Suwannee River, White Springs, FL

Gerry and I couldn't get our act together this morning to head out of Gulf Shores.  We really enjoy the area and didn't want to go, but we have lots of miles ahead of us so we didn't have much choice.  I am sure we will come back here and visit longer the next time.

We drove 345 miles today and arrived at the Suwannee Valley campground after dark.  It is a good thing that we did or we most likely would have kept on driving.  It has sites in between the pine trees and tree roots all over the place.  The site is far from level and we tilt toward the passenger side.  I am afraid to level it more with the condition of the windshield.  It may just pop out.   

They have pull through sites, but tell you to disconnect your tow vehicle before you enter the park.  That sort of defeats the idea of having a pull through so you don't have to unhook the tow vehicles.  Strange!

We will be moving down the road again bright and early Sunday and head for Savannah or Charleston depending on the weather and our mood.  That is the nice thing about a motor home.  Wherever you stop your are at home.

We did pick up one geo cache at a rest area today.  We stopped for lunch and I got to wondering if a cache was nearby.  Yep.  There was one about 90 ft from us.  How convenient.  It was hidden in a pay phone at the building in the rest area.  How often do you see pay phones anymore?   Not very often.

It was a pleasant day with a little wind but not enough to slow us down.  Unleaded gas prices ranged from $3.75 to $4.09 along the way with Florida having the higher prices.  They always are the highest on our trips down south.  Hope I have enough to get to Georgia and see some relief, but I am not optimistic.

Gulf Shores, AL Day 4

Yes, we extended another day down here at Gulf State park.  It is a great place to just chill out and take it easy so we took advantage of an extra travel day.

We went all the way down to the west end of the island today to Ft Morgan to check it out and to see what the Ferry looked like.  The Ft was much larger than we expected and it would have been a lot of walking to check it out, so we decided to take some photos and save the walking for another time.

The Ferry boat runs every 1 1/2 hours and cost $16 for a car and $35 for a MH.  We thought about taking the ferry to Daphne Island and returning but didn't think it was worth the $30 round trip.  

Mobile Bay has a number of gas wells on platforms within sight of shore.  One was quite close to the ferry dock and was huge.  Further out in the bay was another well with a ocean going freighter, a sailing ship and the I-10 bridge in the background.  It was an interesting photo shot to say the least.

We took our time returning to Gulf Shores and picked up a number of geo caches along the way.  It is always interesting to see how people in different areas hide the caches.  It makes geo caching that much more fun and interesting.

We went to the Oyster House for a late lunch and Gerry had a shrimp po boy and I had a flounder po boy sandwich.  They were both very good and we would go back there again.  The restaurant overlooks a small lake and shoreline.  Check it out if you get to Gulf Shores.  It is about 5 blocks up from where Gulf Shores Blvd ends.
 

Gulf Shores, AL Day 3

It is looking better and better that we took the southern route back east.  Our normal route took us through TX, OK, AR, TN and VA and those states have been having terrible weather with tornadoes, flooding, wind and rain.  So far we have been in one area with a tornado around us and experienced the heavy hail storm along with the high winds.  We managed to get through all that, but one tornado up north of us could have wiped us out.

The weather here in Gulf Shores has been fine with a little wind and rain last night.  Nothing even close to serious.  North of us in Alabama they had a terrible night with tornadoes and many deaths.  I feel for those poor people.

We will be leaving here on Friday and heading east toward Jacksonville, FL area and then up I-95 to Savannah area and finally arriving in Concord, NC around May 2nd or 3rd.

Quiet days here on the Gulf Coast. We did manage to have a grouper platter for lunch yesterday and it was great.  It is my favorite fish dinner and I would have it 2-3 times a week if we lived here. 

Gulf Shores, AL

The day started off with a bang today.  The grounds people at the campsite decided to beat the expected rain and cut the grass before 7AM.  That is right, 7AM!  What an idiot.  He had one of those mowers that your control with a joystick and a zero degree turning radius.  He was zooming around the motorhome and sounded like a helicopter for 20 minutes. 

