6/5/2017 - Kingman

Monday - We traded cars in January and now drive a 2015 Buick Enclave.  We had to have it wired to tow, and this is only our second tow trip since we got it, so we haven't quite got our routine down.  Joe had to do some re-wiring after our first trip, so we are still learning.  When we unhooked the car in Kingman yesterday, I flipped the switch to stop the theft alarm from blaring, and Joe told me to start the car.  Well, there was no power.  At all.  We thought we had a dead battery.  But then I remembered there was another switch I had to flip, and when I did that, lo and behold, the car started!  Crisis averted.

This morning, we made our morning breakfast stop at McDonald's, where we had a bit of excitement.  The elderly lady at the table across from us was not feeling well at all.  Some guy parked her car for her and was telling her where it was on the parking lot, and something about how to get in it.  They sat there for quite a while, but when they tried to help her walk out to her car, she was unable to walk.  They finally called for an ambulance, and we heard the EMT thought she was having a heart attack.  They took her out on a gurney but we don't know what happened after that.   We finally headed out to begin our day of sightseeing.

We split up from the Johnsons today, they ran errands (shopping) and we took a drive, what else.  We toured two museums in Kingman, the Arizona Route 66 and Electric Car Museum, and then the Mohave Museum of History and Arts.  The first one had nice exhibits of the history of this area -- covered wagons moving west, then the old trucks filled with belongings of people seeking a better future in the West during the depression. Burma Shave signs, old gas pumps.

The last part of the museum had a small collection of electric cars.

The second museum was only about a block away.  It had portraits of all the Presidents and First Ladies, and a beautiful painting of the faces on Mt. Rushmore.

One of the most beautiful displays was a quilt with lots of different quilt pieces depicting events from those early years.  I can't get this photo upright,

but I especially liked these: 

and the work that went into these, especially this list of contributors, is mind-boggling.

They also had outside exhibits of old machinery and equipment, and a railroad car.

We finished with the museums and continued on our drive of Route 66, up over the mountain and into Oatman.  Along the way, there was a gift shop with an outside outhouse that Joe thought deserved a photo.

This road became quite curvy, much like the Apache Trail out of Apache Junction.  Not much shoulder either, but it had some nice views, and we spotted some wild burros down in a ravine.

Finally, Oatman appeared over the rise, and the resident burros were in residence there.  We probably saw 12-15, several heavy with baby.

We made friends with some of them, careful not to get behind them so we didn't get kicked.  They were definitely traffic-stoppers.

We went in a couple of shops, then had lunch at the Oatman Grand Hotel.
 

The walls here are covered with dollar bills -- it is estimated that there are between $130,000 and $150,000 taped or stapled to these walls.  So Joe and I added ours, in honor of our mothers.

We drove on through town, and continued on south, through Golden Shores, and over to the Colorado River, where 3 more wild burros crossed in front of us on their way down to the river.

 We were probably in the hottest spot in the U.S. today, a balmy 113. 

We finally headed north, through Needles and on to Laughlin where we spent a couple of unproductive hours donating to their economy (me, not Joe -- he found a seat and saved his $$).  We got a bite to eat in Kingman and got back to the cqmpground about 7:30.  Dave and Mazie were outside their RV with another couple, and water was dripping from the rear of their coach.  The ground underneath their coach was all wet as well.  Turned out that the hose came off their hot water heater and drained the heater and their fresh water tank.  But Joe fixed it, so all ended well.  It's always good to have an old mechanic along.

We were briefly out of Arizona today, in California, then in Nevada.  If all goes well tonight (no more emergencies), we intend to head to Barstow, California tomorrow.  Another hot day in our future.

For my followers, you should be able to click on the picture and enlarge it to see it better, if you so choose.

June 4, 2017 - Route 66

Sunday--We reluctantly left the Brundiges behind and headed on up the road about 8:30 this morning.  Our first destination was the RoadKill Cafe in Seligman, Arizona, on old historic Route 66.

Breakfast was good, little pricey.  And of course there there was a gift shop.  The town of Seligman has several gift shops celebrating the old highway.  Right next to the cafe were storefronts of the bank, feed store, etc., and the jail.

