Bill & Rosemarie 2009 Motor Home Trip

 

 

March 31 – We left San Diego for our second trip in our still new motor home. We came pet free! We did bring our fake Parrott so we could figure out how he works.  We planned on leaving on the 30^th, but we had a surprise visit from Holly, Bill’s daughter from Washington State. We had a great day with her and her husband John. We had breakfast at Denny’s then showed them the town: the seals in La Jolla, Horton Plaza, Coronado, and Mission Valley. We had a fun dinner at our favorite Chinese Restaurant. It was a great reunion! We also visited Lori, Ron and Billy. Too many years had passed. Holly was just as sweet and kind as the young woman we spent time with years earlier.

                                                                                                   

 

Rosemarie was sick when we started our trip on Tuesday, 31. This was a really bad cold and it took her down. Our first stop was Yuma. We stayed at Rolle’s Lynda Vista RV park. This place had the friendliest people we have ever met.

 

April 1 & 2, 2009 - We just settled in as Rosemarie blew & blew her nose. Rosemarie settled in for a sick day. Bill played golf at Cocopah Golf Resort. He had an eagle to top off his 77 score. He was a happy camper. Rosemarie made some friends at the park and even though she was sick she sang and told jokes to the locals. Not a good plan, but fun never the less. We were invited to a party the next day, but we had to drive all the way back to San Diego to get some very important things we had forgotten. This was a seven hour drive. We did get back and enjoyed the tail end of the party. Early to bed! Lots of cold pills, nose spray and some healing started.

 

April 3, 2009. We drove to Phoenix. The winds were bad. Bill was stressed to the max. We wanted to get here early so we could go to the State Capitol. The trip was grueling between sick O and the wind. We decided to stay in Mesa because it was the only park that had cable. It was 27 miles out of the way and when we got here we discovered no cable after all. Asking “Do you have cable”, is a very important question to ask when making a reservation. We got settled in at Valle del Oro and we made it to the capitol at 3:00pm. We had just enough time to see everything. The capitol is a museum in Arizona now. It does house a few offices. They had a tribute to the ship The Arizona that was sunk in the bombing on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

 

This is a very small and unimpressive place. We were fascinated by the steel staircase and railings. We covered a lot of history on this state. It was worth the trip. Early to bed still in recovery!

 

 

 

April 4, 2009 – We had a late start and a great day. We drove all over the Phoenix area. It is a beautiful city. The place is laid out really nicely. There is a lot of brown building and fences, but beautiful. As we learned at our visit to the Arizona State Capitol yesterday, the state colors are brown and blue. Brown is very appropriate for this state. We drove to the Mystery Castle. There is a lot of information on the internet about this place. The Castle was made by a guy who thought he was dying. He left his wife and daughter, moved to Arizona and got a mining clam for O dollars. The next time his family heard about him he was dead. It took him 15 years to build this place. It is most unusual and definitely worth the visit. He left the place to his wife & daughter. His daughter still lives there. She is in her 80’s. There is a lot of art and things you will never see any other place. The Castle is made of recycled material. The windows are made of car wheels. All the bricks and glass are second hand. He may have been one of the originators of glass blocks for light and heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also visited The Hall of Flame. This is probably the best museum to fire fighting equipment in the world. They have fire wagons that date back to 1790. The volunteers that work at the museum were a really nice.

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a lot of time looking for The Heart Attack Grill. Bill saw a story about it on the Travel Channel and wanted to eat there. They had moved 3 times since the story came out. We were persistent and found the place. The waitresses are all dressed like nurses. They do not have diet drinks or light beer. The burger was OK and we had fun there. Lots of cool pictures and signs!

 

 

 

 

 

On our way to Roswell New Mexico we stopped at White Sands National Monument. It was too windy to explore so we must return.

 

April 5, 2009 – We were planning on visiting our friend Lani in Tucson today, but she has to work 2-12pm and her friend Stan went out of town. We left the park at 10am. We arrived in good spirits at Rincon County East R V Park. It was voted Arizona’s # one RV Park. It was extra nice. After we got set up we went to find a golf course. On our second stop we found Randolph 18 a Tucson City Course. We golfed with Liz & Gariff.  They were both professional trainers and were nice to look at and fun to be with. (84 Bill 104 Ro). It was late when we finished. We slept great after a full day of travel, food & fun.

