Tucson

We rolled into Tucson early afternoon yesterday and it was a fairly easy drive. The RV park in Tucson is a 55 and older community and it looks like something right out of the Stepford wives. All the little lots and lawns and front yards are perfectly landscaped some of them with rocks and cactus and gravel others with signage and statuary.

We had to take the dogs for a walk and because it was pretty hot. We tried on the little boots that we brought for them. We’ve learned that with hot and also with places where there’s a lot of stickers these little hiking boots save their paws. When trying to get them used to the boots, the instructions say do not laugh. When they put them on, their little feet and legs are jumping up like they are on marionette strings. It’s all you can do to not laugh so we try not to let them hear us and I bribed them with treats.

It’s about 200 yards to the park so we figure let’s get it. Dani lost a boot at about 20 yards and Denzel lost a boot the next 20 yards and so on. We got to the little dog park, which is all gravel and they both laid down in the gravel underneath the bench. They were not having any of it. We marched them and their happy selves back towards the RV and at one point, Dani just laid down in the gravel and said I dare you to make me move. So, I picked her up and carried her for a little bit. We tried again and dogs and booties all made it back to the RV.

We loaded everybody up in Jed and went to our friends, Carol and Jess, for dinner. They have a standard poodle named Oliver and he’s a big sweetie. However, our little hellions take advantage of his good nature. Denzel bosses him around a little bit, but they get along pretty well together. All the dogs slept like logs after chasing each other through the yard and across the living room. Our mutts make themselves at home and, as with every other time we’ve been with Oliver, they pulled out every toy he owns. Oliver sometimes plays them, but Dani and Denzel think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. We enjoyed the evening and about 10 o’clock, we realized we felt like it was midnight our time. We came back and slept solidly.

Dani and Denzel at Place during dinner

Like all good folks here, we got up at 6:00 AM and took the dogs for a nice long walk in the cool weather. After our walk, we ran errands which included getting gas, going to the store, running through the car wash, and grabbing coffee. We worked on some outside things including scrubbing several hundred miles of bugs off the windshield, mirrors, and grill. It was really nasty. I cleaned up inside and Clint is installing a tall pole for our Starlink dish.

Starlink for RV is awesome. We’ve had it for about three years and the only challenges we’ve had are in really urban areas or in places where we can’t get a clear path to the sky. We noticed that a lot of people buy poles and attach them to their back ladders and telescope dishy above the rig. It seems to be working. We will have to put him up and take him down at every stop, but at least he now has a skyward home.

Dishy has a new home, high above the
ground obstructions.

Today, our friends, Janine and Bryan are stopping by. They recently bought an RV and are checking out ours. We will all join Carol and Jess for burgers and enjoy the rest of Sunday. More on Tucson later this week.

-Cheryl

Midland, TX to Deming, NM

Heading West on I-40 out of Midland

Today we drove from Midland to Deming. We hadn’t driven a mile when we saw the first weird-ass thing. A bright orange little car was in the inside travel lane and it was up on jack stands with the front 2 tires missing. It looked like someone had started to strip it. We drove past and got on the highway scratching our heads. It was about 8:15. There weren’t any cop cars, traffic cones, flares, or anything. It’s as if a car missing its front tires should just be there.

We drove on through Odessa and Monahans. Lots of oil and gas out there. The next weird-ass thing we came upon was near Pyote. It looked like a junkyard where a bunch of colorful banged-up cars were on the frontage road. They were surrounded by shipping containers on stands. Then we saw what it really was-a train had derailed and this was the salvage operation. Many of the train cars were on their sides and all those colorful cars had been new and were being shipped. We googled “train derailment Pyote Tx” and found out 35 train cars derailed 2 weeks ago. No one was injured, which is amazing, and the debris was just incredible. Pyote is an hour from Midland, so it was an eventful start.

We saw hundreds of motorcycles riding in bunches. We also googled and figured they were heading to the Christian Motorcycle Association rally in Kerrville, Texas. We like this part of I-10 and usually see lots of moving trains. One was carrying military trucks of some sort. The drive reminds me of the Chris Rea song, Texas, “Warm winds blowing, heating blue skies, and a road that goes on forever.” The drive across western Texas is like that.

We made decent time. It took about 6 hours with 2 stops. We also had the benefit of transitioning into the Mountain time zone. We got to The Little Vineyard RV Park around 2:15 in the afternoon, set up, and promptly took a nap. The air conditioning was soothing and we needed a refresh. I started looking to explore Deming and found a little roadhouse that was a few blocks away. We saddled up the mutts and walked over to The Happy Camper Club House. If you were not looking for it, you would never know it was there. It is tucked in behind another RV park.

We sat on the shaded patio and Clint went inside to order. It was a local dive that was hopping at 5:30 pm on Friday. There were all sorts of characters including this ancient couple that walked out and got into a truly vintage black sedan they had probably owned for their entire lives. They were somewhere between 85-95 years young. In addition to them, there were blue-collar folks, people in scrubs, and a few who might’ve been school teachers. At 5:58 some music starts and lo and behold it’s Karaoke Night! We had dinner and a show! The song selections varied from P!nk to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody to Robert Palmer and so on. Most volunteers couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket but they got up there and screeched for the crowd. It was great. We had a cheesesteak sandwich with some local flavors-the green chile. Yum and yum. Oh, and a little while before we left a guy showed up dressed like a pirate. Go figure. We walk D and D back, hop into the air conditioning, and are winding down. Tomorrow’s drive to Tucson is only about 3 hours. We will be there until Thursday. Looking forward to it.

