26 September 2009

Hi All: Bet you all thought we fell of the end of the world. Have been here in Phoenix all week having a good time with Jack and Yoli. Even had to much fun one evening and didn't feel to well the next day. Not bad, just a little slower getting started. Not much to write about is the reason no Blog for a while. Amy is getting in her shopping, and Jack and I did some hunting for a pair of pistol grips for one of my pistols. Couldn't find any though. Will have to make a pair when I get home I guess. That's what I get for having a strange made gun....

Heat is pretty good here. Supposed to 106 today. Not as hot as it was last year though. Next week is supposed to be in a cold snap. Won't get any higher than 95 they say??? Freezing up North of here though, where we stayed before we came down south. What a difference a few miles make. I guess it's the Altitude rather than the Miles though, Ya Guess

Sgt Van and his wife are supposed to come visit us today at around 1300. Looking forward to seeing them. Haven't seen him in over 35 years I guess....

Just wanted to let ya all know we are still out here and having fun.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

17,18 & 19 September 2009

Hi All: Sorry I'm late with the blog. Jack and Yoli got here the 17th around noon and we visited and all that day and evening. Cooked a couple burgers for dinner and hit the rack fairly early. Got up the next day, went to breakfast at Denny's and then headed for the railroad depot for out train trip around the Verde Valley. It was a super ride of about 4 hours to places that no one can get to or see unless your on the train. Real nice trip. Then we went to a ranch house for a dinner and show. Dinner was pretty good ranch beans, BBQ chicken or beef with all the trimmings, then a music shoe that was fair. Biggest problem was someone right behind us had a little baby who was really squealing. I told them I did not pay my money to listen to their kid scream and they just looked at me. Amy finally told them to get gone from there as she cannot even hear the music. They did move farther back in the room, but kept the little kid yelling during most of the show. They should have a sign up that says rowdy kids will be "Sold" or some such thing. Was a good day with Jack and Yoli any way.

Got up early again this morning and went to breakfast at a local restaurant where the breakfast was better than Denny's, then we headed for Sedona to check out a outside mall type place that showed local talent of sculpture, painting and what ever. It was great, As you can see in one of the photo's above I was "Waitin' on two women" Jack was to most of the time, but Amy didn't get both of our photo's. Did see some nice stuff there, and did enjoy the time there. We then drove to Prescot, AZ, about 60 miles from there thru Jerome where we visited last time we were here with Jack and Yoli. We visited a friend of Jack and Yoli's in Prescot. They have a great house and a super view of the area they live. It was a great visit. Would like to have spent more time with them, They are also Marines, so they are good folks.

Got back here thru a really bad rain storm. As strong as I've seen. Must have been some more flash floods around somewhere. It rained most of the way back to the Motor Home where we found I had left the roof vent open in the bathroom and the rain really came in with a vengeance. Didn't ruin anything, just wetted things up in there.

WE sat around and had a couple drinks and a bite to eat and decided we all were really tired from the super day. Jack and Yoli will leave in the morning for Phoenix. WE will stay one more day, get the rig ready and leave Monday for Phoenix where we will be for a couple weeks having fun, and missing JoAnn. Hi Jo!!! We won't have to much fun without ya...

The photo's above are of me waiting of course, then the band at the dinner show, A photo of Jack and I in jail at the dinner show place, A photo of Jack and I on the train ride, and one of Yoli and Amy on the train also...We have had a great time with Jack and Yoli here in Verde Valley and look forward to more days of fun in Phoenix.

Thanks to Jack and Eileen in Prescot for having us in there home today. Such a beautiful Home.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh.

16 September 2009

HI All: We got to the "Out Of Africa" attraction to meet Amy's cousin and his wife about 1000. It was nice to meet them and had a nice visit with them. Then they sent us on a tour of their place. It was nicer than last year as it wasn't as hot. Had a nice tour. Above are the photo's of Dean and Prayie, Me and Amy.. Then we were attacked by the animals. The giraffe stuck his head in the bus to take the pieces of carrot they gave each one of us and grabbed the sticks with his tongue . Darn thing was about 15 inches long and could grab the sticks. Then we were attacked by the two ostriches. One of them snuck up on Amy and tried to eat her watch. It did bit one of the other folks on the arm pretty good. Then we saw their cats, and one grizzly bear. Had some wolves, hienas, a extra large rhinoceros, Snakes, birds, lemming's and I think that was it. We stayed for their rides thru the area then left.. Nice day.. Thank goodness Amy still has her watch. hee hee.

