Southlake, TX

We found US 281 to be a very comfortable alternative to I-35 north to Dallas. Considering the holiday the traffic was not too bad.

We are now tucked in behind Chris and Lisa’s house with a view of the grandsons playing.

Thanksgiving with Lisa’s family promises to be a feast. We helped Chris prepare a signature creamed corn dish this evening, and are witness to Lisa’s skill with pies. Can’t wait.

Harper, TX

We spent a wonderful two days with friends John and Jane on their ranch in Harper, TX. I am not sure who had more fun, Bella or Barbara and myself. Bella had two dogs to play with and played nonstop.

We caught up with old friends and ate well.

At last, a quiet night. The Milky Way was visible.

Jane and Barbara enjoying terrific margaritas

Deming, NM and Van Horn, TX

Barbara is back and the dog park was now a lake, so it was time to leave Mesa.

Friday morning we dropped down through Tucson on Interstate 10 and headed east. About half way to Deming, NM we stopped at the rest stop in Dragoon, AZ for a driver swap and to let Bella out to stretch her legs. The mountains in this area are beautiful and the rest stop was conducive to a picnic, but we ate on the run.

Ever wonder about the names of the mountains you see on your travels? I found a neat app called Theodolite that gives a lot more information than you probably need, but also will tell you the name of mountains you point your phone towards. It is pretty cool, but the names are pretty small so I snap a screen shot and blow it up to read the names. A bigger screen would help, but when I open the app on the iPad it still opens phone sized. Bummer.

We pulled into Dream Catcher RV Park in Deming, NM as the sun was setting and it made for a nice warm photo of the campsite. That was the only thing warm since a cold wind was blowing. It turned out to be a chilly night.

Saturday we continued west through El Paso to Van Horn, TX. We are staying at the Southern Star RV Park in town. It is a typical overnight park, but we like staying here because it is a short walk to the Van Horn Cattle Company Steakhouse. We have been here before and we were looking forward to trying it again. The food was quite good, but when busy the service is a bit slow. The staff is very nice, though, and dinner is worth a stop if you are passing through.

A bonus this afternoon was a park recreation room with a TV that picked up ESPN2, enabling us to watch Virginia Tech shut out Pitt to increase their chances of taking the Coastal Division of the ACC. Getting to the ACC championship game means beating in-state rival Virginia next Friday. What a nice way to see Bud Foster, the long-term Hokies defensive coordinator, into retirement. Could this mean three consecutive shutouts? Go Hokies!

Lost Dutchman SP and Mesa, AZ

Barbara has flown back to Florida to be with her ailing mother. It has been several days now, but Bella is taking it in stride.

The Jeep has had some difficulties and has been in the shop twice in the hope of solving a couple of electrical issues since there is a good repair shop across the street. When I have had the Jeep I have tried to get around the area. Two friends from my time with TWA came by to chat over lunch at Whataburger.

Malcolm & Roger at Whataburger

I thought it to be a recent western chain, but it turns out Whataburger started in 1950! There was even a photo of shop number twenty-two taken in Florida in the early sixties! Who knew?

Before our delay we had planned to visit some parks on the way home so that I could set up the radio and participate in Parks On The Air (POTA). POTA is a ham radio activity promoting our state and national parks. With the new delay we are going to abandon those plans and travel more expediently to Texas. I decided to try to activate a local park.

There is a great state park near here in Apache Junction. Lost Dutchman State Park is nestled at the base of the Superstition Mountains and borders the Tonto National Forest.

The park has a number of picnic facilities and several trails for day use. Based on the crowd here on Sunday it is a popular park. Of interest to campers, this park has a very nice campground with many widely spaced camping spaces.

We had a good time and enjoyed the gorgeous day, but I was not able to make the required ten contacts on the radio to qualify as an activation. The mountain was blocking signals to most of the US. I did make contacts in the Pacific Northwest, Saskatchewan and Florida, though, so my signals were getting out.

Bella and I left the park and drove highway 88 north to Tortilla Flats. This is a very scenic road through the mountains north of the greater Phoenix area. The road to Tortilla Flats was re-paved two years ago and was in excellent condition. It is a favorite for motorcycle and sport car enthusiasts. We did run into road work that had one lane closed at one point. Traffic was light so it was an enjoyable ride. Even on a Monday there were plenty of visitors at the shops and restaurant at Tortilla Flats. The highway is closed at Tortilla Flats, but normally would continue to Theodore Roosevelt Lake.

As the day drew to a close we returned to Mesa Spirit RV Resort and found our neighbors are starting to get their Christmas lights up. The holiday season is rapidly approaching.

Veteran’s Day, Mesa, AZ

Mesa turned out to be a great place to be on Veteran’s Day. We joined friends in attending the East Valley Veteran’s Day Parade. It was a good turnout for a community parade that had the usual dignitaries speaking and high school marching bands.  There were a number of veterans celebrated. They did a good job of recognizing each service, and particular attention was paid to the older WW2 and Korean vets. There was a B25 flyover as well as a formation of WW2 era flight trainers. The Vietnam vets were well represented by a Huey flyover and another pulled by trailer in the parade itself.

Following the parade we enjoyed a luncheon held by the Arizona Chapter of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation which was held int the Commemorative Air Force hangar. In fact we dined beneath the tail of the very same B25 that earlier flew over the parade.

B25 “Maid in the Shade” in the background.

Old people eating.

After lunch we were given a tour of the aircraft on display. Once again Barbara was treated to a view of aircraft I flew in my youth, and again, they were in a museum. There seems to be a common theme there.

