Sunday December 8, 2013, Las Vegas, NV

It wasn't as cold this morning as it was the last few days. There was no wind, so it seemed rather pleasant.
I fixed the coffee and we enjoyed that while deciding whether to go on to Las Vegas today or split the trip up.  We decided to go directly on to Las Vegas with no more over night stops. 

Desert mountains along US 93

Our route was I-10 to Phoenix and then onto US 60 and then US 93 north.  I always miss the desert mountains but sometimes forget that also means 6-7% grades.  We picked up I-40 into Kingman and then back on to US 93 into Las Vegas.

Las Vegas from just past Railroad Pass.

  We traveled I-215 west to Rainbow Blvd. and made a stop at Sam's to fill up the motor home tank.

We got to the house at around 5 PM and unloaded a few necessary items.  We tuned into worship services from Oakey Blvd. and then had supper.  We had chicken salad roll ups for dinner.  After some TV and computer time we called it a night.

This culminates a trip that started on July 13, 2013.  This trip included visits with friends and family in Southern California, Central California, Northern Nevada, Iowa, West Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Arizona.  It also included a month in Southern Europe with a Mediterranean cruise.  Not counting the cruise we have traveled about 9300 miles in the motor home this year and spent more than 200 days on the road.  I managed to find 178 caches on this trip.  Including caches in six countries on our cruise.  I have now found caches in 19 countries including the USA.

This will be my last blog until we travel again in January. 

Saturday December 7, 2913, Casa Grande, AZ

Gerri got up earlier than I did.  After I fixed coffee and enjoyed a few sips I walked about .30 miles to try to find a cache.  I didn't find it and the walk was in bitter cold with a wind in my face.

We got on the road at about 9 AM.  Our goal for today was Casa Grande, AZ.  The trip is mostly along I-10 with a short section of I-8 before we turn off into town.  There were clouds with a little sky showing when we left Las Cruces.  Later we ran in to fog .  It was with us for quite a while but wasn't freezing nor affecting visibility like after we left Fort Stockton.  We stopped in Lordsburg, NM  for fuel.  It was clear there but still cold with a wind blowing.  We also picked up tuna sandwiches at a Subway shop.  Gerri ate hers while we drove on.  I stopped at the first rest stop in Arizona and ate my sandwich.  Later we stopped again at a rest stop in Texas Canyon and I got the information for an earth cache..

Our next stop was at a Blue Beacon truck wash in Eloy, AZ. That took awhile since there was a truck and motor home ahead of us.  The wait wasn't as long as I expected since they were operating two wash bays.

We arrived at the Casita Verde RV park in Casa Grande at about 5 PM and got set up.  Our site was the first back in site we used since Hilton Head.  Even though it was tight, I had no trouble backing in with Gerri directing me.  Casita Verde is an Encore par so we got a discount due to our membership in Thousand Trails.We had to unhook the Jeep before parking, but since we were going to Ben and Merridy Barnhart's for dinner, we had to unhook it anyway.

I hooked up sewer and water since we plan to be in Las Vegas tomorrow evening or possibly Monday.  The coach will be parked for several months so I want the tanks fairly empty.

Ben and Merridy Barnhart

We drove to Ben and Merridy's house about two miles away.  Ben is Gerri's 2nd cousin.  Until recently they had been motorhome travelers and we have met them in Montana a couple of times and once in Pahrump.  We had a nice visit and a great meal before returning to our coach for the evening.

I was tired and went to bed early.

Friday December 6, 2013, Las Cruces, NM

I stayed in bed this morning until the temperature came up to what it was when I went to bed last night.  Gerri got up earlier and went into the front room where it was warmer.  The temperature had fallen into the 20's during the night.  While I was still in bed I heard a neighbor scraping ice off his windshield.  It had rained off and on during the night but our windshield was clear of ice.  It is nearly vertical so water usually runs off before freezing.

We started our coffee and got caught up on Facebook and e-mail.  For some reason Outlook won't work on Gerri's computer, even after I installed a newer version.

Brr! Icicles on the coach

The only things to do before traveling were to unhook the power and bring the slides in  We were pulling out of the park by 10:15.  Did I say all we had to do?  There was lots of sheet ice on top of the slide out awnings.  We had to run the small slides in and out twice to get the ice off.  The large slide awning we tried 5 or six times and the awning was still out about 10 inches.  We drove to a Walmart before getting back on the interstate and tried once more.  Apparently the ice had blown away, the awning rolled up properly.

