Apache Trail

We happened to trade emails with Bob from Enchanted Valley Ranches - when he heard we were in Apache Junction he wrote, "Have you ever taken Apache Trail to Roosevelt Dam?? Nice drive." From that innocent beginning came a very memorable New Year's Day. Thanx Bob! We thought we were taking a 30-40 mile drive to see a dam. Little did we know we were taking a road described as "a narrow dirt road for much of the way, clinging precariously to the sides of the cliffs of the Superstition Mountains. The trip is truly not for anyone with a weak heart or who really hates heights." According to Theodore Roosevelt:

"The Apache Trail combines the grandeur of the Alps, the glory of the Rockies, the magnificence of the Grand Canyon and then adds an indefinable something that none of the others have. To me, it is the most beautiful panorama nature has created."

What a great way to start 2005. We didn't get a good picture of the dam, but, how about this bridge?!? The Roosevelt bridge. And then ... just around the corner is Tonto National Monument. There's cliff dwellings here!

Happy New Year

Our goal for New Year's Eve was to find an RV park with a spa. We found Carefree Manor, it has a spa AND it's a Passport America park. What we didn't bargain for is the beautiful 'Superstition Mountains' that are nearby. You can see them in the background: The 'Lost Dutchman State Park' is very close and has some really nice hiking trails. Correction to last weblog post: as the commenter correctly pointed out - adding leaf springs will not change our Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. We will not magically be underweight. But, it does 'beef up' the rear end and, as a practical matter, make it much safer to carry the weight we do. If this issue is important to you, I highly recommend participating on the "Open Roads Forum". This is a large group of RVers with questions - and answers - on everything to do with the RV lifestyle.

GVWR - Gross Vehicle Weight Rating

We left Quartzsite yesterday and drove to Phoenix where there is an RV chassis repair place where Lynne and John went to have leaf springs added to their back end. It sounded like a good idea, so we figured we'd have ours checked out too. The issue is how much weight can a motorhome hold. When we first bought our motorhome, we were very impressed with the amount of storage space it had. As we learned more though, we realized that it has a lot more storage space than it has weight carrying capacity - if we filled every storage area we'd be dangerously overweight. Every RV comes with a GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). Ours is 14,050 pounds. We've heard stories about RVs that come off the assembly line weighing more than their GVWR! Can you imagine that? The minute you step foot in it, before adding any belongings, you're overweight. Something to be aware of when you buy an RV! Ours isn't that bad. We have everything we own with us and, according to the technician yesterday, we are only a couple hundred pounds over. Not bad, we could probably get rid of some stuff if we worked at it. But, we could also have them install one more leaf spring on each side and then we'd be underweight!! What do you think? We plan to live in this thing for years to come. I say go for it.

Home keeps getting homier

We've done more remodeling in our 30 foot motorhome than we ever did in our house. You've seen the pictures of my 'office'. The motorhome came with a couch on the port side of the coach. We took that out to make way for my computer station and filing drawers. All the while, Jim has been using the dinette for his computer. He's complained at how uncomfortable the dinette bench is for sitting and his laptop sits on top of the table, making it way too high for typing. So, while we've been here in Quartzsite with friends who have also done a lot of remodeling to their rigs ... He tore out the dinette bench so he could buy a regular office chair to sit in. Then he put the dinette table on a track like a drawer slide, so it could be pushed forward. Last, he installed a keyboard drawer big enough to put the laptop on. So, now he's happy because he has a real 'office' and I'm happy because we can still slide the dinette table back to it's original position for dinner. Our bedroom is getting decorated thanx to our watercolor artist friend Emily ... and some old tShirts. Emily has been watching our weblog regularly and really liked the photos from the Oregon coast - so she created her own version. I feel like we've been immortalized. Each morning I wake up and get reminded about our wonderful lifestyle and all the beautiful places we get to visit. And, that other people are sharing it with us by visiting our weblog. Cool! THANX Emily. As for the tShirts ... here's that story: When we sold our house and had to get rid of everything we owned, we were surprised to discover just how many tShirts we had. We threw them out, we took them to goodwill, we sold them at garage sales for 25 cents each and we STILL had lots of tShirts. So many of them had memories attached and, even tho we knew we'd never wear them again, it was just too dificult to toss 'em. I remembered the quilting lady who said she often made old tShirts into quilts. Brilliant! A memory quilt. I told her there was no hurry when I left her the pile of tShirts last April before we hit the road. Well, the quilt arrived just in time for Christmas. I love it. What do you think? Lynne and John left yesterday - headed to Florida where a job awaits them in Sanford (so, they're in our home and we're in theirs :-). We're staying here for a couple more days before going back to Palm Creek RV Park for the month of January. It's windy, rainy, and just downright stormy here in Quartzsite. It was a long night listening to the wind rock the coach and whip at the little awnings that we didn't bother to roll up. We did bring the big awning in - we learned that lesson the hard way when our first awning blew away in Florida. It is warming up tho - 60 degrees this morning instead of the 40s it has been. I think I'll go back to bed.

Christmas Road Trip

So, what do people who live on the road do on a special day like Christmas? We go for a 'road trip'! About an hour up highway 95, then 7 miles on a dirt road in the desert, there's a place called 'Bar in the Desert'. And, it's every bit as intriguing as it sounds.

No electricity - just solar power, water from what must be a very deep well, and recycling for everything. That's how you run a bar in the desert. And, you're only open during daylight hours on weekends. That included Christmas day. If you look closely at the roof on the left of the photo you'll see it is covered with solar panels.

Seating was all outside so the dogs could even join us. The weather was exquisite. We had a delightful afternoon. We even had live entertainment. There's also a cute little chapel on the property. No doors, no glass in the windows. I guess if it never rains you don't need it. Apparently, lots of people get married here. On the way back we stopped on the banks of the Colorado River. That looks like a pretty cool RV park. Did you notice the full moon on Christmas night? Only to be surpassed by sunrise the morning after.