Visiting with the Collinets in Tucson, AZ

Tucson, AZ - Sunday, October 31 (Happy Birthday, AJ!)

My last post, almost two weeks ago now, was from Camp Verde, just prior to our visit to Jerome and Sedona. We also visited Montezuma's Castle, a National Historic Site, there in Camp Verde, AZ. You may have already seen the photos of those visits, as I posted them, but did not write a blog.

Since then, we have traveled to Mesa, where we worked an RV show this past week, from Wednesday, 10/27 through Saturday, 10/30. The show closed Saturday at noon, so we decided to pack up and head down to Tucson on Saturday afternoon. It was a short drive of about 2 hours (allowing about 20 minutes for a fuel stop). We arrived in the Tucson area at about 5PM Saturday afternoon. We found a campground which is located about 15 miles from the Collinet's home. The campground, the "A bar A", is in the town of Marana, AZ, and it is right off of the Interstate (see photo gallery). This morning, we decided to go out to breakfast, and I found a coffee shop not too far from our campground, in Marana. The restaurant is named the "Sky Rider Coffee Shop" because it is located at the Regional Airport in Marana. We took a few photographs outside the coffee shop (also in the "gallery").

Later, around noon, we headed over to Susan and Jean Claude's home for lunch. As luck would have it, Susan and Jean Claude's sons, Christian and Jeremy, were there. Christian, who lives in Colorado, was there for a visit with his daughter, Drew. Jeremy, who lives about 5 minutes from his mom and dad, was there with his wife, Nancy, and their two daughters, Quinn and Jade. We took lots of photographs of our visit. Unfortunately, after I captioned the photos we took and posted them to my gallery, when we reviewed them, none of the captions appear. This makes it extremely difficult to identify who's who in the pictures. So, in an attempt to let you know who is in the pictures, I will try to familiarize you with everyone by listing everyone in the family photo we took. This is a group photo, and, from left to right, the members are: Christian and daughter, Drew; Jean Claude, Nancy, Quinn, Jeremy, Jade and Susan.

OK, on to our visit! Upon arrival, we met Christian and Jeremy, who were in the driveway. We haven't seen either of them since they were very young boys. Susan and Jean Claude came out and, after hugs and handshakes all around, we went inside for a tour of the house, which is very charming, warm and inviting. Susan and Jean Claude have only lived in this house for about a year, having moved from a bigger, two-story house about a mile from this house. After our tour, we all sat out on the patio to catch up on all those things one never gets to talk about for long at "family gatherings", because there are so many family members to chat with. As we travel around these United States, whenever we get to a location where we have relatives, it is always a priority for us to visit. We get so much more out of these visits because we can really spend time and catch up without interruptions. After a while, we were joined by Nancy, Jeremy's wife, who was working. Nancy is a sign language interpreter. The only family member we did not get to meet was Nicole, Susan and Jean Claude's daughter, who lives in the Phoenix area, and was not able to get to Tucson.

Next, we were treated to a sumptuous luncheon on the patio-not your typical lunch. The weather here is so beautiful that you can enjoy sitting outdoors for meals and not be bothered by BUGS (mosquitoes, yellow jackets, etc.). As we enjoyed our lunch, we got to know the boys, Christian and Jeremy, and Nancy, whom we have never met. We also got to know Lucy, Jean Claude's companion chihuahua (unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of her). Finally, it was time for us to leave. The girls, Quinn, Drew and Jade, were anxious to carve their pumpkins, and the dads were on-deck to do the carving! We departed with a promise to return to the area for a longer visit.
This was a wonderful visit with family, our gracious hosts who were so very welcoming. Thank you Susan and Jean Claude. We hope to return to this area and spend some serious time.

Tomorrow, we begin the loooooong trek to Florida (about 2000 miles). Stay tuned for more posts as we travel east!

Here's the link to the photos: gallery.me.com/cbenoitiii

Oh, Beautiful, for Spacious Skies....

Camp Verde, Arizona - Tuesday, October 19

In my last post, I promised that I would post pictures of Monument Valley if the rain did not prevent us from touring it. That was Sunday. We did have some rain, but it did not start until shortly after 6:30AM Monday, but it was over and the sun appeared by the time we were ready to pull out of the campground. After stopping for breakfast, we did, indeed, visit Monument Valley, and the scenery there is nothing short of fantastic! The photographs have been posted, and you may view them in my "gallery". The link appears at the end of this post (as usual).

For those who have not had the opportunity to visit Monument Valley, you MUST put it on your "bucket list" of things to do before you die! All I can say is that the scenery there, the rock formations, the plains, everything, is breathtaking. Around every corner there is another unbelievable sight to behold. As we were driving through, taking our photos, I said to Kathy, "I don't think it is possible to view the majestic sights we have seen in this country and not believe that there is, indeed, a GOD in Heaven who created it."

