10/31: Mesa Verde pueblos and Ouray, Colorado - pics galore

Today is a Saturday and it's also Halloween. We went for a long drive with Vicki and Morris to a few interesting places. We got a great tour of the native Hopi pueblo history at Mesa Verde National Park. This was awesome! This was the last day of the park season and we were the very last group to get a tour of the balcony house pueblo. For me, it was a bit scary climbing the 30 and two 15 foot long ladders. Our Park Service Ranger guide did a great job explaining the details of Hopi life in the pueblo. She also got us all safely back to the museum. It was a fascinating experience. We watched a half hour movie presentation of the pueblos and history of their development. We also enjoyed all the exhibits in the museum. I especially enjoyed the dioramas. We left near closing time of 5 pm. I left wondering what it would be like to live back in those days. I think that it might be hard work, but life would also have more purpose and meaning. Even though the wind was blowing something fierce, Margi got us off the mesa safely. I now understand how the wind and sand work to carve out the rock into their various shapes. We had dinner at the Hunan Chinese Restaurant in Cortez, Colorado. We were soon driving through the night up another winding mountain road. I'm really only assuming that it was mountainous terrain as we saw nothing but the road after the sun had set. We pulled into Ouray, Colorado at about 11 pm and collapsed in our beds at the Wiesbaden hotel. .

Oh yeah... we decided that we should rename RV Moki. Her new name is Moki Ruby Maki due to the fact that she is a female. No offence intended to grandpa Doug.

Margi & Viki outside Mesa Verde park entrance

Statue of a Hopi climbing outside Mesa Verde entrance.

Morris with a Hopi friend.

Entrance to Mesa Verde National Park.

View of  the area surrounding Mesa Verde.

Another view of the happy hunting grounds.

There are at least five mule deer in this shot.

Stalking the wiley muley,

Appears that someone had lost their glasses.

One of the pueblo ruins

Closer shot of a pueblo.

View of a valley near the pueblos.

30 foot ladder we had to climb as part of the tour.

Our park ranger tour guide.

Me outside a pueblo.

Close up of a kiva.

Ghost wall.

10/30: Day of the Red Lobster

Today we had breakfast at home. We went to lunch at Red Lobster. It was wonderful to see Julie and Katie's children having fun together. They are a wild and fun loving bunch. Later we went shopping for this and thats. Today it was Walgreens, Sams Club, TJ Max and of course Walmart. Filling one of my prescriptions might turn into an ordeal. Morris gave us a grand tour of Enviroteck. I have not had much luck with access to the internet these past days. Later we enjoyed a home cooked dinner. I had two heaping bowls of goulash prepared by chef Morris. We watched a bit of TV and that was our day in a nutshell.

10/29: Potluck at Enviroteck

This was a Thursday. We got up about 9 am and had breakfast at home. At around noon, Margi and I drove over to Enviroteck to partake in their Halloween Potluck and meet some of the employees. There was lots of good food,  especially the chili. "Saw" was playing on the big screen in the media room and there was a vote for the best pumpkin carving. A scary witch with warts was voted the winner. After this, Julie drove us over to Walmart for a few more RV essentials. We drove back home and Julie helped Margi clean up RV Moki a bit. I also pitched in and even vacuumed. Margi spent the rest of the day washing clothes. Dinner was tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches at home.

