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?

President’s Day Fireworks

In Lake Havasu Sara Park, the pyrotechnic dealers put on a superb fireworks show every President’s Day weekend. Terry did photograph some good videos but it is difficult to photograph these fountains, flowers, and shooting stars of fire with still photography. A young girl danced with fire batons but caught the seat of her pants on fire. Someone sprayed her with an extinguisher while she kept on performing. One point five million firecrackers made a continuous noise. It was a night to remember. The only fireworks that we have seen to top this was when we saw the continuous one hundred and eighty degree display around Battery Island in New York City in 1986 at the dedication of the Statue of Liberty.

Carnival Cruise to Cabon San Luis

My daughter, Karol Rhoads, and I had a wonderful time on a cruise to the tip of Baja in Mexico from February 4 to 8. (I had never been on an overnight cruise before.) The service on the Carnival Elation ship was great, the gourmet food was superb, and the company was delightful. Pictured are Laura and Gordon Bornkamp and their niece Mirah, who were our dinner companions.

When we reached Cabon San Luis, we decided to take a rubber boat to go whale watching. We not only saw whales but also had one breach in front of us! We got good pictures of seals but when the captain saw a whale, he speeded up and we were holding on the side of the boat with both hands for dear life. It was exciting but next time I will be on a catamaran or larger boat.

Karol said that the trip was “awesome” but she had to make her own bed and coffee and the temperature was below freezing when she returned home to Iowa.

Boomers

While in Quartzsite, we met with the Boomers. (For more information on Boomers, see the chapter on Boomers in my new book, More RV Chuckles and Chuckholes- More Confessions of Happy Campers.) Terry went to several seminars and was co-host to a seminar on solar power. Richard made this oven from clay and sand that he found around our campsite and demonstrated baking bread. Terry went to the chili lunch but I missed several things because I was selling my books. I did attend the great potluck dinner and we went to dinner with Lynn and Jim, and again with Marshall and Ulle for salmon. Carroll and George went to dinner with us at Sweet Darlene’s restaurant.

After Boomerville, Terry took the RV to Yuma. I picked up Karol from the Phoenix airport. We drove to San Diego where we joined the Boomers for a cruise to Carbon San
Luis. Here is a group picture of us on board the Carnival Elation ship. The woman in the pink sash that reads “Birthday Girl” is Laura Bornkamp. She and her handsome husband Gordon, were our dinner companions aboard ship. Not only was the gourmet food wonderful but we had so much fun with Gordon and Laura.

Quartzsite, Arizona

The pictures show me selling my books in the Quartzsite library and at the Reader’s Oasis Bookstore.

Quartzsite, Arizona is where about 700,000 RVers come to see friends, shop at the RV vendor’s booths and camp free in the desert BLM land. When we came to Quartzsite in 2000, we saw a town of adobe buildings and dusty tents. Uncle Don, dressed in his black Stetson hat, dark long sleeved shirt and what he called his $2 pants with a $500 belt buckle, walked along the dusty path to the grocery store to buy his morning newspaper. He would pause and turn around and look at the large tents of Mc Clouds that sold precious and semiprecious stones and tell his dogs to go home. Mom and dad would drive from Mesa to see him and eat at the Stagecoach restaurant. Quartzsite had an elementary school and churches but no bank or dollar store. If you changed the RVs in your mind’s eye to horses and stagecoaches and wagons, you would picture a mining town of the Old West.

Today the streets are wider and are lined with new concrete sidewalks. Uncle Don lives in Oregon. In place of the tents of Mc Clouds, you see rows and rows of shiny new RV dealers. Aluminum buildings house the gems and rocks and other vendors. Most of the little specialty mom and pop vendors are replaced by huge establishments in aluminum buildings. The Stagecoach restaurant is closed. Quartzsite now has a bank and dollar store but you can’t buy a daily newspaper. While progress has changed Quartzsite to better serve the needs of residents and visitors, it seems that it lost some of its charming ambiance.

Dome Mountain Mine and Museum

Parking free in the BLM land is fun since we meet so many friends. Since we are around Quartzsite without electricity for about six weeks, I will not be posting my blog for a while. Our refrigerator, heaters and furnace are using propane and we have enough solar for important things like watching TV.

