Kathleen Perkins
Traveling in all kinds of ways and places is consistently fascinating to Paul and I; be it in country (United States) via RV as we are doing presently, or crusing in China as we will be doing in August. When we travel we are always looking for advance information on what new and wonderfully interesting things we may encounter. We are both foodies, so expect restaurant descriptions. We are birders; always looking for the new "life" bird, or a flower that may be new to us to identify. We travel with all of our i.d. books and spotting scopes. We are real history buffs always looking for the story behind the road sign and I'll tell you stories as we go. Hence, this blog, that others, traveling similar routes, may find useful, interesting, and fun to read. Of course, friends and family may keep up with us by looking in on the blog occasionally; kind of a land based "flight plan" in case they ever have to issue a "silver alert" for missing grandparents - just kidding.KatyPerk
Travel Blog Posts
August 21st 2010
We are leaving for China on August 23rd. I will blog this trip depending on the availability of internet access which I am sure will be unreliable. We will be in Shanghai two days before the official start of the trip for the International Expo. Looking forward to this one! China Cultural Delights Tour: This 17-day odyssey explores China's cradle of culture with an epic 11-day Yangtze cruise between Chongqing and Nanjing. See all the wonders of Beijing, Xian and Shanghai-the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terra Cotta Army and Old Shanghai. And, uncover the roots of Chinese civilization from Jingdezhen, birthplace of porcelain; to Mt. Jiu Hua's remote Buddhist Temple complex; to Suzhou with its elegant classical gardens. Those who really want to understand the origins of Chinese culture should strongly consider this itinerary, our ... read more
RV Travels - We are so sorry Nashville
Published: May 7th 2010North America » United States » Tennessee » Nashville
May 7th 2010
RV Travels Nashville Flooded - Moved up, but not high enough. We moved up to the higher camping site in the KOA, and started to relax just a bit. Around 4:30pm, we noticed folks un-hooking, un-plugging and moving their rigs. Paul went out to ask what was up - so glad he did - and they pointed to the access road. Its funny now that I think about it because I had been reading in the front and watching a police car for a while. I couldn't really make out the car, as it was at a distance down the road, but I could see the blue light flashing and I wondered what he was doing there for so long. When Paul looked at the access road into the campground it was covered by water. There ... read more
Floods in Nashville - Dangerous Flood Levels
Published: May 2nd 2010North America » United States » Tennessee » Nashville
May 2nd 2010
RV Travels Flooded in Nashville - Dangerous Record Flooding Remember, we tried to outrun the weather? It caught us. Yesterday was not too bad, it was raining, and raining hard, we still completed our Gray Line tour of Nashville, which was great and enjoyed the Grand Ole Opry last night - what a rip, that was more fun than I imagined. An old time radio show, commercials and all and some great singing and dancing. When we got back to our RV site last night, it was still raining. We are (were) close to the Cumberland River and stayed up late watching the weather channel because of the tornado threat. Finally, it looked as if it would be ok, so we went to bed - it was about midnight. This morning, when we woke up water ... read more
RV Travels - Scoot across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee
Published: April 30th 2010North America » United States » Tennessee » Nashville
April 30th 2010
RV Travels Scoot across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee Leaving New Mexico we dropped down secondary roads, traveled through Ft. Sumner, where we stopped off to take a photo of Billy the Kid’s gravesite for Connor and Joey, then continued on Route 70, looking forward to seeing the Muleshoe Wildlife Refuge in Texas, where the Sand Hill Cranes winter, but par for the course, as far as secondary roads go, the one into the wildlife refuge was dirt and we couldn’t get in at all. We were disappointed by that. However, all that was lost was a couple of hours on itty bitty roads, with compensation - we did see many Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, found only in the general area. We were really lucky as we found them as far east as Oklahoma. These Flycatchers with long ... read more
Colorado - Elk, Mule Deer, Ducks, Dippers, Hot Springs and Mesas
Published: April 28th 2010North America » United States » Colorado » Pagosa Springs
April 27th 2010
RV Travels Colorado - Elk, Mule Deer, Ducks, Dippers, Hot Springs and Mesas RV Travels Colorado - Elk, Mule Deer, Ducks, Dippers, Hot Springs and Mesas The drive from Albuquerque New Mexico to Pagosa Springs, Colorado can be routed through the mountains or around the mountains. Guess which we chose. I have seen high mountains, steep mountains, snowy mountains, gray mountains, brown mountains, red mountains, everything but green mountains - they are all high and cold and I can’t breathe where there is no oxygen. I am a Flatlander. Hence, around the mountains we go; through Santa Fe, up 84 and straight into Pagosa Springs, which is a sweet little place where Main Street is fogged by the steam coming from pools of hot mineral springs, the existence of which, drew me there to begin with. ... read more
Albuquerque - Spell without looking - I dare you!