10/28: A day in Farmington with some of the old Birch Lane gang - pics

We slept like logs at Viki's. Brunch was at Los Hermanitos in Farmington. Two of Vicki 's kids joined us there. It was good to see Chris Herrera and Julie Ortiz. Chris also introduced us to his cousin Jake. Afterwards, Morris and I went over to his Enviroteck truck yard. We borrowed his head mechanic Jerry for questions that I had on RV Moki. There was a propane smell that we noticed this morning that was due to the pilot light on the refrigerator being extinguished. Also, the generator not starting was due to low oil and a winter/summer switch. Jerry sure took a load off of my mind! At this time, Margi and Vicki were doing their grandma thing and visiting Katie Kerr and her children (Kaelyn, Kylie, Connor and Jackson). Kate is Vickie 's youngest daughter. Kate's husband Kyle and her eldest son Kaelyn was actually not home at the time. Meanwhile, back at the bar S ranch -- Morris was treating me to some of his sparerib stew. It was good enough for me to have a second bowl. Morris is a man of many talents. Margi arrived home at about 8 pm and we went over to Julie's to meet her family and access the internet. Julie's husband is Donald Ortiz and their children are Makayla and Hallie. Their son Bren was also there. We returned home with Vicki at about 10:30 pm for apple pie and ice cream before bed.

10/27: Cottonwood to Farmington, NM

Margi woke up first and walked over to the McDonald's next door for her morning DCNI and some breakfast sandwiches. She noticed a city sign that prohibited over night camping, so we changed our location before eating. We topped of RV Moki's tank and were on the road again. Our next stop was the Walmart in Gallup New Mexico. Here we bought some items that we thought might come in handy. We had some pbj sandwiches for lunch and filled up Moki with gas again. Most of this road was ok for driving, but there was a stretch that was under construction and was a narrow two lane. Whenever we saw a semi trailer approaching in the opposite lane we held on tight and hoped we would pass safely. We made it through that stretch while there was still good light. Margi was doing such a good job driving that I fell asleep for a good hour. I woke up as we were coming down the hill into Farmington. I needed that sleep, but I missed a beautiful sunset. We met Vicki and Morris at a Walmart and our dinner was at the St. Clair's Bistro. We followed them home and then chatted and enjoyed a laugh or two before bed.

10/26: Return to Yuma, AZ - pics

We started this day with a quick visit to Doug Smith to see if he would be available around noon to give us some of his RV knowledge. Then we went to a  brunch at an I hop. When we got back to Sun Vista we went to Doug's and then he drove us to our RV. It wasn't in the storage yard as expected, instead it was just a street or two over from our home at Ruby's.  We went around the RV and Doug explained all the important details that he could think of. Stuff like how to drain the black and grey water, turn on the generator, do a walk around to make sure all is in order, etc. Much thanks Doug! We drove over to show Max and Scorch our prize and then we all piled in and back to Ruby's to load our suitcases and other booty. We then said our goodbyes and sailed off down the road. Thanks to Max and Scorch for hosting us and driving us around Yuma. Max sent us off with some yummy peach dumplings.

It was about 2:30 pm when we started this leg of our adventure. We pulled into a Yuma Walmart for some groceries and were back on the road at about 3:30 pm. We have named our RV MS Moki Douglas Maki or just Moki for short. Moki comes from our old Mokihana condominium on Kauai. Margi is doing a great job driving thanks in part to the Garmin GPS unit that Scorch loaned us. We even went to an Olive Garden in the middle of Phoenix to celebrate. That is really no small feat for two Juneauites like us! We got back on the road and arrived safely at a Walmart in Cottonwood AZ at about 11 pm. Margi is sound asleep as I type this for the blog. I almost forgot to mention that we filled up Moki's gas tank once in Yuma and once in A (need to find name of town)??

10/25: Coming into Los Angeles

This would be Sunday when we are scheduled to arrive back in San Pedro and then on to Long Beach Airport (not the John Wayne one). Our flight to Phoenix is scheduled for 4:35 pm. On our flight from Long Beach to Phoenix we had seats in the very back of the plane and as luck would have it, the two seats across from us were open. Rachel, our stewardess said we could split up and one of us could sit there. Phoenix to Yuma leaves about 9 pm and should arrive in Yuma about 10:30 pm. Our friends in Yuma; Max and Scorch will be meeting us there. We will spend the night at Ruby's trailer in the Sun Vista RV Resort. Monday morning we plan to ask Doug for some final training on our new motor home. Then we will be on our way to see Vicki and Morris Young in New Mexico. Margi says our route will take us back up towards Phoenix.

