What’s Up After Our Winter Travel ?

We did a “study” this winter -- just low key and personal, that is.  A few of our questions are at least partially answered.  Do we want to continue our RVing now that we have another home in Indianapolis? Is the lifestyle still as attractive?  Or are we ready to hang up Ferd’s keys?   

How did we feel about taking to the road again?  Did the traveling still have its attraction? 

Honestly, after the 18 months break in 2011-2012, we easily readjusted to our life in the motorhome last Fall.  Seeing some old friends and traveling to a few new places was very enjoyable.  And missing the ice and snow in the Midwest was a no-brainer!  We had a great time out on the road over the past five months.  Ferd continues to make a nice home for us and is comfortable for traveling.  Leaving the condo seems to have worked out without problems…at least for this winter. 

Results of the study are: We are still feeling fortunate to be able to move around in Ferd at our leisure.   We’ll continue to maintain this two-sided way of living for now. 

So anyway, we are resettled into our little place here in Indianapolis for a while. Unpacking Ferd was not fun, but we survived.  There are many projects on the to-do list for our condo.  One aspect we were considering was a new TV satellite or cable service. Whether we wanted to put the Dish Network TV satellite “on vacation” and get something different for home.  Check that one off! We investigated, evaluated, arranged and overcame the headaches of the process. We not only have a new Uverse modem and DVR, we are enjoying new selections on our Amazon account.  Thanks friends for the input we received this winter from those of you who were way ahead of us on these options. It’s great!

We’re also  busy remembering where everything might be and finding those things that we left undone or developed over the winter.  For instance, the weeds went crazy with all the rain. I’m pulling weeds and planting.  Jerry’s fixing indoor lights and planning a workbench in the garage.  No hurry though. We’re taking it slow.

One of the projects that was on my agenda was to scan, organize and backup computer files, especially the scads of photos that were in storage. I’ll never really finish this little endeavor.  But, I always have fun looking back at the oldies. 

So now, my brain’s busy coming up with other ways to have fun with these old photos. Some of you know I’ve started using these days-gone-by pics to create  cards with a little different wrinkle. Now, I’ve decided to reuse a few as Facebook cover and profile pictures.  I started with one of Jerry and me with Ole Yeller from a few years ago.  You can see it on my FB page. 

But all this scanning has to lead elsewhere, right?

How about we do some time travel to the past here on the blog?!  I’ll dig out one or two old photos each week for a post. Who knows what will pop up!

Since this special lady’s birthday is this weekend, I’ll kick off with Krissy.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Krissy.  Love you lots!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Road Tripping–Then and Now

What’s new? What’s the same old, same old?  During our recent 4-day road trip across New Mexico and Texas we got to talking about the differences and the constants in our rving lifestyle over the past nine years.  Since memory is challenging and in case we want to revisit this in another nine years, I think I’ll write down a few of those recollections. (We would welcome hearing other people’s experiences, too.)

First of all, technology plays a larger role in our day-to-day lives than in 2004. For sure!  Just to go with the flow, I decided to try using only photos I took with my Galaxy SIII smartphone for this post. I think the phone did pretty well. But I’m not going to include some of those on the highway at 65 mph through the buggy windshield. Yuck! My conclusion: the Canon digital camera is still  the winner, even if less convenient.

Speaking of phones, in 2004 when we started our fulltime rving we had one dumb cell phone with limited minutes.  We even used a calling card sometimes for long distance. In order to communicate by email we found the local library.  We tried using the Verizon Internet service through our cell phone, but it was so slow you could prepare and eat dinner while the email downloaded.  Within our first three years, we found first the Hughesnet  satellite Internet dish and then the Verizon air card, amping up the speed and convenience as we went. 

Here I sit using the Internet through our air card in the motorhome, while Jerry reads his Twitter account feeds and Instagrams…very quickly. Oh, now I see he’s watching Netflix on his iPad! And we text with our family and friends whenever we feel like it. I know, everyone relates to this stuff!   Having two smartphones, two iPads, two laptops and two GPS devices for one couple of Baby Boomers is probably just a sign of the times, right?  We notice that we now consider whether a parking spot for more than one night has good Internet reception. Also, we were noticing as we traveled I-10 and I-20 in Texas this time, after a couple of years break, that the digital signs along the highway have this message: “You Talk, You Text, You Crash.” That’s a new one. But not surprising.