We caravanned with a church group to Dome Mountain Mine and Museum. I did not realize that most of the silver and lead found in the area was found along fault lines. The mine tour was mostly looking at holes in the ground and being very careful not to get too close to the unstable sides.

The museum was recreated to the height of activity in the 1880s when the site had a greater population than Yuma, Arizona. Since the museum owners used 90% original materials, the result is excellent. I liked all the tin ceilings.

Food

We are in Yuma for the New Year! No, we did not make resolutions to lose x # of lbs. We mix our eating with healthy food and food that tastes good. I also enjoy it when I don't have to cook.

Breakfast at the clubhouse is served but Terry prefers the FREE donuts and coffee that the RV vendors bring to the campground Mon.-Sat. Yes, we walk through the 6 to 10 models of RVs they are demonstrating and return to our motor home very pleased with our own RV. We find that we already have the features that we really want. Some RVs have pretty options but they also include fancy price tags.

Monday is potluck at the clubhouse. Tues.- Sat. they serve different meat each night, such as roast beef, fried fish, or meatloaf. This meal includes potatoes, a vegetable, salad, roll, and coffee or tea for $4.50.

As we drove through the Arizona dessert, we came to groves of date palms. We stopped at a building that sold date products. I had a date ice cream shake. Yum-yum!

Yuma has acres and acres of flat green fields of vegetables, which are irrigated by the Colorado River. You don't find many vegetable stands but can buy these fruits and veggies at the flea markets. I bought 10 grapefruit, 5 oranges, broccoli, cauliflower, green cabbage, red cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, a green pepper, green onions, a cucumber and radishes for a total of $12.40. I wish that I could preserve these veggies and take them to Alaska with us.

Christmas Greetings

This is a picture of a Christmas ornament sent to me by Joan Pomeroy. Did you know that Santa or Sinter Klaus has already arrived? He goes down the chimney on Dec. 5 so the children get gifts on Dec. 6. The Dutch Santa rides a white horse and puts bad children in his sack and sends them to Spain.

Joan said that she bought the ornament when she was in Pella, Iowa. Joan is a fulltime RVer writer whom I met several times in the past years. This summer we toured Pella, ate at the Strawtown Inn Restaurant, and saw a Shakespeare play. She also accompanied me to the Ladies Birthday Tea in June. We met again in Ft. Worth Texas at my Camping World book signing and went to dinner at Red Lobster with her and Jerry.

The youngest and smallest member of our family is a new great grandson. He is the child of Jamie and Juan. (Jamie is the daughter of my son Steven.) Juan Jose Valacruz Junior was born by C-section Sunday morning Dec. 9. (His name is pronounced Wan Hosa Val a Cruise.) He weighed 3 pounds and 14 ounces. He is breathing on his own and appears healthy. He will remain in Houston Northwest Hospital until he reaches 5 pounds.

We are celebrating Christmas in Yuma, AZ. We went to a Living Christmas Tree where a church choral group of 80 persons performed a program entitled "It Happened in Bethlehem." Christmas dinner will be at the Clubhouse with Yuma Lakes Campground furnishing the turkey and ham, stuffing and gravy and each of us providing the other dishes.

Merry Christmas and may you receive the blessings of love, laughter, good health, good food, good friends, and good fortune in 2008!

Love,

Terry and Darlene Miller

Book Signings and Fun in Texas

I had three book signings at Camping World stores on our way from Iowa to Castaways RV Park in Willis, Texas. Pictured is one of my fans who wanted to meet a “real author.” The charming young man, who has a wonderful imagination, is showing me sketches of his “inventions.” Terry's cousin, Bill Miller, and wife Joann from the Ft. Worth area met us in Ft. Worth. We also met some RV friends and the six of us went out to eat at Red Lobster.

On Monday, November 12, Carol Weishampel and I went to the CARE-A-THON in Livingston, which was a fund raising for CARE. Besides setting up a book table and giving a portion of our receipts to CARE, we each donated two books to the auction.

Since arriving at Castaways, we have gone to a senior’s lunch, played Bingo and won a pie and some brownies. We went to a potluck supper and jam session at the clubhouse. Last night, we dined with Dick and Irene Madlung who grilled salmon for us as a pre-birthday celebration for Terry. I have played Sticks, Bingo, Skip-Bo and Crazy Rook. Yes, we are having fun meeting with friends that we have not seen for two years.

