The trip for today was Pioneer Town which is located about 20 miles away from 29 Palms. The car GPS likes to take back roads so driving time was 43 minutes or so. It was a good drive. I can say that since Diane was the driver, but she would agree.
If you access the link for Pioneer Town, you will know that this place was built to serve as a permanent western movie set. When we got there nothing was going on and it was time to eat, so that’s what we did at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneer Town Palace. Here’s proof by way of one of my better selfies.
I chose steak nachos
Diane had a fish sandwich
The interior was pretty much covered with vanity plates from all over the country.
It was cold so we didn’t want to eat outside and left Max in the car. He does real well staying in the car because he doesn’t chew anything, he just sleeps. When we got back to him, this was his greeting.
The trip back to Twentynine Palms was all downhill,
and darkness quickly descended on us as we returned to Twilight Dunes. The day’s ending was quite stunning.
It was a nice ending to a nice day. Sadly, I think the incredible color was amplified by the fires west of us.
This morning, we woke up to frozen water lines so couldn’t make coffee or flush the toilet until I remembered that we have a full tank of fresh water. All I had to do was turn on the water pump and we had running water. Thankfully, the water line (garden hose) didn’t burst so our next objective is to get some pool noodles to wrap the exposed hose. I don’t know what the temp was outside but inside the bus this morning it was 40 degrees. That’s a bit too chilly for me. I think I convinced Diane to leave the heater on during the night so we can avoid these low morning temps in the future.
We didn’t go anywhere today so the water hose didn’t get wrapped in pool noodles. By unanimous vote, we chose to take a day of rest. I did, however, give Max his long overdue bath. He asked nicely and it’s hard to turn him down. Bathing wears him out.
Twenty-nine Palms lives in a shallow valley and most of the buildings on the base are snuggled up against the eastern edge. This is what we see from space 72. First photo is looking north, second is looking south.
In the above photo, the main gate is the closest structure. The road from there to the next stop sign is a racetrack where motorcycles can easily attain 100+ mph. That’s done by those who are released into the public domain after their day shift is over. It doesn’t last long.
The structures in the middle are base housing. I have no idea what the other buildings are for. I do know that somewhere on the left side is a gas station, Carl’s Jr., and a bunch of other stuff.
The tire tracks up close on the left side of the photo is the path for getting into the RV park. It takes you across a fairly high curb to the paved street and causes a lot of rock and rolling to ensure that anything that’s loose will fall on the floor and cupboards that do not latch shut allow their contents to join the items already on the floor. It makes a tremendous racket. Amazingly, nothing broke. I’m pretty sure.
That’s our bus across from the kid’s playground and the dog area. Across the street from us you can see the individual carports at each site. I’ll get a better photo of our spot soon.
A neighbor moved in next to us, on the other side of the above photo. His name is Rich, and his wife is Susan. Their car and trailer are licensed in Oregon but they both grew up on Oahu. Their kids went to Mililani High School. This is interesting because that’s where our son, Jeff went to High School for a while. Rich is retired Army. That’s not pertinent, just another interesting aspect of our visit. We just had a short visit, but we hope to talk with them again.
We vacated Quartzsite early this morning and headed west to California. Our next stop was the Marine Corp Air Station at Twenty-nine Palms. When we pulled out of our RV park, a left turn would take us to Parker on Highway 95 and a right turn would take us to I-10. Diane’s GPS had her turn left, and mine had me turn right so we got separated in the first 2 minutes of today’s trip. Diane thought I was going to follow her, but the RV GPS is a trucker’s Garmin that computes routes based on the size of our RV. That’s why I turned right. It was a risky move on my part and caused considerable anguish for a while.
We both stopped within a few minutes and started calling each other to find out what to do. We eventually reconnected before getting free of Quartzsite and got headed the same direction.
The road was long and mostly straight all the way to Highway 177 where we turned right and headed north to Highway 62. Had we both turned left from the Quartzsite RV Park, and driven to Parker, we would have turned left on Highway 62 and arrived at the corner of Highway 177 and Highway 62 fifteen minutes sooner.
