The Hohls: 2006

Friday, October 27, 2006

DAY 43 Lexington to home
David woke up when Jo was leaving to take the boys to school, and he talked to Jo out the window a minute. We planned to hang around until she got back, but we had breakfast, washed the dishes, packed up, unplugged, etc. and she still wasn’t back. We read stories to Nora and she still wasn’t back, so we left a note and took off. It feels weird to actually be heading home. I’m looking forward to it, though, mostly because we have gone through all the clean clothes, knowing we were going to be home soon, so we are all on our last pair of clean pants and I’m anxious to do some laundry.
Approaching Cincinnati, where I-75 and I-71 run together for awhile, the freeway is wide and busy with truck traffic. We always drive between 55 and 60 because our terrible gas mileage gets worse if we go any faster. But the speed limit most places is 65 or 70 (or higher, out west. It was 80 in Texas). So trucks on this stretch were passing us at a good clip, and, as usual, blowing us around like a kite. Then we were pulled over by a cop for “weaving in our lane” which is not illegal as far as I know. But David said it was reasonable cause to pull us over. Perhaps he thought we were smuggling drugs or Chinese immigrants in here or something. Once he figured out everything was fine, and David told him we were on our last day of a 6,000-mile trip, he went back to his car, then came back and gave David his license back and we were on our way.
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Arrived home! It feels bigger than I remembered, and we didn’t live here long enough before we left on the trip … neither of us remembers where anything goes in the cabinets!

DAY 42 Lexington

We feel like we’re waking up pretty late these days, but we’re still on Central Time, and we’re thinking about staying that way until it’s time to set the clocks back this weekend. After breakfast, we set out in Jo’s minivan with Nora, Michael, Tom and the three of us for an Amish store. Unfortunately Jo hadn’t been there before and we had dubious direction, so we drove around the country for a couple hours before actually getting there. We subsisted on snacks I found in the diaper bag and crackers and fudge bought at the Amish store until we got back around 2 p.m. Tom had fallen asleep, and Jo moved him into our camper and said he’d stay asleep and she’d go get the other boys from school. Of course as soon as she left, he popped right up and wanted to play. We all had a late lunch and then tried to take naps, but Tom didn’t want one. David took Tom and the ingredients for tonight’s chili and went in the house. Nora and Michael slept while I did dishes and made chocolate chip cookies. Then Jo got home and enlisted the boys to babysit (listen to the baby monitor) while I got to ride again. After that I came up to the camper and nursed Michael and then David and I got to go for a ride by ourselves: me on Gypsy and David on Jack, the bigger horse. It was really cool. It was a great way to spend the last evening of the trip, riding horses on this beautiful farm as the sun went down. And it was something we never could have except that we were at the home of relatives who could watch the kids. It was great. The horses hardly listened to us at all, but the walked around and trotted up the hills, and that was mostly what we wanted to do anyway. Again, they started and stopped when we said to, so they weren’t really bad. I think they just had us pegged as amateurs and knew they didn’t have to listen to us. I helped unsaddle the beasts, and then we all had chili for dinner and cookies for dessert. We stayed up and talked a little after Nora and Michael went to bed, but we were all feeling pretty tired. I availed myself of the nice shower Jo and Herb offered me, and then we all went to bed.

DAY 41 Nashville to Lexington, KY
Last night was our last night in a campground for this trip.
This morning we headed for David’s aunt and uncle’s house, just south of Lexington. It was an uneventful drive, and probably one of the best and most peaceful 200-mile-plus hauls we have had on this trip. We pulled in their driveway in the afternoon, and because it’s a farmhouse with some land, there was plenty of space (level space!) in the driveway for us. Jo gave us a tour of their neat old farmhouse where they just moved recently. It had a lot of character and charm. Each of their three boys has his own room. It’s a nice place. Then she went to pick up the two older boys from school while David played with Tom, their youngest. When the boys got home, they took David and Nora on a go-kart ride around their property. They came back up to the house where I was talking to Tom and nursing Michael. Nora would stay up at the house while David went down with Herb and Jo to ride the horses. Nora and Tom (and Michael) and I were having a fine time, but they were all supposed to be back in 30 minutes or so, and I knew it had been more than an hour. Turns out the horse David was on, Gypsy, didn’t have her saddle on quite tight, and it slipped and David fell off the side of the horse, but luckily while they were still standing still. So things took a little longer than planned. But he wasn’t seriously hurt and got back up and went for a ride. Then it was my turn. I was starving by then for the lasagna that was already done and sitting on the stove, but I really wanted to ride. I went down and rode Gypsy. I felt OK getting on her, because I had ridden horses probably once a year during my teen years (or more) and then once every 3 to 5 years as an adult. But once I got on I realized that I had only ridden at a riding stable, where all the horses have been ridden their whole lives and just go out on the bridle path and go the same way and come back the same way. This was a whole different thing. Gypsy was new to being ridden, and we could go any way we wanted. And there was no long line of riders to follow behind, keeping us at a walk. It was really exciting and fun. Herb was riding the other horse, and Gypsy was pretty much following, but not always. Nor did she always listen to me. She did start and stop when I said to, though, so that was comforting. I had to stop riding because I was too hungry and it was getting dark. David went for one last go-round and helped unsaddle them. The rest of us had dinner. (Jo had already fed Nora and Tom while I was gone.) After dinner we got the camper plugged into their garage (after some technical difficulties) and fired up the furnace. We put Nora to bed and brought the bassinet in for Michael to sleep in while we talked and David and I showed our photos.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

DAY 40 NASHVILLE
(photos: inside the Opryland Hotel; Nora's first carousel ride.)
It was a gloomy day this morning. I went up to the office to get David some of the free morning coffee they offer here. It was a bit weak for his taste. I also found out that the shuttle to Opryland advertised in the book was more like a $50/person Gray Line tour that happens to pick people up from here. So that was out. We were going to be driving. I didn’t really know what was at Opryland, just that it was something people always go to see. We drove to the area and parked in the bus parking, which was free. (Car parking, though closer, was $10.) I knew there was a boat tour of the gardens inside the Opryland Hotel courtyard, so I figured it must be pretty big. We walked up to a hotel employee we saw outside and said we were just sightseeing and asked where we should go. She directed us inside, where we passed through the hotel lobby into a stunning indoor garden with waterfalls and fountains and suspended walkways. It was beautiful. Also Nora gets REALLY excited about fountains, so she was happy. And that wasn’t even the room with the boat tours. We kept walking and went into another fountain/garden room. All the hotel rooms seemed to face onto these beautiful domed courtyards. At the end of this second room, we were looking down into what looked like a fantastic buffet. There was fresh-baked bread, shrimp cocktail, a waffle bar, roast beef -- and all of it looked really gourmet and great. We forgot it was Sunday, though. It turned out the buffet was nearly $30/person, so we passed. We moved onto the Delta courtyard, where there was a river with boats that ran along a track. There were also some fantastic fountains that moved and leapt and gushed. We bought some overpriced Pizza Hut and sat in front of one of the fountains on some chairs. Nora was actually giggling with excitement watching the fountain. She was still talking about it over dinner back at the camper tonight. Then we walked on an outdoor path to the Grand Ole Opry, home of the longest running country music radio show. You couldn’t really see the auditorium without getting show tickets, and there weren’t any shows on Sunday. We walked across the parking lot to the Opry Mills shopping mall, which was enormous. We didn’t buy much, but Nora took her first carousel ride with David. “I rode the HORSIE!” she told me when she got off.
Back at the campground, we pulled in and were met with a questioning look from the campground owner. I guess we were supposed to check in this morning, even though I thought I had paid for two nights over the phone. They had already given our site to someone else, but luckily had another one available. They had thoughtfully collected our doormat and dog tie-outs from our old site. After we moved and had a snack, we went to the camp office to ask a question. We ended up in the back room behind the office, where they have computers you can rent and free board games. David and I played a couple games of checkers. Then Nora and I went to the playground while David and Michael talked to the owner. Nora really liked this playground, even though it was mostly really old, metal playground pieces badly in need of a coat of paint. She hardly played with rocks at all, moving from one play car to another and asking to go down the slide “again” and again. After a while I was freezing and insisted we go back. After we warmed up, and while David was making pork stir-fry, Nora and I went to the book exchange and turned in three of our old paperbacks for some new (used) ones.
After dinner, David asked Nora if we should have dessert. Her eyes lit up and she said, “Cookies,” and pointed to the snack cabinet. David tried to get her off the subject, but she kept pointing. David said, “Nora, do you have a one-track mind?” She said, “Cookies. COOKIES!”
Nora went to bed in her sweatshirt and no pants because she wouldn’t cooperate with David in getting her pajamas on. But other than those battles, she really has been very good. She rides happily in the stroller or the backpack and usually goes along with whatever we’re doing.

