Karla's Kronicles #3

The Karla Kronicles – February 2006

Dear Family and Friends, We are “On the Road Again”!!!!

The Sunday prior to leaving Tucson, we made time for one last Motorcycle Ride for the season. So it was off to Tubac AZ with our Biker Buddies. What a wonderful day it was. Good weather for riding, great company for visiting!!

With the cargo trailer stored and our furniture still safely at self-storage in Tucson, we headed out of town. But only as far as Casa Grande Western Horizons Resort. After all the packing and checking out, we wanted a short trip out to catch our breath. We had the fortunate opportunity to camp two nights with motorcycle buddies, Roy and Dot, who have recently acquired an RV of their own. Roy is a fellow displaced “Raytheoner” who had worked with Larry on his last project prior to retirement. Roy brought along his telescope and suddenly the moon was touchable. This has inspired us to research and desire a powerful Celestial telescope for ourselves. We know from past experience when the night skies over Marblemount are clear, the stars, constellations and planets are just

”OUT OF THIS WORLD!!”

From Yuma, we traveled up to Palm Springs Thousand Trails. This preserve was developed in an old Date Palm Grove. The members harvest and sell the dates in the convenience store on site. These RV spaces are in high demand, especially in February. As we were leaving, 3 rigs were pulling in at 9:00 a.m. to take any empty space available. The spaces are so tight to maneuver in because of the large Date Palm Trees, that we waited until the Motorhome across from us left, so we could use their space to get out of our site. There was another Motorhome waiting to go into that vacant site and we asked that they give us about 10 minutes to maneuver our way out. They understood completely and let us make our escape.

We always get some visiting time with my Cousins, Buck and Ellen, who spend about 6 weeks in Palm Springs each winter. And, a couple we met last October at Verde Valley Thousand Trails were keeping track of our route and keeping in touch via email and they came to visit us at the Preserve. It just happened that they had friends parked just 7 sites down from us! Talk about coincidences! It was great to see Les and Carole again and meet their friends. Les and Carole are coming to stay with us in Marblemount this May on their way to Alaska. They are fellow full-timers and TT Members. We got some great advice on what sites to choose at our next stop from their friends. So now were currently at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon in Acton CA. (North of Los Angeles). As TT members, they had all been here before. The networking among fellow members is always great. So here I am in the “Nugget Loop” of Soledad Canyon, writing my Kronicles while surrounded by wonderful scenery! We are up on a hilltop where we have great cell phone and Internet coverage and we look over rolling hills, listen to the coyotes and watch the hawks fly by!

That brings you all up to date except we had planned to only be in Soledad Canyon 5 days, but we’ve had to extend our stay a while. Our truck has developed a bit of a “cough” due to an injector that is wearing down – it likes to blow lots of icky smoke and is making a pretty good racket. So we have an appointment with a local Ford Dealership Friday morning to get that taken care of before we move on. This Thousand Trails preserve is so nice, that we don’t mind staying longer and by-passing the next stop.

In other good news, our Bremerton Rental house has been sold; we received final papers here at the resort and sent them back. The transactions should be done and recorded by Friday! Another major liquidation for us!!...we are now down to the Marblemount property and the Florida Villa. Simplify, Simplify! It’s great to take Bremerton off our list of concerns and bank those proceeds!

See the USA the Internet Way!

