New Orleans/FL Trip (Day 3) - Phoenix, AR to El Paso, TX

We left the Desert Shadows RV Resort at 7:45 AM under cloudy skys. After dodging our way through the Phoenix morning rush hour traffic, we headed east on I-10 to El Paso, TX.

It started raining around Tucson and continued all day as we tried to maintain a decent pace through the desert in what became fairly heavy rain more often than not. No problem for the truckers however. we must have been passed by what seemed to be about 500 trucks, all going close to the 75 mph speed limit. If you have ever been passed by a semi in the rain at high speed, you know what I mean. There were a few beautiful mountains and interesting rock formations in various shades of brown along the way, but for the most part, it was more of the same high desert plateau we have been traveling through since Edwards AFB.

As we descended into the Rio Grande Valley at Las Cruces, NM however, the weather started to break and we were treated to a wide valley with sunny spots and beautiful mountains to the east.




As we approached El Paso we called the FAMCAMP RV Park at Ft. Bliss, but they were full so we pressed on through heavy rush hour traffic in El Paso and are staying at a commercial RV Park just east of town off of I-10. Nothing fancy, but it has full hook-ups and it is a convenient place to stop for the night.

Another early to bed and early get-up tomorrow. The plan is to head for Abilene, TX, then Dallas along I-20 after it splits off from I-10 east of here. Right now the weather looks pretty good along the way, but if freezing rain/ice/snow looks likely on I-20, we will stay south and continue east on I-10.

The adventure continues.

New Orleans/FL Trip (Day 2) - Edwards AFB to Phoenix, AR

We actually got an early start from Edwards AFB this morning. After a mocha at Starbucks and filling-up with gas at the BX service station, we were on the road at 7:45 AM. It was a little crisp this morning, with a slight overcast, but there was a beautiful and interesting sunrise over the desert and the base as we left.



We headed south to San Bernadino, then east on I-10 along the San Anreas Fault between the San Gabriel and San Bernadino Mountains to Phoenix. San Bernadino may have its good points, but the portion we saw looked like LA without regular trash pick-up pushed against the mountains.



Crossing the Colorado River at Blythe, CA you really started to get the feel of being in the desert - saguaro cactus (a protected species), a long straight road with no credible signs of civilization off the highway, and state troopers hiding in the sagebrush looking for cars and truckers exceeding the liberal speed limit of 75 mph.

We arrived in Phoenix about 4:00 PM PST but as we changed time zones in Arizona, it was an hour later at 5:00 PM MST. The weather was clear and the tempertature about 75degrees when we arrived.



We are staying at a place called Desert Shadows RV Resort. The park is essentially a dense concentration of senior citizens in a retirement community - sort of like Eskaton-On-Wheels (with the tires up off the ground). It is mostly full-time seniors from places like Michigan and Minnesota who have a full range of senior activity options like weekly bingo, line dancing classes, and bus trips to Las Vegas for the annual polka festival. Probably about a third of the park is reserved for overnight travelers like ourselves and it is a good place to stop along the way. It also looks like a nice and affordable place with mild weather for seniors to live and enjoy their retirement. And the good part for us: there is little little chance of loud music in the park after 8:00 PM or gunfire in the parking lot after midnight.







We hope to get another early start tomorrow and will be heading for El Paso. We may stay at the Ft. Bliss FAMCAMP if there is room (no reservations - first come, first serve) or in a commercial RV Park in the El Paso area along I-10.

Everything is going well so far. The schedule is holding, the roads are dry, and the weather is great.

New Orleans/FL Trip (Day 1) - Nevada City - Edwards AFB

We got underway on schedule at 8:00 AM from the Nevada County Fairgrounds RV Park. The roads were dry and the weather slightly overcast. Once again, We didn't forget a thing because we brought it all with us - sort of like the Okies.

The trip was uneventful: traffic wasn't too bad and the scenery in the valley along Highway 99 was, you know, Stockton, Modesto, Manteca, Fresno, etc., but the Kings Canyon, Sequoia area of the Sierra Nevada off to the east is snow covered and very beautiful. After turning east from Bakersfield, the trip over the Tehachapis went well. Again, very pretty and the roads were dry over the 4000 ft Tehachapi Pass.

The Edwards AFB FAMCAMP(RV Park) is in the Mojave Desert and not a garden spot, but a good place to stop. It has full hook-ups and even a few trees. It is also not too hot this time of year. The temperature seems to be about in the high 50's. We arrived on schedule at 4:00 PM and took a short walk over to the BX/Commissary complex which is right across the street (actually we did forget a few things). The facilities are really nice which is good for the Airmen stationed here as there is not too much else close by.

After a great spaghetti dinner, we are heading for bed and an early start for Phoenix in the morning.

See you then.

New Orleans/FL Trip (Day 0) - Getting Ready

We are getting ready to leave for our longest RV trip yet on Monday morning, 2/1.

