POST #5

JANUARY, 2012

The first trips were huge learning experiences.  Found my limits for driving distances to be around 250 miles.  But once I did drive 500 miles, exhausting.  There's a huge stress difference between driving a car for 300 miles and driving an RV towing a car (total of 64' long, and weighing over 21 tons).  In a car, you have a lot of space to drift either left or right in your lane.  Not so in a much wider RV since there's only about 6 inches of lane on each side.  No drifting.  Since I have to do all of the driving, I have to make stops pretty regularly to stretch, eat, potty, and take Rocky out.  Don't want to risk being overly tired which might affect safety.  Plus, without a navigator or companion other than Rocky, I have to pre-plan the entire days' travels (GPS) so I can stop with enough daylight for setting up.  I found out the hard way that I will not drive after dark.  No exceptions.

Overnight stops along the route have to be planned as best as I can.  If I haven't found a nearby campground or I'm just too tired to look, most Walmart stores allow free overnight parking for weary travelers, and are readily available in most towns.  I always check with management for their approval, and of course, can get supplies easily, without unhooking the car.  Then I'm up early and on the road again.  My generator is quite handy when I need air conditioning and don't have campground hook-ups.

When I left Lafayette on January 6 my final destination was to be Quartzsite, AZ to attend a HUGE RV Show and Rally.  The main thing about Quartzsite is that few stay in campgrounds with full hook-ups, most all camp for 1-2 weeks in the desert on BLM lands WITHOUT hook-ups.  This is called "boondocking".  You need to know how and when to crank up your generator to keep your batteries charged.  Plus I have a residential refrigerator which requires an inverter, and all I know about that is how to spell it.  I have an Automatic Gen Start thingy which I had no idea how to use.  Since I had never done this before (stopping for a few hours in a Walmart doesn't count) I was super non-confident in my ability to boondock.  I had discovered there were many groups scheduled to be there and had done a lot of research.  The group that I was most interested in was the Tiffin (manufacturer of my coach) group.  Other interesting groups were the Escapees Solos and the LoWs (Loners On Wheels).  These are not dating groups, thankfully, because I'm never gonna do that again.  Most are elderly women with lots of RVing experience.  I was inclined to camp with the solos, but I needed to learn about MY coach systems first, so I camped with 47 other Tiffin coaches for 6 days on BLM land; cost, $40 for 2 weeks.  I lasted 6 days!!  To me, that's progress!

As each coach arrived you would just pull up right next in line to the last coach parked.  By one hour after I had arrived I had been shown exactly how to configure the systems for boondocking.  Piece of cake!  So I was sitting outside chatting with my next door neighbor Chris Torrance, telling her about what happened to Paul.  And out of the blue she asks, "Paul Terhune, from Kingsville Naval Air Station?".  OMG!  She told me that Paul and her husband, Alex aka "Skull", were pilots together almost 35 years ago.  A hurricane had threatened the coast and all pilots had to fly the jets to a safer inland base away from the coast.  Married pilots had to leave their wives behind to face the hurricane alone.  For their safety the military opened up the BOQ (Bachelor Officers Quarters) for the wives.  Chris and others stayed safely in Paul's BOQ room for 6 days. His room was on the corner on the 2nd floor.  The first floor totally flooded.  And the 3rd (top) floor lost the roof.  I still get goose-bumps when I think about the chances of me parking right next to them in that huge desert.  And the blessings just keep happening!!

Everyone brought firewood which was enjoyed each night.  We also shared pot-lucks (I brought my Taco Soup/Dip, a big hit), had a raffle (won a candle), a seminar on fire safety, and an all around great time.

47 coaches gathered in a wagon train circle surrounding the campfire, meeting area, and eating area.

Wonderful weather!  Great folks! Lots of fun!

"Mac The Fire Guy" gave a seminar on fire safety.  He taught us how to use our emergency escape windows in case of a fire plus how to correctly fight a fire.

Most everyone there had 4-wheelers and I was invited one day to go up into the hills to an old abandoned mine.  Wonder what was mined here?  Gold, silver?  The ride was super scary but fun.  I asked Chris (driver) if he had ever flipped the 4-wheeler.  His response, "Oh sure, lots of times".  WRONG ANSWER, DUDE!!  Wish he'd have lied.  But it didn't flip over and I did have fun!  Thanks, Chris!

