Better late than never 🙂 … we’ve been on the move so I got behind again on the posts:
When I last posted about our visit to the Fort Hood area, we had already moved to the city park in Stephenville, TX on Wednesday. We drove the ~100 miles from Ft Hood to here because another old Army Warrant Officer friend and former Iraq “battle buddy” retired in nearby Comanche and bought a 30 acre ranch near Lake Proctor. We wanted to set our destination to one of the Corps of Engineer (CoE) campgrounds around Lake Proctor but found out from my friend Mike Williams that the campgrounds were closed due to recent heavy rains and subsequent flooding. Of course, we could have stayed at my friend’s ranch as well, but his long entrance road was rather narrow with lots of low overhanging trees that prevented us from moochdocking 🙂
The city park in Stephenville (←link) was another great Texas find! The park was huge and beautifully landscaped with a creek running through the middle. It has lots of paved trails, various ball fields, and even a swimming pool. We had to drive over to the Recreation Center to pay for our RV site but they were very easy-going and said to just come back and pay when we’re ready to leave. We ended up paying $30 for two nights when we left Friday morning after touring the area and visiting my Army buddy.
Stephenville city park RV sites.Stephenville city park RV sites.Stephenville city park.Stephenville city park. Red headed ducks?Stephenville city park. Turtles in the creek.Stephenville city park.Downtown Stephenville.
We spent most of the day Thursday, before we went to visit my Army buddy, driving around in nearby Eastland and Gorman to check out a couple places I lived for a short time (1-2 yrs)when I was in elementary school. I was pretty young and don’t remember much, but I could still recognize a couple of the houses we lived in and the school I went to. Here’s some pics (below) that won’t mean much to most of my readers but I think my Mom and 3 younger brothers might appreciate them:
Downtown Eastland, TX city hall/courthouse.Downtown Eastland, TX.Old house in Eastland, TX that I lived in as a youngster for a short while before we moved to a small farm near Carbon, TX.Eastland City Park located on top of a hill in the middle of town.. The park has a playground, swimming pool, and senior center building as well.The Boy Scout hut in Eastland city park that I remember going to as a kid.Old farm house near Carbon, TX that I spent a short time at as a kid.
We made it back from our little trip down memory lane in time to meet my buddy Mike when he got off work in Stephenville. Mike works at Tarleton State University now and commutes from his ranch near Comanche, TX. He stopped by the RV park to pick us up and we followed him in the Silverado to his beautiful ranch by Lake Proctor.
The Williams Ranch.CW4 (Ret) Michael Williams and CW4 (Ret) David Hobden inside the Williams home.
Mike’s wife Christy made us a wonderful meal (Thanks again Christy!) and then we got the grand tour of the ranch.
Once again, I have to say how lucky I feel to be able to travel around and catch up with old friends. Especially good friends like Mike & Christy. I was stationed in Katterbach, GE with Mike from 2003 – 2005 and we deployed twice together during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom II. We lived together in warehouses on the docks and in an old factory during OIF and then spent a year together in a tent during OIF II. Needless to say, I think we got pretty close and built a life-long friendship that I value greatly. And of course, this gives me the opportunity to share some more military pics… I dug up these old photos (below).
Officers of 601st Spt Bn, 1st ID n Katterbach, GE ready to deploy to OIF. Mike is center left.Mike and I in a warehouse on the docks in Iskenderun, Turkey while we downloaded our vehicles and equipment from the ships during OIF.(L to R) CW2 Henke, Gen Mundt, CW3 Williams, and CW4 Hobden in Tikrit, Iraq during OIF II.
And I had to include this one (below) of Mike with CSM Guy Niles… remember CSM Niles from my previous post? It sure was great seeing these guys again 🙂
CW3 Williams and CSM Niles in Tikrit, Iraq.CW4 Hobden, CW3 Williams, and CW2 Henke in Kuwait. Henke used to live in the Ft Hood area but recently moved to Pennsylvania so I didn’t get to see him this time 🙁The Warrant Officers of 601st Support Battalion, 1st Infantry Division in Kuwait staging area during OIF II. (L to R) CW4 Hobden: Direct Support Automotive Maintenance Tech, CW2 Henke: Battalion Motor Officer, and CW3 Williams: Communications & Electronics Tech.
It was great seeing another old “battle buddy” and catching up. “Life is Good” on the William’s ranch… and what a cool ranch it is with lots of cows, chickens, goats, etc., I hope we get the chance to visit again soon 🙂 BTW – for those “civilians” out there reading this blog – the term “battle buddy” isn’t just a term I made up… it’s a real thing. Check out the Wikipedia® link (here).
Well, that’s it for now… my next post will bring you up to date on our overnight stop in Shreveport, LA and then Vicksburg, MS. We’re still on our way to visit our youngest daughter in Bowling Green, KY. Stay tuned…
Yeah!! The Verizon MiFi Jetpack is working now. We’re in Stephensville, TX now after spending 5 nights at the West Fort Hood RV Park & Travel Camp. Maybe the Jetpack just didn’t like Ft Hood, or maybe there’s some sort of jamming going on in the area. The Travel Camp is located pretty close to Robert Gray Army Airfield. Hmmm!?
Anyway, let me bring you up to date on our Fort Hood visit (1-5 July): Here’s our spot at the Travel Camp (below). Full hookups, 50 amp power, and paved level sites… all for $14 per night.
The main reason we drove to Fort Hood is because I have some old Army acquaintances that have since retired near the Army post that I wanted to see. The first old Army buddy that I got to catch up with is Guy Niles. He was the Command Sergeant Major for the 601st Support Battalion when I was the Direct Support Maintenance Technician during the 2003-2005 time period. We were stationed in Katterbach, GE together and survived numerous field exercises, tank gunneries, and deployments together.
CW4 (Ret) David Hobden and CSM (Ret) Guy Niles.Two old soldiers comparing pony tails.
Here’s a couple old pics (below) that I dug up of myself and the CSM:
CSM Guy Niles and myself in Tikrit, Iraq. (2004)
Guy and I were also members of Stillas’ brother’s Harley Owners Group (HOG) Chapter from his motorcycle shop back in Germany (Rothsee Harley Davidson). Here we are (below) posing with our vests for a picture in front of a Saddam Hussein mural that was left standing on the Iraqi airbase (Camp Speicher) where we lived during our year-long tour in Iraq. We got to go on some great motorcycle trips together while we were stationed in Germany. I miss those days.
