April 30th - Chattanooga, TN

Today started out wonderfully slow. For breakfast, we each had an extra large croissant that we picked up from The Fresh Market yesterday, orange juice, and coffee. The showers at this campground, Best Trav-L Park, are wonderful. Very spacious with tons of hot water and there is even a bench built into the shower stall that functions as a useful shelf.

We spend most of the late morning preparing for this weeks travels into the Great Smoky Mountains. Water tank has been filled to the 1/2- level, propane and gas tank is full. We spent an hour at the grocery getting more food than we will need.

We decided not to go the Ruby Falls and Rock City, two of Chattanooga’s much advertised attractions. We did ride the Incline Railroad to the top of Lookout Mountain. Two cars counter each other along the 1-mile route. The incline is said to be the steepest of any railroad in the world at more than 70% grade near the top. When you are on the car, it looks more we were going straight up.



The view from the top is spectacular. Chattanooga spreads out at your feet and the Tennessee River twists and turns along its valley. A short walk from the upper train station leads to Point Park National Military Park. This was a key site during the civil war. You have a sweeping vista of the Tennessee River as it winds it way thru the valley.

We had dinner at the Petrofina Restaurant that is located just a few blocks from the camp.
It is a larger family style restaurant that has menu entrees as well at a salad/soup/pizza bar. It was good and definitely filling.

Tomorrow we head to the Great Smoky Mountains. We will probably be without WiFi until we return to Chattanooga on Friday or Monday.

April 29th - Chattanooga, TN

We woke to a beautiful morning of clear blue skies. This is the first day in about 5 that we haven’t had cloud cover.

When in Chattanooga, the first tourist stop has to be the Chattanooga Choo Choo. This is the old Chattanooga Train station that has been converted to a hotel by Holiday Inn. They have done a very nice job keeping the elements of the original station intact. The station waiting area is now the lobby with the old ticket counter service as check-in counter. Most of the old tracks have been removed and the area converted into a garden. The awnings that covered the passenger area remain. A few of the original station tracks remain and now hold old-time private rail cars that can be reserved for overnight stays. Each car has been updated and modified to include full baths with showers, sitting areas, and bedrooms.

Two of the tracks form an open loop thru the garden area where an old Trolley travels. For $2, you can board the Chattanooga Trolley for a 30-minutes ride back thru time. The conductor tells tales of the old times while traveling at 5-mph. His jokes were corny but his manor of delivery was very entertaining.

Next stop was the downtown visitors center. We were a little concerned about finding parking for the Roadtrek in the downtown area because of its height --- it doesn’t fit in most parking structures. Several open-air downtown parking lots are scattered around the riverfront area. Most were level so we weren’t even concerned with leaving the refrigerator running. The visitors center staff was helpful and provided some discount coupons for attractions around the area. Other tourists also provided input.

Chattanooga has the only museum in the world dedicated to tow trucks. It has a good selection of truck --- I can’t give a good estimate, maybe 30? I can remember a few of the models displayed but most predated me --- I know that’s hard to believe. Other service station items were displayed, like old gas pumps. I can remember fond times operating pumps like ones displayed. All the pumps were unable to register more than 99-cents per gallon --- that was also a fond memory.

We had lunch downtown at the Easy Seafood Restaurant. Mary had the Crab Cakes and I have Eggs Benedict. I take pictures of all the restaurants we’ve enjoyed on this trip. I didn’t take pictures of this place.

The afternoon was spent riding around the Tennessee River on the Fat Cat water taxi. The taxi runs from one side of the river to the other. It also includes a loop around MacClellan Island and travels below the Bluff area where the Art Museum and some very expense homes are located. We boarded the Fat Cat at the city pier and went across to Coolidge park, where the carousel we rode yesterday is located. Of course we had to take another spin. The park was filled with families enjoying a sunny day. The fountain near the carousel was overflowing with the sounds of children having fun.

The waitress at the little Italian restaurant we eat at yesterday told us that the Fresh Market near Hamilton Place mall has very good tiramisu, so we had to go shopping there. I’ve never been to a Fresh Market before. If I hadn’t looked at the store name before going inside, I would have thought I was in a Whole Foods market. We took a piece of tiramisu back to camp along with a piece of Strawberry Torte, and a Chocolate Éclair. All were good!!! Of course that wasn’t the only thing we had for dinner. We also bought a small package of Sushi. It was also quite good.

April 28th - Huntsville, AL, Lyncburg, Chattanooga, TN

If I ever go back into the business world, I think I have a winning invention --- travel filters. These are glasses that filter out all the McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and other mass marketing chains that make the country look homogenized. If you aren’t careful, you can drive thru small town America without seeing what make each unique and special.

