The Island of Maui

On the Island of Mauri, we drove fifty miles of curves as we traveled along the cliffs that bordered the beaches of white, brown or black sand to Hana. The jungle foliage, flowers and waterfalls were magnificent. We saw red and yellow birds whose feathers are attached to the instruments the hula dancers use. It surprised us to see ducks and chickens running wild in state parks.

Terry and I went on a glass-bottomed boat and saw Spinner Dolphins, colorful small fish and coral reeves. Humpback whales and baby humpback calves were so close to the lookout parking spot that we could hear their tails and fins splash as they hit the water.

Trip to Hawaiian Islands

Terry and I left San Diego on February 28, 2009 for a fifteen-day cruise to Hawaii with seven couples that belong to the Boomers club.

On Hilo, the east port of the "big Island" of Hawaii, we went on a tour of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We saw volcanic steam and black cinders. It reminded me so much of the area around Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. It even had the same putrid sulfur smell as Yellowstone. Everywhere you look there are beautiful tropical flowers. As we sailed to Kailua-Kona, on the other side of the island, we saw distant fire as the red lava flowed into the Pacific Ocean.

The first thing we saw in the port city of Kailua-Kona was a little grass hut. Terry and I wandered in the 1837 Mokuaikaua church where a docent was explaining Hawaiian history. Across the street, on the grounds of the Hulihee Palace, we watched as artists were painting various aspects of the palace. We couldn’t go inside because it is being renovated from damage from past storms.

Hummingbirds and other Fowl

We were able to boondock under the tree we had spotted in our search for prime camping areas. We were high enough to see the lake on the left side of our RV and the canal on the right while being only a few feet off the road. There were few cars or RVs traveling at night so there wasn’t any noise. The sunny days provided great solar power so we didn’t even turn on the generator.

Since we wanted to photograph the hummingbirds, Terry bought a hummingbird feeder. Normally we don’t feed wildlife since animals that are dependent on humans for food starve when the humans leave the area. However Terry said that that they were eating off the octillio cactus flowers and citrus trees so they shouldn’t have problems finding nectar.

We had many blurred pictures but did succeed in these good photos of the birds around Mittrey Lake.

This week we are preparing for our Hawaii cruise. I get off the ship in the morning and board the airplane for Iowa in the afternoon on the 15th of March so I will have a busy day. In Iowa, I will be attending my granddaughter’s wedding. When I return to my computer, I should have many photos. Aloha!

Yuma Arizona Area

We traveled around the Yuma Lakes Campground in our Suzuki toad looking for a boondock area for February 15 when our 14-day limit is up in the campground. Our plans are to return to the campground for a week and then put the RV in storage and drive the toad to San Diego for a 15 day cruise to Hawaii. When we return to San Diego, I will board a plane for Iowa for my granddaughter Amanda’s wedding.

The ground around here is sandy, uneven and mountainous except for the flat areas with canals running through it. Large areas of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower are grown on the flat fields. Citrus and date groves flourish near the canals. It is amazing to see brown uneven ground on one side of the road while the other side of the road is irrigated and green.

A farmer, Loren Pratt, built a little church with six one-person pews in memory of his wife Lois. Inside the church is a framed prayer, “I especially thank you for my wife, Lois. She has been a true helpmate as we farmed and raised a family together. I pray that many others will use this church to count the blessings you have given them.”

In past years we have pulled off the road just outside the campground and boondocked for our week out in the area called Gilligan’s Island but this year the area seems to be under new jurisdiction and RVers stay for months on the same spot. It is crowded.

We drove to a long term area where people pay the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) to stay for up to 7 months. This costs $180 a year. You do not get electricity but can fetch clean water and dump your black water. Some people use a lot of ingenuity to provide power. In the picture, this man uses wind power, solar power and even has a solar oven and fire pit. Others make sun shields and extend their living in their patios. The little RV attached to this RV is either to provide a guest room or more likely is a hobby/storage area.

The area we found that is nice to boondock in is 7 miles from our campground in an area called Mittry Lake. The time you can RV there is limited to 10 days a calendar year. You can park near the water and see palm trees. A ruby hummingbird flew to greet us in the area of this tree. Can you find it? We couldn’t either but bought a hummingbird feeder so maybe we will get lucky enough to see it again. If we are fast enough we may even get to photograph it.

Boomers

Terry and I spent the last two weeks of January boondocking in the desert near Quartzsite, AZ with more than 147 RV’s, which belonged to the Boomer BOF of Escapees Club.

Boomers like to eat and have fun so the activities centered on those themes. We not only had Happy Hours with snacks, a pot luck dinner, a chili lunch, two wiener roasts, a wine and cheese tasting, pancakes in the morning fixed by Gretchen 2 but we even had pizza fixed in a clay oven and food fixed in Dutch ovens.

Evenings were spent by the fire circle with one night of singing and dancing to 50’s and 60’s songs. A traditional “Geraldine” contest was held.

Meetings were held on techy subjects such as solar power and boondocking. Women held special meetings on women’s issues. The writers had two meetings where we learned more about each other and practiced writing. Crafts, especially beading, was done by several women.

The weather was beautiful with glorious sunsets and even a rainbow after the one dust-settling shower.

