Back at Davis-Monthan AFB, January 18, 2011 to February 25, 2011

February 24th Post:  We went to the rodeo today.  The weather was perfect - it was nearly 79 degrees and clear skies.  We arrived a little late to see the wrap up of the parade but early enough to catch the start of the rodeo.  The biggest attraction was this beautiful cow girl whose name is Betty.

Here are some shots of the action:

It was a pretty long day but we had lots of fun.  Tomorrow morning we will leave for some free nights at Colorado River Oasis in Ehrenberg which is at the California boarder on I-10.  We're looking forward to the 4 or 5 hour trip and getting on full hook ups again.  We've been dry camping in the DM overflow area for nearly a week now.  During this time we've had no water or sewer hook ups and have had to rely on the generator for power.  It works well but is a little inconvenient.  DRW


February 16th post:  Today Betty & I drove out to Colossal Caves Ranch near the end of the Old Spanish Trail in the SE Tucson area.  The Old Spanish Trail winds through some hilly and very hostile (vegetation-wise) looking country.  Every plant seems to have thorns or barbs and although I'm sure there is wildlife in the area I wonder how they keep from bleeding to death from cactus wounds.  Somehow, at the same, time it's beautiful country. DRW

I finally glimpsed some wildlife among the Cactus.  If fact, it was the most beautiful thing I came across today.  I DO love this woman.

Betty in the Cactus - DRW

From Betty:  We got to take a horse drawn buggy ride while at Colossal Cave Park at the ranch on the park grounds.  What an adventure.  It was drawn by two horses.  The driver explained that he puts an older more experienced horse with a young one that is just learning how to pull in the harness.  We were very impressed with the older horse.  Even though he is 18 years old, he is still working hard.  He walks proudly and has a prance that says "I am here and I know the ropes"  His name is Bud and he is very handsome.  The driver said that Bud is in a parade in town every year and he really steps tall and puts on a great show.  The other horse was very pretty too - Bert is his name.  We loved watching the horses communicate with each other during the ride and we could tell that Bert hopes to be as good as Bud one day.  Here are some pictures of them.  BJW

                             Bud & Driver

Bert & Driver

                Bud & Bert all harnessed up


February 9th post:  We're continuing our stay here at Davis-Monthan AFB.  The weather has been very nice the past few days and I'm making good headway waxing the trailer one section at a time.  I figure by the time I get the last section done it will be time to start at the first again.  While we've been mostly lazying around the base and enjoying the warm weather we have developed an itinerary that takes us to the end of March.  Here's our plan so far:

Now through February 25th - Davis-Monthan AFB
February 26 to March 1 - Colorado River Oasis RV Resort at Ehrenberg, AZ (I-10 on CA boarder)
March 1 to March 4 (or so) - Emerald Cove Resort, CA. (across river from Parker, AZ)
March 8 to March 31 - Nellis AFB, NV at Las Vegas.

Depending on the weather and highway conditions the first part of April we'll probably start  toward Klamath Falls OR to visit Pete, Debbie, and Hunter before going on to Junction City for 2 or 3 weeks.

February 1st post:  Today is Ed's birthday and I got a chance to talk with him on the phone for awhile.  So good to hear his voice and to hear they're all well in Wasilla.  Betty and I went to the Rodeo Museum this afternoon.  It was chilly and breezy but we really enjoyed it.  I think we were the only customers today.  Before we left we bought tickets to the upcoming rodeo and look forward to February 24th when we can go. They have a great museum that has more old horse drawn wagons than I've ever seen in one place before.  Here are some shots of just a few.

I was also impressed with their displays of old black smith and wagon repair tools.  I couldn't help but think of how much time and effort was required back in the frontier days to either repair or manufacture parts for the wagons they used.  They have a really nice collection of branding irons also.

                                 Forging tools

Branding irons hanging in front

                            Anvil and tools

January 31st post:  Life is good when the temperatures are above freezing.  Just a quick update to say that we're merely hanging out and being lazy here at Davis-Monthan.  I'm really refining my ability to lay around reading or watching TV.  We added satellite TV which is really  a plus.  We plan to be here another 3 weeks at least and then we have a couple of offers for free stays from RV resorts that want our buy-in (fat chance).  One at Ehrenburg, AZ (on the CA boarder at I-10) and one near Parker, AZ on the CA side of the Colorado River.  We'll visit those two resorts after leaving here.  For now I have some duties to perform related to a good book I'm reading.  Will add more later.  DRW


January 21st post:  Yesterday I got the Norcold recall work done on the refrigerator.  Fred, the service manager at Orangewood RV, did very well by us and got a technician right on the work as soon as I got parked near their service bay.  When I mentioned a possible water leak in the rear A/C unit he had another technician inspect and repair it immediately.  Then, when all the maintenance work was done, he had two guys wash the trailer.  I was VERY appreciative of that because it saved me doing the bucket wash (without a hose)  back at the DM RV park.  Great customer support that was more than I'd expected.

When I returned from Orangewood I found that Betty had gotten us a good 'slip' to tie up to with full hook ups.  It pans out that while I was gone with the trailer Betty waited in line at the park office and got us a full hook up site (we were on the wait list and several 'slips' were opening up).  The wait list process here goes pretty smoothly but if you aren't there or are late when a space comes open you go back to the bottom of the list. Any day that I can avoid standing in line and haggling over the "who, what, and where" of a parking spot is a good day...thank you,  Betty!   Even though we're quite self contained and have a good generator it always feels good to connect up to a 50A service with water and sewer.  We're now back on unlimited hot and cold water with no worries about how many lights are burning - this all helps raise the relaxation quotient.  We've not had a problem while dry camping but someone has to worry about running out of water or the generator quitting, so that's what I do.  Dad always said that you can't just go along in life and have no one worrying!!  DRW


January 19th post:  We left Benson this morning about 8:30 for the 40 mile drive in to Tucson to find no wind and a flat interstate.  This was very welcome after two long days of strong headwind and uphill grades (I have determined that I-10 is uphill both ways between Tucson and San Antonio).  The good news is that this morning the truck, with no winds, burned out a strong 17 mpg.  Some of this stretch is slightly downhill but for the most part its fairly level.  Too bad it was only a 40 mile stretch because its a rare day without a headwind.

We signed in at the RV Park on DM at about 10am and went into the overflow area (drycamp) after getting on the wait list for a full hookup site.  Good news again...there's only a two day wait for full hookups.  I was expecting it to be more like a week or two.  While signing in Terry and Sam (Samantha?), friends who are spending the winter here in their trailer, came in the office because they saw our truck and trailer outside.  Its good to see them again.

After getting unhooked and set up in dry camp I was finally able to wash the truck...it, and the trailer, are filthy after driving wet Texas roads.  I feel better when the truck is clean.  I'll have to wait to clean the trailer until we're set up in a regular site that has water.  We had dinner with Terry and Sam and caught up on what's been happening in the RV Park while we were gone.

We'll probably stay here for the next 3 weeks or so.  There are several things we're looking forward during our stay here. I'll get some warranty/recall work done on the trailer and I think I'll add satellite TV.  I'll call to get information about this in the next day or so.  Also since we're so close to the Phoenix area maybe we'll get a chance to see Brad and Jo who live in Scottsdale.  That would be a nice treat.  Hopefully, along the way, we'll be able to meet for a couple of days at an RV park near Lake Havasu City or somewhere.  More later...DRW