Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada

We made it to Tucson but we’ve experienced a lot since the last posting. The Chapter-8 Ralley ended in Guaymas and the group of 50 or so Rvers split up into smaller groups and either headed back to the states or continued on to other destinations in Mexico. Our last day at the campground in Guaymas was devoted to getting some dental work done. I needed a crown and a filling. The total cost with two visits came to about $170. Not bad. We departed the Hotel/RV campground in Guaymas and rendezvoused with friends at a boondock site on the Pacific Ocean beach between Guaymas and the resort town of San Carlos. Boondocking is just parking somewhere and living off of the systems in the RV – no outside power, water, or sewer hook-ups. Sandi and I can easily go a week between times when we have to fill up our water tanks and dump our holding tanks. At this site we were just a few yards from the beach. Lots of birds, dolphins, sun, sand and not much more. We were with four other RVs that had made the trip with us to Quaymas from the states. Every evening a local huckster would stop by with fresh seafood and vegetables. A kilo (2.2 pounds) of huge shrimp cost about $7US but came with handfulls of fresh beans, squash, and grapefruit. The next night it was kilos of picked crabmeat.

We left the boondock site and headed south about 150 miles to Alamos and stayed in a small but nice RV park within walking distance of town. The RV park was quite nice. We were parked under comquat trees laden with fruit. Blooming bugamvillas boardered the park and every morning an extravigant bird show kept us entertained. Streaked-backed orioles, black-throated grey and Lucy’s warblers were common. Hummingbirds were abundant but moved too much for me to get positive identification. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and it just happened that Saturday nights are family nites around the plaza in the center of town. Virtually every Mexican town has a beautiful plaza with the church on one side and the govermnent buildings on the other. This was required in the 1500s when Spain was in charge. Alamos is quite an historic town. It was the capitol of the province when Spain governed all the territory north to Las Angeles, CA and Albuquerque, NM. The first 28 people to settle Los Angles made the trip from Alamos. Some of the buildings in the town date back to the 1500s. We strolled the town, ate some great food from vendors on the street and marvelled at the ancient buildings and walls. Sandi bought a beaded bracelet made by one of the local indian tribes. One day a few of us travelled out to a reservoir for more birding and saw hundreds of crested caracaras as well as numerous kingbirds, flycatchers and more unidentifiable hummingbirds.

We departed Alamos and headed further south to El Fuerte. The most direct route required traveling 15 miles of dirt road so we opted to take a longer route on the hard surfaced roads. The RV park was little more than a parking lot beside a hotel. El Fuerte is named for an old Spanish Fort that was built in the mid 1500 to protect the Spaniards from the local indian population. We toured the town and walked through some beautiful hotels that charge about $55 US per nite. We stopped at a hotel that overlooked the El Fuerte River for a cervasa (beer) and found the platio swarming with hummingbirds. broad-billed, violet capped, and plain-capped start throats were everywhere. The proprietor was bird literate and was quick to recognize our birding interest. He helped identify the hummingbirds and was quick to set up his spotting scope to point out great kiskadees, social flycatchers, and assorted orioles from his tropical deck. He invited us to come back in the morning for a better experience and introduced us to his brother, the real birder, who offered to take us on a birding safari. We joined him the next morning for a great birding trip. He took us to several habitats and we added northern jancanas and bare throated tiger herons to our life lists. By boat we travelled to the largest blue heron rookery I’ve ever seen with hundreds of pairs of blue herons and almost as many great egret pairs covering the trees. We hiked into the brush to see rufus-bellied chachalacas and some old Mayan petroglyphs.

El Fuerte is also the jumping off point to go to the Copper Canyon of Mexico. Several times larger than the Grand Canyon of the US this is a major Mexican tourist area. The most popular way to get there is by train so we bought tickets on the first class train with a dining car and a bar car and rode it to the town of Creel which is tourist central for the Copper Canyon. Mexico’s Copper canyon is about 4-5 times a large as our Grand Canyon and is deeper. The train ride was awesome as we headed from near sea level to over 8000’ above. We went from desert through oak forests to pine forests. We crossed some scarry narrow bridges and passed through about 50 tunnels, some nearly ½ mile long. We stayed two nights in Creel. The manager of our hotel (also the rail station attendant) was our guide who took us to Tarahumara Indian, or now known as Raramuri (those who walk through life), villages, and showed us some interesting rock formations (Mushroom valley, and Valley of the erect penises), waterfalls and great scenery.