-Cheryl

Midland…Working for a Living

It is Thursday and the Midland adventure is winding down in a crazy way. My last meeting ended at 5:00 pm and the locals were concerned about an incoming storm. I left about 5:15 pm and got back to Althea in time to walk the dogs with Clint. Thunder and lightning was rolling in fast. About 10 minutes later the sky opened up. The storm clouds were grey-green and after about 10 minutes of pounding rain we got hail. We’re hoping that there is no damage as the pieces were between pea and golf ball sized. The power cycled on and off for about an hour. There are small lakes everywhere around us and when we take the dogs we will carry them over to the grass. Otherwise the nicely clean RV will be extremely muddy.

The rest of the week was SUPER busy with work but we did get to hang out with some of our local friends. We grilled fajitas here on Tuesday so we could just hang out with everyone. On Wednesday after work we needed to make a trip to Boot Barn for some work boots for me. Clint has some but since we are in the desert for a while I am tired of getting bit by things and the terrain is unkind to flip flops and crocks. I got a good pair and can even handle snakes-which we expect to see in Arizona.

I really like working for hospitals and working out here where they really need some attention is fulfilling. But it is super tiring as technology can only help so much. Clint got a lot done for his job and for his volunteer work. We are getting ready to take the dogs out for the last potty of the evening and in the morning we head to Deming, New Mexico. See you there.

-Cheryl

Weatherford, Texas to Midland, Texas

We left Weatherford this morning in the pouring rain. Eighty percent of the ride was rainy. With a few minor stops we spent about 4 hours on the road. There are some rolling hills for the first hour and then it flattens out. We saw various weird things moving down the road-much of it destined for the oil fields.

The coolest thing we saw was the welcome signs for Sweetwater, which are painted on windmill blades. They have embraced the big creatures and it was cool to see. The other famous thing about Sweetwater is they host the world’s largest rattlesnake roundup. This year it was held in early March. Having encountered enough snakes to last a lifetime, that’s not an event I’d make a special trip for. Since we will be in the desert for the next 20 days, I imagine we will see a few.

We rolled into Midland around 2:00 pm, got set up and I took Clint and the dogs on the tour. We ended up at an outdoor patio restaurant/bar and are now back prepping for the work week. I have been working for Midland Health since December. I was here for 2 weeks in January and 2 weeks in April. I am trying to avoid a summer trip so we are here until Friday morning. I assumed some more responsibility 2 weeks ago and need to meet with the team and some customers.

In addition to the infrastructure work-which is making forward progress, I am managing the ambulatory (outpatient) services team and I have miscellaneous applications for food services, HR, facilities, housekeeping, and marketing. They all need some love and I am bringing it. It is hot and dusty so we r chilling out a bit. The work week will not be that interesting so there may be fewer updates. Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate!

Soundtrack: Texas themed songs (many were country but we did get a Dead version of El Paso and listened to String Cheese Incident’s “Texas”)

-Cheryl

Texarkana, Arkansas to Weatherford, Texas

We planned to take a few long days and a few shorter days on the road. Today was 245 miles and without stops or traffic it would have been about 3 1/2 hours. We planed a stop in Royce City at one of our favorite places, Buc-ee’s. If you’ve never had the pleasure, allow me to fill you in. In the early years (2003 or so) we made trip from San Antonio to Shiner, Texas along I-10 where we discovered a gas station called Buc-ee’s whose claim to fame was “world’s cleanest bathrooms.”It did not disappoint. Not only were they clean, each stall was its own room with a closing and locking door, walls all the way to the top. There was an attendant keeping things clean and we were hooked.

When you walk out of the bathroom you realize you are in a superstore of interesting things. 30 types of fresh jerky, jellies, jams, salsa, pickled things, and of course Beaver Nuggets. Beaver Nuggets remind me of Sugar Pops cereal but bigger, crunchier, and sweeter. They also have them dipped in chocolate (milk, dark, or white), and they come in savory flavors such as white cheddar or habanero. We LOVE them all. There are about 80 soda fountains, big urns of freshly brewed coffee and iced tea, and there are hot foods such as barbecue brisket and pork that are served as tacos for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch or dinner. They branched out into wraps awhile back so our current favorite is Philly Cheesesteak.

Today we stopped, walked the dogs, hit the potties, loaded up on nuggets for friends and ourselves and grabbed a cheesesteak wrap. In addition to all the foodstuffs, there is MERCH. We probably each have 4-5 pieces of Buceewear and no less than 5 soft and squishy blankets or throws. We have 2 in the RV. We did not get any merch today but I was wearing a Buc-ee’s tie dye. They have 80 gas pumps so it is truly a convenience store.

