museum was fun and the movie about the event (documentary style) was very informative.  It was a great visit.

A highlight for me was getting to touch this:

 

Its a meteor.  It is largest piece of this meteor found at the site.  It is dense.  It is about a yard long and 20 inches at the widest and it weighs about the same as a volkswagon bug.  HEAVY.    The song popped into my head (my Mom used to sing it all the time) and as the song goes, I wanted to put this not so tiny falling star in my pocket so that I'd always have starlight when I need it, but alas it was too well guarded and my pockets were too small.

Just kidding of course, but really . . . I was able to touch a piece of the falling star that created this amazing and scientifically significant crater... a piece of the raw material that makes up our galaxy.  It really was cool.  Have you ever touched a falling star?

 This is the meteor itself.   It is the best preserved meteor crater in the world and has contributed much of the knowledge about meteors now used to identify hundreds of meteor craters around the world.   There is still a lot of science research going on there.   Once mile across and three miles around... and 550 feet deep.  This crater is privately owned (not by our government, not a state park) by an individual who originally bought the land to get rich from mining the ore.  He, Hollinger, was among the first to verify that it was a meteor strike not a volcanic crater.

So... here I am trying to put this falling star into my pocket so I can save it for a rainy day,

"For when my troubles start a'multiplyn',  

and they just might,

It'll be so easy to forget'em without tryin'

cause
I'll have myself a pocket full of starlight"   

     ~     Perry Como

Please... I know there are two photos this week of me trying to take that are not mine... It's all in fun people... all in fun.   I'm an honest girl really.

Late Night Musings - July 6th - Meet "Ally B."

I know it's silly but I wanted a name for this big old bus. 

John was not opposed , so we decided on Ally Bee!  Ally is pronounced like Sally.... ride Sally ride... but ours is just Ally with no 'S', because she is a Tiffin ALLEGRO Bus.   See how we did that?  ALLy B.  Allegro Bus.

Ok.. so we are nuts.   Suits me fine.

Side note, allegro means happy - just saying.

Our 'Happy Place' for the Summer.  Ally B.   It's going to be an adventure for sure!

July 6th - Taking it EASY!

It's a vacation!  There is no agenda.  We don't have to do anything!  And we didn't. 

We slept in and enjoyed a slow morning.   Just the fun of watching other travelers pack up and go makes for an entertaining start of the day.   

I found out that nearby Flagstaff had an ART in the PARK event and we decided to check it out in the afternoon.   Just a 30 minute drive away.  We had identified a few things that we needed - a door mat to keep the dust out,  a sofa cover to keep the cats claws controlled, a wine bottle opener -because... yeah... you don't always have a Denny around to ask the neighbors for help. 

You know a few essentials.   So the plan was ART and SHOPPING... a perfect day in my books.

Really cute Fair! Beautiful Park!

My Purchase... a gorgous, big, TEA CUP.  Score!  Artist: Don Swanson - gorgeous stuff!

I LOVE OUR NEW DOOR MAT... AS YOU ENTER THE BUS!

Tucker guarding the "patio". Look Liz... I got a rug!

 SO... We feel pretty set up right now!   Yay for Day 1.

Love Always, Oz
☮💗🐾

July 5th, 2019  The Adventure Begins.

After 29 days of preparations and perspirations, (average daily high was 104 the whole month), we put Eagle View RV Park in our rear view mirror and headed north and east to find new sites and cooler temps.  First stop will be Winslow, Arizona to the Meteor Crater RV park.  As you can tell from the picture, we did not hook up the jeep for this first trip.  We are cautious like that!  That's me, Auz, in the jeep... and that was my view the whole trip!

Since this is our first RV, and we admit that it is a biggie... and this is the first long trip in the jeep as well,  we decided that it might be prudent to drive them independently at first.  Our intention was to drive an hour and then hook up in Payson... but once we were on the road we kind of liked the way things were going and stuck with it.  We had radio communication at all times and I was able to backseat drive from the vehicle behind. (Oh... yeah... you bet John loved that!), but it WAS nice to be able to head off traffic etc. for him as we get comfortable with the big girl.  Another plus was that I took the kids (Loki and Tucker) with me.   John did not have to listen to crying kitty or attempt driving for the first time with a furbut on his lap... seemed safer.   Both pets did great considering.

It was a great drive!   We departed Phoeniz at around noon.  Had lunch in the Payson Home Depot parking lot where we picked up a few essentials and then drove 87 all the way to Winslow.  Wow, the little town of Pine just outside Payson is super cute and the CocoNino forest was a welcome site of tall trees and greenery which we are missing.  We had no problems and arrived at the Meteor Crater RV park about 4:30.  Traffic Jam!!!!  Who knew there would be 5 other RVs in line to check in.  

Setting up was a breeze.   I held the dogs leash and watched, super simple.   In no time at all John had the RV hooked up, leveled, slideouts extended and patio chairs in place.  Home Sweet Home for 4 nights.   I made us a quick dinner of left-overs (YES CORN!) and they were DELICIOUS!  Tucker got to play in the big dog park, kitty eventually agreed to come out of hiding and we enjoyed a COOL and peaceful first night out.  Smiles on both our faces as the day ended.  

Hey... we are doing this!   

Peace, Love, Paws!
☮💗🐾

I'm back!  Apparently I suck at blogging.  My last blog post was two years ago and in it I promised to write again soon.  June of 2017.  Wow.  Two years is not so soon, but here I am. So much has happened since then.

• a new puppy to fill the void left by Frankie - July 2017
• two category 5 hurricanes; Irma and Maria - September 2017
• a roofless house and a destroyed island home
• the closing of our fun pet store 'The Blue Mutt' - January 2018
• John had a stroke in January 2018 
• the loss of another of our heartdogs; Speedbump in May of 2018
• St. Croix Animal Welfare Center became my passion 2017 to Current
• the struggle to rebuild - Sept 2018 toCurrent 
• and so much more. Big things and small things. Heartwarming things and heartbreaking things.  Things that make you hide and weep, and things to make you sing out in joy.  Planned things, unexpected things, scary things and amazing things.  

The last two years was full of challenges we would preferred not to have had.  We met those challenges as best way we knew how.    Life has a way of surprising you in so many ways.  I'm sure I'll fill in the back story as I go along, but 4 weeks ago, June 6th, somewhat unexpectedly, we bought an RV!  We are going on a summer adventure!  June was a whirlwind of preparations, purchases, plan making and worry, but here we are.  All of our little family.   John, Laura, Tucker and Loki ... all together in our 'new to us' Tiffin Allegro Bus... and tomorrow we will hit the road.

I invite you to join us in our journey as we explore our country and ourselves.  Who knows what we might find.  Let's hit the road.