The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

Crossing Texas

Crossing the panhandle of Texas this afternoon. What do you say about the Texas panhandle anyway. It’s different from New Mexico? Once again at the state line everything changed. Bluffs and canyons of eastern NM changed to Texas. Brown earth blue sky. Windmills. Olds ones with groups of cows around them and then new ones leading for miles into Amarillo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Texas

It’s a quiet day on the road actually, and really relaxing. It’s 71 degrees and clear here right now at 3 in the afternoon. Jeremy finally figured out how to sleep on the dash with a view, and we turned on the radio to listen to, ‘imagine that’ country music. The big difference here is that there is song after song of male singers and not one female voice to be heard. So far the most exciting thing we have seen along the road is the “biggest cross in the western hemisphere”. Who knows why. I guess it’s Texas.

We got on the road at 8 this morning after a nice stay in Albuquerque. Albuquerque actually looks as though it might be an interesting place to live for a short time, or to visit for a week or two at least. Might be fun to come during the balloon festival in October, but probably hard to get a place to stay. The thing we noticed and appreciated most was the lack of traffic. New highways that seem to be really well engineered, at least in town.

That has been the theme all day. No traffic. Wide roads. Good pavement. Not a bad theme for a day of travel devoted to getting from A to B, or A to O as it may be, Albuquerque to Foss, Oklahoma. No plans for this day, just the open road and the miles, and no way to explain to anyone at all how good this can feel. Open roads with light traffic are reminding me why I like to travel in the MoHo, or to drive anywhere for that matter. Way too many months driving up and down in I-5 fighting wall to wall cars and trucks and people. Eastern NM and the Texas Panhandle are blessedly empty of crowds. Guess it’s easy to understand why, but it’s still makes for a great day.

Flagstaff to Albuquerque

We are on I-40 again, approaching the New Mexico border. I should have known that Mo and I couldn’t get through the desert without doing a side trip or two. At Holbrook, we took off on the old Route 66 to go to the Painted Desert. The most amazing thing we found unexpectedly was Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Company.

http://www.petrifiedwoodco.com/

It was amazing, with a huge lot filled with logs of every shape and size, and inside the shop aisles upon aisles of petrified wood, jewelry, huge tables made of stone and amethyst geodes, and even a pond and a waterfall. On the walls up high were all sorts of Route 66 memorabilia, photos, old license plates, coke bottles. The place was just too much fun. We bought some “mother road” refrigerator magnets, a book about the Petrified Wood national park, and an ironwood road runner for Mo’s collection.

Continuing into the park, we ambled along the quiet roads completely enjoying the silence, the distant views, and all the shapes and colors off the old betonite clay deposits that were a major factor in the process of petrification. Since silica is the main mineral that transforms the wood to stone, a good source of silica is needed in the waters that buy the wood to preserve it. Ahaha, volcanic ash! Huge piles of ash from all the volcanic activity in Triassic times 225 M years ago. The piles of ash, full of silica, helped create the stone. Then the ash weathers to heavy clay after millions of years, gets colored by iron and manganese and creates tourist opportunities for people like me and Mo.

It really was a great little park, though, with nice trails and beautiful views. Another nice part was that they allowed dogs on the trails which doesn’t often happen in a national park, so of course Abby got her morning walk.

http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/petrified_forest/national_park.html

It was a nice side trip and now we are back headed east. Last night was really comfortable after we settled in, even though it got down to 20 degrees. We were warm and cozy with the little electric heater that we use so we can save on propane. It’s also much quieter than the big heater.

We just crossed into New Mexico, and there is pink rock and golden mesas topped with dark green juniper. I am always amazed at how the landscape changes so much at state boundaries. This one is a great example. We moved from the huge flat plains of Arizona where you can see for 120 miles to the mesas and arroyos of New Mexico in just a couple of miles. Georgia O’Keefe country, pink and gold and juniper green.

