We pulled into Quail Ridge RV Park on the 14th of November. The park is located south of Benson, Arizona about 20 miles or so near Huachuca City. We have stayed here on each of our previous journeys to the Southwest. I will add one more comment here about the park. We have memberships in a few RV clubs that allow us to stay at a discounted price at any associated RV parks. In the past we have stayed here for about $12 a night but when I called to book our stay I found out that Quail Ridge is no longer offering the discount. It cost us $25 a night, so instead of staying 3 nights as we had planned, we only stayed for 2.
That being said, the attraction of this park is that it is close to Tombstone (about 20 miles). We like to spend a couple hours wandering around the streets of the old town and peek into many of the shops. Last time here I bought myself a nice Stetson hat and so I wore it on our excursion to Tombstone on that Wednesday.

We arrived mid morning and the streets were mostly empty except for a few gunslingers and a stagecoach wandering through the town. There was a local lady in all her finery standing at one of the corners. She might have been one of Big Nose Kate’s ladies, but that was only a guess on my part. We moseyed down the wooden plank boardwalks in front of the storefronts along Main Street. We stepped into a few of them to look around but we didn’t find anything to suit our fancy. I reckon most of the locals were still inside their homes so early in the day. There was talk of a gunfight happening later in the day but we didn’t stick around to find out. We decided it was time to get out of Dodge (or Tombstone for that matter).

We toured around the little town in our motorcar for a bit then we headed south out of town. Next stop was Bisbee. This is an old mining town high up in the mountains. The town is built in a valley in the midst of the mountain with steep streets that run up the slope of the mountain. Today Bisbee is a tourist town with many shops and restaurants. As it turns out though, most shops were closed and only open from Thursday to Sunday. So since it was Wednesday, it was a little disappointing. Still a nice place to see and visit, just go on the weekends I guess. Just south of town there is an old open pit copper mine named the Lavender Mine that you can stop and see. Actually quite interesting. That wrapped up our tour for the day and so we headed to the RV back at the park.

Thursday we were back on the road and heading to Quartzsite. We were meeting up with friends Deb and Tom in the desert just south of the Quartzsite townsite. Deb and Tom were there with some other people who’s names we were aquainted with but hadn’t met yet. So we headed out early in the morning and drove north to Benson and once back on I-10 we headed west. We drove through Tucson and took a bypass route around Phoenix. (We found out later that there is actually a better way to bypass Phoenix). We’ll remember that for next time. Once back on I-10 we discovered that Phoenix seems to go on for ever on the west side. Not a big deal but the traffic was quite heavy for many miles. Once at Quartzsite we stopped to fill our propane tank before heading south out of town to the Roadrunner BLM area.

For those who aren’t familiar with BLM, it stands for Bureau of Land Management. BLM land is Federal Government land that in Arizona and other states is available to the public to use for recreation. And specifically for us, we can camp there for free. The only stipulation is that you limit your stay to 14 days in any one location. There are no services…no electricity..no water… it’s for boondockers. In the Motorhome we are self contained so we can live off the grid, so to speak, for an extended period so it’s easy for us to do. Every week and a bit we do need to dump our holding tanks and refill water but thats an easy chore when necessary.

Along with BLM land there are also LTVAs. These are Long Term Visitor Areas. These areas are still for boondockers but have a place where you can dump your tanks and refill water and dispose of trash in a central area. There is a permit fee for the LTVAs. A 14 day permit is available for $40 and a 6 month permit for $180.

Both of these areas are very popular with travellers and Snowbirds fleeing the winter cold. The desert is a big place and so there is lots of room for RVers to spread out, and for miles and miles in any direction there are RV’s. Some choosing to be alone and others who choose to group in clusters of friends.

So we arrived at Roadrunner and following directions given to us by Deb we meandered our way back into the desert to find our cluster of friends. Once you leave the highways and venture in to the desert there are no roads per se but there are vehicle tracks and so you follow the tracks and go left or right here or there and if you follow the directions you arrive. And so we did. It was actually quite easy. Thanks Deb!

We have been in contact here and there with Deb and Tom through texts and such, trying to keep contact with each other and hoping to be able to meet up in the desert again, so it was nice to finally arrive. After parking we exchanged handshakes and hugs and were introduced to Deb K and Riley, her daughter…. and also Lorne Green and his wife Sue. I should have written Lorne and Sue Green but it loses the effect. Do you have a tune playing in your head right now? You should if you’re as old as me. I’ll explain it later if you don’t.