As a hedge against the weather, we have parked the RV at the Nevada County Fairgrounds RV Park in Grass Valley and will load it, hook up the VW, and leave from there. Right now the weather looks pretty good and we plan to leave early Monday morning.

We will be on the road 46 days if the schedule holds. The goal for Day 1 will be the RV FAMCAMP at Edwards AFB east of LA.

We hope to keep up the Blog on a daily basis, but we'll see how it works out.

Stay tuned.

San Diego Trip - Missions - Day 3

After the second and last day of the Coastwalk Board Meeting, we left Sebastopol around noon for the the two south bay missions - San Jose and Santa Clara.

We arrived at the San Jose Mission around 2:00 PM which is actually in Fremont, adjacent to San Jose. Mission San Jose, the 14th Mission is the latest Mission to have its church restored. It was founded in 1797 and like many of the other Missions fell into neglect over the years. The restoration completed in 1985 cost over $5 million dollars and closely reesembles the Mission as it looked in 1809. It is also a working Catholic church seving the Fremont community.

Day 3 Pictures - San Jose Mission

The Mission at Santa Clara (Santa Clara de Asis) is the 8th Mission and is on the camapus of Santa Clara University, the first college of higher learning in California. The Mission was transferred to the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1851by the Dominican Bishop who could no longer afford to maintain the Mission. Since then, Santa Clara University has become one of the top universities in the country. It has a full-time enrollment of about 5,000 students and tuition costs $35,000 per year with room and board another $11,000. It is a beautiful campus and a great school, but it looks like you either have to be very rich or very poor to go there, but in any case, I am sure you would have to be a good student to stay there.

Today, the Mission church serves as the student chapel and is the spiritual heart of the university. And again, like other Missions it has been rebuilt and restored over the years. There are however, some initial Mission walls remaining and the bell tower holds the original bells sent from Spain when the original Mission was constructed.

Day 3 Pictures - Santa Clara De Asis Mission

Arriving back at the RV Park around 6:00PM, we ate take-out BBQ in the RV and watched the rest of the Eagles-Cowboys game on TV. Not a good game, but the BBQ was good.

We break camp early tomorrow morning and head for Monterey with two Missions enroute (San Juan Batista and Santa Cruz) and another (Carmel) after we sent up camp at the Naval Post Graduate School RV Park in Monterey.

San Diego Trip - Missions - Day 2

Pat attended the first day of the Coastwalk Board Meeting in Sebastopol and Judy went shopping. After dropping Pat off at the meeting, Judy went to the factory outlet mall in Petaluma and bought a few more things for the upcoming cruise.

The meeting was over at 2:00 PM and we then traveled to San Rafael (:45 minute drive from Sebastopol) to tour the San Rafael Mission (San Rafael Arcangel- Mission 20). This Mission was originally established in 1812 as a sanitarium and hospital for people housed at the Mission in San Francisco. Due to its success, it was raised to full Mission status in 1817. The Mission chapel is a replica of the original chapel, rebuilt on the same site in 1949 by William Randolph Hearst after the original buildings were demolished in 1870 for firewood. It is adjacent to a large working Catholic Church and school with what appears to be a diverse ethnic congregation.

This evening, we went to the Coastwalk Executive Director’s house in Sebastopol for dinner with the Coastwalk Board of Directors.

The weather has been great so far and the itinerary timing worked O.K. Tomorrow will be a busy day with Day 2 of the Coastwalk Board meeting until noon then a road trip to San Jose and Santa Clara and back for two more missions.

Day 2 Pictures - San Rafael Arcangel Mission

San Diego Trip - Missions - Day 1

Well, we are on the road after a delayed start. The goal was to get going by 8:00 AM but it was 10:00 AM before we were ready to go. We then discovered we had an electrical connection problem with the towed VW – nothing too serious other than the brake lights and turn signals on the VW wouldn’t work when being towed.

We then went to the RV dealer in Sacramento where the tow package was installed. It was a connector problem and they were able to fix it, but it took another hour or so to install new connectors. We finally left Sacramento at 12:30 PM for Sonoma. We then stopped along the way at our first Mission – San Francisco Solano (Sonoma) – Mission 21.

This Mission was the nothernmost CA Mission and was established in 1823. It was the site of the "Bear Flag Revolt" and the effort to establish the CA Republic in 1846. The Mission is now part of the Sonoma State Historic Park. The present Mission Chapel was rebuilt in 1840 after the original building was destroyed in a storm.

We had a nice visit, then traveled to the RV Park in Rohnert Park, arriving about 4:30 PM. Due to the delays, we canceled the trip to the San Francisco Mission and met Kevin for dinner at Angelino’s Restaurant in Sausalito instead.

Day 1 Pictures - Sonoma Mission (San Francisco Solano)