The sky has turned black. Had a little rain, and a rainbow. Not as nice as the one in Williams. The sky still looks like rain. Might still rain tonight. Hope it don't rain hard, as last week they had a big flash flood from a rain here and we can still see the trash and rocks all over the roads around here. Did see on the national news that they had a car or two in Senora stuck in the road in the flood running across the road. Don't need any of that.

Jack and Yoli will be here tomorrow around noon we figure. Looking forward to our time with them.

Not much more to report. Did attack Walmart again though. This one even had some benches for a guy to sit on while "Waitin' On A Woman" inside the store....Nice store.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

15 September 2009

Hi All: Not a lot to tell about today. We got up and decided to go to breakfast in Cottonwood. Tried to find a nice local restaurant, but ended up at Denny's again. They do have a good breakfast, but would like to try the local places. We did find one after we ate we may try later. We went to Clarkdale where the train depot for our Train Trip Friday, and then the Dinner show there after the train ride. We now know where to go. Sounds like a good day to be had...

We are camped next to the "Verde River", so Amy and I decided to find it today. There are a lot of nice green trees not to far away from us, and the map says the river is there. So we took off down the path we found a lot of mud from the last flash flood they had here, could hear the river running out in the trees, and it was to dense to walk there. We walked down the flash flood course for a while, chased a skunk our of our way, and didn't make him mad at us thank goodness. Amy took a photo of the drying flood area that looks like the back of my neck, also took a couple shots or me walking around trying not to make any skunks mad, or step one any snakes. Finally found the river. It was about 10 feet across, and looked like the "little Muddy" Probably form the rains up here last week. Water was not cold like it was in Alaska. We're not sure we found the "Public Beach" that is on our map from the campground. It took me about half hour to clean the mud off of our shoes. It is like glue. Strong steam of water wouldn't cut it. Had to finally use a stick from the tree I broke the limbs off of to let me open my awning. The picture of the rig with the tree next to it shows the little limb that is no longer there?? Amy was also waiting for me to fall in the big river to take a photo. Just got me leaning out over it. hee hee.

We go to meet Amy's cousin Dean Harrison at the "Out Of Africa" attraction that is just down the road from the campground turn off. She talked to him Monday after we got here and we are to meet them there in the morning. She has never met him before. His Grandfather and Amy's grandfather on her Mom's side were brothers. Should be an interesting meeting....

Well, one more day and Jack and Yoli will be here for their visit with us. Their cabin is about 100 feet from our rig, and looks pretty nice from the outside. Has a Satellite dish, a patio with a table and umbrella with table and chairs etc. Not sure what the inside of it is like. Hope it is nice for them....

We decided to go to the I-17 exit where there was supposed to be a Quizno's for a sandwich. Well we drove there the almost 9 miles and there was none there. Just an empty building. We did find a Subway and bought one of those to bring back to the rig to eat after a period of socializing?? Better get to the sandwich before it gets soggy...

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

14 September 2009

Hi All: We are now in Verde Valley, AZ at the 1000 Trails campground. We got here about 1330. We are now about 4000 feet altitude. We were at 7000+ at the last campground. It was 65 when we left there this morning and got here and it was 88. So a little altitude does make a difference. Supposed to be in the low 90's here. A real big difference in area. Up where we were before was a lot of large pine trees. Here there are a lot of little scrub pine type trees, and lots of sand and rocks. It's beautiful in a different way. We are camped about 200 yards from the Verde River. Haven't been down to see it yet, but plan to. The campground is about 1/3 full according to the Ranger. We are close to the adult pool, and Pool Lodge that has a TV and pool tables etc... The main lodge has a kitchen, a store, a big screen TV, and two pool tables. Don't know if we will use the kitchen services here, Usually go out to town for meals, or eat them here in the Motor Home. Above is a picture of the cabin we have for Jack and Yoli who will be coming up Thursday to stay with us for a few days. We plan to have fun here.

The other photo's are of a little car that has a speed trap inside and a camera that takes your picture if you are speeding. It takes both front and back of the car, and they send you a bill in the mail if you are speeding. Don't know of anyone who has been caught yet...hee hee. A sign to tell you about Elk in the area. Have only seen one on this trip, and it was in the Grand Canyon area. The two scenery shots are taken as we were coming down from Williams. Showing the valley of Verde Valley, and a mountain in that area. The other ones are coming to the front gate of Thousand Trails. We got there and there was three rigs checking in. The Ranger said there had been NO traffic all morning till we all showed up.. When I got to the gate there was 4 more behind me to check in. Jack and Yoli will be in site 11 of B section and we are in 16. Close to each other. This is a remote part of the park kinda I guess. The main Lodge is gotten to by use of CAR. The campground is laid out on a large piece of land... They had a flash flood that came thru here a couple days ago. We can see the damage and the stuff it brought with it on all the roads. They have cleaned it up pretty good. No WiFi at the site. It is available at the main lodge, but my Verizon Thingy works great where we are, as does the Satellite Signal. Also can pick up a few local stations on the antenna for local news and ABC, NBC,CBS stuff IF we want to be subjected to those stations.....I'm a FOX News channel guy...