So here we are in the desert. Once here life slows down. There is no need to do things (with exceptions, like cooking food), and the pace changes. Each day is unique and in many ways similar and familiar. So I’m finishing this blog post on Tuesday November the 28th. We’ve been here for close to 2 weeks, and time is spent relaxing in the sun during the later morning and early afternoon. Every afternoon about 3:00 our group of friends gathers our chairs together and we sit and enjoy each others company for a couple hours. We share many stories, discuss our opinions on many things and share much laughter together. It’s a comfortable place to be. We’ve gotten to know Deb and Riley and Lorne and Sue over the past number of days. Certainly glad to spend time with them all.

We haven’t ventured too far yet… there is plenty of time for that. But we have gone to a few places. The occasional run into town for odds and ends of groceries. We took a drive up to Parker to shop for groceries at Walmart. Parker is the nearest town with a Walmart and it’s about a 30 minute drive north from Quartzsite. I did a little baking to try out the oven in the Motorhome. We have been using the oven occasionally on this trip but I wanted to see how well it worked for baking. I made a couple loaves of bread on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (the 21st). I made a loaf of white bread and a loaf of my ‘famous’ cheese bread. Both turned out quite good. So on Wednesday I tried my hand at making some Butter Tarts. They weren’t too bad but I’m still just a rookie. We shared them at Thanksgiving dinner with everyone.

Our friends Bill and Patsy are staying at a campground in Quartzsite proper for the winter and they have been out to visit our group for several happy hours. We all shared a Thanksgiving dinner together for US Thanksgiving this past Thursday. Tom and Deb hosted the meal and we had about 10 for dinner. Deb and Riley, Lorne and Sue, Bill and Patsy, and Kim and I. On Friday, Lorne and Sue hosted a movie night under the stars. We watched The Long, Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Saturday Kim and I drove to Quartzsite to do a little shopping and then went to visit Bill and Patsy at their RV park. Last night our group at Road Runner had a campfire together. The wind had calmed right down and it was a nice evening. This morning I did laundry all by myself. That is not something I do and so I was a little out of my comfort zone. I think I was somewhat successful. My folding skills need to improve apparently. As I was leaving to do laundry, Lorne and Sue were pulling out and heading for Tucson for a couple days and then heading into Mexico for a few months.

Fuel in Quartzsite varies by gas station but the cheapest right now is about $2.79 for regular and $3.79 for diesel. We have had sunny days and bright blue skies almost every day since arriving and the wind has been quite normal. There is almost always a wind in the desert. Daytime temperatures in the high 60’s to mid 70’s and lows at night in the 50’s and some dipping into the high 40’s. Temperatures are in Fahrenheit. You Canadians will have to do the math.

So after travelling many miles and having stopped to visit friends and family along the way (and meeting many new people in the process) we are now here, and the desert will be home for a few months. At some point in the not too distant future we will head down to the Yuma area and boondock near there. A trip to Mexico will be planned soon for shopping and eating at our favourite places.

So again, you’re caught up (I think).

———so the name … Lorne Green—- figure it out yet …….. think of an old TV western…… yeah, you probably all knew right away…..

After leaving Mabank on Monday morning we drove towards Houston. We looked at various options to get through or around Houston and decided to go completely around it on the west side. We stayed on 2 lane roads for the most part and stopped at a Walmart in Sealy, Texas for the night. On Tuesday Nov. 7, we made a relatively short drive to Magnolia Beach. The sky was blue and water was almost calm and just a slight offshore breeze. Picture perfect. We parked right on the beach with the front windows facing the water. The beach here is extra hard packed and made of crushed seashells. You can boondock on the beach for up to 14 days for free. We settled in for what we hoped would be several days. Wednesday was also a nice day with a few more clouds but the forecast was for rain on Thursday. Thursday started out somewhat nice; no rain but overcast skies, but soon the rain began. We had noticed that people were starting to pull out that morning. I found a Harvest Host spot for us for the night still in Magnolia Beach area but away from the water. The nice thing was that we would have full hookups. Our solar power was not keeping our batteries charged with cloudy skies and rain, so we would be able to get a full charge being hooked up. So we packed up and headed to the Magnolia Beach RV Park for the night. It was good that we moved because that night we had a real heavy rain storm with high winds.

