Our first day on the job! (whew)

Tomorrow is actually when the Visitor Center opens, but we both had to work today. Everything had to be cleaned out and set up. Maps, books, postcards, fishing poles, and countless other items..then the 'Red Rock Passes', and the hunting and fishing licenses to be inventoried. We open tomorrow and I'll be on my own in 2 days.....hope I can handle it!

Poor Henry had to inventory all the uniforms...shirts, jackets, T-shirts, sweatshirts and ballcaps. He says he probably folded 100 T-shirts. He wasn't scheduled to actually start work until Friday, but he worked all day today, plus they've got him coming in tomorrow as well. They asked him today how he feels about splitting wood. (Guess we know what he'll be doing tomorrow....that's why I say "Poor Henry").

After dinner tonight, we went out for our very long walk up the hill and then down by the creek. What a workout! It also rained today..first rain we've had in 6 weeks.

Turning in early tonight.

Oak Creek Canyon

Mom, Dad & me
click photos to enlarge
Henry and I
7300 feet up, Oak Creek Canyon. Beautiful Drive! From there we drove into Flagstaff, had lunch at Coco's, then back to the Hilton, to visit and reminisce. Maybe we didn't solve all the world problems, but we sure had a good time! I thought it was pretty cool that Mom and Dad came up to see us.

It is so quiet here....

Our first full day here, and the first thing we noticed is how quiet it is. The only thing you can hear are birds singing. There is no traffic noise, no people noise, no wind noise...just birds singing. So cool!!

We spent the entire day cleaning, Henry on the outside, me on the inside....then the phone rang! My Mom and Dad are in Sedona! They had been in Tempe, visiting my aunt, and knew that Henry and I were headed to Sedona, so they drove up and checked into the Hilton. Funny story...When Dad called, he said "We're in Sedona!" Turns out, they weren't in Sedona at all. They are about 8 miles away at Oak Creek Village. We had to tease him a bit about that, but then Henry confessed...we had made the same mistake our first time up here.

Anyway, we met them for a nice dinner at their hotel. It's great to see them and catch up on everything..tomorrow we will actually bring them into Sedona and up to our campsite.

What a day! ...But isn't Sedona beautiful!

Cathedral Rock at dusk (Click photos for large view)

Oak Creek Canyon, just below us - View to the East

An old water mill, in the park

Our day began in Flagstaff with a temperature of 24 degrees. The truck did not like the cold weather, was hard starting, and the air compressor had a stuck valve and wasn't building the air. Henry got all that squared away, to discover the tubing to the air seats were leaking air....1 1/2 hours later, we were finally heading to Sedona.
We knew the road to our site would be a challenge, and it was. Narrow, soft shoulders, downhill, dips...it was all of that, but Henry did an awesome job and even got the trailer backed in to our spot...except for one small detail..the log that got in the way of the bumper..ouch. Definitely did some damage to the truck.

The poor truck

Like I said...What a day!

Our time in Lake Havasu..

The view from our dining window

Tomorrow, Bob and Diana will head south to warmer weather, and Henry and I head north, making our way to Sedona. It has been so much fun hanging out with the Speckmans, that it's going to be hard to go separate ways. We've shared lots of stories and laughed a ton!

The firewood for our campfire each night consisted of partial pallets, ends of trusses, and some very nice 'scrap' lumber that Henry and Bob 'retrieved' from a building site, with permission, (or so they tell us) from the non english speaking mexican workers.

The firework displays from the pyrotechnics show were pretty awesome... We've had some real 'roughin' it' meals, from filet mignon (courtesy of Erv and Audrey - a nice couple we met in Yuma. They showed up here about 3 days ago), to Diana's spaghetti salad and her chicken taco soup. Good stuff!

Henry and I have enjoyed all the fun times our first month of fulltiming....
There are 3 Magic Bullets in 3 different Travel Supremes across this country mixing up scrambled eggs or margaritas....
You CAN have homemade pecan pie or fresh croutons with homemade dressing when camping in the desert...
Who says you can't get a heck of a deal at the scrapbooking store? "Happy Easter" Diana!
Aw, maybe I'll talk Henry into staying just one more day here.

February 15th

What is it about fulltiming that captures the spirit? Is it the fact that your home goes with you no matter where you go? Or that the view from your living room window changes with every destination?

I always knew that traveling our highways would be an incredible experience, but I never realized that the real experience is watching the sun set over a distant canyon, or listening to the campfire crackle in the dark. More so, are the people you meet that quickly become friends because you are living the same dream they are, traveling the same roads they've already traveled, and talking under the same stars that light up every evening.

