Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Travel

A New GPS for the RV

New Garmin GPS

I have had the little Garmin Nüvi 205W GPS since July of 2009. Once understanding its limitations, it turned out to be a reliable gadget in our old Denali SUV.

We bought our Ford F-150, which had a built-in navigation system so we retired the 205 to the office shelf. When we bought the Roadrunner, our Georgetown 30X3 32 foot motorhome, I resurrected the 205W and have been using it in the RV when we travel.

The old GPS has only a four inch display which, in the larger dimensions of the RV, could be hard to read from the captain’s chair. I decided that if Garmin were to have a larger format GPS, then we would need to get it to overcome the display size issue. An Amazon query turned up this nice Garmin Nüvi 2797 with lifetime map updates and a traffic report receiver. The price was within budget, so I ordered it.

The GPS showed up yesterday and I have been getting acquainted with the unit which, fortunately, is similar enough to the old unit that familiarization has gone quite fast. The new features (traffic, bluetooth, etc.) will eventually come into focus as well.

The best thing is that the larger display will be MUCH easier to read while seated in the captain’s chair and underway in the Roadrunner. We will not have the opportunity to use it until toward Memorial Day or after since our May is sort of booked up with caduceus-oriented appointments.

30 Apr 2016 by Technobabble Travel

Camping in Palm Desert (Again)

Camping Setup

We left our Arizona home this morning at about eleven AM and arrived to check-in at the RV park at about two PM. That sounds like good travel time, but we gained an hour coming to the PST time zone, so the time was nominal as compared to our previous experience coming here. We had a good trip with one little slowdown where an eighteen wheeler rolled over in the median along I-10.

We got here and set up camp for our weekend visits with the kids and the grandson. We had been invited to the in-laws for dinner on previous trips here, but this time we’re inviting the kids and the other set of grandparents to the campground for a steak cookout on Saturday. With the big RV, we can prepare the sides and grill the steaks right here.

The RV Resort is packed today; we took a walk around and saw vehicle license plates from all over the US and Canada. There is an “Oh Canada” dinner and show here tonight (we will not be attending, eh? $40 USD per plate, hosers). Besides, we brought the food and beverages we need and are now settled in and quite comfortable.

We are using the Verizon Jetpack® MiFi wireless internet hot spot we recently obtained and thus far, it seems to work much better (and is more secure) than the often spotty performance of the unsecured WiFi offered by the RV park. We will probably report on our performance assessment of the new gadget after using it for a while.

12 Feb 2016 by Arizona Photography Technobabble Travel Wanderlust

Back to the Saguaros

First SaguarosAnyone who has crossed the Colorado River on Interstate 10 eastbound from Blythe, CA to Ehrenberg, AZ, will almost immediately start seeing the ubiquitous (to Sonoran Arizona) Saguaro Cactus along the route. I took this photo of some of the first-encountered Saguaros on a rocky hillside shortly after entering our home state after the last visit to Palm Desert.

Image of some of the first Saguaro Cacti encountered after entering Arizona on I-10. Click on the image to enlarge.

After entering Arizona, our route takes us 29 more miles on I-10 to Exit 31, US Hwy 60. We follow 60 all the way to Wickenburg, going through the Arizona Outback and the towns of Brenda, Hope, Harcuvar, Salome, Wenden, Gladden, Aguila and finally Wickenburg. It is a colorful and interesting drive through the small towns, farms, ranches and a lot of RV parks with Saguaro Cactus to be seen most of the way.

When we bought our desert property in 2010, there were no Saguaros on the lot. After building the house, we included three transplanted Saguaros as a part of our desert landscaping. When arriving home after one of our trips, it is always nice to see the big Saguaro at the top of the driveway in front of the house. Other than the Palo Verde at the bottom of the driveway, the big cactus is the first thing you notice when coming up the road.

We love the state, our home and all of the Saguaros.