Well, It's 5 O'clock somewhere ....

Semper Fi.

Don, Amy & Pharaoh...

12 & 13 September 2009

Hi All: Didn't get a blog out yesterday as there was very little to say. It was a laid back day. Just reading etc. I did go get a holster for my .44 Mag. Had to take the gun to the store to make sure it would fit in a holster I bought. Good thing as I had a hard time finding one that would fit. Had one that fit, but it was on a belt that was a 44 incher. I am not there yet, so I asked if I could switch the holster from on belt to one that would fit the gun? She said she didn't know how to do that, so I taught her how. I told her I had the gun with me, can I find one that will fit. She asked. Is it unloaded?? I said, A gun that has no bullets is not good??? She just looked at me. I was joking, it was unloaded. Don't know what I will do with the belt and holster now that I have one. Hang it on a peg I guess in my den...????

The rains came again last evening. Really came down. I see on the news that a town down near where we are going tomorrow, Sedona, AZ had flash floods, and some folks got caught in one with their car??? Hope we don't have any of those while we are there, as the campground is on the side of a mountain, and if water came rushing down I fear some rigs may end up in the Verde River??

Jack and Yoli are coming up from Phoenix next Thursday for three days. Plan to visit Sedona, Jerome, and what ever else we can get in trouble doing??? Looking forward to their visit. Then we go down to Phoenix for two weeks there getting in to trouble there....

Just plan to do very little today. Just get the rig ready to pull out in the morning for Verde Valley. Better get to work. Lots to do.

Photos above are some we took before, don't think I have sent them out yet. The one with the blue thing in it is a car that a guy drove off the edge of the Grand Canyon. He went down about 900 feet. He was thrown out of the car about 400 feet down. They say they think the got ALL of him, and plan to pull the car, all in pieces out of there soon..

A couple shots of the Grand Canyon again. Don't know who that fat guy is....And the entrance gate to Williams. Pretty neat way to let you know you are entering Williams....

We've had a real good time here. This had been a good campground, but not as good as the one in Branson???

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

11 September 2009

Hi All: Another super day in Northern Arizona. We got up and Amy made French Toast and sausage for breakfast. I'm not normally great with French Toast, but it sure was good this morning. We then loaded up and went to the big Town of "Williams" We drove down the one way street one way, then down the other one way street to see what the town had to offer. Didn't take long to do either way. We parked and did the walk around the area. The photo's above are from there. They had a little western Town set up we walked around in. Checked out a couple folks in the local jail, I had a one way conversation with a couple Indians, We waved at a guy sitting on the town water tower, not sure what the little house was Amy took a picture of, and a picture of the NEW Town Square Clock. We also got a shot of a super rainbow that developed just out in the valley in front of our Motor home.....

We got another "Frog Strangler" of a rain yesterday also. We could not decide what to eat for dinner, and it was raining and didn't want to have to walk very far from a car to a restaurant, so we went to a "McDonalds". Haven't had a Big Mac in years. Not my favorite place to eat. But the choices were Taco Bell, KFC, Jack In The Box or Mc Donalds. McDonalds was closest so we took that. Got our input of Saturated Fat and Cholesterol for the week....I sure hope I don't have to buy new clothes before I get home.... Oh yea, Today we went to the "Safeway" grocery store, and it was right next to a Dairy Queen, so I added some more to my waist line there. We checked out a few restaurants on the walk and noticed the prices were for tourists. A cheap steak dinner at most places was around $30. So we got a nice T-Bone to cook here at home. Cost less than $30, and we can have a little drink here and not have to drive.

All is going super so far. Trip is a real relaxing trip, and just what we wanted. I have read more books than I thought I would read. I'm not sure I have brought enough of them to get me back home..

Well, almost time to Kill the T-Bone.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh...

PS. Amy just got a call from her cousin Dean Harrison who has a place called "Out Of Africa" that is located in Verde Valley, where we go next. We will get with them at their attraction next Wednesday. WE tried to meet them last time we were here, but they were out of town.. Amy had never met him before...

