Arizona sun at Catalina state park

 

Three exhausted travelers finally arrive in Arizona!  We are at Catalina State Park, just north of Tucson.  Love this place!  It’s tucked in just under the Catalina Mountains.  Very nice facilities and feels like one is way out in the boonies.  Coyotes serenade us every evening and the sun plays off the mountains as it sets.

But less than one mile away, just across the 4 lane, is Wal-Mart and a variety of shops and restaurants.

Today we were rested enough to explore one of the hiking trails.  Got a late start….when do we ever get an early start?….and the sun started beating us up before we made the trail loop.  Managed to take a few pictures.  This is the Sonoran desert and saguaro cactus are in abundance.

 

The hike is up to a small pool of water where we rested and turned back.  If we were in better shape, we could have hiked for miles in the Romero Canyon.  Lots of familiar plants and cactus are everywhere….I’m frustrated that I knew their names two years ago and I must relearn the names of all the foliage.

Nice campsite!  Opted to go without electric hook ups as we are in a saving money mode.  It’s suppose to be warm in AZ!  Just learned from a park volunteer that it’s 7+ degrees colder here than what the Weather Channel says.  Our new thermometer reported an inside temp of 37 this AM.  We are using our Sport Cat sparingly and, occasionally, turned on the gas stove.

Our trip west has had challenges….the extreme cold, adjusting to traveling with an animal and his kitty litter box and just not feeling well with various respiratory and stomach complaints.

But we are here and the trouble and misery will be worth it….once we’re rested!

Sylvester is climbing the walls…goes up the wall next to the closet like it’s a tree!  (His food is kept in the top of the closet.) Poor baby needs more space.  But he appears terrified every time we take him outside.

Tomorrow we are heading for Ajo, AZ for the Darby Wells area.  RV Sue seems to like that place…..so we are going to check it out.

Hope to camp near Glenda and Jeff who are boon docking somewhere in the Ajo vicinity.

Closing with pictures from Texas…Monahan Sandhills State Park.

Surviving the Freeze!

 

(We are on our way to Arizona!)

COLD!!!! That’s been the word for the past 5 days!

We are able to get packed and leave last Saturday morning.  Not  a pretty travel day but not too cold.  Made it to a Meridian, MS Passport America park….not much there.  Just a gravel parking lot with a nice bathhouse and office.  Free chocolate candy!

The next day the forecast got scary with talk of sleet and snow but we pressed on driving through rain and wind and back into the sunshine….cold sunshine!  Got through all of MS and LA arriving at another Passport park in Longview, TX.  The predicted low for the night is 19 degrees!  (Need to stop here and remind everyone that we do not have a furnace….just a little ceramic space heater!)  We manage to sleep warm with our  comforter and a few throws.  I worry about our cat, Sylvester, staying warm.  I try to cover him and he does not cooperate.  Eventually he makes his bed on David’s stomach.

The next morning we have ice on all our windows….on the inside!!!!  It is 17 degrees that morning and I hope to never experience that again!  The freeze is predicted to extend another day and night but I’m not concerned as we will be camping inside Little House Customs’ shop that night. 

For the past two years we have had BAL stabilizers on our wish list for the Casita.  And it’s going to finally happen!

Tada!  The finished product!

Since it has been way too cold to take any pictures outside….and thought it might be different to show what it’s like on the inside of a Casita. Not the pretty little doll house pictures that I see on Facebook and the forums but our version of real camping!

David reading his Nook (or sleeping!)

Sylvester enjoying the heater!

Supper….the leftovers did not fill us….second course, vanilla wafers and peanut butter.

Baby boy staying warm.

Enjoyed our time at Little House Customs as Larry and Debbie are great hosts!  I stuck to Larry’s huge wood burning stove…it felt sooo good to be warm!

A better view of this wonderful stove!  This is the main source of heat for his shop.

Our Casita baby all snug and warm for the night!

View from upstairs.

Writing tonight from Monahans Sandhills State Park (west Texas) ….last night was spent in Ranger, TX.  May be through with Texas by tomorrow afternoon….sure takes forever to drive!

The good news!!!!!!  It was 60 here today!  But 28 predicted tonight….still camping with hookups.

Getting Ready to Roll!

 

Less than 24 hours away, departure day is upon us and we are awakening to snow on the ground!  Unexpected show….they said flurries!  It’s not much but coupled with the low temps, the trailer packing becomes more challenging.

Wish we had planned better…..  This year we decided to stick around after Christmas instead of hitting road right after the big holiday.  Now we are paying the price!