Mazie blew a fuse in her CB right after we left the Brundiges but Joe was able to rig it up with some aluminum foil to get her back in communication.  Fuses goes on the shopping list.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon Caverns near Peach Springs, AZ.  This is the country's largest "dry" caverns, no stalagmites or stalactites in here. A constant temperature of 57 degrees (which really felt good!) and zero humidity. We took an elevator down about 210 feet (22 stories) and had an hour-long guided tour.  These caves were discovered in 1927 and have been on Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures.

They also consider this a bomb shelter and store disaster supplies down here, enough for 2000 people for 2 weeks, I think he said.  And you can make a reservation for a small fee!

Also, you can spend the night down here in the suite.  I think that was $850 and they are almost always booked.  The suite includes 2 beds, a sofa and chair, dining table, tv and sound system.  They have a lot of weddings down here too.

We finished that tour (we received a "Certificate of Completion") and headed on down Route 66 to "Keepers of the Wild Nature Park", a rescue park for abused animals.  The walking tour was 1 1/2 to 2 miles and it was 99 degrees outside, so we opted out of that.  The next safari tour (riding in open-air trams) wasn't for an hour and a half, so we all decided to save this for another trip.  We browsed the gift shop, then headed on into Kingman, and called it a day.  We arrived at our campground, Zuni Village, about 3:00 p.m. and just hunkered down.  Too hot to do anything else.  We only drove 145 miles today, but we thought that was enough for a first day (I guess this is our second "first day").  But we left home last Thursday and we are not even out of the state of Arizona yet!

The Beginning of the 2017 Excellent Adventure

First of all, a big shout-out to Cathy Croxton and Joe Myers for getting my 2017 blog up and running.  Although they make their living by doing this sort of thing, I keep reminding Cathy this is a non-paying job, but she certainly gives me first-rate service.  So, thank you Cathy and Joe



We have finally begun our trip, but it has been a slow start. Our slow start is due to some health issues of Collins' and he can't get into the doctor until 6/7. So we are dragging our feet, or wheels, in the hopes that they can catch up with us next week. We've sort of been in this slow-down mode for a couple of weeks, finding different jobs to keep us occupied I guess -- we don't want to get too far ahead of them.

Mazie started us on a mission of CB antennas because the antenna they had was magnetic and would not stay on the fiberglass roof of their RV.  Mazie was researching CBs on the internet, then called Joe, who started his own research project.  He located a CB dealer (which Mazie had also found) just 4 miles from our house, so we went over and talked to him. We got our new antenna first, on Tuesday, 5/23, since we of course had to check it out before we could recommend it to our friends. Collins and Marilyn came down on Friday, 5/26, for a couple of days, with the main purpose of getting a new CB antenna for their RV. Unfortunately, they also had to replace their CB, so it became an expensive trip.  But that mission was accomplished and they left on Sunday. Dave and Mazie Johnson arrived at our house on Tuesday, 5/30, also to get a new CB antenna. So if we ever get on the road, we should be able to communicate.

Having gotten the CBs taken care of, we (the Johnsons and the Froeschkes) left on Thursday, June 1. But we only went 141 miles, to the Brundiges in Chino Valley. We have been here 2 days and will probably leave Sunday, although the hospitality here is hard to beat.  And in the meantime, we are helping Marilyn reduce the contents of her refrigerator and freezer!

But this is an excellent campground.  Plenty of room, with electric (although Joe and I are only on 20 amp, Dave got the heavy-duty plug-in). Collins' RV is still in the back, not packed yet.

Not only is this a full-service campground, it's also a bed and breakfast (and lunch and dinner).  And we have certainly made ourselves at-home.

So we spend our days just messing around, reading a little, playing cards (teaching Hand and Foot to the Johnsons).  Marilyn and I went to some garage sales on Friday while Collins gave Mazie some lessons on using a scroll saw (she just bought one, after their recent visit up here to the Brundiges).

Today (Saturday), Joe worked on our RV again -- still having trouble with our step.  Mazie got Lesson #2.  Looks like we should be ready to move on tomorrow.