As anyone who knows us we aren't morning people and last night we watched Rambo II until after 1AM.   5-6 hours of sleep isn't enough to make either of us pleasant to be around in the morning.  

Since we were up we decided to get ready to hit the road again.  About the time we went out to hitch up the car we got caught in a torrential downpour which lasted 20 or more minutes.  Then it sputtered for another 30 minutes and we finally got everything ready to go.

It was a short drive today to Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores AL.  We have the site across from where we were last October and have a great view of the lake and looking toward the ocean.  It rained on the way here but has cleared up real nice now and there are lots of kids all over the place.  Nice to see young kids again in a park.  

We will be here until Friday morning and then take a couple days to get to Concord, NC for all the festivities.  Seafood is on the horizon.

Touring Bay St. Louis

We decided to spend another day here in Bay St. Louis and check the area out.  It is amazing how many homes were destroyed and the only thing left are the stilts they used to be placed on.  Whole neighborhoods are now vacant lots with driveways leading into the lots.

We talked to a number of people and they all said many people left after Katrina and never returned.  Some new people have moved here after coming to help rebuild the area and many of them have stayed behind.  It has changed the character of the area very much.  We are very glad we weren't in this part of the country when Katrina went through.

The winds have continued to blow very strong all day and we drove along the beach toward Gulfport and two lanes of the road were covered in sand in many places.  It was blowing so hard that it looked like snow rather than sand.  The houses along the road in this road also were hit hard and many were destroyed.

We stopped at a dock on the way to Gulfport to check the price of shrimp.  Fresh 26ct shrimp with heads on were selling for $4.00/lb at the dock.  I tried to talk Gerry into buying some but since I can't eat shrimp she wouldn't buy some for herself.  Now that is true love.
 

We are watching the Weather Channel and it looks like Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Tenn are getting pounded with rain, flooding, tornadoes and all around bad weather.  In the past we have taken I-40 back East and that is where a lot of the bad weather is now.  Sure am glad we aren't there and feel sorry for those that are.  Hope they are safe.

I finally downloaded a picture taken the day we left Tucson for the trip east.  There was a train on a siding and I noticed one car had Illinois Central written on it, so I snapped a few quick pictures.  Check out the neat engine and two cars.

Bay St. Louis, MS

We got up early today and hit the road through Houston.  Even though it was a Sunday the traffic was heavy all the way to the east of Houston.  It didn't thin out until we were 30 miles east and then it was still heavy.


The wind picked up around noon and it was blowing so hard that the birds were walking rather than flying.  I kept my speed down and made steady progress.


We set Mandeville, LA as our destination for today and made such good time we kept going until we got to Bay St. Louis, MS and pulled into the Hollywood Casino campground for the night.  It is a nice campground with long pull throughs.  We got here in time to watch the Amazing Race after driving 425 miles.

Two of our very good friends both have had health issues this past week and are doing better now.  We wish them the best in their recovery.

Lastly, we hope everyone had a very happy Easter and enjoyed being with family and friends.

Quiet Day in Texas

Nothing exciting to report today.  We checked with two local RV parts departments here in Katy, TX to see if they had the needed vent covers, etc and they didn't.  It will take until Tuesday at the earliest to receive the parts and then another day to install them.  That would put us to far behind schedule so we have fixed a temp repair and will continue on East Sunday to stay ahead of some bad weather coming in Monday.  

We drove to a Costco today and picked up some needed items and then to Kroger to finish off the list.  Costco parking lot was a Zoo and these Texans don't know the meaning of courtesy.   It is a "me first" world out here and don't get in my way.   No problem as long as your understand the rules.

We decided to geo cache a little bit on the the way back and managed to pick up 4 of them including 800 & 801 finds.  The 800 find was in a garden center and we arrived after close of business to look for it.  That was a good thing since it was a difficult find, but we managed.  The next and last find was on Old Igloo road which is right down the road from the Igloo cooler factory.  We'd like to shop there on Monday but have to get on the road.

