Roamin' around AZ

Duane and I have been having fun seeing the sights around Congress. We have been up and down Yarnell Hill several times and enjoyed the ride and the scenery every time.





Typical beautiful sunset at North Ranch

On one of our trips we stopped by the Shrine of St. Joseph in Yarnell. The shrine is situated at the bottom of the hill. The Way of the Cross is a nice paved trail up and down the hill with a full sized crucifix at the top. Also along the way are several more full-sized plaster castsShrine plaster cast of St. Joseph holding the Child Jesus

The agony in the garden

Last week we took the bike to Quartzite. We had never been there when all the activity was going on. We went on Friday to visit friends John and Anita Laffey and check out the flea markets. We stayed with them overnight and went to the big tent for the first day of the RV sale. Big mistake! The tent was wall to wall people. We just shuffled along trying to see what was for sale and just catching glimpses of the goods.

In spite of that we had a great time. Duane got a new pair of cold weather riding gloves and I got some home made jelly. John scouted around for a few needed rv items and Anita found some new clothes. She has a whole collection from around the globe. John and Anita are a really fun couple to hang around and laugh with, and we always enjoy meeting them along the road.

Goofing off at breakfast

Last week we took a trip to:

Bagdad owes its existence to the local copper mine. The copper bar sculpture below is a tribute to the mine, its owners and the miners.

There is another place to eat in Bagdad, but we opted for the first place we saw, the nice little retro diner below.

This week (Wed.) we rode through Yarnell and on up the mountain to Prescott.

View from near the top

We intended to eat lunch and visit several of the museums. We visited the information center first then the Harley boutique on Whiskey Row. Next door was The Palace, one of the historical saloons in Prescott and one of the better class of saloon in the late 1800's when it was built. Of course the original burnt down in 1900 by a careless miner's candle, along with most of Whiskey Row. Its said that patrons carried the 1880's Brunswick bar across the street to the courthouse plaza and continued drinking the night away. In 1901 the Palace Hotel and Bar, Chinese reataurant and barber shop was back in business. Today the building has been restored to the grandeur of 1901, with added dining. Prices are in line with the other eating places in the courthouse square, but the Information Center offered a 10% coupon for lunch so we went to the Palace. It was interesting that I walked where the Earps, Doc Holliday and other famous people walked. Several scenes from several films were shot in the Palace.

Tribute to the ranching heritage of the area

View from the courthouse plaza of Whiskey Row and our bike....

After lunch we walked two blocks to the local history museum. After inquiring we decided that we needed more time so we shelved that plan for another visit. We jumped on the bike to finds the Indian museum, but couldn't find it or the old fort museum either. Since the day was going, the sky was overcast and the wind picking up, we decided to go home through Skull Valley. Back home we were in time for a few games of Pickleball before I had to go play cards. The days are just packed!

More later, (including us playing ball, I promise),

Louise and Duane

Moved again

After a nice stay and visit in Benson, we headed to Congress, AZ and the North Ranch SKP Park. This is the park that we will be working in starting the middle of this month. This is a really nice park with a lot to do in the area and at the park. Sorry I have fallen down in the picture department, guess I just got lazy about that. We arrived here on Tuesday of last week. As soon as we got settled I got on the bike (motorcycle) and headed out for a ride. Louise stayed at the trailer so I headed north on 89 to the hill. I had never riden in the mountains, so I wanted to ride that road by myself first. I rode up the mountian going around a lot of tight 20 mph curves, to first flat area then turned around and rode back down. I was a little nervous but made it just fine. I will wait 'til it warms a bit before Louise and take the ride to Prescott at the top of the mountain. Since arriving here we have taken a ride every day but one.

Sunday, we took the truck to Apache Junction for a visit with friends John and Thelma whom we met in Deming. After chatting and catching up, Thelma drove us up in the Superstition Mountains to Tortilla Flat, an old mining town with a really nice cafe and a couple of gift shops. It is a very popular spot for locals and bikers. The ride up the mountian is very curvy and scenery is beautiful. We had good lunch and a lot of good conversation, then headed back to their rv, then home.
Yesterday, we rode to Tonapah, AZ. for lunch. The ride took us down Vulture Mine Rd. through the low mountians. Lots of long sweeping curves and rolling hills. We were the only ones on the road for the most part. I think we may have had 4 cars pass us going the other direction. What a great, peaceful ride of 110 miles round trip. We rested a bit after our ride, then it was off to the pickleball court for our first lesson in the game. There is a guy here in the park that REALLY likes his job of teaching people to play the game. He is very animated in his method of teaching and very good at it. We had the court for a hour and I think we learned a lot about game. For those who have never heard of Pickleball, it is played a little like tennis and a little like ping pong. It is played on a small court like tennis, uses large paddles, like ping pong, and a softball size wiffle ball. The game is played in a lot of rv parks around the country. Some rvers only stay in parks with pickleball courts. This is the first park we have stayed in that has a court so we had to give it a try. It is great exercise and a lot of fun. We will get another lesson on Monday. We shall see how much we play after that.
Today we are going ride the bike to a living history museum about 50 miles away. I will try to take some pictures to dress up this blog.
That's it for now
Duane and Louise

Made it to Arizona!