We caught the train south from Creel to Bahuichivo where we chanced to meet Albierto Ciacceo and his wife who offered nights lodging at his little inn for about $17/nite. The fee included transportation from the train station to Cerochui (about 36 kilometers on dirt roads) and also a guided hike into a local canyon to see the waterfalls and a chance meeting with more Raramuri Indians out gathering wood. The Raramuri are noted for their long distance running skills. They can run 20 hours straight while kicking and hitting a wooden ball the entire way. The Spanish forced them into the mountains and to this day some family groups continue to migrate from the canyon rim in the summertime where they grow corn to the warmer canyon valleys in the winter. Some still live in caves but many are settling in small villages. The women all still wear colorful traditional garb but the men all look like cowboys.

Albierto took us all down to the town of Urique in the bottom of the canyon. The road literally hung on cliffs and followed switchback after switch back as we descended from about 8000’ to 1800 feet in about 18 miles. In the tropical-like canyon bottom, Sandi picked a fresh papaya, and I got to watch dozens of broad bill, violet-crowned and white eared hummingbirds before Albierto took us back up the mountain to the train station for our trip back to El Fuerte.

From El Fuerte we continued south, our caravan of RVs now down to two, as members each begin to head out their own way. Our travelmate is Randy Dolan from Colorado. We travelled to the resort town of Mazatlan and after a harrowing drive down crowded city streets, we finally pulled into a resturaunt (La Palapa) parking lot and received permission from the owner to stay there for $7 US per nite. We had a great dinner in the resturaunt and each had a tequila shooter, compliments of the owner. We strolled down to Senior Frog, a tourist souvineer outlet, and later the next day visited the Centro Mercado or marketplace where anything from avacados, to clothing, to seafood and meats, to spices can be bought. The place is an amazing kleidoscope of colors and an eclectic assortment of stimuli to the senses.

We left Mazatlan early Sunday morning to aviod the traffic congestion and travelled another 100 miles south to Teacapan. I thought we were in paradise. We passed through miles of palm tree plantations, saw many birds in the mangrove-surrounded wetlands and finally parked next to the Pacific Ocean at an RV park with a beautiful swimming pool, small cabins and a beach that runs north and south as far as the eye can see with no one else in sight. This is essential the ecotome between the tropical rain forest and the Sonoran Desert. Although staying longer was tempting, we packed up and after about a week on the beach, headed back north following the free roads most of the way. Back to Guaymas. I had a dental apointment to get my cap put on and while there we went to the market to get 50 kilos of rice and beans to drop off at the Catholic Church kitchen in Benjamin Hill. The priest was ecstatic and sent out for an interpreter who conveyed his appreciation. We drove straight through from Benjamin Hill to Nogales and then on to Sierra Vista where our car was parked. We remained there a few days then made the short drive to Tucson.

Tucson was supposed to be just rest and relaxation but we did some touring. We headed to the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, part of the Coronado National Forest, and while I was out hiking and birding, Sandi met the Volunteer Coordinator and got both of us “hired” as volunteers for early fall. Sandi will work at the Visitor Information Center and I will run a Junior Ranger program. They will give us a place to park our RV for a few hours each, and we get to enjoy Tucson on our days off. We also headed to the Saguaro National Park (west) and the Saguaro Desert Museum. This is an awesome zoo and deserves much more time that we gave it. We’ll return again on our next pass through Tucson. After nearly a week in Tucson we began our trip toward Yellowstone. Sandi has been selected for a volunteer position at the Madison Junior Ranger station and I will be working s a seasonal ranger in the same district.

From Tucson we passed through Phoenix and stopped for one night at the North Ranch Escapee Park in Congress, AZ. This neat, not so little, community of Rvers has daily activities. We went to the ice cream social and learned that last week they had a woodcarving convention with about 100 carvers and this week is dedicated to beading and over 100 have signed up for those activities.