Brookshire, TX

We left Kerrville early this morning to try and get ahead of the windy day forecasted for that area.  Well, it followed us for 230 miles with a constant wind of 20+mph with gust higher than that.  The later in the day the worse it got, so we finally stopped early at a RV park 10 miles west of Katy, TX.  The wind was coming out of the south and we were heading almost due east so it was hitting us broadside.  It's not a big deal in a car but the 12ft tall motorhome really catches the brunt of the wind.

We went to Red Lobster for dinner this evening and had a great meal.  They were super busy, however they got us seated in less than 15 minutes and the waiter was there asking for a drink order about the time our bottoms hit the seat.  The service was great and they gave us 5 coupons for $5.00 through the end of May.  Guess we will be going back to Red Lobster again in the near future.

The crack in the windshield is over 18 inches long and there are two runners about the same length going across the passenger side of the motorhome.  Since it is safety glass, it should hold up until we can get to Concord, NC where we can get it repaired.  The Progressive Insurance adjuster said to have all the other repairs done and keep the old parts and they would cover it 100%, including the windshield.  Of course we will have to pay for the other repairs and get paid back by them, but it will be worth it.

We sure have run into some aggressive and stupid drivers out here in Texas.  A large pickup was merging onto my lane and just taking his sweet old time when he finally decided the MH was larger than he and he speeded up.  Since there was an 18 wheel truck next to me, I couldn't pull over to let him in.  The populated areas are the worst with people driving like kids at the bumper car carnival ride.  Can't wait to get out of here and get back to the sane East Coast drivers. 

Aftermath of Storm

We rode out the storm yesterday and suffered some damage to the motorhome but it is driveable.  The windshield is cracked but I think we can drive back to North Carolina and get it repaired while we are there for the graduations and parties.  Can't miss that.

I climbed on the roof of the motorhome today to see what damage was up there.  The roof is in ok shape except for vent covers and one a/c cover.  I took pictures for insurance purposes and applied duct tape to the damaged covers as well as I can.  I am not entirely optimistic that it will hold good enough, but at the present time that is all I can do.  I will have to check it as we drive along and make sure it is repaired before another rain storm.  There was one small tear in the rubber roof and I put dicor on it.  C'est la vie!

We took a little ride today to check out Kerrville, TX to see what it had to offer.  We drove up the road to Ingram, TX to the "Old Town Loop" where the older buildings were.  They have converted all of them into touristy places but it looked real nice there.  Gerry liked this place since they sold jewelry.  They also had a ton of copper statues all around the yard which made it more interesting.

We are staying at the Guadalupe River Resort which is a nice campground with good facilities, however they have a basic price and then add $3.50/day for cable tv and $2.50 for internet service.  I imagine we will not be stopping here in the future.

Wild Day out West

We normally return to the East Coast via Oklahoma to see our son and his family.  Just about every time we made the trip there was some bad weather, so we decided to avoid it and take the Southern route back home.

Bad Move on our part.  We were tooling along and making great time when the skies started to blacken up and the wind picked up.  We pulled over on a side road to check the weather and found out we couldn't get back on I-10 for about 12 miles so we pulled over to the side of a Farm to Market road to sit it out.  That is when the S#&@ hit the fan.  The skies opened up and hard rain was followed by hail the size of tennis balls.  It hailed for 15-20 minutes and broke the windshield on the motor home and dinged the Saturn up with dimples.  I am not looking forward to climbing on the roof tomorrow to see what/if any damage there is there. 

We sat it out for about an hour and then found out the bad weather was coming back right in our area with tornado warnings out.  That is when we left the area.  

In the middle of all the above a beautiful deer came out to the brush and was eating along side of the road.  He was unconcerned with all the activity and hail.  All in a days work for him. 




Other than the above, it was a nice day.
 

Van Horn, TX

We thought we'd take our time and stop in Las Cruces for the night.  When we got about 30 miles out from the campground we called ahead to make sure they had space for us.  No problem.  Not quite.  They were in the midst of heavy winds up to 26mph with gusts even higher.  The wind was coming out of the west and was to our advantage, but they were calling for it to change directions overnight and be just as strong on Wednesday.  Not good.