Evening in Albuquerque. We settled in to our campground in plenty of time for daylight setup which was really great after our experience last night! Funny thing that the rv campground is right next to a Camping World which any RV’r knows is like REI for hikers. Super fun. So we shopped there a bit and I found the perfect chili pepper lights for the awning. I love the stupid little light thing, and Mo said, “no flamingos, but I suppose I could tolerate chili peppers”. So I have been hunting chili peppers. Of course, I probably won’t put them up until we are going to be somewhere longer than a single night, but you wait, pictures will be forthcoming.

We unhooked the baby car and headed downtown to the “Old Town” of Albuquerque, settled in 1705, just a young baby city compared to 400 year old Santa Fe, but still old by US western standards. It had a real pasea and town square, which Moana really loved. That was her favorite part of traveling in mexico and we enjoyed this one as well. Not as big as the square in Santa Fe, but still fun, although pretty quiet since it was a Monday night. There are Christmas lights going up and the luminaries everywhere which is so enchanting in New Mexico nighttime.

The restaurant was in an historic home. http://www.churchstreetcafe.com/

Lots of history here and really great service and good food. The waiter brought me exactly what I wanted, in pieces ala carte instead of those groups of things that are always way too big. I had some kind of Spanish chili relleno that was different, and sopapillas with green chili soup. Perfect. Oh yes, the marguerita was perfect as well.

Tehachapi eastward

We are traveling east on I-40 right now after spending last night at Mo’s friend’s home in Bear Springs valley near Tehachapi. It’s a little after 11 right now and finally the air is getting clearer as we get farther east in the desert. Mo is driving but soon it will be my turn. I knitted some, fiddled with the broadband card on the computer, called John and Deanna and things feel really nice and simple at the moment.

It was really cold last night and we had the heater going all night, and then at 330 or so I got up to turn on the propane heater as well. It was about 47 degrees in the MoHo by then and my nose was cold even though it was cozy under the covers.

The cats have traveled just fine but then last night they were a little restless as well, probably because I was. We had a really nice visit with Chris and Peggy and Mo’s other student Jane came up to visit from Victorville as well. Jane and Chrissy were students of Mo’s when she was a new young teacher in China Lake in 1962. It was fun reminiscing about those days and hearing about Mo back then as a young teacher. Even then she was “firm, fair, and consistent”. That was what they like about her, and they emulated her teaching style as they each became teachers in California. They both also retired with more than 30 years of teaching.

Yesterday we stopped at a big ”family” farm on HWY 58 on the way to their house and bought some pomelos, like grapefruits except they were as big as heads. We laughed a lot about them and left them for Chris and Peg.

Jane is a cat lady so we got lots of good information about my cats and what to do about Jeremy losing weight. I guess she has more than 13 cats but refused to tell any of us the actual number.

Peggy made a great dinner for us with chicken and scalloped potatoes and also insisted on sending us off this morning with bacon and apple pie, and leftover chicken and potatoes for the road. They are planning to move to the Bear Valley house when Peg retires next spring but for now it is a weekend place. The horse barn was to die for though, since they are both horse people and Chris still rides with the sheriff posse and helps with horse rescues during the fires. I kept thinking of my sister Sally and how much she would have loved that Barnmaster barn. Heck, back in the days when I had horses I would have loved it!

It must have rained here recently because there are flowers blooming all over the desert. Some reallhy pretty kind of aster that has gray foliage. At first I thought it was rabbitbrush, but it’s not the right flower. And a beautiful bunch of lavender asters was blooming out among the creosote bushes. The skyline has that desert sharpness except to the south there is smog and smoke creeping up from LA I guess, hard to say where it is from.

It’s later on Sunday evening and Mo is showering after we finally settled in for the night at Meteor Crater. We drove a long way today, 450 miles or so, and the road were good and the traffic was light, but we were still worn out when we landed. It seemed a lot later than it was because it was dark here completely at 5pm. Must be on the eastern edge of the time zone even if it is pretty far south in Arizona.