DAY 39 Memphis to Nashville

(photos: a tow truck helping us out; friends hanging out in the camper; in the morning, David climbed in bed with Nora)
Our goal was to get on the road between 9:30 and 10 a.m. We pulled out at 10:22 a.m. Not bad. To be fair, we did have to add in some time for David to complain to the management that a panhandler KNOCKED ON OUR SIDE DOOR last night around 9:30 p.m. Can you believe that? We were aware by now that Graceland is not in the nicest part of Memphis, if there is a nice part, but seriously. Can you imagine? Someone coming up and knocking on the door to ask for spare change? We tied Dalice outside for several hours, but we ended up bringing him in because he was barking too much and it was keeping us up. All our stuff was still there in the morning.
OK, to be completely honest, we didn’t lose any time complaining. David went to complain while he was waiting on me to finish the dishes in order to pull forward off the leveling blocks and put them away without having half the dishwater slosh out of the sink. He said the manager or owner had floated the theory that maybe it was a Memphis cop undercover as a panhandler, because in Memphis it is illegal to give money to panhandlers. David said, “Sir, this was not a cop.” And the guy said, “Well, I’m an ex-cop, and let me tell you…. (blah blah blah)” To which David replied, “Sir, I’m an ex-cop, and this was not the police.”
Anyway, we pulled out and headed for Nashville. Things were just going well when David pulled off because he was getting a weird bounce that didn’t seem to be caused by the road. Sure enough, we had a flat. It turned out it was caused by the valve stem going bad. We called AAA and they said it would be an hour. We called back after an hour and a half, and they said the guy would be there in an hour. Then the guy called and said he would there in about an hour. He did show, with his pregnant wife and kids in tow (he wasn’t supposed to be working today) and got us back on the road. While stopped, we met a guy who was going from Albuquerque, NM to Key West, Fla. in three days. With no atlas. David helped him out with his route. Apparently he had just enough money for his $900 camper and gas, but not enough to buy an atlas.
After a stop at the grocery store, when all the kids were finally settled again, we tried to pick up a conversation we had been having before the flat. I said, “OK, now what were we talking about three hours ago?” That’s when we realized it had actually been six hours since I was last sitting up front next to him, just talking. This was on a day when we had less than 3.5 hours of driving to do.
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As it was taking longer and longer to actually get to our site in Nashville, I was getting more and more skeptical a planned meeting I had arranged with some friends this evening would take place. I had envisioned us pulling in around the late afternoon, having dinner, and then my friends coming by the campground to sit outside in camp chairs and watch the sun go down. We didn’t end up getting in until nearly 8 p.m. after the sun was long gone and we could see our breath in the cold. I called at about 6:30 p.m. to make sure there were sites available (so far on the trip this has never been a problem except at the National Parks) and she said there was ONE site left. So I bought it for two nights, and gave her my credit card number over the phone to charge it. My friends did show up, but of course I had planned on sitting outside. There were 5 of them plus a newborn, and of course there are 4 of us. So we were sitting outside in the dark freezing, with some people sitting on the wood deck “patio” on our campsite, as I showed photos of our vacation on the laptop -- a modern day slideshow, probably not much more interesting than the ones people groaned about in the ‘80s. I apologized for the conditions, and David suggested that if he uninstalled the kids’ car seats, we could all fit inside. So we did that, which was MUCH better. I felt bad for not having thought of it first or sooner. It was still a tight squeeze, though, and it only worked because Nora was already in bed up top and Michael was sleeping back on our bed. About 10:30 p.m., after sharing the cheesecake one of the couples had brought, everyone left. We played a game of cards and went to bed.

DAY 38 Memphis

(photos: Michael was actually awake for this American tourist attraction; Elvis stuff; the famous pink Cadillac)
We had great weather today. We had breakfast here, then strapped on the children and walked the few blocks to Graceland. It is not really set up for pedestrians to walk there, as we found out when we realized the place to purchase tour tickets was across the street at the parking area. It is a Friday morning of no particular consequence as far as I can tell, and yet there was already a large line at the ticket counter and waiting to get on the bus. It was pretty expensive. It was $22 for just the tour of the house and grounds. It was $30 for that, plus admission to five other museums and exhibits, such as Elvis’ airplane and Elvis’ cars. We went ahead and ponied up for the more expensive one, and we did get 10 percent off with our AAA card. The shuttle took us across the street to Graceland, and we all got acquainted with our audio guides, little plastic digital players with headphones. I knew that would be a challenge, because there is no way to pay attention to a recorded voice and to Nora at the same time. Even though she was being ignored some of the time, she was well behaved in the backpack. Sometimes one of us would let her listen to the headphones, and she would say, “Man talking in there,” or “Everyone is in there!” when there was music playing. The audio guides made things a little strange, since there were dozens of people milling about silently in close quarters, completely not paying any attention to each other. But it was neat to see an American cultural icon, and the house itself was pretty cool. It is not really all that grand by today’s standards, but it certainly was uniquely furnished. The outbuildings were interesting, too, including the racquetball courts, the pool, the horse stables and of course the meditation garden where Elvis and his parents are buried. The guide and exhibits really made Elvis out to be a saint, emphasizing his gifts to charity, his award from a service organization, his military service and his religion. The audio guide attributed his death to “chronic health problems and his increasing dependence on prescription drugs.”
I guess the audio guides worked out pretty well in the end. If we had had a live tour guide, we would have worried about Nora talking over him or her, as has happened on other programs we’ve tried to do. Plus we could pause the guide to attend to the kids, and then start it up again. I can’t help but think about all the real tour guides out of a job. The audio guides allow them to pack more people into the house at one time. Sometimes it felt like cattle herding. And we could see the shuttle buses loading and unloading constantly. They obviously rake in the money doing this. All the smaller museums conveniently placed their exits at the opposite side of their gift shops. We avoided the overpriced hamburger joint where the shuttle drops off passengers and walked a couple blocks to a fast food place. The only seating they had was outside, but it was actually quite a nice day to have lunch outside. We were all wearing jackets, but the sun was shining and it was in the 60s.
After that, we went to see something called “Elvis After Dark.” The point of the exhibit was that between Elvis’ fame and his insomnia, most of the time he sought his amusement at night. In Memphis, he would rent the movie theater after it closed, or the fairgrounds when the fair was on, inviting his friends to ride the roller coasters and play bumper cars at 1 in the morning. There were also some interesting artifacts there, including a TV with a bullet hole in it. In the gift shop, there was a pool table from Elvis’ Bel Air home. Apparently Elvis and the Beatles had played pool on it. For a mere $100, we could have played, too. For 30 minutes. Yeah, right. During this exhibit, Michael had just eaten and was wide awake. He was actually pushing back from my body in the front back and tilting back his head to look at me and smile and make faces. Between his cute face and Nora asleep in the backpack, the kids were charming all the other tourists and all the employees.
Then we toured Elvis’ airplane, the Lisa Marie, which was pretty impressive. If you ignored the ugly ‘70s décor, you had to admire the gold-plated sinks in the bathrooms and the nice conference table. A video playing inside the plane informed visitors that one winter he realized Lisa Marie had never seen snow, so they flew to Colorado to play in the snow for a minutes, then flew back home.
Then we went on to some other forgettable exhibit explaining his rise to fame and his relationship with his agent. After that was the car museum, which was really cool. There were several motorcycles and a lot of custom cars, including the pink Cadillac, and BMW roadster Priscilla liked to drive, and several other customized luxury cars.
We walked back to the RV park after that, and David held down the fort while I took a nap. (Nora had already taken her nap, beginning at the airplane tour and ending in the car exhibit.) We had dinner, and then David went out and duct-taped on the aluminum covering on our rear bumper, which fell off in Little Rock. (We were driving for the first time in quite awhile without the bicycle on the back, and the wind got under it on the freeway and tore it loose. We had been keeping in here in the aisle on the floor, which was pretty annoying. Now both kids are (mostly) asleep and we’re having a quiet evening.
After dinner, Nora was jabbering away and recited the most difficult page from a story of hers I have heard so far: “It came back on just in time for our favorite TV show, but the weatherman kept interrupting it. Then it started thundering loud.” (This is from “Just a Thunderstorm” by Gina and Mercer Mayer. Earlier today she asked me to read from a magazine we have laying around. I read the title of an ad she pointed to, and she said, “By Gina and Mercer Mayer.” She’s hysterically funny.)