From Monument Valley, we traveled down to Flagstaff, AZ to spend Monday night (in a Wal-Mart parking lot). We also took photographs on the drive to Flagstaff, because the scenery changed, yet again! Toward the end of those photos, you will see photos of the San Francisco Peaks, which rise to a height of approximately 12,500 feet above sea level. Some of the peaks are actually shrouded in clouds and cannot be seen in the pics. The point at which we took the photographs, along US89S, was over 7,000 feet, just before dropping to below 5,000 feet into Flagstaff.

This morning, after breakfast, we continued south, now on I-17, to Camp Verde, where we will spend the next few days before continuing to Mesa for our show. The campground where we will be staying is about 25 miles from Sedona, right off of the Interstate. This is one of the best campgrounds we have visited on this trip. All the lots are paved with concrete; there is a pool and spa (hot tub), which are still open, a store, a lounge with FREE coffee, and the most beautiful views. Be sure to check out those photographs, as well. Wilson and Beasley are in heaven here! The weather is perfect, as well.

Tomorrow we will visit historic Jerome in the morning, then we will take in Sedona after lunch. We will take pictures of whatever there is to photograph, and those will appear in my "gallery" soon.

Here is the link to my "gallery":

http://gallery.me.com/cbenoitiii

The Great Southwestern United States

Monument Valley, Utah - October 17, 2010

We traveled from Farmington, NM to Monument Valley, UT today, arriving here at about 3:30PM We had great weather to travel, as you will see in the photographs. Yes! I finally figured out how to put my photographs up onto the web from my new Mac Book Pro! In fact, it is even easier to post photos to the web from the Mac using iPhoto than it is using Picasa on the PC.

We recently finished doing a show in Farmington, NM, which ran from last Thursday through Saturday. The show was pretty good and we met lots of great people, both attendees and vendors, at the show. I am amazed at how friendly the people are out here in the Southwestern US. Everywhere we went, people were friendly and helpful. Whenever we asked questions, we were given lots of information, and people seemed genuinely interested in the fact that we traveled here from Massachusetts. That, along with the weather, which has been nothing short of FABULOUS, is what brings us back here. We both love it out here. The landscape scenery is just breathtaking!

On the way to Monument Valley, we made a stop at the Four Corners Monument, which is where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet. The interesting thing about this monument is that, if you do it right, you can touch all four states standing in one spot! Also, as you look around, there are vendors selling various hand-made items. These vendors are all Navajo Indians who live in this area. the Monument is located on Navajo Reservation land, which surrounds the site. If you purchase items from a vendor in each state, the Sales Tax will be different. Arizona had no vendors because their booths were under construction.

Tomorrow, we will attempt to tour Monument Valley. I say "attempt", because rain is predicted, which does not make for good photography. If we do manage to get some photographs, I will post them to the web. If it does rain, it will be the first rain we see since we left Pennsylvania on September 20th.

We are in a campground here in Monument Valley, Utah, for tonight. Tomorrow we will move the motor home down to the Visitors' Center at Monument Valley, if the weather cooperates. Our campsite is located in the middle of a canyon, with walls of red sandstone surrounding us. It is just gorgeous here!

OK! Enough about the Southwest! Here is the link to the web site where you can view my photographs:

Click on this link: http://gallery.me.com/cbenoitiii

You will be able to see all of the photographs I have posted to date, and you will be able to view them all as a slideshow.

Sleep Numbers, Buffalo Burgers, et al.

Santa Fe, New Mexico - October 10

Santa Fe is such a great place to visit. Lots to see and do here, in addition to its having wonderful restaurants. We arrived here on Saturday afternoon and checked into a campground just to the northeast of the city. After getting settled, we drove into the city and walked around a bit, had a bite to eat, and went to Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. This was our second visit to the city of Santa Fe. We were here exactly one year ago this weekend, again, on our way out to Farmington, New Mexico. If you get the opportunity to visit New Mexico, be sure to make the city of Santa Fe one of your "must see" cities.

While here, we did experience a minor problem. We have one of those "Sleep Number" beds in our coach. Last year, we realized that the mattress has a tendency to expand in this thin high desert air. What clued us in to this was the fact that all of the bags of snacks we brought, which we had not yet opened, were looking like they were about to explode! Our bed has the same tendency! We were able to deflate it somewhat last year, but this year, as luck would have it, neither of our controllers are working for some reason. So, having no way to deflate the mattress, it got as hard as a rock!! I knew that this could not be a good thing, so I began making some calls. However, it being Sunday morning, I had no luck contacting the company. So, being the resourceful person I am, I began calling stores in the area to see if they sold Sleep Number mattresses. I finally found a store in Albuquerque and they were able to guide me through deflating the mattress a bit so that it would not explode. However, I still cannot use either of the controllers - they are both "dead".

