12/18/2015 Albuquerque NM - 12/20/2015 Casa Grande AZ - 12/22/2015 Yuma AZ

Repairs at the Freightliner Service Center went smoothly and I was only without the motorhome for a couple days.  Fortunately, the KOA I was staying at had a small cabin the cats and I could stay in while Freightliner did the work.





During my stay, I visited the Petroglyph National Monument.  Some of the ancient drawings were really bizarre in that could have been drawn by more recent folks after having seen a space alien from the bottom of a bottle.  Anticipating the question, the park had included information about having dated the Petroglyphs to the time period of the Anastasia.

























After a fantastic visit with Wayne & Debbie, my schedule dictated that I move on.  The next stop was Casa Grande to meet up with Mike and Lorraine Lynch and then travel together to Yuma, AZ to visit with mutual friends Wendy and Doug Ferguson.

John & Wayne 

John & Debbie 

The trip was not without incident.   It was a two day trip to Casa Grande and I stopped at a Walmart for the night.  Next morning I woke up with a low tire on the RV.  Instead of having 95 lbs of air, there was only 56 lbs.  I only had 111 miles to get to Casa Grande so I pumped up the tire and with my tire monitor, watched it closely as I proceeded.  At Casa Grande, I called my roadside assistance provider and they came out and fixed the tire.  It turned out to be a 1/4" x 1" threaded bolt.   I have to wonder if I picked it up at the Freightliner.  Of course, I could have picked it up on the road too.  All's well that ends well.

The highlight of my stop at Casa Grande was to hit the hot tub with Mike and Lorraine before going out for a delicious meal at a Tex Mex Restaurant.

The trip to Yuma went smoothly and it was nice to travel with Mike & Lorraine instead of travelling alone.  We arrived in Yuma shortly after lunch and within 15 minutes of our arrival, Doug and Wendy arrived.  Had an early diner at Road House.



Mike & Lorraine left the next morning.  I will be spending the holidays in Yuma with Doug & Wendy.

Sunset in Yuma:

12/11/2015 Albuquerque, NM

Arrived in Albuquerque right on schedule.  As I was hooking up the water line, it was impossible to miss the big hole in the water cabinet.  The back had totally melted.  That is right next to the muffler so my best guess is I have an exhaust leak.  It will have to be addressed before I go any further.  More bad news is a cold front is moving in and we are expecting lows in the teens and highs barely reaching 30.  Also, a wintry mix is in the forecast.  Jeezsh!

On the good side, there is a Freightliner Dealer within a half hour and I am at a campground with friends, Wayne & Debbie Orechwa.  Fran & I  met them on our first caravan after retirement. We had a great time touring Alaska and the Yukon Territory with them.  An added benefit is this campground is a KOA and they have cabins.  Most likely, I will have to move into one of them while repairs are made.  As a minimum, the cats will be moved in to keep them from interfering with the workers.

Added Pictures per my son's request:





12/12/2015 - Bloody Marys with Wayne & Debbie.


Debbie makes them really good!  Here are her secret ingredients:


12/13/2015 - Woke up to this and I personally think this is just WRONG!

12/09/2015 Denton, Texas

Met up with Bob Heilig & his wife Linda.  Bob was running the CAS training here in Denton when I became a CAS back in 1994.  Bob took me to a local restaurant, Moms, and had hoped to expose me to some real Texan Cowboys. There didn't appear to be a cowboy in the place. Instead, the restaurant was full of local Asians having an early lunch and there was a film crew from Japan doing a documentary for their food channel.   Bob was redeemed totally when the food arrived.  It was superb!

12/10/2015 On the road to Albuquerque. In West Texas, I passed a lot of cotton fields.  They were in the process of harvesting the cotton.  I hadn't realized they make big wheels of cotton the same way they do hey except, the cotton is totally covered in plastic.  I also saw huge blocks of cotton about the size of a tractor trailer.  While the top was covered with plastic most of the time, the sides were open to the elements.  I would have liked to get pictures, but I was on a two lane road and it wasn't conducive to pulling over.   Spending the night at the visitor center just inside the New Mexico border.

12/04/2015

I spent Thanksgiving visiting friends Nita and Phil in Little Rock, AR.  After staying a week, I made my way south to visit friends Consuelo & Lynda in Houston, TX.  It's been fun going around with them taking in the sights of the area.

In Kemah, TX we visited a water tower that is also a light house.  Very strange!




While on the road towards our next attraction, we came upon a bizarre little building that was a law office.  I had to stop and take a picture.  While doing so, the lawyer  came out and asked if we wanted to tour the inside.  He and a friend had turned the odd shaped building even odder with the changes they had made.  I didn't take any pictures inside out of respect for his and his clients' privacy.  It was two story with a tiny spiral staircase leading to the second floor.  All of us had to turn sideways as we went up and down them.  Here are some pics of the outside:





Our next stop was a tool store shaped like a tool box in LaPorte, TX



Also in LaPorte, TX we visited the restored Sylvan Train Depot.  Unfortunately, it was closed so once again, I only have pictures from the outside.





Yesterday, we toured the San Jacinto Monument & Museum.  While I remembered some of my Texas history from way back when, this is where Texas gained her independence and I had not realized its importance until my visit yesterday.  Until this battle, the Texans were losing badly.  Santa Anna had become overconfident and while he was encamped a mile from Sam Houston, he chose a bad location and then didn't even post sentries.  Sam Houston attacked in the afternoon with the sun at his back.  It was a rout.  Over 6 hundred Mexican soldiers were killed and another 7 hundred were captured.  The Texans had 2 battlefield deaths and several more died from their wounds several days later.  Santa Anna was among the captured and Texas won its independence.

This monument claims to be the highest.







Shortly before the battle, Sam Houston received two small cannon donated to the  cause by citizens of Cincinnati.  The proved to be very effective during the battle.


Also on the park grounds was the Battleship Texas.  It is the last remaining battleship from World War 1 and it also fought in World War 11 and was listed as the smallest battleship.

12/06/2015 Houston, Texas

Today with Lynda Parker and Consuelo Heath, I went to the Houston downtown to search out several obscure attractions.  In talking with the staff, we learned that all three are tied together by the local art college.    The first was The Orange Show.  During the depression, Jeff McKissak transported oranges from Florida.  He became obsessed with oranges and decided to build The Orange Show to honor his favorite fruit.  After it was completed he put on productions for about two years until his death.  This truly was a whimsical place.

Next on our agenda was Smither Park.  It was located right next to the Orange Show.   The attendant we talked to had done work on this art work.

The last place of the day was the Beer Can House.  This was built by John Milkovisch.  He and his wife lived here and after he retired from the railroad as an upholsterer, he began his project to recycle his, his wife's and his friends beer cans.  He did it because he didn't want to paint his house,but he needed to do something to protect the wood from the elements.  

The gift shop contained this purse made out of the tabs from beer cans.  It was only $100.  Anybody interested?