October 26, 2012

We drove through Oklahoma yesterday and Arkansas today following the I40 all the way.

 Tonight we arrived in Memphis, TN.  Here we'll stay for a couple of days, tour the area, see the sights.

 We went out for dinner upon arriving at 6:00. We parked the rig and car and walked the two plus blocks to "Uncle Lou's Famous Fried Chicken".... This is one recommended by Guy Fieri. It's in one of his "Diners, Drive-ins, Dives" books, and we were both excited to 'dine' there. He was right about the food - it's was great, tho all of it was fried - fried pickles, fried carrots, fried chicken......

 The service was great, the people very friendly. In fact, they were quite concerned about us walking in the dark back to our rig because this is a rough part of town, and the young man serving us "insisted" that he drive us back. What could we say - he wouldn't take no for an answer.  

So tonight we'll stay here in our rig in the parking lot of Dollar Junior, and tomorrow we'll visit Graceland!! Y-E-S !! I can hardly wait......

October 24, 2012

 "Old Town" Albuquerque

Spent a little time walking around Old Town this a morning. We enjoyed all the shops filled with indian jewellery, pottery and art.

 The famous "Balloon Festival" ended just this past weekend, so the streets were very quiet. Not sure if the merchants enjoyed the queit day as much as we did? 

We just sauntered about, snapped a few pictures, had a nice lunch.

We stayed at Hidden Valley RV Park in Tijaras, just 10 miles east of Albuquerque, so in the evening we drove up to Sandia Crest.

Sandia Crest, elevation 10,678 ft, is one mile above Albuquerque and two miles above sea level. From this point you can see in all diretions - 100 miles - on a clear day!! Unfortunately we never had a clear day, and with the wind it was very cold and hazy.

BUT,  I took a few pictures anyway. I was hoping to get a good sunset picture, but that didn't happen. It was so cold up there, I only lasted a few minutes and had to run back down to the car and warmth....

October 23, 2012

Meteor Crater  Windslow, Arizona

Today we stopped to visit and tour Meteor Crater, better known in the area as Barringer Crater.  It was a very interesting couple of hours. Here is a little history:

Fifty thousand years ago, a meteor ripped through the skies over the land we now call Arizona. Travelling at roughly 40,000 miles an hour (64,000 kilometers an hour) - 11 miles per second (18 kilometers per second) - it smashed into the surface of the high plateau. Within a few seconds, the resulting massive explorsion threw millions of tons of roch over the surrounding area, opening a crater three-quarters of a mile across and 700 feet (210 meters) deep. A shock wave of hurricane force winds flashed out in every direction, causing destruction for miles......

This test capsule, named Boiler Plate 29A never flew into space. Instead, the capsule was built in 1965 to tes the systems that helped Apollo space capsules float upright after splash-down at sea.

Michel and a piece of the meteor

The largest meteor ever found in the USA -

 
This is all that stands of the home, once owned by the Barringers, located on the rim of the crater. There is a good website that you can check out if you're interested in finding out more information about the Barringer Crater : www.barringercrater.com

There was a good group of people on this 'rim walk' tour, which lasted about and hour. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and quite the jokester..... photo shoot afterwards....

A panoramic view of the Meteor (Barringer) Crater

October 20, 2012

Hi everyone - hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I know we did.

We left home on Wednesday, October 17th. Gone for the winter to warmer climes!! Our destination this year is Florida. But we decided to head straight south to get some sun before we head east.... We had three days of beautiful driving weather, sunshine!! No rain - No snow!! First night we spent in Grangeville, Idaho. The second night we met up with friends Rich and Tina in Jackpot, Nevada.

The third night we spent at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge (we stayed there last year on our way home). It was pretty full. Only half of a double site left available, so we pulled in behind a couple with Idaho licence plates. What an interesting couple! Patty and George Reynolds, from Anywhere, USA.... They've been living 'on the road' since 1976 when a great flood claimed pretty much everything they owned, except the trailer they were now pulling. They've been everywhere, done everything - and still going strong!! We always say "you gotta get outta your rig and say hi to your neighbour" - you just never know who you'll meet along the way!!

Today we arrived in Laughlin, Nevada. Here we'll hang out until Monday when we begin our eastern trek. The temperature was 80 degrees and tomorrow it's suppose to be higher......YES!!

Bye till next time - thanks for reading!

October 6, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Enjoy your turkey and have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Click on the turkey!

September 15, 2012

We've spent a lot of time in our gazebo this summer. We've had quite a bit of company and quite a few camp fires with and without company. We find it so peaceful and almost surreal to hear the creek rushing by as we watch the fire spark and dance in front of us.  




We've got good friends who enjoy it as much as we do.

So here to the right we have our good friends Steve and Doreen who came over Saturday night (Sept 8th) for a glass of wine (beer) and a little campfire sing a long (just the four of us). Always enjoy their company.... 

Sally, Helen and Barry

Ted, Norm and Hertha

 But this week (Sept 11th) we had a surprise visit from Barry and Helen, friends from Saskatchewan. We met them while working at Boundary Creek Prov. Park  3 years ago and haven't seen them since. It was nice to reaquaint ourselves and spend some time with them. They were camped in town with friends Ted & Sally and Norm & Hertha. So we had a few more campfire visits and a few more glasses of wine- lol.

 

Remember earlier in the season (June 11th) I posted a picture of a little petunia in a great big pot? -  - well, baby look at it now!!! It is so big you can't even see the pot it's in. I was so surprised at how huge it got, and it's only one plant. The lady at the greenhouse told me this "Supertunia" would grow massive, but I didn't believe her - the joke was on me ....love it!!!

That's all for now - until next time - thanks for reading!!

September 2, 2012

This weekend we had a visit from my BFF Deb and her husband Len Wald from St, Albert, AB.  Deb and I go back almost 40 years, and even though we only see each other a couple times a year - it's like we've never been apart when we get back together. We just pick up where we left off - Gotta love having a friend like that... I sure do.

The weekend went by much to fast, as ususal but we managed to get in a lot of talking and laughing. We had two evenings by the campfire. We even made it to the Greenwood Saloon on Sunday afternoon for a pint, after a marathon shoppping tour of downtown. Had a great weekend - thank you Deb and Len - you are always a pleasure to be around!