We called a campground in Van Horn, TX and they had room, but wind was strong there, also, once again out of the west and changing.  We drove through to Van Horn and got another campsite for the night.  

We had some excitement on the highway this evening.  We went through the checkpoint on I-10 west of  Van Horn fine, but a few miles down the road a Mustang car went by us well over 100mph with the Border Patrol right on his tail.  Then we had a procession of police cars, truck, vans and what have you flying by us in pursuit of the Mustang.  They caught him about 15 miles down the road and it looked like a Border Patrol convention on the highway.  The windows on the Mustang were broken out and three policemen had him surrounded while they were taking his car apart.  I don't know what caused him to run other than a car load of drugs, or maybe a decoy. 

We intend to get an early start on Wednesday and get as far down the road as we can before the wind becomes a major problem for us.  They also have a warning up about smoke on the highway due to the great number of brush fires out here in West Texas.  Never a dull moment.

We paid $3.57 for gas in Anthony, TX and it will be a while before we see it that cheap again.  420 miles behind us and 2,200 to go.  

Packing Out Day

It's been a busy couple days lately with my brother arriving for a short visit on Sunday.  He was on his way to San Diego with a load and stopped by for dinner with us.  He bought a new GPS just for truckers and it sure has a ton of features to learn.  Very powerful.

We started getting everything ready for a Tuesday departure if at all possible.  It takes a while to get everything organized after sitting in one place for 5 months.  Plus, we always accumulate more "stuff" and then have to find a place to store it.  This year we were especially bad and it will be tight in the motor home.  

It looks like we will take the southern route back this time to do something different.  It is always exciting to drive across tornado alley and the windy plains of Texas.  

We drove by the Pima County Fairgrounds to look at the fair going on now.  It looks like a real nice fair and if it wasn't so hot we may have attended this year.  They placed the rides and stands right where the campground is located.  It is handy that way since they have water, sewer and electric all over the place.

Our friend Ron K. went to Show Low and disappeared from the face of the earth.  We hope he is ok up there.    

That was our excitement for last couple days.

Dinner with Ron & Dee

Ron & Dee are leaving for Illinois on Saturday morning and the 4 of us went out to dinner at the Guadalajara Grill this evening.  We had been trying to get together for dinner for a while however Ron had a lot of dental work this last month and wasn't up to eating out that much.

We reserved a special chair for Dee to see if she would fit into it.  She did.  I think three Dees could fit into this chair.  What do you think?

It was their first chance to have dinner at the Grill and they seemed to like it.  It is convenient to the park and if you get there early enough, you can enjoy the happy hour and Mariachi Band, cold beer and great Mexican food.  We managed to stuff ourselves and put down a few drinks and had a good time. 

They mix up the salsa right at your table and make it to your taste.  We ordered a medium salsa and as usual it was very good.  The server comes around with a cart and all the ingredients necessary to make the salsa.  She prepares it in a wooden bowl and they provide chips to go with the salsa.  Yummy!

Here are the ingredients on a table. 


It's hard to believe we have been here for 5 months already and it is time to leave.  We are among the last to leave this year and it is strange to see the park so vacant.


Ron & Dee are leaving their 5th wheel here over the summer and will come back in the fall with their van.  Makes sense with the high price of fuel this year.  Hope they have a safe trip back home.

Costco & Drs

Gerry and I have an opthalmologist here in Tucson who has worked on our eyes a couple of times and we have the utmost faith in his work.  Today was the day Gerry went in for her yearly checkup and a short visit turned into an afternoon deal.  Dr. Snyder saw something in her eye that he hadn't seen before and went back for a 2nd look.  He then told her to go to another specialist in the area for a further check.  This Dr said it looked like something hereditary and no concern, but to have it checked again next year.

