Home Sweet Home

Someone asked us if we consider our camper a "home" and our answer is YES!

Even though we live in it 24/7 and travel all across this beautiful country of ours with it, we still need to maintain it, inside and out, and, when we go on vacation (which means we drive the van and stay in hotels or with family), I always get a "rush" when we round the corner and see our "home". Much like your home, right?

To end up our "seasonal" blog, the 4 of us (Tom, Tim, Trish and I) really enjoyed our winter at the Casa Grande RV Resort in Casa Grande AZ and have decided it's our favorite winter destination.  We just wish it wasn't so far away. The mountains

and sunsets

never disappoint and the weather, for the most part, is really great. OK, really, Tom would rather always go to FL so he can hit the beach, but he does enjoy playing pickleball, card games, relaxing in the hot tub,  sightseeing, etc.

Coming back home after dealing with minor RV problems, windy conditions and lots of rain, I'm glad we're staying put for awhile.  Well, mostly staying put, with the exception of our Sangamon Valley Campers Club monthly outings

including a trip with them to Sevierville TN; attending the annual Suites Owners Rally in Goshen IN and camping with the Lokker ladies in KY/TN/VA.

And, with our "home sweet home" being so close to the Brockman clan residence, we've enjoyed some fun times with them. And, Kenley and Chase have already had their first sleep-over this summer with Grandpa and me.  The first part of June, the Lokker clan will spend a few days at the young Brockman's so it'll be great getting together for some quality family time.

Here's to a great summer, especially once the flooding threat throughout this state and others ends. Sad to see so much devastation in the Midwest.  We'll catch ya' next winter when us snowbirds hang out in FL for a few months!

Some Arizona Highlights

Didn't do as much sightseeing in February.  However, we did enjoy a few road trips including the shops at Tortilla Flats while driving along Superstition Mountain, touring the Biosphere in Oracle, Trish and me going to the Wrigley Mansion

and Tom and Tim checking out the Dwarf Car Museum.

Of course, that's not to say we haven't been staying busy here at the Casa Grande RV Resort.  They've made some nice changes since we were here 3 years ago and hope to come back to this same cg 3 years from now.  Nothing like planning ahead, huh?  Anyway, they provide free waffles and coffee, lunches on WE and hold a few special dinners like Valentine's Day and the upcoming St. Paddy's Day.  They're up to 4 pickleball courts, which are really busy and have monthly "Rob's Fun Day" games (beer pong, bags, Jenga, ladder jacks, etc.), drinks and appetizers.

It's also been great spending some time with Chic & Kim and I hope we can get together a couple more times before we leave on April 1st.  They introduced Tim & Trish and Tom & me to a great place for brunch on February 4th called "Biscuits".  Maybe I can convince them into going back there before too long.   Then, on Feb. 25, they took us to "Rustler's Rooste" to celebrate Kim's birthday.  A really neat place where you can feed the bull, slide down the indoor slide, and enjoy the view of Camelback Mountain.

 I had some delicious prime rib but Tom was disappointed in his steak as it was too done.  Of course, as you all know, it's pretty hard for Mr. B to find a steak that meets his "Texas Roadhouse" expectations.  :-)

Additionally, on Feb. 16th, Tom and I enjoyed gathering with some Suite friends at the SOITC Western Rally in Benson AZ.  Several of us went on a fun tour of the Gammon Gulch movie set then back to the Valley Vista RV Resort for a mighty fine BBQ.

Then, on Feb. 22nd, we helped our friends, Larry & Betty Nance, host an AZ Luncheon at "Boston's" for approximately 48 Suite friends.  Nice meeting some new members and playing catch-up with the rest of our members.

To wrap up February 2017, Tom and Tim had a really great day at the NHRA Arizona Nationals Races at the Wildhorse Pass Motorsports Park on the 26th.

 And, they made it back home in time to take Trish and me to our favorite pizza place, Barro's, for dinner.

