We began the year 2002 in Toledo.  We'd spent New Year's Eve with our good friends Kathy and Dennie Dew, who also put us up at their house for five nights...and were wonderful hosts.  While in Toledo we also enjoyed the hospitality of various good friends and family.  On January 2 we returned to Marysville for two more nights with the granddaughters and then on January 4 headed back to Raccoon Valley, Tennessee to retrieve the Bounder.  We found it waiting patiently for us right where we left it.  According to the thermometer memory, the temperature never went below 40 in the coach and we still had propane left.  We were able to refill the water tank and get everything operating again quite easily.  We had gotten a dusting of snow while in Marysville, but no snow had reached the Bounder.

On Saturday, January 5 we started our trip west.  We went just to Nashville the first night as we had gotten a late start after doing various maintenance checks on the coach.  On Sunday we moved on to Tunica, Mississippi, driving through Memphis on the way and wishing Elvis a happy birthday!  In Tunica we parked in the lot at the SamsTown Casino.  We enjoyed their fabulous buffet dinner and managed to come out slightly ahead after playing BlackJack for several hours.  We're getting tuned up for a visit to Las Vegas next month!

January 2002
The drive from Tunica, MS to Fort Smith, Arkansas was our project for Monday, January 7.  After getting settled in at the campground we realized that there were strange creaking noises coming from the under-side of the RV.  In checking, Tom discovered that the hydraulic piston rod under the slide-out has once again become bent, and apparently was reacting.  So, with some difficulty, we got the slide back in and Tom went to call Fleetwood to discuss repairs.  Our nights have continued to be cold, so we had less area to heat!  On Tuesday we drove on to Oklahoma City where we visited the recommended RV repair center.  They were very friendly but told us that any parts ordered would take up to two weeks to arrive.  We declined.  We did settle in at a nearby campground and then (in 73* temperatures) went to visit the Memorial at the sight of the Murrah Federal Building.  It was quite impressive.  Parts of the building remain around the perimeter and part of the fence that had been put up immediately after the bombing is still in use as visitors attach photos, flowers and other mementoes.  We also went to visit the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum.  We had been there on our honeymoon 34 years ago, but it has been greatly enlarged since then. It has a great collection of various cowboy clothing and equipment, photos, art work and other artifacts.  Did you know that there are over 8000 different varieties of barbed wire??  There were over 3000 on display there in roll-out display drawers.
The field of empty chairs overlooking the reflection pool at the National Memorial in Oklahoma City
The sculpture "End of the Trail" at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City
The "largest cross in the Western Hemisphere" standing in the middle of nowhere near Groom, TX
Wednesday night, Jan 9 we spent in Amarillo, TX.  On the drive across I-40 we spotted a sign and then the large cross standing out in the middle of nowhere.  We're not sure why it's there, but it is large!  It has bronze "Stations of the Cross" surrounding it at the base.  There isn't much else to see on I-40...just acres and acres and miles and miles of nothing.  This was the first night that we haven't had the heater running during the evening.  It was again 70+ today, but the forecast is for snow coming up again.  It was nice while it lasted. Thursday it was on to Albuquerque...almost like old home week staying at the Hidden Valley RV Park where we spent three weeks last year.  While here, we have an appointment at the local Bounder dealer to see about repairs to our slide-out and steps.  We also will visit with Tom's Aunt Dorothy and take a side trip to Colorado to visit with Reid.
Welcome to Albuquerque!!!     We had arrived in the middle of a snowstorm which left 6" of fresh powder all over us!  We had trouble getting up the hill into the campground and into our site with the car attached and then in the morning it was a little "hairy" getting to the RV service dealer.  But, by noon on Friday it was sunny and 50*.  We left the furnace running and the light bulb burning in the utility bay when we left for Denver in the car on Saturday morning, however.  Myers RV says they will have our parts for the slide repairs by  next Thursday and they completed work on the steps on Friday. 
Early on Saturday, January 12 we headed for Denver.  It was an eight hour drive from Albuquerque.  We found a room at the Fairfield Inn and called Reid to tell him where we were.  He didn't have much going on that night so decided to join us then.  On Sunday we visited the Denver Museum of Science and Natural History where we watched an IMAX film about Mt. Everest and saw the dinosaurs.  We spent quite a bit of time at the "Tattered Cover" bookstore, a huge three-story converted warehouse that has the ambiance of a cozy living room with as many books as a public library.  We had planned to visit the Denver Mint on Monday, but most likely as a result of security concerns, it has suspended tours.  We did drive up Lookout Mountain and enjoy the beautiful views overlooking Denver from Golden and toured the grave of Buffalo Bill Cody.  And then we took a very interesting tour of the Coors Brewery and especially enjoyed their hospitality room as we had a great visit with Reid.  He returned to Summit County after dinner Monday evening, and we made the return trip to Albuquerque on Tuesday.  We were happy to find that the Bounder had no problems while it waited patiently for us at Happy Valley.
Reid trying to get the last drop from an old brewing kettle at Coors.
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Before leaving Albuquerque, we spent a day visiting with Tom's Aunt Dorothy.  Then, on Thursday, January 17 we returned to Myers RV where they spent several hours working on the slide out of the Bounder.  After they declared it fixed and ready to roll, we headed for Arizona.  It took us an hour and a half, however, to get gas and propane at a very busy Flying J on the west side of Albuquerque.  We spent that night at the Wal-Mart in Wilcox, AZ and arrived at the Thousand Trails Resort, Verde Valley, south of Flagstaff on Friday morning, January 18.