More RV Chuckles and Chuckholes

My new book has arrived! I am pleased with it and hope all of you like it as well as I do.
Did you know that if you click on the pictures, you could see them better? I realize that you still can’t read the reviews of the manuscript that are on the back cover because the print is too small, so I am copying it here for you. I did shorten the reviews to get all of them on the back page. (I apologize if I cut your words.) Now we are in the process of changing the web page to include the new book. Yes, I do have an isbn number but it has not been added to this proof.


Darlene Miller shares what the day-to-day life on the road is like for her and husband Terry. They search for the white (Kermodei) bear on their way to Alaska. She describes how she bonds with her grandchildren while traveling. Guest contributors write about the quest for New Mexican chilies; what happens when the windshield broke in the middle of traffic on the San Francisco Bay Bridge; or how to RV when you’re born with no mechanical genes. More RV Chuckles and Chuckholes is an instructive read for new RVers and a trip down memory lane for experienced travelers. Alice Zyetz - RV Traveling Tales: Women’s Journeys on the Open Road

Darlene Miller treats us to viewpoints on The Perfect RV Woman, "She is thrifty, gives a great back rub, and always dumps the black water." On The Perfect RV Man she states, "He still has a 36" waist and can fix anything with duct tape." Her humor shines! Yes, Darlene Miller is at it again, amusing us with smiles, laughter, and of course, chuckles along her adventurous journey. Joanne Alexakis - Penwheels

Like her first book, “RV Chuckles and Chuckholes”, the chapter Darlene wrote about the Escapees Boomers BOF (“Birds of a Feather.”) gives a delightful look into the versatile RV lifestyle. Escapees is an “inclusive” not an “exclusive” organization based on the principle of caring and sharing. Kay Peterson - Co-founder of Escapees RV Club

Darlene is back with another helping of good times and bad on the road, from being knocked off her feet by a tourist's car in Yellowstone National Park to gleefully getting 256 miles per gallon coasting downhill. A fun read for the newbie RVer and the veteran fulltimer. Nick Russell - Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper

Safe Arrival in Iowa

We arrived in Iowa safe in spite of driving in “poor winter driving conditions” in Alberta Canada. In the first 1,250 miles, we only had 250 miles where the pavement was dry. Then we encountered rain, sleet and snow with icy roads in the Canadian Rockies. We left Alaska about two to three weeks late. Most of the tourist places that sold food and fuel were closed for the season. The salmon were not swimming in Fish Creek so there were no bears there. There was construction by Klune Lake so the Dall sheep were not there. It was too foggy and rainy to see mountain goats near Little Atlin.

We did see the bull elk in Jasper National Park that is in the picture. He had a harem of 31 cows.

Terry finally got the Internet going again. Sat 99 Transponder 1370 went bad. He did not know & was trying to setup the satellite Internet and did not get a signal. He was on the phone for 3 hours. After directions from 3 technical people, Terry was able to get Directway to connect us to a new Transponder 1110.

Sorry for the delay in my blog. Now you know why.

Raymond and Teresita’s Alaska Property

In May, Terry and Raymond are building a trench for the added foundation to the garage which now has an apartment over it. The duplex is in the background.

Terry and Raymond have the roof shingled, OSB board on the outside of the apartment/garage and foam insulation to cover the building. Most of the plumbing and gas and electricity are in. All the components of a home (cabinets, bathtub/shower, sinks, commode, stove, refrigerator, dish washer, washer and dryer) are in the apartment but are waiting sheet rock before being installed.

In September, both families moved from the duplex so work was done on relocating gas, electric and water lines to add a new bathroom and to change the kitchen in the duplex, which is pictured here. One apartment is in the lower level and one is in the upper level.