Published: April 26th 2010North America » United States » New Mexico » Albuquerque
April 26th 2010
RV Travels Albuquerque - Spell without looking - I dare you! Albuquerque makes me smile. Trying to be colorful in an adobe world isn’t easy, but Albuquerque’s relaxed style, friendly cultural center experts, Old Town shopping and scary roads to mountain tops makes for colorful stop. Added to that, the joy of visiting with family all weekend makes it banner worthy! We arrive on Thursday and park the RV in the central KOA. Joanie and Billy pick us up and bring us to their “real” house. Not only is it great fun to see Joan and Billy and John and Susan, but to be inside a real house is quite a change - the walls are so far away. Immediately we go riding to check out the area. Considering all of the towns in New Mexico ... read more
April 26th 2010
RV Travels Gallop to Gallup - If you love Native American Art Leaving Flagstaff, happily coming down off mountains at last, we head across 40 East and detour North on 87 (You know we don’t like the roads most traveled). In this case, we should have stayed on 40. The journey through the Navajo Nation Reservation consists of bad roads after bad roads and more desert to look at. I know all the dishes in the cabinets and goods in the pantry will tumble out on my head if I forget to open doors carefully. However, we made a very interesting stop at the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado. It is the oldest continuous operating trading post in the west. Beginning in 1876 Juan Hubbell traded in Navajo country and his story of settlement of the ... read more
Grand Canyon and Beyond
Published: April 9th 2010North America » United States » Arizona » Grand Canyon National Park
April 9th 2010
Grand Canyon Monday, April 5th, we are on our way to Grand Canyon National Park, traveling Route 64 into the Park from Flagstaff. It is cold and dangerous wind warnings are up! Paul is driving, both hands on the wheel, I am catching glimpses of immense structures and deep fissures to the right side of my window when I dare to look at anything other than the uphill battle in front of us. Joey and Connor, riding with us think this is a great deal of fun... Joe and Stacey, following behind, are watching the RV sway back and forth. We reach the park safely - Whew! Trailer village in the Park itself is a lovely campground and shuttle buses take you wherever you want to go. We had dinner and breakfast in the Bright Angel ... read more
April 9th 2010
Flagstaff Base March 31st and snow is falling in Flagstaff, which is unfortunate as we must come down from the Mountain to Phoenix and pick up Stacey, Joe and the boys tomorrow, yuk! We were late, but made it and all of us are settled in, cold but looking forward to a week of sharing some wonderful sight seeing experiences. The KOA is a beautiful campground in the pines and will make a great base camp for our travels. On April 2nd, we are off in our rented SUV (even a small RV, like our 30’ Georgie Boy would be a burden on some of these mountain roads). Our first day out the road leads us to Sedona down scenic 89A from Flagstaff. It is a most beautiful ride through Oak Creek Canyon and Sliding Rock ... read more
Saguaros, Ruins and Birds
Published: April 1st 2010North America » United States » Arizona » Flagstaff
March 31st 2010
Saguaro Cactus, Casa Grande Ruins and more Life Birds! Paul finally dissuaded me from spending just one more day in Tombstone and we were on the road again Sunday, taking the scenic route from Tombstone- 82 west then north on 83 to Sahuarita, through the San Xavier Indian Reservation and, finally - to Saguaro National Park, west side. We really wonder why the Arizona roads, especially through the reservation are such a disaster. They are almost as bad in the National Park. It’s the first National Park we’ve been in that the roads were in such sad shape. Saguaro (pronounced “sah.WAH.row”), is the giant cactus dominating the landscape on the slopes of the mountains and tops of the hills in the Sonoran Desert. It grows other places in Southwest as well. Saguaros, as tall as 50 ... read more
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