On Tuesday Dec. 26th we said good-by to Ohio and trucked on south. With son Duane Jr. helping with the driving, we made it back to Van Alstyne by 11pm. Next day we picked up our house and headed west. We stopped at Santos and Pecos (TX) overnight, and stayed at Deming, NM for 5 days resting from driving and visiting with the friends we made there this past summer. On our entire 5000 mile journey from Deming through Texas and Louisiana, to Ohio and back to Deming, we had no problems, no accidents, and only a few hours of rain. Pretty good, we thought. Friends said that on the way to Congress, AZ (our next work camping job), we needed to stop and see The Thing!


So we did. It only cost a dollar apiece and was worth the stop and the price. Anyone traveling on I10 just west of Wilcox, AZ should take the time to see it.


After enjoying this stop and a brief lunch, we motored to Benson and set up for three days in the SKP co-op park at Saguaro. We arrived in time for social hour. After saying hello to friends and fellow class of '06ers Diane and Dave Jones we chatted for a liesurely hour and a half. The four of us continued our visit at a local resturaunt, before heading home for our "Gibbs fix." (NCIS viewers will understand).


This morning at 10am we joined the bikers club for a day ride. Most people had other things to do, so only Don and Sue Gilbert showed up. The four of us enjoyed a ride to Bisbee for coffee and hot chocolate, then to Douglas for lunch at the Hotel Gadsden. This building is a national historic site. After lunch we roamed around the hotel. Below we are posing in the beautiful double stairway. Louise is pointing to a chip in the marble. Supposedly the damage was done when Pancho Villa rode his horse into the hotel and up the steps! On either side of the mural are beautiful stained glass windows depicting the desert the width of the wall.

Between these steps and the front desk, there is this skylight.

View of the lobby from the top of the steps.

Closer view of the mountain lion at the top of the steps.

After viewing numerous pictures portraying the history of the hotel, we saddled up and took back roads home to Benson, arriving in time for social hour. We traveled 175 miles, the most that Louise had ridden to this point. Our friends the Jones' weren't at social hour so we decided to stretch our legs for a bit before heading back to the clubhouse for movie night. We hadn't seen The Help at the theater, so now was our chance.

Time to go!

Louise and Duane

OHIO FAMILY TIME

After our doctors in Shreveport we took the rv back to Van Alstyne, TX to leave it at a friend of our son's til we got back from Ohio. Thanks to him we were able to relax and enjoy our trip knowing our house was safe. We brought our son Duane Jr. back to TX with us so he could back to work. His wife Brandey and the twins Emma and Ava stayed in Ohio to visit longer with family. Jr. will fly back to Ohio in a couple of weeks and drive them back home.
Our first stop in Ohio (Mon. afternoon) was the home of Gene and Donna Emrick. Gene was the first plumber I worked with when I started my apprenticeship in 1966. We have close friends every since. Then it on to Barbara Harmon's house to spend the night. Barbara is the widow of my best friend who we lost in an auto accident some years ago. She and her friend Gene joined Louise's sisters Martha and Marycarol and friend Dave at Marion's, our favorite pizza joint. The next morning it was off to stay with our daughter Rachel, her husband Benji and children Maddy, Simon and Judah. This would be our base till Christmas. Wed. we had lunch with friends Pam and Eddy Shouse. Dec. 23 we went to visit daughter Stacy and her partner Ruth Ann in Cincinnati. We were joined by son Jr and his family.
Stacy and Ruth Ann fed us well, we opened gifts and played with the girls.

First painting experience!

Dec. 24th we went to brother Dennis and sister-in-law Pat's house for Wegley Christmas. We ate more delicious food, opened gifts and played games. Of course, Stacy, Ruth Ann (Woof to the girls), Jr, Brandey and the twins joined in the fun and games.

Dennis and Pat and family.

Christmas Eve and Christmas morning we were present for the Latimer family bedlam.