10/24: Last full cruise day on the Ruby Princess

Today was mostly a quiet day. I got up early and went to breakfast. After Princess Margi woke up, we went to our favorite lounge chair at the Theater Under the Stars. Margi brought her breakfast to eat while we watched "The Proposal". It was a romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and is based in Sitka. We went to lunch and then back to our room. In our room, we were greeted by a horrid sight. Someone had placed a tan colored plastic mat on our bed with the word "LUGGAGE" branded in huge letters. The not so subtle hint for us to pack our bags and complete the disembarkment and custom forms. I'm thinking that one Salvador Catin is the guilty party who placed the mat or our bed.
Haha! Just kidding Salvador! We know you really want us to stay..

10/23: Cabo Cancelled due to Patricia

Early this morning the Captain announced that we would not be able to visit the port of Cabo San Lucas due to the presence of hurricane Patricia. I was actually relieved because it would have been another early morning and I am feeling a bit toured out. We had a late breakfast and spent most of the day sitting in the sun at the Theatre Under the Stars. We watched three televised concerts (Maroon 5, Genesis and Pink),Jurassic World was the big show of the day. We had our dinner right there in the best seats in the house. We returned to our room about 9 pm to watch TV and recuperate from our hard day.

I'm sure the Captain made the best choice in keeping us safe. We haven't endured much more then a pleasant breeze today.

10/22: Mazatlan Mexico - pics

Today is Thursday and we got up early. We have signed up for a shore excursion to see some of the highlights of Mazatlan. We needed to be ready at 8:45 am for our tour. We got up early for breakfast. We have signed up for a shore excursion to see some of the highlights of Mazatlan. First we went to the Princess Theater and were assigned a group number. When it was time to disembark, we filed out with our group until we were assigned to a tour bus. Our Tropical Tour guide was named Irene and she did a great job of showing us the sights of Mazatlan. We went inside an awesome cathedral, watched some cliff divers dive into six feet of water and went to the golden zone for shopping. We scored some good booty in Mazatlan. We were back on board by 2 pm for some lunch. We rested up in our room and Margi got her hair done. Later that evening we went to see another fantastic comedy show starring Carlos Oscar. Actually we watched two of his shows this evening. Both shows were packed, but we found seats for both. We both laughed our butts off and so did the rest of the audience. We also watched an amature pop star sing off while Carlos took a break. 

Close up view of a station.

Entrance to the cathedral in Mazatlan.

Looking up at the cathedral.

A station in the cathedral.

A side alter.

Some beautiful flowers. 

An alter.

Another of the seven denomination alters

Selfie outside the cathedral.

10/21: Puerto Vallarta (PV) Mexico - pics

I woke up early and was ready when my room service breakfast arrived at 8 am. We arrived in Puerto Vallarta (PV) about 9:30 am. There was a pirate ship in port and I could hear them singing "what do you do with a drunken sailor, what do you do with a drunken sailor, hey, hey up she rises, early in the mornin", as the gang planks were being lowered. "Our planned first stop will be WalMart for some super glue to fix my glasses, ye scurvy dogs!" I shouted from the safety of our state room. Margi almost jumped over board when she heard me.

We were on the streets of PV by around 11 am and headed for Walmart. We had some shopping to do. We picked up some super glue to fix my broken glasses, new sun glasses (just in case), deodorant, bic lighter, vanilla, chips and some hard candy. It was hot and humid and I was sweating like a stuck pig by the time we were inside the store. There wasn't much AC in the store and we stopped next to a fan to cool down. We were also on the look out for new hat bling, but didn't find anything worthy in Walmart. We finished our shopping ($651.44 pesos) and headed next door to a mall named Galeria Vallarta that we had spotted from the ship. It was a nice mall and we stopped for a rest and some ice cream. After our stroll through the mall, we headed back to the ship. There are a bunch of small shops right at the port and one had a great selection of silver broaches or hat bling for me. I found a moth with garnets and bargained down from $95 to $60. Margi thought that was still to much, but I was happy to finally find a new charm. We had to pass through a couple more security lines to get back on board. Lunch was buffet style around 3pm and then back to the room to relax before dinner. Our sailing compadres were all back on board by 5 pm. Super woman and super glue seems to have fixed my glasses. PV is the furthest south that we have ever been. It's population is about 250,000. We were soon leaving the Bay of Banderas for our next port of Mazatlan. Dinner was scrumptious.