10 September 2009

Hi All: Another day in Arizona. It's still great here in Williams. It was 55 this morning and warmed up in the 70's during the afternoon. But, the afternoon rain storm came by again today which brought the temp down to 61 here. They got another good rain, which they say they really need bad. It's 1630 and still cloudy and rainy looking out. We were going to to to Williams and walk around the town, but the rain changed our minds, so we stayed home and read in the rain. (Rain outside, not inside) Also lost the Satellite Signal again for a while. Doubt I missed much news on FOX news channel though???? If it stays dry we plan to go to a fast food place in town somewhere for dinner..

Amy got her hair done this morning and the lady did a great job. Amy asked if she could take her home with her?? She said yes if Amy takes her to the beach. She couldn't understand why we didn't go to the beach every day since we live only about 30 miles form it?? WE are not big Beach folks. I like to go fishing on the water, but don't like swimming in it. Fish do strange things in that water...

The photo's are of Amy and I at the Route 66 diner for dinner the other night. One shot of the view out our front window here at the campground, And Amy wants Donnie to come out and play??? It's wet out there....

Not sure what we plan for tomorrow, Probably the walk around the Old Town of Williams. They have a few interesting looking places to visit there....

See ya later.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

9 September 2009

Hi All: We were met by the Tour Guides vehicle at 0900 on 09/09/09. Won't be able to do that for a thousand years again I guess. He did not have any other customers for the trip, so we had our own personal guide for the trip. He drove us up the 60 miles to the Grand Canyon, then walked us around the area showing us the different points of interest, and pointed out what the different names for all the mountains that are contained within the Grand Canyon. The weather was perfect. A little chilly as you can see from the long sleeved shirts we had on, but we were able to discard them as the day went on. We got to witness the Indian Dancers there, Checked out the Hotel area, and of course lots of Gift Shops. I don't think Amy hurt me to bad in them. Had lunch at the restaurant there with the guide. He then turned us loose to roam around and even go to the ice cream place for a cone, and then picked us up at a predetermined area at 1430, and we then headed out for Williams again. He had a movie of the Mule trips that they have there, so we watched the movie on the way back. It did sprinkle on us up there but not enough to get us wet. BUT, after we got back to the Motor Home it really came down in buckets. Even lost the satellite signal during the rain storm. It did let up in time to see the Presidential speech which we tuned off and watched something else...We did hit the rack early being pretty tired from all the walking around up at the Big Ditch"...It was a super tour, and the Grand Canyon is about the most beautiful place we have ever seen. Have a couple photo's attached, but a photo cannot show the real value of the sight. Everyone should try to make a trip here some time in their life.. Be sure to get Marvelous Marvin to take you up there. There are several tour folks here, including a train trip up there and back. The train trip is 2 1/2 hours up and 2 1/2 hour back. The drop you off at the station up there and you are on your own then to just walk around wondering what you are seeing. The guide sure makes the trip much more meaningful we think. We have used Marv both times we have been here. He has been doing this for over 25 years, so he is very knowledgeable about the area. He takes about an hour to get up and another hour to get back the 60 miles to the "Big Ditch.

Amy goes to the Hair Dresser tomorrow. Not sure what we will do after that.

Got a note from a Marine who worked with me at the USMC Redeye Missile School, and his folks live in the Phoenix area, and he lives in California. He plans to come down to the Phoenix area while we are there visiting Jack and Yoli. Have not seen Van in an awful long time. Will be great to see him again. He was single when we were together, but now has joined the "Married Folks" ranks. Have never met his wife, and look forward to the meeting..

Well, better close this thing.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

7 September 2009

Hi All: Another day in the adventures of US. We got on the road a little earlier than we had planned today. We only had about 150 miles to go to the next campground, so we thought we would be slow and lazy in getting going. Well, that didn't work for some reason. We got on the road earlier than any other day so far. We were on the way at 0830 for some reason. When we start locking down everything for travel it seems we can't stop, and we got up a little early so we got going a little early. The BIG problem with that is we got to the next campground early. About 1115, and checkout was 1200 for the rig that was in the spot they had assigned us. So we had to pull over and wait for them to leave. They didn't make the 1200 check out, but did make it at 1230. We sat and read a little, and took the picture of the little squirrel shown above. He came down to the rig, and I had to make a noise and he ran to that rock. Any way, we got in our site which is a great one overlooking the valley from here, rather than one looking in to the mountain on the other sided. We did stop where the attendant showed us and I hooked up everything and the antenna would not lock on the satellite. I went out and noticed there was a tree next to the rig in the path of the satellite, so I had to move the rig forward about 10 feet, which allowed me to lock on the satellite, but had to add about 10 feet of sewer hose to reach the dump site. Other than that, this is a real nice campground. Still not as good as the one in Branson. "I loved that Campground". hee hee.