Another view of the mining operation.

Typical desert sunset!  Each night, a moment of feeling so very close to what's really real.

Good Samaritan Tiffin men gathered together and fixed several items for me.  Here the electric water hose reel gets repaired!  Can't thank you enough!

John and Theresa "do" lettering on my bus!  "Elegantly Homeless"

And here John applies a "Carleen & Rocky" decal on the inside of the slide which only shows when I'm parked in a campground.

Ain't it purty????

My Aunt Ginny (and others) suggested I go to a Salvation Army or Goodwill store and buy a pair of worn-out size 14 mens boots to leave right outside my front door for safety.  Rocky could easily fit inside just ONE of them!! 

After the 6 days of boondocking sadly ended I spent 2 days and nights in a very nice campground in Quartzsite WITH FULL HOOK-UPS (Quail Run RV Resort), dumping fully loaded tanks, and washing ALL of my clothes, towels, and sheets. Took a well-earned heavenly HOT shower; and had 2 guys wash my coach and car of all of the desert dust and sand.  After the dust/sand was gone I figured I'd get better gas mileage!!!!

Daredevils on the roof washing my 42' coach and car for only $60.  Such a great deal!!!! Old cactus watches.

Hear Willie Nelson song playing on my FREE Sirius Radio , "On The Road Again"!!!  Guess the previous owners bought a lifetime subscription for Sirius Radio so I'm REALLY enjoying those benefits!!

Left Quartzsite, AZ on January 26 (yesterday) with lots of happy memories, tons of "boondocking" experience, and a wealth of new Tiffin friends and acquaintances.  I can honestly say that I will never fear being without "full hook-ups" again.  (A lot of the National and State parks have no hook-ups so my opportunities for travel and camping have just expanded!)  Now I have begun to really feel the freedom of this lifestyle, and I love it.  I have made such wonderful friends with invites to join them in various parts of the country that I can now pick and choose "feel safe" places to go.  Paul would have loved this lifestyle.


After leaving "Q" today I drove about 3-4 hours East and have ended up in Apache Junction, AZ in a fantastic campground where Robert & Tiziana Ruff (who were the hosts of the desert Tiffin rally) have a home base.  They invited me and I felt very welcomed.  I arrived here and Robert helped me park the Bus (just 2 sites away from them); had dinner with them and crashed (exhausted) for the night before 8:30PM!!  I will be here for one week, enjoying the wonderful AZ weather.  Will take pictures tomorrow.  On Sunday morning I'll be meeting with Mary Hammond who is a member of "RVing Women".  We are planning to scout out the Fairgrounds in Casa Grande and attend the Bluegrass Festival.  Coincidentally, RVW (RVing Women) is having a rally from Feb 2-5 there at the Fairgrounds for a Gourds Festival.  When I leave here (Apache Junction) I will go join the RVW for their rally.  Looks like I'll spend my 60th birthday (Feb 5) surrounded by 40+ "RVing Women".  Sweet.  Life is good.

POST #4

Today is January 27, 2012.  Haven't posted in a while and decided to use this post to catch up on the happenings since November.

NOVEMBER, 2011---Notable events: Paul's Birthday, Thanksgiving, emotionally devastating.  Thank God I was surrounded by my wonderful family in Louisiana.

Ben, Audrey, Shawna, Noah, & Jeremy having Thanksgiving at the KOA Campground.

DECEMBER, 2011---Notable events: Christmas.  Again I was surrounded and blessed by my loving family.

Ben & Audrey making Reindeer Cookies (gluten-free for Audrey).

Aunt Christa and Audrey making icing for the cookies.

We went to a farm and cut down their Christmas tree.

"Horsing" around in my coach.

 My brother Mike, his wife Phyllis, and myself "kidnapped" our Mother for a surprise RV weekend in New Orleans right before Christmas.  She wanted "yard mulch" as a gift but we decided to surprise her with this "secret" trip instead for the weekend just before Christmas.  We stayed in a wonderful campground within walking distance to the French Quarter and then Saturday night went to the Superdome to watch our UL team from Lafayette (the Ragin Cajuns) win a fantastic football game!