Puerto Vallarta

Another view of PV

Pirates!!

Mirror in our stateroom on the Ruby Princess.

Our almost full closet.

Our bathroom and shower,

There's a sweatie bird in my bed!

Our deskwith my trusty laptop.

Margi is stepping out to enjoy some sun on the patio.

10/20: Shows, sleep and broken glasses

We got off to a late start this Tuesday. We skipped breakfast and went straight for a buffet style lunch. Next was another movie while we sun bathed. Well actually, Margi watched the movie "Now you See Me" and I snoozed under the sun. It was hot and when I went to take a shower at the pool, I broke the frame on the left side of my glasses. I was feeling drained by the sun  and so after the show we went back to the room. I took a shower and then snoozed again. We went out for  light dinner of a hot dog and hamburger (not buffet style). Next was the Princess Theater and a comedy show starring Alfred and Seymour. We got there in time to get some excellent seats. Immediately following their performance was another Movie Under The Stars. We watched "Avengers - Age of Ultron".  This theater has to be the most comfortable I have ever experienced. We sit in stuffed lounge chairs with towels or blankets. I fell asleep during the fight scene near the end of the movie. Then it was home to sleep.

10/19: At sea onboard the Ruby Princess - pics

Monday started with a late breakfast. We then explored the ship from floor 19 down to level 5. We also got internet access figured out. I'm fairly certain that they could improve that. I took a nice nap in the room and then it was dinner time. Buffet again and we have this part of the dining running smoothly. Another short rest and then we went to watch the movie "Ant Man" at an outside under the stars theatre.

10/18: We embark on the Ruby Princess - pics

This Sunday started with breakfast at the hotel. We thought the service was not up to par. It was nearly an hour before we were even served. We checked out at noon and then drove with Max and Scorch down to Pier 93 of the World Cruise Center. Here we went through the boarding process; finding a porter for our two suitcases, completed health forms, joined  a long line for our passports and cabin keys, passed through security for ourselves and a carry on (Margi had to dump her full Diet Coke), wait in a big room for our boarding group number to be announced, actually board, pose for two passenger  id pictures. Then we were finally free to find our room on the 11th floor of the Baja deck! We were just about to get a Diet Coke refill for Margi, when we were called to our first muster drill. So, it was back to our cabin for our life jackets and then to muster station D. After they had explained the emergency plan, they had us don our life jackets. Now we were really free and Margi drug me off to eat some lunch and to fill her spiffy new Diet Coke cup. After a brief rest in our wonderful little room, it was off to dinner. We are happy with the free all you can eat buffet type experience. After dinner and another rest we went to a comedy show. We arrived to a packed theater, but I spotted some front row seats. Carlos Oscar was very funny and didn't even embarrass us. Our room steward Salvador Catin had our room turned down while we were gone.

10/17 - Our drive from Yuma to Los Angeles, CA - pics

Today Scorch and Max are driving us to San Pedro that is a part of the Los Angeles area.
We have reservations for the Crown Plaza hotel.   I showed up early to their home for access to the internet and coffee. Breakfast was at an IHOP. There are lots of cars on the freeway here. Traffic was not so bad though and we made it to the hotel about 2:30 pm. Lunch was at the Green Onion a Mexican place right across the street.

Tomorrow we board the Ruby Princess and start our cruise. Much thanks and love to our wonderful daughter Jennifer and her family (Steve, Sir Gavin, Oliver the Rascal, Ms Bugaboo).