DAY 37 Little Rock to Memphis
(photos: Our campsite in Memphis; Graceland, from the road out front)
Woke up to rain (again). Unfortunately I left Michael’s tent bubble outside because the sky was clear last night. So it is soaked and now riding in the outside storage. We stopped at a Target store in North Little Rock, then headed to Memphis. I even drove for a little while, until Michael woke up hungry. We are staying in an RV park a couple blocks from Graceland. We walked across the street to a cafeteria-style restaurant and ate there because it is raining and gloomy and freezing. During dinner, David and I were talking about how much fun Nora is, and how glad we are to have both kids on this trip. Nora really does make us laugh a lot. After we got back, we played on the bed with the kids and then took showers and got the kids clean, too. I fed and walked the dogs, and then of course they tracked mud in all over the RV. Plus this site is gravel and it isn’t level at all. Even using all the leveling slats we brought with us, David still could only get us from really tilted to slightly tilted. Oh well. The weather is supposed to improve tomorrow, but for tonight we have the heat on. It is supposed to get down to 40. I guess all the desert living made us pretty soft, because 40 feels extremely cold. Tomorrow we’ll see the sights here in Memphis.
(As I was reading through an old entry, I realized I never cleared something up. We were supposed to stop in Pecos, TX to get our groceries for the week. Nothing more is said about that until the next day’s entry, where we had stopped in Abilene for the same groceries the next morning. Turns out the store listed under “grocery” on the map in Pecos was a convenience/liquor store, about the size you‘d find attached to a gas station. We opted to wait until we could get to a real supermarket.)

DAY 36 Little Rock
(photos: Nora in front of Clinton's presidential limo; Nora's legs and Michael's tent. No, Michael was NOT in there at the time.)
Yesterday after I posted from Hot Springs, we drove to pick up our paintings and then redeem our free wine tasting at the Winery. I wasn’t too impressed with the wine, especially not at the high prices they listed. The port was nice, though. But not $20 nice. The man who owns the art store where we bought the paintings was interesting. He said he used to run a small grocery/gourmet food store in Little Rock. It was near the Baptist church President Clinton attended, and the president (then governor) would stop in after church for … at this point in the story he stopped and said, “You probably won’t want to hear this.” And I said, “Please don’t say doughnuts.” And he hung his head and said, “Yes. Well, not doughnuts. Pastries.” He explained that they had a very good pastry chef and Clinton would come in and buy pastries after church. We all had a good laugh.
After we left Hot Springs, we headed for this huge city park in Little Rock called Burns Park. It’s so big that it’s on both sides of Interstate 40; it has an amusement park (closed for the season); bridle trails, camping and a championship golf course. It is $16 a night for electric and water and the sites and spacious and forested. I can tell we are getting closer to home, as things are starting to smell familiar. The air smells like Camp Wyandot, and I recognize most of the trees. The oak that is dropping acorns on the camper had leaves that are just beginning to turn red around the edges. It was about 80 degrees today, though. That temperature is made even nicer by news reports we’ve heard that lots of the Midwest has had snow already.
After breakfast this morning, we drove a short distance into downtown Little Rock to the Clinton Presidential Center. It was fascinating, once we got there. For at least the third time, Microsoft Mary has plotted something in the wrong spot. The mapping software had the Clinton library on the other side of the Interstate. We were driving around wondering, first, why it wasn’t where the spot on the map was, and secondly, why there weren’t any signs for it. Then we realized we had a Little Rock attractions map the campground gave us, and we were able to get there easily. They even had dedicated RV parking.
The kids got in free, and Nora was a big hit with her “Future President” shirt on. It was one of those days where executing a graceful dance of trading off children was necessary. One of the first things you see at the center is a short movie about Clinton’s career. Of course Nora is apt to talk through most movies, and Michael is apt to cry if I sit down with him. So David was in charge of keeping Nora as quiet as possible, even when she bossed him around telling him to move his hands off his own armrest, and I was in charge of keeping Michael quiet, either by standing and rocking or by letting him suck on my pinky finger. We also made it through a short presentation in the replica cabinet room. Then we were off to look at the many, many exhibits, which were very well done. For each topic, there was a video or two, narrated usually by a cabinet member or other official. Surrounding the video screens were supporting documents, such as copies of speeches marked up by the president, news articles and photographs. It was best enjoyed if you could stand there and watch each video uninterrupted, so I basically redid the entire second floor in the afternoon when Nora fell asleep in the stroller and I was free to listen to the videos. I enjoyed reading about the Family Medical Leave Act while actually using the Family Medical Leave Act, which is what my maternity leave is. The third floor was less political and more about life in the White House. I was not terribly interested in the china patterns or the Christmas tree decorations, but I was fascinated to read and hear about how Clinton used his charismatic personality, coupled with well-orchestrated state dinners, to build relationships with foreign and domestic leaders.
By about 4 p.m., we had visited the gift shop down the street and were ready to head back to our campsite, just 6 miles away. It was humid and hot, but we sat outside and grilled out. Michael was crying and he felt hot and sweaty to me, so I took his outfit off. As I was taking a picture of Nora, I realized that I was outside our camper, sitting in a camp chair, drinking beer from a plastic cup and holding our son, who had no clothes on. At that moment, when I felt very much like a hillbilly, I was grateful to be in Arkansas, where I imagine such behavior doesn’t merit a second glance. Seriously, though, I rather like Arkansas. It’s kind of surprising it’s not a more populous state. It has all the heat of the desert states or Florida, but it has real trees that turn colors in the fall, and it has mountains, too. It also seems to have a very good retail base. Although Texarkana seemed essentially deserted, both Hot Springs and Little Rock have all the familiar chain stores and restaurants. And the people here are all very nice and gracious. The employees at the Clinton center were extremely kind. They all smiled at the kids and several times people pointed out places where I could sit down if I needed to. Plus they all have that great Bill Clinton accent.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

DAY 35 Hot Springs

(photos: Our campsite in Hot Springs; steam coming off a fountain of hot spring water; our Duck ride leaving the water and driving up the boat ramp)
The clouds have cleared. We headed into Hot Springs for a day of sightseeing. Tonight we are moving to a park near Little Rock. It took is awhile to find RV parking here. After trying unsuccessfully to squeeze into a couple of the pay lots, we learned there was free RV parking at a visitor center a couple blocks away. We walked the streets of the downtown and the old Bathhouse Row. Then we bought tickets to the Duck Boat tours. These are given on a thing called a Duck which is a bus and a boat. They were made in the mid-40s for military purposes, but they are still running. The driver has to have a CDL to drive a tour bus, plus he has to be certified by the Coast Guard to drive a tour boat. They just drive them down the boat ramp, engage the prop, and off we go on a boat ride. Very cool.
Then we visited the wax museum because you practically have to buy a ticket to the wax museum in order to go on the Duck Ride.
We are buying some art here, because it’s quite affordable. Also, right next to the parking lot where we are, people are pulling up, driving hours to come here and fill up jugs with the mineral water. The National Park took over the actual springs and made it a law that no one can charge for the water. So there is this big fountain-type thing with spigots all around it, and people just come and fill up their jugs with the water. We are filling ours up, too, because what the heck! It’s free! Sitting here in the parking lot, I noticed the Visitor and Convention Bureau apparently provides free wireless Internet access. Nora is taking a nap, so I will try to pay some bills and maybe update the blog.

DAY 34 Texarkana to Hot Springs
We woke up to rain again, so off we went. I didn’t get much sleep last night with freight trains whistling every hour or so, and acorns smacking on the top of the camper. We stopped a couple times for breaks and lunch, and arrived at the Cloud Nine RV Park in Hot Springs in the early afternoon. It was still raining, so any of the Hot Springs National Park attractions were out. We are all pretty grumpy, though, so after we checked in, we drove to the Hot Springs Mall. By the time we got there the humidity and lack of sleep had me really feeling awful, plus Nora hadn’t taken a nap yet. So David took Michael into the mall and Nora and I took naps. I slept hard. I woke up when David and Michael came back, and I went into the mall. When I came back out, Nora was STILL sleeping. (She had told us she wasn’t sleepy and didn’t need a nap.) David picked up a cable at the Sears in the mall so we could catch the bears on Monday Night Football tonight. We had dinner and put the kids down for bed and watched the game. We are really hoping the sun will come out tomorrow, because it’s getting annoying not being able to tie the dogs outside and not being able to play outside. Also it’s just been so dark and oppressive, it’s making us all grumpy. We are feeling better since we decided to buy the cable and have a little football party tonight.
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What a crazy game! The undefeated Bears were down 20 or more points to one of the worst teams in the NFL, and came roaring back in the second half to win! And they scored NO points on offense. It was all defensive interceptions run back for touchdowns, field goals, and a punt returned for a touchdown. Just like the old Bears: all the points scored by the defense and special teams! It was hard not to scream and shout during the game, but Nora was sleeping just a couple feet away.

