Postscript

We were gone 230 days from Aug 4^th 2010 to March 22, 2011.  We travelled 17,751 miles.  We visited (or at least drove through) 32 states and 6 Canadian provinces.  We used up 1,573 gallons of gas, at an average cost of $3.50 a gallon.  Our  average mileage per gallon was 11.39 miles.  Our cost per mile $0.29.

We stayed in 75 RV parks, paid an average of $37.69 per night. 

Comparing gas costs to RV park costs we spent 42% on gas and 58% RV park rent.

We also broke up the trip by staying in rented houses in Ogunquit Me, Jacksonville Fla, and San Diego.  We also stayed with friends, Dot and Ben in Jacksonville, MaryAnne and Greg in Traverse City, Bobbie in Scotts Valley and Jackie in Herald Ca (during our December hiatus)

Truck and Trailer

We only had one serious issue with the trailer, when one of the fittings that hold the wheels to the trailer separated from the frame.  Luckily nothing bad happened and we were able to get the fitting welded back to the frame in Washington DC.  One of the stabilizing jacks, jacks which keep the trailer from bouncing while parked, separated on the last day of our trip, but I spotted it and unbolted it from the trailer before it fell off.  It could have done some major damage to the tires had it been run over.  Some minor plastic pieces broke from old age but nothing functionally important.

The Toyota Tundra did fine.  I backed into a stanchion guarding a fire hydrant in Washington DC and had to replace the rear bumper in Jacksonville.  I had the truck serviced by Toyota 3 times during the trip.  My only concern was that the truck was near its limit in towing capacity, which meant that we could not go very fast up hill.  Sometimes we were only able to go 35mph on a 70 mph freeway up steep hills.  Most RVs are pulled with ¾ ton trucks or larger,  and can maintain highway speeds.  On the flat we could usually travel at 55 to 60, unless we had a head wind.  

I’m not sure when or if ever there will be another big RV trip in our future, but we did see a lot of country and visited some very interesting places along the way.  I don’t think it could have been done any other way.

March 17-21 San Diego and then Home!

On the beach

We rented a cottage near La Jolla two blocks from the beach.  Liz, Stephanie and Noah flew in from Denver for a weekend at the beach.  We cottage was kind of funky, fronting on an ally, but very comfortable and in a convenient location.  The weather was a bit cool, but nice enough for walks on the beach and to sightsee a bit of La Jolla and downtown San Diego.  I tried to get takers for the zoo, but Noah is only 8 months old, and the zoo would not impress him that much.  He was very satisfied sitting in the sand and bouncing in the 2 inch surf with his toes.  Some day he might be a surfer, he really seemed to like the ocean.

Sandy feet

We visited the Children’s Pool in La Jolla.  This has been, and still is, a place of controversy in La Jolla.  The Children’s Pool is not really a pool at all, but a small protected lagoon and beach formed by a man made sea wall. The sea wall was built in 1931 by the Scripps family and donated to the City of San Diego for the enjoyment of children, swimmers, and divers.  In the ensuing years sand has accumulated and a beach has formed in much of the remaining basin.  Also the harbor seal population has grown and for the last 10 years or so, the seals have taken over much of the beach and are now birthing their pups on the beach from December through March.  This has created a controversy between people who feel they should be able to use the beach and those who want to relinquish the beach and pool for the exclusive use of the seals.  There is also a third group who think that the beach can be shared.  Many law suits have been filed and rulings made and rescinded.  Local, state, and federal law over land use, and animal protection are contradictory and the struggle continues, the outcome not clear.  The seals remain on the beach, the people come in throngs to take pictures and talk to the various factions who have set up tables with posters explaining their positions.   In the meantime, there are miles and miles of pristine beach both north and south where one can sit in the sand and swim in the sea.

Seals in the "Children's Pool"

Beach sharing with Seals

We had a great visit with Liz, Stef and Noah getting our grandma and grandpa time in.  Tad Reynales stopped by, he and I used to work together at UCSC, and he is now at UCSD.  We had a good time catching up.