After our 30 minute Buc-ee’s stop we hit the road again. There was fairly heavy traffic before Lake Ray Hubbard, and super heavy traffic through downtown Dallas. After that it was relatively smooth sailing to the Weatherford KOA Journey. Journeys are usually right off the highway and frequented by overnighters who need a safe place to sleep. Most of them are pretty good, this one has a lot of full time residents and is not exactly welcoming. Our space is pretty tight. The parks with long term residents make mobile home parks look nice. Yes, our next door neighbors have at least one Pit Bull on a lead rope staked in the ground. There was a 2nd dog but I didn’t see it. We are glad this is only an overnight.

We took a ride through downtown Weatherford as it had been awhile since I’d been there for the Parker County Peach Festival many years ago. It is celebrated every July, so we will miss it. We had dinner at a favorite taco place-Fuzzy’s and then went to a place called Antebellum Brewing. It started to rain but we sat outside under an umbrella. It was fairly busy and a musician started playing and singing country songs. He was ok, a bit pitchy and Clint says, “It’s not Nashville.” He was right. We stopped for groceries and called it a night. It is still raining but we think tomorrow should be clear. We have another short day and it should be nice. Until then….

-Cheryl

On the Road Again

Cheryl, Clint, Dani, and Denzel loaded up Althea (RV), connected Jed (the Jeep) and started out on our months long adventure west. The original motivation for the trip was to reach Sonoma for Clint’s goddaughter’s wedding. As this adventure unfolds, you will see that we added a bunch of stops along the way and several cool ones on the way back. We can’t promise an update every day, but we will try.

Althea staged across from our apartment before departure

We left our apartment in Franklin, Tennessee around 8:30 am and pulled into Sunrise RV Park in Texarkana, Arkansas. It was basically a straight shot down I-40 to Little Rock with a southward turn on I-30. The traffic is always full of fast moving trucks. Althea moves best between 65-75 MPH, so she kept up. One thing we notice is all the weird-ass things being hauled up and down the highway. Giant petroleum valve systems, commercial generators, convoys of military vehicles, boats and boat pieces, airplane wings, and unidentifiable farm implements. Clint said to mention the big horse trailer filled to the rim with tires. Since we’ve made this drive a dozen times we always notice the water levels. All the rivers and tributaries, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Red are swollen.

I-40 Westbound

The Sunrise RV Park is a gravel lot right on I-30. There are a mix of overnighters like us and long term residents. There is plenty of grass for the pups and we have what we need. I worked for about 4 hours on the drive-the cell service was fairly decent. We are relaxing with some wine after the 8 hour drive (including stops). While Althea is extremely comfortable to live in, she is a Freightliner truck. We bounce a bit and relish sitting still to recharge. Tomorrow won’t be as far s we head west of Fort Worth to a KOA in Weatherford, Texas. Cheers to a good and safe day!

Resting at Sunrise RV Park

Sound Track: Jelly Roll-Whitsett Chapel, Dierks Bentley Essentials by Apple Music

-Cheryl

Reliving the College Years

After the wedding in D.C., we head south to Williamsburg. As a William & Mary graduate, Cheryl spent her youth working as a tavern wench. Coming back to W&M is always fun and Cheryl gets a chance to ramble down those memory lanes.

Five days of college memories and off we go to Pocahontas State Park outside Richmond. Taking the day off of work, we meet up with one of Cheryl’s oldest friends. Some hiking in the park, steaks for dinner, and a few craft beers we collected on the road, we spend a last night in Virginia. Saturday, we head west for home.

Prince William Forrest

After three days at the Springhill Suites in Sterling, VA, we moved south to a space at Prince William Forrest National Park Campground near Manassas (right next to Quantico). We’re spending the night here and then heading into D.C. for the next two nights to recelebrate Matt and Melanie’s wedding.

The park here is nice, with lots of trees. No surprise given it’s in the forrest. Though, we are packed in pretty tight with our neighbors. Sadly, the weather is classic Virginia spring with clouds and a constant threat of rain. We did get a walk in after work this afternoon, so that was fun.

The Adventure Begins

For well over 10 years, Cheryl and I had talked about and planned to purchase an RV so we could roadtrip in comfort. Very early on, we’d determined we wanted a medium-sized motor home and zeroed in on something built on a Sprinter chassis. We found the perfect layout in the Navion View 24D.

After a few job changes and other work realignments, we both wound up working remotely. Throw in a global pandemic and the end of air travel for awhile and we decided to pull the trigger and buy what was now a Winnebago View. Of course, a million other people made the same decision. We searched and found a good deal from a dealer in Wixom, Michigan. We placed our order. Then we waited.

In June 2021, fully a year later, our vehicle was ready. We packed the dogs, as much of the motorhome inventory we could fit in the rented car, and headed north from Dallas. Three days later, we’d traded our rental car for a nice, new motorhome. We named her Ramble On Rose.

Ramble On Rose leaving the dealer’s lot

Fast forward to March 2022 and we’re on the road for our fourth big trip. We’re talking about travel and road trips and Cheryl hits on the idea that we should document our travels. So there, somewhere on an Arkansas interstate, Rode Noise was conceived. Born on the road and about the road, this is the story of our adventures in Ramble On Rose.