Also on I-10 in Texas we were required to stop at one of the border patrol stations. (Not near the border.) There we were asked if we were American citizens. Do you remember when you could drive across southern Texas, New Mexico and Arizona without someone stopping you to ask that question? My question is: What if I’m not an American citizen? Can I not travel on that road? Will I have to prove my reason for traveling there? Oh, this is not a political statement….just thinkin.

Another sign of the times that we specifically noticed between Pecos and Fort Worth, is the booming oil exploration. We stopped at the Escapees RV Park in Pecos. Previously we would have been one of four or five rvs parked there.  We wondered if the park would survive. Now, it is bulging at the seams with trailers housing workers, and additional parks have sprung up. Pecos used to be just so sleepy, but this industry has given it a wake up call. The affects of the pumping rigs stretching along that path of west into central Texas are everywhere. Business must be improved for many. Although judging from the trash along the highway and folks working at the rv park, all the change may not be welcomed by some residents. Our accommodations were adequate. We just had more company.  

The next overnight stop in west Texas, at a WalMart in Eastland, reminded Jerry of an early change we made that progressed our rving lifestyle considerably.  That’s solar energy. We learned within the first few months that we wanted to have solar panels so we could be free to park without hookups, “boondocking.”  By the time we switched from our fifth-wheel to a motorhome in 2006 we had 640 watts on the roof.  Solar energy definitely made a difference, brought us to many more convenient and scenic places… comfortably. Not only one-night stopovers along the highway, but we couldn’t have had the same experiences soaking up the scenery in all parts of the U.S. and Canada without it. 

What about other changes on the road? Costs have risen, but we’ve developed money-savers as well. When we sold our “stick home” and became gypsies fuel was about 1/2 the cost that it is today.  This has resulted in some people traveling less, or not at all.  For us, although our savings account isn’t as high as it might have been, we wouldn’t trade the experiences for the extra bucks. On the other hand, since we began this lifestyle we’ve learned a lot about how to save on overnight parking fees.  Not only do we sometimes stop at WalMarts for quick overnights and shopping, but we joined the Elks a few years ago and enrolled for Jerry’s “Golden Age Passport” as soon as he became 62. We find Elks lodges in many towns that are convenient, friendly and reasonably priced or free.

Using the “old guys pass” (as Jerry calls it) at Corp of Engineers parks can be a double plus.  It allows 1/2 off the regular fee and we haven’t found a park yet that wasn’t roomy, clean and pleasant. Right now, we’re in the East Fork Park at Lavon Lake near Wylie, Texas, where our full hookup spot is $14, just up the hill from the lake. (See photo right.  This photo was taken a little late and distant for the smartphone camera, but you get the idea.)

Lastly, we can’t end our thoughts on parking without mentioning the uncounted number of special parking locations that generous rving friends have shared, helping these nine years develop in many directions.  These gems have not only saved us money but made these years that much richer from the experience. 

Well, that’s all the contrasts, then and now, that we came up with as we traveled this section of the road.  We’ll probably add to the list as we continue on our way in a couple of days.  But one thing is surely clear. One of the best changes in these nine years are all the great people we’ve met.  Thanks RVers for being friendly, sharing and fun.   

 

Thanks for visiting with us at Hurley Travels!

A Tasty Birthday in Deming, NM

Our travels carried us southeast from Yuma, AZ, to Deming, NM a few days ago. Often when we’re taking this route, we stop over at the Escapees RV Park in Deming, just off I-10.  Even though we’ve stayed in this park several times in our travels we hadn’t taken time to explore the area fully.  So, we decided to stay a week or so to poke around the neighborhood.

The first afternoon in town we found a local, hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant downtown called Campos.  The atmosphere is vintage,  an old building with wood floors and philodendrons draping the windows. Their salsas are spicey and the food was fresh and well seasoned. We enjoyed the carnitas and enchiladas very much.  

A few days later was my birthday and Jerry says “you choose whatever you want to do.”   Well, I remembered that we hadn’t taken time to investigate the wineries that are very close by.  After reading favorable reviews and receiving feedback from our friends, Dee and Barb, about their good experiences, that sounded just right to me.  I chose wine tasting at the St. Clair Winery, just a few miles east of town.