Santa was here!

Stockings first.

Judah has the Stiff-Arm-Paper-Throw down pat. He is 1 1/2 mos. older than the twins. Two year olds are always fun at Christmas!

Simon (4) is the Bomb!

Gifts all around. (Louise is on the couch.)

Wolverine and Spidey put in an appearance.

Maddy loves her new clip-on earrings.

After gifts, Benji cooked a delicious breakfast. We ate ourselves silly then played a new board game with the children. Soon it was time to pack our bags and give Maddy her room back. We headed to (Louise's) sister Martha's house for dinner with Marycarol and Dave, niece Teresa and her son Shawn, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Ronola. A couple of hours later, all partied out, we headed out to spend the evening with Jr and family. Next morning it was time to hit the trail back home to Texas. We arrived safely around 11pm and headed for bed.

All in all we had a good time. Even our drive to and from Ohio was enjoyable because the weather was good (except for several hours of rain on the way back) and we had no accidents. As with any trip away from home it was stressful, but we managed to come back with only slight colds. Louise even managed not to gain any weight!


Enough is enough!

Louise and Duane

We are out of here

Just a short post to let everybody know that I went to the doctor today for my kidney scans and they came back ALL CLEAR. No cancer found. I want to thank all who wished me well and said a prayer for me. I must admit I was a little worried this time around. All the doctor appointments are complete with no major problems for either of us.
We will head back to Van Alstyne in the morning to leave our trailer at a friend of Jrs. and hit the road to Ohio Sunday returning to TX on the 26. When we get back we will head on west to our next workcamp job in Congress, AZ. unless something changes.
Merry Christmas to all our readers
Duane and Louise

Shreveport, LA

We have been in Shreveport for the last week. We are parked at the Elks Lodge of Shreveport, $10.00 a night. The Lodge has 8 sites with 30 amp. They have a water fill and a dump station. We have had doctor appointments every day but today, which was spent doing some Christmas shopping. Well that and going to all the bike shops in town....hehe. I have my kidney scans tomorrow to see if anything is growing there. We will decide after that if we are going back to Van Alstyne, TX or Livingston, TX to park the rv while we go to Ohio for a Christmas visit. If I need to go to MD Anderson for more test we go to Livingston. If I don't need any followup we go to Van Alstyne to leave the trailer till we get back. We will be in Ohio for 5 days.
Till later
Duane and Louise

Christmas at the Buechter's

We have spent the last week with son Jeremy's family. On Saturday, the Texas kids all showed up for early Christmas. Early in the day we went for a walk in the woods, the kids play outside on the trampoline when it warmed up a bit, we all ate way to much and then it was time for the gift exchange. The grandkids got lots of stuff they didn't need...lol...and the adults each brought a gift to put in the exchange. There were 9 adults that each put a gift on the table. We drew numbers to see who picked first. After the first picker had opened the gift the second picker could steal what the first had gotten or picked a new present and so on. The first picker also got the last pick. There always seems to be one or two things that keep being stolen from whom ever has it. This year was no exception. Several of the gifts traveled around the room several times before they all found a home. We had to put a 3 steal limit on a gift or we would still be there....lol Everybody had a great time and did I mention that we all ate way to much. We played games way into the evening. Everybody finally gave up about 1am and headed off to bed.
Jeremy and Jesse preparing some of the food.

Allie, Emma and Ava

Luke

all four grandkids on the trampoline

Having a great time....notice the static in the hair....very funny

Jesse and Jeremy.... notice the hair band on Jeremy

Daughters in law Jennifer and Brandey

Allie up a tree

Luke, Allie and Emma

Jeremy made a chair out of a stump that the kids love to sit in

Grandkids thinking they are going somewhere

Brandey driving.....EVERYBODY RUN

The mess begins

Jeremy's new hat. I thought he looked better in the hair band...lol

Tomorrow we are off to Shreveport, LA to start a week of doctor visits. We will be staying at the Shreveport Elks Club. They have 10 rv sites with 30 amp for $10.00 a night. We have appointments 4 of the 5 days next week and may need followups so hard telling when we will get everything done. We are heading to Ohio on the 21 to spend Christmas with the Ohio family. We will be heading back to TX on the 26. I am not sure where we will leave the rv while we are gone. I will make a decision when I find out if we need more doctor time when we get back.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Moved to Kilgore