After the Drs we thought we would check out the new Costco here in Tucson.  Bad move.  The place was mobbed worse than Christmas and there were people all over the place.  It seems that some people must have come here earlier and then gone back home to tell their neighbors about all the food samples being given away.  There were families there with 6-8 children, grandparents and who else I don't know.  They mobbed the food vendors for free samples and didn't believe in getting in line and taking their turn.  At least some vendors told them to get to the back of the line and most did that and others acted like they didn't understand.

It is a nice store and very clean as you would imagine.  We filled the gas tank on the car at $3.399/gallon and headed out of there.  The on ramp at I-10 was closed and we had to take a detour but finally made it home safely. 

A few more snowbirds left today and the place is almost deserted.  We are scheduled out of here on Tuesday and may make it if my brother gets here Monday.  He is on the way to San Diego with a load and will stop by and say hello on his way.

Never a dull moment out here. 

Apache Trail

Gerry, Barbara, Cassie, Darlene & I took a trip out west in the mid-60s in a popup tent trailer for 6 weeks.  We knew we wanted to go west but didn't really know what all there was to see.  The highlights were obvious but we didn't have any idea how much there was to see.  At least it was enough to whet our appetites for travel in a RV and we enjoyed the trip very much.

One place we did stop on the way was Apache Lake, AZ.  We saw the campground on the map and decided to head for it out of Globe, AZ.  It looked like a great place to go and we were in for the surprise of our lives.  The road for the first 1/2 mile was fine and then it turned to dirt and steep dropoffs.  We were towing a trailer and could not turn around so we kept going.  The road continued to get worse and was down to one lane with no place to turn or go if we met someone coming in the other direction.  We did meet two cars eventually and we clipped mirrors as we went by.  Whew!  

We camped for the night in 110 degree heat and it cooled down to 98 at night.  We didn't have a/c in the canvas sided popup and there wasn't any wind.  It felt like we were in a furnace.  No sleep that night for anyone due to the heat.  We got up early the next morning and kept going west thinking the road would get better.  No such luck.  We finally made it to a better road and hightailed it out of there and continued on with our trip.

Gerry and I remembered that trip vividly and I wanted to take the car and travel the route once again, so off we headed today.  It was 350 miles round trip and we made it in one day and came back very tired but satisfied.  

We entered the trail from the west at Apache Junction and headed east toward Roosevelt Lake.  Our first stop was at the Superstition Mountain Museum and checked it out.  Since we had a limited time frame to make the trip, we didn't go through the inside of the museum but did enjoy the outdoor exhibits.  They had more exhibits outside including boot hill but we didn't get a picture of it.

A little farther down the road was a touristy place called Goldfield Mine with old buildings, a train station, RV park, mine, and numerous other things designed to get you to spend money.  We drove through the place and took some pictures and left.   It seemed to be a very popular place so maybe one day we will return and see what we missed.

We drove through the Lost Dutchman State Park to see if it would be a nice place to camp if we were ever back in this area.  They were installing electric hookups while we were there and they also have water hookups.  There is a 15 day stay limit but I think that would be enough time to really explore the area.  It looked like a very nice park and I understand it is very popular and hard to get a reservation during the winter months.  The Superstition Mountains are in the background.

Continuing on with the drive took us to Tortilla Flats, another touristy place.  We bought prickly pear & black cherry ice cream cones there and enjoyed looking at the buildings.  Gerry wouldn't tell me how much the cones cost, but did say Dairy Queen was a bargain.

That was the last chance we had to see civilization for a long time.  We drove past Canyon Lake and then on to Apache Lake on a gravel and dirt road for 22 miles.  Overall it wasn't a bad road but they don't allow vehicles over 40ft on this section.  I would not even consider taking our motor home down there.  Very steep grades, narrow roads, switchback, one lane bridges, rock outcroppings, etc.  I loved it.  

We think we found the campground we stayed in 44 years ago but it has been upgraded and looks different.  Progress.


And yes, we did find 6 geocaches on the trip.  We were doing good until we saw the 5ft dead rattlesnake on the road.  That ended our traipsing in the cacti and weeds for the day.