I had called around to a few RV Service people in the area to see if I could find someone to fix the generator and got some replies. Two of them wouldn’t be able to come out until Monday which didn’t help us. One of them suggested a guy in Victoria about a 1/2 hour away.

So Friday morning it was still a little rainy but we got ready to leave quickly and were on the road by about 8:30. We headed in to Victoria to see Larry at Victoria Welder Repair and Generator. The rain had stopped on the way and we hoped it would hold off long enough for Larry to have a look. The Motorhome would be outside so I didn’t imagine he would be working on it in the rain. Fortunately the weather cooperated but the generator didn’t. Larry was pretty thorough and after eliminating a number of possible causes he concluded that it was the convertor on the generator that was the problem. The bad news was that in order to get to that part the generator would have to be removed and that was something he couldn’t do himself. So….. for now the generator will not be in use. Kim and I had already talked about this scenario and had planned to buy a portable generator to serve us this season and armed with some recommendations from Larry we drove off to find us a generator.

We found a Harbor Freight store and decided upon a small 2000 watt inverter/generator and bought it. It certainly won’t handle as much power as our onboard generator, (5500 watts), but we mainly need it to keep our batteries charged. We’ll see over the course of the next weeks how much load it will handle. So aside from the large extra expenditure we’re good to go now for power. We then found a Walmart to spend the night. It happened to be just down the street from the Harbor Freight.

Saturday Morning we were back on the road headed to San Antonio and arrived just before noon at a Bass Pro Store which would be our stop for the night. But there was an extra reason for coming to San Antonio. Some of you know that I have been involved in genealogy research for quite a few years. Well a few years ago I stumbled across a guy on Ancestry who was a fairly close DNA match to me on the Wilson side of my family. I had no idea how he was connected to me but I knew my family tree was pretty complete and accurate. Anyway, I made contact with Joe through Ancestry and through various messages back and forth I was able to figure out the connection. Without going into a lot of detail, Joe had been adopted when we was born and didn’t know who his biological father was. Joe is a second cousin of mine and I had planned that, if I had the opportunity, I would like to meet in person. So that afternoon, cousin Joe and his wife Mary met us in the Bass Pro parking lot and we had a very nice visit in the motorhome. We sat and chatted about many things including our families, and I shared some of the stories of the Wilson family with them. It was a great afternoon.

The next morning (Sunday) we travelled along I-10 from San Antonio and stopped over night in a Walmart in Fort Stockton, Texas. By the time it was dark there were quite a number of RV’s parked around us. It was a rainy evening and night. Fort Stockton is convenient spot for travellers going east or west as it is close to halfway between San Antonio and El Paso. Monday afternoon we arrived in El Paso, Texas and our journey across Texas was soon to come to an end. We stayed at a ____ overnight in Horizon City which is a suburb of El Paso. We stocked up on a few things at the ____ since we wouldn’t be stopping at a ____ for a few days.

Tuesday we were underway again and we had a choice to make about our route. We could drive on I-10 through the city and beyond or find a way around the city. We’ve done the drive through the city and it can be pretty crazy. If we had to go though the city we could go that way. A second option was to go around the city. That gave me a couple more choices. There is a bypass that we could take that would eventually lead us to a mountain pass at the end and then back on I-10 north of the city. A variation would take us on the bypass and exit before the mountain pass part and then follow secondary roads around the north of the mountain and then back to I-10. I decided to go on the bypass and determined that if the trucks continued on to the mountain I would follow. Well as we got to the mountain I had passed some of the trucks and I looked behind me to see trucks turning off and it was too late, I was past the last exit. Wow…… That was a steeeep… climb. And it just kept going and going. But we made it. There were a couple trucks on the pass but it was pretty much all cars. We did it but we won’t do it again.

We continued on into New Mexica and then into Arizona all the way to Huachuca City and stopped for a couple nights at Quail Ridge RV Resort. We had spent the last 5 days in cloudy skies and rain and it was nice to finally be in the sun and warmth.

…. oh and in case you didn’t figure it out ……

____ ….it’s Walmart

Tuesday’s drive was much shorter and we arrived at Mabank, Texas shortly after lunch and got set up at the municipal campground. We had hydro, water and sewer connections which is always nice. After lunch we drove a few miles to Wes’ house and spent the afternoon visiting. Wes has a great place in a mostly bush property in the country outside of Mabank. Wes served up some street tacos for supper which were very good. We stayed into the evening and then back to the Motorhome.