Surf's Up

On Monday the 21^st we hooked up the trailer for the last leg of our trip,  home.  I feared that driving through Los Angeles would be a very difficult affair with heavy traffic, difficult lane changes, and bumper to bumper stretches along the way.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t so bad after all.  We took a toll road through most of Orange County that was almost empty.  The best $9.50 toll value I have ever spent.  The rest of the trip up I-405 was congested but not too bad.  By the time we got to 101 I was tired but not harried.  We continued up the coast through Santa Barbara, to Buellton where we found a very nice RV “Resort”. Next door was Anderson’s Restaurant that features the “World’s Best Split Pea Soup.”  Who knew? 

  

We really lucked out on the weather.  It has been storming in California for the last week, but on Monday and Tuesday there was a lull in the storm and we only got in a few occasional showers.  The clouds around us looked ominous, but the highway seemed to take a turn away from the weather as we approached what looked to be very nasty weather.

On Tues we left Buellton with 234 miles to go.  Thankfully we made it home without incident.  Once home we were kind of out of it, slowly coming to grips that we are finally back after 8 months away.  The house was pristine inside, as we had had it professionally cleaned, but all our stuff was in boxes in the garage where we had stored it.  So the dilemma was do we start by unpacking the trailer or unpacking the house or both?  Bobbie saved the day by bringing in Chinese so we didn’t have to think about dinner.  We began to find things we forgot we had, and start up our infrastructure that we suspended while we were gone. i.e.  putting clothes back in closets,  unpacking dishes, moving furniture and starting cable TV newspapers etc. All this is going to take a few days.  In the meantime, the rain has started again and is coming down in buckets.  So glad I’m not to be living in a trailer!

Desert Towns March 12-16

We left the Grand Canyon for the warmer climes. It was below freezing every night and only in the 60s during the day, so we decided to get into the desert and to lower elevations.

London Bridge??

We went about 150 miles to Lake Havasu, elevation 500 ft, temps in the 80s. Lake Havasu was developed along the Colorado River behind Parker Dam which formed Lake Havasu. It was built by Robert McCulloch (the chainsaw guy) in 1963 and now is a city of 52,000 souls. It is mostly home to retirees, but it is a spring break destination that attracts many thousand teenagers ready to party. They were just beginning to arrive while we were there. One of the main attractions is the London Bridge. Yes it is the original London Bridge that used to span the Thames. It was imported to Lake Havasu in 1968, stone by stone and reconstructed to span a manmade channel to a manmade island on the shores of Lake Havasu, all courtesy of Mr R. McCulloch. It is the second most visited attraction in Arizona behind the Grand Canyon. There is no way that 52,000 thousand people should be living on this God forsaken. waterless, moonscape, but for the wonder of marketing and the creation of an artificial environment. I should not get too excited about this as Lake Havasu City is only the 3rd largest community along this stretch of the Colorado, behind Laughlin and BullHead City, both gambling towns. Further down the Colorado on this stretch between Arizona and California, is trailer park after trailer park on the banks of the Colorado River. The land here is hilly and the river is not too wide, with a swift current. Not advisable to swim in I’d hazard.

We turned west into California at Parker into the Joshua Tree Desert and drove for 90 miles west on a two lane road into the emptiest country we had seen. No farms, no fences, no cows, no nothing. Miles and miles of desert, bare mountains in the distance. We finally joined up on I-10 and met up with civilization again, semi trucks, and heavy traffic. Soon we were in Palm Springs.

Palm Springs is a lovely community made famous by Hollywood stars of the 40s,50s and 60s who used to live here from time to time. It is still a retirement community, with many a golf course, and a vibrant art and cultural scene. It is famous for its architecture called “Modernist” It is a blend of southwestern architecture using modern materials like light structural steel, exposed aggregates, terrazzo and other masonry to create open structures, with lots of windows, shaded by cantilevered roofs specifically for the desert environment. The style looks very 50s and 60s by today’s standards, but still has a crisp, clean and striking appearance.