 

April 6, 2009 - We drove all day. We stayed at High Low RV Park. When we got there, there was a mistake with our reservation and we did not have a spot to stay in. The people there were very apologetic and said we could boondoggle for $5.00. We have never heard this expression in relationship to RVing. We headed out early the next day to the Alien Capitol of the world. Roswell New Mexico.

 

April 7– 9, 2009 - We stayed at the Town & Country R V Park. There was a sign there asking us not to kill the tracheas if we came in contact with them. I was not happy about the spiders and did not want to see any. Well we did see one! There was this guy sitting on his bike looking down at the ground. He was keeping the critter safe from being road kill. The spider was taking his sweet time and we all three watched. He was walking away from us so I did not freak out. After that every time we went out side we had out eyes pealed on the ground. We only intended on staying in Roswell for 2 nights, but the winds were so strong we could not travel because of the high wind warnings. We ended up staying 3 nights.  It worked out perfect. We went to the UFO museum on the 8^th. We did not think the museum would take very long, so we got a tee time for 1:00pm at Roswell Municipal. We stayed for one movie and saw most of the wall displays, but had to leave too soon. We decided to eat at Long John Silvers before playing. Bill thought that would be a healthy choice, BIG MISTAKE. The food was served dripping in grease. It tasted great, but we paid for it with gas and discomfort.  Golf was great! Rosemarie’s favorite conditions, the balls rolled forever! She even had a 200 yard drive. Bill 84 – Ro103. It was the most fun Rosemarie had golfing for a long time. We returned to the museum the next day. We did not have to pay the second day. The museum use to be free; the girl remembered us and did not charge a second time. We looked at the rest of the displays and saw two more movies, also did the $1.00 audio tour, really not that good. The movies were great. A person would think twice about the possibilities of extraterrestrials after this experience. There was definitely some type of cover up by our government in 1947. WOOOOOoooo! We would recommend this stop. I think it would be fun to go there when they have the annual Alien Festival.

 

 

 

April 10, 2009 – The winds died down and we are headed to Albuquerque. We got to Albuquerque fairly early. We decided to go play golf. After we got hooked up at our friends Bill & Bee Bee we found a course about 3 miles from their home. Ladera Golf. We played with a nice father & son. The dad was a teacher and the son was a policeman. We both played great. Bill 82 Ro 96. It was fun. We got back to Brennen’s fairly late and went too dinner. They took us to one of their favorite Mexican Restaurants. Lots of good conversation!

 

April 11, 2009 –Bill Brennen made us a great breakfast and we 3 ate while Bee Bee went for her morning run.  Bill wanted to see the Masters on TV so I decided to dress in clown and accompany Bee Bee to one of her jobs at a retirement home. It was fun! We worked with Janet another friend. Bee Bee did her awesome face painting, Janet did balloons and I played the part of the hugging clown.  Bee Bee took me home and she went for another job while I rested. In the evening Bee Bee hosted a meeting for her group of clowns who want to put on a stage performance in clown. I presented an evening of education on stage presences, direction and movement. This was a great group of clowns. I presented them with the idea that the most important elements that would make this a successful venture was their relationships and the process. They have the talent and the creativity to come up with an excellent program. I wish them good fortune!

 

April 12, 2009 Easter Sunday – Bee Bee, Bill and I went to church. The format was just like East Lake Church. It was good! Bill watched the rest of the Masters and Bee Bee and I went to the Mexican Cultural Center. This was an afternoon full of art and friendship. Bill and I spent the evening together. I got to see the rest of the Masters. We wanted to play the marble game with them, but they are not into games.

