Views from the Road

Drive between Cottonwood and Flagstaff. The San Francisco Mountains in Flagstaff were still snow covered. It made for a beautiful drive. (04/19/2010)



In Shamrock, Tx......just us and the cows. (04/24/2010)

Quapaw, OK ----- Downstream Casino

Another casino, another tournament. Barb is definitely getting her poker fix before we arrive in St. Louis. We leave today .... have 300 miles to go.......2 days travel. These are the kind of travel days we enjoy.......... get up late, have coffee, read the paper, check e-mail, leave campsite by 10:00 am, drive about 3 hours stopping at least two times, and stop for the night by 2:00 pm. Then we have the rest of the day to check out the area, take a walk, and just relax.

We will be staying in St. Charles, MO at the Sundermeier RV Park which is about a 20 minute drive from Barb's mom. That will give her an opportunity to be there most every day and spend some real quality time with her. We will also spend time catching up with friends who we have not seen for quite awhile.

Love, hugs, and safe travels to all of you,
Linda and Barb

El Reno, Ok -- Lucky Star Casino

Well, here we are in Concho , OK at the Lucky Star Casino. We always have to stop here because they have poker tournaments every day and some times twice per day. We arrived at 12:30 yesterday and the first tournament was at 1:00; for those of you who understand , it was a shoot out. Barb won that one !!!

Then at 5:00 pm there was another tournament with a guaranteed $3000 pay out. At 7:30 Barb called to say she was at the final table of 10 --- a guaranteed winner !!! Hooray !

We will stay another day for today's games.

love and hugs,
linda and barb

A Map of our Travels: April 11 - May 1, 2010

Apache Junction, AZ - Tolleson, AZ - Cottonwood (Sedona),Az - Gallup, NM - Albuquerque, NM - Tucumcari, NM - Shamrock, TX - El Reno (Lucky Star Casino), OK - Quapaw (Downstream Casino-near Joplin, MO),OK - St. Charles, MO

Tucumcari, NM

Well, here we are in Tucumcari, NM waiting for the winds to calm down. Again our plans have changed. We were to stay just one night until I checked the weather. Winds of 35 mph all day with gusts of 50-60 mph............that was enough to convince us to sit still instead of driving. So yesterday we rocked and rolled in the motorhome , watched the trees bend and swirl and the dust blow crazy in all directions. Played a little gin rummy and read books.

Today we are on the road again.....not sure how far we will get but will probably be in Oklahoma by this evening.

Cottonwood, AZ to Albuquerque,NM

We left Cottonwood on Monday with plans to travel about 160 miles to Holbrook, AZ, close to the Painted Desert. We thought if we arrive early enough we would drive over to the Painted Desert for photo opportunities. We had reservations at a rv park that we thought we had never been to but was only 12 miles from the Desert. Well, you know what poor condition some of the small towns are along the road with old machinery, cars and other trash just sitting around...........that is what this campground looked like. The campsites were on a dirt section on the side of the road with an electric outlet every few feet. Needless to say, we kept on driving.

Another 100 miles and we were in Gallup..........nice campground, fresh air and pleasant people. That means we traveled 240 miles in one day !!!!!

From Gallup we drove to Albuquerque planning to stay one night............but Costco called us and we stayed another day...........had not been to Costco in over two weeks!!!

Tomorrow we are on the road again............we will see what adventures that will bring us.

Hugs to all of you,
Barb and Linda

Lapitka Dwellings and Rock Art- photos added 4/26

The Lapitka Dwellings are located near Sedona and are the remains of the Sinagua Tribe. The dwellings were occupied between AD 650 to 1300. The rock art displays date back over 6000 years.


The drive to the Dwellings

Remaining wall of dwellings

Rock Art painted on to boulders in area.

Notice the variations of paint colors used.

We had a wonderful day hiking up the hillside to get to these dwellings and petroglyphs.

hugs to all,

linda and barb

Summer Travels Begin

It is now April 18, 2010 and we have left our winter home in Apache Junction. Actually we left a week ago Sunday and have managed to drive a little over 100 miles to Cottonwood, AZ, near Sedona. Our plan was to stay 2 nights but 5 days later and we are still here.

Montezuma's Well


Barb and Linda at Montezuma's Well

Montezuma's Castle

The red rocks of Sedona are beautiful...........we are enjoying the views as well as our day's adventures. We have gone to Montezuma's Castle, Montezuma's Well and Lapitka Pueblo. The Castle and the Pueblo are homes built into the sides of the hills by the Indians beginning with 760AD. The Well is a large pond that moves 1.5 million gallons of water per day and the source is unknown.

We are heading to St. Louis and plan to arrive by the first week of May. I will keep you up to date as to our journey.

Love and hugs to all of you.................
Barb and Linda