Traveling West Days 7-10

10/27/14 - Day #8  - Notes from Enchanted Trails
Our neighbors from California hooked up and departed this AM. Before they left we chatted and he recommended a few spots for us to try - in Deming. Low-Hi RV Park, and if we liked Southern Col, we would love southern Utah, especially traveling along RT 12 - Bryce Canyon. They were from Lake Tahoe area of California and were headed to Carlsbad, NM and then back to CA.

Experimented with wi-fi signals and eventually set up our Pepwave Surf on the Go router in the Airstream. Worked great at grabbing the signal and broadcasting it inside our Airstream.

Watched a number of our neighbors in the park hook up / load up and leave. In the PM watched a new crowd arrive.

RV Park is situated on ridge overlooking Albuquerque, so interesting watching jets(mostly SW) on final approach to airport. Also jets from Kirtland AFB.

View from campground- over Camping World towards Albuquerque

Early morning clouds giving way to clear blue sky with temps in the70's. Looks like it is 57 in Brattleboro. I'll take NM.

Saw a couple traveling with a St Bernard in their RV. Yes, it was a big motorhome.

After a nice lunch took a walk over to Camping World and bought another $108 of stuff. So much for the money we saved suspending Direct TV service.

PM we both surveyed Airstream and decided we could do a whole lot better job of packing and storing. So we got to it. We both think the trailer "proper" will be more "livable" now.

Afternoon temps got in to the 80's

A guy out walking his dog asked Mary " Are you really from VT?" He was from Delaware.

10/28/14  Day #9  Up early doing our internet "thing" and heating up the trailer. Nights definitely starting to get cool. At about 9:30 Mary and I left Molly in charge of the trailer and headed to Albuquerque and visited the Botanical Gardens. For Mary it was a real treat.

Beautiful, well kept

We actually saw some Monarch's here

The ducks and geese like the place too

We spent 2 hours here and then left to head to our next stop: Gas, followed by lunch followed by Walmart.  Interesting experience when getting gas. Had a gentleman approach me and ask what brought us west, especially to Albuquerque. After I explained, he said he had ties back east - he had been stationed in the Air Force at Limestone AFB in Maine. He said that he hoped we had an enjoyable trip, thanked us for coming to his area, and then asked if there was anything he could do to make our trip more enjoyable. I asked him for directions out of the gas station and over to the Sonic across the street - where we would have lunch. We shook hands, and departed. What a nice man. After the trip to Walmart, we headed back - but not before one more stop at CampingWorld for some more "organizers".  Another $30.

In the afternoon Mary took advantage of the nice laundry facilities at the park to do a load of wash. I got on the internet to see about the AT & T 30 gb shared data plan. Good thing that I did- it expired in 3 days. Anyways, I knew that we needed to do something about internet options while on the road: relying on campground wi-fi is not a good thing, nor is it dependable. To make a long story short, I did get it done over the internet, however I still needed to get a Unite Pro Mobile Hot Spot, get it added to our plan and get it activated. This required a visit to an AT & T store. I found one in Albuquerque and made arrangements(directions to) visit and get this done. So off I was on I 40 east to Juan Tabo Blvd and then to shopping plaza on Menaul, looking for a guy named Danny. I found him and he got us fixed right up. Quite a process. All in all it took about 15 minutes. Danny definitely knew what he was doing. I was impressed with his computer skills. In conversation he mentioned that he was from the northwest part of the state - Farmington. He also looked to be Native American. I was more impressed and even more thankful. The plan ended up costing us less than if we had been able to get the Millenicom plan. Brought it back to the trailer and tested it, finding that it worked perfectly. We were now good to go.

Mid afternoon we had new neighbors pull in next to us. I got to talking with the guy and found out that contrary to us snowbirds, they were from Yuma, AZ and were on their way home for the winter after having spent the summer traveling. They had actually traveled to the Black Hills, NY State, VT, NH, Wells, ME, Boston, south to Virginia Beach, Memphis, and then west to Oklahoma City to see a son. In all they had put on over 12,000 miles. I know that I missed a few places that he mentioned, but I did get the point. He said that the previous year they had gone to Alaska - another 12,000 mile trip.

Our portrait

We set up the iPhone to take a pic and when done and on the way back to the Airstream, the woman in the camper to the right came over to us and asked if we wanted her to take pic. She was from North Carolina. We said no, thanked her and chatted for a while. Such nice people we have met.


After a nice glass of wine, supper of chicken cooked on the grill, a little reading, we called it a night.

10/29/14 Day #10   Today we said goodby to Enchanted Trails RV Park and hit the road for Deming, NM.

