Pagosa Springs, Colorado 05/23 to 06/22

We have arrived at Shane & Krista Starr's home on 3 1/2 beautiful wooded acres just in time for Memorial Day weekend.  The RV actually fits right next to their garage where we had planned and all of the RV electrical and water hookups work just like we designed them when we built the garage last year.  Yea!

And now we can settle into our morning routine: Coffee, Tablets, Kindles and the Woods.

Life is Good!










May 28 - We finally make it to nearby Chimney Rock National Monument after driving right by it for over 15 years.

June 3 - We have a Very interesting evening walk up the road right at Shane's house.  We decided it was time to turn around when we came across three of these guys and fortunately so did the bears.

June 6 - We take a break and head downtown to watch Shane Starr do some high water tubing and have lunch by the river.

On Sunday, June 6 we took a trip up to Creede, CO with Shane & Krista along with Savannah Wedemeyer and Darion Nunn.  On the way over Wolf Creek Pass we stopped to gawk at the high water flow in the South Fork of the Rio Grande river.




Creede is an old defunct mining town nestled way up in the Colorado hills that has successfully reinvented itself as an artsy and shopping town with a very successful repertory theatre company.  We had a nice lunch overlooking the hills and then attended the play Good On Paper.

Flagstaff, Arizona 05/20 to 05/22

We leave Phoenix on the first leg of our Summer travels and slide up to Flagstaff, Arizona for a visit with our old neighbors Shawn & Brigid Mahoney and their son Rowan.  Their home is up on Observatory Mesa and has a stellar view of Agassiz Peak, part of the San Francisco Peaks and the second highest peak in Arizona.

We took a trip out to Pine Grove Campground to meet up with some other Arctic Fox owners from Litchfield Park, AZ.  We had met them via the Internet but never in person - really nice visit.







Back at the house we took a 3 mile walk on the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS) that runs behind the Mahoney's house.  Very nice!

Mission Bay, San Diego, CA 04/30 to 05/05

On Thursday we made our way over to the Mission Bay RV Park in San Diego.
We got a really nice spot backing right to the water.

The primary reason for the visit was to help grand daughter Savannah Wedemeyer celebrate her 21st birthday which she did in pretty grand style.

The sunset that first evening was the best of the entire visit and was just spectacular

And the view over coffee the next morning was pretty nice too!

Saturday was the real birthday party for the entire family and was held at the Cordiano Winery in Escondido.

Thanks to the Cordiano family for a great afternoon.

The winery is way up on a hillside and the views from their patio are just spectacular.

The food and wine were also pretty spectacular!

On Sunday we made our way up to Encinitas for a pretty fun lunch at the Islands with Marty & Steve Hacker, Patti Hacker, John, Carolyn, Peter & Annie Giust and Ron & Jeanie Cojeran and Linnea Hardlund.

Almost a mini reunion of sorts!

Kartchner Caverns State Park, Benson, AZ 04/10 to 04/11

On Friday, we shifted over to Kartchner Caverns State Park south of Benson, Arizona.

We have visited here a long time ago but have never done the "Big Room tour".

No pictures were allowed in the cave but it was a pretty stellar hour and a half tour underground.

The campground is really a nice one with electric and water to recharge things after the winery visit.  A good place to stop any time we want to do things in this part of Arizona.

Camping at Pillsbury Winery, Willcox, AZ 04/08 to 04/09

On Wednesday, we shifted down to Willcox, AZ and camped for free at the Pillsbury Winery.

As part of the Harvest Hosts group, they let you park on their land for free with the hope that you will buy something from their tasting room / gift shop - No problems there ....

It sure was remote but talk about peaceful!

This is a relatively new wine area as far as the industry is concerned but is now producing some super wines.

The expansive views were pretty magnificent.
And we had a nice dinner watching the glow of the sunset.

The stars at night were amazing with no lights anywhere nearby to light the skies.

We say goodbye to the Pillsbury Vineyards but know that we will be back again some day.

Camping at Catalina State Park 04/04 to 04/07

Camping at Catalina State Park in Oro Valley north of Tucson, AZ.
It's a really nice campground and we're here for four days.

This is one more opportunity to test out the new camper and get more used to how she operates - this time with both Electric & Water.
We have now sort of figured out how the TV antenna system works.

Plus it is the first outing with the new Fifth Wheel Stabilizer system - much less vibration when we walk around inside.

One our reasons for going was for a visit with John's cousin Hugh Mosher and his wife Simone in Oro Valley, AZ.  We haven't seen them in a whole lot of years even though we live only a couple of hours away.

Hugh offered us his portable fire pit since we can't have campfires at Catalina.  It turned out to be a pretty nice device.

 On Tuesday, we took a pretty nice hike up Romero Canyon

We happened upon this little fella - a giant Gila Monster - the first one either of has ever seen in the wild.

 Also a pretty magnificent saguaro cactus

The Blog is created

My first attempt at a Blog to make our trip reports easier to do.  And apparently it's successful.
This could just make the trip reporting a pretty easy task!