BRYCE CANYON: MAY 24-27

THURSDAY
Breaking camp. Lower the tv antenna, unhook water & electric, close all storage bins. Good to go. Hey, what's that guy waiving about? Oops, left our portable propane tank (for the grill) on the ground behind the rig. Dumped tanks without drama and climbed East out of the canyon towards the rim and the pay-as-you-go tunnel. We ended up # 1 in line. Ranger checked our "escort fee" receipt and when the time came he just waived us on and said "steer down the middle." Hmmm. Just like ship handling class at Navy OCS. So much for our "escort." We led the way and more or less kept the rig on the center line and passed through without a hitch. Neat tunnel. Has cut-out "windows" along the canyon side so every so often you get a view. Nice work by the CCC in the 1930's. More nice scenery along the way, no-traffic roads, tiny intersection towns, and beautiful high plateau views. First stop was Red Canyon, the start of the "hoodoos" that we would see more of at Bryce. On to Bryce and check-in at Ruby's RV Park, where I had made reservations by phone from Vegas. The Bryce campground was full-up, this being Memorial Day weekend. The reso guy said we might have to move each night, as they were full as well, but that's not a big deal. We got checked in to a site between two Class A behemoths with all the bells and whistles. Open space across the gravel road supposedly for tents, but no one was there. Very peaceful. This was to change . . . .
FRIDAY (click on a photo to enlarge)
The camp office had the weather forecast posted and warned us yesterday that temperatures could go below freezing last night, so we disconnected the water supply to avoid burst hoses, etc, and kept the heat strip (the only part of our AC unit that works) on all night. That proves to be a noisy option as it cycles the fan on and off all night. We'll have to look into catalytic heaters or something in the future. Had breakfast with the peaceful view out back (da dum, da dum, dum da dum da . . ) and then hauled our sacks up to the laundry where we also found two pay-for-time internet terminals. Time to do some blogging. Not! Put in my $5 for 25 minutes and the fun(?) began. Every operation took minutes to load; every change of screen took minutes to accomplish. This appears to be a great way to make money. Gave up after reading only two emails in 18 minutes, complained, and got my money back. That's the screen of death on the left. Lady next to me had no problems with hers, so mine must have virus-mania. No blogging today (or, as it turned out, at any time during the whole trip). The park is essentially one long road that leads south from our campground. The entrance is a couple of miles down. Actually, up, as the road gently rises as it goes south. Today is opening day for the park shuttle service, so we plan on taking the bikes on the shuttle about halfway down, and riding back. That's Loni waiting at the Ruby's stop. Of course, the first shuttle had no rack; the second came early while I was back getting water, and the third took its time. Sigh. Loaded, boarded and off to Bryce Point for our first view. Wow. There's nothing like this anywhere else in the world. Rows of hoodoos. Amphitheatres of hoodoos. All colors of hoodoos. So, what's a hoodoo? Ahem: "A pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion. Debris, borne by water runoff, scours softer rock and creates gullies. harder rock is left behind as vertical fins. As gullies widen into canyons, fins become exposed to more erosion at vertical cracks. Freezing water expands within the cracks in winter, peeling off layers and carving out vertical pillars --- the hoodoos."