Enchanted Trails RV Park

It has really been an enjoyable stay and I'm sure we will be back- especially at the Passport America rate of $12.50 a night for full hookup. At about 9:00 we hit the road. Days travel was to take us to I 40 East to Albuquerque where we would hook up with I 25 south. We would be traveling 257 miles to Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming.

Traveling West - Days 5 & 6

On day #5 we traveled 297 miles bringing our trip total to 1860.
We left Chandler, OK and Oak Glen RV Park around 10:30. Took early morning time to wash both truck and trailer and did they ever need it.

Oak Glen RV Park-notice the red Oklahoma dirt

Our spot at Oak Glenn

Leaving Oak Glenn we were on RT 66 for about 50 miles, traveling to Oklahoma City. RT 66 was interesting. We passed a number of historically significant sights, like the RT 66 Motor Cycle Museum. Approaching Oklahoma City, we got on I 35, eventually merging with I 44 and then with I 40. In Oklahoma City we stopped for gas and I was surprised to see 2 choices at the pumps for both 87 and 89 octane gas- with ethanol or without. The without was about .25 per gallon more.

Lunch stop along I 40

Lunch stop along I 40

Traveling I 40 was perhaps the MOST boring road I have ever traveled. Long, straight, basically flat, no stops/rest areas. If you wanted to stop, you had to get off the interstate.

Flat- as far as you can see

Windmills- off in the distance 

In Oklahoma, the dirt was red. The farms/farmlands immense. The farther west we went, it seemed the bigger the farms got.
Wind farms started appearing.
We passed Erick, OK - the Home of Roger Miller (King of the Road)
At 15:04 we entered Texas. And another terrain change. We went from flat to small hills, sage brush and washouts. Then we hit the farming country. Flat - with wind farms that extended for miles and miles and miles. And cotton fields - the view of which disappeared in the far horizon. Unbelievable.  I still cannot get over how flat it is. At about 16:50  we arrived at AOK RV Park. This is an honor system park- no one there running the place. They also had no WiFi. But what they did have were basically flat sites with 30 amp electricity and water and for $12.50 a night one cannot complain. Interesting observation as we got there, all of a sudden heard this noise, looked up at the belly of a SouthWest Airlines jet coming in for a landing. I swear I could have touched it, it was so low. It was then that I realized that not only were we just off I 40, adjacent to a railroad, but also on flight path for the Amarillo airport. Guess cheap comes with a price. Fortunately for us the flight paths must have changed because of the wind, because the SW jet was the first and the last we heard.

Day 6 total miles  traveled 301; 2161 trip miles total.
Day began with us leaving AOK RV Park around 9:00, but not after talking with our neighbors, a couple from Iowa, and like us, recently retired. And also like us, their gps took them to the left at off ramp instead of to the right. And also like us, were headed to Albuquerque and then on to Arizona. I told them where we were staying - they had not yet committed to a place, so left Enchanted Trails open as an option. Our first stop after getting back on I 40 was a quick stop for gas and then we were on our way. Amarillo is FLAT land. Flat for as far as you can see in any direction. Don't know for the life of me how we can call people from Ma & Ct flatlands. Texas is flat. Ct & Ma at east have rolling hills. Texas is FLAT. Period. For as far as you can see. In any direction. One thing we noticed pretty regularly now were windmills. At one point they were part of the landscape for almost 30 miles. There would be a break for 20-30 miles and then you'd start seeing them again. Hundreds of them. Maybe even thousands. Maybe I am exaggerating, but probably not. Crops - still seeing cotton. The other thing we started seeing a lot of were cattle. At one point, in Wilderado, we saw what appeared to be holding pens with thousands of cattle/cows. Then we saw the sign - Wilderado Quality Beef and decided not to think about it any more.

Around 10:40 we entered New Mexico and Mountain Time Zone.

Welcome to New Mexico

Welcome to New Mexico

Welcome to New Mexico

The terrain changed from flat to scrub brush, washes, arroyo's, Mesa's, and Butes. Distinctly different from Texas.

About 12:30 we took a break for lunch and pulled off in / near Newark / Cuervo. Interesting stop.

Lunch stop off RT 66

Our lunch stop along RT 66

About 3:00 pm we arrived in Albuquerque. First stop was a Walmart off Central Ave. to get supplies, food, supper ingredients.