CSM Niles and CW4 Hobden, Camp Speicher, Tikrit, Iraq. (2004)
It was really great catching up with Guy and his wife Ellen. Thanks for the burgers and dogs, Guy & Ellen! Hope to see you again soon 🙂
When we weren’t visiting with old friends, Stilla and I also toured the post a time or two to see if anything still looked familiar from our time stationed here in (I think) late 1990 and/or early 1991. I was assigned to 1-4 Attack Battalion, 4th ID out of Ft Carson but deployed to Ft Hood for 6 months because the unit was getting its new Apache helicopters and had to go through training. I was the Battalion Motor Officer as a brand new Warrant Officer (W01) at the time. Ft Hood sure has changed a lot over the years, not much was familiar anymore… just a couple water towers.
After touring Fort Hood and the museums we also browsed the Main PX and a couple other facilities on post. Then we drove through the adjacent town of Killeen and spotted our old apartment building (below). We also drove by the elementary school where our oldest daughter first started school.
Next, I got to meet up with my old friend and mentor Gary Blackburn. Unfortunately (for us) his wife Bettina was on vacation back in Germany. Gary was the first NCO I had as a young private when I got stationed to the 1-1 Cav, 1st AD (Schwabach, GE) back in 1981. He took me under his wing, taught me a lot, and got me started off on my Army career. We kept in touch over the years as both Gary and I became Warrant Officers before retiring from the Army. Gary retired way before I did of course. We met up again during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and were both stationed north of Iraq on the Turkish border when the war kicked off. Gary was a civilian working for the government and I was in the 601st Aviation Support Battalion, 1st ID.
CW4 (Ret) David Hobden and CW3 (Ret) Gary Blackburn.
Here’s an old picture I found of Gary and myself at Incirlik Airbase in Turkey during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Take care ol’ buddy, it was sure nice catching up. Thanks for the brats and bier! Til’ next time 🙂
The next old army acquaintance I had the pleasure to catch up with was Mark Rademacher (below). Mark and I were stationed together in Schweinfurt, GE during the late ’90s and early 2000’s. I was the Direct Support Maintenance Technician for the 299th Forward Support Battalion, 1st ID and Mark was the Armament Technician.
CW4 (Ret) David Hobden and CW4 (Ret) Mark Rademacher
Mark, his wife Rosie, and all their kids just happened to be visiting the Fort Hood area when we got together. What are the odds, eh? He lives in Germany and was traveling with his family. He was getting one of his kids set up at Texas A&M University while they were here, which explains the matching t-shirts in the picture below.
Mark & Rosie Rademacher with family in front of the Urban Escape Vehicle.
Mark and I deployed together to Kosovo in 1999. We were part of the NATO multi-national peacekeeping forces and basically established Camp Bondsteel. We lived in tents for many months while the huge base was being built and we established support operations for the Ist Infantry Division supporting the peacekeeping efforts. Here’s some more old pics that I dug up:
Officers of B Company, 299th Forward Support Battalion, 1st Inf. Div. at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo. Mark is on the far right and I’m second from the left in this photo.Mark in our tent at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.
Although our visit with Mark, Rosie, and family was short, it was sure great to reminisce and reconnect. Hope to see you guys again soon.. maybe next time we visit Germany 🙂
And now, lets see… a couple of other things we did while here at Ft Hood was a dinner at Rudy’s BBQ™, we did a little shopping at an Aldi™, hit a local German Bakery, and stopped at the local Harley Dealer just to check it out. On the evening of the 4th of July, Stilla and I just stayed home at the park and enjoyed an evening together. We could see fireworks from the windows of the Coach. I also got some hydraulic fluid at a local O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store to replenish the HWH leveling system. Unfortunately, I found out later that I had overfilled the reservoir because when we raised the jacks and put in the slides on Wednesday the 6th to leave, I had a big puddle on the ground again. At first, I thought the plug I tightened earlier (mentioned in my previous blog post) was leaking again, but upon inspection, it was clear the oil was coming out of the vented reservoir cap. Oh well, live and learn, right?
Anyway… that’s it for now. I’ll post again soon about our rather uneventful drive to Stephenville, TX (route map below) where we are as I write this post. We plan on visiting another old Army buddy of mine that lives here in the area, and maybe visit an old childhood hometown of mine (Eastland, TX) where I spent a year or two in elementary school. Stay tuned…
Our Verizon MiFi Jetpack has been giving me trouble connecting to the laptop. Still not sure what the problem is… I assumed during our overnight stop in Junction, TX that it was just a coverage issue, but the problem continues here in Fort Hood. I called Verizon support and the tech had me remove the battery to access the SIM card which I cleaned and re-inserted. Voila… it worked, at least for a little while, but once I shut it down and tried it later the problem was back. I’m beginning to think it’s the laptop WiFi that is the issue. I would normally use a workaround and turn our AT&T iPhone hotspot on, but it’s painfully slow here at the Fort Hood RV park. Anyway, after numerous restarts and troubleshooting attempts, I’m somehow miraculously back online for the moment, so I thought I’d update the blog a little bit and at least cover our overnight stay in Junction, TX on our way to Fort Hood, where we are now. I’ll cover our stay at Fort Hood in my next post (internet connectivity permitting) 🙂
We left the Oasis RV Park in Van Horn, TX on the morning of the 30th and ended up in Junction, TX by evening after a long 320 mile drive. We stayed on I-10 even though our Garmin RV GPS and google maps kept trying to make us take other roads (north of I-10) because I had plugged in Fort Hood as our end destination. The routing software wanted us to take a more direct route but our research showed very few RV park options on the northerly routes so we stuck to the main highway.
Travel route from Van Horn to Junction, TX.
We used one of our campground apps, in this case AllStays® and found Schreiner Park. This city park ended up being a beautiful boondocking location and best of all, it was free 🙂
We pulled into a wide open area next to the basketball courts. The city pool is just behind us and across the road in the picture below.