Palm Springs sit right up next to the San Jacinto mountains. There is a tramway that will take you up to 8500 ft on the mountain. It was near 80 degrees at the base of the tram and only 40 some degrees at the top. There were piles of snow on the ground and air was pine scented in this alpine environment. Looking out at the valley below was definitely a hot desert. A real mind bender, how can these two environments exist so close together?

The desert below

Just outside of Palm Springs is the largest wind farm I have ever seen. There must be hundreds of wind generators. To look through them as the blades are turning is like looking through a kaleidoscope. It must work as we have only been here for two days, but the wind is really blowing and the blades are a turnin.

Blowin in the wind

The Grand Canyon March 8- 12

This is the second time we have been the Grand Canyon and it is still GRAND. You stand on the overlooks, and the canyon is just too big to comprehend what is before you. The statistics of how old, deep, wide, long really just don’t compute: the brain is overwhelmed. It is enough just to look out and stare.

Snow Camping

It snowed the day and night before we got to the park, so there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground. The roads were clear but our trailer site was pretty much a mud puddle. I’d forgotten about “mud season”. It was frozen at night and early in the morning, but pretty goopy during the day.

I decided that I wanted to take a day hike into the canyon, and initially planned to walk down to the 3 mile rest shelter on the Bright Angel Trail. I arrived at the trailhead at about 9:30 in the morning and started down. What I had not counted on is that the top of the trail is pretty much in the shade most of the day so the trail was covered with snow and ice. The snow was still soft and walkable, but the ice was slick. I figured that if I was careful about where I stepped I would be ok and that was the case, but I spent most of my time looking where to step than on the scenery around me.

Icy Trails

The snow lasted about 2 miles into the hike, and from then on it was muddy with patches of rock and solid ground. There are a lot of steps on this trail made from logs holding back the soil or forming mud puddles. Walking through the mud was no worse than walking through the snow. I was glad to have hiking boots and not sneakers which many of my fellow hikers were wearing.

Rest Shelter #3

When I got to my original destination the 3 mile rest shelter, there was not much there, no water and just a small bench to sit on. Just below was Indian Garden, where there is a ranger station, camp grounds, a corral and the place where hikers and campers stop to get water and rest. It was only a mile and a half further and looked so close and not that much further down the canyon.

By the time I arrived at Indian Garden I had been hiking two and one half hours and was feeling a bit spent. My legs were beginning to get sore, but I felt that that it was because of all the downhill walking and that I would be using a different set of muscles going up. I ate my lunch and drank all my water, hoping to be totally refreshed. I refilled my water bottle and started back up the Bright Angel Trail at 12:30. Looking back the way I came all I could see were three huge tiers of cliff that I would have to climb through to reach the rim of the canyon. (over 3,000 ft) and walk back 4 and half miles.

The way back

Since the total distance and altitude change was just too overwhelming to contemplate without breaking down into tears, I decided to break the hike down into three segments a mile and a half each, as that is where the rest shelter were, and from where you could call 911. Along the way I counted the switchbacks as I completed them 12 to the 3 mile rest shelter. I rested drank half my water and took stock of my situation, my legs were sore, and my heart was beating pretty hard. I decided that if I was to make it that I needed to slow way down so as not to have a heart attack. I had kind of planned to finish the hike by around 3:30, but I couldn’t keep up the pace for that. On the next rest shelter the 1.5 mile shelter, (14 switchbacks) I went a lot slower, but with fewer rest stops. While I was constantly being passed by other hikers, I eventually caught up with many as they were stopping more often. By the time I got to the 1.5 mile shelter I was pretty spent, but I could see all the progress I had made below me, and the rim was looking ever so tantalizingly closer.