DAY 33, Texarkana (Texas/Arkansas)
Our plans to stay in nowhere, Texas were scrapped this morning when we woke up to rain. There’s no point staying somewhere that isn’t on our list of attractions if it’s raining. As we always say, if we’re going to be stuck in the camper all day, we may as well be going somewhere. We did some cleaning this morning, washing the inside of the windshield and vacuuming and such. My little Dirt Devil I got in college is sure getting a workout this trip. We headed to a Passport America campground in Texarkana which is on the border of Texas and Arkansas. There was a county park that was super cheap, but something like a 20-mile drive away from the interstate we are on. We are all kind of grumpy so we decided to pay more and stay at the place right in Texarkana. The book says it has an indoor pool. The main thing is that we will officially be out of Texas. I’m starting to dislike Texas a lot. Maybe because we don’t have any destinations here and it’s a big state to get across. Gas is cheap, though. We’ve gotten gas for $1.90/gal and $1.99/gal here.
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As we approached the RV park here in Texarkana, we got a sinking feeling. The neighborhood started getting worse the closer we got to the park. Plus the mapping software showed it 4 blocks away from where it really was, so we thought maybe it had vaporized like the one yesterday. We did finally see it, though, and it had a high black wrought iron fence around it and a brick office, which is rare for an RV park. We thought it looked pretty nice after all. We were both getting organized to get out of the camper and check in and we were practically attacked by RV park staff trying to help us get in. They ended up giving us the Passport America discount, even though it was supposed to be effective only Mon.-Thurs. As we pulled in, I could see there was an adjoining motel (which actually turned out to be small apartments) and a restaurant. At the campsites, there were concrete parking pads and the electric and water were located in a brick box. We have a big oak tree at our site. So big and old, it’s too big around to put the dog tie-out around it. Walking around with Nora, I thought this must have been a really premier place, and then the neighborhood around it kind of deteriorated. Talking to someone in the laundry room later, I found out that was pretty much the case. It was an old Howard Johnson and it was really nice, in a historic area near downtown. Then the interstate came through and everything went south. I should mention there’s a freight rail track that runs right behind the place. It is a BUSY track. I was overcome by motivation after we parked and I had Michael and Nora “help” me with the laundry, then put them down for naps while I made dinner and cookies. After dinner we took Nora to the pool. It was kind of neat because the pool is under a giant glass dome, and it’s a nice pool. Unfortunately it either isn’t really heated or it’s heated by the sun or something. It was COLD. Really cold. They have a sauna attached, and we turned the sauna on so we could warm up when we got out of the pool. Poor Nora is just like me. After about 10 minutes in the pool, her lips turn blue. It was kind of a long hike between the camper and the pool, so David and I were exhausted after I carried Michael back in his carseat carrier and David carried Nora back wrapped in a towel inside the duffel bag. Nora went to bed and Michael stayed up while I finished folding the laundry. We’re watching football on TV (since we’re actually in a city and it’s a weekend) and listening to acorns and rain fall on the roof. It’s been pretty cramped in here today because it’s too rainy to tie the dogs out. But I think we’re both recovering from yesterday. We are looking forward to having several destinations that are only 100 to 200 miles apart.

DAY 32 Stink Creek to Dallas
An uneventful night, except that we were jammed into the rest area. It was a small one, and by the time we pulled in, in was almost completely full of truckers and others who had pulled off to sleep. We wedged ourselves in. Woke up in the morning and drove a few miles to Abilene, where we stopped at an Albertson’s for groceries. I guess it’s that Southern way, but they practically required us to let them help us out to the car. They don’t have any cart corrals, so they must walk each customer out and take their cart back in. We are headed for Dallas today. We are planning to stay in a Passport America in downtown Dallas so we can walk to see the JFK memorial. It’s Saturday, but we’re not listening to Car Talk or a quiz show. Apparently they aren’t too into National Public Radio here in central Texas.
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Both kids fell asleep in the late morning, so we just kept driving and driving while we had peace and quiet. Lately, coming to a stop, even for a moment, means Michael wakes up and starts crying and won’t stop. So we kept going. We made it all the way to Fort Worth, where we stopped when Nora woke up. We pulled into a shopping center for lunch and so David could take a powernap. After we got back on the road, things started to deteriorate. We drove in heavy traffic into Dallas. We got off to check into the Passport America campground that looked on the map like it was right in downtown Dallas. Turns out, it was right in the ghetto-trashy neighborhood just outside downtown. We were not staying there. At all. We drove a few blocks to the JFK memorial and parked. The memorial turned out to be four ugly white art-deco style walls. With nothing written on them. It was the most pathetic memorial I’ve ever seen. The sign nearby made mention of a museum nearby. David offered to take care of Nora so I (and Michael) could go see the museum. It was actually kind of interesting. It was located in a government building that was formerly the Book Depository, where the shots were allegedly fired from. The museum itself was on the sixth floor, where Oswald was. But it cost money to go up, and I didn’t have any with me. I did get to read several interesting exhibits on the walls downstairs, though, including accounts from several doctors in the emergency room where the President arrived. Surgeons were packed into the trauma room because no one knew what the injuries where and what specialists would be needed. Much was done in the first few seconds, but the severity of the President’s head wound left no doubt that any further efforts after that would be in vain. The accounts described a hospital in chaos, with reporters asking friends at the hospital to literally hold the phone to keep a line open to their newsrooms after the Secret Service shut down all new outgoing calls. The reporters knew the president was shot, but didn’t know the extent. It was interesting. Downtown Dallas was creepy, though. Most downtowns are, on a Saturday, so I don’t fault Dallas. But David’s main reason for not coming to the museum was there were three homeless guys within 50 feet of where the camper was parked. One was passed out on the ground. Since we knew we couldn’t stay at the horrible ghetto campground, we pressed on eastward. The next campground I had marked on the map was 109 miles away, and David didn’t want to go that far. I started looking for one closer to Dallas, but that meant I was working on the computer and navigating. At the same time, both kids were unhappy. Michael was crying and Nora had dropped all five things we had given her to keep her busy in her carseat. I think Michael’s crying was getting on her nerves, too. But I had to stay up front to work on the directions. I found a mobile home park listed under camping, and we got off at the exit. As soon as we got in the left turn lane and cars started stacking up behind and beside us, I realized the mapping software had us going eastbound on the service road on the other side of the highway -- a service road that is one-way westbound. I could see there was no other way to get to the park except to get back on the highway, go past it, and come back. But we couldn’t get out of the left turn lane. So we went ahead around the corner, under the highway. There was no where to turn around, and the only way to get past the mobile home park and come back west on the one-way service road was to go in an enormous circle around a giant high school and an industrial park. We had to go even farther because the one road I planned to take said, “No trucks. Narrow bridge.” At that point I was ready to scream, and the kids were already screaming. We made it around the giant detour and came back west on the service road to get to the mobile home park. Guess what? No mobile home park. There was nothing there. I did see a large vacant lot with a picnic table in it that might have been a park once. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! We got back on the highway going east and decided we were going OUT for dinner. I told David he could stop if he saw something, but I had to go into the back and be with the kids and he should just head for the place 100 miles away. He did find a KOA after a few miles. Despite our vow not to give KOA any more money, we pulled off. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. We asked at the KOA and the closest restaurant was a truck stop a couple exits farther down. We headed for it. We went in to the Pancake House and remembered that there are some places in this country that still don’t have a nonsmoking section. It was a horrible greasy spoon with a waitress who kept touching Nora’s face and arm. But hey, someone else was making the food. As soon as our salads came, Michael started crying and wouldn’t stop, despite having just been fed and changed before going in. After David finished eating, he took Michael back to the camper and Nora and I took our time finishing. We went back to the campground and finally got the kids to bed and promptly fixed ourselves some adult beverages. What a day. This was the most trying day so far, definitely. We are actually contemplating just staying for a day here in the middle of nowhere in Texas just to avoid driving tomorrow, even though there’s nothing to do here.