Were delayed almost an hour enroute to the French Quarter Campground.

My heart aches for this poor family.

Ben and family joined us for Beignet's at the famous Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter.  Some weirdo made balloon reindeer ears for Audrey.  Check out her little face!  So cute even when unhappy about something!!!!

And we won the game in the last 4 seconds!

Mama was a real sport and stayed up until we could find a taxi (in the rain) at 1:00 A.M.!!!!!

We just had to ride the trolley!

Mike drove on the Interstate on the way home.  (A death grip on the steering wheel was noticeably absent!!  I'm impressed, baby brother!).   It was the first time I had ridden in the passenger chair and been able to walk around the coach while going down the road.  Was able to locate some annoying sounds (clink, clank) while moving that used to drive me crazy because when I'd  pull over to look for them I only found silence!! Duh!!

Had beignet's TWO days in a row!!

We enjoyed a FABULOUS meal on Friday night.  Ben joined us plus we had a surprise visit from Tommy (Mike's son) who stopped in New Orleans for our dinner on his way from the navy military base in MS to Louisiana for the holidays.

JANUARY, 2012---I had stayed in Louisiana for November and December.  Was dreading the grief of Paul's absence during the upcoming holidays, and knew I really needed to be close to my family for their loving support which came in abundance.  Although there were many happy moments I was still anxious for these holidays to be over, and especially for the whole painful year of 2011 to come to an end.  Soon after the holidays I began preparing for my travels.  With mixed emotions I tearfully pulled out of Lafayette on January 6, 2012, leaving behind a loving and wonderfully supportive family.  That was a little bit scary.

My first stop was San Antonio, TX where I visited with "extended family", Guy and Lori Copenhaver.  They had visited us years ago when we lived in Montgomery, TX (in the big house).  Had a super wonderful visit with a terrific happy ending!

Guy and Lori met my Rocky for the first time and totally fell in love with the Havanese breed.  That same night Lori "googled" and found a lady who had rescued a tiny little black & white Havanese puppy.  Off we all went just to "see" the puppy.

 

Another happy ending!!

After leaving San Antonio I headed west until I got too tired to drive.  Pulled into a rest-stop and met a lovely couple (Jule & Joy Raymond) who were also in a Tiffin motorhome.  (Tiffin owners are all wonderful folks!!)  They were stopping in Fort Stockton, TX for the night so I tagged along.  We stayed in a campground right next door to each other, had a nice visit, and shared our travel plans.  Waking up the next morning was quite shocking!  A fluke showstorm had left about 7-8" of weird white stuff everywhere.

While my coffee was brewing I decided to open up the shades!!  No wonder it's so cold in here.  Scramble around to find the manual on how to work the furnace for the first time!!

Here's Jule and Joy's coach, and the snow is STILL coming down.

Opened my door to get a better picture.

 

Now Rocky HAS to go out.  Got rid of my snow boots years ago!  Improvised with garbage bags.  (garbage bags have NO traction)  Took one cautious step outside and immediately landed on my fanny.  Should've used "lawn and leaf" bags!  Of course, I don't have any of those anymore either.

I simply can't describe how funny it was watching Rocky go in circles trying to find some "turf".  He finally broke down and made yellow snow!!

I trudged over next door to say hi to Jule and Joy.  We all decided we were stuck and would stay here another night hoping for a meltdown.

The 3rd day was better but there was still too much snow on the slide toppers to pull them in and escape Fort Stockton.  I flagged down some Mexicans and offered them $20 to climb up on my roof to sweep off the 4 slides!  I'm brilliant!!

Finally was able to leave Fort Stockton and made it to the Lazydays RV Campground in Phoenix, AZ where I stayed for 2 nights.  There were orange and grapefruit trees all over the campground and I picked a bagful.

Had a problem cranking up my TV antennae and was told it just needed to be greased.   So for the first time I climbed up onto the roof.  A neighbor too these shots of a daring old woman.  Daring, same as crazy?

• So now I am a certified and qualified RV mechanic! NOT!  (but the antennae works!)