RZR Repair

Coke Ovens Via Martinez

Fun ride to the Coke Ovens with a group of hard core riders...

Unfortunately on the way back, we came across a rescue operation where an ATV had run off the side of the mountain and the injured couple were being airlifted to the nearest trauma center.

Tortilla Flat

If you are ever in the Phoenix area, one of the "must do" items is a trip to Tortilla Flat (The Town Too Tough To Die) for lunch or dinner. The drive alone makes it worthwhile as you wind your way up through a series of multi-colored rock mountains and canyons. Then you are in for a unique dining experience at the restaurant & saloon. Of course, it helps to go with professional travelers...

Dona tasting the "Snake Venom" beer while Dick looks on

The first thing you will probably notice when you walk in is almost every square inch of wall space is covered in real paper money. Dick had heard that it may total as much as a quarter of a million dollars...

Expensive wallpaper

The second thing you might notice is that the bar stools are horse saddles...

Fun way to "belly up to the bar"

Lastly, after your meal you will want to meander next door to the gift shop for some ice cream. I highly recommend the dark chocolate gelato.

Life On The RZR's Edge/Side

In an effort to breakup the monotony of our routine, boring rides, we decided to try something different today... we may have overdone it a bit.

Later, Gary suffers a similar fate while attempting an intricate backup maneuver on a hairpin turn.

Unique way to inspect skid plate

Fortunately, no one was hurt and the only damage to the machines was some mangled tupperware. All in all a fun day where no one acted their age. Lastly, many thanks to Ron for winching us back on all fours.

Update: If at first you do not succeed...

Woodpecker & Highway To Hell

Today, we rode "Woodpecker" and part of the "Highway To Hell" southeast of Florence Junction. Here's what you can expect along the way...

Terry demonstrates how to save rubber on tires
(click on photos to enlarge)

Entrance to "Highway To Hell"
(those are vehicle parts from the trail)

Where we turned around on "Highway To Hell"

Karen's Birthday

Today was Karen's birthday and this was her present...

New park model

Birthday Party / Happy Hour(s)

Jack Handle Trail

Is another extreme jeep trail southeast of the Florence Junction. It's relatively short but has a couple of interesting obstacles that cannot be by-passed. Here's John and Ron making the first climb look easy...

Today's Photos

Pioneers in spirit

Ancient cliff dwellers

Gails's favorite part of the ride - lunch

Caution: The following video is "R" rated for strong language...

Sonoran Desert

If you have never ventured into the Sonoran Desert, I think you would be surprised at how beautiful a desert can be. Although I have taken hundreds of photos over the last two winters, I have not yet been able to capture what the eye is able to take in, particularly, the distant panoramic vistas.

Terry, Gail, Tom, Jordana

Crime Spree In RV Park

Note to Denny and Toby: this photo can be purchased for a very reasonable price...

"Breaking & Entering" in progress
(click on image to enlarge)

Elvis - Box Canyon Loop

I teamed up with those intrepid guys from Michigan, Gary and John, to ride Elvis and Box Canyon coming in from the Cottonwood trailhead.  I would recommend running Elvis south to north (we ran north to south) as you would be going upstream which allows you to see the obstacles more clearly.

Elvis is known as an "extreme jeep trail" but we were able to work our way around the sections that we deemed impassible for the RZRs and that allowed us to run the entire trail. Here's a video of John getting a "cardio-workout"...

First Ride of 2014

"The Gang"

Here's Gail thinking of increasing the amount of insurance on Terry

Remnant from WWII practice bomb

Mill Site Canyon

Once again, I joined Bob "The Grayfox" Micklick and a group of his jeep friends on a ride northeast of Queen Valley. Bob and I have this gentlemen's agreement whereby I pay for the gas and he keeps me alive during the ride. If I die in a fiery crash or am crushed and mangled beyond recognition, I get a complete refund. He even promises to mail the check the same day!

An "Oops" moment

Wench to the rescue

Panoramic view at the end of Hardt Tank

First Day Back

After a restful nights sleep, I awoke refreshed and ready to start a new day. While cleaning out the storage compartment of the toyhauler, Jimmy stops by to say "hello" and to catch me up on the happenings in the park. After a quick power nap, a neighbor invities me over for a home cooked "poor boy sandwich" for dinner. Then a quick ride around the park in the RZR and I run into Karen and friends. After lunch I walk over to Keith and Jayne's to hear what they have been up to since our time together in Colorado. And then I stop by Bob's RV to see how he is doing after the bone marrow transplant. Finally, Noah swings by my neighbors with a fifth of Wild Turkey American Honey Bourbon which goes surprisingly well with a "poor boy sandwich".  All in all, a great first day back out west!

Arizonian RV Park

I have returned to the Arizonian RV Park for the winter. After eleven days on the road and a long setup process here in the park, I am one tired puppy so this will be a short post.

During my recent stay in NC, I found that one of things I missed most was the socialization and camaraderie of the RV parks with active seniors like myself. It is particularly nice to go back to a place where you get to see friends from previous years.

Roswell, New Mexico

Having met a number of individuals in my travels that I strongly suspected of being from another planet, I have journeyed to the center of extraterrestrial activity here in the USA - Roswell, New Mexico. If you are wondering why a semi-rational person like myself might believe in such phenomena, you only need to spend a winter at the Arizonian RV Park... but that is a story for another time.