January 2002 page 2

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We had been told that the Verde Valley Resort is one of the nicest in the Thousand Trails system....and it is very nice, indeed.  We chose a spot on the outside row of parking spaces so that our view was out over the desert.  It was too cool to use the swimming pool, but we enjoyed walking through the resort.  On Saturday we drove to the nearby towns of Cottonwood and Sedona.  Sedona especially is quite interesting - built among beautiful red rock formations.  It has become a "colony" for artists and there are several areas of shops, galleries and boutiques.  That evening we enjoyed some live music in the clubhouse at the resort.
On Sunday we decided to take advantage of the unusually mild weather in northern Arizona and take a trip to the Grand Canyon.  It had been 34 years since our last visit!  It turned out to be a perfect day - sunny and about 60* with little wind.  The canyon was gorgeous and there were few visitors.  We were able to drive our car to areas that are closed to personal vehicles in the summer.  We thoroughly enjoyed all the views - so different from each vantage point.  We were glad there was no snow, but the ski areas in Flagstaff were closed because of the lack of fresh powder!
On Monday we were on the road again...this time to the Phoenix area.  We visited friends from Maumee, Rex and Nancy Wilsen, who have bought a place in the community of Sun Lakes.  They fed us a delicious lunch and  showed us around the courses where they play golf just about every day, and the other great things their community has to offer.  We ate dinner at a great Mexican place in Tempe.  We can see why they enjoy spending their winters there.
Our Tuesday task was to wash the Bounder, the car and the clothes!  Thanks to the power washer we were able to get several layers of sand, dirt and snow melting chemicals off the vehicles.  It was nice looking through clean windows again!!  We'll see how long it lasts!  And on Wednesday, January 23, we hit the road once more, making it as far as Tonopah, AZ.  We stopped at this RV park with full hookups so that we could load up on fresh water dump our holding tanks, and be ready for a week in the desert.
QUARTZSITE!!!    We had read a lot and heard a lot about this place in the middle of nowhere.  But, until you actually see it, and walk it, and breathe it, it really won't live up to your imagination of the place.  The town of Quartzsite proclaims that it now has 3000 permanent residents.  When Tom drove past here last April, he said it was no more than a truck stop at an exit of I-10 in the middle of nowhere.  But in January, there are THOUSANDS of RVs here at once.  People just pull in to a level spot of sand and gravel in the desert and park!  There are "roads" worn in the sand where the best access areas are.  Most of the land is government owned and fenced off - some requiring $25 for a 14 day stay and other areas free (we stayed in the free area - a little farther from the center of "town.")  The RVs go for miles from town in all directions.  At the crossroads of I-10 and US-95, hundreds of vendors have put up tents and booths to sell everything you could imagine from new and used RVs, arts and crafts to RV parts to tools, pots and pans, rocks and gems (Mary was having flashbacks to her geology class trip out west!), clothes, satellite dishes, and of course elephant ears, ice cream, hot dogs, and would you believe-batter dipped, deep fried Oreos (we passed on those!).  You name it and you could probably find someone selling it here.  What is amazing is the effort some of these people go through to haul in and set up all their stuff to sell, laying miles of astroturf over the sand and tying down tents so that they don't blow away in the wind.  We spent several hours on each of 5 days walking through the selling areas, and didn't cover nearly all of it.         Back at the camping areas, we saw every imaginable type of of RV...all ages, sizes and conditions of care.  