We weren’t disappointed.  The staff, Terri and LJ, were very knowledgeable and friendly. Also, this winery provides two samples free. Then, if you choose to have more, the charge is $6.00 for six more.  We don’t have extensive experience, but having been to other wineries where the charges are much higher, this was a good note to start on.   

Terri (on the right in photo) made our tasting fun by explaining the wines in a friendly, relaxed way and sharing stories.   There was a long list of wines from which to choose, all from their grapes grown in New Mexico. We liked all eight of the dry reds we sampled. Of course, everyone has their own preferences.  But, our favorites were the Blue Teal Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.  And, we also liked their blended red table wine.  So, we bought some of each to continue to enjoy as we move along.  

After the wine tasting, we were ready for some lunch.  So, we fired up the Urban Spoon and Yelp apps to get an idea for another local eating establishment. Elisa’s House of Pies was well recommended and, after all, we needed something resembling desert to celebrate the day.  We had to search to find the place tucked away down an alley, but it didn’t take us long to decide it looked worth the try.  Elisa’s is in a tiny 100-year-old building with exposed brick walls.  She told us stories about this former horse stable, how she and her husband moved to New Mexico from Seattle and began the business by baking pies to sell in the local grocery.  Now, they are  working very hard to bring their own brand of meals to Deming.  The meat loaf sandwich was excellent. And Jerry says the collard greens are in the top five he’s ever had.  Of course, we had to top the meal off with a piece of their homemade pecan and key lime pie.  Yummy!

This was a very enjoyable birthday.  But we still have that museum to see, etc..… that sounds like another afternoon.

Thanks for visiting with us at Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Returning to Sidewinder Road

There are places in our lives that draw us back.   You know, a beautiful park, a comfy chair, a favorite walking path, a soft beach,  or even a peaceful corner of the local library. I hope everyone has a few of these places.

Most rvers that we know could make a short list of the chosen places they return to, or hope to at some time in the future.  The desert area off Sidewinder Road, west of Yuma, Arizona, is one of our spots. Why?  It’s the multitude of openness, the escape from the hustle and bustle and the view of the surrounding mountains and desert. There are stupendous sunsets, too.

So, here we are… back again.  We’re enjoying the peace and scenery at Sidewinder Road. Can you see Ferd and Ole Yeller off in the distance on the left side of this photo? I took this shot on a walk in the evening.

Knowing that some friends were probably  parked here was another bonus for this stop.  They are across from us in the photo. 

As anyone drives down the road they see groupings, or individual rvers, who picked a temporary home and are sharing this vast space. We can have as much company or privacy as we choose, and just hang out for a while in the warm climate.  Civilization is just close enough;  any kind of shopping, eating or entertainment is available by traveling about 15 miles into Yuma.  We are fond of the rumble of the train that runs by in the distance occasionally.  People go out to play on the trails or to do geocaching or hiking in the area. And sometimes a neighbor passes by on the way into town or to take the turnoff a few miles down the road to the Algodones, Mexico border crossing.  

Tomorrow we will be going to Yuma to visit with ten friends for the afternoon.  Karen and Mickey Bennett, Kaaren and Bill Payne, Jan and Chuck Moore, Ron and Sharon Mead and Jack and Jeanne Albers are all good people who share the rving lifestyle. They are in this area of the country for various amounts of the winter.  Each of these returners could tell their own tales of time spent at Sidewinder Road. 

How fortunate we are to have the opportunity to come back here as we move along in our journey. 

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay safe!

The Arizona Beat Goes On…

This winter in Arizona continues to be active and interesting.  We moved back to the Thomas’s lot in Congress at the North Ranch Escapees RV Park about a month ago.  Our friends, Dee and Jerry Thomas, once again, are the nicest hosts you could imagine.  And there are more friendly folks that keep coming into our lives here, sharing their activities.  It’s about time that I blogged about it.  Where to start?

First, our music fests…..Several times during the month groups of friends have been involved in Jerry Thomas’s version of “Name That Tune.”  He uses his iPad Pandora app through his home stereo to play pieces of selected songs for us and we try to guess the artist and the song.  This sounds pretty simple and, perhaps, uneventful, right?!   Not with this group.   Somehow it turns out to be hilarious!  People of a variety of ages, musical preferences and personalities seem to shake it up.  It doesn’t matter how it develops into our evenings of laughs.  It just does.   There’s a lot of wrong guesses, half guesses, “I knew that” responses, etc.  Maybe it’s one of those times when “you just had to be there.”  Whatever this particular combo has been, the results are good times with tunes!