Texas Two Step

For most of December, we danced our way through Texas as we continued our journey to AZ.

We left Gulf Shores, AL the morning of December 8th with our good buddies, Tim & Trish.  Our first stop was to the Stennis Space Center at the MS/LA border to tour the base and museum.  Very interesting exhibits about the space mission.  Unbeknownst to us, we discovered that evening that John Glenn had passed away that day.

After a couple nights in New Orleans, we arrived in TX ready to start a few sightseeing adventures.  The first one, on Dec. 12th, was to tour the Natural Bridge Caverns in San Antonio.

We always say it's great to travel with friends, which really proved its point on Dec. 13th when the Mather's called us on their walkie-talkie that they had to pull over to change a truck tire. Tom walked "all the way back there" (wink, wink SVC!) to help out. Thank God it wasn't a blow-out as Tom and I have had a one of those and they're not fun.  Then, on the 14th, Tim calls us again on the walkie-talkie to let us know our stabilizer is hanging out on the right side of our rig.  Good grief!  He and Tom braced it up so we could get back on the road.

If you ever get a chance, the Carlsbad Caverns, in southern New Mexico, are really something to see.  We took a tour on Dec. 14th, with an interesting guide taking us through this huge cavern that actually has over 100 caves deep down into the bowels of the earth along this Chihuahuan Desert.

On the 15th, we spent the night in Ft. Davis, TX to go see the Marfa Lights. What a bust!  After planning around this stop to see the eerie dancing lights, and not finding them, Tom discovered that there's really only a few times a year that you can actually see this mysterious phenomenon. But, the stars, Milky Way, etc. were absolutely beautiful, so not a total waste of time.

OK, Pat.  Remember how you and I were white-knuckled going through Beartooth Pass?  Well, we experienced another harrowing road on Dec. 16th when heading down to Big Bend National Park TX.  The GPS (love her most of the time) took us on a road from Prescott to Terlingua with a 15% downward grade.  Thank God Tom was driving as I never would've made it.  Lots of praying through the narrow winding up and down road. That 15% grade made me sweat and hold on for dear life.  Found out later that, if we'd gone the alternate route the GPS would've taken us, it was a much better road. Go figure, huh?

Anyway, Big Bend NP was a neat place to check out, along with the Ghost Town of Terlingua.  However, this is 1 of those places where I'd say "Been there, done that", so don't feel the urge to go back. Behind us on the left is Mexico and on the right is USA.

On Dec. 19th, we stayed at a beautiful State Park called Hueco Tanks in El Paso that is known for its depressions that hold water and petroglyphs. They have had trouble with vandalism so they only allow 70 people a day access to the 1 of the areas with the petroglyphs, the other 2 areas are by guides only. Then moved over to Silver City NM for a couple days. It has a neat little historical downtown with museums, restaurants and lots of artsy stores. However the original main street is known as 'the Big Ditch' because a flood destroyed it and is now about 20 feet below the rest of the town.

 Once again, sure glad we were traveling w/our friends since, just as we were pulling out in the rain on moving day, Tom noticed, that our 2 front jacks dropped. So, the guys were out in the elements tying the jacks up with tie-down straps.

Spent Dec. 22-25 in Tucson and had fun exploring the Titan Missile Museum,

taking a copper strip mine tour

and seeing the beautiful San Xavier Mission. And, since we were too far away from IL, it was wonderful spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Chic & Kim, Bubba & Buddy (our nephew dogs) and Tim & Trish.

Arrived in Yuma AZ on Dec. 26th as a hold-over until settling in at the Casa Grande RV Resort on January 1, 2017. This was the first time we've missed Kenley's birthday on the 27th, but we were able to call and sing Happy Birthday to her.  On Dec. 28th, we crossed the border into Los Algodones Mexico and Tom found his new "red" stained glass window.

It's beautiful!  Then, on Dec. 30th, we drove slowly over a few miles of gravel road to see the Castle Dome Mines Museum.  Another interesting little ghost town.