"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness"  -  Mark Twain

Monday, March 17, 2008

Off to a WARM start!!!


We made it out of Fruita, no fanfare, just quietly left the neighborhood with sunny skies and highs in the 50’s! Our first stop was the Fruita Coop, as we needed a cooling fountain drink and wanted to check to make sure everything was packed securely in the camper. Our flat panel TV that we just installed did just fine, and no dishes flying out of the cabinets! We hit the interstate at Mack and got off at the Moab exit. We stopped at a motorcycle shop in Moab for some KLR parts and then continued south until we hit Bluff, UT and camped for the night at a BLM campground right along the San Juan river. We stopped just around sunset and the place was pretty quiet, only one other camper in site! We had a perfect spot that backed along the river; the grand views of the stars and the sound of the water at night were very soothing! In the morning we went for hike to see all the Indian petroglyphs that are in the area, it was a very impressive panel of Indian writings! Later that morning we packed up and went 20 miles down the road to Mexican Hat, UT. We found a deserted dirt road to camp at with awesome views all around! We finally were able to go for a ride on our Kawasaki KLR, we took a ride down to the state park with views of the goosenecks and the San Juan River which was just spectacular, also rode up hwy 261 up to the Moki Dugway that was a very twisty road with lots of switchbacks! After coming back down the road we took the road into Valley Of The Gods, which has some very interesting rock formations, one rock looks like a lady in a bathtub, actually looks like Marge Simpson! After a night of wind and falling temperatures, we decided to move on!

Made a stop in Flagstaff, AZ as our shower faucet broke the night before, of course it was the only faucet we hadn’t replaced yet! We found one in a hardware store and installed it in the parking lot, glad we did as it leaked! We returned it to the store and got another one that was similar, it didn’t leak but the holes did not line up exactly, so after so modifications, Rich got it work just fine! It was still cold and windy so we continued driving until we got to exit 13 off of I-40 West where we found a nice place to pull over and sleep for the night. In the morning we were only about 20 miles from Lake Havasu City, AZ where it is much warmer! We found a great place to camp free at a BLM campground at Craggy Wash. We have a great spot about 1.5 miles off the highway! Lake Havasu City, is home of the London Bridge, and not planning it we have been across the bridge with every vehicle we have, even our mountain bikes! It really is neat to see; just the engineering that it took to bring it across and put it back together is an interesting history lesson!

We have done a few side trips since we have been here, we took a boat ride over to the Chemehuev Indian reservation, resort/casino, had a nice late lunch and donated a $1.00 to their slot machines! The boat ride was free, can’t complain on that price tag! Our scooter ride took us up historic route 66 up to the historic town of Oatmam, they have several donkeys’ roaming the town, and it was quite interesting! It was a nice 150 mile loop, and we did several geo caches along the way! Our KLR ride took us south out of town to the Parker Dam, we went across the dam and into California, and explored some dirt roads in the area!

We have met some really nice people in the camping area, had a nice neighbors Sharon and Harlan from California, had a nice campfire at their site and shared some camper and truck stories! Just yesterday we had a coyote come though our campsite in the middle of the afternoon!!

Lake Havasu City has been a nice first destination, we haven’t figured out where we will go next, but will probably head out sometime next week. Having received our packet of information from the Campground in Michigan a few days ago, we are really looking forward to getting there and working! We will arrive sometime in early May so we still have some time to play! Now if only fuel prices will start dropping….Wishful thinking!!!!

Friday, February 29, 2008

We are chasing our dreams down the interstate!!!

Well the day has come, and we are off on our adventure!!! By accidet we came accross our theme get away song as we were looking for a traffic report in Denver on Monday. The group is Lonestar and the song is What About Now, here are the lyrics, most of you will understand if you know us! We leave today around noon, and will head to Moab for a day, and then off to much warmer weather for a month in AZ. We will head to Upper Penisula of MI for a job as campground hosts from May to mid September. Much to explore, so many roads, and now finally the time!!!


Artist: Lonestar
Song: What About Now
Album: Lonely Grill


The sign in the window said for sale or trade
On the last remaining dinosaur Detroit made
Seven hundred dollars was a heck of a deal
For a four hundred horsepower jukebox on wheels

And that road rolls out like a welcome mat
I don't know where it goes but it beats where we're at
We always said someday, somehow
We were gonna get away, gonna blow this town

What about now, how 'bout tonight
Baby for once let's don't think twice
Let's take that spin that never ends
That we've been talking about
What about now, why should we wait
We can chase these dreams down the interstate
And be long gone 'fore the world moves on and makes another round
What about now

We've been puttin' this off baby long enough
Just give me the word, and we'll be kickin' up dust
We both know it's just a matter of time
'Til our hearts start racin' for that county line

What about now, how 'bout tonight
Baby for once let's don't think twice
Let's take that spin that never ends
That we've been talking about
What about now, why should we wait
We can chase these dreams down the interstate
And be long gone 'fore the world moves on and makes another round
What about now

We could hang around this town forever making plans
But there won't ever be a better time to take this chance

What about now, how 'bout tonight
Baby for once let's don't think twice
Let's take that spin that never ends
That we've been talking about
What about now, why should we wait
We can chase these dreams down the interstate
And be long gone 'fore the world moves on and makes another round
What about now

What about now

Monday, February 18, 2008

Yard Sale Is Over!!!!

The yard sale was a huge success!! We had advertised in a few papers and had posted flyers in a few small stores in Fruita. People starting showing up at 7am, we told them to come back at 8:00 and that they did!! We had non-stop customers until about 1:30, when we finally found time to sit down for a few minutes and take a break! At the end of the day we had sold about 75% of our stuff, we also had the sale on Saturday, and did get rid of most of our stuff; we only took 3 boxes of misc things to Goodwill!

On another note we have a job this summer at a campground in Upper Peninsula of Michigan; we will start on May 1st and be there until mid September! This is an area that we have wanted to go back and spend more time and explore looks like it will be this summer! We have not decided where we will go once we leave Fruita in 2 weeks, we are thinking of either New Mexico or Arizona.

With just 2 weeks to go, we still have stuff to do, it seems as we pack things in the camper, we have to unpack it as we need things!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

House is under contract!


As I look out the window and see the snow falling, it is hard to believe that very soon we will be living in our 5th wheel and living our dream!  We finally got a contract on our house today, we are so happy of this news, we are just not sure where to begin, as we still have so much stuff to get rid of!  All of our motorcycles that we have sold have now been delivered!  The Yamaha Riva scooter and the Suzuki DRZ 400 went to Nebraska, and the Kawasaki Sherpa went to California!  We finally have a photo of our new truck hooked up the the 5th wheel, we pulled out the camper last week to take it for a spin and do some measuring.  So much to do, can't wait!!!