This afternoon, we went out for a late lunch/early supper, and ended up at a little place down the road from our campground. It is called "Harry's Road House". We had noticed it yesterday, and every time we passed by, the parking lot seemed to be full. Now you know that, if a restaurant is packed, it MUST BE GOOD, right? In this case, it was true. When we arrived, the lot was, indeed, full! We managed to find a place to park, out back. We discussed whether we would even go in, because it was sooo busy. In the end, we did go in, and we were seated immediately! This place was deceiving in size, to say the least. Kathy had a margarita and I had a frosty Corona - both were delicious, and reasonably priced! Dinner for me was a Buffalo Burger with fries. I had never had a buffalo burger before, so I was a bit leery. I had heard that they are as good as, if not tastier than sirloin. I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite. It was delicious, and cooked to perfection, medium. If you get the chance to try a buffalo burger, go for it! You will not be disappointed, I promise!

Prior to coming to Santa Fe, we spent a night in Tucumcari, New Mexico, where we visited the Dinosaur Museum of Mesalands Community College. This was a pretty good take. I took pictures, and the albums links follow this post. For our grandson, Aaron, we met a real-life Paleontologist! His name is Axel Hungerbuehler, Ph. D., and he is a Professor of Natural Science at the college. He is also the museum Curator. We took his picture, along with one of his students, who works at the museum store.

While driving around the town of Tucumcari, we noticed lots of murals painted on the side of various buildings around the town. We also photographed these, and the link for those photos also appears below.

Tomorrow morning we head west to Farmington to prepare for our show, which begins on Thursday morning. Check back soon for my next post, from Farmington.

Here are the album links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/NewMexicoOct2010?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/TucumcariNMOct2010?feat=directlink

Branson, Missouri

Clinton, OK - Thursday, October 7

Branson, Missouri is the place to visit if you like shows, i.e., musicals, variety shows, comedy shows, whatever. You can find it all here in Branson. We were very pleasantly surprised at how great a place this is to visit. We were expecting something entirely different from what Branson actually is. We had heard that it was the "Las Vegas" of the mid-west. Nothing could be further from the truth. It doesn't have the "glitz" of Vegas, nor are the shows as bawdy (no nudity, no foul language, no off-color jokes), just good, clean fun. Most of the headliners here we NEVER EVEN HEARD OF! They did, however, put on very classy, entertaining shows. Other stars you would have known were way past their heydays, but still put on fabulous shows. Case in point, the Andy Williams Show. We saw this show on Tuesday evening, and even though Andy Williams is 83 years young, he can still belt out the tunes! We thoroughly enjoyed his show, which reminded us of his TV Variety Show of years ago. His revue consisted of four sisters who sang and danced and accompanied Andy on several numbers, the Warnock Sisters; a violinist who is billed as "the world's fastest fiddle player"; a singer who does impressions of various "old timers", such as Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, to name a few. He was very good. To top it all off, he also had an "Elvis" impersonator who was excellent. He really looked like, acted like, and sang like the late Mr. Presley! As I said, a fabulous show, and well worth seeing, if you get to Branson in the not too distant future. Another show we got to see was "SIX", which is billed as the "hottest show in Branson". This show consisted of six brothers, the Knudsons, who sing and perform musical sets using only their own voices! One brother does percussion (drums, etc.); another does a trumpet; one does the bass fiddle (awesome!). Sitting there, you would swear there you were listening to a live band accompanying them. This show was electrifying, if I may say so; thoroughly entertaining. We left the theater feeling like we had seen a broadway performance!

OK, the best part of the shows would have to be the fact that we only paid $30 for two tickets to each show!!! How did we manage that? While walking downtown in Branson, we stopped into a store where they were selling discounted show tickets. Little did we know that these so-called "discounted ticket" shops are fronts for time-share type vacation packages. Soooo, we ended up spending Tuesday afternoon listening to a presentation for "Stormy Pointe", a "Nantucket-style" development on Table Rock Lake! I felt bad for the young man who got us. We let him go through the whole spiel, take us down to see the "houses", then bring us back for the "kill"! I told him that we were only there for the "cheap tickets", and had no intention of buying into anything, no matter how good a deal it might be!!! We got our tickets and ran!