End of today's lesson. Bryce Point is at 8,000+ feet, so we're happy to coast down to the main road and . . . urk, climb uphill to the succeeding Inspiration, Sunset, and Sunrise Points. At least we can coast down from each. All have unique views and we don't want to miss any. Unfortunately, the main road here is open to cars, so we have to pay attention and hope that they are as well. Stopped at the Park Lodge, but wasn't impressed. Although done in the 30's by the CCC, it has no grandeur of space inside, nor any scenic view, being back a ways from the rim. Since we were to meet our friend, Paul, for dinner, we made reso's at the dining room for 8:15, the earliest we could get. Huffed and coasted our way back to camp to relax for a while. Yikes! What happened to the serenity? We've been invaded by dozens of ATV's of all shapes and sizes, seemingly using us as the encircled wagon while they go round and round like mechanized Indians. We are to endure this racket for the next three days whenever we're at the rig. This area is a big off-road draw as there are trails everywhere. Why aren't they out THERE instead of HERE? Memo to selves: avoid ATV areas on national holiday weekends. Connected with Paul by cell phone (this is one of the very few areas on our whole trip where we had any coverage at all), and he had just checked into a nearby motel. No rving for him! He picked us up and we had a nice enough dinner at the lodge, at least after I sent back my nuked pork chops and asked for some underdone ones. A bottle of 3 Blind Moose Merlot at 3X retail price took the edges off, and the replacement chops were perfect. They can do it right if you make them.
SATURDAY: Hiking Day. ATV's still zipping about. I'd like to put a knife in a few tires. Met up with Paul & drove in his car to Sunset Point to start the Navajo Loop-Queen's Garden combo trail. We first stopped to listen to a ranger talk about the geology of the area. Big mistake. He wanted to aim his talk at the kids and delivered a s-l-o-w monologue, sort of a cross between Mr. Rogers and the dummy in Spielberg's "Goonies" movie. Politeness trapped us for the duration, then we were off. This is a beautiful hike, dropping rapidly into the hoodoo amphitheatre, past the standout "Thor's Hammer" hoodoo and through a slot canyon. Couldn't view all of the Wall Street Canyon as a rock slide closed it a couple of years ago. We meandered through a wonderland of hoodoo shapes, culminated by the Queen Victoria hoodoo -- and damn, it really did look like the old bat. Four hours later we were done, and back for a rest. At least I rested; Loni set about getting ready for dinner as Paul was to come over with wine as our first dinner guest in Albatross. Loni baptized the oven with chicken Dijon and side dishes. No canned stew for us! Paul, bless his soul, brought a styrofoam container with 3 very nice bottles that he had transported from his home in San Luis Obispo. He's the local oenophile, and knows all the servers at the tasting rooms personally. We LIKE to visit Paul! We killed two, one white and one red, and saved the third for another time. Good thing Paul's motel was very close by. Even better thing: we didn't have to go anywhere except to bed. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
SUNDAY Ahhh, nature. We are wakened by the bucolic sounds of . . . ATV's. Bwaaaaat. . pop pop pop bwaaaaaaat. Can't people enjoy nature on their own two legs? I suppose tent campers look at us and say, "Can't people enjoy nature without . . ." Had breakfast and joined Paul in his car for a tour of all of the overlooks along the 14 miles of the south end of the park beyond Bryce Point. We stopped at Rainbow, Yovimpa, Black birch, Ponderosa, Agua Canyon, Natural Bridge, Piracy, and Swamp Canyon overlooks. Each had a unique view of the canyon and we never got bored at any stop. We re-did our first day stops as Paul hadn't seen them yet this trip. All of these are around 8,800 feet, so moving around was a bit breathless as well as breathtaking. We have hundreds of pictures to cull. Back to our respective abodes for a little downtime and get ready for dinner out. Went off with Paul in search of Bryce Canyon Pines that appeared in his Fodor's guidebook. Found it west on the main road about four miles out. We're licking our chops at the sign that says "Famous For Our Soups and Pies." Well, folks, fame is a fleeting thing, doesn't travel far, etc. etc. Fairly decent broccoli soup, fairly hideous pies of any description. Marie Calendar isn't sweating. Not up to even Mrs. Smith's frozen standard. Heck, even I can make a better pie (and have!). Bid farewell to Paul as he is going to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park, while we meander more through Utah. We hope to meet up again at Canyonlands/Arches near Moab.