From Yuma.. to Parker.. final destination.. Lake Havasu

We actually started out the day before yesterday from Yuma, with our destination being Lake Havasu. (Keep in mind, it's only about 150 miles.)The beauty of fulltiming...if it takes you two days to travel 150 miles, then it takes two days! So, our first night, we stopped at a park in Parker. We had a beautiful spot with the Colorado River right there. We drove 7 miles back to the Casino, had dinner, threw some money away, and back to our lawn chairs to look at the stars. Life is good!

Today, we drove the rest of the way into Lake Havasu. The guys picked a perfect spot,on BLM land, with no neighbors close by for us to bother. Diana cooked a great spaghetti dinner, then we sat around the fire. Whew!! What a day!

Oh yeah....we got a car!

Because Sedona has lots of winding roads through the canyon, and our trailer will be 12 miles from our job, we decided a cheap, older car would be a good idea.
We found this 1990 Oldsmobile in Quartzsite and thought the guy wanted too much money for it, so we didn't buy it. We waited till we got to Yuma thinking there would be lots to choose from here.....Not the case. So, we call the guy in Quartzsite, make an offer on his car, he says okay, and we drive the 81 miles BACK to Quartzsite to buy the car. Seems that is how it goes for Henry and Cindy!

Anyway, it's a pretty nice car and will work great for us in Sedona!

Yuma.....February 3rd

Leaving Quartzsite, headed to Yuma....Bob and Diana, Jerry and Sharon and us.

Its an 81 mile drive, so piece of cake. Bob is a VFW member, so we are drycamping at the BLM land next to the VFW. Again, no charge....gotta love that!

Today is actually Feb. 12th, the weather continues to be sunny and hot, and we have been here 9 days, and made two trips to Mexico with Bob and Diana. We rode with them in their tracker and drove across, found a spot to park, and went walking. Because they have been to Algodones many times, they knew exactly the places to stop at.

Bob, Henry and Diana got their haircut. $3.00/$4.00 haircuts! Then we had 2 or 3 margaritas and lunch at a restaurant nearby. Pretty fun!

I believe the plan is leave tomorrow, head north to Lake Havasu City. There is a pyrotechnics show (free) on the 18th.

A job in Sedona??

Yes, a job for the summer season in Sedona. Of course never having been to Arizona until now, we had no idea what Sedona was all about, let alone where it was. So, with the suggestion of the gentleman that hired us, we took the truck and made a drive up there.

What a beautiful area! The rock formations are indescribably beautiful! The town itself is full of upscale art galleries and shops. We found ourselves saying, 'Wow! Are we lucky or what to be blessed enough to have landed a summer job here!"

Anyway, long story short, we start work March 1st.....(better get lots of soaking up the sun and relaxing between now and then).

Quartzsite, Arizona!

January 23rd is when we arrived in Quartzsite. It was not late, but it was dark! The desert in the dark looks entirely different than in daylight.....a little frustration was building trying to get the trailer level, but after moving it two or three times we called it good until morning. At which time, we hooked it up again, and moved three feet.

Quartzsite really is 'something else', as everyone had told us. Motorhomes of all kinds parked in the desert. I loved it! The weather was good, the people friendly, and we could be there 14 days free of charge. What more could you ask for?

We found some bargains at the big tent, but not tons. We did find a workamper job for the summer season though! More later on that.

We were with 4 other couples with HDT's. Campfires every night, and a great way to get to know all of them better.

Our First Flat Tire!

Cruising down the highway, headed to Quartzsite, all is well. Until...our tire pressure monitoring system starts beeping at us. One of the trailer tires is losing air quickly. So, Henry gets on the CB radio to Jim to let him know we're pulling off the highway to check the tire. Fortunately, there is an exit right there, so we all pull in. Sure enough, a piece of metal sticking out of the tire. Long story short, Jim and Henry changed the tire in the DQ parking lot, and we are back on the road in 30 minutes. Thanks again, Jim! Turns out the tire not only had one piece of metal but also a metal spike, which meant we had to buy a new tire. Ouch! We were thankful for the Pressure Pro system, or we would have had a major blowout with damage to the trailer.

Indiana to Arizona - Mid January

Our first go at pulling the trailer with the truck, and it went fairly well. We only had to make two stops within the first 5 miles. One, to put air in the trailer hitch (oops)..the second to put the steps to the trailer back up. They didn't want to stay. (thank goodness for bungees).

Only a small mishap inside the trailer...the glass carousel in the microwave fell out and was in pieces all over the kitchen floor and our new carpet in the dining area. We have since discovered you don't really need that darn thing anyway...



Arrived in Sierra Vista, Arizona on the 16th of January and met up with Jim and Val to get a satellite dish system for internet. We enjoyed our 3 days there with them and visiting Tombstone and Bisbee. Jim and Val have been a great help for us 'newbies'! We have lots of questions and they have doing this a long time.

Now, on to Quartzsite, right behind Jim and Val. This whole full timing thing is right up my alley! My house is never far behind me plus I get to see this beautiful country!