Wednesday morning Kim had some journalling to do and I set about to fix our coffeemaker. We have a under the counter type coffeemaker that is original to the Motorhome and it has worked great until it didn’t. This one is so convenient for us that we would rather not have to replace it with one that takes up room on the counter. Well I like to fix things (well most things) so I set out to do just that. My first problem was that the case was held together with security torx screws. For those who don’t know, a torx security screw is a torx screw with a small post in the middle that won’t allow a regular torx screwdriver to fit into it. It requires a very special tool to remove. I found a work around for those who might run into this some time. I used a small flat screwdriver that you would find in a miniature screwdriver set and was able to insert it beside the post and removed the screw. I know that’s too much information for most people so, if you like, you can just pretend that you didn’t read it. Anyway, I did get the case off and began testing everything. I finally discovered that one of the connections had become dirty or corroded and just needed a little cleaning, and voila, it worked. I’m always quite pleased when I can repair something instead of just throwing it out. Sometimes I like the challenge.

I called around to a few Mobile RV service people in the Mabank area to see if I could find someone who could fix my propane generator on the Motorhome. I didn’t get any responses to my inquiries that day. Later in the day we headed back to Wes’ for Happy Hour and jammed a little on guitar.

Thursday morning we met Wes at his place at 9:30 and headed off to 1st Monday. The show/sale runs for 4 days. The show starts on the Thursday before the first Monday of every month. It’s basically a huge flea market. Actually, it’s the largest flea market in the USA. It has been in operation since 1851. And this place is HUGE……. For a Thursday it was very busy too…I can only imagine how busy it is on the weekend. We spent probably 5 hours walking around and only made a dent in it. Wes was after horseshoes and railroad spikes and Kim was after things to do with stationary and writing. Both were successful in their searches.

Friday morning I went and got some groceries and I took the car in to get an oil change. In the afternoon we stayed at the RV. I mentioned that I tried to find an RV tech… well, of the 3 I contacted, only one responded. He called me while were at the trade show; we talked for a bit and he said he would stop by on Friday at 3:00. That was the main reason we stayed around the RV for the day on the off chance he might arrive early. Nope…. he didn’t show. He didn’t call to let us know he couldn’t make….nothing. I tried calling him a couple times but no response. I was hoping to get this taken care of but not this time. We decided to just crash for the rest of the day at the RV.



On Saturday Kim and I headed into Dallas. I wanted to get 2 new batteries for the house part of the Motorhome. I was successful at the first store we tried. Next was to find a new sewer hose. After an unsuccessful search at a couple RV Stores we ended up buying one at ….Walmart….. Next stop was lunch and we already had planned where that would be Lockhart Barbq in the Bishop Arts district close to downtown Dallas. Wes brought us here the first year we visited him in 2019. It was excellent then and it was excellent now. This is the best Barbq brisket I have ever had. I like to think I make a pretty good brisket but there is no comparison. It’s not cheap though, but it was worth extra money this once. Downtown Dallas is not a fun place to drive. I would be totally lost with GPS. We went to Wes’ for Happy Hour later in the afternoon and stayed early into the evening.

Sunday was the last full day to spend here in Mabank. We went to Wes’ after lunch for some football and he cooked a Sunday roast beef dinner for us for supper, just like our parents made Sunday roast for after church back in the day . It was excellent… just like Aunt Ruth (Wes’ Mom) used to make… In the evening Wes’ neighbour, Steve, stopped by for a visit. It was a nice comfortable evening on the porch.

We struck out from Mabank on Monday morning and headed toward Magnolia Beach on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.