WalMart Parking Lot with Sandia Mtns in Background

Then it was on to Enchanted Trails RV Park. Traveling on I 40 we crossed I 25 and continued west for another 10 miles to a point that looked down on the valley where Albuquerque is located. Impressive view. We arrived at the park to discover that it was directly next door to Camping World location. Mary said the only thing that I needed now was a Bass Pro Shops on the other side. We got a super friendly greeting and welcome as we made arrangements to stay for 4 nights. Found out during conversation that this place and the Camping World next door is the staging area for the Airstream Club(WBCCI) for the Balloon Fiesta. They line up 200 airstreams here and bring them in 25 at a time to the Balloon Fiesta grounds, which is located on I 25 north. We have signed up for this next year. Do hope a spot opens up for us. Sounds like it could be a great time.

We got spot E 10

E 10 at Enchanted Trails RV Park

We no sooner got settled in to our spot and a cold beer opened when we had a visit from our neighbors, Ronnie and Pat Broam. When we asked them where they were from they replied that they were full timers and had been for the past 22 years. Originally from El Paso, TX, Ronnie had retired from Continental Airlines and had had a job that allowed him to "switch" locations. Thus the full timing.  They gave us some very useful info on Deming, Benson, Escapee Park  Saguaro. After they left, we enjoyed a cocktail and then cooked a couple of steaks outside( I hope they didn't come from Wilderado). In between I spoke to Jim on the phone and Mary exchanged texts with Michael. After doing dishes and reading for a bit, called it a night around 8:45(which was really 9:45 from days start or 10:45 from 3 days ago).  Tomorrow will be spent catching up: Reserving spot at Coles Creek Campground thru Reserve America for BassMaster Elite Series Tournament at Waddington next Jul/Aug. Also getting blog up to date, downloading/uploading pics to Picassa Web Albums. And looking at what money we've spent so far.

The Trip West Days 3 & 4

Day 3 is now done. We covered 480 miles which brings our total so far to 1296 and have settled in at RV Express 66. But only after a "trip" to Walmart for some supplies. This is a neat little "stop-over" RV camping area located right off of Interstate 44 and adjacent to Rt 66. It is neat, clean, with all of the amenities, i.e: water, 30 amp elec service, free wi-fi, dump station, and a whole bunch of restaurants within walking distance. We took advantage of the Mexican Restaurant and had a nice meal while Molly stayed back at the Airstream, catching up on some sleep while guarding the place. Right after we pulled in, another couple from Ontario arrived and settled in to the spot right next to us. We got to talking and it seems they are on their way from Northern Ontario to Mesa, AZ to spend the winter - and get out of the cold. Hey. They are also traveling with a dog. Oh, and one other thing. We are now in a different time zone. And apparently weather zone too. We left Vermont it was 31. When we arrived in Marshfield, MO it was 72.

RV Express 66

So now back to day 3 travels. We got up bright and early left our campground before the sun came up. Temp here when we got up was 41.

Our early target was Indianapolis and we were about 40 miles from there. We passed through New Castle, IN and noted sign for Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. When we finally got to Indianapolis, we found that all the backed up eastbound traffic in Cleveland was now westbound traffic backed up in Indianapolis. Evidently a major accident(which we eventually saw involved a car carrier and several cars) at interstate intersection brought everything to a slowdown. 5 lanes just creeping along. For miles.

We had our CB radio on through this whole thing to see if we could pick up any info, but mostly had it on for the amusement. Truckers are a funny bunch some time. There was one guy who called himself Bob, on the radio that had a new "still in the box" Garmin 760 GPS and wanted to know if anyone else had one. He kept asking and asking and asking until some truckers "squelched" him out or outright told him to shut up. We finally got moving again right after the accident spot. At this point we were traveling on Interstate 70 and frequently experienced construction zones where slow down to 45 was mandatory. I have never driven on a road with so many tractor trailers. We were not in a rush, so cruising for the most part at 60 mph in zones that were posted for 65 and in some cases 70. Needless to say, we had a lot of rigs pass us. It seems like every time I looked in drivers side mirror, we were being passed by another rig. I was very surprised at how stable the Airstream was in all of this traffic. The only vehicles that gave us issues were ones with large, flat frontal areas - like tour bus'. And even then it wasn't bad, just noticeable.

One thing we saw as we were exiting Indianapolis, was the airport and FedEx National Hub right there at the airport. What an immense operation.

At 10:25 we entered Illinois.  Still traveling on I70, and noted a car coming up on us in the passing lane. The driver had his camera up and was taking a pic of our Airstream. Interesting.  At another point on this road, we came upon the remains of the easily recognizeable Werner tractor  and 53' trailer about a two hundred feet off the road. The tractor was jack-knifed and the trailer was on its side, split almost in half where it had been disected by a  tree. It's entire cargo of diesel engines laying on the ground. What a mess. It looked like it had happened a while ago. Probably still trying to figure out how to clean up the mess.