ZION: May 19-24

SATURDAY: Checked out of KOA and dumped tanks. No adventures with writhing pythons this time. Must be getting the hang of it. Gassed up ($102 for 33 gallons; got 9.57mpg on the drive up from LA), entered the I-15, and stopped. Traffic jam due to accident, but eventually clear sailing through bleak desert until the Virgin River Gorge, where the scenery, and our real trip, began. Hit St. George at 94 degrees, but the cab air is doing just fine, thank goodness. Got off the highway to search for a supermarket. Don't these people eat? Nearly out of town before finding an Albertsons that, fortunately, honors our Von's discount card, including (for my fellow hop-heads out there) a very fine Utah brew by Moab Brewery called Scorpion Pale Ale. Gassed again (got a slightly incredulous 10.85mpg) and on to Zion. Bought our annual all-parks pass for $80. Next year this will cost only $10 for over-62 and, I think, be lifetime. Even at $80, the pass is a bargain if you go to more than three parks, and we did. Also had to spring for the $15 extortion fee to get a tunnel pass for the east exit from the park. If you're "oversized" (read, any RV), they allegedly have to "escort" you through with only one-way traffic. (They didn't, s we found out.) Our assigned spot at Watchman campground in the Park was in the open (sun-baked RV), but the view out Albatross' rear picture windows was of a beautiful Zion cliff. We smiled. Wine was opened!
SUNDAY: Walked around the campground & noticed people leaving so decided to try to change sites to something with shade. The ranger's computer was down, and she was constantly checking in new arrivals, but she took the time anyway to find us a new spot. You can tell it's early in the season! Kudos to her, and keep up the good work. The new site is just fine, as you can see. The upper 3/4 of Zion is closed off to car traffic, and a shuttle system is used to take visitors up to the end and back, with stops along the way. They have bike racks on the front, so we loaded ours on and took the shuttle to the end -- the Temple of Sinawava -- which is all uphill. No dummies us. Offload the bikes and it is a very pleasant six mile coast back to the campground on a virtually deserted roadway. It felt like we had the park to ourselves. It was one long "ooooh" and "aaaahhh" at every turn. Nearly 50 years of repeat visits have made Yosemite my favorite park, but Zion is a very close second -- an utterly spectacular canyon. The Virgin River, which created it, runs through it, lined mostly with Cottonwoods that can each drink up to thousands of gallons in a single day. Thirsty buggers. Back to home and homemade burritos, salad, and beer for dinner. By the way, click on these pics to enlarge.
MONDAY: Strolled back through the campground and found two LazyDaze's had arrived the evening before, traveling together -- Caravan #s 2714 and 2782 -- both Utah transplant escapees from "impossible" California. Amen, brothers. Jack, Al, and we talked LD stuff, with commiseration for our AC woes and a helpful hint about the start capacitor as a possible cause. We headed for the shuttle, hip-packs stuffed with water, for some warm-up hiking to Emerald Pools and Weeping Rock. Not particularly strenuous, but enough for the first day at 4,000 feet and this heat. The lower pools were nearly dry, but the upper was very cool -- literally, as it sits in the shade under a big overhang of rock. Now, I know that these things form and change in geologic time, but it still is a little spooky to be sitting under millions of tons of overhanging rock and wondering . . "is this the day?" Weeping Rock is cool. The sandstone that forms the cliffs is minutely porous, and water seeps down from the top over hundreds of years. If it hits a harder, impermeable layer, it seeps out the side of the cliff, forming wet spots that allow vegetation to grow, seemingly out of the rock. Here it was ferns. Bizarre to be in such a hot, dry area, and have a fern grotto. Jumped off the shuttle on the way back at the Zion Lodge for some frozen yogurt. They need to employ a few more workers as it was a long line and only one person manning the fort. Back to the rig. For those of you who think I killed the cat, not so. She lives and breathes in Zion. Rented "Children of Men" at the adjacent store and tried running the tv and dvd player on the batteries and the inverter. Hey, it worked! The inverted makes an annoying noise from its fan, so surrounded it with pillows to muffle it. Worked well enough so that we forgot about it while watching the movie. Review: 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
TUESDAY Big hike day. The Zion guide has three that we are contemplating, all rated "strenuous, with long dropoffs." Hmmmm, with my acrophobia and Loni's bum knees, this should be fun! We nixed the Angel's Landing trail as it culminates on a knife-ridge that provides chains to hold onto. No thanks. We opted for either Observation Point (8 miles rt with 2148 ft elevation gain) or the Hidden Canyon (2 miles, 850 ft gain, but also with chains). They start out on a common path, so we'll decide as we go up. At the split, we chose the Hidden Canyon and continued up for a while until the GULP factor got me. this weenie couldn't handle a one foot wide ledge, chains on the wall, and nothing but 700 feet of air on the other side. Back down to the fork for the other trail, only to find that 48 (I counted them) sixth graders had just passed by on a field trip up to Observation Point. We soon found they were in worse shape than we were, despite a 50-year advantage, and were slowing us up. Plus, do you know what 48 kids SOUND like on an otherwise deserted mountain? We passed the little wheezers by, and after getting around a bend or two couldn't hear them at all. This trail is a beauty. Wonderful overlooks of the valley floor, then it turns in through a nefty slot canyon with wildly sculptured walls (wind and rain). After a while, there is a long series of switchbacks where the trail is about three feet wide with big dropoffs on one side or the other. I'm amazed that they allow schoolkids up here. One joking shove, or one misstep, and its adios. Look closely: we're in each of these pictures.We made it to the top in about 3 1/2 hours. The top is a mesa, and you walk along the rim until you get to the actual observation point, which has a superb view up the canyon. Someone there warned of a rattlesnake sighting, but we didn't see or hear the blighter. Had lunch and enjoyed the view. As we were leaving, the kids arrived, looking mighty bushed, but proud to have made it. They deserved to feel good about themselves. Trip down was uneventful, thank goodness, and Loni took very small steps all the way down to avoid having her knee pop out (see the beginning of our Australia/New Zealand trip in February of '05 for how much fun that is). No cooking tonight. We treated ourselves to an excellent pizza and local brews at a place in Springdale, the adjacent town. Very nice sitting on the porch and watching the setting sun's glow as it bounces off the cliffs. Yes, life is good.
WEDNESDAY: Had saved today to do the hike up/through the river into the slot canyon, called the "Narrows,", but it dawned overcast, breezy & cool. Didn't want to slosh through cold water without any sun, so decided to save this for another visit. Took in the museum and visitor center instead (both very nice), loafed until late afternoon, then hiked the Watchman trail for a sunset view of things from an overlook at the south end of the park. Beautiful views, but would have to wait another couple of hours for the sun to really get low for good pictures. Doesn't set here until nearly 9:00. Time to call it a night so we can get an early start tomorrow for Bryce.