The Karla Kronicles – February 2006 Dear Family and Friends, We are “On the Road Again”!!!!
We left our Tucson home base at Rincon Country Village RV Resort on Wednesday morning, February 1^st. Our year’s lease was up at that time and although it was a great winter place to roost, we were feeling pretty anxious to hit the road again and head for Marblemount, WA. We aren't traveling fast, though. We are taking the scenic ocean route up Northern California and Oregon, Washington and hopefully around the Olympic Peninsula. The Sunday prior to leaving Tucson, we made time for one last Motorcycle Ride for the season. So it was off to Tubac AZ with our Biker Buddies. What a wonderful day it was. Good weather for riding, great company for visiting!!
	If you’ve never visited Tubac, it is a small town located south of Tucson with lots of art galleries, outdoor sculptures, fountains, jewelry, pottery, and restaurants. Tubac is Very Unique!!!
This is the way you feed the wildlife at Tubac. You can have this very own elk in your backyard if you like. However, it will cost your about $43,000 plus shipping. If you would like to purchase this item, let me know and I will get you in touch with the seller.
	Before we left Rincon RV Village, the 8’ x 12’ storage shed that served as Larry’s outside office space had to be sold, emptied, and moved off our lot, so now Larry’s first challenge of 2006 was to modify our Wells Cargo 7’ x 14’ enclosed cargo trailer that serves as our “motorcycle garage” to hold most of the shed items AND the Beamer!! He neatly converted the inside of the trailer to hold shelves down each side and then SQUUEEEEZED the motorcycle inside (minus its mirrors!) Tight fit, but Larry did it. Rode right up the back ramp and into the carefully saved space just wide enough for the bike. Getting off the bike proved to be interesting. I thought I may have to just leave him in there!
With the cargo trailer stored and our furniture still safely at self-storage in Tucson, we headed out of town. But only as far as Casa Grande Western Horizons Resort. After all the packing and checking out, we wanted a short trip out to catch our breath. We had the fortunate opportunity to camp two nights with motorcycle buddies, Roy and Dot, who have recently acquired an RV of their own. Roy is a fellow displaced “Raytheoner” who had worked with Larry on his last project prior to retirement. Roy brought along his telescope and suddenly the moon was touchable. This has inspired us to research and desire a powerful Celestial telescope for ourselves. We know from past experience when the night skies over Marblemount are clear, the stars, constellations and planets are just ”OUT OF THIS WORLD!!”
	After Casa Grande, our next overnight destination was Yuma. Just shy of Yuma by a few miles, we were able to stop in the town of Welton, AZ to have lunch with my Cousin Janet and her hubby, Jay. They winter in Welton AZ and summer in Bend OR, so over the past couple of years we’ve been able to visit them at both locations! This is great when you think that prior to a couple of years ago, we hadn’t seen each other in over 30 years! The Restaurant is not known for it’s “curb appeal” but the food was good, good, good! Great Visit, J&J!
Onward now to Yuma to set up camp at Kottke SW. Larry and Shirley Kottke (both former Honeywellers) are gracious hosts who winter in Yuma and keep a space on their lot with full hookups for visitors. We always call ahead for reservations, but we’ve never been turned away! We had some good eats (Larry made us his RIBS), a little hiking, a little Super Bowl watching (so sad, Hawks lost!) more eating and drinking and lots of visiting.
	Larry and Shirley go Geo-Caching, so we hiked “up in them there Yuma foothills” to look for treasure. Larry K. gave Larry D. a web site link that shows there are Geo-Caching treasures all over the country; and yes, even near Marblemount! This is a big hobby for folks. So now we may be purchasing a carry-along GPS (which will also be good for back pack trips) and start another hobby. Exercise and Treasure Hunting at the same time…a good, healthy hobby! For those not familiar with Geo-Caching, you follow GPS coordinates to discover a “treasure chest”. Usually, it’s a canister (like a cookie tin) and when you find it, you place your personal trinket inside, sign the log, and remove a trinket from the Treasures that were placed inside the Cache by previous geo-cachers to keep for your souvenir! This could get habit forming as we travel along!
From Yuma, we traveled up to Palm Springs Thousand Trails. This preserve was developed in an old Date Palm Grove. The members harvest and sell the dates in the convenience store on site. These RV spaces are in high demand, especially in February. As we were leaving, 3 rigs were pulling in at 9:00 a.m. to take any empty space available. The spaces are so tight to maneuver in because of the large Date Palm Trees, that we waited until the Motorhome across from us left, so we could use their space to get out of our site. There was another Motorhome waiting to go into that vacant site and we asked that they give us about 10 minutes to maneuver our way out. They understood completely and let us make our escape. We always get some visiting time with my Cousins, Buck and Ellen, who spend about 6 weeks in Palm Springs each winter. And, a couple we met last October at Verde Valley Thousand Trails were keeping track of our route and keeping in touch via email and they came to visit us at the Preserve. It just happened that they had friends parked just 7 sites down from us! Talk about coincidences! It was great to see Les and Carole again and meet their friends. Les and Carole are coming to stay with us in Marblemount this May on their way to Alaska. They are fellow full-timers and TT Members. We got some great advice on what sites to choose at our next stop from their friends. So now were currently at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon in Acton CA. (North of Los Angeles). As TT members, they had all been here before. The networking among fellow members is always great. So here I am in the “Nugget Loop” of Soledad Canyon, writing my Kronicles while surrounded by wonderful scenery! We are up on a hilltop where we have great cell phone and Internet coverage and we look over rolling hills, listen to the coyotes and watch the hawks fly by! That brings you all up to date except we had planned to only be in Soledad Canyon 5 days, but we’ve had to extend our stay a while. Our truck has developed a bit of a “cough” due to an injector that is wearing down – it likes to blow lots of icky smoke and is making a pretty good racket. So we have an appointment with a local Ford Dealership Friday morning to get that taken care of before we move on. This Thousand Trails preserve is so nice, that we don’t mind staying longer and by-passing the next stop. In other good news, our Bremerton Rental house has been sold; we received final papers here at the resort and sent them back. The transactions should be done and recorded by Friday! Another major liquidation for us!!...we are now down to the Marblemount property and the Florida Villa. Simplify, Simplify! It’s great to take Bremerton off our list of concerns and bank those proceeds!
Well, as many of you know we stopped traveling with pets about 6 years ago. It gets a bit lonely on the road, so Larry’s Mom bought me a pup for Christmas. This is Murdock. He is so very well behaved. Easy to feed and walk; and already house broken!
So now we would love to hear from you! We will keep our website up to date as much as possible with our travel schedule and additions to the photo albums not included in these Kronicles. We are wishing all of you good health and happiness. We have lost several special people in our lives during the past few months, or have heard of serious illnesses affecting the health of family and friends. Our thoughts are with you. It just re-emphasizes our need to follow our goals: To travel, To visit, To call, To email, and To keep in touch. So we hope to hear back from YOU!