Celia’s Rainbow Garden

Terry and I went to Celia’s garden with our friends, Rollie and Sharon Vander Zyl but we didn’t bring a camera. (The picture of Terry and I was taken by Sharon.) I returned with another friend, Janet M. who took the picture of me. I also took a picture of Janet sitting on one of the benches.

Celia Winer was a miracle baby since she was only one and a half pounds when she was born twenty-five years ago. When she was five years old, her parents, Paul and Joanne Winer decided to settle down in Quartzsite, AZ. Celia became ill when she was eight years old and died soon afterwards.

A memorial was built behind the city park, which became Celia’s Rainbow Garden. Many other folks have also built memorials to their loved ones. The peaceful garden is planted with every kind of cacti and desert tree and bush along it’s rocky paths. A group of Saguaro Cacti stand as sentinels in a Stonehenge-like formation. You are encouraged to sit a spell and contemplate the beauty of the garden.

Author’s Fair in Quartzsite

For fourteen days, I have been selling my books, RV Chuckles and Chuckholes- The Confessions of Happy Campers and More RV Chuckles and Chuckholes- More Confessions of Happy Campers at the Author’s Fair held at the Readers Oasis Books in Quartzsite, Arizona. (I took Sundays off.)

I wore a different hat each day to prevent sun damage to my hair and so I didn’t have to be concerned with “bad hair days”. I was wearing a colonial bonnet with ostrich feathers on the day that I called Bob Hamilton about an interview. He said to come at 3PM so I did- pink/purple hat and all. I thought it was a radio interview and who looks at you on the radio? Guess what? It is a video interview! You can view this interview on the front page of http://rvdream.com/orhttp://nrs.blogtronix.net/rvdreamradio

Lynn Benjamin, editor of Penwheels, sold her book; Jacob’s Tails. . .(Back-to-the-Land) but I didn’t get a picture of her. There was a picture of Lynn and me along with four other authors in the “Desert Messenger”, which was captioned “note-the authors wear clothes.” That is because the owner of Reader’s Oasis, Paul Winer, doesn’t wear clothes.

This picture is of Paul talking to authors (L to R) Debbie Hilbish, who wrote a poetry book called Bits and Pieces; Frever Fields, who wrote children’s books called Frumpy Mc Doogle and the Boy who made a Poem and Frumpy Mc Doogle and the Legend of the Ruby Toad and Joe Gerard who wrote WWII stories called Flight from Tokura and Out of Focus. My friends, Alice Zyetz and Jaimie Hall Bruznak, also sold their books; Support Your RV Lifestyle, RV Traveling Tales and You Shoulda Listened to Your Mother at the Reader’s Oasis.

I not only sold books but also had fun talking to the other authors. Frever quoted poems, Debbie read poetry, Joe told yarns and I told stories, which made everyone laugh.

Opal's 80th Birthday

We were invited to the 80th Birthday that Mark Allen gave for his grandmother, Opal, who had a Birthday on Jan. 1 and his mother, Cheri, who had a birthday on Jan. 5. The cake said that his grandmother is 80 years old but it didn’t say how old his mother is. Smart Man!

Opal and her husband are good friends of ours that we meet every year at Emerald Cove. I wrote about them in my book, “More RV Chuckles and Chuckholes-More Confessions of Happy Campers.” Opal will tell you to go to page 100 and read about meeting Frank and their life together.

DON’T TRAVEL LIKE THIS!!!!

We have been recovering from the stress of the last two weeks of 2008. Not only did we have the stress of the loss of Terry’s brother during the holiday season, but also we traveled 3773 miles in eight days with the most severe weather we have en-countered in two weeks time. There was snow, ice, hail, sleet, fog, wind, and tornados.

We didn’t take many pictures of our trip but one photo was taken of the home where Terry, Bill and Dennis grew up near Sugar Grove, IL. The other photo was taken in AZ. (We drove the new highways near the old Route 66 from CA to the Chicago area of IL.)

Why didn’t we fly? When we left our RV in storage and started the trip in our car, Dennis was still alive. We didn’t know how long we would stay in IL. The airport was closed and many holiday flights were cancelled to IL.

In the Litchfield, IL area, we traveled over ice at 10 mph in 4-w drive with about thirty vehicles in the ditches and ambulances coming and going. We kept moving because Dennis Miller’s funeral was for the next morning.

East of Tulsa, OK, the sky was so white we could hardly see so we stopped awhile. Then the sky turned black. We turned on the radio and heard that four tornados were spotted in the area. We stopped at McDonalds since it was safer in a building than in the car. The manager turned a large TV to the weather station and asked each customer what direction they were headed so she could tell them when it was safe to go.

Near Albuquerque, NM, we were still encountering winds with gusts of 60 to 70 mph that we had experienced all through OK. A van with luggage strapped on the top speeded past us. We saw the medical helicopter before we saw the van turned on its side. Interstate 40 was closed for half an hour both East and West while medics evacuated seven people.

Thanks for your prayers for our safety. After we arrived home to our RV, we were stressed out! We needed to sleep in our own bed, eat regular meals with vegetables, and get hugs from our friends. My friend, Karen gave me a massage. My friend Wendy emailed me that she walked past an RV that looked like ours and wondered where we were. (We were parked two rows from her.) She listened to me and went to the hot tub with me.

Then I had a severe migraine headache and needed to sleep it off.

Now we are planning for our trip to Newfoundland in 2009 but we will stop when the weather is bad.