Our glasses aren’t limited to just chain restaurants. Click the control lever to the next level to filter WalMart, super markets, car dealers, and RV dealerships. Clicking the control one more time to filter all the billboards that say, “McDonald 10-minutes ahead”, “McDonalds 5-minutes ahead”, “McDonalds Next turn”, “Go Back, you missed our McDonalds”.

Today Mary did all the driving. So, I was able to observe America as she passed my window. After a few hours, the scene became a blurred of fast food, car dealers, and super walmarts. When we entered a new town I was actually disappointed when their Walmart wasn’t a Super Walmart. I have to add, the vast majority of Walmart stores we saw were Super Sized.

Our first stop was the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, TN. The Jack Daniel’s visitors center was modern and comfortable. High open beam ceiling and wood floors gave a county welcome. Many displays told how grain and water is turned into whiskey. The personal story of Jack Daniels life was given in an entertaining way. The factory tour lasted about 1-1/2 hours and contained all the sights, sounds, and of course, all the aromas that accompany each stage of whisky manufacturing. Lemon aide was served at the conclusion of the tour … no sampling.

We walked the four-block area of Historic Lynchburg. All the old buildings were filled with the normal tourist junk found in all “Historic” districts. Only the city name printed on the t-shirts were changed to make them so unique and special. At least the ice cream served at Princes Parlor was good.

We arrived at Chattanooga in early afternoon. Our campground, the Holiday Trav-L-Park is the first large scale RV Park that we’ve stayed at on this trip. We were assigned a spot in the very back of the campground, which worked well for us, since no one else was near. The bathroom is a bit of a hike but we found it to be clean, clean, clean. I know it isn’t new but it appears new in every way.

The afternoon was spent walking across the riverfront and Bluff area of downtown. We parking in North Chattanooga, walked across the Walnut Bridge and around the outside of the Hunter Museum, and surrounding neighborhood.

It was prom time Chattanooga. All the teenage girls were decked out in their finest. It was obvious some were walking, better make that attempting to walk, in high heels for the very first time.

Returning across the Walnut bridge, we discovered the Coolidge Park Carousal and had take a spin.

Dinner was at a little restaurant, Mama’s Italian Villa. Mary had a personal size veggie pizza and I had the Manicotti. Both were good and the restaurant had all the charm of an italian trattoria. In some ways, it reminded me of a place we had a couple meals when we were in Florance, Italy.

April 27 – Huntsville, AL

This morning we went to the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. It was just a short walk from our campsite. We both were a little disappointed. After going to the Space Museum in Alamogordo, this one appeared to be more glitz and Hollywood designed to appeal to the 12-year old. Very little science was presented and I found one whole section dedicated to Dr Von Braun to be upsetting. Not a single word was said about Dr John Goddard. You can see pictures our here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/WA6MUU/20070427USSpaceRocketCenterHuntsvilleAL

We have a little more shopping to do in Huntsville. We stopped at the local Walmart to get a few things and have the Roadtrek's oil changed. We are at the Atlanta Bread Company for lunch and WiFi.

Tomorrow, we are off to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, TN and end the day in Chattanooga, TN. Mary has already made reservations for 3-days at an RV Park that has all the amenities including WiFi. After looking at everything to do in Chattanooga --- including riding the Chattanooga Choo-Choo --- I’m sure we are going to be too busy to use WiFi very much.

April 26th - Huntsville, AL

If ever a rating is established for the nicest, friendliest, and most pleasant place in the world, I’m sure Huntsville would be included in the short list. The people always seem to be wearing a smile, greet you will a pleasant hello, and will [almost] always patiently wait while us out-of-towners figure out where we want to go; this is especially evident while driving.

Our trip from Gadsden to Huntsville was about 70 miles of good road. As we prepared to leave our campsite, a light mist started falling. After just a few miles the mist turned into a moderately heavy downpour. At times the raindrops took on the size and shape of golf balls. I’m sure someplace in the fine print of our yet unread GPS users manual are words that say, “accuracy may be affected by weather”. For a while we were sure the little lady living in ours was having a stroke. She couldn’t decide which road we were on, kept changing her mind as to our direction, and continually said, “recalculating”. We finally had to turn her off and resort to the primitive practice of map reading.

We traveled thru some beautiful territory including crossing the Tennessee River. The countryside is deep green everywhere. Nature refuses to allow any little bit of earth to show through. The Tennessee River forms a massive lake that highway 431 crosses. We were wondering if this was part of the TVA project. I’ve always been interested in the times, methods, policies, and politics of the TVA. We need to see if there is a visitor centers that discuss the TVA project nearby.

Our first Hustsville stop was the visitors center. The little lady in our GPS had recovered from her conniptions, and guided us to the center. The only problem was railroad-crossing construction along the roadway that had the street blocked to traffic. We could see the center, so decided to park the Roadtrek and walk.