Utah Trip 1: May15-19: Vegas Ain't Pretty

At last, we're launched on our maiden voyage in Albatross. Did not make our 6:00 am target for avoiding LA cross-town traffic, but we managed to traverse I-10 from the ocean to the I-15 in pretty decent time, considering it was rush-hour. Our 14-year-old, never-out-of-the-house cat, was a yowling mess until Barstow, a mewling irritant to Baker, and passed out until we got to Vegas. This wouldn't normally be high (or even on) our vacation destination list, but Loni had her CBBS (California Blood Bank Society) convention there, so we were committed for 4 nights (arrive Tues, depart Sat.). It was at the Rio, so we had to be close to the Strip/public transportation as we have no toad to get around in. The only option we found was the KOA, formerly the Caesar's RV park. Asphalt Jungle is not just the name of a movie. You know how they give air temperatures and track temps if you're watching a car race? Camping on a parking lot is much the same. Had E&W, but no sewer. Plugged in and turned on the AC. Ahhh. Headed off to the Rio for the reception wine & cheese. Took the "Trolly." Advice: don't. It stops at every casino and . . . sits. It took over an hour to cover the three miles or so and, well golly, that promo brochure for the Trolly was wrong. They don't go to the Rio after all. We hoof it the last mile (did I say it was 98 degrees?). Wine and cheese turned out to be our dinner, which is not a good thing. Trip back was 1 mile of shuttle, 2 miles of walking. Nope, it wasn't any cooler at night. Not a good start. WEDNESDAY: We ballet in & out of the rig's bathroom and off to the Rio (on the local bus this time, called "the Deuce," since they are double deckers) for a freebie breakfast. Deuce time: 50 minutes. At least it's air conditioned. B'fast not worth the trip: muffins & yoghurt. Loni to meetings, me to wander the strip back to the rig. The KOA does have a pool, but it seems you need a passport--not USA-- to partake. The entire poolside that had any shade was taken by German tourists. Our not-so-scientific survey over the course of our trip determined that at least half of the rented RV's on the road were manned by German tourists. They were everywhere! I will say they were unfailingly friendly and upbeat. The exchange rate will do that. Quick plunge, change clothes, and back to the Rio for the first serious freebie-- dinner hosted by Hemacare. Now we're talking: salmon-en-crout and, why yes, I WILL have another glass of wine thankyou. We feel no pain on the shuttle and the Deuce going home. Ah, yes, the Albatross is now "home," with resident housecat and all. THURSDAY: Again, we Nijinsky the facilities, Loni takes advantage of the shore power to dry her hair, and off to the Rio for, hopefully, a better breakfast. Ahhh, now this is freeloading: full British-style breakfast with more choices than a Turkish bazaar. I'm set until dinner. Loni to meetings, and I return to the rig and find . . . . no AC and a hair-noodle on the floor. Oh, that's the cat! Nothing but HOT coming out of the roof air. This is not good in the asphalt jungle. Tried everything I or the owner's manual could suggest (check fuses, switch to generator, etc. etc.). No joy. Dragon breath. Called Lazy Daze (sorry, but . . . they don't make the thing), Dometic (they make it but only offer recorded phone trees with lists of repair facilities) and seven of the authorized repair places. No one can take us for at least a week, and then they'd have to order parts, get warranty repair authorization, etc. We, of course, have take-it-or-forget-it reservations in Zion and elsewhere, and have to get moving on Saturday. My personal temperature now is not entirely due to the ambient temp. We're just going to have to gut it out and get it fixed AFTER our trip. Good thing I didn't reach a real person at Dometic. Revived the cat with wet washcloths (THAT went over well), turned on the ceiling exhaust fans (moving 101 degree air at least feels better than still 101 degree air) and determined that the cat most likely wouldn't die. Well, actually, I said "you're on your own, cat," and left for the Bellagio where tonight's freeloading would take place, this time hosted by the Red Cross. Very nice restaurant overlooking the big faux-lake where the water and light show goes off every hour or so. Ahhh, more salmon, cooked perfectly, and, well, sure, just keep that wine coming thanks. They even dragged out the chef so we could toast him, and deservedly. A few (or so) glasses later, backdropped by the eau et lumiere outside the window, and we floated home on the Deuce. Cat still with us. What a trooper. Sleep was nearly impossible. I haven't been that hot at night since I was in the Philippines during my Navy days. It did get down to 80 degrees just before dawn. FRIDAY: Kept the cat watered while Loni finished her half-day at the meeting. Not willing to forfeit tonight's KOA fee, we don't leave early, but spend the afternoon in a cool theatre (sorry, cat) watching SpyderMan make an ass of himself. Did you detect that we don't gamble? Back outside, it continues to bake and the weekend traffic is arriving, making an already clogged Strip virtually impossible to travel on. We check on the cat and decide to use a gift certificate we had to the Cheesecake Factory. It was located at Caesar's Forum, a high-end shopping trap. The CF was at the very end of the long shopping mall, where we had to wait a half-hour for a table. Spent it watching the talking statues (utterly incomprehensible) and cruising the adjacent gallery, devoted to the "art" of one man. Think of a cross between Thomas Kincaid and Mexican velvet paintings and you get the idea. The prices were equally incomprehensible. Do people actually buy this stuff? After narrowly avoiding a brawl at the hostess station (somebody thought somebody else was jumping the line, so he decked the other guy's girlfriend!), we got our table, ate a dinner that would feed six people, and still had the guts (literally and figuratively) for key-lime cheesecake. Urp. Last ride on the Deuce back to the rig. Good-bye Vegas, we won't be back soon. NEXT: Zion! Are we camping yet?