We took a lot of pictures (175) and have included a few of them in an album that can be seen by clicking on the picture below.

Apache Trail

It was a long day and tiring but we enjoyed it very much.  Nice to go down memory lane every once in a while.


Good night.

Tax Time

I have been working on our taxes for a while now a little bit at a time.  Saturday was the big day to finalize them and send them off.  We have a very simple return with only a few odd ball deductions and in the past it has been simple to fill out.  What in the world have they done to the tax reporting for us?  What a mess.

I use Turbo Tax and depend on it to do the bulk of the work.  This time it said we owed money when I knew we were going to get some back.  I went over all the forms and finally figured out that one X mark was the culprit.  Once I changed it to the correct code all was well.


I think I would rather fight a grizzly bear rather than do taxes by hand.  It is way past time to simplify the tax code and make it easy enough for a college graduate to fill out their own tax forms.  Of course there would be a lot of accountants looking for other work.  I can't imagine they enjoy tax work anyway.

It rained all day on Saturday and we were cooped up and didn't get out much.  So today we took advantage of a beautiful day and went geocaching for a couple hours.  Once again we ran into some interesting caches and places we wouldn't have visited without geocaching.  Love it.  We have tried to find one cache a number of times and still can't find it.  The person who hid it even has a fake cache near the real one just to make it even more difficult.  Devious!  Some caches just aren't in the cards to add to the found list and get a smiley face.

We got home in time to see our favorite TV program, The Amazing Race.  We like the Cowboys and they were an hour behind very early and it didn't look like they would make it.  I won't tell you how it turned out in case you follow the show and missed the show this evening.  

That was our day, how was yours?

Happy Birthday Barbara

Happy Birthday to our daughter Barbara.  Three years ago she was with us on her birthday and returned to NC in the evening to celebrate it with her family and her brother.  We wish she could have made it this year also.  We will see her in a month and can celebrate it with her a little more.

We knocked out one Drs visit today after they called us and said we could come in 3 hours early if we wanted to.  Yes, we did want to get it out of the way.  All was fine with the Dr and ran some errands, shopping and had lunch at Olive Garden.  Plus, we managed to find 9 geocaches and then headed back to the MH.  

The day started at 6am with a text msg from  ATT wireless telling us they processed our automatic payment.  Thanks a lot fellas.  I just hate that when it happens since we can't fall back asleep easily after a phone call in the night.

We just watched Gary Bussey on the Jay Leno show tonight and can't decide if he is crazy or just acting crazy.  In any case he is far out there on the edge.  Interesting!

Slow Days

There are two main events when you snowbird in RV parks for the winter.  Arrival & Departure.  It is always nice at arrival time when you see old friends from the season before and make plans on how you are going to spend the season.  Departure time is sad since you never know who you will see the next season.  We are at the end of departure time with less than two weeks to go.  

The park is looking deserted with many people having left already.  It seems like tax time and Easter are the main reasons that people leave a nice warm spot for the cold, snow and miserable weather still going on up north.  We got home early a couple years and regretted it so we will take our time getting back to the East Coast.

The weather has turned cooler and cloudy but it is a welcome relief from the record setting days last week.  

It seems we live in a small world out there in the Southwest.  My cousin Sharon and her husband Al are on their way back to Illinois and stopped in Gallup, NM at a campground.  Steve & Judy are on their way back to MN and stopped in Gallup, NM at the same campground and were a few spaces from them.  I was chatting with Judy and called Al to tell him they were almost neighbors.  He walked down and talked to them for a while and went back to his 5th wheel just before the rain stopped.  Small world, isn't it?

We still have a number of things to do on our bucket list before we leave here.  We have crossed off a number of things from the list in the last week and hope to cross off a few more in the next week.  Two Dr. visits remain and after that we are free to leave.  Now if we could decide on which way to drive back east.  Decisions, decisions.

Wall Art

The other day Gerry and I were out geocaching and following a convoluted path to one cache.  The route was taking us through neighborhoods into an area we hadn't been in before when we came upon a decorated fence around a small house.  