Autumn in Denali

We were surprised by the signs of autumn. There are a few golden cottonwood or birch trees in the park, but it is the low bushes and tundra that are shades of red, orange and amber. There are five to six hours of darkness so we were able to see white and green aurora borealis, and asteroids. During the day, it misted and sprinkled so we saw five rainbows. Because of the clouds, we were unable to view Mt. McKinley and most of the photos were in muted light. The caribou were on the road and decided to outrun the bus until they saw the bike riders so they decided to exit stage right. Here are pictures that Raymond took of these animals. On our way home, we picked several pints of wild blueberries that Teresita made into two delicious blueberry pies that we ate on Labor Day.

White coats in Winter

What the ptarmigan, fox and snowshoe hares have in common is that their coats turn white in winter. The ptarmigan is becoming white but the fox and snowshoe hare aren’t ready for snow yet. We also saw herds of Dall sheep that are always white but they were far away.

Bears at Denali

We went to Denali National Park over the Labor Day weekend and saw grizzly bears! Terry was the first person from the bus to spot a mother grizzly and two cubs when we stopped for a bathroom break. On the twelve-hour trip to Kantishna and back, we saw seven bears at a distance and two that were close to the bus.

Kodiak Bears

I had my picture taken inside the Baranov museum with Kodiak bears. The other bear was in the lobby of a bank. Even though we went to the end of roads and saw thousands of salmon return to the creeks from the ocean, we did not see any Kodiak bears. We may have seen a black bear if we stayed home since our son, Raymond saw one as he was shingling the roof of his apartment last week.

Miller Point

Since Kodiak Island is in a rain forest, misty rain and fog with streams of water falling from cliffs are prevalent on most days. The spruce trees in Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park drip with dark green moss. Miller Point has WWII fortifications, bunkers, a generator house and a small museum. Teresita and I are pictured here. We saw several black birds with bright orange feet swimming below us in the bay but could not see the orange beak that would identify them as puffins.

We saw an eagle perched above the area where small pontoon planes were landing and taking off. Along the road to Chiniak Point, sea otters and seals were swimming far below us.

City of Kodiak

Terry and Raymond are walking to the Russian Orthodox Church, which is a reminder of the Russians influence in the town of Kodiak. The inside of the church held many members even though it is small because the people stand for the entire church service.

The Baranov House Museum, which is almost 200 years old, is the oldest Russian building in Alaska. The industry in Kodiak is fishing. We had lunch at the Chowder House which served me delicious halibut. We slept in the Russian Heritage Motel where we had a great suite with two bedrooms and a kitchen area with a refrigerator and microwave.

Kodiak Island Trip

Even though Kodiak Island looks like it isn’t too far from Anchorage on the map, everything in Alaska is far away. We drove six hours to Homer and boarded a ferryboat for another ten hours to arrive in Kodiak.

Different moose were grazing along the road on both the trip to and from Homer. While in Homer, we drove the End Road with a view of mountains and glaciers above the town of Homer and the Homer Spit.

I felt like a bird as we rode the narrow road between seven to eight feet tall fireweed on both sides of the road. We spent the night in a campground before we boarded the Tustumena, a ferryboat under the Alaskan Marine Highway system. A few whale spouts were seen far out in the ocean.

Wild life and the Building Project

Last week, Terry and Raymond bought supplies and loaded them into the building. Sheet rock is being loaded inside in the picture with the backhoe. This week, they are finishing work on the plumbing and electric before they can put in the sheet rock.

I don’t know what the wild life thinks about the building but I know that they have been checking it out. Teresita was looking out the window of their home around 7:30 one morning when she saw this mother moose and her baby in their yard. She ran and got the camera and took this picture. The moose pruned the mountain ash tree for her breakfast. A black bear likes Fridays to visit our area since it is garbage pick up day. Terry photographed bear tracks 30 feet from our RV. The building is 22 feet from the steps that lead to the lake so the loon must have seen the building progress but all I’ve seen him do is continue to fish. The huge dragonflies float on iridescent wings and eat insects. They do a good job because we rarely see an insect.

Fishing Fun

We went to Homer and Soldotna so the guys and Teresita could go fishing. Terry, Teresita and Raymond took a charter 1/2-day trip on the ocean for halibut. They each caught their limit of two but Terry caught the biggest halibut on the boat. (There were 20 persons fishing on the boat.) As Alaskans, Teresita and Raymond can go fishing on the Kenai River with dip nets. They caught 11 salmon. Yes, the fish will make delicious dinners.