From Congress our route took us over the Hoover Dam. What a trip that was and it filled a lifetime wish of Sandi’s. We are staying at the FamCamp at Nellis AFB (Home of the USAF Thunderbirds) and it is wonderful. We took a day and drove to California and through the Death Valley. What a beautiful place. We have made a mental not to return and spend a week sightseeing and hiking. The salt flats at over 250 feet below sea level are intriguing and the colors on the rocks, especially along the Artist Drive and at Artist’s Pallet are almost un-natural. We followed Twenty Mule Team Canyon Drive and saw unbelievable rock and dirt formations and also visited the Parks’ visitor center at Furnace Creek and learned of the geologic and human history of the valley. The 300 mile drive made for a long day but the scenery we saw crossing gaps in snow-capped mountains and the broad desert valleys was breathtaking and made the trip very worthwhile.

Last night was our night out in Vegas. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas but we’ll admit that we went to Ceaser’s Palace and had a diner and a show. Seeing Elton John life was great. He is an awesome entertainer and the show with all the lights and videos was a real experience to say the least..

This rather long epistle brings us up to date. From here we will head north through a few National Parks in Utah, we’ll Spend a little time in Salt Lake City, and will fly back East for a much-needed Grandkids fix. After returning from our visits with family we will continue on to Yellowstone National Park, where we will spend the summer.

Texas to Mexico

From Arkansas we passed through eastern Oklahoma, then to San Antonio to visit with friends, my boss from Vietnam days and his wife, before we headed further west to Arizona. They took us to a nearby campgroud that they belong to and we had an enjoyable time feeding the deer. We continued south through Big Bend National Park for a few days of relaxation, hiking and birding and then headed west.

We made it to Tucson where we spent about a week enjoying the Arizona sun. Tucson is a great town. We stayed at the Fam Camp at Davis Monthan AFB and know why it is the number 1 rated military campground. During our short stay there we had three of our RVing friends whom we haven’t seen in well over a year, stay in the campground. The visit was short but fun. Sandi and I went up into Sabino Canyon in the Sonora Desert and also drove the Mount Lemon road to where either chains or four wheel drive was required somewhere near the 6000’ foot elevation point. They were forecasting 22’ of snow above 7000’ and we did not want to see snow that bad. Back in the valley I managed to get in a few more rounds of golf including one with Gen Don Sheppard, my former boss and one of the best supervisors I ever worked for.

We left Tucson for Douglass, Arizona where we rendezvoused with members of an RV group we belong to – Escapees, Chapter 8,”The Mexican Connection”, for an annual rally into Mexico. We spent several days preparing in Douglass with some great food and special events in Douglass and Agua Prieta, Mexico, Douglass’ sister City across the boarder. They are actually one city that has an international boarder passing down the middle.

Sandi and I were team leaders so we got to lead a six RV caravan from Douglas to Guaymas, Sonora. It was a non eventful trip with most of it being on either four lane highways or very good and straight two lane roads. This is a trip we’d take again if we could convince any of our RVing friends to venture into Mexico.

In addition to acquainting folks to Mexico and the wonderful Mexican people, one of the missions of Chapter-8 is charity. This year we will give between $10,000 and $12,000 to various needs that our charity committee finds. In Agua Prieta a home for the elderly and a rehabilitation center each received gifts from us. Each of these are projects supported by the efforts of volunteers and both had needs that few of us can imagine. At the rehab center, men in one room slept across beds that were just patio chairs with a few blankets and pillows. At the old folk’s home, the patients lay naked between their sheets on wash day when their only set of clothes is washed.

Our mid-point overnight stop was in a town called Benjamin Hill. Children came out in droves to see us. The younger ones very eager to walk people’s dogs and the high school aged kids wanting to practice English, some carrying Spanish-English dictionaries. The town threw us a festival with cultural dances and singing in the town square, a part of every Mexican town I’ve ever been in. We visited the church and heard from the priest through an interpreter. He has a daily kitchen for the poor and feeds 40 – 65 people a day, many children. For most, this is their only meal. When our charity chairperson asked him what we might do to help, he said his greatest need was for beans for the kitchen. Each day he never knows if he will have any food to serve on the next.

We made it to Guaymas (way’ mas) and played and partied and ate to excess. Located on the Sea of Cortez, this place is beautiful. Mountains meet the sea and birding has been exceptional. Some of our group went fishing and except for one tuna and a handful of smaller fish that were served up on the boat in fish tacos, they caught several Humboldt Squid. These Giant Squid (up to 30’ I’m told) have been known to attack divers. Needless to say, calamari is a common menu item around here.