I don't know why the person decorated like this but we both found it interesting and marveled at the work and detail the person put into his art.  There are a number of homes here in Tucson where they put their art in their yard or on their fences.  This particular one was very well done with great detail.

 

On a Roll out here

The beat just goes on out here in Tucson with another record setting day for a high temperature.  It topped out at 94 today exceeding the old record by one degree.  We turned on the a/c early and it did real well until around 3pm when we turned the back unit on also.  That cooled it down 4 degrees real fast and my feet got cold.

This is the time of the year when all the snowbirds are fleeing back home.  Two friends stopped by to tell us goodbye and hope to see us next year.  One is leaving on Sunday and they are calling for high winds from noon on and we warned them about it.  They had checked the weather forecast and knew about the wind and were hedging their bet a little.  I hope they stay another day and avoid the bad weather.

The NCAA men's basketball final teams are all set with University of Connecticut playing Butler University for the national title.  I will be in the corner of Butler all the way.  I love to see the smaller schools do real well and win it all.  They don't get all the high school All Americans like the top 10 teams do and most of their players stay for 4 years and complete their degrees.  That is what it should be about.  Those one and done players are in it only for the path to a Pro Career.  Go Butler Bulldogs.  What a handsome mascot!

My brother is taking a load to Shady Grove, PA and will arrive on Sunday.  He will have to wait until Monday to unload and our daughter Cassie and family live about 12 miles from there.  She plans on meeting him and taking Dick & Sue back to her house for a nice Sunday dinner.  Wish we could be there with them.

April Fools day

Well, it looks like nature played an April Fools joke on us out here in Tucson.  Check the temp on the thermometer  inside the motor home.  The  number on the lower left is outside in direct sunlight while the 81.6 is inside the motor home.  We had one a/c running and were very comfortable.  Saturday's forecast is for hotter weather here.

The official temp here in Tucson was 95 degrees which was a record by 4 degrees, but out here in Vail with direct sunlight it was warmer.  I think it was more like 100 degrees in the area.  In any case, it was hot.

Gerry decided it was too hot to cook and she didn't have any fish, so it was off to the Guadalajara Grill for a fish dinner.  We made it in time for happy hour and stayed for the Mariachi band to play a few songs and then left.  We had our usual great time there and will miss the place when we leave here.


We stopped to check for a cache on the way home and a Jeep drove up to our car and I asked them if they were geocachers.  They said they were looking for a bobcat that was in the area. It ran into the area where we were looking and decided it would be more interesting to see the bobcat.  No such luck.  

The 10pm TV news just ran a story about a 16 yr old girl being shot and killed and a 17 yr old girl being shot after some problems at a local high school.  When we were coming home from dinner a police car was on Broadway and we were making a left turn onto Broadway.  The cruiser pulled into the intersection and blocked all traffic and we were the last car through.  The shooting occurred a few blocks up Broadway and it was just luck that we weren't coming down the road then.  Close call.

La Mesa RV

We took the MH in for the 2nd recall on the Norcold Regrigerator to have it fixed.  They added a small heat sensor to area around where the propane gas heated the unit.  There have been cases where the frig would heat up and catch fire.  Fire in a motor home is not a good thing.  It took about an hour for the repair and we were ready to leave after taking advantage of the free lunches they provide the customers.

When we first arrived at the dealer Gerry checked out a few motor homes and asked a salesman a simple question.  She got a flip response and walked away.  Later another salesman asked if he could help since he heard the previous exchange.  After talking to him for a while he said he would look for a MH that fit our specs.  Sure enough, a couple hours later he called with one that was within the specs.  We will look at it on Friday but I am concerned about diesel prices going through the roof and the cost of driving a diesel unit.  We will see.

Later we got tired of sitting around and went out to pick up a few geocaches in the area.  We got three of them pretty quickly and called it a day.  

It was in the low 90s today and the forecast is for warmer weather the next few days.  Time to get out of here before the heat really gets turned up.