10/16 - Ester & our RV - pics

Margi and Max went to visit our old neighbor from Juneau named Ester. They had a nice visit,
Kneaders for lunch of a Dave's blt and some soups. After lunch we went back home to take a picture through the fence of new our new Mokihana (our name) Tioga. We had checked earlier but the yard was closed. It's $30 a month to park there. We washed clothes and a took dip in the pool.  Today was overcast but it's still hot at 100 degrees. Marine helicopter flights have been constant. They are doing a good job of protecting us. Dinner was leftover blts at home.

Us with our 1996 Tioga motor home.

Aft shot of our Moki.

Port side of the RV Moki.

Starboard side of our home away from home.

10/15 - The Q and our Tioga 22e Motor Home - pics

Our breakfast today was Belgian waffles prepared by our own chef Scorch, Next on the morning agenda was a trip to the Arizona market. It was barely open and not much in the way of available wares. After the flea market we went to take a look at downtown Yuma.

Our next adventure was gambling at the "Q" or Quechan Casino. This time we set a limit of $40 each. After an extensive search, I was fortunate to find my favorite slot machine game Secrets of the Forest and had some initial luck. I was up by $11, but didn't cash out and kept playing. Margi stopped by to let me know that she was ready to go. I gave her my other $20 and kept playing until she was ready to go again. Max won $15 and Scorch broke even. His secret is to not gamble... Next was lunch at a Sonics driveup.  Just like the good old days, our order was delivered by a waitress on rollerblades.

After this we went to our new Arizona Foothills bank and got a cashiers check to pay for our new RV. It is a 1996 Tioga model 22E type motor home. Almost as soon as we got back to the Sun Vista RV Resort, we were on our way to Doug and Sharron Smith's home to make the actual purchase. They are formerly from Bonner's Ferry in northern Idaho. We are both happy to be the new owners. It is 22 feet in length and in great shape.

Dinner was a salad at Max and Scorch's. I spent some hours watching some recordings of the new TV show the Bastard Executioner with Scorch.

Will post better pics after the cruise,

10/14 - Tioga day

We went to an IHop for breakfast this morning. After breakfast we went over to introduce ourselves to Doug and Sharron Smith. They are the owners of the Tioga RV. We told them that we were interested in purchasing their RV. They seem like good folks. Doug took us over to the storage lot down the street to see the RV that was in our price range. Later that afternoon we went to the Arizona Foothills bank to transfer funds from Northrim, but found that it was not a simple process. We opened a new account in the Foothills Bank as part of the process. We told Doug that we wanted the RV. Margi completed the encrypted bank form later that evening. Dinner was chicken

10/13 - Yuma cowboy shirts

Penny's Diner on historic Route 66 for a classic breakfast. After breakfast I purchased 3 cowboy shirts with pearl type button snaps at the Boot Barn. We went to a pharmacy at a Frys to fill prescriptions. Max bought a roasted chicken. Margi and Max went to the pool and caught wind through the Sun Vista grapevine of an RV for sale that matched what we have been looking for. Our dinner was a roasted chicken that we devoured at home.

10/12 - El Paso to Yuma

Early to bed, early to rise. I woke up at 3:30 am and we were out the door of the Best Western hotel by 5 am and on our way to the El Paso airport. We had a brief stop in Phoenix before boarding American airlines to Yuma. Our 1 hour  flight was nearly empty so we each had our own seat.

Our old Juneau friends in Yuma, Max and Scorch Burnet met us at the airport and then we were off to Denny's for breakfast. Scorch grilled us some rib eye steaks for dinner.

10/11: an evening in old El Paso, Texas - pics

After a grueling 29 hours train ride from New Orleans to El Paso, we decided that we were finished with our Amtrac pass, and would spend our money on a Best Western in El Paso and then fly to Yuma, AZ. We took a nice dip in the pool and then went for a walk to find a Mexican restaurant. It was a Sunday and our dining choices were slim. We found our first sports bar the Ojos Locos and were served some tacos by our waitress Kimberly. Margi nicknamed her glitter eyes. Then we walked back to the hotel and called it an early night.

A little extra security in El Paso, TX.