We could have parked right next to the river but there was lots of activity and a good number of locals wandering around from the nearby tent sites. We decided on a little more privacy and stayed where we first pulled in.
We had a nice enjoyable evening walking around the park and next to the river.
From the top of the dam we could look down and see a snake trying to swallow a dead fish. We watched the snake for a long while as it went from one end of the fish to the other in its attempt. We’ll never know if it was successful because we finally got bored and went back to the Coach for the evening.
In Urban Escape Vehicle news… we noticed some oil (hydraulic fluid) on the ground behind the front right tire just below where the HWH hydraulic-leveling and slide-out system resides.
I narrowed down the leak to the hydraulic manifold that is hidden behind the circuit board enclosure (below).
I had Stilla operate the jacks and found that one of the brass plugs on top of the manifold (lower right corner of the picture below) was squirting out hydraulic fluid as the system was operating. It would only leak when operating a slideout or while the jacks were going down. After determining where the leak was coming from, I was able to get a socket on the plug and tighten it down but I had to wait until we got to Fort Hood in order to purchase and replenish the lost fluid.
I’ve been told this brass plug has an o-ring that probably went bad. I’ll have to replace it eventually, but for now the leak is stopped.
On the 1st of July, we continued on to Fort Hood and ended up at the West Fort Hood RV Park and Travel Camp. We paid for 5 nights at a very reasonable $14 per day.
Travel route from Junction, TX to Fort Hood.
Check back for a new update on our Fort Hood stay over the 4th of July weekend. I got to link up with a number of old Army buddies that are in the area and we visited a couple museums… I’ll post again soon as long as the WiFi connection is still working 🙂
We had an uneventful drive from Las Cruces, NM to Van Horn, TX. A 167 mile travel day.
Just after El Paso, TX we stopped to fuel up at a Flying J (81 gallons for $185). Wow… just realized the last time we put fuel in the Urban Escape Vehicle was at the end of April on our way back from CA to AZ.
We found the Oasis RV Park & Apartments on our Passport America App. We were able to pull into one of their “pull-thru” sites without disconnecting the Silverado. Can’t beat $11 for the night.
Heading on towards Killeen today (Thursday)… check back to see how far we make it. Hopefully, all the 4th of July “weekenders” don’t take up all the RV spots along the way.
After a restful evening at the Saguaro SKP park in Benson, AZ we packed up Tuesday morning and slowly continued east on I-10 for ~230 miles to the Elks Lodge in Las Cruces, NM.
Once again we drove through a brief rain shower… just enough to get the Coach and Silverado dirty 🙁
Elks Lodge 1119 in Las Cruces, NM.
The Elks Lodge 1119 (←link) has three RV spots located on the side of the building. We went inside and paid $15 for the night.
All by ourselves at the Las Cruces Elks Lodge RV parking sites.
We got in touch with old friends John & Eva who live in Las Cruces, NM. We have stayed in contact since the early ’90s when we were in Colorado Springs stationed at Fort Carson. John and I also deployed to Fort Hood, TX together for ~6 months.
(L to R) Self, Stilla, Eva & John at LaPosta-de-Mesilla restaurant..
John & Eva drove over to the Elks Lodge to meet us and go out for dinner. Although it was Taco Tuesday at the Elks Lodge, we opted to go elsewhere to dine and catch up. We couldn’t help but notice when we first checked in that the lodge still allows smoking which isn’t something we would enjoy with our meal.
We ended up at historic LaPosta de Mesilla (←link). This was our second time at this very nice restaurant. We dined together here a couple years ago when we passed through Las Cruces and visited John & Eva. The history of this famous Mexican restaurant is long and colorful. For more than a century and a half, these adobe walls have withstood the attack of elements and man, sheltering such personalities as Billy the Kid, Kit Carson, General Douglas MacArthur and Pancho Villa. A roaring Wild West town during the late 1800’s, Mesilla was the largest town in the Southwest between San Diego, California and San Antonio, Texas. During this period, La Posta served as the Corn Exchange Hotel, a favorite stop on the Butterfield Stagecoach Line. Read more of the LaPosta de Mesilla story at the restaurants website.
Entrance to the LaPosta de Mesilla restaurant.Inside colorful LaPosta de Mesilla restaurant.
Bird cages and aquariums greet visitors in the lobby at the restaurant.
Still and Eva browsed the gift shop after our meal. Luckily we made it out of the restaurant with just the price of the meal 🙂
After a great meal ( I recommend the combination plate #1) that we washed down with a couple tasty margarita’s we went over to John & Eva’s beautiful home here in Las Cruces. We continued to catch up on each other’s ‘going-ons’ and reminisced about old times. John was one of the first (of many) great NCO’s that I had the pleasure of working with during my 26 year Army career. I had just finished the Warrant Officer Candidate Course and was a WO1 when I first met John. It’s no secret that any successful Army officer’s career is predicated on the fine NCO’s that he/she learns from and is supported by. I learned early on to try and surround myself with good and capable NCO’s. John was one of the first (and best) that supported my Warrant Officer career. I am honored and humbled to still be able to call him my friend after all these years.
We also got a “treat” while visiting John & Eva’s house… John showed off his beautifully restored ’71 Chevelle to us. Nice job John! Here’s a car show flyer (below) that he made for an upcoming show. His car is pictured on the top left.
John & Eva dropped us back off at the Elks Lodge where we stretched out our farewells. Thanks for the hospitality John & Eva! See you next time we come through the area.
This morning (Wednesday) we’re going to press on (slowly) towards our youngest daughter’s house in Bowling Green, KY. Maybe we can swing by the Fort Hood, TX area and meet up with some more old Army friends. That would be nice. Stay tuned to see if it works out.
Around mid-day on Monday, we said our goodbyes to my mom, stepdad Jim, brother Steve & Cheryl and headed south on I-10 towards Tucson after hooking up the Silverado. For those of you wondering about our little dog “Coach”… well, we also said goodbye to him since mom stole (er, I mean adopted) him. He’s quite happy in the air conditioning at the “dirt farm” and really likes all his chicken “friends” 🙂
After traveling about 120 miles, we decided to stay overnight at the Escapees Park in Benson, AZ. We paid $22.31 for one night with full hookups. Electricity is metered and ended up costing us an additional $4.21 at checkout. We’ve stayed at the SKP Saguaro Co-op before back in April 2015. Click HERE for that posting. This is a nice jumping off spot for anyone wanting to visit Kartchner Caverns, Tombstone, or Bisbee AZ. Click on the active links to check out my previous posts on those local attractions.