Highway 177 was very straight also, and I could see how the road slowly climbed on the other side of the valley. It was about a 20-mile stretch, straight as an arrow. If the wind hadn’t been blowing so hard, I probably could have taken a short nap or two.
Once on Highway 62 Diane took the lead and got us to Twenty-nine Palms at 1311 (1:11 pm) and drove on base about 1331. The park is adjacent to some of the base housing and is pretty nice. We’re in space 72 next to the only dog area which is handy. Max was more than ecstatic to have grass to run on for the first time since September. His little toes have got calluses from walking on rocks and asphalt all that time. Poor little guy probably couldn’t tell how soft the grass really is because of his crusty feet.
Each parking space has a small Tuff Shed and a carport. So, we have a place to park the car our of the sun and we can empty the car and all the basement cubbies into the shed just for fun. I could also install a rack to hang clothes and use the shed as a closet.
Our supper was from Wendy’s which is on the base. Back in the Bone Yard they had Burger King. After the Wendy’s meal we learned that it has BK beaten for flavor.
I don’t know if I mentioned that Diane lost one of her favorite earrings on Luke AFB. We searched everywhere for it but it just wasn’t there. So, guess what! She found it here in California. Isn’t that amazing? She was pretty happy, as was I.
Getting the bus into its assigned parking space involved a lot of bouncing around because of the curbs we had to cross. This caused a great deal of commotion with everything that wasn’t tied down inside the coach. It was just nature’s way of shaking things up to get everything on the same level, and filling spaces that needed filling. It was very annoying but nothing broke, which is amazing. It was a very noisy process. Amongst the tosseled items were many containers of various spices that escaped from one of the overhead cupboards. Two of the small ones saved themselves from the terrifying fall by hanging on to the shelf and allowing the cupboard door to hold them in place until they could be rescued. Boy, were they lucky.
I took a few photos of the trip but none of them were interesting. Just a bunch of cars, trucks, and lots of desert. So, I looked back a couple of days and found this one of Diane sewing up Max’s favorite toy, a long green worm. She’s done this a few times. He finally wound up destroying the first one and I was happy to find an exact replacement which he adopted right away. It’s his favorite, as you can tell as he waits patiently for Diane to finish so he can commence destruction once again.
Getting ready to vacate Luke AFB was a snap because I disconnected everything except electricity. That allowed us to get on the road in record time. We even stopped to fill the bus with fuel before leaving the base. We were going to pull the car once we find a place to do so after leaving the base.
Diane took off using the GPS and I followed with the Garmin. I think we made it almost two miles before we got separated due to a misleading interpretation of one of our GPS setups. It took us about an hour to reunite at exit 121 on I-10 West. That’s where I finally tried to connect the car to the bus and discovered a problem that will require us to drive both rigs all day tomorrow. That’s unfortunate but fixable. Just need time and patience and a stop for longer than one night like we’re doing at Quartzsite. So, the fix will happen at Twenty-Nine Palms.
So, after over an hour of driving aimlessly around Phoenix, we finally got aimed west on I-10. The drive was just fine until we got within 11 miles of Quartzsite where road crews were busy putting a new layer of paving on the west bound lanes of I-10. For about 20 miles the traffic, which included about 1700 semi-trucks, were slowed to two lanes of traffic going between 2-5 mph. Many times, we had to stop for random periods of time. Making it worse, at the end where the equipment was working, the lanes were trimmed to 1 right at a very long entrance filled with more trucks. So, we went from 3 lanes to 1 lane. It wasn’t difficult since it was all done in slow motion.
Once past the heavy equipment, the lanes opened up and we were off like bullets all the way to Exit 19 where Quartzsite lives. It was only 3-4 miles from where we got to speed up after the slow down.
But, we made it safely and got checked in and parked.