And, of course, there are the food events to talk about over these past few weeks.   The TBird Café in Peeples Valley on Highway 89, about 13 miles up the mountain from Congress,  is now on our list for great pizza and atmosphere.  On this visit we’ve had two yummy evenings there, one when Dee’s sister and brother-in-law were visiting from St. Louis and the other for Jerry T’s birthday. Again we were pleased to be included by our North Ranch friends, Val and Tom, Rick and Marla and Barb and Bill.  The TBird Cafe is a family-owned place with scrumptious wood-fired pizza or other menu selections. Hopefully, there’s enough drive-by and local business to keep them operating for a long time.  Our gatherings of six or ten of us at this small, friendly café were memorable and we’ll be there again, I’m sure.

While I’m on the topic of food, we’ve been introduced by friends to a few restaurants and entertainment in nearby Wickenburg as well.  Recently Jerry and Dee took us to a local, family-owned hamburger joint called Screamers where we had truly outstanding handmade hamburgers in the vintage diner.   And last Saturday was Bill DiLenge’s birthday at the western-themed restaurant, Tumbleweeds.  The eight of us were in time for the $2.00 Margaritas. The entertainment for the evening was a western/country guitar player singing Johnny Cash, Waylon and Marty Robbins-type selections.   Again, the camaraderie for Bill’s birthday party was exceptional.

And there was the delicious elk feast, too.  We were happy to be included in the local gathering at Jim and Linda William’s lovely home here in North Ranch to sample Jim’s elk from his hunting trip in Northern Arizona  They fed elk burgers, elk sausage and a crockpot dish that Linda created to about 20 happy and hungry people.   Jerry and I liked all three types of the elk, probably putting the crockpot dish as our favorite. It was tender and juicy.  Of course, everybody pitched-in with the accompaniments.  One of those contributing was our friend, Barb Slott, who just returned from a trip to South America (along with Bill, but he was sick for the elk dinner).  Barb whipped up several batches of Pisco Sours, a drink she learned of on their trip. The smooth concoction similar to a Pina Colada includes lime juice, simple syrup, Pisco and ice in the blender.  Many of us enjoyed them tremendously and had to have the recipe.   Of course, there have already followed a couple of additional occasions for blending them, too.  Thanks Barb.

Linda and Barb (above) have also become beading pals recently and helped me to expand my creations.  There’s a group that gathers twice a week in the clubhouse here at North Ranch and I decided to see who and what it was all about.  Everyone there welcomed me, asking if there was something I would like to learn. Linda showed me a few tips on making memory wire bracelets.  Then, last week Linda brought all the supplies for another project.  She and Barb shared their expertise on making beaded serving utensils. They are impressive and fun to make.  My beading juices are flowing thanks to these ladies at North Ranch.

 

Moving right along, we were invited on a boat outing last week on Lake Pleasant, about 30 miles north of Phoenix.  Friends of Jerry and Dee’s that we met a couple of years ago, Kris and Mark Kelley, put together this event.  More nice people!  (To the left are Kris, Mark and Dee in a “hat” pose during our cruise.)

We took off about 11a.m. for a six-hour jaunt on a comfy, 45-foot pontoon boat in the sunshine.  Our guide and boat captain, A. J., was an interesting young man who owns this lake tour business. He entertained us with information on Arizona, the fishing in the lake,  the terrain, wildlife and a variety of trivia.

Our group of ten included Kris’s sister and brother-in-law visiting from Rhode Island and two more of their old friends originally from Michigan, now living in Arizona.  I got a kick out of Harry, who repeated that he wasn’t sure that he was returning to R. I. after this vacation.   There was interesting conversation and excellent scenery as we explored the numerous coves of this beautiful 10,000-acre lake surrounded with desert cacti and mountains. 

And finally, I have a few more comments on some fun festivities here at North Ranch this past weekend called La Fiesta.  On Saturday the festivities began with a parade, exploded with a bean bag baseball tournament, all complimented by several other events, such as a cake-baking contest, hand created woodcarvings, baskets and jewelry and vintage cars and local fire engines on display.  Again uproarious fun took place just because of people who know how to enjoy whatever.

