We found Summer!

We are so blessed to be in the desert region at this time of year. To see the wildflowers covering the desert floor is amazing. And while hiking we are treated to splashes of color that is wonderful. Below is a pic of the South entrance to Joshua Tree NP. The variety of flowers surprises me. The news out here says that the blooms this year are the best since 1994. Lucky us. We have been hold up here in Tucson by two factors: Kate and Harps wonderful hospitality and the summerlike weather this week. Temps have been in the 70's and 80's. Les is in 7th heaven.


Here is picture of a Joshua tree in bloom. They were very interesting, a relative of the yucca plant, and we were again blessed to see them in bloom.


Here is a picture of my Aunt Kate and Uncle Harp with my cousin Jeff. He was participating in a Civil War reenactment at Picaho Peak near Tucson. Jeff is an avid history buff and has been doing reenactments for a long time. Les and I enjoyed the battles, first time for us to be a this type of event.


My cousin Richard was kind enough to take us to the Pima Air Museum, the 3rd largest air museum in the country. It was very nice and I learned alot. Nice to know that I'm still learning. :-)


Friday we will head east to Carlsbad Caverns in NM. Continuing our journey home. Just hope the weather cooperates.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

California Speedway, Fontana, CA. Les gets to take advantage of his Christmas present. After being preped by taking a ride around the track with the staff to see where they were to place the car and having a class where the particulars of driving were explained. Les was assigned car #11. And the fun began!!!

Pam and Joe came out to visit us and witness the racecar experience. Here is Pam giving Les some advise, "Don't hit the wall." Sage advise!

Strapped in the car and ready to go! Les said that once you were in the car and ready to go out, he had no room to move. He really has an appreciation of a driver's experience, a little anyway.

On the track and manuvering the path. The driving experience was really great for Les. He said that while on the track he had no chance to look anywhere but the track! Took a lot of concentration to keep the car in the right grove when moving at those speeds. They didn't clock them but said they could go up to 130mph. This track was D shaped and a 2 mile track. That meant 2 different types of turns which made the drive more challenging. Les mentioned that he didn't use the brake even once while on the track.


Here is Les after exiting the car, notice the big grin. That stayed for quite a long time. I'm so glad it was a good experience.

Can you tell it was a good day for both of us?


Thank you Pam and Joe for the visit in CA and the wonderful days of exploring. We are in Tucson now, staying with my Aunt Kate and Uncle Harp. It is nice to stay in a dwelling that doesn't move! When we left the Riverside County park, Rancho Jurupa, we stopped at Joshua Tree National park for 2 days. We were treated to the desert in full bloom of wildflowers. I will try to update the slideshow in a few days with some pics of them and the flowers here in the desert in Tucson. We plan to stay here 4 or 5 more days then continue to work our way home.

Parker, AZ Buckskin SP

Can you spot the Aliner in this picture? It is parked at a riverside cabana to the left side of the picture. This is Buckskin SP, on the AZ side of the Colorado River. Wow, are we loving this cg. After the last two that were so close to the interstate, this park is quite different. I’m really enjoying being on the river. It is so nice to sit and watch the ducks and sun sparkling on the water. Sort of like the cabin porch. The weather here is very nice. The temps are in the 70’s in the shade, but in the sun, much warmer. Luckily, we are here when the boaters in all the campgrounds that are PACKED along these river banks aren’t. The campground is full everyday, but still quiet. We are really enjoying the cabana that we have. Just 15amp electric, and a super view.


This SP is quite nice and has a very nice hiking trail. We are really blessed by getting to see the start of the blooming of the desert. The ground is covered with thin green grass and the flowers are popping up in some areas like a carpet, yellow and purple. I’m hopeful that in a couple days the blossoms of the prickly pears will open and those of a desert shrub that are all over the place, they are so close now.


Had to show you one of the cooks at the Chili Cook Off we attended in Quartzsite Saturday. There were about 21 cooks there vying for the title of winner. Les was more than happy to help with the tasting! He did get into a salsa that was super hot, his eyes were watering for awhile after that one. Luckily, I didn’t get that one to taste. Yes, not only was there chili but they also had salsa. After we had our fill of chili and salsa, we headed for the Bluegrass Festival that was at the grounds. A very nice day.

We decided to stay here at Buckskin until Thursday and then head to the Riverside County Park we will stay in for Les’s Speedway adventure. Here in Parker, the public library also offers free WiFi. That is such a nice service to travelers! The interpretive center here at the park has books to trade like most parks do, but also videos to loan. Tomorrow an ice cream social is planned! I added some new pics to the slideshow on the right. This continues to be a super time.
PS: Spotted an Aliner in the La Paz County park just a few miles from here while riding our bikes. No one was around. That made 4 Aliner sightings on the trip so far.

Quartzsite, AZ

This place is interesting. The population is about 300 in the summer but 100,000 in the winter with 75,000 RVs and huge swap meets and all kinds of events at any one time. We are here at the off season for the winter, that is good for us, being that we don’t like crowds. There are still lots of vendors to look at and this weekend there is a chili cook off with 50 cooks from around the country competing along with a salsa competition. Les will like that. Also, there is bluegrass bands scheduled. I’m looking forward to that. Just hope the weather cooperates. Today it was close to 80o but this afternoon the wind started to gust and temps seem to be dropping and rain showers are predicted. The little A is rocking with many of the gusts! I just hope that it settles down by bedtime! We had a special treat this evening with a total lunar eclipse. I tried taking pics but I don’t have a wonderful camera. It was really neat.