Our site at the Escapee (SKP) Saguaro Co-op Park in Benson, AZ.
Not a whole lot has changed here since our week-long stay last year. Although, we did notice a new covered pavilion had been built inside the cactus garden on the west side of the park and also a pretty cool looking water fountain outside the community building (below).
We had a nice evening stroll around the park under slightly overcast skies. It’s definitely much cooler here than back at Casa Grande where we’ve had a week of scorching hot temperatures. As a matter of fact we even drove through a brief micro-burst rain storm just after Tucson… the first rain we’ve seen in months. Just enough rain to get the Urban Escape Vehicle all dirty 🙁
We made plans to visit an old Army buddy in Las Cruces, NM tomorrow. So check back for a new travel update coming soon…
I know, I know… this is a long overdue blog post, but there just hasn’t been much to write about since we’re parked in one spot for so long. Let me bring you up to date on a few of our activities this past month:
After we got our daughter and grandson settled in their new RV park in Tempe, we moved down to my Mom, Stepdad, brother Steve & Cheryl’s place in Casa Grande. You can’t beat the monthly “moochdocking” rate here, especially with 50 amp hookups. Thanks Ma, Jimmy, Steve & Cheryl! We’ve been here since the beginning of June and have just been hanging out. I took care of a couple medical appointments with the VA here and we watched our grandson for a while during his summer break from school. Otherwise, we just stayed out of the heat as much as possible and helped out around the house a little.
We might have to rethink our nickname “dirt farm” for the homestead here since my mom has gotten even more chickens; over two dozen now. I’m thinking “chicken farm” would be more appropriate… what do you think?
Pic of Mom’s latest baby chicks before joining the general chicken population.
Just before we moved from our RV park in Glendale to the Casa Grande “dirt farm”, we enjoyed the hospitality of my mom’s sister who lives north of Phoenix in Sun City Grand.
Grandson Kaan is a good golf cart driver.Awesome meal courtesy of Aunt Kathy.
Aunt Kathy showed us her latest upgrade to the house. She had the entire wall remodeled with shelves and brickwork where there used to be a wooden wall unit/entertainment center. Looks nice Auntie!
Aunt Kathy often watches dogs (dog-sitting) for friends and neighbors. She had three that we took out for a walk once the sun started going down and it cooled off a bit.
Aunt Kathy, Kaan, Jenny, Stilla in Sun City Grand.
Around the 11th of June, we went out to Macayo’s for my stepdad’s 70th birthday. Happy birthday Jimmy!
(L to R) Stilla, grandson Kaan, brother Steve & Cheryl.
Jim got a rather appropriate gift (below) that alludes to mom’s chicken farm venture.
Jim & Mom. Happy 70th Jimmy!
I also used the time parked in Casa Grande to take care of a few more little projects. One was to beef up the drawer slide supports under the rear closet.
The metal drawer slides have plastic mounts that screw to the back wall boards. Over time these plastic pieces start cracking and break from the large amount of weight we pile into the drawers. I’ve replaced a couple of these supports before but this time I decided to ‘beef’ them up to keep this from happening in the future.
It was nice to have access to all the power tools and wood scraps here at the “dirt farm”. I cut some wood strips to just the right size to support the mounting bracket(s). I cut one to support the plastic piece that screws to the back wall and another to support the plastic channel that the metal slide rides in. These are rock solid now and will probably outlast the coach.
Another project was to do something about the middle clothes rod support in our closet. The original middle support was kind of wimpy and was only attached to the ceiling. It was coming loose from all the weight of our full-timing clothes and my temporary fix was to put a ratcheting cargo bar in place between the floor and the bar. I decided to replace my temporary ‘fix’ with a 4′ board and use the floor for support since my cargo bar was kind of tacky 🙂 I can safely assume this is a common issue in Alpine coaches with the rear closet because I saw a similar fix in another Alpine or maybe it was a factory fix that was done on coaches after my model year. So I just copied what I remembered seeing and found an appropriate wood plank at Home Depot™ that I cut, stained, and drilled to fit.
I forgot to take a picture of the original support, but it was just a 6″ piece of wood with a hole drilled in it for the bar and it was sandwiched between the small strips of wood (at the top of the picture below) that were screwed into the ceiling.
This clothes bar will hold some serious weight now. Time to go buy more clothes 🙂
Before we left Casa Grande we took a trip back up to Tempe and replaced the tires on Jenny’s travel trailer so it’s safe to move should the need arise while we’re gone. I cleaned and stored the Harley because we decided to take the ATV (quad) with us in the back of the pickup for the next phase of our travels. See ya later Harley.
Anyway, it’s been great hanging out with family but it’s time to hit the road again. Our youngest daughter Joleen recently moved from Colorado Springs, CO to Bowling Green, KY with her fiancé. They just got a house and have been talking about needing some help renovating. Hopefully she’ll have 50 amp hookups installed by the time we arrive… but we’re not in too much of a hurry. We’ll take the leisurely route to get there and hopefully get to see some old friends and new sites.
As promised, here’s part 2 to finish off my last post that details some of the day trips we’ve taken while parked here in Glendale, AZ at the Triple “T” RV & Mobile Home Park.
So, to continue where I left off… Yet another day-trip we recently took (just Stilla & I) – was over to Carefree, and Cave Creek, AZ. These two towns are situated right next to each other northeast of Phoenix in the foothills of Black Mountain, Skull Mesa and Elephant Butte. We heard that the town of Carefree was having a sand and stone exhibit at the Carefree Desert Gardens.
We expected a dedicated desert garden with its own parking lot and entrance fees like we’ve seen in Tucson and other places, but found that the Carefree Desert Gardens are really just part of the town-center. There’s no entrance fee and it is surrounded by numerous businesses, cafe’s, and restaurants… even a post office.
