Tourists Without Cameras

Since we are just hanging out waiting for our coach to be fixed, we decided to make the best of it by taking in some of the local sights. Unfortunately, Dallas/Fort Worth is a huge metropolis, and going to either involves 40-50 miles each way from where we are in Krum/Denton. We've done 3 "touristy" things in the past week and a half. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed at any of these places, so any pictures displayed were downloaded from the web.

King Tut's coffinette

On Tuesday last week, we drove down to the Dallas Museum of Art, and took in the King Tut exhibit. I think it was back in the 70's when we went to the King Tut exhibit back in Los Angeles. We vaguely remember seeing lots of gold, including KT's gold coffin. This time around, we found the exhibit completely different. The museum's description is as follows: "The Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition displays works of art from royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings from the late 18th Dynasty (14th century B.C.). The main themes of the exhibition are Egyptian ideas of the afterlife; divine kingship; the Egyptian gods, including Pharaoh Akhenaten’s worship of the Aten sun disc; ritual objects of splendor; and the luxurious lifestyle of the ruling class in ancient Egypt, which was perpetuated in funerary art in order to ensure that the dead person lived well forever. The key role played by royal women and the importance of the family to Egyptians are also featured." Yawn...OK, we saw a lot of neat bracelets, necklaces, chests and chairs, but no bling. All-in-all, it was an interesting day out, but didn't quite live up to our expectations.

Brings back memories of Helms Bakery!

Last Thursday, we took a trip down to Fort Worth, to take a tour at Mrs. Baird's Bakery. Mrs. Baird started selling bakery goods in 1908 to supplement her income after her husband passed away. The business grew into a large local bakery. The tour itself was interesting - talk about rules and security: no cell phones, no cameras, no jewelry (including rings), no shorts, no opened toed shoes. And, we had to don hairnets (I got 2, one for the hair on my head, and one for my goatee!). The tour brought back memories of my college days, when I would often work a graveyard shift at the Barbara Ann Bakery in Pasadena, CA. They were making honey wheat bread during our tour - at the rate of 2000 loaves an hour! An interesting fact we learned was that each loaf of bread goes through a metal detector, just to ensure that nothing but bread is in that loaf! After the tour, our guide brought in 5 loaves hot off the line, cut them up, buttered them, and gave us a chunk. Very tasty! We've been buying Mrs. Baird's since we've been in Texas - they sell a loaf with very thick slices, just perfect for French Toast! The Baird story is quite interesting, check it out at: http://www.mrsbairds.com/ourstory/meet.html

Fort Worth Bureau of Printing & Engraving

Today we journeyed back down to Fort Worth, this time to visit the US Bureau of Printing and Engraving. This is where money is printed! As you can imagine, this tour also involves very tight security. No cameras or cell phones allowed here, for obvious reasons. The Fort Worth facility is on of two in the US; the other is in Washington DC. We really enjoyed this tour, and saw millions of dollars...of course, just out of reach!! They told us that most of what they make is just to replace what is out in circulation already. It's actually a very complicated process, and is getting more-so, as the government tries to stay ahead of counterfeiters. The design of denominations over $1 are changed every 7 years. Right now, they are getting ready to roll out a new $100 bill, and they have giant drapes that are put in place at various workstations so that tours can't get a clue as to the new design. We found the security features embedded in each denomination to be quite interesting. The inking machines are capable of using 14 colors, 7 on each side, at the same time. Check out this website (http://www.moneyfactory.gov/) for details. And, believe it or not, no samples after this tour!!

Money money money

This week we're also thinking about taking in a tour at the original Dr. Pepper factory and the Texas Motor Speedway. Hopefully the coach will get done and we can go someplace a bit warmer!

Stuck!

Well, here we are...stuck in Lodi...no, just kidding, that was an old CCR song. We're in actually in Krum, TX, waiting on parts for our coach. Hopefully, they will be here on Wednesday, and repairs can begin. We are camped at the RV collision place - they have a water/electric hookup, so we are reasonably comfortable. Krum is about 45 miles north of Dallas, and it's a mite chilly and windy here. It will be down in the low 30's tonight, and was only in the low 50's today.

