Once again we head for the Lazy Daze factory. This time the purpose was to have the satellite dish removed from the RV and to have the roof sealed. We had a chance to visit with Wanda Shaffer while in California and with Gene and Harryette Richardson when we came back through Shreveport.
March 3, 2014--On the way to the LazyDaze factory in California
Tom had an appointment with his oncologist, Tate Thigpen, this morning so we decided to drive the RV down and leave from Jackson. I went to Petsmart after dropping Tom at the clinic, and then we ate at Schlotzsky's and headed out on I20. We spent the night at Cinnamon Creek Park in Minden, LA. It was a little unusual in that we talked with the person who ran the park by phone and gave the credit card info, but never saw anyone. The bathrooms were particularly nice. ($28) (321 miles)
March 4, Tuesday--We tried to start early, but Tom slept later than usual so it was 9:00 when we started--still early for us. We ate lunch and supper in the RV. Zoe is being a pretty good traveler so far. After we reached Texas we started seeing I'd and the snow on the ground. It was mostly gone before Dallas. We spent the night at the Abilene RV Park after driving about 385 miles. The weather has warmed up considerably--no longer in the below freezing range. ($33)
March 5. Wednesday-- We managed to get moving by 8:30 since Tom got up early and Zoe let him eat his breakfast without bothering him. We lost time when we stopped at a Walmarr in Sweetwater though. There were hundreds of windmills on either side of Sweetwater. I took a Benedryl because I seem to have an allergic reaction to something and my nose won't stop running, but Tom kept driving. He said he went through a nasty dust storm around Midland. We stopped around 5:00 at a KOA near Van Horn, TX. The weather has warmed up some. It was around 50 today. Zoe is being good about riding, but she gets very excited with the new places and barks at people walking by in the campground--especially if they are walking a dog. ($34.20)
March 6, Thursday--Again we got started at about 8:30. We went through El Paso and were amazed by how much it has grown. We spent the night at Grande Vista which was a Good Sam campground. It had mobile homes as well, but was very well organized and comfortable although the sites were not wide. There was a fenced dog run, and we threw a ball for Zoe, but she got too excited. I've decided to use the Gentle Leader when we walk her. ($33).
March 7, Friday--it was a nice campground, but neither of us slept quite as well as we've been sleeping, and we were up early. We have started getting gas before we stop for the night, so we were ready to go again at about 8:30. That seems to be the earliest we can do it! We are closer to Montclair than we realized, so we're planning to get there Saturday rather than Sunday. We stopped for the night at Quartzsite. I have heard a lot about the winter gatherings here and was curious to see it. We stayed at the Scenic Road RV Park. They don't take credit cards, but do take checks. Dogs can be walked anywhere, but there is an area they call the Wash, shown in the picture, that they recommend. They say that it is a coyote highway and has dog attractive smells. Near the Wash is a small "garden", which is shown in the second picture. Landscaping is done with rocks and few plants that need little water. ($25)
March 8, Saturday--We woke up a little early, and Zoe required attention earlier--about 7:45. I took her out so that Tom could do his morning things. We dressed and went to the $1 pancake breakfast offered by the campground. Everyone had to bring their own plates, cups, and silverware. The pancakes were good and we enjoyed talking with others--most of whom stayed their for several months at least. We drove by the area where the vendors were, although many of them had already left for the season. We had forgotten to get gas last evening so we had to get it this morning. It was 9:30 before we really got started, but we only had about 200 miles to go. We reached the campground about 2:00 and were able to check in and then go to a nearby grocery store and rest. A very nice Canadian couple with two children is next to us. They are touring the US during a sabbatical. We took Zoe on the dog walk and began to realize that we stayed in this campground before. I looked at earlier travel records and saw that we stayed here in 2009.
Sunday, March 9--We did practically nothing all day but rest. We did find a sushi place for supper, and it was pretty good, but as Tom pointed out it was run by Hispanics rather than Japanese so maybe wasn't too authentic.
Monday, March 10--We took the RV to Lazy Daze. While I finished checking it in, Tom went with the Enterprise driver to rent a car. When all that was finished we took Zoe to Petsmart to play for the day and then to get a bath. Tom realized that the rental car agreement said no pets, but we called and found that they would just charge us more if there were hair and/or excessive odor. We'll have to vacuum it before we return it. We bought a roasted chicken and broccoli at the grocery store and I cooked for the first time on this trip. Zoe was so tired when we picked her up at about 7:30 that she was ready to go to bed after a very short walk.
Tuesday, March 11--We're having to get the RV to Lazy Daze by 8:10 each morning and pick it up at 3:30--although it hasn't been ready on time yet. Today after dropping the RV we took Zoe to Petsmart. We were a little too early and had to wait until they opened at 9:00. We left her for the day, the night, and the next day so that we could visit with Wanda Shaffer.
We knew we couldn't return in time to pick Zoe up by 9:00 pm. It was great to see Wanda, and she took us to a Greek restaurant where we had lamb chops and a special rice. Both were delicious. Afterwards we returned to Wanda's house for dessert and met her grandson, Ebon. It was About 9:30 by the time we returned to the RV, and there was no Zoe since she spent the night at Petsmart.
