July 9 We left Gulf Shores Mon morning and began the journey home. We traveled through Alabama, Mississippi, touched Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and now Utah. The roads good. The speed limit high and scenery diverse as we traveled Mon-Wed. Today we went through Colorado and Utah on Hwy 50 and I-70 and the scenery was nothing short of spectacular. The mountains and the colors of the rocks. Changing vegetation from shrub to pine trees. Each of the parks we stayed in were good. Last night was Coaldale, Co and we woke to low 50 degree temps.Arrived today in Delta, Ut and it was 95 when we got here. Deb took lots of photos but the camera doesn't do justice to the views the eye can see. Tomorrow we cross the loneliest hwy, Hwy 50 across Nevada where we will stop one more night before finishing the drive home Sat. Anticipate an early afternoon arrival at Casa de Hubbard in Clearlake Oaks.
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July 2 Things are getting busy as we approach the 4th. So we, being more like locals than tourists, are being more quiet. Today we joined a good friend of my brother's at the Wolf Bay Lodge for lunch. Deb had a very nice gumbo. I suffered with yet another excellent hamburger. It was nice seeing Dan whom I had met 4 years ago. A good time was had before he went back to work and we went back to lounge by the pool at the condo. July 3 Today is Seafood day as we promised Deb a seafood meal. The destination was the Angry Crab. Deb had a twin lobster rool and it was almost as sweet as the lobster we had in Maine 2 years ago. This lunch didn't contain quite as much lobster but it was good. I had a crabcake and shrimp sandwich. Normally crab cakes are a bit smaller around but this one was packed with big bites of shrimp and bigger around than the hamburger bun it was on. We also split a cup of gumbo which Deb rated even better than the one she had yesterday. The food was excellent. Lea...
June 29 The twenty minute drive to Big Daddy's was worth it. Terrific Burger and fries. The restaurant sits on a back bay and sort of reminded me of Richmond Park. After a great lunch we discovered the hoped for boat ride had to be postponed a day as my nephew got called into work. We headed back to the condo and spend some time by the pool. It is amazing how much energy is consumed by the humidity. The average bed time here has been 8:30 pm. June 30 Boat ride day has arrived and we are scheduled for a 10 o'clock departure. Best laid plans, we finally get underway a little past noon. The first goal was The Pirates Cove. One of many on the water places for drinks and food. After a good lunch and a Bushwacker beverage we were back on the water. We circled an Island and went back a slightly different way. Along the route we passed a unique structure and learned it was the Condo and Boat House for Bret Favre's uncle. The condo is in the blue twin towers and the 98 foot yacht ...
June 27 Sat was intended to be a relaxing day. Deb and Roz went for an early morning walk on the beach. Bob went to play golf with a really good friend of many years. I got cleaned up in anticipation of a day by the pool. We had access to one of the many premier condo complexes pools with a lazy river flowing around it. Bob's son works for Phoenix which owns about 25 condo complexes in the area and is able to provide access to the best amenities. This is one of the more modern ones and adjoins the water with boat docks and lifts for the owners. The afternoon was spent lounging in my brothers condo as the humidity really takes it out of you. June 28 The area is packed with what we hope is more weekenders than people here for the whole week. Going to make today another lazy day. A good breakfast and a little golf on tv. Then we decided on a trip to Culver's for an ice cream treat. After dinner we went to the complex next door where my brother has another smaller unit for a bag...
June 24 We had a wonderful time in Santa Fe but time to hit the road again. Today and tomorrow are mostly road days with the goal today near Bellevue, Tx about 535 miles down the road. Every time I travel across the country I am awed by the changing scenery. Flat plains, rolling hills, scrub plants and tall trees. Weather is warm and dry and we make very good time settling in at the Campers Paradise RV park in Sunset, Tx. Park had good reviews and was good in every sense of the word EXCEPT the wifi. It was sooo sloooow the old dial up modems were faster. Couldn't even get email. IF wifi is important don't stay here but otherwise very nice park with very friendly staff. June 25 Thursday was a more interesting day as we started out on US 287 and relied on Garmin to get through the Dallas - Fort Worth area.She did an amazing job. We jetted across Tx into La and continued until we got to Jackson, Ms where we turned SW on US 49. As we drove through La we encountered torrential rain...
The day started as we would hope. Blue skies and sunshine. Deb and I did some pre-travel work to make tomorrows departure easier while Dan took his 2 little dogs to the dog park. When he returned Deb was on a Zoom chat with Mom and 2 others. Zoom has been a God send for Mom since she is in an assisted living facility that does not allow visitors or residents to leave right now. When Deb finished we jumped in the car to head to the Bandelier National Monument. Their web site said it was open but on arrival found it closed with an opening date in July. Undeterred we went to Overlook Park. Walking up to the view platform we heard bagpipes. This gentleman was playing the pipes in order to be filmed for the opening of a virtual music fest scheduled for Aug. Quite the treat. Here are some of the views from the overlook located near Los Alamos, the development and creation place of the atom bomb-the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by the Los Alamos National Laboratory during W...
Arrived in Santa Fe, NM just before 2pm on Sunday, Father's Day. Decided to take the Turquoise Trail, Rt 14 instead of I-25 from Albuquerque. Scenic route through the country side with a couple cute little towns. Madrid was jammed packed with tourists on this Father's Day. Stopped at the Cerrillos Hills State Park for a lite lunch before getting into town as our friend Dan was still at work. He is an air traffic controller at the Santa Fe airport. Dan got off and home at 2 and after getting the luggage in and electric connected to the trailer we had a leisure afternoon catching up. Last time we were together was Nov, 2016. Monday a little tour of Old Town Santa Fe. Lots of places closed and all the museums are closed as well. Some photos from the walk around town. A distant shot of the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi. Museum of Contemporary Native Arts The City Park and some of the architecture. The "End of the Journey" sculpture at the end of the Santa Fe...