Way back when we lived in California, Donna and I worked at Southern California Edison. One of our friends from that time in our lives, Gayle, moved to Rhome, TX, which is only 30 miles or so from Krum. We got together with her and her hubby Pat last week, and went out to dinner at Babes, in Sanger. Babes is a chicken and catfish place, and the food is very good. It's served home style, with green beans, mashed potatoes, and corn. Mighty good eatin', although it's definitely NOT low-cal!!

While we are here, we plan to do some sightseeing. A couple of days ago, we went down to Fort Worth, and went to the Stockyards. It is in the historical part of town, and has some very interesting old buildings and museums. The streets are made of brick, which isn't fun to drive on, but it looks cool! At 11:30am and 4:00pm, they have a min-cattle drive, complete with longhorns.

Here come the longhorns!

Horny little devils!!

The Dallas Museum of History has the King Tut exhibit going, so we are going to do that this coming week. We also have a trip to Mrs. Bairds Bakery planned for Thursday. It should be interesting. They are a local bakery that's been around for a 100 years, growing from a 4-loaf oven in Mrs. Bairds home to a huge company (the bad news - the Bairds sold the company to a Mexican consortium a few years back). They make the famous "Texas Toast" bread. Each slice is about double that of a regular slice of bread. It should be an interesting tour - you have to get a reservation, and fill out waivers, etc. Stayed tuned for an update.

The Terrible Three's

They (who are they, anyway?) say that bad things happen in three's. We just had our three. Each was progressively worse, and we hope that this will be the end of it, for a long time.

Thing 1. Donna lost her cell phone when we were in the Tucson area. It was a real mystery: she talked to her sister one afternoon, and a while later, we couldn't find it. We searched the car, inch by inch, the coach, also inch by inch, and our RV site. Nada. So we searched again, and then several more times. I tried calling her number, but it immediately went to voicemail. Hmmm. I checked Verizon online for usage. There wasn't any after the call to her sister. All we can figure is that she got out of the Jeep and it fell under a tire. We ran over it and it was crushed and no longer worked. I disabled the phone online, then called Verizon. Next day, she had a replacement. Very very strange.

Thing 2. After we left Benson, AZ, we went to El Paso and did some visiting. Then we headed for Kerrville, TX, with an overnight stay in Fort Stockton, TX. We stayed at a terrible park, but it was just for one night, so no big deal. When we got there, the temp was in the high 70's. That night a storm came in, and the temp dropped to mid-30's, with drizzly, cold, yucky weather. I went out to stow the hoses and electric, while Donna buttoned up the inside. She decided to empty the trash. As she came out of the rig, you guessed it, she slipped on the step, which had iced over. Yes, a repeat of November 2007, when she slipped at our son's home in Colorado. This time she has a couple of cracked ribs. They take a while to heal, but she knows the drill, and is doing pretty good.

Thing 3. This is the big one. We left Kerrville after a week, and headed over to Canyon Lake, where we had a week booked at a Coast to Coast park. This is the same park we stayed at our first winter in 2007. The park where ants got into the 5th wheel. The park where I hurt my wrist cutting the branches off the roof of the rig. I'm not sure why we came back here. Anyway, the road into the park is a narrow 2-lane road, with a narrower bridge over the Guadalupe River. About 50' after the bridge, the road takes a sharp, blind, 90 turn to the right (the lanes on this curve are a measured 10'). The coach is 8-1/2 feet wide. You get the picture. As we finished the crossing, and I began the turn, two cars came around the corner. I had 3 choices: 1) jam on the brakes (we were going 10mph) and hope that the car tailgating me didn't hit the Jeep; 2) hit one of them; or 3) try and cut the corner and avoid them. I chose the latter. Unfortunately, the last 15' of the coach decided not to cooperate with my plan, and ended up scraping the guard rail. We were sick - neither Donna or I have had an accident in at least 25 years. The insurance adjuster came out, inspected the damage, and later put a check in the mail. Now we are up in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and, the body shop has revised the amount - and it's 2-3 times the original estimate. Yow. The good news - other than our egos, no one was hurt. And it will take 4-6 weeks to get it done.