B17 “Sentimental Journey”.

Tail Gunner Manni Quinn.

But wait! There’s more!

We finished the day with a very nice dinner at Gertrude’s restaurant at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens. The dinner and staff were wonderful, and the gardens looked like a great place to visit on our next trip. With the time change it was well after dark by the time we left and we were treated to the garden’s collection of Chihuly glass sculptures as we left the restaurant. The glass cactus looked like they were coated in ice, which was appropriate for those in Chicago today.

Mr. Chihuly knows nothing of the colorful meerkats.

Mesa Spirit RV Resort, Mesa, AZ

We had an uneventful, but very bumpy ride down US 93 from Kingman, AZ. Once past Wickenburg the bumps smoothed out, but the crazy city traffic started. Thankfully, it was a Saturday and not weekday rush hour. Our only problem came at the very end of the journey when we could not find the entrance to the RV park. The GPS said we passed it, but we did not see it. Reversing direction in this beast on city streets is a challenge, but we managed. On the second pass we caught sight of the small signs just in time to make the turn. It is a narrow entrance amongst commercial buildings with more prominent signage.

This is a huge complex. We have found the staff and other residents very friendly. The sites are very tight, but once in they are not too bad. The placement of utilities was unusual and it took every bit of hose to reach the water source.

It is nice to be back in warm weather and wear shorts again.

This is Veteran’s Day weekend and we plan to attend the Mesa Veteran’s Day parade on Monday.

Elbow Canyon Trail, Scenic, AZ

After a day of rest following the FMCA 4Wheeler rally we met up with another couple and tried one last trail. The Elbow Canyon trail departs from the small town of Scenic, AZ and our club rates it an easy trail. It was not offered this year as a part of the rally, but we had GPS tracks on the iPad to show us the way. What could go wrong, right?

Heading due East out of Scenic it was a steady climb towards Mount Bangs and Black Rock Mountain. The trail was an unimproved road that may have supported early mining activity many decades ago, but is now a forest service road and best left to serious four wheel vehicles. It was a good workout, but not a major off-road challenge. At the top we could look back done the mountain to the valley we departed from.

This part of Arizona is just north and a bit west of the Grand Canyon. We hoped to get a glimpse of the canyon from a few of the vantage points that allowed a view in that direction, but did not see the canyon itself.

We ran the ridges and gullies back North to Utah. At times it was simple dirt roads, but at others it was hard to determine exactly where the trail was. It was obvious that no one had been on parts of this trail in a long time since vegetation was taking over.

It turned out to be a long trail and we got back to St George just as the sun was setting. We celebrated our safe return by having dinner at Irmita’s Casita Mexican Restaurant. The food was great. The only thing missing was the cerveza! No liquor license.

We now have two days to get chores and errands done before heading to Kingman and then Mesa, AZ to spend time with several old friends. Old as in knowing them since the 60’s and 70’s for they are certainly young in spirit.

Elephants, Virgins, and Things Trail, St George, UT

The last trail of the FMCA 4Wheelers rally was an easy, but bumpy, outing. We stopped to see two large sink holes that are the “Things” in the trail title. The Virgin refers to the many views of the Virgin River in the gorge below the trail.

The elephant is Elephant Arch. It is not a great picture, but look at the rock the guy is sitting on it this picture. Tap the photo to enlarge.

We had lunch overlooking the Virgin River Gorge and Interstate 15 far below us.

Despite appearances to the contrary the Jeep was washed two times this week. It will just stay dirty now until the day before we leave for Kingman and Mesa, AZ.

West Rim Upper Trail, St George, UT

After a day off we tackled a bit more challenging trail.

While just as scenic as the others this trail offered a few obstacles. From here “Escalator” does not look too bad.

It gets more interesting.

As seen from the other direction. Thank you John Beard for a fine job spotting us down.

This was the way out once we came down Escalator. We cleared the sides by two inches.

Barracks Trail, Hurricane, UT

Wednesday was a long day. The Barracks Trail leaves from Hurricane, UT and winds it way north to the eastern entrance to Zion National Park. The return was on the highway through the park to Hurricane and on to St George. The trail itself is forty-four miles long, but totals 145 miles when the highway segments are considered.

We visited more dinosaur tracks. The tracks the other day were direct imprints in the sandstone. Today’s prints are cast, meaning the original imprint was filled with material that calcified and are now preserved in relief.

It is a very scenic trail, but not without its challenges since there is a good bit of sand. Here one of our group needed to be strapped back on the trail from the edge of a substantial drop off.

We had lunch in a stream bed, but it was too cold to set up chairs. We all ate in our respective jeeps before continuing on. From this point on to Zion National Park we managed twenty-four water crossings of various depths. The lead Jeep was breaking the ice on the river. As we crossed we could see ice in some places that was nearly an inch thick. I think this was the day that I read Florida was experiencing a heat index of 100 degrees.

The drive through Zion came at the perfect time of day to light the canyon.

This was the night of the wine tasting contest. Six wines were served. Each was presented in a black glass to hide its color. We were to guess its color, varietal, and year. We guessed blindly for the most part, but still came away with nice hand made wood cutting/serving boards as prizes.

Toquerville Falls, Toquerville, UT

Tuesday had us on Toquerville Towers and Falls Trail departing from the wonderful little town of Toquerville, UT.

Our first stop was the top of the mountain behind the town. This is the site of communications towers serving cell phones and local business radio systems. Great view from here.

We had lunch at the falls. The next morning these falls were frozen over.