We got to Flagstaff and needed gas so got off the freeway to try to find some kind of gas station. Finally found one, but the funny thing is that here in the desert they must actually be implementing the dark night restrictions on night lighting. I have heard of this a lot in the past and thought it was a great idea. I love the dark. But trying to find your way around in a darkened unknown city is an interesting experience. Everything looks as though it is closed. Finally managed to get gas and get the next 30 miles down the road to our reserved campground, which was very nearly closed, and yet still more than very very dark. We drove around in circles trying to find the space, and then turning on the light so we could see the campground light, but then of course we couldn’t see anything at all. It was funny. I was swearing a lot at all those dark night rules!

Now, after dinner and a glass of wine it all seems entertaining, but an hour ago not so much. Music playing on the stereo, cats napping in the front window after dinner, and praise be, my wireless att card is working. Some things make life all ok! LOLOL

Traveling the Southern Routes in December

Saturday morning December 1, 2007
We are off and running on the big trip, the one we have waited for all year. This morning we left town at 6:45 even earlier than we had planned. This trip will be our maiden voyage with the cats along and it feels as though it will be just fine. Of course there has been a bit of adjustments.

Teddy did his meowing thing for a couple of hours but now it’s 930 in the morning and he seems to have finally settled down. Jeremy is here asleep in Moana’s lap feeling safe and cozy. Right away when I let him out of his cage he found Abby’s bed and decided that it felt like home. Teddy goes back into his cage for safety, probably because he likes being in those closed spaces.

It’s also taken a bit to get used to using the laptop and the wireless card. The computer kept turning off and I already broke the antenna off the card. For a bit of time, though, I had 5 bars and managed to get gas prices. We did really well, since we paid 3.19 and every thing else around there was more.

We had a glass of milk before we left and split a yogurt a bit ago, but hopefully won’t be eating all those big breakfasts that we do sometimes when we are traveling. It’s sunny and not too cold here on 99, smoggy and hazy as usual for the central valley. The highway is pretty rough in some places but here between Fresno and Bakersfield it has smoothed out some.
I can’t believe that after all these years of fantasizing about the motorhome and a tracker that I am living it right now. A whole month on the road. So many fun things ahead of us, and who knows what kind of adventures are waiting. We will be staying with Mo’s friends in Tehachapi tonight and then tomorrow will be a rather long day crossing the deserts on the way to Flagstaff. For the moment it’s still California, and still doesn’t really feel like a real trip. The leaves are off the orchards, or turning dull brown, sometimes you can smell grapes, other time fertilizers and waste plants. Trash along the highway. I am wondering just how much that will change as we cross the country. 99 certainly isn’t the most picturesque of roads, even though it has such a long history in my life, and Mo’s life as well. We have both traveled this road for close to 50 years or more. Some things change, others never do. For instance, there are only a couple of ways to get from one end of California to the other. Old refrigerators in a huge junkyard, lots of manufactured home and rv dealers, stupid people on cell phones who don’t know how to onramp the freeways. Good thing Mo is such a good driver. Cats sleeping sun in the windows, clouds over the misty sierras in the east. Onward.

Traveling West to Colorado and Utah

Transcribed from our old red leather journal in April of 2011

May 18th, 2007

Once we arrived at Edna’s place things got a bit strange for a time. Her dog got all upset about Abby being there and piddled on the floor. Edna acted like it was because of Abby, but as time progressed it became clear that the dog has been doing this at other times. It surely was a bit uncomfortable for a time though. Then the homeowner’s association had a problem with the MoHo being in front of the house and we had to move it to another area.

On Thursday we all had breakfast with Edna and Tom and visited with his mom a bit before we went for a walk with Abby in the Bear Creek green belt. Edna took a nap then and Mo and I decided to take the bikes and go for a bike ride. We left Abby in the car and of course she barked, but it was out of the way so hopefully it didn’t bother anyone. The bike ride was really beautiful, and the trail went for many miles along the creekside, though neighborhoods and around a golf course to the dam. We went back home and waited for the big dinner that Edna has planned for the family at a local restaurant. It was a nice restaurant, but very very loud and we were seated in a long table fashion so no one could really talk to anyone very easily. We were glad to get home. Mo and I told Edna that we would be leaving very early the next morning so we didn’t plan to get together for breakfast.