FIRST TRIP IN ALBATROSS

Well, we finally got this show on the road. Say hello to Albatross, which is looking strangely brown in the rear in this low sun. It's actually grey, silver & white, like it looks on the side. We attended our first "Caravan" of LazyDaze rigs this past week out at Lake Perris in the Moranga Valley (south of Riverside, north of Murietta, if that helps). 143 rigs attended, so it was quite a gathering. "First-timers" like us (there were two others) get the royal treatment and are made to feel instantly at home with the group. There are subgroups within the overall Caravan Club, and we were hosted by the "Past Tentsers," comprised of former tent campers like us. It was our below-freezing-gale-wind-sleeting-rain last tent excursion to Yosemite that convinced us it was time to go the RV route, so the Past-Tentsers was an appropriate host group. Four days later, after great potlucks, bawdy joke sessions, much-needed advice on the rig, and a variety of good-natured people, we decided that the P-Ters were for us. We hope to see them all again in future Caravans. Leveling is a challenge at Lake Perris, as the campground parking was laid out by someone not exactly conversant with a transit or level, or operating same under the influence.



That's our rig on the upper left, sporting nifty ramps provided by Larry Ward from his apparently endless selection. Others required more "creative" solutions. We settled in quite nicely as there were both electric and water hookups to make things easy. No satellite service yet, but we got one station (badly) from Palm Springs and got to watch UCLA beat Kansas to get into the Final Four. Now that Stanford is out of it (again), we can root for the Bruins. We really like those three picture windows that surround the rear couches. The coach next to us was owned by John and Ilene who are full-timers in their rig. Ilene teaches art and crafts and put on a class for painted silk scarves. Loni was in seventh heaven and turned out a very nifty piece. Here's the class hard at work. We spent some time attending various welcoming meetings and technical talks, including one by the Club's resident tech guru, Terry Tanner, delivered in what I thought was a dead-on impersonation of comedian (etc.) Ben Stein. On Saturday morning we got our Club rig number (which is 2928, if you happen to see that while on the road), and were intoduced (along with the other first-timers) to the entire group at the general meeting that afternoon. Loni and I tried a cross-country scaling of the local mountain behind the park, but what looked easy in the macro distance proved in the micro to be a mess of mesquite, steep and slippery slopes. We bailed at a relatively low altitude and walked to an adjacent campground where there was a rally for those tiny teardrop trailers that were popular in the 30's and 40's. Some were beautiful restorations, and some were pulled by equally beautiful classics like '56 Chevies, etc. We had a very fine potluck the last night and, as the wine loosened some tongues, a joke-telling session ensued. My goodness. I thought this RVing stuff was middle America. These folks belong on stage at the Comedy Club in West Hollywood. Sundaytmorning we made our goodbyes and collected contact info and pulled out for the next adventure: dumping tanks! We pulled in line and tried to observe what the experienced types did. Yikes. No gloves? Our turn arrived and I started with the hoses and valves while Loni read the instructions through the bathroom window. Of course, she was on the wrong page for a different procedure and I'm wrestling with a dumping python that wants to do its own thing as . . . stuff . . . rushes out. Fortunately, the end stayed in the hole and mission accomplished. Drove 80 miles back to home through Sunday traffic (everyone heading for the beach) and parked it at home for the night so we could unload food and clothes and I could wash it the next day. I'll never complain again about washing the minivan.

The ALBATROSS Has Landed!

Well, this has been an eventful month. On the 9th, we went out to the factory in Montclair and picked up our new LazyDaze motorhome. Spent about 4 hours getting the nuts&bolts tour, about 15% of which I retained. Now, is this the fresh water intake or the waste valve? Hmmm. Good thing Loni was taking some notes. After spending hundreds of dollars on "extras" in the LD store, we were on our way. I'm amazed that they can just hand anyone the keys to something as big as a bus and let you drive away without any training. Ours is the smallest they make, but it's still 8'3" wide (go measure a city bus) and 23.5' long. LD's other two models are 26.5' and 30'. It's not the length that is a pain, but rather the width. It takes up the ENTIRE lane, and the mirrors stick out even further, adding another foot of effective width. Yikes! We left at about 12:30, and went about 60 miles across the heart of L.A. on a Friday on the 60 and the 10 freeways. L.A. cognoscenti will appreciate the "Yikes." I pretty much picked a lane and stuck to it. Let the other drivers evade ME! Here we are picking it up. (Click on photos for larger views)

They give you about enough gas to get off the lot, so the first stop and first grimace were at the gas station just before the freeway. Don't know what gas is going for elsewhere, but California might as well be Hawaii! Gas is well over $3/gallon for regular. The Albatross holds over 50 gallons, so, well, Yikes again!

