Hairold T.(the) M.(miracle) Cat

On Thursday the 29th, Sheila called to say that Chandler was pretty sure that he had spotted Hairold T. Cat while weed whacking around the house. So we drove up after dinner, and after about an hour of calling and whistling for him, he walks over to me. He was so light when I picked him up. that I had to check for the lack of front claws to make sure it was really him. After making his break on the 29th of March, he resurfaced on the 29th of April! He appears to be doing all right other than losing 1/3 of his body weight. That would be like me losing about 70 pounds in a month!! So, if you really want to lose some serious weight, just live out in the wild for a month or so and just eat what you can find. Guaranteed to lose weight in a hurry.
We had pretty much given up on him. I figured there was about a 10% chance that he would have been able to survive this long. He has no front claws, so that seriously cuts down on his hunting ability. And to take into consideration that he is 16 years old, who would believe that he could survive a month in the wild. But he did. He must have some damn good genes. He will be staying in the house for a few days to get some meat back on his bones before going out to take on the neighborhood dogs. He's probably not out of the woods yet, but so far so good.
Ernie

Home

Altering our plans, we decided to drive the 500 miles from Boise to Seattle and arrived Sunday evening. Managed to unload at least half of the RV when we got home. Yesterday we drove the RV to Stanwood and parked it back at its' home at Sheila and Keith's place.

People are asking us where we are going next...at this point it's Colorado for one week in August to meet up with my sister and her husband.

During the 2 1/2 months we were gone we also enjoyed visiting with a lot of different people we know which was a highlight of the trip for me. In all, I counted 20 people we know that we were able to get together with at some point on this trip - friends and/or relatives from Calif, Montana, Phoenix, Seattle, Tulsa, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Texas.

We had a good time and saw a lot of interesting sights; of course, it's always good to be home, especially since it's Spring in Seattle. - Joyce

Idaho

Left Monument Valley Friday morning and stayed in Provo, Utah. We had a nice dinner and visit with Jandora and Tom - they had invited us to their home nearby. We left Provo Saturday morning and arrived near Boise, Idaho last night. I had contacted my cousin Linda who lives in Boise the day before so we had dinner with Linda and her husband Bill last night. It's Sunday morning 9:45 a.m. and we are just leaving the RV park we stayed in so it's 'on the road again' for us. We plan to overnight in Ellensburg, Washington and arrive in Seattle Monday afternoon. -Joyce

Monument Valley Arizona/Utah

We arrived at the Rv Park at Monument Valley Wednesday afternoon about 4:30. We drove the last 50 miles or so in a dust storm that at times cut visibility to about 100 yards. The wind gusts were hitting us from the side at about 40 to 50 m.p.h. Needless to say we were pretty well worn out when we got here. About 6:00 the winds began to settle down, and we were able to start to see the fantastic scenery. We are surrounded by huge red rock formations in the RV Park. Today (Thursday) we took a 14 mile drive out thru the rock formations. The sun was shining and the air was clear. It is hard to believe that places like this exist. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular. We took so many pictures that we ran out of memory. We had to download them to the computer to go back out to get a few more at sunset. This place ranks up there with Bryce, Zion, Yosemite, Glacier, and Yellowstone Parks. We're glad we decided to take this side trip!
Tomorrow we will be heading out in the morning for Provo Utah. We should get in in the late afternoon. We will be getting together with Tom and Jandora for dinner. Joyce and Jandora are old high school friends. We haven't seen them since passing thru Salt Lake City on our original "Big Adventure" in 2008. Saturday we should be closing in on Boise Idaho. then on to the Hermiston Oregon vicinity on Sunday. We probably will be rolling into Seattle during Monday's rush hour. Then it will be back to normal (?) at least for a while.
Ernie Having trouble adding pictures. Will try again tomorrow. Still having problems! Got a few pictures up, but can't add captions. They speak for themselves.

On the Road

Before we left Lubbock, Texas we visited the Buddy Holly Museum which is housed in a refurbished 1890's train depot located in an industrial area. I was only 8 years old when Buddy Holly died in a plane crash, but Ernie remembers its well since he was an 'old' 13. I found it interesting as to how the museum put his music in to perspective regarding most of the bands that formed in the 60's.