We also found out that the rally we were going to attend on Jekyll Island in Georgia in March was cancelled. So, we'll be hanging out in Texas for a while before heading back to Colorado.

Reunions

Almost 2 years ago, I retired from Great Southwestern Construction. Yes, "work" is but a faint memory now. While the daily grind is behind me, I do miss the friends and camaraderie that went with working (and the $$$). Fortunately, I know where some of my former co-workers live! I contacted Sal, who lives and works in El Paso, Texas. Since we were headed that way, and it was the right distance for a layover, we made plans to have dinner with he and his wife Margie. As fate would have it, there were two additional project managers working in El Paso - Mickey and Vern. And the safety manager was also around. Wow, it was going to turn into a festive event!

We decided upon Mexican food (duh, easy choice!), and met up at 6:30pm at one of Sal's favorite places. Donna and I really enjoyed reminiscing with Sal, Vern, Kurt, and Mickey. One person had a change of heart, leaving for Albuquerque earlier in the day, so we didn't get to visit with him. I think it was a Keno thing. Maybe next time Jerry! After dinner, we headed over to Sal and Margie's for some excellent homemade cherry and pecan pies!

Saturday morning, Sal, Mickey and I met for an authentic Huevos Rancheros breakfast. Afterwards, Sal took us on a tour of two properties he fondly calls "Money Pits 1 & 2". Don't worry Sal, they'll be finished "soon".

Later in the day, Donna and I did a little sight-seeing in El Paso. Sal had told us several times not to cross over the border into Juarez. Evidently the drug-cartels are doing battle with each other and the Federales, and the crime level is up significantly.

Tomorrow we're heading northeast, back into New Mexico, to visit Carlsbad Caverns. After that, we'll head southeast back into Texas.

More Arizona

I forgot to mention in the last post, that a benefit of staying at Beaudry RV in Tucson is citrus! Every site had some kind of citrus tree planted, and they told us to take as much as we wanted. We had a grapefruit tree on our site, but due to certain medications we take, we can't eat them. But, there were lemons and oranges galore! We hadn't had fresh squeezed OJ since we wintered in Florida last year. The ol' juicer got a workout, and we brought a bag to Leroy and Carol.

Upon arriving in Benson, we got settled in next to L & C, then headed off to a potluck. I know, it's tough, but someone has to do it! Also, Emma the Yorkie got to meet Daisy Mae the Chihuahua, L & C's new dog. They became fast friends, and played and walked together a lot.

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Emma and Daisy Mae "sharing"

While there, L & C took us on a couple of excursions so that we could take in some of the southern Arizona beauty. One day, we took a leisurely drive down to Coronado National Monument, where we had picnic lunch and did some hiking and picture taking. From the summit, you can see far into Mexico. We also took a tour at Kartchner Caverns, just south of Benson. This cave was discovered back in the 1970's, but was kept a secret by it's discovers until the late 1980's, when it was sold to the State. They wanted to ensure that it remained in pristine condition. Extraordinary measures have been taken to preserve it. Unlike most caves we have visited, this cave is horizontal, staying close to the surface. Because of that, it's warm inside, with an average temperature inside of 70F and humidity in the 98-99% range. Sorry I don't have any pictures, as cameras of any kind are not allowed. We also visited a very quaint bookstore, miles from anywhere.

Coronado summit looking towards Mexico


Coronado summit looking east (Arizona)


Stay away from the banditos!

Manly men with their manly dogs!

While we were staying in Benson, Emma had a vet visit. As she was 6-1/2 months old, she was due to be spayed. We had been in contact with a Yorkie breeder in Tucson, who recommended a vet who specialized in small breeds. We met with him 2 days before surgery to make sure we were comfortable (we were!). The Friday surgery was a success - besides the spay, she had 4 baby teeth pulled, and got a microchip. Poor Emma was down and out the day of surgery, but the following day, was almost back to normal. By Sunday, there was no holding her back. So much for limited activities for a week. Now we have one more week to go before she can have a bath...as I am fond of saying: "you stinkah"!