So, let’s talk about the Bean Bag Baseball tournament!  Several people that we’ve met here at the park joined a team.  But of course, we were cheering for the Minnows team that included Jerry and Dee and Rick and Marla.  In this type of baseball, the point is to get on base and score runs  by tossing the bean bag into the holes on the board (reminds me somewhat of the corn hole game). Of course, the game is designed for us old folks to take part. As you can see from the photo on the left, the bean bag is tossed through a hole in the board, determining how many bases or a foul or out.  If the player gets a hit, they walk to the bases where they sit down until time to advance or three outs.  You see, it’s really just like “real” baseball.

So don’t think there’s any less competition or rivalry or the elements of any team sport!  Above you can see the bases loaded with Dee, Rick and Marla.  Meanwhile, Jerry T. was in the batter box and hit (tossed) a grand slam home run.  Wow! 

On the right you can see Marla showing her batting technique (tossing technique, that is).  It was an exciting morning as the Minnows demonstrated their hand-eye coordination and teamwork, advancing through to the final game. That championship game was close and had some pretty tense moments….then the Minnows were victorious!!! (See celebration on left.)  Congratulations to all the teams for another good day on the field of play!

On that upbeat note I think I’ll stop with our current Arizona adventures!  Again, many thanks to Jerry and Dee for being such good friends and social organizers. We appreciate them and all these nice folks here in Congress.

We are planning to move along somewhat southerly soon.   Stay tuned for more news.  Thanks for visiting with us at Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Cruising Along in the Sun ~~ February 2013

As you probably know, enjoying the sun and warmth is our simple goal for this winter. Since I last posted in early January, we are continuing our escapades with that goal in mind.  From Congress, Arizona, we traveled short distances to Quartzsite to Yuma and to Casa Grande. On our brief stopover in Q we were happy to see our rving friends, Mary and Elaine, Chuck and Jan and Ann and Mick. We had fun reminiscing with all of them. Our Yuma time was mostly consumed with my dental work just over the border in Algodones, Mexico. But we did have a chance to take a ride out to Sidewinder Road area where we've boondocked in past years, in the shadows of the Chocolate Mountains. There we found more friends, Karen and Mickey Bennett and Kaaren and Bill Payne, who welcomed our surprise visit to their winter parking spot and shared stories for the afternoon.

Then…..there’s the Caribbean! I (Nancy) took a plane ride east to Ft. Lauderdale in late January to join some friends for my first cruise. (Jerry had a solo week in AZ, about which he is still secretive!  I know it involved trying out his new Kindle and not making the bed, though. )

Karen, Connie, Patience, and Ed (Karen’s Dad, who we all loved having as our escort.) were superb cruising companions on the Ruby Princess, as we made our way to the Bahamas, St.Maarten, St.Thomas and Grand Turk. Oh, and we also had about 45 other friendly folks in Karen’s group of lawyers from the Clearwater Bar Assn. where she is the director. We all shared Karen and I discovered new Florida friends. 

I learned quickly from all my veteran cruise friends that you shape your own cruising experience. Actually, it could involve choosing to simply watch the ocean or an island go by.  The beautiful oceanic views, the variety of excellent entertainment and the assortment of feasts provide a super atmosphere for as much relaxation and as much excitement as one would choose to have.

The singing and dancing entertainment in the theater was one of my favorite activities onboard. There were also karaoke contests and an art auction, a magician and a comedian, a hilarious chefs demonstration or you could talk with the engineer about the workings of the ship….just to mention a few of the events. The spa is always open for pampering. There are movies on a humungous screen at one pool and music/games at another pool.

We had lots of fun off the ship, too.  Such as, exploring the Dutch and French sides of St. Maarten, the cable car ride to view St. Thomas from above, our market shopping for knockoff purses and the National Museum on Grand Turk that has relics of a 1500s ship that may be the Pinta.

Looking back, I would say that our evening meals together were another highlight. Our groups at dinner would share experiences of the day…getting kicked off a massage table at the nude beach, etc…..I met some fun, interesting people and the array of food choices brought something unique each night.  And our smiling and helpful international wait staff, from Thailand and the Philippines, even broke out in a song occasionally.

A special ingredient on this trip was the opportunity to spend time with Ed France. He is a vibrant and humorous gentleman that brings his individual recipe for life to the gathering. He shared the right combination of travel tales and sage advice,  had a few jokes to liven up the happy hours and was on the spot with his camera. What a joy!

As you can imagine, good photo ops were around every corner.   I chose a few of my collection for an album that is linked at the end of this post.