Our plan is to head north to Grand Canyon Caverns, near Peach Springs, AZ for a tour. Then along historic Route 66 to Seligman and Kingman. Not sure of our route from Kingman, and we are hoping the Brundiges get good news at the doctor on Wednesday and will be able to head out to meet up with us, probably in Reno. This has been a tough year to get on the road, so many variables it was hard to know when to load, when to leave, and when the 6 Rusketeers will be able to regroup.  Hopefully, better days are ahead. Oregon and Washington -- here we come.

2015 Trip Summary (10-23-2015)

We have been home for a few days now, have the RV mostly unloaded, and the laundry caught up.  I would say I was going to do this final blog when the dust settled, but the dust is pretty well settled, and no one has wiped it up yet, so I decided to just get this off my to do list because I was curious about some of these things myself.

We drove 13,026 miles in the RV, and another 7,000 in the car, so we have driven 20,000 miles this summer.  We were gone 199 days, and we covered 27 states!  And 4 Canadian Provinces, and I stuck my toes in all five of the Great Lakes. 

And I got to check off some things on my bucket list:  New York City, Niagara Falls, Epcot Center at Disney World.    We did city tours of:  Cleveland, Columbus, Montreal, Quebec City, Boston, New York, and Washington D.C., and a personal tour of Ottawa (the capital of Canada) with Marilyn's sister, Sylvia.  

Other highlights include:  waterfalls-Niagara Falls being the most significant, but others in Georgia and the Smokies, and other parts of the country as well.  Basicilas -- 3 or 4 -- and they were magnificent!  Capitol buildings -- Columbus, Ohio; Lansing, Michigan; Ottawa, Quebec City, and the Capitol in Washington D.C.  Fishing -- a couple times in Tampa, a few days on the Indian River Lagoon on the Atlantic side of Florida, once in a campground somewhere in Canada, and my big catch on the Charleston Lake in Ontario!!!  That was a biggie!

Several boat cruises and ferry rides, in Michigan, on the St. Lawrence Seaway, in New York City.  My class reunion and 2 alumni banquets in Indiana.  And countless museums.  We saw lots and lots of things.

And we saw some friends and relatives we don't usually cross paths with:  cousins of Joe's; a family friend in Virginia, a previous co-worker of mine in New York City who was a great help, a great-niece-in-law, and Collins and Marilyns family in Canada.  

Collins set out our route, so we owe him a great big thank you.  Although he deserted us before New York City, and we definitely could have used a route there!   

According to my calculation (with lots of room for error), we bought 1981.717 gallons of gas, for a total of $4,849.59.  Our average mph was 6.573.  We spent $3,104.95 on camping, but we had a lot of free nights which helped a lot.  I didn't keep track of our other expenses, but we just know they were plenty!!!  When I calculated our budget, based on Marilyn's efforts and my adjustments for what I thought we might do in addition, and a guess of fuel prices, I came out $3.44 over budget!!!  That really gave us a chuckle, because we were about 2500 miles over my estimated miles.  So the price of fuel was really in our favor, and the fact that it started coming back down, or maybe stayed down, for our return trip home, was really a blessing!

So the 6 Ruscateers all returned home safely, even though we all separated along the way.  We all had a great trip, saw lots of wonderful things, and are all thankful to be home.  And now that I'm a scrapbooker, I have lots of material to keep me busy for the next year or so.

Heading Home (10-16-2015 to 10-19-2015)

Time to go.  While this whole trip was great fun, we are both really ready to be home.  So we said our goodbyes, and pulled out about 8:40 on Friday morning.  We had talked about some of the stops we "could" make (San Antonio Riverwalk, Historic Austin, Texas, and West Monroe, Louisiana to see Duck Dynasty), but once Joe got behind the wheel, we just booked!  We took I-75 up to Gainesville, then angled across on U.S. 27 to the Florida Panhandle.  We considered driving the coastline again, but decided to take Florida 20 to Freeport and then hook up with I-10.  We crossed the Alabama state line at 6:20 (5:20 local time), then through the tunnel in Mobile, and across the Mississippi state line an hour later.

