Getting Our Kicks on Route 66

On our first night of our summer travels, we wound up in Albuquerque at the Enchanted Trails RV Park.   It is situated right off  Interstate 40.  In the 1950's, before the Interstate took over, this was along the famous Route 66, also known as the Mother Road.

Get Your Kicks on Rt. 66!

I loved the neon sign on the window.  It reminded me of the Diving Lady neon sign on Miracle Mile in Tucson during my childhood. 

Inside was another neon sign hanging on the wall, an old Hudson from the 1950's.

Even better, behind the office was a 1953 or 1954 Hudson.  Just as sleek as an upside down bathtub!  Memories flooded back to when my parents left Illinois and traveled to Arizona in a gray 1953 Hudson, pulling an old trailer behind it.  I still recall wondering if we would make it up the hills when we were creeping along.  I think I remember covering my head while I was in the back seat with my sister!

The RV park here also has several restored old trailers that they rent out by the day or week.  They are located just behind the restored Hudson.  Towards the back end of the park is this very old trailer (or should I say vintage?), which  I bet is from the 1940's. 

 

 I found the picture below on the internet (where else?).   What a difference between 1940 and the plethora of trailers that are available on today's marketplace! I sure can't image Don and I pulling one of these behind the truck across the country.  But, then again, what will RVs look like when our grandchildren are grown up?  They will probably wonder how we "made do" with our 5th wheel without all the new technology and gadgets!

 

Useful Usery

For Spring break this year, we decide to meet up with Jerry, Sandy and Doris at Usery Mountain Regional Park, just an hour's drive for us.  Doris had been here many times with Gary, but this was the first time for us to camp here.

 Kyla checked to see that Hailey was putting  up the tent correctly while Don and I busied ourselves with setting up the 5th wheel.

Some people might wonder why we'd go to the trouble of loading up the trailer and driving across town to camp when we could just stay home   Here, at the campground, it was quiet and peaceful.  There was no TV to distract us from  seeing  the Superstition Mountains turn purple and the sky into various shades of pink and lavender as the sun set in the west.  It's a time to slow down and smell the flowers, so to speak.

Kyla discovered that one of the fun things about camping is not having to use a fork to eat your pancake.  No table, no fork, no mess, and no plate to wash!

 Another great thing about camping in the desert is enjoying the amazing sunsets and listening to the coyotes howling.  The night I took this picture it was like God had lit a lantern in the western sky.

 Another camping plus: camp fires and S'mores!

 After a little cajoling, I was able to get Hailey and Kyla to stand still together so I could take their picture.

Camping doesn't mean that you only have hamburgers or hot dogs on the grill.  Hailey had a pre-dinner snack of two lobster tails!  We had promised her a lobster treat for playing well on her basketball team.

 Naturally, Delaney, Kyla and Jenny watched closely as Hailey dipped her lobster in the butter before she ate it.

 That same evening, friends of Jerry and Sandy came to visit.  We shared food and stories about our travels.

 Yes, we were camping out in the desert.  However, for the girls it did NOT mean they had to completely give up their phones or games.

Time to pack up.    This time, it was Hailey telling Kyla to keep rolling around on top of the tent to get it flat.

The last stop:   the dumping station!  Time for one last hug before we all head home.

Take a hike...

Usery has all sorts of trails.  Rough ones, ones that involve climbing over steep hillsides, short ones and lots of desert trails of various lengths.  It was time for us to check out some of these while we were camping here. I've been told to "take a hike" lots of times, but it didn't necessarily mean that exact thing.  Anyway, I digress.  Back to my blog about hiking trails at Usery.

Here is our group, ready for Buckhorn Campground Nature Trail.  All of us had eaten a nice breakfast, it was warm and sunny, and there was nary a complaint from the younger generation.  Doris was the narrator for this hike, reading the pamphlet information as we reached each point in the brochure.

 Looks like Jerry, Delaney and Kyla had taken the wrong path and had to circle back.

 This spring there had been enough rain for the local Ocotillos.  They were sporting green leaves on their stalks and red blossoms on their tips.

The next morning, it was just Doris and I with the girls.  We decided to take the trail that wound up by the Nature Center.

 I had Delaney stop by the Teddy Bear Cholla, warning her to stay away from all the little pieces of cholla that were on the ground.  You never, ever want to come into contact with any type of Cholla cactus.  Trust me, I know from experience!

If this were a painting, I think I'd call it "Kyla's Kactus Kontemplation".  Did you notice her shorts and cowboy boot combination?  She had gotten a new pair of riding boots a few days before, and wore the boots almost the whole time we were camping.