One more good thing….I did not get seasick!  Yay! On the other hand, I think I must have put on ten pounds from the yummy desserts and breakfast pastries. 

I can now understand why some people take cruises repeatedly. You can relax and let the captain do the driving. You just have to make your choices of what to do when.

For this group of old friends it was a great time for making memories. Thanks Karen, Ed, Patience and Connie for a special cruise!

So glad you visited Hurley Travels. Stay safe.

Caribbean Cruise 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Holidays, Fiestas and Foolin’ Around in Arizona

There’s so much that can be said for our last few weeks in the vicinity of Congress, Arizona!  Let’s see….friendly, fun, relaxing, exciting, hospitable, generous and so on.  We had large doses of it all. 

Starting with Christmas….Who would want to go out in the desert to boondock for Christmas?  There were eight of us, four couples, and it was a blast!  We were invited by Jerry and Dee, Tom and Val and Marla and Rick, all friends at the North Ranch Park in Congress, Arizona, to go along for their “getaway.”  We took our motorhomes about 80 miles southwest, to one of their favorite BLM spots in the Bouse area, surrounded by the mountain views.   There we found a perfect parking spot, with lots of open, quiet, space with those special desert sunsets.  Of course, I can’t tell you everything that went on. There are things that happen in the desert that stay in the desert, you know!  But, let’s see, to summarize very quickly:….scrumptious pitch-in meals, atv geocaching adventures, jeep desert exploring, camp fires with Rick’s colorful additions, Jerry T’s iPad Pandora music contests with Tom and Val’s truck speaker system, Silly Al’s pizza, Quartzsite vendor shopping, our visit to the Bluewater Casino, Val’s birthday party, Marla’s rum balls, Dee’s pumpkin roll, fish fry night followed by a champion-sized breakfast in Bouse… and an abundance of burning doors.  Add to this mix the exceptional camaraderie and storytelling.  And there you have it --- a great formula for a nice Christmas in the desert.  (In the photo to the right, Jerry and Dee enjoy our group’s campfire.)

Soon we were all back in Congress settled into our individual lots/homes in time to celebrate a new year.  Again, Dee and Jerry opened their arms to make this a very nice evening.  The four of us joined in at the North Ranch clubhouse party, with music, dancing and neighborly revelers all around, ringing in 2013 on east coast time first of all.   Afterwards, a small group of us gathered at the Thomas home to celebrate the actual 12-high in Arizona.  (Side thought: Having celebrated in the eastern time zone most of my life, it’s been interesting over our rving years to learn that people do celebrate when the ball drops in Times Square, even if it’s 10:00 pm where they are at the time.  Then, of course, there can be celebrations in whatever time zone follows.   Makes sense to me.)

After the holidays, there are the bowl games, of course. More reasons to gather and enjoy one another, right?! Our next opportunity was the Thomas’s Fiesta Bowl party.  Jerry and Dee organize an annual party at their garage for this event, inviting 25-50 of their closest friends from the neighborhood.  Since they have a nephew attending Kansas State, some of us joined them in cheering for the Wildcats.  But, of course, in this area of the country there’s a big crew of  Oregon fans.  We enjoyed getting involved with installing the big-screen TVs and decorating their garage (on the lot where we were parked).  Yes, in the spirit of good sportsmanship, we even helped Barb hang the Oregon Ducks paraphernalia. (Photo to the left is Barb in the front row for the game.)

This bowl party was what I’d call a winner!  The Thomas hospitality combined with good conversation, good eats, friendly rivalry and enough score changes to keep our game of chance exciting.  Of course, everyone knows the outcome, with the Oregon Ducks victorious.  But regardless of whether you were a Wildcat, a Duck, or just there for the party, there were happy folks all around.   

But wait! The games aren’t over yet.  By the time the Notre Dame v. Alabama game was set to begin, Jerry and Dee had their 62” TV in their newly installed cabinetry in their home, and the four of us were settled in to see the Irish become national champs. What?! was that!!!  Oh well, we found distractions from the debacle of a football game.  There’s always Jaxon, the wonder dog, who greets us warmly and entertains us with his special serenades.  We found time too for refreshments, sharing travels and whatever came to mind, including our iPad apps and latest Kindle reads, etc, etc….No boredom here.  The game was soon forgotten.