At this point in time, we’ve had dinner and we’re winding down watching all the horrendous fire reports knowing that we’re driving right toward it. We have a plan, however. If we encounter smoke, we’re going up through Nevada. If the smoke reaches that far, we’ll head for Utah. One way or another, we’ll get home safely.
To recap, the trip today should have taken us between 2-3 hours. Instead, it took us 6 hours.
This morning I turned on the new heater because it was so cold. The fake fireplace heater was already running but I was curious to see how much quicker the bus warmed up with both of them running. What I learned was that they worked well together until I turned on the coffee pot and popped the circuit. I actually found the problem quickly and fixed it. It was the circuit breakers on the inverter which is located in the outside aft starboard cubby. I reset them and went back inside just as Diane did the same thing. So, I went back out and reset them again.
Then the coffee pot wouldn’t start. I fiddled with it a bit and convinced it start like normal, then everything was OK, but I can’t deny there was just a little moment of panic when the pot wouldn’t brew and much joy when it was resurrected.
Can’t have two heaters running and make coffee at the same time. I might need to make a sign.
This morning, Diane went to the commissary, which is literally right next to the Fam Camp we’re in, so it was a short trip. While she was gone, I took Max for a long walk because he was assigned guard duty for the bus while we went to visit Julie & David in Peoria. Julie is Diane’s cousin, and she grew up in Warren, Oregon, just like Diane did. Kinda handy, right?
The drive over was nice. It was about 10 miles away and many of the roads in and around Phoenix are long and straight, so we only had to make about 6 turns to get there. You could almost take a nap between turns.
This is Julie and David.
They live in a 55+ community and it’s pretty nice. They actually have grass in the neighborhood which is a treat. Their home is beautiful and there is one entire wall of mirrors that is quite stunning.
One of my favorite features were a couple of windows. This is looking out.
This is from outside.
We had a wonderful visit and got to know David a little better. Previous visits have been short. This time we had time to actually visit and learn stuff about each other. The fun thing I learned about David is he has a very large family. Here’s proof.
His mother is in it on the left side, row 12, 26 to the right. He put his finger on her briefly so I’m really guessing about her position. She had dark hair in the photo. She doesn’t have it anymore because she’s 90. I know that’s true because we got to meet her.
Max was alone for about 4 hours and he did his best to make us feel really bad about it, but he was OK. He generally sleeps while we’re gone. He gets over our absence quicker when he’s given a treat, a good back scratching, and a long walk.
at Dillons KC BBQ Wildlife World Zoo where we had a nice lunch next to the flamingos. There were no flamingo choices on the menu. I didn’t see any other zoo animals either. I looked twice.
Brother Jack, joined us at the venue making the group complete.
For those of you unfamiliar with the family associations of all these people I’ll enlighten you. Jack is Brian’s grandfather and my (I think) grandnephew, Annie’s grandfather in-law, and Kelly’s great grandfather. I think that’s it. Anyway, it was interesting to have a meal at the zoo where they can grow their own menu items.
That’s not true, of course. I just added that so Diane will talk to me about it.
After lunch we drove back to Jack’s house in Surprise where we visited with Pat and Carolyn, cousins you met yesterday, in the driveway, in the sun. The sun was nice and warm. The mornings here are really cold – 38 degrees or so. Thankfully, once the sun comes up it warms quickly as long as the wind doesn’t blow much. It is my experience, that the wind doesn’t have to blow very hard to make it cold.
We spent a good amount of time visiting outside before moving into the house where we went to work on the puzzle Jack was working on. Kelly took Max on several long walks around the neighborhood and I know for sure he had a great time. He loves his walks.
I think it took about an hour for the six of us to finish the puzzle. It would have been eight, but Pat and Carolyn went home before we started. We had a good time getting it done. There was only one piece missing.
Jack provided dessert in the form of lemon Oreos. Those are really, really good.
Just before it started to get dark, we excused ourselves and headed back to Luke AFB. We would have stayed longer, but Diane doesn’t like to drive after dark, and I’m not allowed to drive her car unless I’m alone. It’s a rule.