Arriving at the Visitors Center, where we were greeted by our first Huntsville smile. We didn’t learn of any additional places that we wished to visit but did learn of an RV park adjacent to the Missile and Space Museum. The lady at the visitors center tried to call the RV park 3-times but the line was always busy. We also got a recommendation for a breakfast restaurant.

Returning to the Roadtrek was interesting. The railroad construction had progressed so that the entire roadway was blocked even to walkers. The construction crew saw our problem and MOVED their equipment so we could return to our RV. Huntsville courtesy shines again.

The Blue Plate Cafe recommendation was a winner –. I had cheesy grits, biscuit and gravy with a couple of eggs on the side. Cheesy grits taste like regular grits with melted Valvita blended in. I’m not sure if that’s the recipe but the taste would be very close if prepared that way. Mary had her normal Blueberry pancakes. They were good but where’s the adventure?

On the way to breakfast, Mary called the RV Park and managed to snag 2-nights. That way we can visit the Missile and Space museum during tomorrow’s good weather and run a few errands today.

The RV park is only $18 per night with 30-amp service. No cable TV but we were able to watch CSI with our built-in antenna. The sites are paved and well spaced and it is green, green, green everywhere. I wonder if we will get as tired of green as we did the desert vistas of just a few weeks ago?

Costco gas: $2.709

Total Miles traveled: 3726 --- time for an oil change.
Total Gallon of gas: 269
Total fuel cost: $767.70

MPG: 13.85

April 25th – Gadsden, AL

Gadsden appears to be a nice little town, although we aren’t going to have time to investigate further. This morning we went to a wonderful coffee and desert shop called “The Grind”. Free WiFi, good coffee, and delightful scones made for an enjoyable morning.

We spent the remainder of the morning at Noccalula Falls Park. We arrived at the park entrance at the same time as 3 school buses jammed full with little ones were unloading. Surprisingly, all were well behaved. The park has many sections connected via a miniature locomotive with several passenger cars.

Our interest is a waterfall that tumbles 90 feet from an overhanging cliff. The hiking trail down to the foot of the falls also winds behind the falls and continues along the other side. The park map said this was a loop trail but after getting lost a couple of times on the other side, we decided to follow the road back along the canyon edge.

We spent the afternoon back at the campground, catching up on laundry, reading a little, and I’m hoping for a bit of a nap before evening.

April 24th – McCalla, AL to Gadsden, AL

This really is about our time in Birmingham, AL. We started the morning at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. It is a superb garden with paved and wood chip paths. The garden is divided into sections, each representing a locale or theme. Southern Country living was nicely presented with gazeboes and setting areas surrounded by beds containing plants that do well in this area. Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and Iris were well represented. They have what appears to be an extensive rose garden but that area was closed for spraying.

Next stop was the Original Pancake house for breakfast. This is a chain that started in Portland some years ago and has been spreading nationwide. The menu is just about the same as it was when we first ate in the “Original” Original Pancake house in Portland. Our favorite, the Apple Pancake, is made in the dutch style, oven baked with plenty of apple slices, cinnamon in a rich buttery batter.

We just had to stop at a little place right in downtown Birmingham – The Peanut Depot. They roast their peanuts right in the shop. We picked up a pound of freshly roasted peanuts for our travels.

(Peanut Roaster)


We wanted to take the Mercedes-Benz factory, yes, their only US factory is located here, but the tour was not available until Thursday morning, so we decided to continue our travels.

We are staying the next two nights at the Noccalula Falls Campground. Nice place just outside of Gadsden, AL. The rate is only $18 with 30 amp service and cable TV.

Tomorrow we are going to hike around the Noccalula Falls park.

The tracker seems to have developed a problem. It doesn't sound right. Wish I had brought a second unit to diagnose the problem. All I have is another 2-meter rig, I really need a TNC to see if the signal is being transmitted correctly. Guess I'll work on it will we are in the campground.

April 23th – Vicksburg to McCalla, AL

I know we said we were going to limit our driving to 200 miles per day but there was so little to do and see in Mississippi. At least, there was little we were interested in doing or seeing.

We stopped at the Mississippi Petrified Forest. It sounded interesting and in some ways, it was. It is a small private museum with an easy to walk trail running thru the back area. Of the 26 stops along the trail, 20 or so marked large pieces of Petrified wood. All the pieces are believed to have been washed into this area millions of years ago and do have noticeable wear and rounding on the ends, just like the logs we find along the pacific coast. The coloring is unremarkable. Primarily gray with fairly good texturing. The rock and fossil collection in the main building is good. We especially like the fossil collection that included a dinosaur egg and a mammoth tooth.
(Ryan: We both hope you enjoy these pictures)

Our next Jackson, MS stop was the Mississippi Agriculture Museum. This museum advertising said it had a “collection” of Crop Duster airplanes that turned out to be only 4. But the quality of the display and the accompanying video was worth the stop. The re-creation of an old county town with a rose garden was well done. I was especially interested in the gas station and print shop. They also had a petting zoo where we met a goat and saw a few cows. I guess Monday isn’t a good day to be a tourist.