We finally stopped in Gulfport, Mississippi for the night at 8:20 EST, basically 12 hours in the saddle today.  595 miles.  Two tanks of gas, totalling 103 gallons.  We did find out our RV lights are not overly bright!  We stayed at the Island View Casino parking lot in Gulfport, MS, and gambled just a little, shared a chef salad, and called it a night.  But we came out $15 ahead, so it was all a plus.

We were up early and on the road at 8:00 a.m.  It was 61 degrees when I got up, and the beautiful Gulf coastline was just on the other side of the casino.  I walked over and got some beignets from the casino for breakfast, and Joe washed the Florida (and Louisiana and Mississippi) bugs off the windshield.  He thought he requested "bug-proof" windshields, but obviously that didn't happen!  But he did have to put a jacket on to do his morning chores.  There was an opossum sharing the casino parking lot with me when I walked back with the beignets, but he stayed one aisle over, so that was good.

 We crossed the Mississippi River at 10:40 at the Port of Baton Rouge, then got into the Louisiana swampland.  LSU has a big football game tonight, and we saw lots of cars heading into Baton Rouge with their LSU flags flying.

 This "canal" is right between the two lanes of the highway!

 And another bridge!

We hit Texas at 1:15 CST and just kept moving.  Joe found a Whataburger for lunch, so he was a happy camper.   Texas, across I-10, is 880 miles long!  We buzzed through Houston, which is a crazy traffic city.  We were glad to be going through on Saturday evening, but traffic was still awful, and there are lanes going off the freeway to the left onto toll roads, and lanes going off to the right onto other highways or streets, so Joe really had to watch his p's and q's through here.  But, thankfully, we made it.  Houston seemed to go on forever, with at least 3 separate "downtowns."

Houston, Texas

Joe made a pitstop just about dusk and a grassfire had just broken out between the medium of the freeway.  We just got through it but it was spreading quickly, and several miles down the road we saw the emergency vehicles heading that way.  We were lucky to not get held up by that.

 We made it all the way to San Antonio, actually we went around San Antonio, and stopped for the night in Boerne, Texas, at 8:05 p.m.  612 miles today!  Another 12-hour day, 73 gallons of gas today.  Fortunately, we found cheap gas -- $1.829 and $1.809. 

And so now it's Sunday.  We are more than half-way across Texas.  We got another early start, 8:10.  I even relieved him behind the wheel for an hour today so he could sit in a different position for a while.  We had a pretty good side wind for most of the day, but eventually it moved around to a tailwind which hopefully helped the fuel mileage.  Today we fueled 3 times!!!  And the price started moving upwards.  $1.869, $2.109, and $2.039.   We just drove and drove.  We crossed the New Mexico state line at 5:30 (4:30 local time), which was sort of our goal for the day -- getting through El Paso.  but it was now only 4:30, way too early to call it a day.  We made it all the way to Deming, and actually stopped before dark.  We decided to get something to eat before heading to the campground, so we did end up camping in the dark, but we were basically off the road at 6:00 local time.  Last night we just pulled into a Walmart, but tonight we decided we needed electricity, since our inverter doesn't seem to last through the night for his sleep machine and the fan.  We stayed at a very nice campground in Deming, Lo-Hi RV Ranch.  And a new driving record -- 620 miles today.  But we are within smelling distance of home, so it's all been good.

And now it's Monday.  I was up before the sun, and we were on the road at 7:30, crossed the Arizona state line at 9:30 (8:30 local time).  YEAH!!!

It had rained here during the night, but it was sunny now.  We cut up out of Lordsburg on U.S. 70 to Globe, going through lots of small towns but that is the route we prefer.  We talked to Dave and Mazie and found out that they had gone back to Sierra Vista from the lake this weekend and were driving back up today, along this same route, so we arranged to meet for lunch at the casino in Globe.  We got there about 30 minutes ahead of them, and had a nice visit with them (and I won $50) before our last leg home.  We probably spent 2 1/2 hours there, but we still pulled into the house at 2:55.  274 miles today.

Home Sweet Home!!!