We temporarily parked it across from us on a small deadend street, but it can't stay there permanently as it would be a nuisance for our neighbors. Our driveway can't handle it either, so it'll be in storage about ten miles away (as the crow flies). Storage, even outside and without any services like we have, is not cheap in L.A., especially on the West Side. The "Albatross" name is only partially tongue-in-cheek. :)

Loni's spent the last week or so shopping for things to put in the thing, so we're now loaded up with cookware (better than we have had all these years at home), dishes, cutlery, silverware, linens, towels, containers, etc. etc. Not to be outdone, I've been out "investing" in hoses, power inverter, tools-for-the-road (love those sales at Sears), leveling blocks, etc., etc. Amazing how many things you just can't do without. Of course, since we sprang for the satellite dish on the roof, you have to get a new LCD t.v., right? That one's on hold for a while, since we want a small one (about 17" or so), and the current small ones for the most part don't have digital tuners, which will be de rigeur come January 2009 (I think that's the latest demise date for analog broadcasts). We don't yet have Direct TV anyway, so its not a priority item.

We chose the layout of this model because of the wrap-around picture windows in the rear. If we have to be inside because of weather, at least the view will be great (assuming I've parked it in the right direction). The windows are heavily tinted and from the outside it just looks black-- can't see anything inside during the daytime. There are two 6'+ couches along each side, that convert into either twin beds or pull together to make a king-size (the back-rest cushions form the balance of the bed). There's also a queen bed over the cab. The kitchen has a 3-burner stove, a microwave, and a small oven for road-cookies. The bathroom has a real porcelain toilet, and there is a nice stall shower with an integrated sink. Ahhh. No more freezing our buns off in a tent in the rain and wind and hoofing it in the dark to the public facilities! (See our post re Yosemite!)

We haven't spent a night in it yet, but will take our maiden voyage this week for five days to Lake Perris, which is out in the boonies near Murietta Hot Springs. It's a state campground adjacent to a manmade lake (which, I understand, is shrinking considerably in our current low-rain cycle, the worst in recorded history for these parts). We'll be joining a LD "caravan" of other LD owners, probably a hundred or so. I'm sure we'll be the newest of the new, and we'll take advantage of the experienced owners to figure out how to operate everything. No laptop yet (the previous one died after only two years), so we'll have to post about the trip when we get back. After that we're scheduled for a long (6 weeks or so) outing to the Utah parks, which I've never seen.

JANUARY 2007: RV and HAWAII

This is a long-overdue update to this blog. Sort of fell off the track as I was winding down my practice and getting ready for retirement. Mission accomplished, sort of. Finally moved everything out of the office and into an extra bedroom where, of course, I've been . . . . working! I'm designating any fees earned in 2007 as "gas money" for the RV. I'd better do some business at 10MPG. Ouch. Our new LazyDaze is still being built as I type this, with a projected delivery date of the first week of March. We visited the factory on January 3, and they hadn't started it yet, but promised we were the next on the line. They had the identical model in the "showroom" (garage), even down to the grey & charcoal striping, so Mom got to see what it would look like. She clamored in and immediately claimed one of the couch-beds as her own. Here she is, on the left (Loni on the right) trying it out for size. That white panel is the underside of the table that folds down between the couches. It's latched up in the "travel" position, blocking the center of the rear window. There are picture windows on all three sides in the back, so all we need to do is back into a great view and sit and enjoy it. Mom declared the rig suitable, and immediately proposed a trip to Alaska! Whoa, Nellie! Let's figure out how this thing works, first. Here's a view forward of the galley. There's a big refrigerator on my left that's out of view. Has a microwave and a small stove in addition to the cooktop. Tons of storage. In addition to the sofa -beds in the rear, there is a queen sized bed in the cabover. The bathroom with shower are behind me and on the left, behind the galley wall. We should be plenty comfortable with this setup. Has a generator, solar panel, dual "house" batteries, and even a satellite dish on the roof. We can watch "House" in the woods! Don't groan-- we'll get plenty of stargazing done as well. First big trip will be to the Utah parks in May-June, and we hope to do the Albuqurque balloon festival in October, along with Carlsbad Caverns, etc.