Carefree Desert Gardens sign and water feature..
The Carefree Desert Gardens sign serves double-duty as a water feature and fountain:
Carefree Desert Garden sign/fountain.Carefree Desert Garden sign/fountain.Carefree Desert Garden sign/fountain.Carefree Desert Gardens walking tour map courtesy of the carefree.org website.
In the Desert Garden Center pavilion, we found one of the sand sculptures currently under construction. Read up on the artist Ray Villafane by clicking HERE.
“Elephant playing chess with a field mouse” sand sculpture by Ray Villafane and Sue Beatrice.Informational placard on the sand sculptures and artist.What awesome detail on this work-in-progress.
The artist had a completed sand sculpture located in a different section of the Carefree Desert Gardens (below).
We were amazed at the patience and perseverance that Ray must have to get these rocks to balance (below).
Balanced rock sculpture by Ray Villafane. If the wind picks up, Ray has to start all over again.
No wires, glue or anything other than gravity… amazing!
We wandered around the gardens and took a few photos. Follow along:
I read that only 1 out of 20,000 Saguaros have this fanlike or lumpy top, called a crested saguaro. (above & below).
After we had our fill of the desert gardens, we walked through several of the adjacent shops at the Carefree town center and browsed around. Then we took the short drive over to the town of Cave Creek and had a nice lunch at the Horny Toad restaurant. Their website says this about the place: “The Horny Toad restaurant is the oldest, original restaurant in Cave Creek, Arizona and has been the location for many “Old West” movies and photo shoots. Enjoy the beauty of the Sonoran desert as you dine from the expanded patio or experience the multiple interior dining rooms and Saloon.” Our fellow Alpine friends Noel & Carol Peck and Jack & Linda Giddens told us about this interesting and unique place. The fried chicken & rib lunch special was awesome 🙂
Cave Creek reminded me of Sturgis SD with several biker saloons and motorcycle related venues throughout town. It’s a popular riding destination for locals and even not-so-locals. We even stopped to check out the local Harley dealership, Buddy Stubbs Harley-Davidson®.
Local rock formation feature between Carefree and Cave Creek. Appropriately named at RoadTrippers.com
While driving around Cave Creek we stopped at the Town Dump “one of the world’s most unusual stores” as their sign above the entrance claims. Anyone who has driven through Cave Creek, probably noticed the large assortment of garden ornaments, sculptures, pottery, rustic antiques, etc., situated in the large open-air shop and courtyards alongside main street.
I tested out a rather unique bar stool at “The Town Dump”, Cave Creek AZ.
Regarding the town of Cave Creek: I pulled the following description from the Cave Creek Visitors Guide website: “The numerous saloons in Cave Creek thrive on activity as establishments such as Harold’s and the Buffalo Chip, and offer almost nightly events from live bands, poker tournaments, trivia, and charity casino events – all with a wild western flair and small town hospitality. The crowds are diverse with visitors and residents alike enjoying all that is unique in Cave Creek. Other notable eateries in Cave Creek include Rancho Manana’s Tonto Bar and Grill which is part of the well known Rancho Manana Golf Club and Resort. Tonto is located in an original building from the 1940’s Rancho Manana Dude Ranch. During much of the year, the large, partially covered patio is nearly always full during lunch and dinner as the views are as good as the food. The owner’s of Tonto also operate the highly rated Cartwrights on Saguaro Hill located just a mile or so down Cave Creek Road. The Horny Toad Restaurant has some of the country’s best fried Chicken while the nearby Indian Village boasts some of the worlds best tacos although El Encanto Mexican Restaurant are mighty delicious as well and offer a unique patio surrounding a small pond with lots of ducks and turtles. The Cave Creek Smokehouse is popular as well located in Frontier Town as well as nearby Big Earls Greasy Eats.
On the way back home to our RV & Mobile Home Park in Glendale, I just had to stop at Desert Valley Auto Parts (DVAP) located in Deer Valley north of Phoenix. Some of my readers may recognize the name from the reality TV show “Desert Car Kings” which aired on the Discovery Channel® in 2011. I think it only ran for one season but reruns are currently shown on the Velocity Channel®.
Per my bloggers’ friend Wikipedia.com® and the DVAP website: “Desert Valley Auto Parts is the legendary treasure trove of classic cars (and parts) from the 1940′s, 50′s, 60′s, 70′s and a few 80′s thrown in the mix for good measure. Over 10,000 classic cars located on 100 acres of dry Arizona land.” Don’t forget to check out the YouTube® video on the DVAP homepage.
The Desert Valley Auto Parts office building.
We walked into the DVAP office and talked to one of the friendly guys behind the counter. They normally charge $2 to tour the yard. He told us that people come to visit from all over the world due to the publicity from the TV reality show. He just asked us to sign-in and let us roam the yard at our leisure with no charge. Pretty cool! Although, I don’t think Stilla was as impressed as I was 🙂
Here’s a ’57 Chevy waiting for someone to restore. It needs just a little work 🙂 (below).
It was almost painful (to me) to see a ’57 Chevy in this condition.
Some of you readers may remember our ’57 Chevy 2dr Bel-Air that we sold before we started full-timing (below). I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to add an old picture here. I kind of miss her 🙁
Old photo (circa 2012) of our mostly-original ’57 Chevy Bel-Air 2dr hdtp at the GoodGuys Car Show in Loveland, CO.
Rows and rows of classic cars… my idea of a fun time 🙂
There was some activity going on in the yard (see crane in action below) and what I think was a hollywood movie-set trailer. The nice guy we talked to at the office shared with us that DVAP was going to be the location of some scenes for a popular movie sequel (to remain unnamed at this time) in case of liability.
Back at the Triple “T” RV & Mobile Home Park we finally got to enjoy the pool which has been closed for repairs since we got here.
Kaan & I enjoying some cool-down time at the RV park pool.
And finally, one last day-trip update: Just the other day we stopped by Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza while we were out driving around. We’ve been doing a little geocaching with our grandson Kaan lately and ended up driving around downtown Phoenix.
Korean War Memorial at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza.David & Stilla in front of the Korean War memorial at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza.
