We have now driven over 3600 miles. It’s really hard to believe. But what’s more amazing is that we have seen very little wildlife. We saw some deer in Texas, a few birds and 2 jackrabbits. That’s it! We see more than that in our backyard in the city.

Are we getting homesick yet? Not at all. We have each other and the dogs. Each meal is an event, instead of something we rush through. We stay in touch with friends and family through our electronic devices. Lois plays Ruzzle when we have internet and we watch TV, when it’s available. It’s just like being at home, only warmer and more exciting.

Monday, Dec. 10

We awoke to a bright sunny day, ready to settle into a regular day. Coffee, breakfast, walk the dogs, take out the trash and go for a bike ride. As I was walking back from the dumpster, I ran into the campground host. I asked him what regional vegetation, bugs, animals or snakes we might watch out for. He mentioned the cacti, the rattlesnakes – but their population was way down right then, the mountain lions – but they are just as afraid of you as you are of them, and then the pack rats. He said they can come in during the night and strip the cables of your engine and coach batteries. Now being more of a city boy, I’m thinking that desert people sneak into the campground and steal the cables for the copper. Our host suggested that I prop up the hood of our RV. This confused me, so I asked if he was talking about people or rodents. As he roared with laughter, he barely got out the word – rodent.

Pack rats like to climb into a closed compartment in the dark and chew off the insulation of wires. The way to discourage them is to open your hood and put lights around your RV. I could easily prop open the hood, but I didn’t have lights to circle around the Ham. As I walked back to the Ham, I struggled with if I should tell Carol and Lois about the nasty creatures – NO!

It was too late to drive all the way to town and get back before dark. I figured I could temporarily wire up a couple of small lights that I had in the basement. (That’s RV talk for the outside compartments). As I hurriedly tinkered with the lights, Lois and Carol kept asking what I was doing. I simply told them, security.

Just before dark, we took the dogs for an after-dinner walk. As we walked by our neighbor, who was propping up his hood, Carol commented how she liked his party lights laying around his RV. He shouted back, “ Those aren’t party lights, I put them out to keep those damn rats away.” Busted!

When we got back to the Ham, we sat down with Lois so I could tell the whole story. After some discussion, it was determined that each one of us would take a turn securing the outside of the Ham during the night. We did rock-scissors-paper to determine who would be first. Lois lost.

With a flashlight and her cane, Lois was about ready to take her shift, when I remembered I had a miner’s type flashlight in the basement. I figured it might be better if she used two hands, if she needed, to swing her cane. After all, we didn’t know how big those rats were. Down in the basement, I discovered a large work light that the previous owner had left. Everyone was so happy when I plugged it in. We all had a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday, Dec. 11

Another beautiful morning. The desert, cacti and mountains are still there. What a fabulous place.

During lunch, we determined that we didn’t have any food for the rest of our stay at Saguaro. We left for town, down the long mountain road. A couple of hours later, we got back in time for supper.

The sun started setting during supper. Every few minutes, one of us looked out the window. Each time it got better and we all went outside to take pictures. I climbed up on the roof of the Ham and took pictures until it got dark. About a half hour later, I went inside and ate my supper. I wish the pictures below could show the actual beauty.

Wednesday, Dec. 12

On our morning walk, Carol and I found that a site with a different view was empty. Since we had to empty our tanks anyway, we went ahead and moved.

Our friends, the Myers, from Houston had given us a package of bacon. We decided to cook it on our outside grill and have breakfast for supper. Scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon. While outside, a very unusual red RV pulled in a few sites down. When the new neighbor walked by, I asked about her RV. She obviously was from Europe and told me that it was a restored fire engine from Germany. It was really neat. Because Carol and Lois don’t eat bacon, and I knew I would have eaten all of it, I gave a plate of bacon to our new neighbor.

Thursday, Dec. 13

We hated to leave such a beautiful area, but the only way to see America was to keep moving. Off to McDowell Mountain Park, northeast of Phoenix, AZ.

When we pulled into our site, it was another “Oh my gosh” moment.

While cooking turkey burgers outside on the grill, neighbor after neighbor walked by and wanted to be invited for dinner. RVers seem to be very friendly.

Over fifty years ago, sleeping out under the stars, I remember watching shooting stars. The skies were very dark back then. As the world developed, the skies got lighter and the stars seemed to fade away. I can’t remember seeing another shooting star until tonight’s meteor shower. It was once again magical.

Friday, Dec. 14

We watched the sunrise from bed this morning. We’ve never done that before.

We went through our regular morning routine and then had lunch. I decided to ride the dirt and gravel trails in the park on my bike. The trail started out flat, then dipped down into a dry river bed. The river basin was very green and covered with flowers. I tried to pedal to the top of the bluff, but it was too steep, so I dismounted and walked. The bluff trail had to be ridden at a slower speed because I didn’t want to pedal off the 50-foot drop to my right. I made constant stops to take pictures and view the scenery. The more I rode, the more I wanted to ride. It was very exciting! The uphill trail was taking me towards the base of the mountains.