The last leg was steeper and icier and I was tireder (17 switchbacks) I was getting still slower but eventually I came to final switchback and could see the tourists looking out from the overlooks, the hotels, and the gift shops, and knew that I would not have to hire the helicopter to get my tired ass out of the canyon. I arrived at the rim at 4:06pm.

As I finally reached the parking lot and arrived at the bus stop, I silently rejoiced when the bus driver announced that one of the stops was the trailer park, because I knew then that I only had maybe a hundred steps left in these tired old legs.

March 7 White Knuckle Driving

We left Holbrook, Arizona expecting an easy 90 drive to Flagstaff.  The morning was clear and cool with not much wind.  About 40 miles out, near Winslow, the wind picked up and we could see this solid wall of cloud on the ground about 20 miles away.  We were in open prairie, flat no ground cover save grass and tumble weeds.  We were in a crosswind and it was all I could do to keep the truck and trailer on the road.  When the semi’s would pass the turbulence would dance us around, but also briefly shield us from the crosswind.  I slowed to 35-40 mph to keep as best control as I could.  There was nowhere to pull off that would not be fully exposed to the wind so we plugged along hoping for the best.  We kept saying “Well it looks a bit better up ahead” as the tumbleweeds flew across the road in front of us.  As we neared the foothills the wind began to abate somewhat and it started to snow; we had reached the cloudbank.  By the time we got to Flagstaff there was a flashing sign ‘Caution HIGH WINDS’  No kidding!

March 6 El Morro and the Painted Desert

El Morro

Today we are at Grants, New Mexico about 240 miles from Flagstaff which we didn’t want to arrive at before the 7th. We have decided to make this a side trip day, after the last 3 days of driving 300+ miles a day. As luck would have it, we were able to detour off Highway 40 and take a scenic loop called the Trail of the Ancients. The main feature on this route is El Morro, or Inscription Rock. El Morro is a tall sandstone outcropping that has a natural pool at its base. It is the only water to be found in a 30 mile radius. Because El Morro can be seen far across the prairie it has been a landmark and oasis in the desert for thousands of years. People who stopped over have been carving inscriptions in the rock until the forest service put a stop to it. The first inscriptions were made by the early Indians, petroglyphs of bear claws, deer, and lizards can still be seen. The Spanish Conquistadors came this way and added their marks beginning in 1604. Later the American Army (including the Camel Corps) wrote their inscriptions in the 1840s. Emigrants to California made their way to El Morro in the 1850s. In 1881, the transcontinental railway was engineered and built some 25 miles north of El Morro and it no longer became a necessary stop for travelers. It is an interesting place to visit today to see the pond and to see the inscriptions on the rock. Many are clearly readable and the penmanship is quite impressive.

Spanish Inscription circa 1709

On this same loop is the Indian village of Zuni, which we hoped would be like the Taos pueblo, but unfortunately was not. It looked like many of the other communities we have passed, very run down and not much going on.

We continued to head west back on Highway 40 and stopped at the Painted Desert National Park and took the tour. It is quite impressive. There is a “mini grand canyon” in red and blue hues which is quite pleasing to gaze upon. There are many fossilized remains in these “badlands” and so the area is popular with archeologists. The other interesting attraction are the petrified forests. There are many here, with the stone logs laying on the ground in great number. The ‘logs” are generally 2 to 4ft in diameter, look like they have been cut up into lengths suitable for the fireplace. The rangers claim that the petrified trees just naturally fragment that way, despite the way they look like the loggers had been through. Anyway it was a fun, if not an educational diversion, along Highway 40 and the old Route 66

Petrified wood all cut up

March 2-7 Westward HO!

Not much to report but we are on Highway 40 headed west, burning up about 350 miles a day. Spent the night in Fort Smith Ark, Shamrock, Tex and Santa Rosa New Mexico so far. Most of the small towns that used to be on Route 66 are dead or dying. The travelling tourist that used to sustain them is speeding by at 75 mph.