Much like the National Mall on which it is loosely based, the Legislative Governmental Mall aka Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza is intended as an open-air public space featuring monuments, memorials and gardens. Some of these monuments were erected prior to the inception of the Plaza, such as the monument to the USS Arizona which was dedicated over a year earlier on December 7, 1976. The Plaza, when dedicated, included these existing memorials and all subsequent memorials have been located within the boundaries of the plaza. Ref. Wikipedia®
Again, I referenced wikipedia® for a good description: The plaza is home to 30 memorials dedicated to topics including important individuals, organizations, and events. Among the more prominent are the mast and anchor of the USS Arizona, memorials to major wars such as WWI, WWII, the Vietnam War, the Korean War and Desert Storm, and America’s first monument of the Bill of Rights.
Jenny, Kaan, and Stilla at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza in downtown Phoenix.Arizona’s WWII Memorial placard for the USS Arizona which was sunk by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.USS Missouri informational placard. Site of the Japanese surrender on Sept 2, 1945.USS Arizona informational placard.USS Arizona signal mast and memorial.
Here’s more photos we took of some of the fine memorials in this awesome and thought-provoking memorial plaza: A must-see if you’re in downtown Phoenix!
USS Arizona anchor memorial.Jenny & Kaan in front of the Wesley Bolin memorial.Vietnam Veterans Memorial.WWII and Combat Veterans memorials.Tribute memorial to the WWII Code Talkers.Enduring Freedom memorial.Arizona Peace Officers Memorial.
And that’s all for now folks! We reserved a site for Jenny’s trailer at an RV park in Tempe beginning on the 27th of May. She’ll be closer to her job there. I’ll move her over there at that time and we’ll probably relocate the Urban Escape Vehicle back down to the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande for a quick visit. We can’t beat the moochdocking rates there 🙂 We’re thinking of taking Kaan along with us again for some of his summer break… check back soon to see what we get into and/or where we end up 🙂
I’m finding it hard to keep the travel journal (blog) updated when we’re sitting in one spot for so long. There’s just not much going on here at the Triple “T” RV & Mobile Home Park where we’ve been parked since returning from Newport Dunes, CA. We paid the pretty reasonable monthly rate of $417 (+ electric fees TBD) and have been basically just sitting here helping out our daughter Jennifer and grandson Kaan while they slowly get settled here in Phoenix. Jenny goes to work pretty much every day while Kaan attends school (3rd grade) at a public charter.
One highlight of our stay here was moving sites. We moved from our original site, that was slightly behind Jenny & Kaan’s travel trailer, to a newly-vacated spot right next to them. The Urban Escape Vehicle was facing southwest, and now we’re facing northeast which is a little easier on the electronics in the front cap due to the intense Arizona sun. At least, I think it’s easier on the electronics e.g., DVR Receiver, Blu-Ray® player surround-sound system, Satellite Dish controller, etc., because now we only have the morning sun shining on the front of the coach as opposed to the intense mid-day and all afternoon/evening sun. The front windshield sure generates a lot of heat from the sun in a “green-house effect” kind of way and the air conditioners have been getting quite a workout while the recent daytime-high temps here reach 100°. We did purchase a roll of the silver reflective insulating material from a local RV store that we put on the inside of the windshield along with our existing sunscreen material… it certainly seems to help. I’ve been thinking of getting the sunscreen material that goes on the outside of the windshield, but to do that – I have to have it professionally fitted and fasteners have to be installed. Maybe I’ll check into that at the next large rally we attend where there’s lots of vendors. The see-thru sunshade material we currently have is two-piece and uses suction cups to hold to the inside of the windshield.
The Urban Escape Vehicle parked next to Jenny & Kaan’s travel trailer at Triple-T RV & Mobile Home Park in Glendale, AZ.
On one or two of the rare “not-so-sunny” days, I’ve been able to get a few general maintenance items accomplished; I’ve washed the vehicles, gotten the propane tanks filled, replaced the plastic motion-sensor windows on our outside “scare” lights and even installed new LED marker lights in the rear spoiler that finally arrived from etrailer.com.
Rear of Jenny’s trailer with the UEV parked next door in the background.Installing new LED marker lights in the rear spoiler on the UEV.
Of course, no job is ever easy (at least for me)… the LED lights required some work to get installed into the rear spoiler. I had to enlarge the center hole for each marker light on the spoiler because the new lights had a larger diameter center section where the bulb sits and the wires come out the back. I used a small grinder bit attached to a drill to make each hole large enough to mount the new lights. The new lights look good and nicely complement the recently re-fastened spoiler that I wrote about HERE.
We have also done a few day-trips while parked here in Glendale. We can’t always sit around the RV park, right? One day, we drove down to the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande to visit my mom, stepdad, brother Steve & Cheryl. Our little dog “Coach” is doing just fine since mom stole, (I mean adopted), him 🙂
Fur-less Coach.
His fur is growing back after the buzz cut mom gave him a while ago.
Coach’s favorite squeaky toy is still squeaking away after several years.
Mom showed off her new brood of chicks. If she keeps this up, we’ll have to rename the place to “chicken farm” 🙂 Right Ma?
Ma with one of her new chickens.
On another weekday outing, we drove over to nearby Westgate Entertainment District for the weekly Bike Nightheld every Thursday. You may recall that we attended a car show here a little while back that I think I posted on Facebook. The Westgate Entertainment District is a pretty cool place to hang out with lots of good restaurants. And who doesn’t like a car or motorcycle show…
There were lots of nice rides to check out.
Of course, we had to check out the Indian® Motorcycle stand to see the latest. Stilla’s brother Ludwig in Germany is now an official Indian® dealer (←link here) since the beginning of this year and although I’m a Harley guy, It’s fun to keep track of the competition.
This dog with goggles got a lot of attention.
On yet another day-trip, Stilla & I drove the Silverado over to White Tank Mountain Regional Park. I heard they had a campground here that I wanted to check out for future reference.
The freestanding, deeply serrated, 4000-foot-high White Tank Mountains separate the Phoenix Basin of the Salt River Valley from the Hassayampa Plain. Floodwaters have scoured out a series of depressions, or “tanks,” in the white granite rock, thus the name of the mountains.
White Tank Mountain Visitor Center.