Visiting with the family is always awesome and we treasure the time spent with all of them.
Once back on base, I immediately took Max for another walk because he was pretty insistent about making his rounds. He’s really serious about maintaining a routine.
Today we took a trip to Surprise to visit brother Jack. We had a great visit and had the additional pleasure of also visiting with Pat & Carolyn who live across the street from Jack. They are our cousins. Max went in the house and searched every corner so he could know what he was dealing with. I’m sure he picked up scent of Kelly, Jack’s great granddaughter, who visited us in St. Helens last summer. He’ll get to see her tomorrow to confirm his belief as we’re all getting together for a small family reunion. Should be fun.
For lunch we went to an In-N-Out Burger. Neither Diane nor I had been to one of those before and we were very pleased with the food. We had a good visit over the food, then returned Jack to his home at Happy Trails.
Happy Trails is a really nice place that’s been active since the beginning of the housing boom in Phoenix for Northerners looking for a milder winter. It also has a stellar golf course for the thousands of inhabitants. If we plan to head south for the winter again, Happy Trails is the kind of place we’d like to inhabit. They have things to do there.
It’s going to be a nice, pleasant evening, I think. Especially if they put all those F-35 Lightning II’s back in the barn. I have to admit, however, how awesome it is to see them take off then go vertical and just disappear into the sky. Seems like I’ve said that before.
Now we’ll relax and think about what we want for dinner, or if we actually want dinner. We might just go with dessert to end the day. I know for a fact that there is a tub of sherbert in the freezer.
That piques my interest.
A lot.
Just so you know, Max has been on the lookout for the neighbors he loves.
We made it through the night and no one knocked on the door so they could tell us to leave. I guess that means we can stay here for a little while.
Max isn’t upset at all about the non-familiarity of his new surroundings. For him it’s all about smelling the new stuff and filing it away for future reference. He’s a little overwhelmed, I think, by the amount of open space that’s available for him. Still, he just wanders around the edges checking things out.
I used this photo yesterday, so forgive me for repeating myself. Just wanted you to see the open range right next to the FAMCAMP.
Our first walk this morning was all the way around the 60 sites at this location, and even a short way down the road outside the facility. We went up and down every row, all five of them, and he really enjoyed himself. We only encountered one other dog-walker so the masses must have gone earlier. Even for the one, he wasn’t very interested. There were so many bushes to smell I think he was actually swooning. So much so, that I failed to catch him the moment with my handy camera. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get new ones.
In case you need to make a note about where we are, here’s the sign.
I believe there’s a common naming theme for RV Parks located on air force bases. On the way up the freeway, I also saw a sign directing us to the Saguaro National Park. I’m not sure if it’s the same one we visited while in Tucson, or another one. I could look it up, I suppose, but it doesn’t matter. If you’ve seen one saguaro, you’ve seen them all. That’s not true, of course, because each one of them is unique. They are like snowflakes, no two alike.
President Jimmy Carter’s funeral was today, and we watched the entire thing. Of most interest to us were the speakers who we really enjoyed. As I listened to them extolling Mr. Jimmy’s incredible life of service, I couldn’t keep my head from wondering what Mr. Trump’s eulogy might be like. That planted a seed, of course, which might have to be watered into reality one of these days.
As the camera panned the inside of the National Cathedral, Diane and I had flashbacks of our visit to Washington DC many years ago. We visited it one afternoon and had the joy of getting there just in time to attend an evening service. There weren’t many in attendance, but there was a choir who sat in the first sections on either side of the aisle behind the stage. Diane and I sat in the next section down on the right. The pastor was a magnificent lady. I don’t remember her name but if you are adventurous, you can check one of my old posts where I documented that trip.
I stopped here and searched my photos looking for pics of the cathedral but shouldn’t find them. I’ll look again later. But I did find one of Diane from 2011 that you might enjoy.
I know. That’s not relevant to this post, but it’s a great photo.
This was the sunset today when I was out walking Max for his last walk of the day.
