Sedona

To get to Sedona from the north, you take highway 89 south of Flagstaff. This takes you very steeply down into Oak Creek Canyon. Yikes! But Jim was well prepared for this drive because he'd already 'flown' over it using Google Earth. Using satellite photography, Google Earth can actually simulate the view from your car window and 'drive' you along a specified route. It's something you download to your computer and it accesses images from the web. It's a lot more detailed than the plain google map, but even the google map shows a lot: We decided to splurge and stay at an RV park right in Sedona. Rancho Sedona - cost about $40/night (once you add the dog fee and the taxes), but we're able to walk right out our door and take a hike:

Bagdad Cafe, Laughlin and Joline

There's so much to tell you about when we're travelin'. And less time to do it! In the last post I told you that we had found the 'middle of nowhere'. I was wrong. Here it is. US40 in eastern California goes for over 100 miles without so much as a gas station. And, we didn't plan for this of course. We thought we were going to be limping into Needles on fumes, then a gas station appeared out of nowhere . But, we had to pay $3.65/gallon. Luckily they only took cash, so we could only get $25 worth ... that's less than 7 gallons! Just over the Arizona border, it went down to $2.25/gallon. We had breakfast at the world famous Bagdad Cafe. No, really ... it IS world famous. I saw the movie, probably 20 years ago and loved it, but it is a cult classic in Europe and Asia. People do come from all over the world to see this broken down dive of a cafe on route 66 in the Mojave desert. The owner spends more time taking customer's pictures than taking food orders. You feel like you're entering a time-warp when you walk thru the door. Two separate parties of customers from Japan visited while we were there. If you saw the movie you know, it's all about *magic* ... and it is. Our destination was Laughlin, Nevada, to meet up with our friend Joline. Look at this town: It didn't exist when I lived in Nevada in 1980. The bridge was built in 1987 and 8 new hotel/casinos were added to the one that was already there. People do love to gamble. Joline was here to see the UFO conference. Joline was the first person I ever met who had a Datastorm 2-way Internet dish on her RV. She met my mom years ago at another conference, and the 3 of us went together - in Joline's RV - to the Prophet's conference in the Florida keys in January '03. Actually, I think that's where our plan to live in a motorhome was hatched. The dream had existed for quite some time, but the idea that it could be reality took hold then. The message I got at that conference was that, not only is it OK to follow your dreams, it is each individual's responsibility to follow their dreams. That's what we're here for. Do it! It's your job. Thanx Joline and Mom! Joline wanted Jim to check out something on her Datastorm while we were there. It checked out fine, so we had plenty of time to visit and enjoy a buffet at the casino. There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but this was pretty close. $9.99 and a one-time $2 off, for all you can eat AND drink, including wine! We just spent the one night there and said goodbye to Joline in the morning. Parked just across the street from us, we saw a very unusual site. Another Safari class C. We've only seen one other, and it had a different paint job. This one looked exactly like ours except it was shorter. Check it out. We spent quite a while talking to the owners, and they love theirs as much as we do. Theirs is 24 feet and ours is 30. The difference is that ours has a dedicated bedroom, where they need to sleep in the cab over. But, theirs actually has more kitchen counter space and a bigger bathroom and closets. They don't live in theirs full-time like we do. They have several acres and a house in Washington state. They are spending a month in their motorhome, and starting to miss their house already. We're off to Sedona today!

The Middle of Nowhere

Ever wondered where the 'Middle of Nowhere' is? Well, we found it! Actually, we've stayed in this park before. It's a Passport America park which means half-price ($12 for the night with water and electric.) It's just east of Barstow. The nearest town is Newberry Springs. The Bagdad Cafe is here. We're back in the desert. And, Odie loves to run in the desert. Don't know what this is - but it was pretty in the setting sun. Here's our site ... waterfront no less!

Leaving the Coast

We planned to spend a month in the San Luis Obispo area. And we did. Now it's time to head back to the 'other' coast. We need to be in Florida by first of May in order to be ready to go with my Mom on a dive trip to Fiji. Pretty cool huh? A dive trip to Fiji - her treat! We'll be on a boat called the Nai'a. Check out their website. Please don't wake me. I have to remind myself that, just a few years ago, the prospect of taking 1-2 months to travel across the country in an RV would have been a 'someday' dream. Something to wish for, make plans for, and envy others for doing. Now, it's just 'matter-of-fact'. Let's see, we're in California. We need to be in Florida mid-April, first of May. OK, let's go. Pinch me. We're going to stay south, sticking pretty close to I-10 the whole way. With one specific detour to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Our friends Andy and Diane say it is a 'must see' and we've driven by it 3 times now! We left the Pacific a couple days ago it was kinda rainy. Are we in Ireland? You'd think so from the rich green rolling hills just east of San Simeon. This reminds me, I need to show you a couple photos that I missed posting earlier. In this same green rolling hills area, Liz took me to a friend's home to show me around. Her friend actually has 2 houses on a few hundred acres! One house they live in, the other they rent out to private parties. Here's the 'party house'. If you want more information on the house, they have a website at www.cottontailcreek.com Liz has reserved this house for a party the first week of May. I'm invited. Actually, it's a reunion of the 'Downhill' group. This was a group of friends who used to go backpacking once a year in Big Sur. Liz found a trail where we could spend 3 days hiking ... downhill. Too bad the timing doesn't work for me to go. It sure is beautiful though. Bye for now Lizzie!

San Simeon State Park

Once in a while, you get a day that dreams are made of. Like on Star Trek episodes where the crew get shore leave on a planet that’s remarkably like earth. The sun is shining, the grass is green, the birds are singing. And, their loved ones have been transported to this garden of Eden to spend the time with them. Maybe they even film it thru gauze to make it look like a dream. Or like … Yesterday We were just about the only ones in the whole park. And, we had all this nice grass around our rigs. Lynne even gave in to the urge to do a cartwheel. I think it had something to do with proving that a birthday doesn't mean you're getting old! We had both planned to leave after just one night, but, by noon, we were all still just putzing around and enjoying ourselves, so we stayed. There's a nice trail going from the campground all the way to the beach. And, what's a hike without a geocache?