Celebrating Pamela

We met Pamela, Terri, Emily, Madeleine and Janice at Janice and Tom's lake house for a celebration of Pamela's 50th birthday. A lot of fun. Horse back riding, water fun and just being together. Our gift to Pam was a framed work of all the things we love about her. Hopefully I will have a quilt completed before long that has a lot a lot of the sentiments on it.

Double Dog Cabin

Spent a couple of days with the Guests at Double Dog Cabin. The weather was great. Cool with light breezes. We arrived at the park Wednesday night. Spent most of Thursday and Friday morning at the cabin with Pam and Max. Pam and Max put up a fence so Charlie joined Duke and Ginger in enjoying running free. Of course there was some R&R as told by the pictures.

Cunningham Homecoming

Did you know there is a town that has their homecoming in the middle of the hottest, most humid time of the year. YIKES!!! It is as hot as hell here. The natives are friendly. I'm just looking for a cool place to hang out. We got here yesterday and finally got the trailer cooled down by bedtime. Even Charlie doesn't want outside. He just watches the rabbits from the window, barking and jumping on the cool couch.
The 'homecoming' was good for Calvin. He seemed to really enjoy visiting with everyone. The town is just a shadow of town. Post office, church and old school The gathering was at the old school. His aunt Ruth and I hung out in the gym. There was entertainment. Some little kids playing a little kid band and some singing. Calvin's three aunts and one uncle showed up. The oldest being 91 and traveling from Tulsa. I guess the only aunt on his dad's side of the family that wasn't able to come is in Hobbs in a nursing home. Bet it was cool there.
The picture is all the Oneals that came to the homecoming except for his uncle Paul I guess the empty chair is his. He had to leave early as his wife isn't well.

It just doesn't get any better

We have been home almost a month now. A very uneventful month. Today I am very grateful for all the wonderful people in my life. For my good health and good health of my family, for my comfy home, cool patio, clingy dog, shade trees, running water and flushing toilets. For my mind and its connection with the Great Creator. Thank you God!!! My life is beyond good.

Home again

Arrived home around 5:00. Good trip. Good to be home.
Anyone believe in Karma??? When we visited my sister, Jane, there was a stray cat that gave birth to 5 kittens in Janes storage shed. Jane, not being a cat lover didn't want them there but didn't want to cause them harm by calling animal control. I gave her a pretty hard time about the cats knowing they would be safe with her etc. Well....when we got home Charlie bounded into the back yard and just had a fit. We found two baby kittens in the jeep. Hmmmmmm

Las Cruces, NM

Finally got out of Arizona. Seems we was there a long time. Before we left Kingman, we visited with a young lady at IHOP. She had lived in Texas growing up and a few years ago she moved to AZ. We asked her why and she said because of the Joshua trees. WHAT?? Seems her father has arthritis and when a person lives in an area where Joshua trees grow, there is less pain. Well.....new one to me and I had never heard of a Joshua tree.
Right outside Phoenix there is a Joshua tree forest. Below is a picture. I googled but didn't come up with anything about the tree relieving pain. If you think it does, it probably does.

There are a lot of really pretty desert plants. They really stand out among the rocks and sand.

We had a long day in the car so we are much closer to home. In fact we are so close to Texas we can smell it. Unless its the Rio Grande right down the road. Should be home tomorrow.

Joshua Tree

Heading home

We left Kingman around 10:30 this morning. A little later than we normally leave but went out for breakfast first. We had planned to get past Tucson today but decided to stop early. We had hoped we would get to see the Kentucky Derby but was a little late. Oh well, Calvin is watching the car races.
It was sort of sad going through Phoenix. Started thinking about J.L. and realized how much we missed not staying in touch. Feel bad I didn't make an effort to see him more. It takes two doing nothing for nothing to happen. It just takes one putting forth some effort to make something happen. Oh well. It is what it was. For all the pain of loosing a parent, it is not as hard compared to loosing a sibling. Life is short. Have you been there for someone today??

Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

We drove to Needles California, by Laughlin Nevada and on to Boulder City. The drive wasn't in especially attractive country. It was a cross between desert and dull rocky mountains. We stopped along the road for a leg stretch and met some people for Oregan who were going to Alaska for the summer. Had a good chat and Charlie put on his charm. The lady just went on and on about how loving and sweet and pretty...... That ornery dog can be so charming and such a pain.

Near Needles,Ca.


Hoover dam is beyond big. I really don't know why so many people go to view it. It is a grand feat of workmanship but it was so crowded. We were there in off season so can't imagine what it is like in the summer. There was some large construction project in process. The roads were congested and narrow and high and twisting. Whew!!! Seen it, don't need to see it again.

