Quartzsite Arizona is one of those odd bucket list items for many RV'rs...us included. Whole winter dry camping in the desert has a unique appeal for some folks, however for us 4 days is good. Trust me 4 days was plenty. We spent our days hiking in the desert, enjoying the stars in the moonless dark nights, and of course visiting the vendors. It's incredible how much of the Milky Way can be seen in skies without moonlight or light pollution. Other than the ever-present wind and dust, there isn't much in Quartzsite to be truthful. Its normal 3500 person population explodes in the winter (especially in January). The town gets about a million visitors annually for the big-tent city that sets up with hundreds of vendors during the winter months. Thankfully we arrived after the ... read more

We arrived in El Paso on Monday 2 Feb to some of the most beautiful weather of the trip. First, I had to get a musical ear worm out of my head, old Marty Robbins song about "West Texas Town of El Paso". I'm pretty sure Mom listened to Marty Robbins on the old RCA record player when we lived on Lockbourne AFB. I know I've never listened to Marty Robbins. Anyway, I finally got rid of it when connecting to WIFI...someone named their SSID "Puff the Magic Dragon"...so you know how that turns out ;-( We decided on this stop to rest and catch up with RV related chores. Following a hydraulic leak in the jacks, the sensor would show jacks down and alarm, so to work around this we'd remove the fuse. I'm a ... read more

White Sands is truly one of the worlds greatest and rarest of natural wonders. The park's 275 square miles of dazzling white gypsum dunes can be seen from miles up into the Sacramento Mountains and the Jefferson National Forest. As we drove down the valley leaving the snow-covered town of Cloudcroft at 6200 feet, in the distance it looked as if another great snow had fallen on the Chihuahuan Desert some 20+ miles away. Unlike many of the parks we've visited, White Sands is dog friendly and the dunes are open for exploration and fun. There are very few restrictions on where you can wander and if you do get disoriented, you can always follow your foot prints back. It was a warm and sunny (78 degree) day when Mi Hyon, Maggie and I wandered into ... read more

After a long day traveling through Big Bend, we decided to see local or near local stuff. In West Texas local is 90 miles or so, heck folks out here have to travel 90 miles to go to the grocery store. So with that in mind we did the "local stuff". First we set off to see one of the items we had on our bucket list...a faux Prada store in the middle of nowhere. Now don't laugh, it is so ridiculous, that it has to be seen to be believed and it was worth the trip. It's a little like another of our other bucket list items checked off in 2013, the Cadillac ranch. Both are fun to see as a unique art statements. The "store" sits a couple miles outside the tiny almost ghost ... read more

What a day it was here on our first full day outside Big Bend National Park. We had two close calls that could have ended our trip, but both turned out well. Within minutes of arriving here, our Maggie got a little too close to a cactus before Mi Hyon could yank her back. Well surprise she got a thorn in her nose and again before Mi Hyon could react she used her tongue to grab it then swallow it. Mi Hyon frantically tried to get it from her mouth but it went right down. I just can't imagine how it did not get stuck in her throat (see picture)! So what now...well I searched the internet for guidance and advice, but there wasn't too much there (what was there was scarey)...I guess most dogs are ... read more