Wednesday, March 12--It was different not having Zoe to think about when we woke up, and we ended up being later today by a few minutes than those days we had her. We asked Vince for suggestions on something to do, and he suggested the Richard Nixon Library so we drove over to see it. We were too early, since it didn't open until 10:00 so we found refuge at The Coffee Bean and had Iced Mochas that were delicious. They claimed that they were the originators--not Starbucks. We thoroughly enjoyed the museum although the house in which Nixon was born and his helicopter were closed-- they said because of the wind.
Statues of people Nixon considered most important
Jade horse and me
Reflection pool
House in which Nixon was born
We both decided that we'd like to make visiting the other presidential libraries a goal. After the tour we drove to the campground where I washed Zoe's bed and then picked her up at Petsmart. We drove back to the campground, hooked up, left Zoe in her kennel, and headed down to meet Wanda. We visited awhile and asked Wanda's grandson,Evan, to take a picture of the three of us to send Peg and Wendy. We had a good supper at a Mexican restaurant, visited some more, and then drove back to the campground. Once there we walked Zoe and went to bed.
Thursday, March 13--We were awaken by an alarm. After I finally got up around 7:00, Tom said that the alarm went off at 6:30 and appeared to come from the clock that Vince reinstalled. We'll have to disable it sometime today. We stopped at a Flying J in Barstow to get gas and eat lunch in their parking lot. We drove to Kingman, Arizona, where we went grocery shopping and then another 12 miles to the Blake Ranch RC Park. It's really nice. It's more or less in the middle of nowhere and includes a hors motel. The nice things for us are great individual and clean restrooms and two 20x60 foot nicely fenced dog runs. Zoe enjoyed chasing her ball off the leash and just running around. They even have a light at the dog runs to make them dark time accessible. ($24.75)
Friday, March 14-- No alarm this morning, but Tom woke up before 5:00 as he often does and got up to start his morning routine. Zoe started making noise about 6:30, which was early for her, so I had to take her out and do my exercises afterwards. We managed to leave by 9:00. We had lunch in the parking lot outside a Safeway in Flagstaff. The scenery was much nicer on the way to Flagstaff than it was on the southern route. There were mountains and even some large pines right outside Flagstaff. East of Flagstaff we are driving through very flat, dry looking land. We are getting a little spoiled about stopping early so we stopped at Gallup NM at the USA RV Park ($30.54). It is another nice place although we haven't seen the rest rooms yet. We pulled in, walked Zoe, and drove to CrackerBarrel to eat. It was very crowded. The dog walk is on the other side of a concrete wall and is a dirt road, which makes a nice dog walk. John, the owner, put us right next to it.
Saturday, March 15--We slept well last night, and Tom didn't wake up until after 6:00. He took Zoe for a walk while I stayed in bed a little longer. It was about 9:30 when we finally started. I drove for an hour and got sleepy so Tom drove until lunch which we had in a PetSmart parking lot. While I went to PetSmart for some Zoe toys Tom went to the nearby WalMart for vitamins and to have a part on his glasses that Zoe had chewed off replaced. I ended up taking Zoe into PetSmart so that one of the trainers could be sure I had the Gentle Leader fitted correctly. He said I did. While there, Zoe started playing with another dog, I think an Australian Shepard, who was four months old and also wanted to play. They had a great time. We decided to stop in Tucumcari when we remembered that there was a really good restaurant, Del's. As we were checking in to the KOA here, a big dust storm started. The winds are about 37 mph with gusts up to 50. We ate at Del's, which was as good as we remembered. I had a green pepper with cheese and an enchilada. Tom had a chimichanga. Afterwards we returned to the campground where Tom started the laundry and I watched and walked Zoe. The RV was rocking the whole time. ($33) The cafe here at the campground has both supper and breakfast with pancakes featured for breakfast.
Sunday, March 16--We slept relatively well with the wind stopping during the night. This morning is clear and cold although not quite freezing. As we drive into Texas there is still wind, and there is still dust. I drove through one bad dust patch before Amarillo. We stopped at a Love's to get gas and parked and ate lunch. We drove a little more than usual so that we would. be closer to Shreveport and stopped at Campers' Paradise RV Park near Bowie, TX. There was a dirt area near the road that was supposed to be a dog walk.
Monday, March 17--We woke up about the same time as usual. Dallas was a little confusing and crowded, but we made it through. We ate lunch in the RV and then took a nap since we had time--or so we thought. Actually we ended up being a little late getting to Gene and Harryette's because we stopped at the Louisiana welcome center to dump. It was after 5:00 when we reached their house. We had a really nice visit and a wonderful supper at their house. There was a fire that felt very welcome in their fireplace. We slept in their guest room, and they were kind enough to suggest we bring Zoe's kennel into the room so she was not lonesome in the RV all night.
Tuesday, March18—We had a lovely breakfast and then Gene took us all to the Rotary Club where he introduced us as his guests. We had driven the RV downtown, so after lunch we said goodbye and were ready to head home. We reached home that evening.