Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Travel

Wilson Arch

We stopped to water the dogs and take a break from driving at Wilson Arch along US 191 south of Moab, UT. We’ve seen this arch many times over the years as we navigate through Utah. Photo from my Samsung Galaxy. Clickable.

From Brave Leo AI:

Wilson Arch is a natural sandstone arch located in southeastern Utah, just off U.S. Route 191 in San Juan County, 24 miles south of Moab. It has a span of 91 feet and a height of 46 feet. This arch is easily accessible and can be viewed from the road, with turnouts and interpretive signs available.

For those interested in exploring further, a short 0.4-mile hike offers a spectacular view of the majestic rock formation and the blue Utah sky beyond. The hike is considered easy and rewarding, with a chance to stretch your legs and explore the natural marvel up close.

Wilson Arch is also a popular spot for photographers and nature enthusiasts, with the changing light and shadows around the arch providing endless inspiration. Its imposing structure, set against the vast desert sky, creates a striking contrast that begs to be captured.

11 Jul 2025 by Photography Retirement Travel Wanderlust

Monument Valley

After sort of a long day of travel, we’re camping in Monument Valley for a couple of days. The trip was uneventful and only punctuated with a little summer rainfall north of the San Francisco Mountains in Northern Arizona.

We will be traveling eastward but not before heading north from here up into Colorado to drop by a couple of Ancestors burial places. More on those stops later.

Meanwhile, we’re relaxing in the valley made famous by John Ford, John Wayne and others in various cinematic performances of yore. Regardless of the cinematic fame, this place is awesome and one of God’s greatest creations.

08 Jul 2025 by Photography Travel Wanderlust

Retirement Milestone Fifteen

Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of my official retirement. I say “official” because I had already retired ten years prior, but returned to the workforce at another company to continue my career in aerospace. This turned out to be an important step in building up our “nest egg” savings in the new company’s 401K program. I believe we were able to put away about a quarter of our income during those final ten years, with much of the savings “sheltered” from the IRS. That was a good thing.

So, in the coming year, we are contemplating more travel in the big RV. We both have ancestors in many states and we would like to travel to our places of origin – at least on this continent, since many ancestors further up the family trees were from European nations which we would like to visit but are unable at this time. First things first – we will visit the places we can by motorhome. As for the motorhome, we have several maintenance items and improvements to accomplish beforehand.

As we prepare for more years of retirement, we are placing our efforts in God’s Hands to provide for us as He has in the past. We anticipate that this coming year will be as blessed as our first fifteen years of retirement.

p.s. Register to vote and then vote. Bring ten other voters with you. This could be the most important election in the history of the Republic (NOT a democracy, but a REPUBLIC, if we can keep it).

01 Oct 2024 by Aerospace Ancestors Retirement Travel Wanderlust

New Windshield for the RV

We encountered a minor glitch during our RV excursion to see the great eclipse in Waco Texas when a passing Big Rig Semi on a two-lane road threw up such a wind gust when passing in the opposite direction, that our windshield cracked from the shock. It did nothing to inhibit our travel plans, but became a greater concern since the crack size progressed as we got closer to home. I called the insurance company and fortunately, we were covered for a cracked/broken windshield.

Windshield Crack Getting Worse

Image: the windshield crack – pardon the reflections – click to enlarge.

After a couple of weeks waiting for the new glass to arrive, the new windshield got installed today and looks great. Due to some curing issues, we won’t be able to drive it home until tomorrow morning, so that will be the major issue for the day – getting the RV home and parking it in it’s usual slot up in the RV drive.

The new windshield

Image: the new windshield – click to enlarge.

Kudos to State Farm, RV Glass Express and Select Glass for a coordinated effort in getting the job done.

08 May 2024 by Notions Retirement Travel Wanderlust

Home, Sweet Home

Although we got home early, it is late now, so this will be brief; we had a good trip back home from Gila Bend today along the so-called “Phoenix Bypass” route, and that was the intent of going the way we did, to avoid the !*&%#^? Phoenix construction and traffic. It worked, although there was a lot of traffic for a Sunday. Anyway, we’re home.

We’re about to watch a movie and then climb into our own bed at home. G’nite!

21 Apr 2024 by Arizona Notions Travel Wanderlust

Gila Bend

We are in a really nice RV campground tonight. We have been blessed on this adventure to have stayed in many really nice RV parks. This park, the Sonoran Desert RV Park, is located in Gila Bend, AZ, and has a number of nice amenities. Our camp spot has it’s own fenced-in dog run, a concrete patio with charcoal grill and a propane “fire feature” where you can sit around and enjoy the warmth of a fire.

Tomorrow, we will be headed home. We are less than two hours from Wickenburg and expect to be home in the early afternoon. It has been quite the adventure and even though it has been enjoyable, we are now anxious to be home again.

20 Apr 2024 by Arizona Retirement Travel Wanderlust

Mountain View

Damsel and I walked down to the “scenic walk” area of the RV park here in Las Cruces to see what we could see. The view of the area from atop the Picacho Hills, west of Las Cruces proper, was very nice. I aimed my camera phone toward the rugged mountains we crossed getting here and got the (clickable) image above.

Those peaks are the so-called “Organ Mountains” which have this interesting appearance due to being formed by igneous, rather than sedimentary rocks. The organ name comes from some early notion that the peaks resemble a pipe organ.

Tomorrow morning, we head to the west again in continuation of the trek homeward. We shall (God willing) blog from Benson, AZ tomorrow evening.

18 Apr 2024 by Photography Retirement Travel Wanderlust

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