Might as well put in a Christmas picture to remind everyone what we all look like: Back: Me, John, sister Susy, Mike; Center: Loni, Mom, niece Rachel; Front: niece Katy. Our retirement was to start off with a trip to Honolulu, courtesy of a test-machine manufacturer who asked Loni to give two seminars to the local blood bank community. Sounded good to me! Unfortunately Loni got quite sick on the plane ride over, and spent the first night in the (ahem) porcelain room. Gave her first seminar the next afternoon sitting down as she was too weak to stand. The second night she had a relapse just as bad as the first night. About 1:00 a.m., I came down with it too. Like good spouses, we took turns in "the room" with minimal bloodshed. Trooper that she is, Loni did her second seminar the next evening, again sitting down. We both spent lousy nights and didn't start to recover until the third day. Spent most of that in the room, with a brief excursion across the street to the beach for a quick burn. Thursday we spent at the Bishop museum, very good and kept us entertained all day. Friday we went to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling, then climbed Diamond Head for a spectacular view of Honolulu and environs. We were alive again! Home on Saturday to the PO'd cat who had survived the week better than us. Here we are atop Diamond Head, looking towards the crater that forms Hanauma Bay. UPDATE: It's now Feb 10 and we visited the factory to check on the progress of the RV. It's actually being built! The body is on the frame, the skin is on the outside (but not painted) and various wires are sprouting all over the interior and exterior. They estimate delivery, and the depletion of our bank account, on March 8. Here's Loni at the back of the coach-in-progress. Look out world (or, at least, the Western US & Canada).

CATCHING UP: CHRISTMAS '05

If for nothing else, Christmas was memorable for Mom's arrival at LAX sporting a Santa Claus headpiece that had flashing lights. She apparently was the hit of the plane. At 84, she's still chugging along just great. Christmas is also one of the few times a year we get to see the boys for more than a couple of hours at a time. Being 400 miles apart puts a crimp in the family gatherings. Does anyone know the half-life of popcorn strings? That one that you see on the tree has been used for at least a decade, and still hasn't yellowed or crumbled. If you've ever strung popcorn, you know why we keep re-using the old one. New Year's found Mike in Las Vegas with his friends from high school and college, staying eight to the room. We stayed home and played with the new plasma tv! It worked fine, but Adelphia's hi-def cable "service" required four home visits before they got it right. Many more than four oaths were uttered when the signal crapped out during the bowl games. Here's Mom getting ready to board for the flight back to Indy.

CATCHING UP: YUM 11/05

Not much happening in November except good eats. I hit the big 6-0, kicking and screaming all the way. Still trying to catch the moving target of "senior" status for getting into the movies. It appears that the industry is trying to stay one step ahead of the boomers as they keep moving the cutoff back to stay just out of reach. Bah. Anyway, this post is about food and Loni's great cooking. Birthday dinner was lamb shank over cous-cous, with mint from the garden. Oh, yeah. A nice Guiness filled that glass.

Thanksgiving was the usual overstuffed plate (and belly. That's Bob at the end of the table, Loni's mom's widower, with the boyos on either side.

CATCHING UP: SEATTLE/VICTORIA 10/05

Thank goodness at least one of us is employed in a 'real' job that has perks like conventions and stuff. The AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) was in Seattle, a city I'd never visited before. So, with Loni practicing her presentation, and me as 'spousal baggage,' we took off for the Northwest. Checked into our budget hotel (don't ask), which had large rooms, ancient furniture, the loudest clanking and groaning elevator in this hemisphere, but a decent 'free' breakfast and a view of the Space Needle. The walking route to the convention center took us past (1) the local precinct station, (2) the local erotica emporium, and (3) seven Starbucks. We first had to go hang the posters of the 'papers' that Loni and colleagues were submitting. We had hauled them up in rollup tubes that barely fit in the overhead on the plane. Having spent all day traveling, we headed for the marketplace and what was billed as Seattle's 'favorite' restaurant. Of course we should have known better than to eat in a tourist trap, but . . . Suffice to say that I sent my meal back with instructions not to replace it, helped Loni push a few bites around on her plate, and left no tip. The next few days (while Loni attended the convention) I watched perhaps the best weekend of football ever, including the infamous USC-Notre Dame game with the not-so-phantom push of the QB into the endzone. Found a terrific watering hole over by the Space Needle with several dozen t.v.'s, arterio-death food, and a bonanza of draft beers, so all was good for the baggage. I did take one day to walk and bus all around to see what there was to see in Seattle, which is quite a lot. Great city for a convention. Our food quality went way up with a seafood place down on the wharf and an italian bistro uptown. Major wallet hit, but that's why the cheapo lodgings. Got a free meal off the Red Cross at a very upscale pan-Asian place that I was very glad not to be springing for. Except for that first night, great eats in Seattle. After the convention ended, we took off on the ferry for Victoria, which we hadn't seen since 1977, when we were touring Canada in our VW bus-camper, and Loni 6 months pregnant. Much more style this time. Stayed in the best B&B we've visited -- Abigail's Hotel. That's Loni in front of it. The inside does justice to the outside. Timbers everywhere, nice 'library' where they serve wine and eats in the afternoon, and where guests gather in the evening before heading out to dinner. Walking distance to the main part of town, but out of the traffic. No qualifiers for this one, it was perfect! Had a great pub dinner one night with plenty of suds, and an elegant ($$$$) one in an Italian place with lots of ambiance and no attitude. Surprisingly for October, Buchart Gardens was spectacular, as you can see. That's Loni in the black coat and white hat on the path. Back in Victoria, we wandered around the parliament building and got an impromptu briefing at the entrance to one of the chambers by a distinguished-looking gent who turned out to be one of the legislators. Somehow I can't see that happening in the U.S. When we were in Victoria back in '77, we splurged on a dinner at the Empress Hotel. They don't serve dinners anymore, but they do still have the High Tea every afternoon (which costs double what our dinner did back then). What the heck, we need to act like swells every once in a while. We did manage to finish the entire tray and enough tea to float a boat. After Victoria we went back to Seattle for one night, as our return flight didn't leave until late the next afternoon. I had booked what was billed as Seattle's most charming B&B, with the improbable name of the Chambered Nautilus Inn. I did a review of the place which pretty much sums up our experience there. You can read it, with pics, by clicking on the link, which takes you to a TripAdvisor page. The result of all the lugging that I describe there is that I now have a disc problem in my neck. Lawsuit! Not.