We really need to spend more time in Branson to see everything there is to see. We found out on Wednesday evening that there was so much more to see there when we got together for cocktails with Lynn and Bill Groninger, the couple who own the campground we stayed at. They own a home here in Branson, and have lived there for 17 years! We met them down in Tampa last January at the Tampa RV Super Show. They had the booth right next to ours, and we got to know them. When we got the opportunity to visit Branson, we contacted them and made arrangements to stay at their campground. They are a lovely couple, and graciously entertained us with cocktails at their home. We got to meet Lynn's mom, Bucky, who shares their home. The campground they own is Branson Shenanigans RV Park, and is located on the west side of Branson, on the "Yellow Route", which is the main drag where most of the top-rated shows and hotels are located.

We also got to visit Branson Landing, which is located along the shores of Lake Taneycomo (which stands for "TANEY COunty, MO"), and is lined with high-end shops like Chico's, Coach, et al. It is also home to some of the best restaurants in Branson. The restaurants up on the "strip" are mostly "buffet-type" restaurants, while the restaurants down at "the Landing" are much nicer, and offer full menus of entrees. We had lunch at a restaurant called "The Texas Land and Cattle" restaurant. This was the best meal we ate while in Branson, even though it was only lunch! We had their "Signature Sirloin and Wedge" salad, which is served with 8 oz. of sirloin, cooked to perfection and sliced, a large wedge of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and topped with bleu cheese dressing - awesome!

We are now sitting in a casino parking lot in Clinton, Oklahoma - the Lucky Star Casino, which is operated by some indian tribe, Cherokee, I think. We have a 50 amp electrical connection (no charge). When we got settled and put out our slides, a van came and picked us up and drove us to the casino, where we had a 'burger for dinner. As it happens, tonight is "Men's Night", which means men get a $10 voucher to play a slot machine. I signed up and got my voucher for $10. After we ate, we picked out a "Wheel of Fortune" slot to play. I put my voucher into the machine and began to play. I hit a couple of minor winners, but nothing significant. As my credit was getting down, I began to "double" my bets, to see if I could do any better. As luck would have it, I hit for 1600 points (quarters), in addition to the credits I already had. We walked out of the casino $408.50 richer than we walked in with! Not bad for a free play, eh?? That will help pay for our fuel to Farmington and Mesa.

I have to apologize for not having any pictures to put up here. I am using my new Mac Book Pro, and I don't yet know how to put them here. Maybe I should use my old DELL PC when I blog. Oh, well....

OK, that's all for now. Gotta get some sleep - early start tomorrow.

The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful!

Branson, Missouri, Monday, October 4:

We arrived in Branson this afternoon at about 2:30PM, after a pleasant drive from Little Rock, AR, where we spent one night. We traveled to Little Rock from Shreveport, LA on Sunday. As most of you know, we worked an RV show in Shreveport from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2. We had a great time doing this show. The people in charge were very nice, as were the attendees. They just made all the vendors feel welcome and important. Speaking of the vendors, we were with a great group of vendors here. The weather cooperated, and we were able to sit outside at the end of each day and talk and get to know each other better. On Thursday evening, a group of about 20 of us all went out to dinner at a local restaurant for catfish. It was my first time eating that "southern delicacy". All I can say is that the company and conversation was better than the meal! We had lots of laughs (and beer!).

Another note from the Shreveport show - we attended a Catholic Mass on Saturday afternoon at the Rally. The celebrants (Priests) were two brothers who are chaplains for FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association), Eastern Region. Both are now retired and are full-time RVers. They spend their "off-time" in Virginia, and they travel to rallies on the eastern part of the country for FMCA. Anyway, long story short, when we were getting the motor home set up at the campground in Little Rock, AR, the two priests also checked in, and parked a couple of spaces away from us. I introduced myself, and we had a long, interesting conversation, which is how I learned so much about them.

So, interesting title for this post, eh? We were supposed to meet Don, Toni, Deara and Rick here tomorrow. However, since D & T just moved into their new home, they decided to cancel the trip and stay home to work on the house. So, I thought I would dedicate this blog post to them. The weather here is beautiful, and they are not here.

Branson, Missouri, is quite an interesting place. It is a lot like Vegas, with shows and restaurants everywhere you look, but no casinos/gambling (not that we've seen yet, anyway). What we have discovered, though, is that everything here is on a hill!! It is very hilly here, not flat, like Vegas. That makes walking a challenge, especially for us old folks. But, if you're into vegas-style shows, but don't like the vegas-style prices, this is the place to come. The show prices seem to be quite reasonable, compared to what we paid to see shows in Vegas. We have not actually seen a show, as yet. We may take one in tomorrow night. We will spend tomorrow sight-seeing around the town. Hopefully, we'll get lots of pictures to post.

FYI: Wilson and Beasley are both doing very well on their prescribed diets. They are happy and playful, and loving the weather. Kathy and I are also well, knock on wood!

Stay tuned for my next post and stay healthy!