Hailey and Delaney found a nice bench to sit on near the end of our hike. Why do kids feet tire so easily when you take them out like this, but they can walk in a mall for hours???

 Hike Number Three

I thought we were all ready to get out on the trail, but Don is still goofing off and Sandy is talking on the phone.  Time to go!

 We headed up the side of the small mountain to get to the Merkle Trail, all the while watching out for cactus plants and rattlesnakes.

 At one junction, the girls decided to take the Vista trail, which ran up and over the small hill.  I was surprised to hear that Don volunteered to stay behind them just to make sure they would be okay.  His one knee bothers him when he climbs up steps or, in this case, climbing up on rocks.

 Sandy spotted the girls and was waving to them as we walked along the flat gravel Merkle Trail that encircled the hill.

 When Don and I were here about 5 years ago, this trail was covered with wildflowers.  Unfortunately, the winter this year was warm and there was hardly any precipitation.  There may have been a lack of wildflower color, but we didn't have to worry about shoveling snow or dealing with freezing temperatures for months on end. I can deal with this a lot easier than sleet, snow and black ice.

Usery Nature Center

We discovered that Usery had a lot of things to do while we were there.  You can hike along the many trails that meander around the desert, or you can take ranger led tours to learn more about the Sonoran Desert , the saguaros or bird watching.  They even sponsor a program for home schooled children called "Cow Eyeball Dissections".  Definitely not for me or anyone who is squeamish.

On Tuesday morning the adults decided that we'd all ride our bikes to the Nature Center.  We have learned how to get the girls away from their phones/Ipads by simply stating:  "We are going to hike/ride/walk/ etc."  You never give them an option by saying, "Do you want to ....".  We may be old, but some aspects of dealing with teenagers and pre-teens are still the same as when our children were that age.

Don and Hailey are ready, and I think Delaney (Doris' granddaughter) has a definite idea on the way she thinks we should go.

There were no cars behind us, thank goodness.  Our group was hogging the road inside the park!

As soon as we got inside the Nature Center, we were greeted by Kona, who belongs to one of the park rangers.  It seems she went over to one of the lower shelves and picked out her own stuffed raccoon!  She went from one person to another, wagging her tail and never letting go of her new toy.  She was an instant hit with the 3 girls.

Time to head back to our campsite.  Hopefully, no creepy crawlers will be there to greet us when we get back!  The girls and Don did see a snake near the restrooms, but it was a non-poisonous one, for which I am eternally thankful.  

Bananas over Basketball

Four days after we got home from Tucson, we were once again on the road.  Only this time, neither Don nor I were driving!   We were with our daughter Heidi, her husband Glen and their two daughters, heading to San Diego for Hailey's basketball tournament.  It seems we had just enough time to unpack the 5th wheel, get it into the RV place for servicing, catch up on washing and then pack up our suitcases.

Fortunately for us, we have a second cousin that lives just a couple of blocks from Reformation Lutheran church, where the tournament was being held.  Jen and Vic invited the 6 of us for supper on Saturday night and there wasn't a moment's hesitation in accepting.

We were treated to BBQ sandwiches, Caesar salad and white chocolate cheesecake that Vic had made.  Besides dinner, this was also the time in between games for Kyla to do her homework.  She missed school on Friday, so she was catching up in different places:  sitting on the gym bleachers, in the mini-van, at Vic and Jen's, etc.

The games started on Friday afternoon for the Grace girl's team, and continued on through Sunday afternoon.  We had many hours of sitting on bleachers.  Seriously, Don and I are going to look into buying stadium seats with comfy cushions!  Either the wood bleachers are getting harder or the fat that used to be on my behind migrated up to my middle.  What's with that?  Gravity has made all the rest of me has shift downward!

On Sunday morning, we attended the service at Reformation.  Hailey sang in the choir which consisted of all the boys and girls that participated in the tournament.  

 Looks like Glen was checking his phone one more time before we head into church.

Kyla reunited with a friend that had gone to the same summer camp with her last year in California,

and Hailey was all smiles with her friends from Reformation.  On the courts, when Grace played against Reformation, they were fierce competitors.  In the end, the Reformation girls won against Grace for the championship.

I had to sort through hundreds of pictures to select a few showing Hailey playing her heart out on the court.

Here is their team, with the second place trophy.  It hardly seems possible that we attended this same tournament 30 years ago this year.  That year, Emmaus (our church at that time) won the championship games for both the girl's and boy's teams.  Talk about Déjà vu!