And lastly for this post, I have to mention our enjoyable time on the offroad trails around the Congress/Wickenburg area.  Bill and Barb invited us to come with them and Jerry and Dee to roam through some of their favorite areas in our Jeeps and atv.  Well, the company was again excellent and so were the surroundings -- Rolling through the hills and valleys covered with every kind of cacti, palo verde trees and desert shrub, swishing along the riverbed, stopping to explore by foot inside slot canyons and mine ruins, soaking up the views of bright blue sky and saguaro everywhere.  Among several interesting aspects of our time out on the trial today was meeting a landowner.  Bill introduced us to his friend from Montana who owns about 20 mining claims and 200 acres, partially in the area we were traversing.  It was interesting hearing from this desert landowner as to the “adventures” that go with the territory.  Such as, the people who tear down his property signs and bulldoze their own paths onto his land. 

Below - Dee and Jerry found a nice flat rock to wait for the rest of the crew to return from a hike. 

And then, to rehash the events of the day…the six of us had exceptional chili-burgers and beers at the Arrowhead Bar & Grill in Congress.   What a super day!

As anyone could gather, we’ve been very blessed with good friends sharing this time over the past month or so.  We felt so welcome.   Thanks is all we can say!  

I’m attaching an album of more scenes from these recent Arizona happenings.  If you’d like to take a look, click on the slide show button below:

Arizona Fun Dec 2012 - Jan 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Stay safe and keep smiling! Talk to you later.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and hope that 2013 brings good fortune and blessings for you!
Thank you to our family and friends who provided many joys, encouraged us through struggles and brought repeated smiles in the past year.
With all good wishes, I’m sharing a few photos that didn’t make it to the blog in the past twelve months. 
A great way for me to start is with this photo of Mary Jo and Dick’s Christmas tree in their cabin in Ramah, New Mexico – a special setting for some special people.  Thanks for the memories, MJ!

We all enjoyed the Niehaus family gathering in November a great deal. Here’s my niece, Angie, my nephew, Alan, my daughter, Krissy, my niece,Nikki, and another nephew, Patrick.   What a great group of young people!  Love you all.


Tim, once again, generously hosted our Thanksgiving.  The turkey was delicious and it was a heartwarming day.   Thanks Tim. And Happy Birthday to you, too! 























 And here’s my favorite guy on Thanksgiving with two great gals, Amy, his niece, and Jamie, Tim’s lady.   Aren’t they a beautiful trio?!


My grand nephew, Chase, gives us his handsome smile.  He’s a guy we enjoy spending time with and he adds a special ingredient to the family gatherings.


My sister, Lin, is posing here with her granddaughter, Madison.  This is such a rare happening, that Lin would actually be so nice.  I had to add this one for the record!


This lineup also needs these special grandchildren….Caroline and Ben having a good time with Gramps!


And just because, I’m including a photo from the summertime.  Hanging out at our place with Marti, (Sis) and her two grandchildren, Breann and Chase. It was a nice afternoon. 



Peace, love and joy to all!

A Friendly Day in Congress (AZ)

When people reach out to include you they make you feel so good.  That’s how things are going here for us.  We have been visiting with our friends, Jerry and Dee Thomas, at their place in Congress, Arizona , at North Ranch RV Park.  It’s an outgoing group of folks that make this their home for various amounts of time during the year. (These guys to the left are included in that group.  But, hold on. We’ll talk about this splendid vehicle later.)

This morning Dee invited a few girls to her house for Christmas cookie decorating. She baked Jerry’s great grandmother’s cookie recipe, about five dozen delicious sugar cookies.  Then Marla and I got to create designs with icing and sprinkles.  Part of the fun was licking the delicious icing off our  fingers, of course. The guys took care of various “projects” all day long, too.  There always seems to be a project or two.  But first and last, there’s lots of good conversation, discussing the how to’s and why not's of it all. 

As we move around the country we are blessed to encounter people that are outgoing and enjoy life. This afternoon, as we were heading back to the lot where we’re parked, we stopped to say hi to Marla and Rick and found we had a mutual friend from their hometown of Sheridan, Wyoming.

By the early afternoon we had shared stories, sampled cookies, tweaked motorhomes, shopped for Christmas groceries and retrieved packages and mail from the local post office.  We received Krissy’s Christmas baked goodies gift today.  We aren’t finished sampling the new assortment for this year. But I have  to say the lemon truffles are exquisite.  And Jerry still loves the spiced nuts.