DAY 31 Carlsbad Caverns to somewhere in Texas
After breakfast we all went to the pool, although Michael stayed in his carseat carrier and didn’t get in. I snuck out for a few minutes to take a shower at the campground bathhouse, then came back to help herd the family back to the camper. We drove to the caverns again, this time to go underground. There were a lot of signs warning of strenuous trails the way we wanted to go, through the “natural entrance.” Once we got there and saw it was a paved trail with handrails along both sides, we thought, “Well, how hard could this really be?” Not to mention it’s one way going down, and you take an elevator back to the surface. But after about a half mile of walking downhill, with one child strapped on each of us (no strollers allowed) we could see how this could get taxing on the knees.
I learned that the twilight zone is not just an old TV show. It refers to the part of the cave where there is still some daylight getting in from the surface and you can still see a little bit. We passed through the twilight zone and into the section lit only by strategically placed artificial lights. The caves were awe-inspiring. There were colossal columns, silent pools of water, and ornate details dripped into the rock formations over millions of years. As we walked past one display of stalactites and stalagmites, David saw a pair of them growing from the floor and the ceiling that looked like they were about to touch. He said, “Look at that! Maybe that will be a column. Maybe in a thousand years.” Nora said, “Nope. It’s rocks.” We cracked up laughing. Also, some of the formations are called popcorn, because they are detailed little rounded drips of minerals. I commented that I really like the little popcorn ones. Nora said, “Go back to big car. Get popcorn.” She also likes trail mix, which she pronounces, “Trail Nax.” I assume she thinks “nax” is short for “snacks.”
We hiked from the natural entrance to the elevators and came up to the surface and made lunch. Then we went back down for the less-taxing tour of the “Big Room,” which consists of a fairly level walkway and much more spectacular formations, such as the Hall of Giants. I took lots of photos, but they don’t capture the scale of the place.
Our plan was to do the shorter hike in the afternoon, and then have some peaceful driving while Nora took her nap in the car. But she feel asleep on the hike, instead. When she woke up I guess she had forgotten where we were. Her eyes opened, then got really wide as she took in her dim, humid surroundings. She started pointing in circles, like she was too overwhelmed to ask what any particular thing was, and just needed to point at the whole place. So now we are in the car and she is NOT napping. We just lost another hour as we passed from Mountain Time to Central Time. We are going to stop at a supermarket up the road in Pecos, Tx., to get our food for the week. Perhaps we’ll get another jar of trail nax.
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Stopped for gas. At $2.06, it was cheaper, by a full eight cents, than any gas we’ve seen. Where was this great price, you ask? A Pilot station in Midland, Texas. There were not one, but two Halliburton trucks sitting in the gas station with us. Michael’s been crying a lot for unknown reasons today. When we got to the gas station, I took him out of his seat and took him over to see Nora. Nora’s idea of playing with Michael was first to smile at him and say hi, which was nice, and then to shove her stuffed animals in his face and make growling and barking noises with them. And by “shove” I mean literally to smoosh her stuffed animals, with their matted fur, into Michael’s nose and mouth. He responded by smiling a big smile and cooing. Kids are weird, I guess. I suppose a 2-year-old knows better than I do how to cheer up an infant. And she can make her bear say, “Roar, roar” over and over without getting bored.
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Pulled into a rest area to sleep. It was the exit right after Stink Creek Road. I am not kidding.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

DAY 30 - Deming, N.M. to Carlsbad Caverns

(photo: Nora with her rock and Junior Ranger badge. Sorry, no photos of the bats. It's not allowed. The flash is bad for the bats.)
Yesterday, Michael fell asleep during my 5 p.m. hike and didn’t wake up (it was 6 p.m., but we changed the clocks coming into N.M.) so I woke him up before I went to bed and fed him. He woke up at 7 a.m., which was like sleeping in. We packed up at a leisurely pace. Nora asked to go back to the playground again (I can’t believe she remembered that she could, and thought to ask…) so David took her while I washed the dishes and put away all the inside gear. On our way out of the park, we stopped at the visitor center. There was a ranger there who gave Nora a Junior Ranger badge and let her choose one of the polished rocks from the basket. She was really nice. She also told me one of the rocks I found had a bit of opal in it! Not enough to make us rich, though, I’m afraid.
Our destination today is along the southern border of New Mexico, so we actually crossed into Texas for awhile to follow the highway. We stopped and gassed up for $2.14 a gallon. It’s the first time I can remember when we were below a quarter of a tank and we filled up and it cost less than $100.
Around 2:30 p.m. we drove through the Guadalupe Mountains, which were beautiful. There is a small national park there, but we didn’t stop. We are going to Carlsbad Caverns. The place we are staying tonight is in the town of Carlsbad, 20 miles past the caverns. The campground sounds really nice, but we are going to stop at the caverns first to watch the bats fly out at sunset.
Michael was fussy during the beginning of the drive. Neither a clean diaper nor a full belly would calm him down, and he didn’t want his pacifier (which we found), either. After lunch I ended up falling asleep with my head on the side of his car seat, I was so exhausted from trying to comfort him. He did finally take a nap, and mercifully it was at the same time as Nora’s nap. It’s nearly silent in the camper now as we drive through the high desert and prairie toward the caverns. Silent, that is, as long as you can tune out the roar of the engine and the squeak of the side door and the rattle of the trays in the oven.
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Made it to Carlsbad Caverns, toured the visitor center and made dinner in the parking lot. Then we went to see the bats leaving the cave. It was amazing. They swarmed at the entrance, almost like they were in a blender, and the sound of their wings was like a far-off waterfall. Then they would take off in groups. It looked like a cloud of smoke leaving. There were thousands and thousands. It was beautiful. Nora tried really hard to be quiet, as there is supposed to be silence so as not to distract the bats. But the amphitheater is right at the cave entrance. And it is hard to be quiet when you’re almost two. There were other families there, but the kids younger than Nora weren’t talking yet, and so were quiet. The kids older than her had some idea about whispering and such. We tried to teach Nora to whisper and she would do it a couple times, and then she would say in a loud voice, “Nora whisper. Bats whisper. Mr. Bear whisper, too!” So David had to end up taking her to the back, but they could still see.
After that we left the park and drove the 20 miles to the campground. It is really nice. There is an indoor pool, a big playground, and -- best of all -- good neighbors. The folks next to us are great. Their kids are 14, 11, 9 and 7. The oldest girl, Lindsey, is deaf. So we had a great time hanging out with the parents and the kids after our two went to sleep for the night. Pretty sad when conversation with middle schoolers is exciting, but that is honestly the case. It was also fun brushing up on my sign language talking with Lindsey.