We stopped at the Oak House in Jackson, MS but it was closed Mondays. Little else attracted our attention before we stopped for the night at the Flying J in McCalla, AL. Yes, we are now in Alabama.

We don’t mind staying in Flying J truck stop. Many others complain about the truck noise but we haven’t found that a problem. The only problem we found at this location is the diesel exhaust fumes. The truck parking area is upwind with more than 30 trucks idling their engines. The resulting fumes are flowing straight thru our RV. I tried to find an alternative location but the trucks had the entire RV parking area flanked. There was no escape with nature intervening. Fortunately that only lasted for two hours before the wind changed direction.

April 22 - Vicksburg, MS

Finally, we have a down day. Time to sit around, catch our breath, read the newspaper, take a nap or two (make that three, I’ve already had two), do a little trip planning, send a few emails, and just relax.


We paid for another night at Magnolia RV Park. It’s a comfortable park with free WiFi, well spaced sites, pleasant staff, and clean facilities. The rate is only $21.18 per night.

We decided to slow the pace a little. That was always our plan, to get across the Mississippi River and start our more leasurely vacation. We hope to only drive about 200 miles per day. That way we can spend more time outside the Roadtrek.

I also hope we can start spending more time walking than eating. At this point in a trip I would have lost 5-pounds instead of gain that much. I’ve had too many crab cakes, chocolate malts, banana splits, breakfast and lunch buffets, and cookie and milk for my own good. But they all have been good.

Gas prices in both Louisiana and Mississippi have been in the range of $2.689 to $2.789. That’s much better than the $3.25 we paid in California. As of our last fill up in West Monroe, LA, the Roadtrek overall MPG stands at 13.98.

We’ve traveled a total of 3,255 miles to get us to Vicksburg. I guess there’s only about 9,999 miles remaining.

April 21 – West Monroe, LA to Vicksburg, MS

The morning started out slow. Mary and I are both showing signs of exhaustion. We’ve decided to have a down day tomorrow or the next day for sure.

We spent almost 2-hours over a cup of coffee and WiFi at the Coffee Bean shop in West Monroe, LA. Even when traveling, finances must be handled. Of course doing email and updating the blog and Picasa foto library was included.

The Biedenharn Museum and Gardens in Monroe, LA are worth spending several hours walking the grounds and taking the tour. This home originally owned by Emy-Lou Beindenharn is now a museum showing the history of the family’s involvement with CocaCola, their history and the history of that time. The home was built in 1913 and has been remodeled several times during Emy-Lou’s life. When she died in 1984, the home was converted into this museum. See : http://www.bmuseum.org/main.htm Pictures are not allowed inside the main house, so our pictures are only of the garden.

A quick stop at a Sonic Drive-in in West Monroe was next. This is a newer Sonic so the Roadtrek fix under the awning without a problem. We’ve had to stop short in a Sonic a week ago because the awning was only 8-foot 2-inches high and the Roadtrek is 8-foot 6-inches. By the time our order, banana split for me and a hot fudge sundae for Mary was delivered, both were melted and not all that inviting. Also, the nut topping we ordered were missing. I returned Mary’s complete sundae and most of my banana split. New ones were delivered after a while. I can’t say the condition of the new ones were much better but at least the nuts were added.

We crossed the Mississippi River into Vicksburg in the early afternoon. We spend a short while in the Vicksburg National Military Park. That was all I could stomach. I just keep asking myself “why do we build memorials to our stupidity?” That war could have so easily be averted; so many lives lost, so much suffering, so much cost. For What? For those who think the Civil war was about slavery should think again. That was the reason given to try to justify that war. It was the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” saying of that time.

We settled into the Magnolia RV Park in Vicksburg. Tired and feeling saddened by what we saw.

April 20th - Shreveport to West Monroe

We were unable to get an RV Parking space for another night at Diamond Jacks in Shreveport, so we continued our travels. In one way that’s good, we won’t be tempted by another buffet meal.

Natchitoches has a historical town core along the Cane River. Early construction was strongly influenced by the French. Red brick buildings with iron grillwork lined the street. Most had been tastefully restored to preserve the historic appearance. I only wish they had practiced conservative sign control. Brightly colored flower filled hanging baskets along the street. We arrived when they were preparing for a Jazz Festival for the weekend. We would have stayed for acoustic jazz but the size and number of speakers being unloaded drove us away.





Near town is a recreation of Fort St. Jean Batiste. We arrived at the same time as a busload of high school kids. I think that was the best part. All the kids were well behaved—well almost all of them. Very few seemed interested in the presentations or the buildings. I can remember field trips and can understand their interests being elsewhere. The construction techniques were moderately authentic. Guess it’s hard to pass safety rules and regulations while employing methods dating back 300 years.