Emma is growing up!

After 11 days, it was time to say goodbye to our friends. Texas is a-callin'!

Happy New Year!

Leaving SoCal after for 11 days was pretty easy for us. We had great visits with family and friends, but were anxious to find warmer weather and new scenery. We took a leisurely drive from Huntington Beach to El Centro, where we stayed one night. We stayed at a very nice RV park, but found the town of El Centro to be less than desirable. It's doubtful that we'll stay there again.

We headed east on I-8 the next day, arriving in Winterhaven, CA, our home for the next week. Winterhaven is the last city in California before you cross the border into Yuma, Arizona. Our first year out, we had stayed 2 weeks in Yuma. This time, the Yuma resort was booked solid, which is why we opted for Winterhaven. The park is on the west side of town, so it was about a 10 mile ride to Yuma and all of it's amenities. We basically hung out for a week, going to the movies once (Marley and Me), and doing some shopping at Sam's Club (exciting, eh?). We did venture across the border into Algodones, Baja, did some window shopping, and had a nice lunch at a very local cafe.


Would you eat here? We did, and it was good!

Donna and I have a game called "check-out-the-casino". We find the local casinos, sign up for the Players Club, get whatever free gifts available, and try out the buffet if it looks good. Sometimes they give you $5 or $10 free play, which is perfect for us, since we aren't big gamblers. We did this at 2 casinos in the Yuma area. We took our free play money, worked the video poker machines, and walked out with $16. Since there wasn't a buffet, we went to In-N-Out and splurged!

By the way, the weather, while mostly sunny, remained cool in the high 50's and low 60's.

After a week, we headed further east, to Casa Grande, AZ. This town is a mecca for snowbirds looking to escape the snow in the northern states and Canada. We had another peaceful week, and even got to have lunch with some of our Country Coach friends, Tom and Lynne, who live in the Scottsdale area. We also took in another movie (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). It's rare we go to the movies, but twice in the same month? The weather was still cool, but the temperatures were getting close to "shorts" weather. Another week, time to move on!

Almost a year and a half ago, we purchased our motor home from Beaudry RV in Tucson. We didn't go to AZ, we actually ordered it at a rally in Redmond, OR. They had given us a certificate for 3 free nights at their RV Park, so we headed off to Tucson. We have never stayed in the Tucson area. Our impression is that Tucson is a very spread out city! Not highly populated, but spread out over many, many miles.

We managed to do one touristy thing - we visited the Biosphere2, north of town. This facility was built in the late 80's and early 90's. In 1991, several scientists were sealed in Biosphere2 for a couple of years. Our memories recalled that it was an experiment to see if man could create an environment and sustain themselves. Our memories were wrong. The purpose of the Biosphere2 was to study 5 distinct environments (biomes) to see how plants and animals behaved in controlled conditions. The scientists were sealed in to monitor and record the plant and animal behaviors. Our tour included a walk through the various environments, labs, and housing. The tour was fascinating, and we learned a lot. In case you're wondering, Biosphere1 is The Earth. The facility has had a few owners, and now the University of Arizona is the caretaker/operator. We are unclear as to the owner is, but they told us that the facility is up for sale. Experiments continue, and a new study is being launched to study the effects of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) on the environment. VOC's are things like paint fumes.

Our 3 night stint over at Beaudry, we headed east to Benson, AZ, where we are visiting with friends Leroy and Carol. We will be here about 2 weeks, before heading towards our home state of Texas.

Blogging Blues

With the new year, I decided to change the format of our blog. It's easy to do: you just find a template you like, click on it, and you're done. One minor problem: the template I chose did not have coding to allow a "comments" section at the end of the post. I've spent 2 weeks trying to figure out where comments went, only to find that the coding wasn't there in the first place. So, another template change, and that's why there is a new, improved (?) look to our blog!

And I'll get us caught up in a few days...I know, you've heard that before...