CATCHING UP: YOSEMITE 5/05

Well, as Lee-Pi has pointed out in a recent email, it's been a long time since the last post. Not that anyone has noticed, apparently, until Lee got free internet access and ran out of porn to view. So, what's happened in the last year or so?

Back in May (of '05!) we took several days (over Mother's Day weekend: see the flowers on the table) and went tent camping at Yosemite. We've had that tent for over 30 years, but haven't used it in at least ten. Of course, the instructions have long since disappeared, so it was a nice puzzle figuring out how to rig it. That time of year, and after a big snow year, the falls were spectacular, and running in places that you don't normally see any water at all. Snow was on the top of the rim and surrounding mountains, while we alternated between rain and bright sun on the valley floor. Unfortunately, some of the rain came at night, with wind, and with the temps dropping below freezing. Much fun had at 3:00 a.m. tripping around the tent with a monsoon blowing, trying to refasten the plastic tarp we had spread over the tent. Ice was on the car the next morning, and the socks I had spread out the night before retained a remarkably sound L-shape when picked up. If we ever needed any final incentive to go the RV route, that night was it. We made some longing gazes over to the RV's across the way: lights, dry inside, heat. The bright side was that we almost had the park to ourselves. The road to Mirror Lake was virtually deserted when we walked it. We could go quite a ways without seeing another soul. In Yosemite Valley?? That's Nevada Falls in the pic with me in the red poncho. It was really roaring. On the way up to the park, we stayed one night in Oakhurst at a very nice B&B, the Oak Cottage. Great breakfast, resident cat, and garden gnomes. Who could ask for more?







We were pretty lucky in our timing. The day we were leaving was bright and sunny. The heat accelerated the snowmelt and, with the heavy rains the night before, there was a pretty good flood that came through the valley, trapping a lot of folks, including some who had the misfortune of having to bivouac at the Ahwanee. Rough life.

He Who Hesitates

We finally finished surveying our driveway to see where the Sprinter RV would bottom out in trying to negotiate the hill. Used a Sears laser level device to project a horizontal beam at the bottom of the garage door (which is at the top of the incline), then took vertical measurements every one foot down the drive, out to 46 feet, which is the middle of the crown of the road in front of the house. Plotted that on graph paper, then did a same-scale drawing of the profile of the Sprinter using the clearance measurements we made at the dealer. Sure enough, it bottoms out and would not be able to climb the hill. However, it would only take a few strategically placed 2 x 12's in the gutter and where the drive meets the sidewalk to create an adequate clearance (ok, just 2-3 inches, but it should work, right?). I guess before we shell out beaucoup d'bucks we'd better test it out somehow. No hurry, the Airstream Interstate we were interested in at the Oregon dealer just sold. Somebody got a good deal (all things being relative). Now that we've seen the new green(s) paintscheme, we don't want to settle for anything else. At least it'll soften the blow on the neighbors. Here's a pic:

RV Update

Well, we spent last weekend crawling in and out of Sprinter and van-based RV's, finally ending up at the Airstream spot where we found what seems to work best for us -- the Interstate model. Unfortunately, it is priced out of our reach unless we can find a huge discount or a used one. The floorplan is what sold us over the rest of the Sprinter conversions. It's a new "dinette" plan that really makes for a spacious feel, or at least as spacious as you can get in a six-foot wide vehicle. Here's are views of the exterior and interior (looking rearward towards the rear kitchen/bath).--- As you can see, I'm still having trouble figuring out Blogger's orientation of pictures with the text. These were supposed to appear at the right of the text, but they plopped down above everything. Dragging them seems to work, but they keep jumping around. Blogger needs to do some work. Anyway, the dinette on the left converts to a bed, as does the couch on the right. This grey is a dreadful color scheme. We saw much better decor in the model we toured. This photo came off a dealer's web site. We'll see what kind of deals are being offered at the big RV show next month at Pomona, but will likely wait until next year to buy. Meanwhile, I'm using my new toy --- a laser level device -- to create a profile contour map of our sloped driveway to see whether we can get one of these up it without bottoming out the tail.