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Well, much time has passed since last I posted a blog. Many things have changed in that time for all of us. We have been looking forward to a return to the US south for the winter for some time and now we have finally begun our journey. We had some last minute repairs done on the Motorhome before we left home and we have one issue remaining that we hope to have taken care of while we are in the South. We left home on October 24th. Our first planned stop was going to be at a Meijers in New Baltimore, Michigan but once we got across the border at Port Huron we just decided to keep going to our first overnight stop and pick up any groceries we needed. Our stop at the border was quite easy. Sometimes there can be many questions to answer but this time was simply a matter of showing our passports and a question about fruits and vegetables. Our first night’s stay was at a Walmart in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In the morning we drove on to Noblesville, Indiana. We met up with my cousin Beth Mollet and her husband John for lunch. I hadn’t seen Beth in many years but we had reconnected in the last couple of years over the internet. It was a great visit, just chatting and reminiscing about old family tales and news. We visited for a couple hours and then got back on the road and headed to Bowling Green, Kentucky. We overnighted at a Cabela’s there. We had a nice spot on the edge of the parking lot with a big open green space and nice trees. In the morning we took some time to look around the store.

Back on the road, and this time the destination is Nashville. We had booked 3 nights at the Nashville Cabins and RV Resort. It wasn’t cheap but it is never cheap to stay in Nashville. Our first choice was to stay at Two Rivers RV Resort but it was booked up. We’ve stayed at Two Rivers before and it’s a great park. Nashville Cabins and RV Resort was very nice as well but a little pricier. Our first night in Nashville was Thursday. Friday morning we drove our car into downtown Nashville. Parking can be hard to find sometimes and expensive but I found a parking garage at the Nashville City Center for $10 for 5 hours and lots of spaces available. We strolled around downtown taking in the sights and stopped for lunch at Jack’s Barbq. The Barbq brisket is excellent and we did quite enjoy it. We have been to Nashville a couple times before so we’ve done a lot of the touristy things, but it is nice just walking around and listening to the bands playing in all the bars. We’re not really into the Nightclub/bar scene so we didn’t need to stay downtown into the evening. After a few hours of walking we headed back to the car.

Next stop was the Belmont Mansion. This house was built in the mid 1800’s before the Civil War. At the time it was the largest home in the Nashville area. It has been restored and is open to visitors. It’s a very impressive house. This is one of those places that’s worth seeing if you’re in the area.

Saturday morning we got in the car and took a drive. Our first stop was the top of a hill called Circle Drive which is supposed to be the highest point in Nashville. The roads are very narrow on the way to the top but upon reaching the summit it was a little disappointing. The actual center of the top, which is surrounded by Circle Dr. is fenced off and there is nowhere to stop on the circle. The view was obstructed by trees mostly. Ok then, off we go to the next stop. We drove down Belle Meade Boulevard to the end. Belle Meade is a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Nashville that is home to many very large homes. At the end of the street is a impressive set of stone stairs that lead up from the street. We decided to climb them and soon realized they were much longer and steeper than we anticipated. We pushed on and made it to the top. Then we decided we could go for a walk on the trail system that meanders through the hills. We eventually reached a very nice lookout at the summit that overlooked the city albeit quite a distance from the skyline. Since our plan was only to climb the stairs we didn’t bring any water with us and it was quite warm. The trip back down was much easier, of course, so we were fine. We had a little picnic lunch on a bench in the shade by the entrance and then off again.

We decided to travel a few miles on the Natchez Trace from the north end. We probably went 20 miles or so and then exited and headed towards Franklin. The Trace is beautiful and runs from just south west of Nashville down to Natchez, Mississippi for a total of 440 miles. There is controlled access to the parkway but there are many places to get on and off. The speed limit is 50 mph and no commercial vehicles are allowed, (all RVs all allowed on). The road just winds its way along following a route that was used by American Indians, settlers, slave traders and soldiers. Back in March of 2019 we travelled from Jackson, Mississippi to Nashville on our way home.

Our last “non” stop was Franklin as we discovered that there was a pumpkin fest happening and it was crazy crowded. We just passed on through and drove back to the park.

Monday morning we were back on the road and headed to Birmingham, Alabama. Overnight stop just north of the city at a Walmart. I sent off a text to my cousin Wes in Texas to let him know that we were planning to stop at his place soon but we weren’t sure exactly when at that point. He told us that the 1st Monday Trade Show would be starting on the coming Thursday and wondered if we might be interested. Well, that was a yes and so we changed our plans to arrive at Wes’ earlier. Our original plan was to head down to the Gulfport area of Mississippi for a few days but we decided to forego that and do 1st Monday instead. So Tuesday we started a long day’s drive (for us) to Shreveport, Louisiana. We stayed overnight on the north side of the city at Walmart.

This is the first installment of catching you all up on our travels….. more to come