I actually chose Roswell in order to see a different part of the country on my way to southern Arizona and to put it in the "been there, done that" column. In as much as I had never been here before, I imagined a small, dusty town in the desert selling cheap alien memorabilia. What I found is a good size city (population ~50,000) with all the big box stores and franchise restaurants you could imagine plus an eight screen cinema. I figure this is as good a place as any to spend Christmas on the road this year.

PS - they still sell cheap alien memorabilia...

If you think English is easy

Consider the different pronunciations and meanings of words that are spelled the same...

• The bandage was wound around the wound. 
• The farm was used to produce produce.
• The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
• We must polish the Polish furniture.
• He could lead if he would get the lead out.
• The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
• Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
• A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
• When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
• I did not object to the object.
• The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
• There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
• They were too close to the door to close it.
• The buck does funny things when the does are present.
• A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
• To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
• The wind was too strong to wind the sail. 
• Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
• I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. 
• How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? 

Moab Base Jumping

Okay, you're sitting in your favorite recliner enjoying a cold beverage, wondering what you are going to do for excitement next summer. I may be able to help with that. Perhaps, base jumping from one of the rock towers in Moab is what you are looking for. The following video really starts to get interesting at around 3:20...

I think this may be one of those "hold my beer while I try this" moments.

Map of Travels

Office Max was having a sale on Microsoft Streets & Trips 2013 so I spent the big bucks ($19.99) and updated my old version. As a way to familiarize myself with the new software, I created a map of my travels for the last two years as a full-time RVer...

Click on map to enlarge

It's fun to look back and remember all the places I have been and the things I have seen and done. Am looking forward to doing more of the same in 2014.

Now We Know What Could Go Wrong

Back in February I posted the following excerpt from a speech given by Dr. Barbara Bellar on Obamacare entitled "What The Blank Could Possibly Go Wrong"...

"So let me get this straight. We are going to be gifted with a healthcare plan that we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don't, which reportedly covers 10 million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman doesn't understand it, passed by Congress, that didn't read it, but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese and financed by a country that is broke. So what the blank could possibly go wrong?"

I think we are now beginning to understand "what could go wrong". And I am afraid this may only be the "tip of the iceberg".

Password Manager

You probably have noticed that a number of websites are requiring passwords of increasing complexity. It was bad enough when I had to remember simple words but now when they want a minimum of eight characters including upper & lower case letters, numbers and signs and the end result looks like "3Gf@xq83!", I have to write them down somewhere and then find a secure place to store the list. Unfortunately, I am at that stage in life where I sometimes forget why I walked into a room so the above did not seem like a good idea.

The solution, of course, was to find a good password manager that was both secure and easy to use. After researching a number of products, I finally chose LastPass, a free online program that integrates into your browser and then saves and fills "logins" for an easier, safer web experience. If you are using this or another password manager, I would be interesting hearing from you in the comment section below.

Blingstar Vertical Doors

My friend, Mack, installed a set of Blingstar remote controlled vertical doors on his RZR and then made a nice video of how they work...

 

If you load your UTV into the back of your truck, this is the only full-size door that I am aware of that will open for easy exit.

Samsung Galaxy S III

I finally upgraded from my old Droid X 3G phone to a new Galaxy S III 4G. The tipping point was Best Buy selling the phone for $49.99 (regular price $99.99) along with a $50 gift certificate which was applied to the cost so that I essentially got the phone for free with a 2-year contract extension. The new plan gives me unlimited talk/text minutes with double the data, wifi & hotspot connections at 10 times the speed of the 3G network for about the same price as the previous plan.  All in all, a pretty good deal!

The phone, itself, has exceeded my expectations. The screen resolution is outstanding and it is loaded with free features. One built-in app that I am playing with is the ability to take a photo and then have it automatically uploaded to my online Google Picasa Album. Traditionally, when I make a credit card purchase, I keep the receipt to match-up with the next billing statement. Now I snap a picture of the receipt, it is automatically uploaded to Picasa and I have no paper hard copies to fool with. Wonder what they will think of next.

National Park Service

Quote from The Weekly Standard: “It’s one thing for politicians to play shutdown theater. It’s another thing entirely for a civil bureaucracy entrusted with the privilege of caring for our national heritage to wage war against the citizenry on behalf of a political party.”

National Park Closures

Whenever the current administration wants more money, they try to inflict as much pain on the public as their bureaucracy will allow. They did it with the sequestration and now they are doing it again with the government shutdown. Consider the following examples by the National Park Service:

• On Tuesday morning, seven National Park Service employees were seen erecting and tending to a barricade around the World War II Memorial, an open air, unguarded site in Washington, D.C. One NPS employee was operating a forklift. There usually are not any NPS employees working at the World War II memorial. It cost the taxpayers more to close the Memorial than to keep it open.
• The NPS has closed the Grand Canyon National Park even though the State of Arizona has offered to pay for it. A similar offer by the State of South Dakota to keep Mount Rushmore open has been rejected by the NPS. Considering the revenue normally generated by these two parks, their closure is costing taxpayers more money, not less.
• Lastly, here is a quote from an angry Park Service ranger taken from an article by the Washington Times: "It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation. We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”

The gates at the WWII Memorial have been wired shut to keep veterans from moving them...

Update (10/7/13):  Click here to see a list of government actions that are designed to inflict pain upon the public.