And, oh yeah, there was even time today for Jerry (Thomas) and his brother, Tom, to relax and reminisce as they looked cool in their family heirloom truck, “Big Red.” This 1955 Dodge (in the photo at the beginning of my post) worked for the Thomas's in their RV park business for many years.  I think that this vehicle might tell a myriad of tales of these two with their Dad back in Ohio.  Memories!

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Death Valley National Park–A Site To See

We recently enjoyed a few days in one of the most scenic and surprising places we’ve been lucky enough to visit.   Death Valley National Park is vibrant, colorful and diverse…even if it is the hottest place in the world.  We only covered a portion of the 3,000,000 acres, but we sure did get our eyes full of spectacular scenes. 

We chose to spend our time in the southern area of Death Valley, taking in that section of the canyons, views of the valley and mountains and interesting history and geology. We camped in Furnace Creek Campground where there are water and sewer hookups available at a reasonable price of $18, only $9 for us Golden Age pass holders.   From there we were conveniently located for the sites we chose. (Oh, BTW, if you see a promo for this national park, look for us at the information kiosk at the visitors center.  They filmed us as we used the self-help presentations for the park.)

To start off our Death Valley exploring, how about seven miles into Echo Canyon?!  Ole Yeller carried us easily over the mushy gravel trail as we were enjoying being out in the open again.  There are wind and rain-carved, colorful walls all the way through the canyon, displaying the results of millions of years of earth movement and exposure of the layers of minerals.  Sunshine and 60s made it a pleasant morning, ending with our lunch back at the entrance to the canyon with the valley stretched out in front of us. 

Our next path was through Twenty Mule Team Canyon with its caramel-looking mountains.  Some people describe them as mudhills. (Below)  We were curious about the makeup of these chalky-looking hills. They have a high clay concentration. When you grab a piece it crumbles in your fingers.  We could imagine the mule teams pulling the wagons of borax during the mining period in the late 1800s.  In the Death Valley Museum in the park we saw examples of the large wagons and other equipment used in mining and processing this product in these hills.

The next destination we chose was the Artist Drive located about 20 miles down another highway within the park.

Wow! The name of this four-mile road tells the story.  It winds through a continuous array of shades, almost as though an artist was gathering various paints for a piece of work.  At one point a road sign points to the Artist Palette where you can stop to view the mounds of greens, tans and rusty-reds of this volcanic formation.   As it turned out our timing was just right.  We came through between 3 and 4 pm, ending our drive just as the sun dropped behind  mountains to the west.  The natural lighting was bringing out the best in those shades of nature. Then, as we stood watching the lights went out and all the colors were subdued.

On another day in the park we decided to take the 52-mile-round-trip up to Dante’s View.  This was stupendous!    The view is breathtaking. (That’s the first photo as I began this post.) At the top you are 5500 feet above it all, with a view of the mountains sloping up from the valley.   But there is definitely a scary and chilly feature of this location.  We were battling very strong winds with a 15-20 degree drop in temps as we tried to stand at the viewpoint. Here I am trying to hang on to my hat and keep my footing at my wonderful hubby tells me to stand next to the “keep back” sign. But it was exhilarating and fun up there.  

From over-the-top to the underside – our exploration went to the Devil’s Golf Course, where the evaporated lake formed crusty mounds of salt down in the bottom of the valley.   These crustaceans are so eerie and unique. We just had to touch those rough, frozen,  mounds to sample the salt.  Lastly, we traveled about five more miles down the road to Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level. There we took a walk out on the expansive salt floor. Here the erosion from the surrounding mountains has formed a 9,000 ft. basin of sand, silt, gravel and salt.  This is yet another unique experience, standing on a solid, smooth, foundation of what appears to be packed salt.  Occasionally a pond will survive after a rain and provide a home for small creatures that can somehow live in the saltwater. Today there was a small pond bubbling at the edge of the salt flat.

We were very impressed with Death Valley National Park, even though we took in only a portion of what’s there to enjoy. This is, for sure, a place we would revisit.  Below is a shot of the mountains as we stood at the Devil’s Golf Course.  In the foreground you can see just a small part of the dry lake bed of the valley that forms sharp, crusty, salty towers as the wind and rain do their thing over thousands of years. 

Thanks for spending some time with us in Death Valley.  Stay safe!