DAY 29 - Tombstone to New Mexico

(photos: Boothill Cemetery; our blown tire; our nice campsite at Rockhound SP)
We got up early, put away all our outside stuff, had breakfast, etc. David and Nora took the movie back to the store, which opened at 8:30 a.m. David said Nora walked part of the way there and all the way back, and they actually came back sooner than I expected, and I figured David would carry her most of the way. She can walk just fine, but when she stops every 10 seconds to pick up a rock or inspect a plant, it can take an hour to walk 50 yards.
By the way, if you are wondering about the little marks on Michael’s nose in the photos from previous days, he was laying on a blanket on his tummy on a nylon-covered swing at the Randalls’ house. He squirmed around so much he pushed his blanket out from under his face, then rubbed his face back and forth on the swing, chafing the skin on his nose. It scabbed over, but it’s almost gone today.
We pulled out around 9 a.m. and stopped several blocks later at the Boothill Cemetery - the one with all the funny and famous gravestones. (Here lies Lester Moore. Four slugs from a .44. No Les. No more.) Ownership of the cemetery was recently taken over by the City of Tombstone. They request a voluntary $2 donation to go in, which we gave. They have done a lot of work there since I visited last.
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We were driving along I-10, approaching the border between Arizona and Texas, when we heard a loud noise and then a lot of banging. Figuring a cabinet had popped open or something, I went back to investigate. After about five seconds, I told David to pull over. It was definitely something on the outside. It was outside of the kitchen area, which could have been the stove vent, the drain valves or a variety of things. Turns out we blew a tire. Our choices were to try to call AAA from there, or try driving to the nearest stop. We were five miles from the next exit and it was one of the dual-axle tires that blew, so it wasn’t completely disabling us. The other tire right next to the blown one was carrying the weight of that side. I wasn’t driving, but I knew it couldn’t be hurting the steering much if David didn’t know right away that it was the tire. So we pulled back on the road and drove slowly to San Simon. Using the mapping software, I found something listed as a service station in San Simon. When we rounded the corner at the exit, we were shocked to see a sign for a truck stop specifically listing RV service. (I was imagining sitting around all day waiting for the correct tires we would need, or a big enough jack, or whatever.) Even more amazing, as we started to turn in, there was a sign painted on one of the truck stop buildings: TIRE SHOP. So we got ourselves a new tire and made sandwiches. We would have had to stop for lunch pretty soon anyway, so we didn’t really lose that much time. Just money. It wasn’t a totally unplanned expense, though. I had actually predicted before we left that we would probably have a problem with at least one tire, just because the tires--given their age and relative lack of movement before we bought this motor home--were the weak link.
Nora‘s comment on the whole situation was, “Dada having tortilla sandwich,” which is pretty funny because it was about three weeks ago now that he had a tortilla sandwich. I guess she just says it every once in awhile because it always makes me laugh.
We were also lucky that one of tire shop workers was getting back from responding to a roadside call at 12:15 because the guy who changed the tire for us wasn’t authorized to run the cash register. The other workers there were on an hour lunch break, and not expected back until 1 p.m. I guess you can get away with stuff like that in small towns.
We are back on the road and just passed an interesting road sign. In Arizona, the signs said, “Blowing dust, next 30 miles.” After we crossed into N.M. the sign said, “DUST STORMS MAY EXIST.”
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We pulled into a state campground here in Deming, N.M. called Rockhound State Park, after waiting for some cows to cross the road near the entrance. I picked this park ovenight just for Nora. Each visitor is permitted to take home up to 15 pounds of rocks, including the gems and minerals found in the hillsides here. The place is beautiful. Each campsite is quite large, and features a poured concrete patio, a level gravel parking space, landscaped cactus beds, a nice picnic table with a sun canopy over it, a garbage barrel, and an electric and water hookup. The sites are at different elevations, so you can’t really see into the other sites. They also have a nice playground that Nora made good use of. All this for $14. So far, the nicest and cheapest places we have stayed have been state parks. They require more energy and more fuel to get to than the KOAs and such located right along the highways, but I think we will make a more concerted effort to stay in state parks in the future. They seem to be the best deal and come with best scenery. This campground is apparently funded by the lease of mountaintop space for cellular and television antennae. They are kind of ugly, but we have great cell phone reception and we are getting about four different local TV channels showing ABC alone.
After we settled in, I hiked up the trail where people go with their bags and clawhammers to search for gems. I had an empty pants pocket and a Leatherman multi-tool. Not knowing what the heck I was doing, I looked for anything shiny or, alternately, funny-colored and smooth. I did find some shiny, sparkly rocks and also some that were dark colored and smooth. Supposedly gems look quite different polished than they do in their raw state. Rockhounding took me back to the days when I was a kid and would collect rocks in a corrugated cardboard box, sometimes “polishing” them on the edges of the box. Somehow I ended up with some Fool’s Gold in there, but I know it was given to me, not found on the ground. The searching today also made me remember that my mom’s dad had a rock tumbler, and I never got to know him before he died and never found out what happened to it. I wasn’t really prepared for a desert hike, since I was wearing shorts and tennis shoes and the narrow path was lined with cactus, so once I filled up my pocket, I scurried back down to the campsite, stopping at the campground display to compare my finds to those on the information board. Seems like most of the things I found were different colors of jasper. I still have hopes that the one I found had a vein of opal in it, but what do I know? When I arrived back at camp, Michael had spit up all over David’s shirt, then fallen asleep in his arms. Nora was (of course) collecting rocks, but when I came over to her, she said, “Mama, Nora’s bottom hurts.” This was kind of weird because usually if something hurts her enough to make her take notice, she is crying, or at least pouting. I said I would take a look. To my great surprise, I found a caterpillar in her diaper. I guess she didn’t know how to say, “It feels weird,” or something like that, and she knew something was wrong, so she said it hurt. Pretty crazy. It is VERY buggy here. There are tons of flies and I saw a gigantic hornet-type thing outside the window. Just thinking about it all makes me itchy.
We cooked out dinner, but ate inside because it was already dark when the burgers got done.
I’ve been realizing lately that a lot of what I have always loved about camping is the solitude: hiking familiar paths after dark with no flashlight at Camp Wyandot; sitting alone in a canoe in the middle of the lake; watching a sunset in silence. The few times I’ve been alone on this trip, I’ve felt that old feeling: a mix of peace and a little bit of trepidation. The fear I get walking a trail in the dark awakens the survival instincts that make me feel very human, physically . The serenity of being alone with my thoughts is calming and puts me in touch with my mind, making me acknowledge another aspect of my humanity. These moments have been rare on this trip, but I realize I need to create more of them. Playing with Nora at the playground, I stood next to her as she put pebbles into the holes on the side of the sliding board. Instead of getting impatient waiting for her, I turned and watched the orange sun slip below the horizon. Now that Michael is sleeping on a regular schedule, there’s no reason I can’t take the dogs for a walk after the kids’ bedtime. It’s not the same as when I was a teen. There is that constant pull of my thoughts toward the family, and the certainty that I need to get back soon. But tonight I went outside by myself after the kids were asleep, burned some cardboard boxes we had from the new things we bought, and stared at the stars. Out here, it’s hard to see the constellations because there are so many stars. In the city, it’s easy to pick out the big and little Dippers and Orion, because many nights they are they only stars really visible over the spill of the city lights. Out here, it is hard to find a black space in the sky that isn’t speckled with the glitter of tiny, far-away stars.
It seems like I’m just getting into the rhythm of this trip and it is two-thirds of the way over.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

DAY 28 TOMBSTONE
I forgot to mention that we figured out the source of our time zone problem. Apparently Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Savings Time, so half of the year they are 2 hours behind Central Time. So I was not going crazy. Our plans to not reset ourselves to Pacific time were basically scrapped since we have been in Arizona nearly two weeks and ended up having to get on their time after all. Now when we drive into New Mexico we will be on Mountain Time, and then I think we will change to Central Time again in Texas. Ugh.
The weather has been great overall on this trip, so I really shouldn’t complain … but … it seems like every time I resign myself to a change in weather and rotate the kids’ clothes (shorts and Tshirts to the front for Arizona, for example) it backfires. The high tomorrow is only 72. Which is nice, but that means most of the day will be in the 60s, which is pants and longsleeves weather. Last time we did laundry, I put all the cold weather clothes at the back of the drawers, figuring it would be warm until we got back up toward Nashville. We are only an hour or so from Mexico right now, and still we are having to dig out Nora’s jeans.
I highly recommend March of the Penguins, by the way. We put it on again this morning because Nora wanted to see the “animals on the TV” and it was just as good the second time. The complexity of the instincts needed to keep the penguins and their offspring alive is astonishing. A similar instinct toward inevitable development is at work in Michael. Right now he is pushing up on his elbows and looking around. (I suspect if he had enough room, he’d be rolling over.) He has also found his fingers to munch on, although I imagine that has more to do with us losing his pacifier than with his development. I don’t know how we lost it, as he seldom uses it and we always put it back in his bassinet. Oh well. We were going to throw it out when we got home anyway, because it’s kind of a crutch. (For us, not him.)
Day Two in Tombstone has been great. We had a leisurely morning, waiting to leave the camper until Nora had her morning poop and Michael had “second snacks.” We purchased a hodgepodge of tickets to various sights here. The reenactment of the Shootout at OK Corral is not appropriate for children, so we bought one ticket for that and two for the history film and museum. (I had already seen some sort of reenactment in the street when I visited Tombstone with my parents 10 years ago.) So we wandered around town this morning, returned our movie and bought a rug we had our eye on. We stopped in the Bird Cage Theater to see the bullet holes in the wall and such. There was more to see, but it cost $8 each, so we took a pass. Then we came back and had lunch in the camper. Nora went down for her nap and I took a turn going to see the film. I also toured the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper. I had not known that the founder of that paper had first founded the Tucson Citizen, where I worked as an intern in 1997. They had samples of the old fixed type, poured in lead. Then I came back to the campsite and David went to go see the reenactment.
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We went back to Allen Street before dinner, hitting all the shops and landmarks we hadn’t gotten to yet. David made kabobs on the grill and we ate outside. We had some wine in our new wine “glasses,” too. It was a nice night. We also rented the Director’s Cut of Tombstone on DVD. It wasn’t too much different than the original movie, but there were a few scenes left out of the original movie that cleared up some questions I had. It’s interesting that the movie takes the side of the Earps, but here in the town there must still be descendants of both sides because all the portrayals here are quite careful to point out the good points about the Cowboys and the bad points about the Earps, too. After seeing the historical accounts in town, it’s nice to see that the movie was careful to get thing right, including the positions where each man stood during the shootout at the OK Corral. It was interesting to actually walk around on the ground where these things really happened. One shop was selling cowboy hats on the pool table (probably not the same table) where Morgan Earp was shooting pool when he was shot and killed.

