1st – 16th At
Grandpa’s
17th We left Grandpa’s at around
10AM and headed SOUTH!! Stopped in Kaysville UT, to visit Mary Parker, and
Trevor was there. Wendy’s little pain brother has grown into a very nice young man!
He’s going to school, and does filming of weddings and such. We didn’t get to
see any of his work, but I’m sure it’s good. We had a nice visit with Mary, and
she offered us a place to stay if we wanted to stay the night. We thanked her,
but we were in travel mode, and not ready to stop.
We
drove through Salt Lake City at night. I recommend this because the lights are
so pretty, and you don’t really see all the city junk. Also, the traffic wasn’t
too bad. We fueled up at Springville, and stopped for the night at the Flying J
in Payson UT. We would have camped at the Flying J in Springville, but it was
packed!
18th – We headed out early, and
went into the fog. We thought we left all the fog in Idaho, but it was foggy
almost all the way to St. George. Heading down I-10 to get to Quartzite AZ, you
have to go through Las Vegas, so we decided to stop in Vegas and hang out for
the day. We of course stopped at the Flying J, and did a Siesta. It was too hot
to do anything in the afternoon, so we just hung out, and then when the sun hit
the hills it cooled off enough to resume travel. We took a nap, and Missy went
in to make some phone calls. Straighten out things with the bank, called Aunt
Julie (who was excited that we’re so close!) and called Mom just to make her
jealous!
They’re
having a going away party for Bobbi on Saturday night at Terri’s house, so
we’re shooting for making it over for that. Bobbi has taken a new job in San
Diego, and will be leaving in a couple of weeks.
We
left Las Vegas in the evening, and went right through rush hour traffic. Why do
they call it rush hour when you don’t really move at all? Anyway, we got out of
Vegas, and went on down US95. We stopped for the night at Ehrenburg AZ.
19th – We woke up early and
headed on in to Quartzite. So many people have told us about this place, so we
are really excited to finally be here. We took the exit off of I-10 right onto
main street and quickly found a “swap meet” where there was an antique dealer.
We parked the bus and got out to look around. It was too early for the Chamber
of Commerce (which was right next door), so we looked around the antique place,
and Missy found a rock & bead place too. We decided right away we like this
Place! It is rustic, and full of people looking for a good time.
We
met the antique dealers, Marion, and her husband, and they are really
characters. They’ve been doing this all their lives, buying & selling to
get by. She was full of great stories, and sent us over to the Chamber when
they opened. She and just about everyone else we talked to said the town really
gets hopping in January & February. We want to come back!! In asking around
about places to find live music, we were told about The Grubstake Chuckwagon
& Waterin’ Hole. After a quick trip to the museum, we went out to the
Grubstake, on the north side of town. It Is a hoot! A corrugated metal
building, and event the bar is made out of corrugated metal. The guy who runs
it is named Darrin, and he’s from somewhere in England. He poured me a glass of
English apple cider with black currant juice, and that is just about the best
drink I’ve ever had!
While we were sitting at the
bar, we saw a hamburger served to another customer. Jim commented that the
burger looked good & big. Darrin said that’s just a little one! Then he
told us about the Old ‘96er. 2 pounds of hamburger served with a pile of fries,
a big bowl of coleslaw, and a large pitcher of soda. And… if you eat all of
that in one hour, it’s Free! Of course Jim couldn’t resist the challenge, so we
had to come back for dinner. And to top it off they were having Karaoke that
night – a chance for me to show off! (or as Jim says, for me to rehearse for
Florida!)
Anyway,
we were hooked. This is one of those places that feels like home. We went out
to the bus and did some painting – made it look more uniform. Then I went
inside and worked on the computer for awhile. Darrin kicked me out at about 4PM
because the dinner crowd was starting to fill in. I guess the Friday night all
you can eat fish fry is very popular. We had been advised earlier to come in
after 8 anyway, so I went out to take a nap in the bus. I couldn’t sleep, but
we relaxed and watched a movie, and it started to cool off around 6PM.
I
got dressed for the evening (nice thing about having the bus!) and we went back
in around 8. Had a good dinner, and took pictures of before & after. Jim
did his best, but he finally met a hamburger he couldn’t beat! They said he did
really well, came very close, but the soda at the end caused him a lot of pain!
The fish was great, and I was stuffed too! We both had a good time, and went to
bed around 11PM. They were really impressed with my singing and wanted to know
if we were staying. I explained that we are on our way to Florida, but we
really want to come back to Quaurtzite!
20th – We camped out last night
outside the Grubstake, and got up early as usual. Did a little exploring of the
BLM campgrounds everyone stays at. Then
we headed east to Phoenix to Aunt Julie & Uncle Rick’s. They were happy to
see us, and even served up a late lunch of sloppy Joes.
We
got cleaned up and helped make some food, and then went over to Teri’s house
for Bobbi’s party. We met a hoot of a guy from Chicago, and spent the evening
laughing. He was very interested in Alaska, and told us about his hunting &
fishing adventures in Wisconsin. His name was Chuck, and he and his wife
Suzanne recently moved to Arizona. Suzanne worked with Bobbi.
We
headed back to Fountain Hills around 10 PM, and were in bed by 11.
21st – We woke up around seven
and went in to the house. Julie made breakfast and then they had to get ready
for church, so we hit the road. Filled up outside of Eloy AZ, and stopped at
Wal-Mart in Tucson. Took a picture of the bus at a rest stop in the Dragoon
mountains. Apparently this area is where Cochise & Geronimo hid out.