So it is either pack in the sub freezing temps today and get out of town tomorrow or take the chance of being caught in more inhospitable weather.

Just trying to keep the eye on the prize this AM as I survey the white stuff around me.  We are heading to east Texas and a visit to LHC and from there, well, it depends on the weather.  We have friends on their way to Big Bend and it would be nice to camp with them again.  ( Hi! Glenda and Jeff) but I don’t want to be cold!  Current temps across our pathway….Big Bend National Park 33 degrees, Quitman, TX 27 degrees, Phoenix and Yuma, AZ 49 degrees….and it’s 8 AM in AZ.

We are taking our newest family member, Sylvester, to the Southwest with us.  In anticipation of his needs, we’ve gotten more cat carriers, kitty beds and litter boxes.  Not sure where everything is going to fit.

This will be the first time we have taken a pet.  A bit nervous about it but so many other people travel with their cats and dogs…surely we will adjust!

Don’t have the time to do a proper post….just know we are heading to the sun!  A visit to the boon docking lands of Yuma and Quartzsite and a wedding in Phoenix….these are our only concrete plans….and there’s some jello in them!

Wishing everyone on the road to stay safe and everyone else, stay warm!!!!

Winter Solstice, Valances and Good Tidings to All!

While fighting the cold, a bitter winter day five or six years ago, I made a vow to escape winter once retirement happened.  And we have, fleeing successfully for the past two years!
The pictures below are from our last winter at home in 2011.  This snow was much heavier than normal but it does happen occasionally.  I do not like snow; can tolerate maybe two hours of it!


Yesterday was the winter solstice…the shortest day of the year.  I always look forward to the day that signifies the increasing daylight.  Suffering in the past from seasonal affective disorder….I hate the long, cold and dark nights.  Our annual trip to the sun has eliminated the depressive symptoms.  Looking at pictures of the desert sunrise is great medicine!


We’re getting excited as our exit day approaches but also a bit worried that winter will follow us into Texas where we will be visiting Larry and Debbie Gamble.  Another mod, BAL stabilizers are on the schedule.

The long awaited valances are finally complete!  Pleased to say they are up and there are no complaints.  Enjoyed taking the sewing machine out of storage and dusting it off.  The last time it was used was when curtains were made for the old 13' foot Casita.



The material is leftover upholstery from a chair…(see previous post).  The café rods are from the Dollar Store and they were secured by zip ties.  The blue in the window is not the ocean but a tarp that’s covering the trailer!
Just mentioning the old trailer makes me nostalgic.  We sold it  after two years in order to get a bathroom.
This was our first love……a 1990 13’ Casita.  Sure hope it’s somewhere still on the road!



Just had to share the pictures from our first Casita!  We never, ever realized how that purchase was going to change our lives. Changes including travel all over the states and a new family of friends….our fiberglass trailer friends!
Wishing everyone out there a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! Please stay safe on the road for another year of travel and good times!

Random Ramblings

 

Struggling to write because there are no pictures to share!   So much of what I write is wrapped around photography.

Before we left on the Big Trip (Alaska 2013), I felt that it would change me.  We’ve been home for almost 3 months and I’m still trying to put my finger on what’s different?  But there are subtle changes …. more confidence has found a home somewhere inside me.  We did something big, something that was almost incomprehensible (to us) before the trip!  This time last year I did not know where Fairbanks and Anchorage were…except in Alaska!

The other change seems to be one of roots or belonging.  My world has gotten larger, more aware of what’s happening in other places, noticing there’s an ice storm in Anchorage, a flood in the Rockies and a whole city in San Francisco volunteering to make a little boy’s dream come true!

Whatever the changes, they are welcome!  Hoping to continue to grow as a person as I approach my 65th year.

Frequently find myself thinking of the birthday that’s still 4 1/2 months away.  Must apply for Medicare soon…am I beginning to feel old?

Switching subjects….did I mention how sick I’ve been?  Three days after getting home I was down with sinus issues, itchy eyes, chest congestion which led to asthma.  These problems continued off and on for two months with me finally going for allergy testing.  Learned that I am allergic to cats!!!  And dogs, dust mites, mold, ragweed and roach debris and miscellaneous weeds, grasses and trees.  This shocks me as cats have been in my house for the past 34 years!