At about 1:00 pm we began approaching the vicinity of St Louis. Here we had to make a road change,   going from I70 to I55 to I44.  Along the way we got to see the Arch, Busch Stadium and a lot of the city proper. Pretty impressive.

Kind of hairy driving as it got quite tense with the road and lane shifts, impatient drivers, stupid drivers, and volume of traffic. But we made it. I44 for 291 miles.

Random ramblings from our stint on I44:
Noted a distinct change in the terrain when we passed from Indiana to Illinois to Missouri. Where Indiana  and Illinois had been FLAT farmland,  Missouri was hilly and slightly reminiscent of Vermont. Interstate was up and then down, up and then down. Slow vehicle lanes on hills became common, where they had been almost non existent in Indiana and Illinois.

Gas prices: Regular for $2.55

In vicinity of Eureka, MO saw sign for Vacuum Cleaner Museum.

About 60 miles from Springfield, MO, an older, small pickup(driven by a like described man) passed us, tooted his horn and waved. His license plates were Vermont plates. Unbelievable. There are 2 of us out here.

In Lebanon, MO we passed the Tracker Boat factory. Could not believe the number of boats in and around this place.

Day 4 is now done. We covered 280 miles bringing our total so far to 1564. 
Day 4 began from RV Express 66, about 20 miles east of Springfield, Mo in Marshfield, Mo. Our neighbors from Ontario were up early and on the road again right after 7:00. We hung around until 9:50. First stop was Camping World in Strafford, Mo. We programmed the address in our Rand McNally/Good Sams GPS and it took us right to the front door. Purpose of the trip was to pick up High Pressure water hose adapter, which we found for $15.00. Next stop was for gas - Love's station right down the road and less than 1/4 mile from I44 on ramp. With gas done, we were off to Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, MO. The Mother Ship. Once again our GPS took us right to the front door. We arrived at about 10:30.

The Mother Ship

Only Airstream there

To put it mildly, it was everything that I expected, and more. It was huge. The Alcoves with fish, animal, reptile displays was unbelievable. Imagine a fish tank with 2 live 5' long GAR's. That was just one example. You could take the entire Bass Pro Shops store in Hooksett, NH and fit it in the fishing department here. We didn't buy much here - I replaced a watch and Mary got some Cocoon clip on sun glasses.

Since it was getting close to lunch time, we decided to do lunch there. Not a bad decision. Food was good as well as the scenery. Check out the ceiling above our table:

After a nice lunch there we were back on the road. Time = 12:30. We had 270 miles to go to get to our next stop- which was going to be Chandler, OK and Oak Glen RV Park.

Tidbits from Day 4:
On the way in to Springfield, saw signs for Table Rock & Bull Shoals Lakes. Both are famous bass fishing destinations and the site of many tournaments.

At about 2:05 traveling in the vicinity of Carthage, MO, noted workers repairing a guard rail - east bound in the "hammer lane". They had traffic backed up for over 3 miles. We lucked out again.

2:15 we entered Oklahoma. Definite terrain change.

East of Tulsa noted signs for Grand Lake- sight of recent Bass Masters Classic.

At some point while driving I made a comment to Mary that with all of the thousands of semi's we had seen, we had not yet seen "me & Earl" with a load of Rhode Island Reds(chickens) stacked to 13'6".Well at 3:50, just east of Tulsa, we had a tractor trailer loaded to 13'6"  of chickens. We both burst our laughing. This whole thing was a reference to C. W. McCalls famous Wolf Creek Pass. You should have seen the chicken feathers flying in the wind.

Just before 5:00 we left I 44 and got on RT 66. The famous RT 66. Destination was Chandler, OK and Oak Glen RV Park. First a stop at Walmart(just a mile up the road) and then to check in. We had a nice spot. It was level, had 30 amp electricity and water. Piss poor WiFi however. In bed at 8:30.

The Trip West - Day 1 & 2

October 20. The day we leave for Arizona. Can't believe it is finally here. The day begins at 4:30 am to finish up last minute tasks involved with closing up the house and packing truck and trailer. It is 31 degrees when we get up and a heavy frost covers all. Auspicious. Mary has done an unbelievable job of cleaning out all foodstuffs, especially freezables and perishables. The downstairs and upstairs pantry's are almost empty and this morning we will remove the last of the items in the freezer downstairs and the freezer and refrigerator upstairs. At 8:30 Mark Garland and his son Joe show up right on time to winterize the house. This they have completed by 9:30. After a run down on what I need to do to get everything running again when we get back, they are on their way and so are we. Well, almost on our way. We still had to pull all electrical plugs for major electrical appliances, cover the furniture and other exposed surfaces, shut off the propane, and finally hit the main breaker in the house to turn off all of the power. One last look and we were on our way. For 6 months. Still having a hard time understanding that.