First time divers going deep

One interesting spot I visited in Santa Rosa NM is the Blue Hole. It is a natural spring about 60 ft in diameter, but 81 ft deep. It is located in the city park and looks like a clear blue pond, but you can’t see the bottom. It is one of the few places where SCUBA divers in the Midwest go to get their open water certification which requires a deep dive over 60 ft. There were about a dozen divers there, most were getting certified. I talked to one and he said there were a few fish and quite a few crawdads. People also leave mementos at the bottom to celebrate the dive.

The Abyss

March 2 Little Rock. The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library

We stopped to visit the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. From the outside the building does not seem to be especially visually appealing, but it features a lot of green construction innovations and inside it is quite beautiful. It has full size replicas of the oval office and the cabinet room plus the millions of documents from his presidency.


The most moving area was a review of the accomplishments and events of the Clinton presidency on a year by year basis. What is evident is that we were so much better off during those years, of strong economy, balanced budgets, world standing and social equity than we are today. While Clinton definitely had his shortcomings all in all his presidency was extraordinary in its accomplishments. We left the library feeling depressed, feeling at a loss, where our country is now so divided that it seems we will never regain the stature that we enjoyed in the late 90s.



The Clinton was hosting Dr Seuss



Graceland, Memphis Tennessee February 28-March 1

Oh Elvis, what have we done? Graceland itself may have a modicum of grace, but there is little grace surrounding it. Graceland is in the south suburbs of Memphis and when Elvis bought the mansion in 1962 it must have been horse estate country. The main house is set back from the road, (Elvis Presley Blvd) and is a genteel southern style home with stone façade, white columns on about 5 acres of land surrounded by a brick wall. In addition to the main house, there are a number of out buildings, which housed his business office, a racket ball court, and horse barn. Most of these buildings now contain exhibits of his hundreds of gold records, music awards, and exhibits of his military service, movies, costumes, and history of his career. At the end of his tour is his grave and that of his parents. (Right next to the swimming pool)

Elvis' Living Room

The interiors of the house are a collection of 1970’s chic. The living room was large and had like a seventeen foot long couch among the other furnishings and an impressive stained glass room devider. It looked nice, but not opulent. The dining room was very formal, huge crystal chandelier fancy table etc. The kitchen while spacious, looked pretty normal, no fancy appliances, Formica counter tops, wooden cabinets. The family room (Jungle Room) had a flagstone wall that was an indoor waterfall, African looking wood furniture, Polynesian wood furniture and looked like a room to have fun in.

In the basement, there was a TV room with 3 TVs side by side as Elvis had heard that LBJ watched three TVs at a time. There was a billiards room with pleated fabric walls and ceiling which was very dark. It also had a quadraphonic stereo system. Elvis and his friends would jam there when not playing pool.

Pool Room with cloth walls

Overall the house is not opulent, it was a place to be lived in, to have fun and to party. It was just one of 3 houses Elvis lived in, he had a place in Hollywood and in Palm Springs as well.

Today Graceland is a tourist attraction. Memphis has pushed its boundaries out way beyond Graceland, and it is now surrounded by used car lots, second tier strip malls, paycheck lending places, and fast food joints. Elvis Presley Blvd is a 4 lane, 45 mph, busy street. The Graceland ticket office, museums, hotel and parking lot are all directly across the street from Graceland. Included are the Elvis car collection, his two airplanes(the Lisa Marie is a converted four jet engine airliner) a movie museum, a kids store, restaurants, the Heartbreak Hotel and RV park, an Elvis fashion museum, and a museum covering his 1968 “comeback”. It is all covered by a PA system that plays all Elvis all the time. At each venue, there was the requisite gift shop.

There are many businesses in the area not part of the Elvis empire that sell their wares in his name. We went to a barbeque restaurant where they picked us up at the RV park in a pink limousine, sat us in the Elvis room, and played Elvis songs all night. We found out later that there is a radio station that plays all Elvis all the time without ads. You would think it would drive people crazy who work there, but apparently not. Elvis has been dead 33 years now, but his legend lives on here in Graceland never to be forgotten.