P+M Hit The Road

W e met some helpful new friends along our RV journey from Iowa to the western US this year;  Richard's Mobile RV Service in Las Cruces, Goldie's Diesel Repair in Tucson, Boulder City Firestone Tire and O'Reilly Auto Parts in Moab.   To be honest it wouldn't break my heart if we never set eyes on them again. However we did find our new BFF Total Wine & More at critical stops along the way and now it's on speed dial. RV life isn't for the faint of heart Jeff Y.

We've adopted Willie Nelson's familiar melody "On The Road Again" as our traveling song.  It captures our hankering to hit the road when temps dip, the sun disappears and snow starts to fly in Iowa. The holidays wind down and there's nothing but blizzards and subzero months ahead, we are drawn to clear blue Southwestern skies or the warm, welcoming waters of Florida's Emerald coast.  Time to hit the road for snowbird paradise. We recalled chatting with friendly folks at a local beverage stop during one of our journeys.  They asked about our travels and we talked a while about being on the road, told a few tales and some true ones too.   They must have been impressed by our stories because they said we were nothing but a couple of traveling Gypsies.  Maybe we do have some Gypsy blood running through these tired old veins.  Heck, Paul even stockpiles the magic Gypsy elixir, Busch Light. We weren't looking for a theme song, but sometimes things just happen an...

Hiking Superstition Mountains in Arizona one morning a few weeks ago when just over the ridge we saw the familiar Iowa Hawkeye black and gold from back home. Paul started whistling the Iowa fight song, honestly he did, when we realized we knew these people, Judy and Jeff from our hometown in Iowa.  Running into old friends far from our Iowa roots on an Arizona mountain range seemed pretty bizarre at the time, but realized we were in the land of alien sightings, genuine cowboys and Carnitas De Pork Belly (yep that's real because Paul ate it) so guess it wasn't all that strange. We were able to carve out a few hours from our hectic retiree schedule to spend some time with them and picked up where we left off about 25 or so years ago.  Fun times.  We didn't find any gold in those Superstitions that day, but we found real treasure in our old friends. I'll tell you about an unforgettable hike we took together another time.  It's a mostly true tale of a scream, terrible ...

We set out from Zion under an overcast sky with heavy snow falling in huge wet flakes.  Snow is not good for RVers, it takes a few years off their lives and adds more grey hairs. Paul's old Dodge Ram climbed the damp, snaky hillside pulling our rig precariously up the steep incline. The road was shrouded in heavy clouds leading to a mile long mountain tunnel so narrow we were told we needed an escort due to the size of our caravan. The ranger up top checked us out,  stopped traffic, moved the cone and we were on our own.  No escort, just strict instructions; lights on, straight down the middle, no stopping, get moving.  I knew right then we were goners.  Our RV is 12' 5" or so, plenty of room to pass under the 13'1" entrance.  No problem, right? E yes tight shut, mine not Paul's, no bumps, no scrapes, only silence, Thank The Lord. As we passed through the darkness we saw occasional peep holes carved out of the tunnel walls shedding glimpses of l...

The Watchman Monolith towers ominous at the entrance of Zion National Park, urging visitors to step back in time, slow the pace, the canyon beckons.   It stuns, then engulfs you.  Shadows fall on the sheer rock faces, creating a surreal presence.   You experience  the almighty power of nature carving out this magnificent wonder of the world and your mind is overwhelmed with the spectacle. We hiked up the path to the infamous Narrows in the Canyon, the most popular and respected trail in the park.  Adventurers brave the frigid river, scramble through slot canyons and over boulders, experiencing the true wonder of Zion.  We  met canyoneers at the headwaters exiting The Narrows.  They were very young and extremely exhausted.  Chest waders and waterproof boots were an absolute must as the air temperature that day was 40 degrees and the water temp?  Can't imagine.   I asked the young explorers if they were cold and one replied ...

Paul and I landed in Lake Mead, Nevada last week, one of the largest man made lakes in the world.  It seemed a suitable place to pull up the RV and park our humble folding ensemble. We like kicking around town a bit to check out the landscape, the neighborhood vibe and sometimes take in some local history.  We hiked the Historic Railway Trail near the Lake which was originally built to haul supplies from Boulder City, Nevada to the Hoover Dam construction site.  Now you may think that is pretty boring stuff but here's an interesting spin.  Back in 1931 Boulder City Manager Sims Ely was a crochety old geezer who led the town with an iron fist.  Consequently he didn't allow any alcohol or shenanigans in his sleepy town. Thousands of men flocked to Boulder City to join the crews blasting through Black Mountain to complete the railroad to the Dam site.  Now the men were getting mighty thirsty and were fed up with old Ely's rules so they blasted 5 hu...

A friend recently suggested I write a blog about our RV travels.  At first I shrugged it off, but after a while decided to go for it.  Paul suggested P+M Hit The Road so here we are, stories of senior living.  I'm not a writer but do hope some of my tales may help you sleep at night.  Me too. Paul and I have a lot more days behind instead of ahead so thought it would be a good time to get started.  When I can't remember yesterday or today, perhaps reading my thoughts will conjure a memory or a friend.