We stopped at the Visitor Center located just outside the entrance gate. The Nature Center seemed to double as a library and also had several desert creatures; snakes, tarantulas, scorpions, etc., on display in terrariums. There was also an alleged desert turtle in an outside enclosure, but it must have been out on a hike because we couldn’t find it. After paying our $6 entrance fee, we drove into the park and found the campground.
There were only a few rigs parked at the campground. I think everyone with any good sense has already headed north to cooler weather.
Family campground loop at White Tank Mountain Regional Park.
According to a flyer I picked up at the Visitors Center, the campground boasts 40 campsites with tables, grills, fire ring, water, and 30 and 50 amp hookups. Restrooms and showers are onsite with a Dump station located nearby. Click HERE for campsite rates and information.
Family campground loop at White Tank Mountain Regional Park.The camp host had a covered site to park his rig under.
We did a quick drive-thru of the campground loop and took some pics (above). Then we exited the campground and drove around the regional park to check out the scenery. Many of the Saguaro cacti are about to bloom…
The park has a huge number of picnic areas and parking areas at the various trailheads. Click HERE for loop drive and trail map. We stopped briefly at a few of them to check things out but decided it was too hot for hiking.
I thought I’d call this one “mustache cactus”.The park even has a covered playground.Typical day-use picnic area at White Tank Mountain Regional Park.Typical trailhead sign (one of many) at White Tank Mountain Regional Park.Multiple long straight arms on this Saguaro.
We finished our drive and passed the Nature Center/Library again on our way back out of the park (below).
Back-side view of the Nature Center/Library.
One weekend outing found us heading over to Saguaro Lake located 41 miles northeast of downtown Phoenix. The reservoir was created by the construction of Stewart Mountain Dam. Saguaro del Norte Recreation site is near the dam and includes the Saguaro Lake Marina (which includes a restaurant and boat concession), a Maricopa County Sheriff’s aid station, picnic tables, restrooms and boat ramps. Butcher Jones Beach, which can be reached by a road a few miles north of Saguaro del Norte, features swimming, picnic and restroom facilities.
The drive across Phoenix from the west to east was (as usual) laden with heavy traffic, but once you get on the N Usery Pass Rd and then N Bush Hwy the scenery is awesome.
Highway to Saguaro Lake from Phoenix.Highway between Phoenix and Saguaro Lake.
Saguaro Lake is within Tonto National Forest and as such had a day-use fee. However, while we were checking out the signs at the entrance guard shack that was unmanned, a park ranger drove up next to us. He told us I could display my lifetime disabled veteran national park pass on the dash. We checked out the marina area after finally finding a parking spot at this (clearly) popular weekend destination.
One of the fishing docks at Saguaro Lake near the marina.Stilla, Jenny, and Kaan checking out one of the docks at Saguaro Lake.
Since there was only limited beach access near the marina, we drove a few miles north on N Bush Hwy to E Butcher Jones Beach Rd. We saw the signs for a swimming/recreation area on the northeast corner of the lake.
As you can see from the pictures (below), the beach was certainly crowded on this weekend.
View of Saguaro Lake at Butcher Jones Recreation area.Jenny and Kaan on the beach (Saguaro Lake, Butcher Jones Recreation Area).Stilla and I hanging at the beach in the shade (Saguaro Lake, Butcher Jones Beach).View from parking area towards Butcher Jones Beach.
In addition to lots of people, there were also a lot of wild horses in-and-around the beach and parking lot area.
I found a local news article on the wild horses. Environmentalists say the Salt RIver horses are destroying habitat, (link HERE). We thought it was pretty cool to see so many wild horses up close and took a few pictures (below).
Wild horses at Butcher Jones Recreation Area, Saguaro Lake.Wild horses at Butcher Jones Recreation Area, Saguaro Lake.Wild horses at Butcher Jones Recreation Area, Saguaro Lake.Wild horses at Butcher Jones Recreation Area, Saguaro Lake.
After hanging at the beach most of the day, we headed back towards Phoenix while stopping at some the other recreation area pullouts that we had passed earlier along the way to the lake. Most of these areas provide access to the Salt River. One of the areas had a big business booming by renting inner tubes to float down the Salt River. (link HERE). At Phon D Sutton we checked out the meager camping opportunities – basically dry camping in a parking lot. Don’t think we’ll come back here with the Urban Escape Vehicle. At one of the parking areas, we caught this picture of a roadrunner (below).
Roadrunner: (Geococcyx californianus) per wikipedia®
And at another parking area that provided beach access to the Salt River… I was walking along the pathway when I heard a rattlesnake rattle. Startled, I jumped to the side away from the noise and then saw the source (below). Good thing this thing rattled to warn me, I was about to walk right next to him!
Rattlesnake that I almost walked into along the Salt River.
And we had to photograph another cool cactus (below).
Multi-arm saguaro cactus near the Salt River.
And now – since I see this post is getting rather large… I’ll close for now and post a “Phoenix Day-Trips [part 2]” to bring you up to date on a few of the other outings that we’ve done recently. Check back…
Stilla at a park in Glendale.
BTW – We passed our 2nd year Anniversary of Full-timing in the Urban Escape Vehicle on May 2nd… Happy Anniversary to us!
OK… time for an update 🙂 I’ve been getting lazy on the updates and need to catch you up since we’re now back in Phoenix again. Where does the time go? Here’s what we’ve been up to…
As mentioned in my last posting, we stayed at the Newport Dunes Resort & Marina in Newport Beach, CA a few more days after the Alpine Coach Rally was officially over on Monday the 25th. We ended up staying there until Friday the 29th.
On the last official rally day (Monday), while most of our rally friends headed out of the park… we decided to visit Disneyland’s California Adventure Park® (DCA). DCA is the newest Disney park located right next to the original Disneyland®. We also visited Disneyland® a couple days later on Wednesday but I’ll save all the Disney pictures for the end of today’s blog.
When we got back from DCA late in the evening on Monday we found (as expected) that about half of our Alpine friends had left the park 🙁 On Tuesday, we spent the day hanging around at the RV park and packed our stuff away in preparation for moving. We deflated and cleaned the inflatable raft, loaded the Harley onto the back of the Silverado, cleaned and put away all our chairs, mats, etc.,
Kaan and I washed and deflated the Sea Eagle raft for storage.Kaan playing on the beach at the RV Resort & Marina beach.