Not true. I watched Notre Dame beat Penn State and advance to the NCAA Championship game. That means it’s past 2100 and the sun set about 3 hours ago. I’m pretty sure he’s generated some urine by now. I certainly have. I told him I’d take him out one more time and all the while I’ve been typing this he’s been sitting next to my feet staring at me.
We got up at 0630 when Diane’s bird alarm started chirping. Since I didn’t have much to do this morning, I stayed in bed like a lump. I stayed there until 0700 when it was determined that I should arise. So, I did. Actually, it was my idea.
Our first stop was Lazy Days RV place where we had an appointment to get the bus’s radiator drained, cleaned and refilled. We got there at 0911 and left the rig with them because Noah said it would take 3 hours or so. An hour into it he called to report that the tech doing the work said the overflow tank had leaks and suggested we get one before dealing with the radiator. The new tank price was quoted at $1300.00 and would take 2-3 weeks to arrive. Yup, that fit right into our plans for the day. So, we went back to pick it up and head north, pretending like it would make it no problem.
It did just fine and didn’t heat up even a tiny bit. To aid in that effort we chose to not pull the car. Instead, Diane drove and I followed. That worked great until we got to Phoenix where the traffic got real dense and all of the agressive drivers seemed to have a problem with Diane. They actually tried to run her over more than once. From my perspective it was pretty frightening because there was nothing I could do about what was going on. Thankfully, nobody hit her.
There was one rest area on the trip and we stopped at it. Both of us parked in the truck section which was a little bit of a walk to the urinals so I took Max along so we could take a trip through the pet area. He enjoyed the trip, stopping to sniff then pee on everything more than 6 inches tall. It took a while. Then, when we made it to the bottom of the area I see the back of a sign that was obviously meant for folks walking into the area from the restrooms. The other side of the sign said “Beware: This area is populated by poisonous snakes and reptiles.” We made it through safely, but it would have been really nice had they also included that sign at the top of the area. I should have taken a photo of that sign.
After that stop is when the traffic got nasty.
We made it to Luke AFB, and through the South Gate, just about quitting time the barriers in the road popped up stopping all traffic in and out the gate. No one seemed to know why, and it took about 30 minutes for someone to figure out how to make the barriers go away. By then, pretty much everyone on base trying to get home after a long day at the office was lined up for miles in multiple directions. Thankfully, we were apparently the last two vehicles that made it through the gate going on the base. The incoming line outside the base must have been just as bad as the lines waiting to get out.
The barrier we needed to get past was around a right turn corner just inside the gate and there were only 4 cars ahead of us. So, when the barrier dropped, we moved on passed the barrier we quickly found our way to the Fam Camp here on Luke.
We got checked in, parked in the front row,
and hooked up our pedestal, cooked a great dinner of leftovers (no photos available) and got Max out for a walk.
Then I seemed to have lost my iPad. I eventually found it, but it took multiple searches of the bus and the car before it revealed itself. The “Find My Device” app told me it was here, but it was illusive. Perserverance paid off. Now I will be able to sleep peacefully.
Max always checks the weather before we head out on our morning walk. The sunrise only shows off for a brief moment before it all goes away so we were lucky Max was on the ball and brought this to my attention. By the time Max got his gear on, and we got out the door, it was all gone. Like magic.
Lots of coyotes roamed around in the park last night, but they are very quiet. They leave a scent, however, and Max follows every one of them. We spend a lot of time going back and forth as he does his best to smell all of them and properly catalog them for future reference. He’s a busy little guy.
Max loves his toys. He was calmly looking out the window when I buried him in them and he didn’t mind at all.
While I was dismantling the RV for our departure, Max found a better use for the wheel covers than I had in mind. I left him alone because he looked pretty comfortable as I worked.
Someone is going around the park planting gigantic pineapples. I’m kind of bummed we’re going to miss watching them grow and bloom.
When we went to bed last night the only thing connected to the bus was electricity and water. Everything else was stowed away, ready for tomorrow.
Temporary Sanity ... 