Saguaro, Saguaro,
I Love you Saguaro,
You’re only a State Away!

Apologies to Strouse and Charnin, composer and lyricist for Annie the Musical.

12 Jan 2016 by Arizona Photography Travel Wanderlust

States Visited Meme

my-states.jpg

I saw this meme on the FecesBook™ thing and didn’t do anything about it. Then, I started seeing it show up on the blogs I read, most notably Every Blade of Grass, so I decided to participate.

I have been lucky to have visited a lot of places, domestically and internationally, because of Military Service, occupational deployment, personal vacation and travel, plus my secondary occupation as a pilot and flight instructor. My count of states visited in this country is up to forty-eight of them, only missing Iowa and North Dakota. I assure you, those two are on the bucket list.

We may visit the missing two this summer, depending on how things work out, but in any event, we will extend our 2017 Eclipse Vacation to include the two missing states. There are a lot of interesting things to see and do in that region of the country and we look forward to the trip.

I made this map using the link to MapLoco to Create your own states map. Click on the image to enlarge.

08 Jan 2016 by Blogosphere Travel Wanderlust

One Decade Ago

Anchorage Street Fair

Throwback Thursday! Ten years ago over the Independence Day Holiday, Damsel and I flew to Anchorage for an Alaska-by-rail tour. We left LAX, connected through Portland and got to Anchorage mid-afternoon. The day we got there, there was a street fair in town a couple of blocks from the hotel. We hung out there for a while and came back for the buffet at the hotel later.

The next morning we embarked on the first leg of the trip winding up at Denali National Park where we stayed that night. There were plenty of museums, a dog sledding exhibit and other activities to entertain us. On the Fourth of July, they shot off fireworks at nine PM, but they were difficult to see in the sunlight (land of the midnight sun and all that). Our hotel cabin was on the south bank of the Denali River.

The following morning, we waited in the rain while the train pulled into the station at Denali. You can see the rainfall in the photo above. Click on the image to enlarge.

The rain stopped a little way up the tracks and it was clear all the way to Fairbanks. We spent a good evening at the hotel that night, taking a break from the TV entertainment to go outside and truly witness the midnight sun. Wow!

The next day was a flight from Fairbanks to Portland and thence back to LAX where we rescued the truck from the parking lot and headed back home. It’s really hard to realize that was ten years ago.

02 Jul 2015 by Holidays Travel Wanderlust

Meet Alex

Alex

This is Alex, our eight-month old great grandson, playing in a baby playset on the RV drive. He and his Mommy (our granddaughter) flew from California to visit us for the weekend. It was the first time that we got to see and hold him in person, rather than on the FecesBook™ thing.

Alex (Alexander David) is a delightful little guy, who is also gregarious, wanting to interact with people. He was not afraid of his great grandparents one bit and exhibited his coy little smiles and attempts at talking with us more often than not. Like all babies, he has his less cheerful moments with teething and other discomforts, but all in all, he was great to have around for a few days.

The both of them have gone back home, but I’m sure that they had a nice time visiting us. We hope to take a trip out west to see them and many of our friends and relatives real soon.

18 May 2015 by Arizona People Photography Travel

Moving the Travel Trailer

Moving Trailer

The big chore today was moving the trailer across the road to the new lot we bought. The new spot is not its permanent storage location, but we moved it there temporarily so the work of building retention walls and paving the RV drive around the house can be done. We had planned to tow the trailer to the lot across the road and had the blessing of the previous landowner, but now, it’s a moot point since we closed escrow over three weeks ago.

This is the first time that we towed the trailer with the new Ford F-150. As soon as we got the trailer electrical cable hooked up to the truck, the electronic readout in the drivers instrument console started reporting information about the trailer. Since I was busy with the move, I didn’t take the time to check out all the data there. I will consult the owner’s manual before the next time we hitch up the trailer.

04 Feb 2015 by Retirement Technobabble Travel Wanderlust

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