Visiting in Arizona, On to New Mexico and Texas

After leaving California, we stayed at an RV park in Tonopah. It was a good location to drive into Phoenix to visit with Bill's aunt, Kaye Leach. She was in a rehabilitation center after surgery to removed external hardware on her leg after a serious fall last New Year's Eve. Above is a picture of Kaye and Bill. Kaye was doing very well and has a great attitude. She was going home about 5 days after we visited.

Her brother, Reedy Speer (Bill's uncle) came by to visit with us, too. Reedy has been very helpful to Kaye during her recovery.

We had a great visit and know Kaye will do well when she returns home.

We had a fun surprise. Teri's sister, Kay, and husband, Lee, from Puyallup, WA, were traveling to Peoria, AZ, to watch some baseball spring training games. They were able to stop by and have lunch with us. We really enjoyed their visit and they had a great time in Peoria.

We also went to Salome, AZ, to see Ron and Linda Stephenson and their neighbors, Steve and Mimi Gratzer. We also got to see Dennis Nielsen, a classmate of Bill's, and his sister, Greta and her husband, Jack. Don't know why I didn't take a picture.

We love the mountains of Arizona. They just seem to spring up from flat ground.

We saw quite a few cacti with supports on them. It appears they are trying to save them from deteriorating.

We are sometimes surprised by the arms on the cactus. They point in all directions.

There are areas where both the sagauro and cholla cacti are plentiful.

When you are going east past Benson, AZ, there are some fascinating rock formations. They look like a giant was playing with them like building blocks.

We took this picture as we entered New Mexico and stopped at a very nice welcome center. They had Wi-Fi, clean restrooms, lots of parking and information.

Roadrunners are fun birds to watch. Of course, this one is a huge replica. We found this at a rest area near Las Cruces, NM. This picture was taken just before a huge windstorm hit us. We stayed at the rest area all night since we had stopped traveling during the storm. Teri white-knuckles it when the wind is blowing and we are towing the trailer.

We made it to Texas and saw many of the things we expected - cattle and oil rigs.

We were surprised, however, to see snow along the road. Guess we don't think that desert states also have spring storms.

We spent our first few nights in Texas at Monahans Sandhills State Park. The sand dunes were awesome. Kids were sliding down them on saucers.

Bill got to go fishing in Texas. We stayed at a Corp of Engineers park on Proctor Lake near Comanche, TX. We met some really nice people who come to that park just to fish. We were lucky to happen to pick it for a place to stay.

Here's Bill with the first sand bass he caught.

The hightlight of this fishing spot was catching hybrid striped bass. We had heard about them for a long time so it was exciting for Bill to catch some. There was a nice fisherman, Bill Lormis, who was so helpful to show Bill how to fish for them. The biggest striper was caught by Mr. Sherwood. Yeah!!!!!!

Visiting Jeff and Elaine in Pomona

We had a great visit with my brother, Jeff, and his wife, Elaine. And, the boys, as they are called. Adonis and Eros are great hosts. Well, so are Jeff and Elaine.

We walked around Claremont Village which had some fun shops. The Bamboo Tea House had so many kinds of tea it was hard to decide which to try. We got some orange spice. After several cups at home, we went back and got some more and also some chai spice. They have a website you can check out.

This folk music store was fascinating with many unusual instruments. You are encouraged to try them which was really fun.

Jeff prepared a marinated roast beef in his smoker/cooker. We also had snap peas from their garden. Wow - was it ever good.

There's still some country in these city folks. They have lived in Pomona for over 20 years (just a little NE of LA) but they have gardens, fruit trees. Also enjoy traveling with their travel trailer.

Jeff has always enjoyed his music. He has a sound recording studio (nice setup) and has a band that regularly practices and records. Here's a picture of part of his guitar collection.

We are heading for Tonopah, AZ, tomorrow. We will visit Bill's aunt, Kaye Leach, in Phoenix. Will catch up with you later.

From Oregon to California

We never tire of the drive along the Oregon and California coastline on 101. It may be narrow and have lots of curves but it is so beautiful.

If you have never seen the redwoods of northern California, they make the drive worthwhile.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are always there to greet you.

California is becoming well known for it's vineyards. We saw vineyard after vineyard traveling in Sonoma County. We went to Santa Rosa for overnight and enjoyed the beauty of the area.

There were some windmills in the Napa Valley amongst the vineyards.

OK, so you are traveling I-5 to Los Angeles, what do you think it will look like? Concrete and gridlock. Well, there is a mountain pass known as the Grapevine, that is absolutely awesome. Yes, there is snow on the top of those mountains and you really aren't that far from LA.

Pyramid Lake is next to I-5 and was full and pretty.

On to Pomona to visit my brother, Jeff and his wife, Elaine.

A week in Oregon

We started our trip by coming over White Pass. The snow castle was constructed for their annual Snow Carnival. People can ride tubes down the slide.

Here is where we spent our first week of our trip. Well, not at the cheese factory but in Tillamook, OR.

Bill's mother, Betty Busby, has lived in Tillamook for about 15 years and we worked on some projects for her.

We redid her steps. We replaced some of the base and covered it.

Here's Bill putting on the finishing touches.

We also gave her trailer a good washing and now it is shining brightly.

Spring has sprung here. Look at all the daffodils and the dogwood tree.

We stayed in an RV park just a block from Netarts Bay. It was a very nice day when we got this picture.

We got to visit one afternoon with Bill's sister, Kathy Hull. She works nights at the Best Western in Tillamook so we caught up with her on her day off.

Here's Bill (on left) with his mother and his brother, Jim (on right). This was our last evening to visit. It started to rain today so we hope when we leave tomorrow, Monday, 3/8/2010, that it will clear up a bit. We are headed for Crescent City, CA. Til the next post, we hope all is well for everyone.