The first part of our trip, which got under way at about 10:45, was slow. Up the mountain to Dummerston Center, down to Brattleboro, and then heading west on Route 9- up over Hogback Mountain, Searsburg Mountain, and then down Woodford Mountain into Bennington. Uneventful  just the way we like it. On into New York State and Troy and Schenectady, then to the New York State Thruway. We are using the Ez Pass for the first time. About 12:30 we make our first stop at the Pattersonville Rest Area, stretch, pee, and unwind for the 3 of us.

About 180 miles later we make another, this just west of Syracuse. Strange, I'm sitting in the truck with Molly waiting for Mary to come back from getting me a cup of coffee, when I notice a guy get out of his car with his camera and take a picture of our Airstream. Interesting. I'll bet he was thinking " I didn't know they still made them".  Another interesting experience was having a Hobby Lobby tractor trailer pass us. Mary and I both raised our middle fingers to salute it as it went by.

About 6:25 we hit Buffalo and what looked like rush hour traffic and the rain started to get serious. Thought we were in for a lot of trouble when all of a sudden the traffic that had been going along at 65 mph, stopped. We were backed up for quite a while before we started moving again. Turns out it was an accident / police stop in the east bound lane, that had everyone stopping to 'gawk'. Unbelievable. Just as soon as we got by, the traffic picked up and we were on our way. Made it down through Jamestown and Chatauqua and crossed over the Pennsylvania State line about 7:30. With a Welcome Center right there, we decided that we had had it for driving for the day.  8 hours plus of actual driving time, and 430 miles was enough. We found a spot and set up camp for the night, mixed in with all the tractor trailers.

After a nice beer and a glass of wine, a light meal of chicken pieces, hard boiled eggs and carrot slices, it was time for bed. But not before trying out the free wi-fi that was available. Compliments of the State of Pennsylvania. Of course, with all the traffic noise, the rigs pulling in and out of our area, we also had the benefit of a train somewhere close, that let us know of its presence by blowing its horn. This occurred many times throughout the night. Anyways, we did manage to get some sleep.

And then day 2 began.  Sleep had been erratic, but at least we got some. We hit the road around 5:30 and drove for about an hour and a half before finally pulling in to a McDonalds in Austinburg, OH. Took the opportunity to review our trip for the day and then we were back on the road.  We put on about another 100 miles before doing a gas stop in Bellville, OH. Back on the road again and then a lunch stop at McDonalds in Dayton, OH. Took advantage of their free wi-fi to plan our nights stop which turned out to be New Lisbon Family Campground in Straight, IN.  We utilized iPhone app for Passport America to identify a site in our path that offered a 50% nightly discount and then went to RVParkReviews.com to get reviews of the park. Confirmed what we suspected, so dialed the number and made a reservation for the night. We got there mid-afternoon and were pleasantly greeted. We got a nice site, which was amazingly level.

We got 30 amp service, water, sewage dump and free wi-fi, all for $12.50 a night. After getting ourselves all set and hooked up, Mary and I sat down for a cocktail. Much needed relax time.  We had put on 400 + miles for the day, driving for about 8 hours. Time to recharge for tomorrow. Prior to a nice supper, Molly and I took a nice walk around the area where we were camped. I didn't realize that a small pond was part of the place. I would guess that people (when the weather is nice and there are actually people other than us there), actually put boats in the water and quite probably fish.....

A View of the "lake"

A view from the "lake" to I 70

Molly and I on our walk

My pal Molly

Proof that fishing may occur here

Random Ramblings from Day #2:
We travelled on Interstates 90, 271, 71, and 70
We travelled in or around major cities of Erie, Pa, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.  In Cleveland, we passed the Progressive Insurance Mother Ship. No, we did not see Flo. Also, VERY important for future reference - do not travel eastbound through Cleveland during morning rush hour. In and around the Progressive "campus", eastbound traffic was backed up for miles.
In skirting Columbus, noted signs for Dublin, Ohio, which is location of Jack Nicklaus' famous golf course.
When exiting Ohio and entering Indiana noted a distinct difference in road quality and terrain- from flat farmland to modest hills and trees.

Hopefully we all get a nice sleep tonight so that we can have a good day tomorrow. Plan on leaving early. We've got about 460 miles to put on tomorrow. Our target is RV 66 Express in Marshfield, MO which is about 20-30 miles east of Springfield, Mo. The Mother Ship resides in Springfield and we intend to visit it - note: Bass Pro Shops.