Ice crystals on the trees

Limited visibility

Once on the road it was still overcast and visibility got worse as we traveled west.  The shoulders on the bridges were icy and we saw one major wreck on the east bound side.  By the time we got to where I-10 and I-20 intersected I was down to 40 mph.  I couldn't clear the windshield because the wipers were iced up.  We stopped at a picnic area at mile post 185.  It was crowded and visibility wasn't more that a couple hundred feet.  I cleared the ice off the wipers.  I also made another pot of coffee.  It looked like it was going to be a long day.  The road signs have about 4 inches of icicles hanging from the bottoms.  I was thinking we will be lucky if we get to Las Cruces today.

The conditions with the icy fog reminded me of the Pogonip I have seen before in northern Nevada.  The road was icy on the shoulder and the grass and brush all covered with ice.  As we reached lower altitudes the fog cleared some.

We stopped for fuel in Van Horn.  While I was fueling up, Gerri heard a noise on the roof.  It sounded like some kind of knocking.  I couldn't think of any thing up there that would cause any noise.  The noise continued so I stopped to check it.  I had to get the ladder out to check the roof.
The noise turned out to be the the #60 TV antenna.  I couldn't find a way to stop it.  We tried turning off the 12 volt power.  No luck so we continued west with the antenna still spinning.

The check engine light came on just after we passed Soccorro.  I stopped at a picnic area and checked the oil.  All the gauges had were in the normal operating range.  The engine oil level was right.  When I turned on the engine the warning light didn't come back on.  Some time later the antenna stopped searching.  I guess it must have thawed out.

In the mid afternoon the weather cleared and it became sunny.  No more 40 mph.  Wrong!  We got to El Paso and for about 20 miles it was stop and go, going being about 30 mph maximum.

We had decided on stopping for overnight at the Hacienda RV and Rally Resort in Las Cruces.  We had stayed there during a Freightliner Club Rally in 2004.  We pulled in just before dark and were assigned the space next to the one we stayed in 8 years ago.  I had forgotten that we had gained an hour when we passed into the Mountain Time Zone.

I checked the map and our next destination will be Casa Grande.  It is 345 miles.  I made reservations at the Casita Verde RV Resort.  It is an Encore Resort so I got a discount because of our membership in the Thousand Trails system.

The resort is only a couple of miles from cousins Ben and Marridy's home.  Gerri will check and see if they are available for a short visit.

As usual TV and computer time rounded out the evening.

Thursday December 5, 2013, Fort Stockton, TX

The cold front came in before we got up.  It came with wind and rain.  I should have checked the Aquahot last night.  This morning no heat came on in zone one, the front of the coach.  After having some coffee I went to the office and contacted Matt who sent a tech to our site to check the Aqua Hot.  The tech rapped a wrench on the Aqua Hot fittings and the heat started.

We pulled out of Crestview RV park at about 8:30 AM.  We headed south on I-35 and then west to pick up I-10.  The route took us through familiar territory, Johnson City and Blanco.  We picked up I-10 and proceeded west to Fort Stockton.  Traffic was light but we had some freezing rain along the way.  We stopped at a couple of rest stops but the phone and internet weren't picking up enough for easily locating caches.  At the second rest stop I did get a signal on Gerri's phone.  It was cold and windy out but I found the cache.  It didn't seem as far back to the coach.  Then I found out Gerri had driven closer to me while I hunted.  That sure saved me some walking in the cold.  What a thoughtful wife.

We picked a park to stay at in Fort Stockton that is in the Pass Port America system.  The GPS didn't have it located close to Fort Stockton.  As we got closer Gerri called and got directions.  The Parkview RV Park was only about a mile of I-10.  We got to the park at about 5 PM. It wasn't much to look at, all dirt and above ground power.  We came by a small town named Bakersfield, that and all the power poles around the park, reminded me of Oildale, CA.  Not many places are this dreary.  Of course if the weather was nicer here it might not seem as dreary.  When I hooked up to shore power I walked around the front of the coach and it was covered with a coat of ice.

We had left overs from our stay with Dana and Curtis.  Gerri doctored up some chili and made a great meal.  The heat hit the spot on this cold evening.

Later during the evening it rained for awhile.  Later I couldn't tell if it was ice on the windshield or rain drops.  At 9 PM it was 35 out with a low forecast of 28.