DAY 27 Phoenix to Tombstone
I slept great, and Michael slept from 10:30 p.m. until 6 a.m. David got up to get Michael and ended up taking the dogs out, unplugging the camper and getting an early start on the driving. We are heading out of Phoenix and into Tucson.
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We found gas for $2.19!!!!! We filled up, of course.
Whenever we stop, even for a minute to get gas, Nora says, “Nice ride. Get out.”
Driving through Tucson, we saw a sign for Camping World, which is an RV supply store. They have stores all over the country, but none near us in Columbus, and we hadn’t happened upon one until now (although I‘ve ordered things from them over the Internet). We stopped and bought a bulb for our exterior “porch light” which hasn’t worked since we bought the camper (turns out it was shattered); an outdoor rug/mat; an extra long windshield washer squeegee; some air freshener; acrylic wine “glasses”; a transparent fitting for the sewer hose; and a cover that goes over the cab windows to keep out the sun. We have a curtain that goes across behind the driver/passenger seats to keep the sun out of the coach area and prevent people from seeing in at night. It is easy to put up and take down, but it also means we lose the space in front of the curtain when we put it up. Since we are starting to feel a bit confined, we decided to get the exterior cover. Even if the dogs just go up and lay on the front seats, at least that frees up some extra space for us. Of course we bought the one that said it was for our vehicle, but it didn’t fit. Fortunately I had suggested we try putting it on before leaving the parking lot of the store. Sure enough, it was for a smaller vehicle than this. David took it back in and got one that fit. It isn’t too hard to put on. We didn’t try out the rug tonight, though, because our site is gravel. Although gravel seems kind of cruddy from a Midwestern point of view, it has it’s advantages. For one thing, it’s much cleaner than muddy Midwestern sites, and also cleaner than the sand/dirt sites often found in the desert. It also makes it pretty easy to clean up dog poop.
This is a pretty expensive camp site we are in tonight. We have WiFi and full hookups, but $29/night is pretty steep unless there is a pool or something. However the old adage “location, location, location” holds true here. We are at the Wells Fargo RV Park, and it is less than a block from the main drag in Tombstone, where the shootout at the OK Corral occurred. We pulled in, plugged in, and walked over to browse the shops and see the sights. It’s actually fun going in the shops here, because they all have really cool Southwestern decorations, clothing and other items, which we both like a lot. All our Southwestern decorations are still packed up in boxes because we don’t have space in the house to display them, but that hasn’t stopped us from admiring new items and plotting to buy them before we leave.
We stopped in Big Nose Kate’s Saloon for a bite to eat. Downstairs, where the old bar used to be, is a gift shop and a view of the secret silver mine of the janitor. Apparently the place used to be a hotel (and brothel, I believe) and the janitor got a small room in the basement in exchange for his work. There was a silver mine nearby, but the janitor was angling for his own piece of the vein of silver, so he dug a mine from the wall in his room. He was discovered by the owner of the real mine and killed, but you can still see his old bunk and the big hole in the ground.
We are planning to get tickets to a couple of the tourist re-enactments and shows tomorrow afternoon.
The general store in town had movie rentals for $1.25, so we rented March of the Penguins, a documentary about the Emperor Penguins that live in Antarctica. We put it in a little before Nora’s bedtime so she could see the “animals on the TV, Mama.” I told her they were penguins, but she kept thinking it was “Pig-Ones.” She also started waddling around the camper, saying, “Look Mama! Watch!”
It’s hard to believe we’ve been on the road nearly a month. Honestly I don’t think of home much at all. I mean, I think of people, but I seldom think of the house. Michael is getting bigger, though. Not so big that people notice him in the Snugli, but big enough that I notice. He laughed this morning for the first time. I was talking to him and making faces at him and such, and he laughed!
Our next real stop after this is Carlsbad Caverns, in New Mexico. It’s too far for a one-day drive, though, so we are probably going to stop in Deming, NM, to break up the drive.
If you are wondering why there aren’t too many great photos on this blog lately, it takes a really long time to upload photos. About half the time, midway through putting a photo on, there will be some error and I’ll have to start over. If I try sending more than one photo at once, none of them show up at all. So that explains that.

Monday, October 09, 2006

DAY 26 Phoenix
(Photo: The Hohls and the Randalls)
I was supposed to meet a friend this morning, but she called and cancelled because her son got sick. Instead we took showers and drove out to see Lisa’s mom in another suburb of Phoenix. We are invited to a poker game at the Randalls’ this afternoon.
Lisa’s mom lives in a 50-and-older gated community in Surprise, AZ. It’s very nice, with many community amenities such as a community center, auditorium, golf course and swimming pools. Her house is beautiful, too. She gave us a golf cart tour of the neighborhood. We also sat on her back patio and talked while Nora reorganized her rocks.
We went straight from her house to the Randalls, where Nora went down for a nap and David and I played poker. David and I were the first two people knocked out of the game, but we haven’t played in months. Nora woke up awhile later and David took her swimming in their pool while I played the second game. I ended up taking second place in that game and won $15. We took some photos with the Randalls and said our goodbyes. It was great seeing them. We got back to the campsite around 8:30 p.m. and put Nora to bed. We tried to watch a little TV, but nothing was really on. I plotted our route from Phoenix to Tucson, and we caught two or three minutes of preaching by Bill Winston, the mega-church minister from Forest Park. I would not have noticed, but we were flipping the channels and he was saying something about how the mall was empty when they bought it, and people thought no one would come, and now it’s thriving. That mall was the source of a lot of angst in Forest Park when we lived there because the church owned it, and they weren’t very good at getting tenants, so it took forever to get some decent stores back in there. It was vacant for a long time and a supermarket committed and then pulled out. It was finally doing OK when we moved away. It was interesting hearing it from Winston’s perspective. But we soon changed the channel.
The weather was great tonight. Nora got to see the full moon again, and we opened up all the windows and vents and turned on all the fans. It’s been a little stuffy in here.

DAY 25 Phoenix
(Photos: Alice and Nora in the Randalls' pool; David and Michael flexing for the camera in the pool. Not pictured: Dalice sinking to the bottom of the pool.)
I had a good time at the party last night and Michael and Nora were well behaved for David, he said. Michael drank his whole bottle like a champ and fell asleep. Lisa and I got back a little after 10 p.m., and so we were supposed to use the 24-hour gate with the code lock, because all the other roads in to the campground are closed by then. Well I was expecting some kind of keypad and automatic gate, I guess. Lisa and I pulled up to the gate and it had a chain and padlock on it. I immediately thought that couldn’t be right. I flipped over the padlock quickly and thought I saw just a hole for a key. It was dark, but we had the headlights shining on it. So I called David and said there was nothing to put a code into. So John (who had been dropped off at the camper) had to walk all the way out to the gate (maybe a half mile) with his suitcases from his trip, then he walked me back to the camper and walked all the way back out again. The next morning David went to the gate and the padlock had a combination on the bottom. I could have died. All that walking because I didn’t look hard enough at the lock. Oh well.
This morning we hung around the campsite listening to Car Talk and Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me on the radio and playing with Nora. Some people pulled into the parking lot with horses to go riding on the bridle trails here. One couple let David take Nora over to see the horses. Then she collected rocks for awhile. After that, we went over to the Randalls’ house to swim in their pool. First we met them at the dog park so our dogs could meet their new dog on neutral turf. It went fine, except some little puppy that didn’t belong to either of us came up behind Nora, knocked her over and stood on her back. Now she has a new boo-boo on her knee, which is fine because she was sort of distraught that her old one had disappeared. The Randalls’ house is very beautiful. Their pool was great, too. One of their dogs swims, and both of ours wade. Dalice got a crash course in swimming when he was leaning over the edge and Lisa pushed him in. He sank like a rock, then finally got the hang of the swimming thing. He didn’t get back in after that, though! Nora had a great time swimming and would even jump off the side into David’s arms. Michael also got his first dip in a pool. He was not as enthused, but then the water was pretty cold. After that, we had some snacks and Nora took a nap. I had left my clothes in the room where she was napping, but David said she was still awake and I should run in and get them. By the time I got in there, she was already snoring. After she woke up, we had a nice dinner with the Randalls. Nora didn’t even spill anything on their floor. Then we put Nora down for bed and Michael fell asleep on the couch and we all played board games and cards. It was fun! We scooped the kids up and headed back to the campground late.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