Kingman, AZ

We had to stay an extra day in Flagstaff to have some repairs done on the trailer. Thank goodness Calvin noticed it before we got on the road. We met some people from Gueensland Australia. They have a large motor home they store in California and come to the US during their summer, our winter. and travel mainly the southwest. They had stayed in Andrews, Tx a few years ago. Go figure!
We arrived in Kingman about 6:00. We are 70 miles from the Grand Canyon Skywalk. I'm not walking the thing but I'll take pictures of Calvin. And 73 miles from Hoover dam. There are some other side trips, ghost towns, London bridge etc. Seems like a lot to do. Hopefully I'll get some good pics. We are just planning on staying tomorrow but that is subject to change.

Grand Canyon

The north rim of the grand canyon is still closed for winter so we went to the south rim. It was the part we saw when we was here about ten years ago. Second time around it wasn't as awesome. That and the weather was cold and cloudy so it wasn't as impressive as it is when the sun is shining. But what and who is..right?
It is still a wonderous place. There was some indian village ruins we missed last time so that was interesting. It is approximately 800 yrs old. The little museum was good.
On the way back to Flagstaff we drove through some beautiful country. It is indian tribal land and very sparsely populated. Its no wonder the indians were angry. All the indian land we have seen in New Mexico and Arizona are beautiful but of no use for farming etc. Can't imagine how they were expected to survive.
If you are interested in the pictures we took of the grand canyon the link is below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/connie.oneal/GrandCanyon#

Sedona area

What a beautiful day. Too many great photos for the blog. Paste and copy the following link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/connie.oneal/Sedona2009#

Finally Flagstaff

Arrived about 2:30. Beautiful country. We are parked on the back side of this mountain. They put us at the back of the park near a forrest. Yahoo!!! Great spot.

Our front yard


There is a walking/hiking trail not far from out front door. Kinda cool. Looks like a tree fell on the trail so it is cut to make an entrance of sorts. After a little rest and cup of tea we gave it a go.Charlie had a good time after Grants.




We will be here for at least two nights. We will be going to Sedona tomorrow. Should get some fantasic photos. It is cool with a mountain -ie nip to the air. It is still freezing at night in this area.

Day two-Grants

We decided to wait until tomorrow before heading out to Arizona. It has been so windy. Gusts up to 50 mph. Too much wind for this mountainous area. Spent most of the day at the park. We finished hanging curtains, Calvin installed a clock. It was a good day.

Charlie watching the wind. :-)

Grants, New Mexico

After dinner last night we took a walk with Charlie and visited with some of the neighbors. While we was outside the wind started blowing hard. It got worse as the night wore on. I got up at 3:30 and checked on some tent campers by us. They seemed ok, but found out this morning they had to sleep in their car until about 4:30 when the wind eased some. Anyway, we drove in the wind most of the day. We settled in Grants for the evening. This is beautiful country in a dry, lava rock sort of way. All along the highway there are piles of black rock. Some are big mounds with cracks. Looks as though they are days old. There isn't much green. Mainly I suppose because of the rock but also lack of water. The pictures were all taken in the park.
Some of the KOA's have added a Kamp Kitchen serving breakfast and made to order dinners delivered to your campsite. Calvin didn't get his Friday night fish due to the fact there are not any places to eat in Grants. That is unless you want KFC or other fast food. So...we ordered from the Kamp Kitchen. Be interesting to see how that goes.
We should make it to Flagstaff tomorrow. The driving was tough going through Albuquerque. There was constrution most of the way, plus the wind, plus remembering the RV accident there a few days ago.

Tucumcari, New Mexico

Left Amarillo mid morning. We debated on staying an extra night there as there were some spots we wanted to see. Then we decided it would be a good week end trip from home for later. As we did yesterday, we zigzagged on I-40 and old Route 66. We stopped at a little grocery store in Vega. I swear the store had not been updated in 50 years. Calvin was outside in the RV and I'm wondering if they even take debit cards. If I had heard one note from the twilight zone theme song I would have bolted. I was really ready to see the interstate.
I am beginning to wonder why people do the Route 66 drive. There are all the modern motel/hotel and food chains on the interstate and the little towns are hanging on to old buildings from the 30', 40's and 50's just so people like us can drive by and gawk. As you will see from the pictures there are old burned out buildings with signs telling what they once were. I'm not sure I get it and I'm not sure I need to see more of this. Out of 5 points of interest, 3 had been gutted by fire. People tear these down before they fall on someone!!!
We stopped in Tucumcari around noon as Calvin wasn't feeling well. While he snoozed I got the laundry done and had some down time. Calvin got up from his nap feeling much better.
Around 4:00 we took a drive into Tucumcari and of course the old Route 66. The main drag still has lots of old motels and has had a neon sign restoration. The motels don't appear to have been updated in many decades. We didn't see many cars parked at the motels. Wonder how they have survived so long. We did find a cool ice cream shop. Yummy cinnamon ice cream. If we feel the need for activity after dark we may go see the strip lit up with neon signs...or not.


Vega -Route 66







Downtown Tucumcari





Old Route 66 in Tucumcari