We drove out of Texas in to New Mexico and are staying near Albuquerque tonite. We took a wrong turn along the way and couldn't turn around(small 2 lane country roads don't accomodate RV's that need to do that!) but we ended up where we wanted to be anyway and saved about 50 miles, so I suppose it was a good thing. We were in the flatlands of Texas and eastern New Mexico for a lot of miles but we are climbing in to high country again as we are at about 6600' here. - Joyce

Turning in a Northwesterly Direction

At The Texas Museun of History in Austin

At The LBJ Library in Austin

San Antonio River Walk

1700's era Mission in San Antonio

Hay Sculpture In San Antonio

Sunday Evening, and Back to Work for Kristin

Went to Marble Falls, Texas to pick up Kristin for the weekend on Thursday evening. Had bbq ribs and brisket at Coopers, one of many Texas bbq's, and definitely very good. That same day we had toured the LBJ Western White House near Johnson City. went to Austin the next day to the Texas Museum of History (very well done) and the LBJ Presidential Library on the campus of the University of Texas. Friday we went to a flea market and to a winery. Sunday we headed for San Antonio where we went to the Alamo, the River Walk where we had lunch and to a Mission that was built in the 1700's. Before we dropped Kristin off back at camp we had a late dinner in Marble Falls. The three of us had a fun visit and we saw a part of the country that was unexpectedly beautiful and very interesting. I was very happy that we took the opportunity to spend some time with Kristin.

This morning we left Johnson City and are staying in Lubbock, Texas overnight. We plan to stop at the Buddy Holly Museum tomorrow morning before heading out of town.

Hope to get some pictures posted tomorrow night. - Joyce

Howdy from Johnson City Texas

I will be your driver today

This looks very familiar

Too bad there was'nt some red in here also

A lot of Bull

Prickly Pear Cactus among the Blue Bonnets

More Color

This guy showed up in the road (2 lane 60 m.p.h.!)

We pulled into the Roadrunner RV Park in Johnson City Texas about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. After getting set up, we went to the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce for information about the area. It's a pretty area in what is called the Texas Hill Country. It's cattle ranching for the most part. This weekend is the Wildflower festival, so things will be hopping. I think it is their big event of the year. We went to the LBJ National Park here, and took a tour of his boyhood home. It was very interesting, but we had the house tour to ourselves. After that we had a late lunch / early dinner at a cafe that advertised "Authentic Hill Country Cuisine". Seems like Chicken Fried Steak is the local specialty! Later we took a drive out in the hills on about a 40 mile loop to view the flowers. Unfortunately it was an overcast and sometimes rainy day. The flowers were quite spectacular, but if it had been sunny pictures would have been a lot better.
Tomorrow we are going to spend the day between the German themed town of Fredericksburg, and a Tour of the LBJ Ranch, also known as the Western White House. I wonder if they have any Beagles there?? In the evening we will head up to Marble Falls to pick Kristin up for the weekend. We will be going to a BBQ joint called Cooper's. It was recomended to Kristin, so we will see. The rest of the weekend will be consumed by Austin, San Antonio, and whatever else we decide.
See Ya Pardner, Ernie

Head em up and Move em Out

The real Batman

The Big Bad Kitty (for all you WSU folks)

The Big Bad Wolf

A tourist at the Sonoran Desert Museum

Saguaro facts

Wildflowers and blooming cactus

A tourist at Canyon Lake at Tortilla Flats

48 hours from now we will be on the road heading for New Mexico. Yesterday we took our last road trip from here (for this year), and went back down to Tucson to visit the Sonoran Desert Museum. Turns out that we had been there before when we stayed in Tucson for a week about 5 years ago. There were a lot more animals out this time then when we were here the last time which was sometime in January of 2004 or 2005. The temperatures yesterday were in the mid to upper 80's. The weather forecast has it getting to 90 by this coming Thursday. By then we will be in Texas. I haven't looked at the forecast there, but doubt if it will be quite that warm. 90 is outside of my comfort zone.