DAY 24 Phoenix
(Photo: Nora trying to be nice to her brother while playing on the bed.)
Spent the day doing chores. We had a leisurely morning eating breakfast and taking showers in the camper. David took Nora to check in with the campground host family, where he was able to pay for the four nights we are staying here and get a permit to hang in the camper. Then we drove to the Randalls’ house and dropped off a pass so they can come back to our campsite without paying the park entrance fee. After that, we drove to a laundromat. We did five loads of laundry - all the bedding and towels and clothes. It was a bit tricky, but we ended up having the kids in there as we sorted and started the loads, then the kids and I went back out to the camper and David brought out the laundry as it finished. He made tuna salad, so Nora and I had lunch, and then Nora entertained herself while I put the beds back together and the slipcovers on. Washing all the slipcovers is quite a chore because it involves uninstalling all the car seats. I felt like the camper was littered with car seats and booster chairs and everything else, and I was quite relieved to get it put back together and smelling fresh. It was much cheaper going to a real laudromat rather than using a campground laundry. I think we spent only $8 for five loads. After laundry, we went to the grocery. It’s called Fry’s, but they carry Kroger brand and accepted our Kroger preferred card. We found free wireless Internet in the parking lot, so we both checked our email, but didn’t want to sit there long enough to update the blog. Maybe over the weekend. When we got back to the campsite, Nora looked out the window and said, “This is our campsite!“ Shortly after backing into our spot, we started filtering water again. We’ve been going through drinking water like mad, and we were down to just a few bottles. It’s in the 80s and 90s during the day here, which I guess is pretty mild if you live here, but it seems hot to me. Filtering the water is going a lot faster since we bought a new filter for the pitcher. We’re having dinner here tonight, and then Lisa is going to pick me up and take me to a party she’s going to. It’s my night out away from the kids for a few hours. Tomorrow night, David is going out with John, so it’s a fair trade.

DAY 23 Grand Canyon to Phoenix
(photo: a group of elk standing between our camper and a camper on the next lane over.)
Michael slept from 9:15 p.m. to 6 a.m.!!!!!!!
We awoke to thunder and rain. David biked over to the campground office, where they said thunderstorms were expected all day today and tomorrow. We decided if we are going to be stuck inside, we may as well be driving. We really wanted to finish the last, most westward leg of the rim trail, but it would be next to impossible to make ponchos work with the kids strapped on us. Plus the trail is pretty difficult down at that end, and making it wet sure wouldn’t help. David put away all the hoses and all our outdoor equipment while I baked some blueberry muffins for breakfast. Nora and I looked out the window and saw three female elk and a male antelope about 25 feet away. There were also real bluebirds outside the window. All that time I was a Camp Fire Bluebird, I never saw one. I guess they live out here. They are very beautiful when they take off and display all their brilliant blue feathers. The sun kept breaking through and we were really on the fence about whether to stay or go. In the end, David declared one of Nora’s rocks the “driving rock.” He went in the bathroom and put it in one hand and closed his fists. I chose a fist. I chose the one with the driving rock, so we finished packing up and hit the road. Amazingly we actually got our money back for the night we didn’t use. I didn’t really think we would.
I forgot to mention that when our campsite neighbors from Michigan (the ones we kept running into at the shuttle stops) pulled out yesterday, they gave Nora a towel with her name embroidered on it! The lady has a computerized sewing machine that embroiders, and she was making a towel for a grandchild or a craft fair or something, and the picture of little girls along the top didn't come out quite right (though it's hard to tell it). So she had the machine sew Nora's name on it, and gave it to us. Now Nora calls it her "special Nora towel."
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We stopped just outside the south gate at a filling station to put air in the tires. There was a nice older man running the shop there, so David decided to let him take the wheels off and balance them. It took a long time, but it was cheap and probably very necessary, considering the terrain we have driven on so far. Also it was the first time we have had cell phone service since we got to the canyon, and amazingly it is exactly when David’s dad called us. Nora got a kick out of talking to him. We are heading into Flagstaff, where we plan to stop at the Target store and make Mac&Cheese for lunch.
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We were able to return the screen tent with no problems, and picked up other supplies, such as diapers for Michael. Yes, he has managed to burn through the half-ton of diapers we brought with us. Actually, we weren’t close to running out, but since we found a Target right on our route, we figured we should pick up some more. We also got a new Brita filter for our pitcher and a couple bottles of wine.
Nora is mastering the art of manipulation. We, like all parents, play that game where we pretend to eat her toes. Well, she wanted to play that game on the road. So I went and sat beside her. “Piggies. Eat them, Mama.” So I pretended to eat her toes. She laughed a few times, but I guess I wasn’t doing it right. She said, “Mama, open the mouth.” So I opened my mouth and pretended with more vigor and a wider mouth. Finally I tired of the game and suggested something else. Perhaps singing our ABCs? We were discussing this when suddenly Nora said, “Toes hurt.” I said, “Your toes hurt? Really?” She looked very serious. “Yeah, Mama.” Then came the kicker: “Kiss them.” Sigh. So much for moving on from the feet-eating game.
It’s 4:45 p.m. and we are officially in saguaro country. Those cactuses made famous in the Peanuts comic strip are surrounding us on all sides.
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Survived Phoenix rush hour traffic and pulled into Estrella Mountain Regional Park. The lady I talked to on the phone said if no one was at the office, take a map, follow the signs to the arena, and check in with the campground host. The only map was a trail map that didn’t even show the street names within the park. There were no signs to camping or the arena. We did find it though, and the campground hosts were nice. (Apparently there’s a rodeo arena here, and a few RV sites.) We picked out one of the seven nice spots they have here. We have our very own saguaro cactus on our site, a paved patio, and electric, water and sewer. And we’re just a few minutes from our friends, the Randalls.

DAY 22 Grand Canyon
We have decided we like the canyon so much more than Yellowstone because it’s more compact. I’m sure there were just as many interesting things to see and ranger programs to hear, but at Yellowstone it can be 50 miles just to get to a different visitor center or campground. Here the shuttle buses and walking paths make things so easy. Today we decided to do the easternmost leg of the South Rim trail, and start from the camper instead of the shuttle stop. That way we could take the dogs. They deserve a good hike and dogs are allowed on the rim trail, but they aren’t allowed on the buses. It was a little more than 7 miles to hike to the end of the trail and back from the campsite, but it didn’t feel that hard to me. I must be getting back in shape a little. Lots of people commented on the dogs, especially the international travelers. There were audible gasps from some of the Asian visitors. I guess they make quite a pair.
We made it back to the campsite and everybody took naps. Even the grownups. Then David started the grill and Michael and I walked to the store for some corn on the cob and eggs and milk. David made delicious pork chops stuffed with Stove Top and apples. It was already pretty dark by the time we sat down to eat at 6:30 p.m., so I lit the little candle lantern I brought. Nora saw the candle and said, “Happy birthday, Mama.” We decided to try to make it to the evening program tonight at Shrine of the Ages, which is at 7:30 p.m. We left the dinner dishes and caught the shuttle. A nice man told us how to get off the bus and cross the parking lot and catch the shuttle ahead of that one, skipping a stop and cutting 15 minutes of our ride. Things aren’t very far apart here, but the shuttles are on a schedule and have to sit parked if they get too far ahead, so a bus ride can take awhile. We made it in time and watched a nice slide presentation on lizards and snakes at the canyon. We were hopeful Nora would lay back in the stroller and fall asleep, especially since it was dark in the auditorium, but no such luck. A couple people moved to get away from us, and then David took her over in the corner where she wasn’t so disruptive. She wasn’t being bad. Just every few minutes she would sit up and announce, “Dada! Shoes off!” or something like that. Michael slept through the whole thing, fortunately. She fell asleep right after we got back, insisting on skipping her milk and story to go straight to bed. David and I watched a movie we brought along.
Not too much to share from the evening program, except that rattlesnakes don’t bite people unless they are harassed or stepped on, because they swallow their food whole, and they can see that a person is too big to follow. An interesting factoid I learned from a brochure here, though, is geological. Most of the time that the Earth’s plates move and force land upward, the motion deforms and breaks the land into mountains. But a large section of the southwest was raised many thousand feet in one piece. This is the Colorado Plateau, and is the reason for the Grand Canyon. Because there is no topsoil here, rain flows off the rocky land without sinking in, making many streams carrying rough dirt and sand. That carves canyons. Since the Colorado Plateau is so high and flat, the Colorado River was able to carve its way down through layers of rock more than a billion years old in just a couple million years.

The Hohls

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Friday, October 27, 2006

Sunday, October 22, 2006

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