There were still 8 to 10 Alpines (out of 20) in our row with most of the remaining folks planning to leave on Wednesday, so we still got the chance to mingle throughout the day on Tuesday.
Alpiner’s enjoy discussions in the street 🙂
We said goodbye to a couple folks that left on Tuesday.
Alpiners’ waving goodbye to one of our SoCal members as they left the rally on Tuesday.
And then the remaining Alpiners’ had an impromptu evening get-together at Frank Krauland’s Coach. Frank fired up his grill and barbecued some awesome chicken while other’s pitched in with a few side dishes. Thanks for the food and ambiance Frank!
Our last get-together at Newport Dunes RV Resort & Marina.Stilla and Frank.
It was another fun and successful Alpine SoCal rally… can’t wait for the next one! We said our ‘see-ya-laters’ to the remaining Alpine SoCal members before we went to bed because we planned another trip to the Disney parks on Wednesday and wanted to get an early start. This time we visited the original Disneyland®.
Now here’s some pictures of our visit(s) to the Disney theme parks from both of our trips. Some of my Facebook™ friends may have seen a few of these pics already when I posted online. The first ones’ (below) are from Disneyland’s California Adventure® park (DCA) that we went to on Monday:
Disneyland’s California Adventure Park.Radiator Springs Racers at Disney’s California Adventure (DCA).
Kaan watches the Radiator Springs Racers whiz by on the track.The whole town of Radiator Springs from the Disney movie ‘Cars’ is here.We watched as “Mater” drove around town and joined “Lightning McQueen” on the main street of Radiator Springs.
Kaan really liked Radiator Springs. Secretly, so did I 🙂
Long lines were the norm…
Radiator Springs Racers at Disney’s California Adventure (DCA). This was a fun ride, but had the longest line… we only got to go on it once.Riding the Radiator Springs Racer.
Riding the Radiator Springs Racer around the banked track.The scary elevator ride.The catch of the day.
One of the first rides we went on at DCA was the California Screamin’ roller coaster. It was the first time Kaan had been on a roller coaster. After the first ride, his initial shock and fear wore off and he couldn’t wait to get back on. We (Jenny, Kaan & I) rode the roller coaster a total of four times throughout the day. Stilla (as usual) waited out the scarier rides.
Jenny, Kaan, & I on the California Screamin’ roller coaster.
On Wednesday, (after taking a break on Tuesday as I mentioned earlier), we got an early start and went to the original Disneyland® theme park (pics below):
Kaan and Jenny at Disneyland.This looked like a cool ride, but it was closed for renovations. There were a large number of rides closed the day(s) we visited 🙁The submarine ride. Pretty cool.On the submarine ride with Kaan and Jenny.Getting ready to go on one of the rides.Mickey’s Toontown.Mickey’s Toontown.
Stilla went on the Buzz Lightyear ride with me… Woo Hoo!Kaan, Stilla, and Jenny. Hyperspace Mountain in the background. That was a fun ride… kind of like a roller coaster in the dark. The ride “Star Tours” was the coolest 🙂
Almost all the water rides were closed for some reason 🙁 There were no boat rides at “Rivers of America”. No “Jungle Cruise”, etc., Even “Autopia” was closed along with the “Disneyland Railroad” and “Matterhorn Bobsleds”.
The sailing ship Columbia.The Mark Twain Riverboat. Walk-on only, no rides 🙁Splash Mountain.
Kaan got pretty wet riding in front at Splash Mountain. It was worth it he said 🙂The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was a blast.
Entrance to the Indiana Jones ride.
The Indiana Jones ride was one of our favorites, we got to ride twice and the second time Kaan got to drive.Kaan and Stilla up in the treehouse.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures from our Disneyland theme park visit(s). Remember, this blog is primarily intended for friends & family and doubles as our photo album to look back on in future years. So if you think there’s too many pictures… you’re just going to have to deal with it 🙂
On Thursday, since we already packed most of our stuff for the trip back to Phoenix, we just relaxed for the day and hit the local island here in Newport Beach (Balboa Island) and then spent some time on Huntington Beach.
We had a nice lunch on Balboa Island and then walked around to do some sightseeing. Stilla and Kaan spotted some seals or maybe they were dolphins(?). Too far away to tell for sure.
Interesting boat theme on Balboa Island.
We didn’t have to take the little ferry onto Balboa Island… but we did anyway just for the fun of it. There’s also a road that connects the island to the mainland.
Driving onto the ferry.The Silverado taking the Harley for a ride on the ferry.We had mere inches between the three vehicles that the ferry can hold at one time.Ferry landing on Balboa Island.
We walked one of the piers along Newport Beach.
And then we drove up to Huntington Beach where the parking fee was metered by the hour and was a little more reasonable than the $15 dollar fee they want at most of the other nearby state park beaches.
Kaan and I had a good time playing on the beach and in the water. Stilla and Jenny just got some sun.
My sand castle got washed away 🙁 Kaan was smarter and built his farther up the beach 🙂
Life is Good 🙂 Relaxing on the beach.Stilla enjoyed the “beach life”.
On Friday morning, we left the park by noon. After braving the LA traffic which rolled along at a snails pace at times, we finally rolled into Quartzsite to look for a free boondocking site for the night.
We found a nice spot just off the highway (I-10) called Dome Rock Rd. It’s on the west-side of Quartzsite, only a few miles from town.
We unhooked the Silverado and drove into town for dinner. We went to Silly Al’s (←link) for some awesome pizza and had enough to take home some leftovers. After dinner, we found a souvenir shop that was still open and did some browsing. Here’s Kaan (below) posing in front of the World’s (reportedly) largest belt buckle.
On Saturday, we made good time with light traffic and arrived back at the Triple T RV & Mobile Home Park by early afternoon, which is where we’re now parked again. Hopefully, not for too long.. it’s starting to get too hot here in Phoenix. We got the same spot we had before we left for CA and Jenny’s travel trailer is still parked just behind us. I’ll post again soon. Stay tuned…