Several Antebellum plantations are open to the public within the Cane River national heritage area. The first one we visited was the Oakland plantation. We arrived 10-minutes after the group of kids from the Fort arrived. Several of the parents smiled and waved their hellos.

Oakland plantation has been well restored without too much modern presentation glitz. It was still difficult to understand what life would have been like back in the times when the plantation was in operation.

We decided to bypass the next plantation, Melrose, in order to spend more time at the final one, Magnolia. Our mistake. The Magnolia plantation had been taken over by a film production company for three months and would not be open to the public again until late May. I wonder who’s political campaign fund benefited?

Our next stop was the Louisiana State Political Museum in Winnfield, LS. Winnfield is the birthplace of Huey Long and the entire Long family. I have been hearing about Huey Long for more than 40-years. This museum was delightful. There were presentations for all the great, and not so great, Louisiana politicians and state figures. Huey and Earl Long had the largest presentations but memorabilia and campaign buttons for what seemed to be every politician that ever climbed out of a Louisiana bayou was here.

We were tired by the time we arrived in West Monroe. We dined along the banks of the Ouachita River at Gabbeaux’s restaurant. My crab cakes were wonderful; Mary’s dinner wasn’t quite as good.

April 19th – Shreveport, LA

Shreveport is not a town you want to arrive at with RV campsite reservations. We phoned and drove around to four place but all were full because of an air show at the air force base and other events going on around the area. Our best hope was to wait for a no show at Diamond Jacks on the Boosier City which is just across the Red River. We didn’t just sit in the Roadtrek although at times I wish we had. The Diamond Jacks casino was offering 50% off their breakfast buffet for those 50 and older. I am well established in that group and Mary has crossed into that range a few years back. We didn’t make total pigs of ourselves but we did put away our money’s worth of vittles. My veggie omelet was very tasty and the selection of other tempting delights was good. I guess the omelet I saved from yesterday morning will have to continue to wait in the Roadtrek’s refrigerator.

At 11:30 we did get a spot for one night, so we had to hurry and see the sites of Shreveport in just a few hours. Our first stop was the Rose Garden. I’m not sure how many acres the gardens cover. The walking paths lead you from one garden setting to another. Each garden had either a sculpture, statue, sundial or water feature as the focus with surrounding beds of roses and other flowers. Azaleas and iris were the most well represented flower after the roses.

Our breakfast was starting to wear off when we return to Shreveport. We spotted a sign saying Sam’s town casino offered 50% off their buffet for those in the 50+ age group. That fact having been previously established, we once again ate way more than we should have. The food was very good, just like Sam’s town buffet in Las Vegas. The desert selection was to die for. It would have been impolite not to try several of the items they offered.

We spent the afternoon walking along the Shreveport side of the Red River shoreline. The city built a park with water fountains for kids to play, and amphitheater used of I don’t know what, and a walk way along the river’s edge that had the most interesting stainless steel rose sculptures --- buds and full flowers.

April 18th – Ranger, TX to Shreveport, LA

Yesterdays rain and thunder left the sky covered in clouds. This makes for nice driving conditions when you are heading into the sun. Alice’s sister, Mary, met us at the Ivyz restaurant in North Richland Hills, TX. The food was good and plentiful. I ordered the veggie omelet with grits and a biscuit and gravy sides. I could only eat the grits, and biscuit and gravy. The omelet is still sitting in the RV refrigerator. Mary didn’t have the heavy side orders, so made a bigger dent in her omelet.

A lot of my allowance flows into the Texas Towers amateur radio store in Plano, TX, so of course I had to stop in to see what the place was actually like. Like most amateur radio stores, it was small and well stocked with equipment and accessories. I almost bought a new antenna for the RV’s APRS locator transmitter. Then I remembered that I wanted to keep that installation a stealth as possible --- no use in advertising “equipment inside”.

While we were traveling, Tim Butler called to ask us to stop at his house along our way. It was only a few miles away from our route. The traffic along I-20 became more stop than go because of construction. So we pressed the magic GPS detour button and that box guided us along some interesting back roads to our destination.

An hour or two of talking about Roadtreks and travels pass quickly. Tim and Yvette were marvelous hosts and their house was very comfortable. They own a very nice 2005 Chevrolet 190P.

We were hoping to reach Shreveport this night but the traffic on I-20 really tired us out. We stopped for gas at a Flying J that is about 15-miles before Shreveport. We both looked and without saying a word, we spend the night right there. Shreveport can wait until tomorrow.

(I'm not adding pictures because it takes too long. See pictures on Picasa site.)

April 17th - Hobbs, NM to Ranger, TX

It was a quiet night in the Hobbs Wal-mart parking lot. We weren’t sure how comfortable we would be given the surroundings but that didn’t seem to stop either of us from getting a good night’s sleep. Having a McDonalds just a few steps away from where we parked was very convenient last night but this morning at 5:30 am, we decided to drive over for our morning cup of coffee.