We will head further south and expect to stay in Mexico until about the end of March when we will head north toward Yellowstone National Park. I have been offered and have accepted a position at Madison as a seasonal ranger and Sandi is hoping for a volunteer position at the Junior Ranger Station at Madison.

We’re having fun but miss seeing you all. Keep in touch.

Jay & Sandi

Alabama to Texas

Happy New Year.

We are on the road again; this time heading westward with no place to get to in the immediate future and no particular time to get there.

Since the last posting, I continued to mow greens and play a lot of golf and lowered my golf handicap to 12. Sure would like to drop it down to a single digit number. Shooting a rare round every now and again in the 70s has been fun but I would like to see that happen more frequently than two or three times a season. That probably won’t happen since my 3-4 rounds a week schedule will probably change to less than 3-4 rounds a month since we pulled out of Alabama. Sandi has finally finished one of her quilts in time to give it as a Christmas gift to our son. The quilt was made of a collection of squares made from his old corduroy pants and strips of velveteed from an old bathrobe of Sandi’s that she wore when Bill was growing up. I wonder what project she will start next.

We recently travelled by car to Maryland for a visit with Bill and his wife Ann, and Marisa and Sam, two of our grandkids. It was a short but wonderful visit. Our daughter Jayme brought the other two grandkids, Braelyn and CJ from Alabama and all four of them got to interact together. It was a great, warming show for Sandi and me. Unfortunately Jayme’s husband Chris was unable to get away during the busy Christmas retail season.

For the Sunday after Christmas, we all went north from Maryland to Pennsylvania for a surprise birthday party for my Father. Nearly 100 people showed up to wish him a happy 90th birthday. It was great getting together with so many friends and family members. This was the first time my folks had seen their youngest great-grandchild and was probably the first time in a real long time that they had my brother and I with our entire families together. We got great photos of my parents, their two kids, their grandchildren (4), and great-grandchildren (4).

Sandi, Jayme, and I made the 880 mile trip back to Alabama in an evening and a day. We were all tired after the trip. For the past several months, Sandi and I have been battling a series of flu-like illnesses that ranged from a mild cough to pneumonia. Looks like we have finally put those behind us. Sure hope that getting to a warmer and drier climate gets us back to being healthy enough to get out and enjoy. The time finally came to depart Alabama. We had been in one spot for the longest single time in our RVing history. We have made several car trips up to Maryland and Pennsylvania and took a three week break to go on the cruise, but the rest of the time we have been here babysitting and playing golf. Having this much time with the grand kids has been special. What a treat to be able to see then maturing. We are so blessed. As good as it has been, it is time to move on. .

We left Birmingham on Saturday and stopped briefly in Red Bay, AL for some minor RV maintenance and a parts pick-up. We then crossed Mississippi into Arkansas. Our plan was to head northwest to Branson Missouri but icy roads put a quick end to those ideas and we headed southwest to Hot Springs.

We pulled into the campground in the National Park for the night and headed into town the next day. We liked the hot springs. This is the first natural area protected by the federal government and was later made a national park. We toured the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center that is operated by the National Park Service. No bathing is available at the Fordyce so we went to the Buckstaff which is the oldest continuously operating bathhouse in the park. It is one of two bath houses that are operated by concessionaires in the park. This was a new experience for Sandi and me. The Traditional Bath and Massage that we enjoyed included a whirlpool mineral bath in water from the hot springs, a sitz bath, hot packs, a pin shower, steam sauna, and a Swedish massage. We went separately into either the men’s or women’s area and were introduced to our attendant. Swimming suits are not required and to wear one would take from the experience. The attendant catered to our every need, providing towels for drying off between treatments and sheets to wear roman-toga style to move from treatment room to treatment room. We both found the experience exhilarating and will probably return again.