I had planned a stop of two nights on the way home, either at Verde Valley or Lake Havasu City.  Gerri wants to get home as quickly as possible.  That is probably what we will do.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013, Buda, TX

FOG!  It was really foggy this morning.  We had our coffee as we rolled up everything so the coach can go in the shop at 8 AM.  Of course 6 AM came and went with no activity.  We wnt down to the lounge and I checke don the status of work starting.  All I got was that they would get to it.

Gerri and I went to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  We always enjoy Cracker Barrel abut we always eat to much.  Well at least I eat too much.  As usual the food was very good.  Gerri had the French Toast an I had the Grandpa's Breakfast with chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy.
 After breakfast we went to the customer's lounge.  Besides waiting for repairs, I also had some time to kill before my doctor's appointment.

I left for San Marcos early so I could check on a nearby cache.  I didn't find the cache and headed on to San Marcos.  I stopped at Sam's and gassed up the Jeep. I also picked up our Christmas cards before going to the doctors office.  The purpose of my doctor visit was to have the stitches from the earlier surgery removed.  While at the doctor's office I got the good news about the biopsy on the removed tissue.  The biopsy showed that it was Squamous and that that the margins were clear.

I returned to the RV Park and saw that the coach was back in our spot.  I checked with Matt and the motr replacement for the leveling jacks hadn't been the problem.  With no more time to spend in Texa I settled up the bill.  Not much was done except the body repair.  He said the problem with the Aquat Hot was fixed.

Christmas is a fun time

Later we went to Curtis' and visited wi and played a couple of games of Jenga before dinner.

We didn't stay long after dinner, we want to get started for Las Vegas in the morning and it a school night.


It wasn't as cold as past night so I didn't test the Aqua Hot.

Christmas can also be a funny time

Tuesday December 3, 2013, Buda, TX

We got up early expecting someone to come by from the shop and pickup the coach.  We had our coffee. At about 11 I went to the office ad checked on my status for repairs.  I was told that the parts were in and a tech would be by for the coach at 8 AM tomorrow.

Dana called and wanted us to watch the kids while she worked with a PTA project.  I went caching and found four before returning to the coach at 1:33.

We went and picked up the kids at the school.  After stopping at the house, Gerri, Vanessa, Brandon and I played a couple of games of Jenga.  Later Brandon and I went to find more caches.

We found two and DNFed two.  I filter the caches and they are getting further and further away.  I filter the caches so I don't hunt ones that have a terrain rating of over 3.5..  I have decided to concentrate on qualifying for the all around cacher series.  I will be trying some harder caches in the future.

We had dinner at Curtis and Dana's.  Dana grilled salmon and served it with green beans and roasted red potatoes.

The kids lit the Hanukkah candles and opened presents.  After that they talked to their grandmother Judy in Las Vegas, via SKYPE.

Since it was a school night we returned to the coach and called it a night.

Monday December 2, 2013, Buda, TX

We got up and had our coffee, there were some high clouds and a lot of sunshine.
After catching up e-mail and Facebook I walked down to the office to check on the status of the repairs and parts ordered.  Matt got a tracking number for the parts and will check on them.  As far as the repair to the Aqua Hot system he had to check with the dispatcher on the scheduling.  The dispatcher wasn't in yet.  We got ready to go to visit the Connors

Ann and Paul Connor

in Spring Branch. I stopped by the office again before driving out of the park and nothing was happening so we headed out.

We stopped for gas in San Marcos and followed the GPS direction.  Some where the directions recalculated and took us into Wimberley.  We got turned around and back tracked to the 9 miles to the correct road.  It took longer to get to Paul's than we had figured.

We visited until dinner time.  Ann had fixed a meatloaf which was delicious.  She served it with salad, a baked potato and green beans.

Me with the Connors

We visited more over coffee before heading back to Buda.  On the return trip we drove directly toward New Braunfels and picked up I-35 to Buda.  We got to the coach at about 10:00.

Some TV and Computer time finished the evening.

Tomorrow I hope the get some thing done on the coach.

Sunday December 1, 2013, Buda, TX.

We got up and started our coffee.  Vanessa had spent the night with us and we planned to go to Church at 10 AM.  Vanessa had her snacks and I got cleaned up and dressed for Church.  We went to the Buda/Kyle Church of Christ.  The Church was about 5 miles from the park and on the way to Curtis' house.

Brandon points to the cache while Vanessa holds it.

 We changed clothes at Curtis'.  Curtis, Brandon and Vanessa went with me to find some geocaches.  The first one we went to was one in Old Town Kyle that I had looked for before.  I figured that more eyes had a better chance of finding it.  I spotted the cache very quickly this time.  It was a small magnetic bison container painted to match the rusty windmill frame. Sometimes it amazes me how I overlook something.  The container was small and well hidden but I have found several like it..