We left Van Alstyne, TX today heading to Kilgore, TX. When we left Deming a week ago I had to put air in one of the trailer tires. I figured that after setting for 5 months the valve stem may have leaked a bit. Leaving Van Alstyne this morning I had to add air to the same tire. We got about 50 miles down the road and the Pressure Pro Tire system we have went off that the tire was low again. I stopped at a station and put air in thinking I could make it to Kilgore. About 10 miles later the alarm went off, low again. Just so happened that there was a tire shop right down the road. I pulled in and they pulled the tire right away. There was a big split on the inside of the tire. I could put my fingers between the tread and the steel belting. We were REAL lucky that the tire did not blow up and tear something up. I will check the rest of the tires as soon as the weather dries out a bit. I think I may have to replace all of them. When I went to hook up the sewer hose I discovered the it was split in 6 or 7 places. So tomorrow I will have to pick up a new one. 6 truck tires, 6 trailer tires, sewer hose and doctor bills this month, not a good month for the pocket book.
This evening we headed off to visit son Jeremy and his family. We will be visiting with them this week and Saturday all the TX kids are coming here for a Christmas get together. Next week it's doctors.
Till next time
Duane and Louise

Family time

We have been spending most of our time visiting with family. We took a little time yesterday to visit a biker store and the Walmart, going to a bike show this morning in Dallas. We are baby sitting for for twins tonight while Mom and Dad have a night out. I think they are most precious twins in the world.

Double potty chair

I forgot my camera at their house last night so these were taken with the cell phone. More pictures to follow. I know you all can't wait to see more pics of of these darlings....lol

Duane and Louise

On the move

We left Deming Tuesday morning heading east. We arrived in Van Alstyne, TX about 4 pm Wednesday. I told Louise if I ever decide to drive that far pulling the trailer again, kick me in behind...... The drive was 800 miles. That may not sound to far to those that are not full time rvers, but to most of us , that is a long way in 2 days. We normaly only go 250 and stay a day or 2. We were going to stop at Pecos, TX SKP park but they were full, so we kept going. It was dark when got to Midland, TX where there was a rv park that we called and they had a pull through open so we did not have to disconnect. I talked to the lady about how to get there, we could not find it. Called her back, she said we went east, should have gone west. We found a place to turn the rig around, could not find it. Called them back, we are on the wrong side of the interstate!! Did I mention it was dark and I don't see well after dark..... We finally got there and hooked up, I was TIRED. 400 miles down. We left about 8:30 the next morning heading to Van Alstyne, TX. another 400 miles.
We are staying at a place that is listed in the SKP travel book for overnight stay. It is on the grounds of a "store and lock" place. The man that owns it is an SKP member and allows other members to stay for free on his property. We are parked under an rv shed with 50 amp service, no water or sewer. I filled the water tank before we got here. I ask him if we could stay till Monday, he said "you can stay as long as you like", what a deal.
After getting hooked up we headed to Duane Jr and Brandey's for a visit. They had a church meeting to go to so we got to keep the twins while they were gone, what a hoot they are. Two 2 year olds are hard on an old man, but a heck of a lot of fun to wacth and play with. We will be heading back over there a little later in the day.
Duane and Louise

2 rides in one weekend

On Saturday I went on my first "poker run". For those readers that don't know what a poker run is, it is often run for some charitable cause. This ride was ran to help the family of a little girl that was born with a cleft palet to pay doctor bills. You ride your bike to different destinations drawing a card from a deck at each stop. At the end of the ride the person with the best poker hand wins a prize of some kind. This ride covered a little over 100 miles. I ended up with 2 pair but didn't win. There were about 30 bikes on the run.

First stop of the run

Second stop

On Sunday I rode in a "toys for tots" ride. This type of ride is done to collect toys to be given to families that can't afford to buy presents for their children at Christmas. This ride was held in Las Cruces, NM. We left the mall parking lot and was escorted by the police through town to a convention center where you turned in the toy you brought. You had to pay a fee and have a new toy that cost at least $7.00. The fee, $10.00, goes to several local agentcies that help children of the poor.

Half car half bike

Some of the crowd

Bikes arriving

This is a gold plated Yamaha

Bikes leaving the lot

The pile of presents collected

They said that there was over 1200 bikes in the ride. After we reach the center, we were treated to a bbq lunch. There was a band playing, a bike show and some vendors. There were door prizes donated by local dealers, (I didn't win anything0, free drinks. Maybe I can win something at the next ride I take part in.

All in all I had a great time at both events. Todays rides covered about 130 miles, most of it getting there and home again. I wish Louise could have gone along but she had to work yesterday and chose not to go today because of the long ride to get there and it was pretty dang cold riding on the way there. I'm looking forward my next ride.

Till next time

Duane and Louise