October 4, 2019 Day 1

Howard and Hillie show up in their beautiful 45’ RV, pulling their pick up truck with AJ’s Harley loaded in the bed. It’s 9:30am, we have a few more bags to load plus some food, most of our stuff was brought over last Sunday. We are off… all the way down the street to Kalamata’s on Transit. Time for breakfast! By 11:00 we are on our way.

A little traffic back up in Salamanca, but we made it to just over the Indiana border, about 470 miles, not quite as far as Indianapolis. Nothing too eventful throughout the day, AJ was getting comfortable with the driving, Hillie and I were getting caught up, reading Ulta’s “Glorious Hair Event” catalog and planning our purchases, reading Hallmark’s Christmas ornament catalog and did some pre-orders over the phone. We ate mostly snacks during the day and had delicious turkey sandwiches made with Hillie’s home grown tomatoes for dinner. We pulled into a rest stop at about 7:30, surrounded by lots of semis parked for the night… this was a first for me, interesting to say the least but soon it was lights out for everyone.

October 5, 2019 Day 2

Starting out about 8:00 this morning, we want to make a lot of ground today but other then AJ we are all a little slow in the morning. I admit it I am the worst! Breakfast and snacks in the Coach, peddle to the metal, the guys did a great job driving, we covered about 775 miles!

So we stopped at a truck stop for some dinner, mind you that we always stop at truck stops because we are about 70’ total length and, because we are towing, we can’t go in reverse, forward motion only…I almost sound like I know what I’m talking about, lol. This truck stop was HUGE, literally about 400 trucks could park there. Aside from the gas pumps, there was a truck wash, a mega truck “superstore”, dining, clothing, and a very interesting gift store. I think this was the first time in my life I was in a store and couldn’t find a thing to buy. The diner was called the Iron Skillet, not bad except Hillie and I ordered the salmon, what in God’s name were we thinking?? No, it didn’t come with a side of dill cream sauce, and it certainly wasn’t flown in fresh from Alaska, it basically was frozen for the last3 years, extremely dry and let’s not even talk about the color…not good.

After dinner, Hillie and I stroll through the megastore and humorously were pointing out “decor” for each other’s houses, then we realize we are the only women here, or at least the only ones with any resemblance to being a woman, what a great place to meet men! As we were walking to the Coach, a guy behind us yells “ya’all betta move outta the way” as a semi was approaching, he said “what are ladies like you do’in walk’n through here, you don’t look like you belong?” Hillie politely said that we were parked ahead and he said “oh, you must be rigger’s then”. Lol, we were like “um, no we are not riggers, we are in an RV,” the guy then said “oh, you are rich riggers then,” he nicely said “ya’all have a g’day”… Hillie and I laughed all the way back to our “rig.”

Back on the coach for the last haul of the day. Our goal was to stop just outside of Tulsa, however we ended up going much further, couldn’t find a truck stop to park. We decide to get off the highway to hopefully find a spot, but no such luck. We end up going through a few small towns and the route puts us back on interstate 40. Luckily, about a mile away was a stop with spots still open, we park, had a little bite to eat, and couldn’t wait to crash. We were somewhere between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

October 6, 2019 Day 3

Rise and Shine! Us and the truckers! This particular truck stop has a McDonalds so it’s Egg McMuffin’s, coffee and we’re off! Should be a lighter day today. While traveling, Hillie and I keep busy reading lots of magazines, reading the road atlas and triptik, a little shopping on-line, and keeping the guys fed and hydrated. Hillie is great at watching the GPS (it’s a 36” monitor that hangs in the front), keeping us on track making sure we don’t miss an exit, being Howard’s co-navigator for the RV itself (lots of bells and whistles), and finding the nearest rest stop, She’s amazing! For some reason, the guys seem to want to take the turns a little faster then normal, at one point Hillie and I are sitting at the table and we both go flying. I’m stopped by the couch, but poor Hillie, she and the chair pretty much went airborne…funny, not funny, had to be there.

Interstate 40 is sometimes referred to as Route 66. “Old Route 66,” the original single lane highway, runs parallel to the interstate and is roughly 40 yards off to the side. After hearing so much about it, and the nostalgic images I had, it was heartbreaking to see. So many abandoned 2 – 3 story hotels and motels, restaurants, and gas stations, many with the vintage metal signs still standing, but only in their shell. You could tell by the shapes of the signs, and the heights, that they were old, from the 50’s. Dilapidated building frames, some still with faded original painted sides with their names on them, painted in aqua, pink, pale yellow and white, the traditional colors of it’s day. There were many boarded up billboards facing old Route 66, some had boards falling off and you could see parts of the faded signs with hints of retro text and color. We noticed how low these billboards stood, so different then the massive ones today. AJ said most of old Route 66 doesn’t exist anymore, what a shame.

We stopped at the Texas welcome center and I have to say it was one of the prettiest, dispute the “beware of rattlesnakes” sign! We also stopped at Cadillac Ranch in Armarillo, TX. Very cool place, a cow pasture, where in 1974, ten vintage Cadillacs, circa 1949-1963, were buried nose first into the ground. These were junk cars, but together they define the evolution of their famous tail fin. It must have rained because it was flooded around the cars, but people were still spray painting on the cars and surrounding dirt.