From Hot Springs we went to Murfreesboro, AR to stay at the Creater of the Diamonds State Park. This is the only diamond mine in the US and the only mine in the world where the public is able to collect diamonds and keep what they find. The 37.5 acre field is an old volcanic cone that erupted several billion years ago bringing the crystals to the surface. After a few hours of searching, our only treasures were a few tiny and worthless quartz crystals. The dozen or so folks that were “working” the mine included tourists like us with no knowledge of what we were doing to enthusiastic rock hounds to some professionals who actually try to make a living out of the hobby. Bill Williamson a professional has witten a book and published a DVD on Diamond mining in Arkansas (diamondsinar.com). One professional showed me two he had found in recent days. He sells most of his finds to tourists. Over 70,000 diamonds have been found some over 40 carats. Although most are not of the highest quality, one 3 carat diamond scored a perfect 0/0/0 and was cut to a 1.03 carat stone.

A season in Alabama

I guess time flys when you are having fun. It has almost been four months since our last blog entry but we doubt too many folks have been anxiously awaiting a new posting. We are about to depart Alabama for our next adventure and it seems appropriate to at least bring this blog up to date before we go any further. When we arrived here we had planned to spend time with the grandkids (as well as with our daughter Jayme and her husband Chris), catch-up on some RV maintenance, and play some golf. We will leave here knowing we have done all the above and more.
GRANDKIDS ARE GREAT
It has been awesome watching the grandkids grow. CJ, too small to come home with his Mom after birth 4 months ago, has eaten himself into a healthy little chunk. At the rate he is going, he’ll be the little brother only because of the two year difference in age and not because of size. He is a treat to be with. He has a sparkling grin that warms your heart every time you give him the least bit of attention – look at him, touch him, hold him and he smiles just shy of a giggle.
His big sister, Braelyn, loves JC dearly. When she can hold him she beams. When she returns from day care, her first action is to check on JC. She is the little Mommy and we believe she would even be capable of changing his diaper. Her vocabulary is increasing daily. All grandparents think they precious little ones are the smartest, but this little girl can count (not just say her numbers) in both English and Spanish (Let’s hear it for Dora the Explorer), she knows all the letters of the alphabet and when she tries, she even colors inside the lines. Her little brother’s smile is only surpassed by the perpetual pleasantness of his bigger sister. She always seems happy although she is starting to think that a little whining might be a means to and end. While running down the gravel lane in the RV park she took a nasty spill. She got up, brushed away the bits of gravel imbedded in her hands, said “ouch” and smiled before running off again. No child should be this good but it sure makes for fun grandparenting.
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
After the 6-month routine maintenance is completed next week, the RV will be ready for travel. We installed a braking system in our TOAD, (the car we tow behind the RV) as well as a screen that stretches between the RV and toad to reduce stone damage. When we sold our old jeep, the windshield was severly pitted, as a result of following the RV.
Jay never did get a position at the Robert Trent Jones golf course but he ended up as a greenskeeper at a local countryclub. Pay was poor but all his golf was free and by playing 3-5 times per week, he has been able to get his handicap down to a 13 and it is still going down. He’s been shooting in the low 80s consistently and has even turned in a round or two in the 70s. That’s great golf for him.
EVERYONE SHOULD GO ON A CRUISE


Although this life style has us on a perpetual vacation, we took a vacation from the RV and flew to Los Angeles where we boarded the Monarch of the Seas for a 16 day cruise with stops in Puerto Vallerta and Alcapulco, Mexico; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Cristobal Pier in the Panama Canal; and Cartagena, Columbia in South America before landing in Miami. There were too many highlights to talk about but Costa Rica was our best portcall. Toucans, king vultures, and a few sea birds added another dozen birds to Jay’s life list. The food on board – both the quality and quantity will long be remembered. Although Sandi has managed to get back to her pre-cruise weight, Jay has only dropped 3 of the 12 pounds he put on. We did like the food!
In a few weeks we will park the RV here in Alabama while we drive the toad to MD and PA for some family time, celebrate some holidays, and then return only to hook-up and head west. Right now we do not have a destination in mind and have no idea when we expect to get there. We want to pass through San Antonio but the weather will determine if we leave here and head northwest through Branson Missouri before heading southwest or take a more southerly route.
As much as we would like to find a volunteer position at one of the parks in the southwest, most of the positions are already filled and the likelyhood of getting a seasonal ranger position (one of the prioroty items on Jay’s to-do list) is slim because of the timing. We may just bounce around the southwest during the late winter/early spring season. Jay will be trying for a seasonal ranger position in Yellowstone National Park this coming summer.