Hobbs is only a few miles outside of Texas but that few miles makes quite a difference. Hobbs is desert. Once across the Texas border, the view took on shades of green. The further we drive the greener it became. Vast fields of wild flowers are in bloom covering the landscape in colors of purple, blue, orange, and red. Finally, the southwest desert is behind us.

It’s interesting how the desert ends and the green begins. For the first 50 or so miles, cactus grows under the trees. The further we travel into Texas, the cactus gives way to grass, wildflowers, and more trees.

Texas doesn’t have many “Rest Stops” but every 30 miles or so we came across picnic areas with tables and trashcans. Thankfully we are in a fully self contained RV --- if you know what I mean.

Our first stop today was Abilene. The listing I downloaded from FreeWiFi.com has several places that provide wifi for the price of a cup of coffee. Java City, across from one of the universities in Abilene, is one such place. We each had decaf cappuccinos with our internet service.

Abilene has a historic walking tour that we took. The buildings, dating back to 1920, 30s, and 40s, have all been renovated but the outsides appear original. The historic district is located in a clean and well maintained section of the city.

We are staying the night at RL RV park in Ranger, TX. It’s a nice smaller park with the units spaced at least 20-feet apart. Our space rent was only $15 and an extra $2 for WiFi service. Mary is off doing laundry in the Free laundry facility. No supplies are provided and I don’t think they are available anyway. We always travel with a few Tide “blocks”.

We just had our first Midwest thunder storm pass over. Moderately heavy rains with wind, lighting, and thunder came down for about 30-minutes then it stopped just as quickly as it had started. That was fun...

Gas price in Abilene: $2.789

See more pictures on our Picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/WA6MUU/20070417HobbsToRanger

April 16th – Alamogordo to Hobbs

Since the New Mexico Museum of Space history doesn’t open till 9am, we decided to enjoy long showers this morning at Roadrunner RV Park.

The Space History Museum has both outside and inside displays. The outside area has many missile on display although not a many as the White Sands Missile Museum and, sadly, the missiles are again mostly military. Once inside the museum, you are presented with many floors of peacetime space history. For space nuts, like myself, this is a must see. For more information see: http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/




"What, no CD player"


Our next stop was Sunspot, the National Solar observatory located on Sacramento peak above Alamogordo. http://www.nso.edu/

The road to Sunspot is a relatively drive. It was a surprisingly gradual climb without tight hairpin turns or steep inclines. We saw a small herd of elk grazing along the roadway.

The visitors’ center has a very good presentation with hands on demonstrations. Entry fee is only $3 for adults. For us seniors, it’s only $1 --- a real bargain either way. We also took the free self-guided tour that covers most of the telescopes. You can even go inside the telescope building and watch the scientists working. The view overlooking Alamogordo is worth the drive up the mountain.

Once we were down from Sunspot, the New Mexico landscape returned to desert as we traveled east on highway 82. The smell of crude oil covers the area between Artesia and Hobbs. An uncountable number of “walking beam” or “rocking beam” pumps cover the landscape for a far as we could see. We always thought of Texas being the oil state, but New Mexico seems to have its share.

Hobbs and the surrounding area seem to be economically depressed. I can’t actually put my finger on why we feel that way. It’s more a feeling than something tangible. We spent the night in the Hobbs Wal-mart parking lot. At first we were a little uncomfortable because there was only one other camper spending the night. One nice thing is the McDonalds that is located in the parking lot, about 50-yards from where we are parked.

I couldn’t see my APRS unit being repeated so I don’t think the signal is reaching the Internet. I tried to make a contact on my 2-meter rig but the Repeater handbook doesn’t show a repeater in the Hobbs area. Even several scans across the band failed to turn up a single signal.

Gas price in Hobbs: $2.879

I’ve posted our Alamogordo to Hobbs pictures on Picasa.

April 15th - Deming to Alamogordo

Today, we start driving east from the continental divide: It’s all downhill from here.
The scenery hasn’t changed much, still desert. I’m amazed how far the desert stretches. It seems to go on and on. It’s easy driving in the comfort of our Roadtrek. We talked about the hardships that the early settlers must have faced when they crossed this territory or when they first settled here.

The clouds and rain we had two days ago have pass. The sky is a clear, crisp blue but the “purple Mountains Majesties” are covered in a Blue-Brown layer of smog. The temperature is warming to a very comfortable mid-70 range. The wind starts blowing about 10 am and continues into the late evening hours. It does push the Roadtrek around a bit.

Our first stop is the White Sands Missile museum located a few miles east of Las Cruces, NM at the headquarters of the White Sands Missile Test range. I wanted to see the V-2 rocket on display.