About 30 miles outside Albuquerque, we decide to get into a real RV park, no more truck stops and we’ve gone about 570 miles. Time for a good shower and some R&R. Hillie calls our site in Albuquerque, however they are full, they gave us a recommendation, Hillie calls and they had a spot! Cuervo Mountain RV Park. Very cute RV park, Rick the owner was super nice, and clean facilities. What more could you ask for, I just wish I had some Jose Cuervo at the Cuervo Mountain RV park! I’ll settle for a glass of Chardonnay.

October 7, 2019 Day 4

Today was a very relaxing day, slow morning, getting caught up on the blog. We cooked a great bacon and eggs breakfast, cleaned up the coach on the inside and out, talked to neighbors and admired the scenery. Hillie and I took a walk, ran into Rick the owner and he was telling us about all his plans to develop this RV “ranch.” Sounds Ike this place will be amazing with cabins, horse stables, solar energy, walking trails, an Airbnb, and a dog park. While walking back, we made the discovery that every campsite has to have a “cousin Eddy Griswald” family, well we found ours! See the pic below, nothing else needs to be said.

With Howard at the helm, we head out at about 12:30 to our campsite in Albuquerque. We arrive about 45 minutes later at the Albuquerque KOA Journey, here we settle in, hook everything up, unhook the pick up and unload the Harley. The rest of the day was spent stopping at a couple RV stores for some parts and, to my co-travelers demise, I needed to start the inevitable boot purchase journey. They all new it was coming, but reality finally had to hit. Hillie and I strategized at length (she’s a trooper), wherever we went we asked the women where the best place to buy boots was. The responses ranged from the complete dumbfounded “I have no idea” to Hillie making a new BFF, and exchanging cell phone numbers so she can keep us informed of any new recommendations… and of course we will report back to her once the almighty purchase is made. Howard was a team player, AJ was slightly annoyed, but we made it to a boot store and, after many try on’s, and a valiant group effort from the team minus AJ, we came up empty handed. The quest will continue, stay tuned. After the boot excursion, which caused some stress and exhaustion, we head out for some authentic Mexican food. We went to a small place the locals go and the food was awesome, literally the chips served with salsa were made fresh for every order. After dinner we headed back to the camp ground, took a stroll and explored and then called it an early night. We head out to the ballon festival at 4:00am tomorrow morning.

October 8, 2019 Day 5

We are going to cut right to the chase, the boots took a second seat today to jewelry. It was hours at a jewelers for Hillie and I while the guys sat at a picnic table. The first piece the sales woman showed each of us was beautiful and we both admired the piece but said no, by the end of our visit not only did we have that initial piece, but two more pieces each. Here is a glimpse at one piece I bought and the picture does not do this beautiful ring justice.

Thank God Hillie and Howard woke up around 3:30am, AJ and I didn’t get moving until 4:00am. Needless to say we were already behind for the day but by 4:30 we were on our way to the balloon festival. We had no issues with traffic and parking. As soon as we got in there was a huge Alpaca stand, Hillie bought a cute hat and I later ended up buying gloves. We got some coffee and then we saw the sign… “made fresh daily” hot doughnuts, too bad they may make them daily but they don’t tell you what day they are going to serve them…they were so gross, in the trash they went. The balloons launching was spectacular and watching them all get blown up was just as exciting. It was a wonderful fun filled event, we all commented on how clean, family oriented, and festive the event was. People surrounding each launch would just clap and cheer at the riders and the riders waved with such excitement in anticipation for their ride. It’s a far cry from what so many festivals have become, I have to be honest, other than being searched at the gate like you would for any public event, there wasn’t any police presence, they simply didn’t need it.

The festival closes at noon during the weekdays, there are no more events until the next morning, so the four of us head to Santa Fe which was about an hour away. We go to the Santa Fe Plaza area, park Howard’s truck, and immediately look for a place to eat. We found this cute Mexican cafe called Tres Colores and had a fabulous meal. The guacamole was made fresh to order and was so good we stopped back right before we left and had them make four orders of guacamole to go. The owner was so friendly but there was more, he was so proud yet humbled. Hillie commented to him how great his food was and both he, and the cook, said “anyone can make this food, it’s about the amount of love you put into it.” That pretty much says it all.

One of my favorite sites in Santa Fe was the Loretta Chapel and the Miraculous Stairway. Here, in this small chapel, there was no way to access the choir loft, carpenters said a ladder had to be used as there was not enough room for a staircase. Legend says the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph and on the nineth day of prayer a man appeared with a donkey and a toolbox. Months later the circular staircase was completed and the man disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching and finding no trace of the man, some concluded the he was St.Joseph himself, having come to answer the Sisters prayer. The staircase has two 360 degree turns with no support, and no signs of nails, only wooden pegs. Truly miraculous! I said a prayer for our safe travels, lit a candle, blessed myself with holy water, and bought a rosary… I think I covered it all. After Santa Fe, we headed back to the campsite, stopped at two Harley dealerships, made a fire and grilled some hot dogs, showered and caught upon laundry. AJ and I head out on the bike tomorrow to Tombstone AZ, we’ll meet back up with Howard and Hillie, hopefully Friday in Sedona. I will miss them.