We will be heading out Monday morning and will be getting into the Austin area on Wednesdayafternoon. From there we will be spending some time in Austin, San Antonio, Johnson City, etc.

Kristin will be staying with us for 3 nights, and has a couple of Barbecue joints she wants us to check out. Texas is big on Beef Barbecue which is good, but I prefer Pork. The Salt Lick Barbecue is one that is on the list to visit. Thei9r menu has beef as well as pork, and chicken when in season.(???) I'm hoping to find a new sauce or two to bring back. You never know. Last year in Apache Junction is where I found Bone Suckin Sauce.

We will probably start winding our way N.W. on Monday the 19th unless there is more that we have to see around Austin. We haven't figured out the specific route yet, but I would like to go through Lubbock to see the Buddy Holly Memorial. He was right behind Elvis in my book, and as with Jfk and Elvis, I remember exactly where I was when I heard of the plane crash that took his life. We should be home around the 26th or 27th unless we get sidetracked, or if the weather is too cold at home for shorts!!

Wish us luck, Ernie

Our Last Week in Arizona

We arrived here 8 weeks ago today and plan to head out this Monday, April 12. We went to our last two spring training baseball games last week. The RV park we are in was totally full when we arrived here; now it's half empty with people heading for points north.

Friends Joe and Lindy, who live in the Phoenix area, were here yesterday for a brisket dinner cooked up by Chef Ernie. They brought Blue Moon beer and a bottle of red wine plus a salad. Add that to the brisket, beans that were simmered on the BBQ, and rolls - it was a yummy meal. We enjoyed a good visit, good food and good drinks.

Ernie had to restock his supply of "Bone Suckin' BBQ Sauce" today so we went to the specialty store in the little town where he found it last year. Then we decided to take a drive up a winding 2 lane road that we had gone up before which is set among enormous rock formations. There were wildflowers in yellow, orange and lilac colors set against the spring green of the grass and trees.

Tomorrow or Friday we plan to drive down to Tucson to go the the Sonoran Desert Museum which has plants and animals of the area and it's all outside. It's been recommended by several people we know.

The weather has been just perfect the last few weeks. Blue skies and sunshine - it does lift your spirits to wake up to sun and know it will actually last all day. - Joyce

Easter in Sedona

What can you say?

I haven't said "wow" this much since 1969

Tourists

Joyce and the giant chicken

4' long bunches of red chili peppers

Colorful Pottery

Yesterday (Easter) we decided to make the trip back up to Sedona for lunch and some poking around. It was about a 3 hour trip to the restaurant where we ate with Ron and Diane. We were impressed the first time there, so decided to go back. It was a little more crowded than last time, but we got right in just before 1:00. The food was good and the service was excellent! After lunch we drove around and checked out several of the shops. The weather was very nice, around 70 degrees and clear skys. We drove down a couple of back roads and took a lot of pictures. It's hard not to get carried away with the camera there. We got back to the RV park a little after 6. The Amazing Race comes on at 7:00 here, and we made it back with time to spare. It was about 320 miles round trip. Kind of like our Sunday drives to Ellensburg for ice cream.
We will be heading out from here on Monday the 12th. We will be heading east about 1,000 miles to hang out with Kristin for a few days in the Austin, Texas vicinity. She has the following Friday, Saturday, & Sunday off. It even sounds like she will be staying IN the motorhome for the 3 nights!! She's even become fond of Barbecue!!! What is the world comming to??? We will probably start winding our way northwest on Monday the 19th. We don't have a plan for that leg yet, and we may do some visiting on the way home. It looks like we could be home around the 26th. We're hoping that the weather will be in "springtime mode" when we get home. I'm holding true to my word not to go back to long pants before October. As long as it's in the 60 range I'll be good!
Enjoy the pictures, and for any of you who have never been to Sedona, they don't do it justice!
Stay warm, Ernie

P.S. We are having company tomorrow, and I,ve got a 10# Briskit going in the smoker tonight for a 16 hou cook.