Route 66 Arizona

We returned to our RV by taking historic Route 66 much of the way. The loop in the Williams historical area was especially fun. No, we did not eat at the Road Kill Café.

We were at the train station when the old Grand Canyon train departed and watched three cowboys follow it. Were they planning a hold-up?

We enjoyed the Burma Shave signs and nostalgic old buildings. We thought that we might see deer or elk since the road signs said to watch for them. What we didn’t expect to see were these antelope.

Jerome, AZ

We took the car on this trip because Route 89 A to Jerome and Flagstaff has too many hairpin curves for our RV. Jerome is the largest ghost town that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The large white building in the picture was built in 1916 as the home of the Douglas family and is now a museum. We went to it and saw a ghost tell the story of the mining town and how over a billion dollars in copper, gold and silver were mined from here. Before the mines closed in 1953, the population was over 15,000. The large mercantile store was the T.F. Miller Company. (Unfortunately we are not related.)

The canyons along the way to Flagstaff are as scenic to us as the Grand Canyon. We spent the night in a motel in Flagstaff, which is over 7000 ft. in elevation, and woke up to temperatures in the 20’s. We did not have snow on Route 89A itself but did see it along the sides of the road. We also saw wreckage from the 20 to 30-vehicle accident from the day before.

Millers in Prescott Arizona

The day was cool with temperatures in the 60’s when we left the Colorado River area (Arizona and California border) on a two-day trip northeast in Arizona. We stopped to take pictures of tiny wild flowers and prickly pear cacti that were taller than me. Although the cacti are in bloom at our low campground elevation, it was too cold for blooms further north.

Terry’s parents were buried at the VA National Cemetery in Prescott. We had visions of dead dry grass covering the flat headstone like the last time we found it so Terry bought a garden trowel to clean the gravesite of his parents. We didn’t need it. All the sites were as clean as you see here.

The picture of Terry’s parents was taken about 1957; his dad’s was taken about 1967, which was a year before he died while his mother’s picture is from 1976.

Victory Garden Friendship Tea

The Church of the Cove had the above theme for this year’s annual tea at the clubhouse. Jo Ann, Marla and I received favors and posters for the ten tables from the recruiting station in Lake Havasu. (No, we were not recruited. They thought we were too old.)

Each table was for a different branch of the service. My table was the Navy table. I wanted to get pictures of Terry in his Navy uniform but the only family member with a good picture was Terry’s brother, Bill. Terry’s brother, Dennis, and my son-in-law, Mike Rhoads were also in the Navy. I did find an award given to my father-in-law, William Charles Miller, which I put in the Lasting Impressions wave shaped photo holder along with a picture we took of the twin towers at sunset in 1986 and a picture we took of the Vietnam Memorial.

The award reads, “During the years 1941-1945, the United States being in a state of war,
W.C.Miller, served with the submarine forces of the United States Navy. Those submarine forces wrought severe destruction upon the enemy. They sank many million tons of his merchant and naval shipping, they interrupted and severed his trade and communication arteries, they aided every amphibious assault, supplied constant military intelligence of the enemy, and performed numerous acts of rescue. They participated in many phases of antisubmarine development and hastened domination of Pacific waters by navies of the Allied powers. In these ways the submarine forces of the U.S. Navy, and all who served with them, contributed heavily to the successful and complete prosecution of the War. This statement is in evidence of the United states Navy’s pride and gratitude for duties well done.”

Each of the 90 women gave $5 or more for the Quilts of Valor foundation. To quote the program guide, “ A quilt symbolizes comfort and warmth. It can signify home, family, and love. And it can mean a whole lot more to a wounded soldier, returning home from the war in Iraq. The quilts of Valor Foundation’s goal is to provide a homemade quilt to every soldier wounded in service, to show them gratitude and welcome them home.” For more information you can go to http://www.govf.org/.

Wild Burros and Cibola National Wild Life Refuge

We took two trips last week. The first was to the Parker Dam and the Black Meadow Campground. On the trip we saw the wild burros silhouetted on a hilltop. These are descendants of mules that were used many years ago when mining was common in the area.

The dam on the Colorado River is one of the deepest in the country because they had keep going down to get to bedrock.

No, the birds aren't from the wild life refuge but from a pond in the town of Cibola. We were disappointed in the area. Scarred trees show there was a fire in the area. Even though they have developed the road system with tons and tons of gravel, and wild life have plenty of water from the Colorado River, we only saw about four flying birds in an hour.

We also planned to see the museum of Red Schneider but everything was locked up.
Next year we hope to see more and visit with RV friends who plan to volunteer in the wild life area.

Barbie and Ken Doll Clothes

Around Christmas I made Barbie doll clothes for Laura, Angelina and Mercedes but not Emily. I thought she had outgrown playing with them.

In February, I received a phone message and heard a youthful voice say, "This is Emily.I have an urgent message. I need Barbie and Ken doll clothes. I know you make good ones." Since this is the first "urgent message" that I have received from a grandchild, what could I do but get my dolls out and sew?

I made her doll clothes when Emily was five years old. She kept commenting, "there is one button on the shirt." After the second time, I got the hint and asked, "How many buttons should it have?" Emily said "five". I took the shirt with me, bought teeny tiny buttons and put them on the shirt and mailed it to her. Later, when I phoned my son Mark, she asked, "which grandma is it? Is it five button Barbie grandma?"

Here are the doll clothes. Ken's jacket is reversible. Barbie is holding her detachable train. No, I do not want to go into business making them. They take too many hours to sew by hand but are appreciated by my grandchildren and even their parents. Laura's father said, "They are priceless."

Boondocking on BLM land

My daughter was surprised that we can just go to the BLM (U.S. Bureau of Land Management) and park our RV for two weeks. We use fresh water from our fresh water tank and our dirty water goes into the gray and black tanks. The refrigerator, hot water heater and furnace work on propane. Solar power furnishes the power for the batteries. We use an inverter to supply limited power for TV, computer, satellite receiver and freezer. If we haven't enough sunlight for the power we want, we can turn on the generator and use the converter to charge the batteries and run the equipment.

We drove 11 miles to the BLM site you see in the picture. There are so many patches of beautiful wild flowers here. Spring has come.

On Sunday, we woke up to wind, which Terry says was about 60 to 65 miles per hour. We closed the awnings and put the slide/out in and went to church. (Later Terry took the solar panels down but it was too windy to get on the roof in the A.M. He is now designing a control so he can switch the angles and height of the solar units inside the RV.)

After we arrived at the church services, the electricity went out. We had church anyway but pastor Mike missed his mike. Kathy played the piano. I sang with the choir. They didn't get electricity in the campground until 11 A.M. on Monday. How's the weather where you are? What do you do when the electricity goes out?