Since we are all "boondocking" (no hookups of any kind) there are a lot of units with solar panels to provide electric power.  (We just used our generator several hours a day.)  There are trucks that come through honking their horns willing to sell you fresh water and pump out your holding tanks (we were able to make it a week without those services).  People who were traveling together circle their RVs like the old covered wagons, and build a firepit in the center.  There were quite a few campfires in the evenings.  And there was all sorts of transportation around town aside from the big RVs.  We saw plenty of "dune buggies", ATVs, bikes, motorcycles and scooters as well as cars trying to get through the 4 major 4-way stop signs in town.  The traffic and coming and going of RVs was constant.  We had to really think about where we'd parked, because when we came home, all the landmarks would have changed and we'd have lots of new neighbors.  Somehow, though, it was never OUR Bounder that had turned into a big 40' diesel pusher while we were gone!
We took several side trips from Quartzsite, too.  Our cell phones weren't picking up very good reception, so we drove the 20 miles into California, west on I-10 on two occasions to make phone calls and get e-mail on the laptop.  (Our first several days here we were able to check e-mail in the Good Sam's Tent, but they left on Sunday).  On Monday, we drove 35 miles north to Parker, AZ to pick up our mail.  We also made a short visit to the casino there (no blackjack tables!)  On Tuesday we decided that we'd seen enough rocks, socks and bungies for sale so we headed to Yuma (75 miles south).  At the Yuma Proving Grounds we stopped to watch the US Army Golden Knights Parachute Team practice.  They have their "spring training" here every year and have quite a setup for visitors...although we had to show lots of ID and vehicle registration to get in!  They were jumping out of planes and landing on the big X in a field about half the size of a football field.  Unfortunately, they only practice one trick a day, so we got to see the same thing over and over.  But, it was still neat to watch them...they jumped two at a time, separated, then came together to pass a baton, separated again, did some flips and curls and then landed one at a time on the X.  They set off smoke bombs in their shoes as they come down.  From the proving grounds we took the western road into Yuma, which took us through Imperial Valley....where 95% of the US winter lettuce crop is grown.  We passed miles and miles of every kind of lettuce imaginable.  All the different colors were really pretty.  We also saw lettuce being harvested-heads cut with a knife and then bagged individually, right there in the field, before being put on a conveyor and into a crate.  All by manual labor!!  Date tree farms are also plentiful in the Imperial Valley, but they were not harvesting any of those.  Finally in Yuma drove past the Territorial Prison from the Old West, and did exciting things like car lube and wash, laundry and e-mail at Kinkos.  The desert sand didn't wash completely out of our jeans!!!
Wednesday, Jan 30 we made our last trip into Quartzsite and walked around another vendor area...could there still be more we haven't seen????  But the winds had picked up and even though the sun was out, it was COLD!  It really cools down at night out in the desert, but usually the sun warms it up nicely in the daytime....but not this time!  They kept saying this was unusual weather.  Could there be anything else where we are?  We are keeping up our pace of a tank of propane every 10 days or so!  Brr!
RVs parked in the desert near Quartzsite

Two members of the US Army Golden Knights Parachute Team coming toward the ground at the Yuma Proving Grounds

Sedona, AZ
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................Views from the south rim of the Grand Canyon...................