 

 

 

April 13, 2009 – We headed for Santa Fe on Monday. It was about 50 miles from Albuquerque. We had a great day! We took an hour and one half tour bus ride. Santa Fe has an amazing history. We saw the oldest house and church in the US. We also saw the Miraculous Staircase. Here is the story: This church was built with no access to the balcony. (Mistake) When the nuns inquired about having the stairs built after the fact the carpenters said the stairs would take up a huge area of the building. The nuns decided to do a 9 day novena. At the end of the novena a builder showed up and built a revolving staircase. The stairs are not attached to any side walls and have no center pole. They are a marvel! The builder disappeared without receiving any money for his work. WOOOooo! In the evening we took them to The Olive Garden for dinner as a way of showing our appreciation for their hospitality. We watched TV with them and then off to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brass art for sale in Santa Fe

 

 

 

 

Monument to the Santa Fe Trail

 

 

 

 

April 14, 2009 – We are on our way to Meteor Crater RV Park. It was another grueling drive. Bill was holding on to the wheel like it was gold and diamonds and if he let go we would lose everything. This trip will go down as the Windy Trip.  The best thing that happened here was we got to do our laundry, and believe me this was a necessity. We also got to see American Idol. There is no cable here but they have a Dish and a TV Room. Rosemarie held on to the controller so no one would change the station. We went to bed early, only after all the laundry was finished.

 

April 15, 2009 - We now know what rock and roll really is. The winds blew so hard our coach succumbed to the beating. We were both frightened and held tight too each other. We have never experienced winds like this before and hope it will be the last time. When we got up the rock and roll was keeping the beat to the gale force winds. We decided to stay here even though there is absolutely nothing to do. We observed all of the others around us leaving and we thought we the cowardly lion; so be it. As it turned out the highway was closed down. A large tractor trailer was knocked of the highway. We can see from our motor home hundreds of vehicles pulled of on the side of the road. The winds have been bad all day. The news said the roads would be closed until 4:00pm. We are hoping to drive out of the “Hole” area tomorrow. The restaurant here is called the Hole Enchilada.  The use of Hole is in honor of Meteor Crater. We visited there last year, awesome.

 

April 21, 2009 – We are heading home today.  Las Vegas was a great time. On our way we got to see the development of the new bridge at the Hover Damn

 

 

 

 

This is a real marvel.

 

We parked at Terry & Keith Centner’s home. They had just enough room for us to open our slides and they had 20 amps. It worked out perfect.

They were great hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got there Bill Hupp (our son-in-law) and Austin (our grandson) were there. Bill was doing some painting for them and Austin was making up time with Grandma and Grandpa Centner. The couple had moved to Vegas a few months ago from San Diego. The first day we were there we went to play golf at one of our favorite places, Craig Ranch. We were sad to realize this would be our last time there. It will be turned into a park and no more golf. We made the best of it. We played with 2 guys. One was from NY, he was visiting his friend. We played good Bill 86 – Ro 102. The weather was perfect. It was nice to be warm for a change. We all talked and watched TV that night. Austin & Bill left for home late afternoon the next day and we four went for a walk on the strip. The four of us had a good time. We parked at Bally’s then walked to O’Sheas. We enjoyed ice cold beer and got a bite to eat. We walked to the Mirage Hotel, only to find out the white tigers were gone. We were so disappointed! We always visit the tigers! We will miss them. We headed for the Forum at Cesar’s Palace. They had never been there. It is quite impressive. By that time we had walked a lot. That is the favorite pastime in Vegas. We did buy some candy at the Toy store. Rosemarie did buy a Barbie Cher Doll.  A whopping $60.00! We took our tired feet back to the car. On the way back we lucked out because the water show at The Belliagos started.  We had a great view of it from the pedestrian overpass.  After we got home we taught Keith how to play the marble game. We just hung out the next day. Terry & Keith had some other company from San Diego Katy & Sigh who joined us for dinner along with our son Shawn. We had a great evening. It was great to spend time with Shawn. ON the 20^th we played at The Las Vegas Golf Club. You can not beat this place for price and it is in good shape. We played with two 69 year old twin Brothers. They were originally from Holland. They were really fun. Rosemarie was at the top of her game and the weather was warm but nice. Bill 81 – Ro 96. After golf we met up with Shawn, Kayl and Cedar. We had a nice visit. We took Kayl to Cedar’s soccer practice. We met Shawn again at the park and threw a Frisbee around for a bit. We took an unexpected hike at the park. Kayl told us to park after we pulled into the lot. The field was a long way so we got in some extra walking. We were beat after all that and just sat in front of the TV for the evening. We are on the last half of our trip and we will be glad to get home.

 

We arrived home safely and are getting ready for our next excursion in May

        

 

 

 

 

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