Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Wanderlust

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

New RV Internet Solution

Since our last RV excursion in April of 2024 to view the total eclipse of the sun, there were some lessons learned regarding internet connections and reliability during the trip. We were never completely without internet service most of the time, but there were places where our usual access via campground WIFI or the Samsung hotspot were spotty, unreliable, bandwidth limited and/or just plain awful. These conditions were, to say the least, frustrating to us who depend on our internet access for:

  • entertainment
  • campground reservations
  • financial access
  • email
  • social media
  • VOIP telephone access

We needed something better.

Enter the new solution to the problems: Starlink Mini. Our package arrived today and within an hour after unboxing the system, we were on the satellite network with speeds of around 100Mb/sec. Good enough for each of the enumerated tasks above.

The mini unit is shown in the (clickable) photo below perched on the outdoor grill behind our house. The unit is self-contained and has the built-in Phased Array Antenna, associated electronics and a WIFI to facilitate access to the internet. MADE IN THE USA BY STARLINK!

Starlink Mini Unit

The next (clickable) photo shows the approximate sky view as seen by the mini unit. We live in sort of a low area looking to the north, with part of the sky obscured by rising terrain and structures up there. Regardless, the unit performed very well given the possible obscurations.

Approximate Sky View

A catalyst in our decision to go with Starlink now, was the terrorist attacks on Tesla and other Elon Musk enterprises. We saw this as an opportunity to support SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, by acquiring this system (in lieu of buying a Tesla) to support Musk, who endures daily threats as he continues to work the new Department of Government Efficiency.

We pray that the loonies doing the terror be found soon and be dealt with appropriately.

22 Mar 2025 by Cyberspace Degenerates Law and Order Notions Technobabble Wanderlust

2025 Concealed Carry Map and
  Winterizing the Small Arms

At some point in 2025, Damsel and I, along with the dogs, will be travelling in the RV, the purpose of which is to visit some of the places where our ancestors lived and died. Since we both wish to be armed wherever we go, it is helpful to know where our permits to carry will be recognized, so we visit USA Carry to consult their interactive concealed carry maps. After clicking on Arizona and Utah (where we have permits), our map looks like this:

There are 39 states (in blue or green) that recognize our Utah or Arizona permits. Fortunately, most places we intend to visit accept our CCWs. There is one small exception in one of the no-carry states on our proposed route. We’re thinking about how to handle that one, but I’m sure it will work out. Perhaps National CCW Reciprocity will happen by our travel date (not holding our breath).

The other arms-related issue here is getting everything winterized. Today, I inspected, dusted off and oiled up several of the inventory. At this point, we’re about halfway done with them. The (clickable) image below shows my semi-auto long arm and the maintenance setup on the patio atop the Spa cover.

The winterization of the rest of the inventory should be done by next week. That effort will include several pistol-caliber carbines which have yet to be taken to the range (by us). Maybe we will take them out and get them dirty before their winterization.

30 Dec 2024 by Arizona CCW Firearms Notions Retirement 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

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