The Valley of the Sun

Hello everyone!

We made it to Bisbee, Arizona It is indeed the "funkiest" town we have seen! One man said it was described as "an open air mental hospital!"
Actually, it is a wonderful place transitioned from mining to arts and tourism. Similar to Silver City but without active mining.
Geographically it is amazing. Not unlike San Fransisco, the town is built on hillsides surrounding a gulch. There are stairs [upon stairs, upon stairs...] and pathways connecting the town. There are many houses that one cannot drive to. People must carry everything up and down steps. It is the town of 10,000 steps. I'm not sure who counted but they understated the number!
Even the parking lot attendant, Mike, was in full period clothing and gave us "the Real History of Bisbee." And there is art everywhere in a wide variety of forms. It's on the stairs, on the walls, on the gates, on the houses, even on the cars. We saw one which was the "Party Patrol". A typical 80's Chevy Caprice cop car with "Party Patrol" on the trunk, a star on the doors and "to Protect and Service" on the side. Another was covered in bottle caps in a 60's design. The downtown shops were great too!

The campground we stayed in was in a wide open valley over the mountain from Old Bisbee with views of the Coronado National Forest, Chiricahua Peak and into Mexico. Met a bunch of nice guys at the campground and may head back to be "work campers" for little pay and free board. We can also pick up some massage work.

Our trip north brought us to Tucson and visiting Anna and Arthur. Each has a new house and both are very cool. Enjoyed Anna's wonderful back yard complete with a babbling stream that recirculates the 2 gallons continuously. Our visit was too short and may need to go back for more.
We made it to the Valley of the Sun! Phoenix, Arizona. YES!!
Arriving here we brought a welcome couple days of rain. Not much rain but more than there has been in months. The desert appreciates the moisture.
Our good buddy Dave has gone out of his way to welcome us and make arrangements for safe parking of the "Immaculate Contraption" in a neighbors locked yard. Lots of projects to complete on the bus to keep us busy for a while. All that depends on the desire to do them instead of being tourists in the sun! And Dave has kept us busy!
Went to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Tempe yesterday. Absolutely beautiful! Wandered through the gardens until the sun began getting low and the temperature went all the way down to 55. BRRRR! I guess we have acclimatized to the Southwestern warmth! At least we are surely appreciative of the non freezing winter.

No plans on leaving Phoenix yet. Will keep you posted!

Keep in touch and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!

johnney and Scott

We've Struck Silver!

After the Geogia O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe we had lunch with Milton and Bobby before heading south toward Albuquerque. Camped in Bernalillo, just to the north of Albuquerque where we met a family from Hawaii traveling the continental states for a year. Had a good chat and got some ideas of western spots to camp from them. Headed south and stopped in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. We saw thousands of snow geese, ducks a plenty as well as a spotted towhee and a pyrrhuloxia, the desert cardinal.

Moved on south of Truth of Consequences to Percha Dam State park for the night.

In the evening, Mr. Fix-it had better luck with the fuel filters and grease job than with the lights!

In the morning we were up early to catch the migrating flocks of sand hill cranes. A truly amazing sight as hundreds flew over for an hour or more. Scott got a close up of one on the dam take flight. We also got an early start of our daily drive.

We left the freeway at Hatch, which must be the hot pepper capital of the US. There were dozens of pepper vendors along the road. We did stop and smell the peppers....WOW!!!

We traveled around the low road to Silver City, not tempting luck to be on the high passes if the forecasted storm came early. Here we are now enjoying the wonderful Southwestern sun reflecting off "the rare" snow storm! All the locals credit us for this phenomenon. With more coming tonight and a lingering cold spell. And we mean cold!

Arrived at Susan and Marc's in the sunshine. They are grand hosts. We have hiked from their back door, toured downtown Silver City, with it's art shops and a real food coop, met great crafts people and neighbors and eaten wonderful meals. Many thanks to them both!

After several days we are now headed south to Douglas and up to Bisbee for the night. Then on to Tucson.

Til next time,

Scott and johnney

We made the South West!

We arrived at Mammoth Caves National Park after a long day of driving. Our first day we did the "Historic tour" of the cave. Learned that the slave mining operations of salt peter supplied the US with much needed ingredient for gun powder for the War of 1812. The caves are an old underground river system of about 400 hundred miles.

Dylan arrived the next evening in time for dinner and hanging out in the bus during the rains. Our next day we toured the "New entrance" section with him. Just a bit frustrating for him as we had to stay on route with no rope for climbing and exploring the black parts of the cave.

The next morning Dyl headed off to the Red River Canyon for a little more time climbing on his return to Maine . Previously, we were at Miguel's Pizza and Climbing Equipment store near Natural Bridges for dinner, we chatted with a couple of climbers who were loving the bus. When Dylan returned he was talking to his friends who noted talking to "the guys from Maine in a bus." Lots of laughs for them to find out Dylan's dad and partner were "the guys"!

Crossing the Mississippi!

Life on the interstate is "interesting" to say the least! From Mammoth Caves the highway took over. With no more meetings planned until New Mexico we hit the road and found the "Rving life" is a strange phenomenon. Thanks to "Donny" for a few roading tips. We found parks right next to the highway and were lulled to sleep with the whine of trucks through the night. Easy off, easy on... keep moving.

In Oklahoma we found a nice state park to stay in, Red Rock Canyon. The next morning Mr fix it decided to work on the console lights but ended up blowing the main light switch so there were no tail lights or clearance lights! Down to day light driving only. A couple more roadside parks to Amarillo Texas where there is an International Truck dealer. A wonderful time enjoying the "customer lounge," complete with sleeping drivers and blaring TV while it was repaired. UGH!