The temperature here is about 78. Super weather. Wind is a little stronger than I would like, and I don't have the awning out because of it, but the sky is blue with puffy white clouds. All is great except we can hear the traffic from I-40 as we are pretty close to it.

We are scheduled for a tour of the Grand Canyon Wednesday at 0900. It's with www.MarvelousMarv.com . He is the one we went with in 2001 when we traveled with Jay and Lou. He did a super job we think, and being with him he can park his van at places we could not park the car, then he gives you a tour of what you are looking at with each stop site on the Grand Canyon. Looking forward to that.. Other than that we don't have any other scheduled events while here for a week...

Our next campground is Verde Valley campground. It's a 1000 Trails campground which we belong to like a "TimeShare" for another week. Jack and Yoli are coming up for three days with us at the campground and Amy has booked an event while there. It's www.verdecanyonrr.com

It being an old railroad train ride, then Invited to tickle the funny bones with a knee-slapping good time at the Blazing M Ranch Chuck wagon-Style Dinner and show. Should be a good time. We have been to a few of these dinner shows on our trips and they all were great. I'm sure Jack and Yoli will enjoy it too. We'll enjoy it more since they will be with us....

Plan to take Amy to dinner tonight at the "Cruiser's Cafe 66, on route 66. Amy has picked this place so it WILL be good huh?? Getting kinda hungry too, as the breakfast we had at 0700 is long gone now.

Well, we'll try to keep you updated on the travels of us...

Oh yea, the photo's. The first one is the squirrel at the campground, the next one is a shot of the mountains coming our way as we traveled down the road, and the next one is our of sequence, as it was taken before the third one, and the last one is an Indian Village I guess. Looks like the Indians have gotten better TeePee's than they used to have. hee hee.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

6 September 2009

Hi All: It's been a slow day for us today. I woke up about 0330 and got up and read a while. Amy got up soon after that. We are still hooked on Eastern Time I guess.

We had our coffee and decided to go out and find a local restaurant for breakfast. Not remembering it is Sunday we found most everything closed. We went to the big down town of Holebrook and most everything there was closed also, so we drove to the exit before the one we are on and found THE Denny's that is open 24 hours. I always wonder when they clean things when open all the time??? Did not have the big breakfast today. We then drove to a Petrified Wood Museum Amy found a brochure on. It was open and that is where we found the nice new car in the photo above. Not sure the year, but I think it is a Model A Ford?? They would not take the Saturn in for trade... Also found a place for me to "Waitin' On A woman" swing. Amy is also standing by some large hunks of petrified wood from somewhere. We are close tot he Petrified National Park. Don't plan to go there this time. They had enough of the wood for us to see. Amy even bought a set of book ends of stuff. That is why I was sitting on the swing crying??? The other photo is of the Rig parked in the OK RV park. We are about the only ones there now. Not to many RV's on the hi ways these days it seems. Guess the economy is keeping a lot of those folks at home too...

Hi Jan, thanks for the comments on the blog. Yes I am sure you saw some of this country on the way from 29 Palms. We are traveling on the Old Route 66. The one we all traveled before they put in Interstate 40. There are still some parts of the old route still around, and most of the business are boarded up and falling apart. Sad. We remember traveling this route also.

We leave in the morning for Williams, AZ where we will be staying for a week to visit the Grand Canyon. We had a tour with a company we hope is still in business there. It's Marvin's tour Company, or something like that. They take us in a van to the Grand Canyon which is some distance from Williams, and then takes us to all the areas to see and take photo's of, and we don't have to worry about parking our car had we driven up there our selves. WE checked with the campground when we made reservations there and he is still in business, so our plan is to get with him again....

Weather today is real nice. It was 59 this morning. Had to take the nip off with the heater this morning a little. It has warmed up near 80 now I think out side, and no more rain so far.

Had to fill the tank on the Saturn today and gas out here in the middle of nowhere was $2.89. Glad I don't need any for the Motor Home yet. The Saturn's tank didn't hurt us to bad.. But the Motor Home gets awful hungry at times. hee hee.

We are going to grill a couple Omaha steaks for dinner tonight. Didn't see any restaurants out there that really called to us...

See ya all later.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh