Quartzsite to Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Quartzsite was fun, albeit a little chilly. The sunsets were pretty and the stars. . . there's no describing the stars. When you are out in the desert with no light, it is pitch black. And then you look up into that clear black sky, and the stars are all lit up. It is spectacular. More stars than you ever knew were up there. Here in Lake Havasu, we can see a lot of stars, but with the lights from the city, so many are not visible.

We did go back and find the Bouse Fisherman Intaglio. It is an image carved out of the desert floor hundreds of years ago by the "ancient ones." This particular image is of a man with a spear. There are fish below him along with what look like waves/water. Up above is a bird and an image of the sun. It is difficult to see it in my pictures. Because of the time of day we were there, the sun degraded the image if I took it right side up. I took it from the top and you cannot see it all. Also, it would have been better viewed from above, but since I can't fly. . . haha.
By the time we left "Q," there were a lot more coaches in our area, but still room for a lot more. But it interesting to be there early and have hardly anyone around, then watch as hundreds, then thousands of coaches and fivers come in. We left the day before the big RV show started. We don't like big crowds and the RV show is one congested event. We were really disappointed in the show last year, so it didn't really bother us to skip it this year. Some of our friends from the Class of 05 were coming in, but we will catch most of them at the Gypsy Journal Rally next month and we were kind of scattered over the area. In case you think they will run out of room. . . think again. This is BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. Basically land the government owns and you can dry camp (no hookups) for up to 7 months in some areas. That costs about $140, but we were in a 14-day free area, so we didn't pay anything. You have to be prepared for dry camping. . . and we are. Two generators and big tanks. No one knows how many rigs are out here at any one time, but at the height of the event, I think it has been guessed at 240,000. And there is still plenty of room. There are BLM areas throughout the western part of Arizona and California as well. We left Quartzsite on Monday and it was raining. YES! Raining in the desert. It rained on us all the way north to Lake Havasu City and continued to rain the remainder of the day.

Till next time. . .

Dale

We're no longer Yuman!

We left our campsite at Fortuna de Oro in Yuma on Monday and drove up the highway to Quartzsite. We traveled north of the city to Plomosa Road and are parked with other RV.netters on the south side of the road right off the pavement. Such a change from last year when we were south of town in a real dustbowl. It is nice out here, a little further from town, but not much dust and the company is good.

Today we went over the mountain on Plomosa Road to the town of Bouse, Arizona, to pick up our mail. On the way back I snapped some shots of the valley as we came through the mountain pass. We tried to find the "Fisherman Intaglio" but there is no longer any sign there. We came home and did a little more research and will try again tomorrow.

After lunch we went into the "Q" and visited some of the flea markets. It looks to me like they have some expensive fleas! Didn't find much of anything we were interested in or anything we felt like making room for in the motorhome.

Here is Phaeton Place parked at the Q. And a beautiful picture of the sunset tonight.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Glamis Dunes

Well, today we went in search of the Glamis Dunes. These dunes are on I-8 past Yuma into California. You can see them for miles as you approach, but nothing prepares you for the site itself. This is where some scenes from Star Wars and other movies requiring "sand" were filmed. They are just truly spectacular. We continued on I-8 to another exit west. They really don't continue far to the west, but you can turn back north, then cross them on the road to Glamis. There is an overlook there where you get a really good view of the dunes. There were a lot of 4-wheelers and dune buggies out there. It looked like so much fun. The sand is really clean and I just wanted to run down from the top! Hah. We turned back to I-8 on a "road" which we were told would save us 25 miles over the other route. What the guy DIDN'T tell us is that the 22 mile shortcut had a maximum speed of 15 mph. . . yeh, you do the math. And 15 was the fastest you could take the road. It was a washboard with washes every 600 feet or so. It took us 1 1/2 hours to go 22 miles. Ugh. But we did get good views of the dune to our west and all the various campgrounds/sites where people parked and used as base points. It was really neat.






Till next time. . .


Dale

We're Yuman now!

We are back at Fortuna de Oro in the Yuma foothills. We arrived Monday and last night we hooked up with some friends from the Graduating Class of 2005 and went to dinner. We had a really good time with everyone. Today we decided to go to Los Algadones, Mexico, because it is supposed to get colder tomorrow and be that way for a week. Ugh. We have certainly had our problems finding warm weather this year. But a cold day here is still warmer than a cold day back east, so I guess I won't complain.

I bought a couple things in Mexico that were new and unusual and not heavy (big criteria for us). I will post some pictures tomorrow. Haven't been taking any pictures because today it was overcast and almost looked like sandstorms, but there wasn't any wind.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Saguaro National Monument West

There are two Saguaro National Monuments. . . one east of Tucson and one west. We had toured the east monument in the summer of 2003 when we were here, so yesterday we toured through the western section. They are not connected. The western one is in the Tucson Mountain Park and as with the eastern portion, basically just an area of mountain desert set aside for protection. There is a road (?), quite rough going, which takes you through the park with parking areas for hikers or picnicers. We drove all around one loop and stopped at one point and hiked to Signal Hill where we observed some petroglyphs which were put there hundreds of years ago. It's amazing to me they are still there.

On the way back to the car, a jack rabbit was hopping around and we got to see him, but I was too late with the camera. His ears looked 2 feet tall, although they were probably shorter. I read that the ears not only assist the rabbit with hearing well, but also help to cool the animal.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Who turned off the heat?

This first picture is Texas Canyon. We came through there yesterday and I am always fascinated by the rock formations.

Today started out as a beautiful day, but the clouds were a little ominous to the north. We grabbed a light jacket and took off for the Titan Missile Museum. During the Cold War in the 60's, 54 Titan II missiles stood in silos across the country. In 1987, the last of the Titan II sites were deactivated. Most of the silos were imploded and filled in and little trace of them remains today. There is one site which was excavated by its present owner and is used as a residence. Another is currently for sale on E-Bay according to our guide. The one we visited, however, was preserved as a museum. The "lid" is fixed half-way across the opening so that Russian satellites could determine that it was and remains unable to launch. It is quite a story, told by guides who actually worked there during the Cold War era. Everything at the site is real and not mock-ups of the equipment, etc., that stood ever ready for "the word" that never (thankfully) came. It was truly amazing to learn about how much money and time it took to build the system which protected our country from attack. Only four people manned the structure at any time, taking 24 hour shifts. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you take time to view this unusual and one-of-a-kind museum. It costs $8.50 and is well worth it. The tour lasts one hour, but you can browse the grounds as long as you like.

Once we left the site, the weather turned much colder, it was misting, an there was snow on mountains surrounding the area. We stopped at the Double Diamond Casino where I managed to win back everything Terry lost. Don't ask me how. We were a couple dollars ahead when we left. On the way up I-19, we saw this rainbow. Came back home and fired up the heater and stayed in with the boyz!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Tucson, Arizona

We drove to Tucson yesterday and arrived at the Missionview RV Resort on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. It is a really pretty park and quite large. Flat terrain so easy to walk or ride bikes. They have a really nice building here with an in-ground pool and sauna. Hope to try them out while we are here. We are leaving here Monday.

Interesting drive over here from Deming. Being a frequent driver of our rig, I always observe who is driving rigs we see. Yesterday we passed a half dozen or so rigs heaing west on I-10. Every one of them had drivers of the female persuasion. Most had only women visible in the rigs, and some appeared to be solo. Thought I might get on the RVingforWomen site and see if there were caravanning out to the west. A group of three seemed to be hanging together. YOU GO GIRLS!

We passed one area along I-10 where there was a lot of water. Looked about like a lake, but think it was more just standing water, although it was quite large. There were no bodies of water on the Delorme.

Today we are going to the Titan Missile Museum today south of Tucson.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Deming, New Mexico

We left Alpine, Texas, this morning and drove through rain for several hours. . . actually it was just kind of misting and not really raining hard. Between Alpine and Marfa, Texas, is the area famous for the "Marfa Lights." These are unexplained lights which appear most evenings after dark. They have been seen since the 1800's and Native Americans even reported them. Many attempts have been made to ascertain where they come from and exactly where they are, but to date, there is no explanation. I wanted to go out there last night and Terry wouldn't go. There is a viewing area right along the highway. Also, along US90 we saw one of those AeroStats, I think they call them. They are large blimp like balloons they put in the air to watch the borders. They are really quite large and we have seen them in the air, but this is the first one on the ground we were able to see this closely.

We also saw snow in the mountains at elevations of around 5000 feet. There was snow yesterday in El Paso we had heard, but there wasn't anything on the ground. We even stopped at a rest area just east of the city, but it was warmer than we thought it would be. Terry did all the driving until we got east of El Paso, then we switched so I could tackle the "white knuckle" driving as Terry likes to call it. It really wasn't bad coming through El Paso. There were road construction signs up, but we didn't see any and all the lanes were clear.

We are all snuggled in at Deming, NM, at the Escapees park reading for a night of freezing temps. We are prepared, but are anxious to get to Yuma and warmer weather.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Goodbye, Mission, Texas

Friday night we went with Mom and Dad and Brandon to The New Pepe's on the River. It is an open air restaurant. There was a band playing and they were quite good. We had supper and listened for awhile, then walked down to Pepe's Backyard, which is a new restaurant built on the site of the old Pepe's, a short distance down the river from where we ate.

Saturday we took Brandon out for lunch and then to the airport. He flew back to Orlando and his flights were all pretty much on time, so he was happy. It was hard to say goodbye to him, but we know he was anxious to get back to Florida. Right now I think he is enjoying better weather than us.

Sunday I spent cleaning and loading up the motorhome for the continuation of our journey west. It took most of the day and I was pretty sore and stiff by the end of the afternoon. We spent the evening at Mom and Dad's having snacks and playing cards. We retired early as we planned to get rolling early Monday. Planned to do 300 miles which is about 100 more than we usually do.

Yesterday we left at 9 a.m. and headed west on 83. It was hard to say goodbye to Mom and Dad, too, but we wanted to get further west. We had a nice drive up through the Valley and made it to Lake Armistad and our campground around 3:30 p.m. We stayed in all evening except for taking the dogs out. It got colder than we liked and we were ready to roll this morning.

We continued our drive up US90 and stopped for the night in Alpine. Texas, at the Lost Alaskan RV Park. It is a nice park, but as with most, is overpriced for just overnight. It is supposed to get down to 30° tonight, so we didn't get our water hose out. They have extremely nice shower houses, so will use that tonight. The plan is to leave in the morning and drive to Dreamcatcher Escapees Park in Deming, New Mexico, where we may stay two nights, unless it is cold. Then we will continue on toward Yuma.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Me bad, me bad

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. We have been here in Texas at Mom and Dad's park since around the 8th of December. We have been doing a lot of visiting with them and playing cards and Bingo, as well as finishing up our Christmas shopping.

On Wednesday, December 20, we picked Brandon up at the McAllen airport and he surprised his grandparents who were not expecting him. We put a bright red bow on his shirt and they were really excited to see him.

We spent Christmas Eve at their place unwrapping Christmas presents and then Christmas morning Brandon, Terry, and I exchanged gifts along with Bailey and Neal. Neal doesn't want anything except treats for Christmas, while Bailey likes toys. We bought Mom and Dad a solar rock with their name on it. I have included a couple pictures. The first is taken with a flash, so it doesn't look lit up, but you can see what it looks like. The second one shows the way the rock illuminates after dark.

Yesterday we took Brandon out to South Padre Island and walked out on the beach. We took in some souvenier shops as well. Spent a lot of time looking and it was a beautiful day. There were several parasailers and kite-boarders. We had planned on staying there for a few days on our way down to the Valley earlier in the month, but the weather did not cooperate. We would have taken the motorhome over there this week as well, but once again, the weather hasn't been that great. It hasn't been really bad, except Saturday it rained the entire day. . . and really hard at times. Then we had some cold weather and now we have wind. So we get a wide variety of weather. Today we haven't had the datastorm up. We are having 30-40 mph winds and not sure how much the datastorm can take, so I am using my air card.

Tomorrow we are going to Pepe's on the River for supper. We haven't been there since last year and it is one place Brandon remembers from the first time we came here. It actually burned down, but has been rebuilt, so it should be fun.

I have added a hyperlink to the Datastormusers map. In it is on this page in the left margin at the end of the short narrative. It will show you where we currently are located.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I want to wish you all a Happy New Year.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Not your Mother's Bingo!

You may have thought you knew how to play bingo, but playing serious bingo is different. There are an endless number of games. . . four corners, kite, checkmark, ring the free, etc. All require a different set of squares to be covered on your card. Last year was my first experience with this as Mom and I played every Tuesday night. She is not really a Bingo person, preferring to play cards, but she played Bingo with me. It was a lot of fun and even though we didn't win anything, we had fun trying. That is until last Tuesday night. We played for the first time since I arrived and I won very early in the evening. I won $5 because I shared the win with someone else. The next game I won all by myself and won $10. Then to top it off, since I was the FIRST solo winner, I was crowned "Queen for a Day." That means that every time the number I won on was called I got a dollar. I won $4 more dollars, so I went home with $19. Yay! To top it all off, Mom won once for $5, so we were very happy.

Terry and I have been doing some Christmas shopping and we have basically finished. We have been to every store in the Valley looking for a few things which we never found, so we are giving up. We have been bike riding every day, which is really good as we haven't had good enough weather anywhere we've been to get out. It is nice down here, in the mid to high 70's during the day and no heat required at night. Tonight Dad and I went out for a ride in the golfcart, aka Hoopie, to look at the lights. There aren't as many decorating this year, but there are enough to warrant driving around.

Yesterday I took Bailey out on the golf cart. He is real good about sitting on the seat and watching. He is curious about riding in the cart, but doesn't bark. We went over to Hidden Valley. It is amazing how much has been built over there just since last year when we were here.

Tomorrow, it being Saturday, will be a slow day for me. I am done shopping and won't venture out on a weekend down here. It is just too crowded. I have my Christmas cards to do, so perhaps I will work on those.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Okay, okay.

Terry has been after me to update my blog. We have had really lousy weather since leaving Louisiana and I haven't felt much like posting. It's been cold and windy and the last day has been rainy. Yuck. I am ready for warmer weather.

We spent the last four days in San Benito, next to Harlingen. It wasn't a bad place, and we did get in a lot of shopping in Harlingen, but it started raining yesterday and it turned into a mud bog where we were parked. We began to think from the discussion at coffee this morning, that we shouldn't try to get out until the rain stopped and it dried out. Yuck. But luckily we had not had more rain overnight and with the wind we were having, it dried out the ground and we were able to make it out. We left ruts and a trail of mud, but we did indeed get out.

We drove on over to Mission and got parked right behind Mom and Dad. This is by far the best campsite ever. :-)

Life is good.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Roll Camera. . . Film at 11

Hah! Terry and I made the news this evening.

We arrived in Corpus Christi around noon and checked into the campground and got set up. We had eaten lunch and were comtemplating what to do next. I was on my way to the front of the coach when there was a knock on the door. I looked out and saw a TV cameraman. I turned to Terry and said, "Terry, come on out. It's Channel 6 news!" Hah. What a hoot. He was indeed from Channel 6 and he was looking for Winter Texans to interview about the cold snap that hit yesterday. I didn't have the heart to tell him we really weren't Winter Texans. He asked us several questions, and then when he was done filming, we asked him advice on the best restaurants and other RV parks. Turns out he used to camp a lot and we are in the "best" camp in Corpus Christi (that's not saying much), but he was a nice guy and recommended a few restaurants, etc.

We took a drive later and got home in time to see ourselves on the news. We taped it and I have it on my computer now.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Alive and Well, but NO PHONE SERVICE!!

We just wrapped up two days at the Coushatta Indian Casino in Kinder, Louisiana, and decided to head south since the weather is turning NASTY. We are stopped for the night at Shady Oaks RV Park south of El Campo, Texas, on US59. We have no phone service, nada, zip, zilch. . . so we cannot call anyone.

We did take a little side trip to the Coushatta Indiana Reservation. There is a museum there and the guide there is 1/2 Coushatta and 1/2 Cajun. He was a very interesting man and since we were the only ones there, he really talked with us a lot and we learned much about the history of the Indians in the region. His name is Gardner Rose and if you are every there in the area visiting the casino, take a little time and visit this museum. It is free.

We are just here for one night, then headed on south to Corpus Christi. Drove through lots of wind and rain and then I got to do Houston, but it wasn't bad. Had a good navigator.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Zachary, Louisiana, with Family!!!!

We arrived at cousin Gary and wife Jo’s on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We have water and a 50-amp hookup in the backyard with plenty of room for the boyz to roam. We keep them in their pen, though, because there are coyotes we hear at night and we don’t want Bailey and Neal to get away from us.

We spent Thanksgiving Day at Jo’s sister’s house. Jennilyn and husband Doug were there, their children, Kasey (a veterinarian) and her friend Whit and Remmy with his wife Melanie and one-year old son, Ben. Also Jenny and her friend Derrick (friends of Kasey), Gary, Jo, Miss Teeter (Jo’s Mom), Terry and I. We had a great day. Deep fried turkey, cornbread dressing, peas, turnips, broccoli/cheese casserole, broccoli/rice casserole, cranberry salad, white beans with sausage, Cajun turkey and dressing, and dinner rolls. Lots of desserts, too. It was a wonderful meal with wonderful people and they really treated Terry and I like family.

After dinner we walked down the drive to Remmy and Melanie’s house which they just moved into a couple weeks ago. It is a gorgeous house done in a southwestern motif. The floors are concrete which is dyed with color and then cut into designs using a skill saw. The guy who did it was obviously a craftsman and the result is very unique and keeping with the southwestern flavor.

Later in the evening, Jo’s daughter Kristen and friend Jerrick stopped by and Jerrick wanted to see the motorhome. He really liked it. He is a very nice young man whose last name just happens to be Pace and he is from Mississippi. . . . could it be we are related? You genealogists in the family need to check that. He is from Prentiss, Mississippi, (not Prentiss County though),

Last night Gary’s son Chris and his family arrived in from the airport. They had flown to San Diego to spend the holiday with Chris’ mom and family. They decided to spend the night because they were quite tired by the time they got here. It was good to see Chris again and to meet his family.

We are going to have to run back to Waveland, Mississippi. I had an order from WalMart on line being delivered to that WalMart. I checked at noon on Wednesday last week and it wasn’t it. The email I retrieved later than night telling me it was available for pickup was sent at 1:19 pm that same day. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. So we may go back today.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

We left Summerdale yesterday morning and drove to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to the Hollywood Casino, arriving around noon. Got settled in before the last Nascar race of the season and spent a relaxing afternoon lounging around.

It is too darn cold here. They say it is unseasonably cold this year and I am tired of it. While it's not been freezing, 40's is not my idea of nice weather. Once we see Gary and Jo, we are headed for Texas and warmer weather.

We went to the casino last evening. It was fun. We came out on the plus side and played for about 3 hours, so it was good entertainment.

We took a drive afterwards and even in the dark, it was easy to see the destruction this area suffered from the hurricanes of last season. There are some houses people are living in, but more FEMA trailers in the yards with people living there instead of in the homes. The historic downtown area is destroyed. . . buildings still there, but deserted and in disrepair. Lots of trash around and I suppose it keeps blowing around. In areas with water, I imagine wood and other trash keeps working its way to the surface and the shore. I will try and take some pictures today. While we spent some time in hurricane struck areas last year, we haven't seen this part yet. Our campground has some travel trailers that appear to be rentals. We were told today that a doctor and 3 nurses live in them as their homes were destroyed, so they are living here and working at the hospital.

We have received news from our friend Patti and she is at home in North Carolina. She is living in her fifth wheel at her nephew's house. She has full hookups there and is fortunate she can stay in familiar and comfortable surroundings while she heals.

We are here for at least one more night before moving on to Louisiana to spend Thanksgiving with cousin Gary an wife Jo and her family.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, Alabama

Our friend Patti is returning to North Carolina to be with her family. Her sister is with her as is her nephew who is driving her rig back home. They are going through Knoxville to visit with Mickey’s children. Then they are headed to Kinston where Patti will spend the winter. We continue to keep in touch and to pray for healing.

We spent last week in Red Bay, Alabama, getting work done on Phaeton Place. The big problem was the flat floor living room slide which was shearing pins about every 3rd time it was extended. Apparently it was not torqued down sufficiently when it was built and it resulted in the slide malfunctioning and it eventually starting “wallowing” out the holes for the slide pins and would shear them off. So they rebuilt the slide mechanism and replaced the motor. It has been working fine since then.

While in Red Bay, we stay at the Allegro Campground. They have full hookups with 50 amp and it is on the same grounds as the service center. So you don’t have to drive out of the park to get to the service center and everything is within walking distance. In addition, everyone there is getting work done as well and we all just visit and help each other out. We even had Hobo Stew one day and it was really nice. They were having a pot luck on Sunday, but we left before that.

Saturday we left and headed to Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama. This is an Escapees park, so it is quite reasonable. Janice and Dean Schultz are here. They are members of the 2005 class and we have spent a couple days visiting with each other. This area is where they lived before full timing, so they know the area quite well.

Today they took us to Lulu’s Restaurant down on the intercoastal waterway. Lulu is Jimmy Buffett’s sister and they co-own the restaurant. It was quite nice and we enjoyed a good meal in the airy, water-side restaurant. We watched quite a few boats go through and a tug with a line or barges carrying coal. Afterwards we went out to Fort Morgan, one of the old star forts built in 1833. We walked around the fort. It was awesome. It is amazing the amount of work and materials that went into building such a large structure. It was mostly covered by earthworks, so until you were right there, you really couldn’t see much. There is a small museum there and we browsed through it when we were finished at the fort itself. The road getting out to the Fort was mostly underwater after Hurricane Ivan and most of the houses and other buildings were destroyed. Hundreds have been rebuilt and it is good to see things returning to some semblance of order.

It is supposed to start raining tonight and there are flood warnings for our county for the next 2 days. Hopefully it won’t be that bad, but we did put up our chairs and all our outside stuff. Easier to do it now before it starts than try to put up wet stuff later.

A sad, sad day. . .

This morning started with a phone call from our dear, dear friend Patti Ivey. She and Mickey are in Las Vegas where he had taken her to surprise her best friend who was visiting her brother there.

While Patti and her friend were out, Mickey collapsed and died from an apparent heart attack. We, and other members of the Graduating Class of 2005 (those of us who went full time RVing in 2005) are in shock. Mickey not only was a prominent member of our class, but also wrote and published RVer's Notebook, a software program for RVers to keep track of expenses and to maintain a journal as well as many other vital statistics for our rigs.

Mickey was a peacemaker in times of discord and always entertained us with his wit and card tricks. He chided me for misspelling his name as M-I-C-K-I-E saying I must never have been a good Mousketeer; then launching into a musical chorus of M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E. I never forgot how to spell his name after that!

We hope and pray that Patti will draw strength from their many friends and family in helping her heal and get through this difficult time.

Mickey, Patti, Dale and Terry

Mickey and Patti and Frosty at Fall Escapade, 2006

Terry, Dean and Mickey cooking steaks in Victoria, Texas

Los Algadones, Mexico, February 8, 2006



How we will remember Mickey. . . as he was at Fall Escapade.

Rest in Peace, Mickey. You will be sorely missed.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back in Red Bay, Alabama

Well, here we sit in the hometown of Phaeton Place. Yep this is where she was born. When we woke up yesterday and started fixing breakfast, something electrical blew and we had only 2 outlets in the entire coach that worked. Very little electrical was working. We searched hi an low and couldn't find the problem. So we called Red Bay and they had openings in the campground, so we decided to skip Florence this trip and head straight to Tiffin. We arrived just before noon and checked in with Marsha and Rod, the campground hosts. Rod was interested in our electrical problem and asked Terry if he had checked the circuit breakers on the inverter. . . ???????????? Ugh, that would be "NO." He walked out, opened the hatch and flipped the lower breaker. Boom. Power restored. You would think something like that would be in the manual some place.

Met up later with an old friend whom we met last time we were here. Funny thing is that we are both parked in the exact same places we were last time.

The other big news is my laptop. The battery gets so hot so I bought a cool pad which really helps. Lately, however, it has become obvious that the power socket was loose and got to the point where something inside was arcing as it got extremely hot. It wouldn't charge anymore and I couldn't use it because it wouldn't stay on. The plug itself got so hot yesterday while I was trying to hold it in so I could check mail, I got burned on the finger. So Terry performed major surgery and tore my laptop down. He had fixed his a couple weeks ago. He had mine side by side with his and had pictures from a forum that showed the tear down on mine. At this point I had to leave. I can tear down a PC, but not a laptop. . . that makes me nervous, so I went outside with the dogs. He found lots of dirt and lint in the machine which he blew out. The good news is that he fixed it completely and it appears the overheating problems I had been having were apparently related to the power socket being loose. So problem solved and I am back up and running. He is just so handy to have around. :-)

Well, time to get my morning coffee.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Chattanooga Choo Choo!

We spent the last two nights in Chattanooga at the Shipp’s RV Center and Campground. They have a Camping World and decent sites. Yesterday we did some driving around the city and went to Warehouse Row. It is apparently an old warehouse downtown which has been converted into outlets. The only problem was that there were only a handful of businesses left in it. It was three stories and we were back in the car 39 minutes later. But it was time for lunch anyway, so we left and went to Pronie’s, a sub/sandwich/pizza place. The food was very good and we enjoyed our meal.

We then went north of town to the Hamilton Place mall. It is a two story mall and very nice, so we got our walk in. While on our way up there, the traffic coming the other way was stopped for this wreck.
A Roadway truck had hit the guardrail and flipped his trailer. Talk about a mess. We came by about 4 hours later and traffic was still slowed and there was another Roadway trailer and they were switching the contents from one trailer to the other. The tractor cab looked pretty intact, so hopefully the driver was okay.

As we left Chattanooga today, I took a picture of Lookout Moutain.


Today we drove on down to Huntsville and thought we might be able to stay here for a couple days, but could only find a campground for one night. We are at the Space Center Campground and it is adequate, but our power just went out. Terry is outside trying to figure out what happened. We took a drive today and went up on Monte Sano. I was able to take some pictures, but the pictures just don’t capture the real beauty of the landscape.
We are leaving here tomorrow and going to Florence, Alabama, for a couple days. We don’t want to run into Red Bay until Sunday because that is the day they have the most openings in the campground.

Late this afternoon I took this picture in the sky. I know there is a name for this phenomenon, but I don't know what it is. Any of you readers know the name of it?


Till next time. . .

Dale