No, Les has not grown! This was one of a series of miniature houses at the Stagecoach museum in town. Rock collecting around here is very big. Gem Shows are very popular. And if you want to stake a 40 acre claim to mine for gold, you can still do it here. We spoke with a fellow in our campground who worked a claim with a buddy yesterday. He was not successful after shoveling dirt all day and processing it, but the fellow who owned the claim said he usually had better days. Claims are advertised here for sale. Gold fever anyone?


This was a very interesting camper just down the road from us. I can’t imagine putting those items out? And if you look in the camper, there are more of the same there. He must be a good customer for these vendors here.


I like this picture, it makes me feel tall! Here I am with Mom and Aunt Kate. Kate and Harp were so hospitable to us while we were in Tucson. We are hoping to return here on our trip back east to see them again.


Here is a super surprise! Pam and Joe will join us in Riverside, CA to witness Les’s race car experience. We are camping at a nearby county park and they are staying with friends just minutes away. This is super. Oh, we are seeing tons of Nascar trailers heading west on I10 today and yesterday. We got on the web and saw that there is a race at the California Speedway this weekend. Maybe they will warm it up for Les?? We plan to stay here in Quartzsite until Sunday and then stop at a park or 2 before going to the speedway.

Tucson AZ

This picture was taken at during a hike on the Grapevine Hills trail in Big Bend NP. We had a super time in that huge park and will return another year to explore areas we didn't do this trip. After Big Bend we drove northwest to Davis Mountain SP for a night. Very pretty area, but the snow that was forecast moved us on. From there we went to Hueco Tanks State Historic Site, pictograph location, by El Paso. We spent only one night there and moved on I10 to Tucson, AZ to meet up with Mom and Uncle Harp and Aunt Kate. We arrived Friday and will leave Tuesday. We are experiencing our first private campground here in the city. We are not impressed. Les said he felt like he moved into a mobile home park. This cg is very well kept and the facilities are super, but wow, not for us. It is located up against I10 and a VERY active railroad line with many intersections. That means lots of long whistle blows! Heading for the state parks Tuesday!! Of course, having this time with family makes up for the cg! Kate and Harp have been super hosts. Our plan is to follow I10 and be at California Speedway for March 1st. That is Les's appointment to drive a race car on the track. Thanks for checking up on us!

This is Robi on the desert trail to the hot springs. A 6 mile roundtrip hike from the Rio Grande Village of Big Bend NP. I'm learning some important lessons: 1) Watch out for wildlife (i.e. rattlesnakes, javelinas, coyotes) and 2) Desert plants BITE! Most of the plantlife here are covered with spines and needles that would put any suringe to shame! We also are careful to carry plenty of water. That sun can get really hot. Of course, sunblock too.

Robi in the Rio Grande with a hot springs built in it. The river was very cold but the hot springs were 105o. The springs had been used for a spa many moons ago. Hikers get the pleasure of using it now. NO, I didn't swim the river to Mexico.

During our off road camping experience, Les used the animal food storage box as an observation tower to scan for wildlife in the desert.

OK, we couldn't totally stay away from the white stuff. Ran into this snow while crossing a mountain pass before Tucson.

Big NP Bend

Toasting Big Bend! We are really enjoying out time here. Very isolated. This connection is the only one in 100 miles. I'm on the patio of the Lodge with a veiw to die for! We spent 4 days in Rio Grande Village (south east corner of the park). The weather has been fantastic. Sunny everyday, daytime temps close to 90o and evenings in the 40's. Big change but that is the desert I suppose? Today as we packed up, the wind really began gusting. We are told a cold front is moving through. Darn! That campground was a no hook up cg, but we wanted to have an "off the beaten path" experience, so we moved to the desert. Our little A is set up 3 miles off the main road, down a freshly graded dirt road I'm afraid. LOTS of dust to deal with when we leave there. We will sleep with the javelinas and the coyotes tonight!


Big Bend has been wonderful for great trails and scenery. This picture was taken on a 6 mile roundtrip hike through the desert to a hot springs. It was a super hike and even better to have the treat of soaking in 105o hot springs for awhile then stepping into the cold Rio Grande which flowed next to it. We are having some wonderful experiences.


This was our first view of the Rio Grande. A 3 mile trail took us to this beautiful overlook.

This is a pic of a roadrunner from Laredo. We have many that came and visited our campsite in Big Bend also.

We will leave Big Bend tomorrow we believe and continue working out way west. Les will drive his race car at the California Speedway March 1st, so that is our only real goal. Be in touch as soon as we can.

Moving North

This SP in Laredo, TX is extremely hot! 95o yesterday and the same today. Les is very happy and Robi is glad Les is happy.  We see rabbits, quail and roadrunners close to our campsite. The lake here is for catfish fishing. Weekends the air is filled with mesquite BBQ smoke from all the day users and campers. But the sound of construction equipment, a very popular gun range, and an airport located across the road from the park entrance detract from the atmosphere.
We have really enjoyed the State Parks overall, good spacing and bath houses and good people. Many have been very close to residential and commercial areas. It appears that the urban sprawl is catching up to the parks.


The Aliner is performing like a charm. During the colder, wet weather early in our trip, we figured out how to be comfortable in the camper without totally tearing down the beds. (We use both sofa and dinette beds.) I am so pleased with the ease of towing. Our Honda Odyssey (V6) pulls like nothing is back there. The added security of trailer brakes helps our stopping. Luckily we have not had any panic stops yet.

We are so please we brought our bikes. This picture is from Mustang Island where we could ride miles on the beach. Not only are they good for exploring the area, but riding beaches and to bathrooms when you can’t get a site close by. 

We head to Seminole Canyon SP tomorrow. Close to Del Rio, TX. After that to Big Bend NP. We will do some dry camping there. Oh, anyone coming to TX and planning to use the SPs. Texas offers a pass for $60, that is good for a year and you don’t have to pay the $3/person/day fees. Well worth it if you camp 10 days or more.