Discussing this as a warning to others.  Our house was extremely dusty after being closed up for over 3 months.  And it was not exactly clean when we left!  We had lots of rain during July which caused mold outside and inside.  We’ve been cleaning for weeks and now I’m symptom free (for the present)  and have lots of prescriptions and inhalers if needed.

One of the things that I’m grateful for during this season of thanksgivings is my lack of depression.  Years past I have always gotten down as the cold days and long dark nights descend.  Thoughts of the Arizona sun are keeping me in a great mood.  Heading west just after the new year arrives!  We have a wedding to attend in January in Scottsdale and a rally in Quartzsite in February.  Looking forward to seeing some old friends!

The Casita has a new propane regulator, new gas hoses and the bearings have been greased.  Now ready to tackle the long postponed project of valences over the blinds.

 Wonder if this will work?  Found the remnants from this upholstered chair and it seems to match a blue in the cushions.  Will let you know how they turn out.

Other than trying to get the house clean, we have been walking frequently and hiking with a group of seniors.  Also joined a gym but hurt myself the second visit….still waiting for my body to heal!

Enjoying our fur babies….even though the black and whites fight constantly.  I pray for the day they peacefully co-exist!

Sylvester

Princess

Been hanging out on a new (to me) Facebook group, Dutch Oven Cooking.  Strange to be looking at groups other than Casita Owners but the cast iron group is quite addicting.  Lots of information there and I got inspired to rehab an old piece from my granny’s house.

This was after 3 hours in a self cleaning oven before scraping the rust and re-seasoning it.  Wish I had a before picture.  There’s a line on the back that indicates it was made between 1750 and 1875.  Warning….this group is habit forming!  Already gone through Mom’s cabinets looking for more cast iron.

Looking forward to being on the road!  For those of you out there, be careful!  Hope to see some of you soon.

 

Sightseeing on Veterans Day With Vets

 

Last August, while trotting around the northwest and Alaska, we spent a few days in Colorado with Ms. Casitaescapes and her spouse, Jeff.  This past weekend we had the opportunity to return the favor.

This was our first time to entertain  fellow Casita owners due to our challenging parking situation.  To park in our driveway one must back in, downhill, performing an 180 degree turn and stay off the hand built wall and flower garden.  But the ex-truck driver was up for the task.

That’s Kira, the Keeshond, lower left and the Chatta-Egg, all winterized, center.

Sight-seeing was top priority….along with catching up!

Decided downtown to the Tennessee River was the first place to visit.  As a native, we have endured Chattanooga before it became the place to see and live……. smog and backwardness, years ago, made it a place to escape.  At least for me!

It’s a beautiful warm, sunny day and the Market Street bridge is reflecting in the blue river.

Glenda poses for me on the Walnut Street Bridge as I fill them in on the old span’s history.  It was Chattanooga’s first bridge, built in 1890, now a walking bridge.

From there we traveled up river to the Chickamauga Dam searching for blue herons to photograph.  (That sounds like we paddled up the river….no, we drove the van!)

Not as many birds as usual but got a picture of our friends.

Tennessee River just below the dam.

After lunch we are heading to one of the mountains overlooking the city, Signal Mountain. 

 

 

The first day ends with me promising a trip to the tiny mountains in the distance…….the Cherokee National Forest!

Veterans Day is another gorgeous sunny day!  We make a lunch and get an early start as we’re heading about 55 miles east to Polk County and the Whitewater Center, home of the 1996 whitewater Olympics.

The water in the Ocoee River is calm today as TVA has taken it out to generate electricity.

And the Visitors Center was closed for the winter.  David and I got married here 13 years ago…brought back some nice memories.

Next stop is an overlook climbing the mountain to  Chilhowie campground.

 

This is Parksville Lake created by Ocoee Dam #1, the oldest hydroelectric dam in TVA system.   Completed in 1911, before TVA was established. 

Love this view!  This is sacred territory for me!

On top of Bean Mountain we picnicked at this old CCC structure set on the western brow.

Back in Chattanooga by mid-afternoon, Glenda, with her boundless energy, decides that a trip up Lookout Mountain will complete the tour.  Off to Point Park…a Civil War sight.

 

Exactly 150 years ago, during November, the Battle Above the Clouds was being fought.

The views from the park are amazing!

Downtown and parts of the Tennessee River winding through the valley.

By this point we all are ready to collapse and veg with the TV.

Great fun with fun folks who both served their country!

This was our first attempt at being tour guides and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Our friends have headed east toward the Great Smoky Mtns…..hope they are staying warm!

And we are still cleaning the house and getting the casita baby ready for her January western trip!