Up Friday morning feeling free and wonderful because we knew that we didn’t have any more people to please and that we were now totally on our own. We drove west over I-70 and really enjoyed the views of the mountains, the stop along the Colorado river and the feeling of getting back out west. We got to Torrey in the early evening and found our little camp ground with a site at the edge of the park and a view of the cliffs. We had to move the next day but that first night it didn’t matter to us. Slept like babies again in that place.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed west on 24 to 72 to go north to the turnoff for Cathedral Valley. It was a good thing I knew about where the turn was because it wasn’t marked at all along the highway. The air over the valley was pretty smoky, in fact all the west seemed fairly smoky and we couldn’t figure out where it was all coming from. Maybe southern California? The road over Thousand Lakes Mountain was much better than it used to be and I carried the gourd with Shera’s ashes over the mountain while we took photos and really enjoyed the views. The Cathedral Valley campground was completely empty and there wasn’t another car on the road in the entire area. We parked at the base of the trail and since no one was around we were able to take Abby on the hike to the mound where I spread Shera’s ashes in the perfect place where I know that she wanted them. It was a simple and good experience. Much easier that it might have been a year ago, so I was glad that so much time had passed since Shera died.

We then traveled east on the Caineville Wash road to the Lower Cathedral Valley and out again to HWY 24 by afternoon. We stopped at the Visitor Center again, and then home to a really amazing dinner across the street from our camp site at the Café Diablo. It was really fancy and fun and our food was so pretty that a tourist asked if she could take a photo of it. That was good for us since she emailed the photos later.

Sunday morning we decided to go south to the Burr Trail and headed down HWY 12 over Boulder Mountain and the spontaneously decided to take the Devil’s Backbone road back into the mountains. It was a great ride, and we came out into Escalante and drove back up HWY 12 to Boulder where we had a great lunch and met an Italian couple on their honeymoon. They were traveling all over the US and Polynesia for several weeks and were lots of fun to talk with. We drove down the Burr Trail, now paved of course, so it’s much easier than it used to be. Then took off on the side spur to Upper Muley Twist canyon and the Strike Overlook. It was my first time at the strike and I hiked up there without Mo and Abby since there wasn’t any place that was shaded enough to leave her in the car and it was pretty hot. When I came back down however, there were no more people any where around so Mo and I hiked back up to the overlook with Abby and that was great because then Mo got some photos of me up there. She laughed and said that there are a lot of photos of me on high places sitting on a rock.

We drove down the switchbacks and then back up the NoTom road over all the washboards, checked out Cedar Mesa campground and then one more time through the park headquarters on HWY 24. We then went on a great hike out behind our area and found a good place for walking without worrying about Abby being on the trail. Once more we had the place all to ourselves, which is pretty amazing for Memorial Day weekend!

Monday morning we left via HWY 72 to I-70 and then back across Nevada to Ely where we stayed at the KOA campground just out of town. We went in to town to try out the casinos and I won50 bucks almost immediately. That was fun. Then trying to buy a salad at the local McD’s was interesting. I guess most of Ely is reservation and the accents were really hard to understand. The town itself looks as though it has seen better days as well. But Cave Lake and Cave Creek were really beautiful, with a lovely dry camp campground that we would like to stay in sometime. The sites were level and the trails were really nice as well. Abby like the stream and the whole area was really pretty.

Tuesday morning we made the short trek from Ely to California. We found a Scenic Byway to the Lunar Crater and took a side trip there and had fun hiking and looking for desert things and driving the baby car on the flat smooth salt flat of a dry lake. Over the mountains we decided to unhook the baby car so the MoHo wouldn’t have to work so hard and drove the eastern portion of HWY 120 west to 395. That was a really beautiful drive with open space and roller coaster humps and no other cars. It came out in the vicinity of Lee Vining and Mono Lake where gas was 4.18 per gallon. The highest on the trip. We spent the night at June Lake in a campground where the owners were full of rules and all snooty and put us in a crummy site, but it didn’t really matter because we were headed home in the morning. Drove home over Tioga pass after unhooking one more time, and then go to Jamestown early afternoon. Great trip with no problems at all, and only one close call with Abby.