We did get some real southern hospitality at the "Big Texas Steak House." The place was absolutely amazing with people from hill folks to infants in the bar. One room was a shooting gallery so the joyous noise of "bang, bang, bang, YAHOO!" rang continuously.

We made our way out of Texas, following "Route 66" to Las Vegas, New Mexico for the night. From Las Vegas we went up (and up and up) Rt 518 to Taos, also known as the "high road to Taos". The Immaculate Contraption made new heights in his life. 9425' in elevation! A long and
very slow ascent.

Crossing the mountains we passed Sipapue Ski Resort and yes, there were skiers on the slopes!

In Taos we walked the town and asked a woman in a climbing store if she could recommend a campground. We ended up camping down on the Rio Grand River in Pilar, just south of Taos. A WONDERFUL campground with just 12 sites right on the river. The weather was chilly at night but warm, sunny, great hiking during the day. Stayed over an extra day to enjoy the quiet of the desert canyon and the cry of eagles, without phone reception, Internet, TV, etc. Like Kanawha State Forest in West Virginia, a very special place.

From there we drove down to Santa Fe to a great campground on the southern end of town. Close enough to go to town but in the country. Coyote's talking at night..

Day 1 was errand day with groceries, propane, dishes, laundry. But we did treat ourselves to Ten Thousand Waves, a beautifully designed, rustic Japanese Spa. An evening of hot tubing, cold dips, and sauna was just what we needed. Met some new friends, Bobby and Milton, who took us into Santa Fe for dinner. And they are from New England!

Sunday we drove up to Bandelier National Park for a hike. The park is about 34,000 acres with some parts with ancient village ruins. Unfortunately this past June fire took 20,000 acres, and then a flash flood ripped through this summer, taking out bridges and paths. Parts were not accessible. Very cool place.

Today is the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, then on to Albuquerque!

'til next time,

missing you all...

johnney and Scott

Kentucky

Hello from Kentucky!

After a great time [and fab weather too!] in Morgantown we headed off down the road. West Virginia is very mountainous, so the bus got quite a workout. We headed for Charleston, WV., crossing over via RT. 60. The road was almost all switchbacks, narrow, and went through coal mining country. For all the miners do, the area is povery stricken. But there are alot of state parks which are beautiful. We stayed in the Kanawha Forest in this wonderful campground. Great sites for camping, streams all around and a wonderful retired gent as camp host. We spent 4.5 hours of hiking the hills the next day. Warm and sunny weather continued! Wednesday I [Scott here...] did a 15 mile bike ride through the valley. In the little towns the elderly wave and say hello, but everyone else keeps to themselves if your not from around there. My sister Sue reminded me that the Kanawha Forest is a site of high spiritual energy from the book: The Celistine Prophecy. I read the book a long time ago and had forgotten. Interesting read.

From there we went to Natural Bridges State Park , in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky. Spent the next day hiking [we should have great quads if this pace keeps up!]. Wonderful cliffs and rock formations, had lunch at Miguel's, a pizza place and rock climbers hot spot. John's youngest, Dylan, has spent alot of time there climbing. Since last June Dyl has been traveling the country also, rock climbing his way coast to coast and up into the Rockies. Our paths will connect in the next day or two as he heads back to Maine so we will have some time to spend with him.

Tonight we landed in the Mammouth Cave area. Cave exploring for a few days and then off to...?

One thing I wanted to tell you about was right before we left Maine we went on a scenic plane ride with our friend John. He has his own plane, called last minute and said meet me at the airport. We had a great time seeing the coast of Maine from the air. A truely wonderful gift. Thank you John.

sitting in front of the fire,

Scott and johnney

With the snow behind us, we headed for Morgantown, West (by God) Virginia, to visit johnney’s oldest son Ian. He is at the West Virginia University working on his PHD.

Monday night we meet Ian for dinner at the Kenyan Cafe. Wonderful food! We did find a nice woodsy, off the beaten path campground. On Tuesday after lunch we toured the W. V. U. Coliseum, where Ian's office is. Amazing set-up!
On the way back to our campground we stopped at Cooper’s Rock State Park. Nice set of Cliffs with great views! Good rock climbing too!

REALLY good to spend time with Ian {and his inspiring night walk Monday night! :)} so we have decided to stay here until Sunday AM. The big end of season football game is Saturday and we will be going with Ian to see the game. Yes, we are actually going to a college football game.

Sunsets have been amazing with the clear weather.
Sunday we are headed south. Campgrounds this far north are turning off water to bathrooms. Kentucky?

while sitting in front of the fire,

Johnney
Scott

Hello!

Friday brought us to southern Mass. Had dinner with a couple of wonderful friends. Stayed at this HUGE campground - 300 RV's? 20,000 sq. foot lodge, 4 pools, 5000 kids and 400 dogs... it was bizarre! Very well run though. And Halloween weekend!

Saturday was a different day. Got as far as the border of Conn. and NY and got stuck in the snow storm on Rt. 84. After dodging downed trees and branches, we sat on the highway for 4.5 hours while the tow trucks tried to clear the road of tractor trailor trucks. They were everywhere. After we got going, we pulled off the next exit and, with nothing in sight, spent a cozy night at a "park and ride". We were grateful to be off the road in one piece!

So much for getting out before the snow. On the other hand, we woke up to a beautiful morning with trees covered in snow and a brilliant sun. Absolutely gorgeous!!