Margi is going to read a sign.

Maegi is reading a sign.

Amtrk station at El Paso, Texas,

Margi is done reading Amtrak signs.

10/10: New Orleans to El Paso - link & pics

This map shows our 29 hour train route west from New Orleans to El Paso.
We got off the Amtrak to stretch our legs in Houston. Texas seems big and dry.
We went all the way to El Paso.

http://www.amtrak.com/sunset-limited-train

10/9: Bourbon st. to the French Market - pics

Today was an eventful day for me. We slept in late and checked out of our Omni room at about 11 am. We took a taxi to our new digs in the Hyatt on Bourbon street. It's located near the good end of Bourbon and is right above the Hard Rock Cafe. They gave us a free upgrade to a room with a balcony. Very nice! We parked our bags and then we were off for a walk to see the French Market area.  First a quick lunch at the Desire Oyster bar where I had a catfish po boy and Margi had crab macaroni and cheese. Both were excellent. We then walked the entire length of Bourbon street to get to the French Market. This Bourbon street reeks and it is packed with bars of all sorts.. We made it without any real trouble though.  Along the way, we spotted 3 or 4 bars with live bands and it was still early afternoon.  Towards the French market Bourbon quiets down fairly quickly. One of our goals today was to find a jewelry shop named Silver Sylvia's. This shop was recommended as a place where I might find a silver fluer de lis souvenir pin for my hat. It payed off and now Margi inherits my blingy one from the Razzle Dazzle shop. Our other mission was to go to the Cafe Du Monde for their famous beignets. We explored the openair market along the way and it is really something. Many many treasures to tempt us. The Cafe Du Monde was packed, so we opted to simply purchase some mix from their shop across the street. We took The exciting Bourbon street route back towards our hotel. We stopped at the Funky Pirate blues bar and sipped a beer while Mark Stone performed. We bought a souvenir t shirt and then we were headed back to our room. My pet hummingbird Margi, went off on her own to purchase victuals for the train to El Paso. After a short rest we were walking to our dinner destination "The House of Blues". This time I had the macaroni and lobster and Margi had a barbecued chicken flat bread. We watched the show for about 1/2 hour and then returned to the hotel.  It was dark on Bourbon street now and Margi stuck close by my side. We did make it home ok and spent the rest of the evening watching TV and packing for our departure early tomorrow morning. We did step out on the balcony to enjoy a spectacular view of Bourbon street in full bloom.



google map linky to show our route down Bourbon to Ursuline Ave to French Market.

10/8: Harrah's casino and Hard Rock Cafe - pics

Today we had a late breakfast and then went back to our room for a short rest. Margi bought herself a sun hat. We then walked down to Canal street and found our way to Harrah's casino. We soon lost our money and trudged off to find the Hard Rock Cafe. I had some yummy jambalaya and Margi had a burger with fries. There won't be any performance there while we are in town. Our waitress recommended either some clubs on French street or the House of Blues. Since the real action doesn't start until after 10 pm on French street, we decided to try the House of Blues. There was a comedian due to perform at 8 pm, but that was still 3 hours away. We might try again on Friday evening.

10/7: Nola - pics

Today we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Then we walked down to the Mississippi river. We stopped at Jackson park and sat in the shade. I found a fluer de lis (symbol of New Orleans) pin for my Foxwood hat at a shop named Razzle Dazzle. Wandered around the French market area and then ate a lunch at JAX brewery. I had a gumbo and Margi had a lump crab fondue. We also had fried green tomatoes and frog legs. We walked back for a short rest in our hotel room and then we were off to dinner. We ate at a famous chef Paul Prudhomme's Kitchen. Margi had a delicious salmon with lump crab dish. I had a small cup of turtle soup that I couldn't finish.

Me and General Jackson.

A view of Saint Louis cathedral from Jackson square.

We are taking a break in the shade at Jackson square.

A Mississippi stern wheeler type river boat.

We walked down to the mighty Mississippi river.

A tour carriage.