You never want to go out into the desert without water, but some stupid people do. I was so thirsty! (I’m going to blame that one on Carol and Lois. It’s their job to take care of me.) The closer I got to the mountains, it was like boulders started growing out of the ground. They kept getting bigger and bigger. When I reached a vista, near the base of the mountains, I had reached my destination and taken my final pictures. It was time to go back. My legs were very tired, thankfully it was downhill most of the way back to the campsite. According to the trail map, I had ridden over 6 miles and ascended about 425 feet. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

I will sleep well tonight. I will probably not walk well tomorrow.

Before bedtime, we took the dogs out for the last time. While outside, in the total darkness, we could hear the coyotes off in the distance. It was pretty eerie. We were about twenty feet from getting back to the Ham when a pack of coyotes started howling right beside us. I always thought I could run faster than Carol.

Saturday, Dec. 15

My legs still had some strength, so Carol, the dogs and I took a long enjoyable walk on the trails this morning.

Christy & Lucy needed a rest

I found a few piles of 12-hour-old coyote poo beside our campsite this morning. I’m sure glad Carol set the pace last night.

Back home, Saturday night is always “pizza night”. We decided to drive into town and get a pizza. I called our order in from the Ham and we waited until it was ready. Since it took over twenty minutes to get back to camp, we decided to eat our pizza in the RV, and then go back. When I went in to get our dinner, I was presented with an uncooked pizza. I was confused. This establishment did not cook pizza. Every pizza place I had ever been to during my 60-some years served cooked pizzas. I was told if I didn’t want it that was OK and I could go to Pizza Hut down the street. (Hind site, I wish I had done that.) It looked so good that I decided to take it.

Because we have a small oven in the Ham, we decided to cook the pizza on our propane grill following the store’s instructions. Five minutes before it was supposed to be done, I lifted the pizza up to see if the crust was getting brown. The crust was beyond the brown color and had advanced to black. The cardboard tray, that was to remain under the pizza during the grilling, was on fire. I turned off the propane and quickly slid the charred pizza onto a cutting board.

The pizza was inedible as it was, so I scraped my topping off the crust and rolled it up into a tortilla. It was really pretty good. Our dogs love pizza crust, but they walked away from tonight’s charcoal bits. I gave the restaurant one star. The dogs gave it zero stars.

Ready to grill

Ready to create charcoal art

Lois agreed to go outside before bedtime with the dogs tonight. With my miner’s light, Carol’s big flashlight and Lois’ cane, nothing’s going to get us.

Sunday, Dec. 16

As we were packing up this morning, a fellow RVer stop by to talk because of our Ohio license plates. He grew up in Wadsworth. The day we were leaving Saguaro we met a young family with a two and five-year-old that had been RVing full time for 8 months. He was from Canton and she was from Copley. The hosts of the campground that we came to today, Lake Pleasant, AZ, were from Wooster and Millersburg. It’s been fun running into people that originally were from areas so close to us.

When we got to our site at Lake Pleasant, it was very unlevel. There was a steep slope towards the lake. If the Ham wasn’t properly leveled and the wheels weren’t properly chocked, there was a chance that we might roll over the drop-off and into the lake during the night. Carol and Lois wanted to pull out and go find a different site. Always a person looking for a challenge, I wanted to show off my leveling skills. Most times, one 2” thick leveling block is enough. This time I figured I would need two or 4” high – not even close. I then tried three blocks, 6” high and still not level. Running out of leveling blocks, I started using rocks that were scattered around the site. I was now 8” high and was still sloping toward the lake. I needed bigger rocks. I slid down the lake bank to retrieve some larger ones. Too heavy to carry, I rolled them up to the Ham. I felt Carol and Lois were losing confidence in me.

An hour later, I determined we were level and safe. It was time to get in. Because the first step was now much too high to step in, I had to make a running start and jump. The dogs followed. It was now Carol’s turn. I was impressed with her speed, flexibility and agility. Lois, of course, was not able to duplicate Carol’s feat, so Carol and I started pulling her up. The dogs thought this looked like fun, so they joined in. Christy climbed onto my back, while Lucy danced around and barked. With everyone in, there was a slight shift in the Ham. It only took me about five minutes to undo my rock masterpiece before we went searching for a new site.

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I hope you don’t get tired of sunsets, we sure don’t. It seems to be an everyday thing here in the desert.

Monday, Dec. 17

Most people that know us, know that we don’t care for the taste of alcohol. However, so far this trip, we have had a beer and a glass of wine. Yes, we are becoming wild and crazy people. Today we are going to a distillery in Kingman, AZ to try some hard liquor.

We drove up and over the mountains today for about 70 miles. The Ham was amazing.

When arriving in Kingman, AZ, we went to a city park to walk the dogs. There was a big sign that said, “No Dogs”. I called the Parks and Recreation department to direct us to a park that allowed dogs. I was told, “Sorry, no dog walking is allowed in city parks.” How unfriendly! Don’t visit Kingman, AZ.

Carol and I were bold today. We drank shots of rum and vodka. Ugh! We sure wish someone made an 80-proof grape juice.

Tuesday, Dec. 18

We are heading to Las Vegas today to celebrate the holidays with Erin, Andy and Brett. Chad and Lais will be in Florida this year.

The Big Adventure will also be on holiday for about two weeks, when we decide to start traveling again or when Erin and Andy kick us out.

Carol, Lois and I want to wish you and your family the happiest holidays.