It’s amazing to think how an instrument of war has grown in two directions… increasing our ability to wage war and bring improvements of our everyday life thru Satellite TV, GPS, Weather forecasting. I was sorry to see this museum only celebrates the destructive capabilities of missiles and very little was said about the constructive benefits.

Next stop was White Sands National Monument. The sands are truly white and in some vistas extended to the horizon. There is a play area inside the monument where kids were using snow disks to slide down the dune slopes. It looked like great fun.

That’s White Mountain in the background. White Mountain is the ski area for New Mexico.

We are staying at the Roadrunner RV Park in Alamogordo for one night. The entire facilities, including bathrooms, are kept clean. The sidewalk from our site to the main building is cracked and broken making it hard to walk at night without a flashlight. Wifi is available in the laundry area. A small table and two uncomfortable chairs are provided.

Gas price in Deming: $2.79
Overall MPG: 13.78

April 14 - Gila National Monument

We left the comfort of our Deming Walmart RV Parking place early this morning. We want to visit both sides of the Gila National Monument and that required a lot of driving over very narrow and winding roads.

The west side of Gila NM features the Catwalk, a walkway built over a creek. It provides an interesting perspective of the narrow canyon and rocky creek bed.

Working windmills can be observed at several places along the road. Spinning in light winds, pumping water into tanks.

Being on the west side, this water surly flows into the Colorado River. At one time I could say into the Pacific Ocean but all the Colorado River water is used for drinking and agriculture before crossing into Mexico. Of course, the United States has a treaty with Mexico to provided a set amount of water but we have never lived up to that treaty --- or just about any other treaty we’ve signed on to.

The drive from the west side to the east side of Gila retraces the drive from Silver City. Then from Silver City to the Gila Cliff Dwellings is over even narrower and winding roads. The view is spectacular with many pullouts provided.

The 1-mile Cliff Dwelling hiking trail loop takes you thru the under the dwellings. Once at the far side, you climb up the canyon wall to reach three dwelling chambers. You have some access into the buildings.

We returned to Deming via an alternative route that proved to be an easier drive then the route from Silver City.

We spent the night at the Deming Wal-Mart --- in the same parking space.

(I'm running out of battery power --- see all the pictures on our picasa site)

April 13th - Tucson, AZ to Deming, NM

We left Tucson early in the morning hoping to snag a couple tickets to the Katchner Caverns tour but no such luck. We were told we could stay the night in the campground and try early the next morning. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem but they required you to drive out of the park and line up at the park entrance. If we could have walked to the entrance and wait our turn there was a good chance we would have done that. Instead, We decided to drive on to Deming, NM in preparation for our visit to Gila National Monument on Saturday, April 15th.

The drive from Tucson to Deming is about 200 miles of high desert driving. A few miles outside of Tucson, we crossed thru more hills built from gigantic boulders --- just like the area outside of San Diego.



The remainder of the trip was mile after mile of high desert. Train traffic was heavy along the rail line that runs thru New Mexico, Arizona, and into California.

We like to stop every 100 miles or so the stretch our legs. Our only stop this day was at the Rex Allen museum in Wilcox, AZ. Even after looking thru the museum, I could not remember Rex Allen. He made several movies, cut records, and stared in a TV program. But I can’t remember hearing or watching anything he was in. I did find a picture of Monty Montana at the museum. My Uncle Jess drove a stagecoach in his movies and in his touring road show.

We crossed the continental divide between Lordsburg, NM and Deming, NM. At 4,585 feet elevation, it was an easy crossing.

We spent the night in the Deming Walmart. It’s a nice superstore with a large parking lot. We talked with a few Roadtrek’s that stopped there for only a few minutes that were on the way to a Roadtrek rally. But we weren’t left alone, about 10 fellow travelers also stayed the night.

See all our pictures for this section of travel at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/WA6MUU/20070413TucsonToDeming

April 12th - Tucson, AZ

Mary and I spent a week in Tucson last May. There is so much to see and do in this area. One place we were not able to visit that time was the Titan Missile Museum, this morning that was our first stop. Actually McDonalds was our first stop.

I won’t bother to describe Titan Missile Museum here. Point your browser here: http://www.pimaair.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=51

Mary has her finger on the launch button. You can view more of our Titan Missile museum pictures at our Picasa site

We are spending the rest of today at Beaudry RV “Resort”. Again, I don’t know what makes this a resort rather than an RV Park, but at least they have WiFi Internet access included in the price; about $33 per night with AAA discount.

Total Miles: 1311
MPG overall: 13.54
Gas Price at Costco – Tucson was $2.719

April 9 thru April 11th - Los Algodones, Mexico

Los Algodones is the Dental center of the universe. I would guess it has more dentists per block than any other place on planet earth. We had a recommendation for a dentist so I didn’t have to go thru the selection process. I can say I’m happy with the results. I guess only time will determine the true quality of the work but I can’t tell the difference between the work she did and the work I previously had done in Redding or any other place I’ve lived.