Because I have been caching in the area for a week, the caches are getting further away.  I'm sure there are closer caches left but I filter out high terrain ratings, multi caches, puzzle caches and earth caches.  That said it was a long drive to the next cache and somehow a multi cache had gotten on my list.  On the way to the cache we passed two crash sites.  One, an alien space ship with two surviving aliens and the other a US missile, maybe the one that shot down the aliens.  We got to the area and even though it was a multi cache we started hunting for the first clue.  I found it near a fence post.



It was a match safe with a note giving directions to the final cache.  While I was hunting the first stage Curtis had been looking around where we parked and found a bird house suspended in a tree by a rope.  That turned out to be the cache.  This by far the largest cache I have found in the area and had the best trading items I had seen for a long time.  The cache hadn't been found since March.  We set the GPS for the next closest cache.  The route took us further along the same country road.  At least it did until the road ended at a locked gate.  We turned around and had to drive back to San Marcos to pick up I-35 going north.  When we got to the turnoff to Curtis' house the cache was still further north.  We decided to call it a day and went to the house.

Dana and Gerri had gone shopping.  The kids went to play with other kids in the neighborhood.  Curtis and I visited with a couple of his neighbors.

Dana grilled chicken and ribs for dinner and we had a great meal.  After dinner the kids lit another Hanukkah candle and opened gifts.  Vanessa's gift was clothing and Brandon's was a Jenga game.  After the kids were ready for bed we played a game of Jenga.  The game lasted longer than I have ever seen a Jenga game go.  Brandon finally removed the piece that made the tower collapse.  That made Gerri the winner since she was the last one to successfully remove a piece and place it back on top of the tower.

The sunset was really pretty tonight and I managed to get a picture without the buildings showing.  We returned to the coach at 8:40.  I called it a night by 9:30 and Gerri was up longer on her computer.

Tomorrow we plan to visit Paul and Ann Conner in Spring Branch and have supper with them.  We also hope that parts have come in and some work can be done on the coach.

Saturday November 30, 2013, Buda, TX

The morning was cloudy and it was still cold.  We had our coffee and caught up on e-mail and Facebook.

Christine Kotara and Gerri, Salt Lick BBQ Driftwood, TX

Gerri had made plans for a Hatchlings friend to come by at noon.  She lives in Austin and they planned on having lunch at the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX about 20 miles from our motor home in Buda.  She said the GPS directions were a little tricky for them, but they made it there and to their surprise didn't have to wait at all for a seat even though the parking lot was full.  The food was delicious and she had a nice afternoon with Christine.

Salt Lick BBQ Pit

I went to Curtis' house after picking up Gerri's prescriptions at CVS.  Brandon and I went geocaching.  Our first stop was to place a cache near Brandon's house so he can follow the number of visitors.  I also activated a travel bug named, "Follow Me Brandon."  I will set it on its way when the cache we placed is activated.  Brandon only wanted to cache for an hour, he wanted to come home then and play Rock em Sock em Robots. We went to find a nearby cache.  Either we couldn't find it or it was washed away by the

Brandon placing his first geocache

flood at the end of October, the cache hadn't been found since July.  The flood debris was as high as three feet from the ground.  Maybe the cache owner will check on it.  We then went to the first of four caches we did find.  All the caches were named for some variety of tea and all were hidden in Guard rails.  Brandon spotted the first two quickly, so I decided to stop by two on the way home that I hadn't found a few days ago.  Brandon spotted them both pretty quickly.

We went back to the house. At about 3, Gerri called to let me know that she and her friend were on the way back to the RV Park.  I got there at about the same time they did.  Gerri caught up on things around the coach before we went back to Curtis' house.  On the way to Kyle we went by a Church of Christ to check on the times of worship.

Vanessa and her Christmas tree

Back at the house we had Thanksgiving left overs for supper.  Dana had to work tonight Brandon and Vanessa lit Hanukkah candles and opened gifts.  Brandon and I also played some card games until time for us to go home.  Vanessa asked to go with us.  I explained to her we would be going to Church in the morning and she said she wanted to go to Church too.  So we spent some time finding her some clothes and waiting for her to take a shower.

Back at the coach we got Vanessa into bed pretty quickly.  Gerri and I watched a little TV and spent some time on Facebook before going to bed.

Tomorrow is Church.  We will see how Vanessa does.