I can hear you asking, “Why go to Algodones for dental work”? Simply cost. The going rates in Algodones are:

Cleaning: $25
X-Ray: $5
Filling: $45
Porcelain Crown: $170

Compare these rates with the rates you are currently paying.

The equipment appears to be back level. I’d say it’s like dental equipment of 15-years ago. I believe Algodones is one of the places where our old equipment goes to be recycled. The supplies used are current.

We parked in a big parking lot on the US side of the border and walked across. All dentist offices are within a few blocks of the border crossing. The entire town is within a few blocks of the crossing.

Crossing into Mexico isn't difficult. Trying to get back is a different matter.

Our first day was spent at the dentist and ordering eyeglasses for both of us. We found the line to get back thru customs that early afternoon was long and time consuming; 1-1/4 hours to be exact. The customs agents were friendly, efficient, and helpful. But the number of Americans that cross daily for medicine, dental, and optical services overwhelms them.

We stayed two nights at the Rivers Edge RV "Resort" in Winterhaven, CA. The rate was $26. It didn't have Internet access.

After a day of "resorting", we returned to Los Algodones to have my 2 crown "installed" and to pick up our glasses. We made this a quick trip so we could get back across the border quickly. At noon, it only took 45-minutes to get back across.

You can see more pictures of Los Algodones in our Picasa site.

We left the Yuma area and started toward Tucson. We spent the night at the Eloy, AZ Flying J. This is the first time we've overnighted at a Flying J but I'm sure it won't be the last.

April 9th - San Diego to Yuma

The trip from San Diego to Yuma is a quick and easy hop. We left San Diego before the sun was up and started climbing thru rocky hills that lay to the east. Every time we do this route, we wonder if the rocks were deposited in this condition or if eons of rain and wind had removed all the dirt and sand.

The morning hours were overcast, as is normal this time of year along the southern California coast but once over the coastal range the skies cleared and we had plentiful sun thru the desert that extends thru El Centro to Yuma and beyond.

Colorado River water brings life to the desert. We passed mile after mile of irrigated fields covered in Alfalfa and other crops. Yes, that’s a cell phone tower camouflaged as a palm tree.

Jack, Joey, Tomas, and Vicky

Joey, Tomas, and I went to San Diego State University many years ago. Even with the passing years, we still are as close as we were when we sat around East Commons between classes.

Tomas

Joey

We all have accomplished much during our lives but Joey will remain the little sister for both Tomas and myself.

Vicky( Tomas's wife), Jack (Joey's husband), Tomas, and Mary

San Diego

San Diego is a wonderful town to visit. It is a town designed to attract tourist dollars with places like Sea World, Wild Animal Park, Lego land, and the Zoo. The USS Midway has been converted into museum and it’s worth the time to visit.

I’ve lived in San Diego for about 9 years some time ago. Then I could say it was a wonderful town to live in. But that was long ago, before it grow beyond its abilities to handle traffic, housing, and it’s own civic government expenses… but I won’t go into that here.

We have been staying with Joye Mason, my surrogate mother since 1972.

Joye enjoys walking and knows all the little know trails, like Tecolete canyon.

Wednesday, we visited the zoo--- at Mary’s insistence. What a wonderful place to visit if you are into animals serving indeterminate sentences in solitary confinement. I know that’s a little harsh but I don’t care for zoos. It has wonderful walking path lined with domestic and exotic plants. The entire zoo is clean, modern and very well finished. It’s getting a bit pricey for a zoo at $22 (no discounts available on basic admission). It still was a very nice place to spend 3 or 4 hours. It’s best to arrive as soon as it open.






















It’s hard for Mary and I to visit San Diego without overeating Mexican food. We know many little, and not so little, places to enjoy the finest dishes. For taquitos or rolled tacos, you have to go to El Indio’s. Joye has been coming here since 1945 and I've followed along since 1972. When I first came here, El Indio was about 1/4 the size it is now. It may have grown but the food remains wonderful.






















Mary has become a true believer, and also thinks a trip to San Diego is incomplete without El Indio tequitos.

The tracker has had a problem since we left. I think I've located the problem and will attempt a fix tomorrow. The real test will start when we leave San Diego Monday morning.

San Diego gas price: $3.199
Miles thus far: 755
Overall MPG: 13.36

It looks like the tracker is working better now. I hope that continues. I've changed to track link at the top of this blog to show a better overall map of our route. If any one is wondering why the tracker is sitting still in San Diego, we've been using Joye's car for all our tourist activities.


Every time we are in San Diego, we have to stop at Margarita's in the Ocean Beach section of San Diego.

This recipe has changed over the years but I'm going to reserve judgement until I've had a chance to sample them another 100 or 200 times.