c - Smooth Roads to Arizona

'Lets just get further west - it will be warmer' - suuure thing. Not
quite...... We are one again in a campground covered in snow....
After driving down the exit road from the campground on Thursday
morning.......... funny how that hill got steeper as the night hours
stretched on......... we were very happy to see that the interstate
was totally cleared off. Bunches of snow on the sides but we could
see the road again! I never thought I would be so happy to see an
interstate and be able to go screaming down it alongside the truckers!

Doglets were restless and we were both a bit tired, so it was really
good that Thursday was smooth riding, open roads, dry and lots of
sunshine. We had lots of good coffee and the best news of the day (of
the year so far) was that Steven's blood tests came back just great -
again! I sat and watched the time go by, swearing that I would not
call. But call I did, the news was good and my day improved
dramatically after that. :) Great stuff, Steven.

We spent the night in Santa Rosa, New Mexico - the campground had its
own restaurant so we spoiled ourselves and got some baby back ribs and
all the 'fixings' to go with it. We shared a plate, which left us
with a lovely leftover lunch today... I also had internet connection
there and was able to upload some of the photos of the day.

This morning we woke up cold and found the sewage hose frozen and
frozen to the ground too...... A little bit of warm water, another
pot of coffee brewed and we hit the highway again around 8am.
Beautiful sunshine beaming at us all day long....... The snow pretty
much cleared up for much of the way, until this evening. This is a
road that we have driven about 4 times already and many times I did
not snap a photograph simply because I know I have it somewhere on a
disk at home already. But there is still so much to see and much of
it makes me think about life and living and stuff. We drove past so
many old, broken down, abandoned houses and wonder why no one bothers
to fix them up. Right nearby would be a grubby old trailer, obviously
lived in and we would wonder why that would be a better option than
the block house that stood empty. There are an astounding number of
dead cars littering almost every place you can see. It's sometimes
difficult to get a photo without getting a good many rusted, wheel-
less cars in the pic.

The Indian Reservations particularly, are all run down, dusty looking,
surrounded by old cars and un-cared for yards. Such a pity that so
many communities live like this. And then the road leads one through
Alberquerque where everything is so new, and beautifully kept and
painted in colors that brighten without being glaring. Most of the
housing communities around Alberquerque are all in toned down colors
and it was lovely to see, about an hour past this, a row of houses
brilliantly painted in a different primary color each... Strange how
I still find myself with sweaty palms going through the middle of
major towns.

The interstate winds it's way almost parallel to the Historic Route 66
and there is a never ending supply of billboards trying to get you to
head to the old road and spend some much needed dollars... Coming
into any little town, the billboards quickly grow, towering over one
while advertising everything imaginable and one more Casino. Many,
many places advertising Mexican imports and Indian made goodies.
Occasionally there is a little pull off on the side of the interstate,
and a few stands where the locals sell their wares. It was at one of
these that we stopped to eat lunch. They advertise that its a 'scenic
overlook' - but the scenery is a bunch of houses on a hill! Ah well,
lunch was good :)

Even though the road was really good and smooth and I know that many
would find it boring, its quite amazing how the scenery changes
totally just going over a hill or around a bend in the road. One
minute we are driving with short scrubby bushes and nothing to see but
empty houses and then as we go around the corner, there are awesome
orange/red hills, actual trees and a mountain in the distance with
snow sprinkled on top! One year on the way to Alaska, we met a couple
at one of our multiple tire stops........the woman said that she slept
all the way there and back! I was horrified and often think of just
how much is missed - even on a 'boring' road. I hate even going to
the bathroom while we are driving for fear of missing something weird
or interesting!

Oh yes, that's one of the things that I really like about this rv. I
can get up to get some more coffee, stretch my legs, pet the dogs,
make a sandwich, go to the bathroom and peer out of the side windows
all while trundling on down the road! I can hardly imagine being
'stuck' in a seat not able to get up and move around a bit.

Anyway - so over the San Mateo Mountain range we tootled, past mud and
stone houses built right up next to the rocky outcrops almost
perfectly camouflaged and right back into snow-land! They must have
had one heck of a storm out here too - the snow lay thick between the
trees and covering all the open fields. We crossed over the
Continental Divide at 7545 feet just east of Gallup New Mexico. The
colors here are lovely - purple, orange, red, burned rust and heavily
dotted with pure white snow too - really pretty.

Into Arizona, past the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert - we have
been there twice so were quite content to bypass them this
time....then past the Meteor Crater as well and through terrain that
really had me thinking. It is literally barren ground, sandy and only
very small shrubs dotted around the place. This whole area used to be
a thick forest with huge trees and now its literally a dust pit! I
looked into the distance as we drove, trying to imagine what it looked
like all those years ago as thick, lush, green forest and all the life
that goes along with that....... quite sad, really.

And then we headed towards the San Fransisco Mountain Range that had a
goodly dollop of snow all over it! The trees grew up quickly,
stretching high up into the blue sky and they must be quite old too as
a good many of them had a fair girth....... Seeing proper trees like
this after a long run of literally just shrubs, is like greeting an
old friend again..... so good.

We had to laugh as we were trundling through Kingman,
Arizona.......... Blondie (the GPS) said "keep left and head towards
Los Van Habalas". So I grabbed the map and tried to find this place.
I loooooked and looked and then she said it again. Both Frank and I
swear thats what she said, but started laughing and decided to wait
for the signboard to see what she meant.........it's Los Angeles! Oh
boy. It's almost worth turning around and driving the same route
again just to hear her say it again.....almost.

And so another long but lovely day ended with us finding a KOA
campground just west of Kingman and about 300 miles from Joleen at
Twentynine Palms California. Yes, its all white outside, pretty white
with very muddy roads and a definite beyond-chill in the air. We are
trying to tell ourselves to enjoy it as we wont get this cold again in
a while, but its not easy to do in this tin can! :)

We will probably get to Joleen early in the afternoon tomorrow. It's
really been a lovely ride so far - even the excitement of the Ice
Road.......all part of the fun. Stop laughing, Kate!!

Doglets are doing fine traveling too. Allie does not seem so freaked
out this time and it was really cute to have them all bundled together
in their 'cave' for a good while today. Sophie definitely has a
'look' that says that she needs to go out *now* and we have learned
that we need to listen to that look.

We will spend the weekend with Joleen and Billy, head to the vet to
get the dogs a clean bill of health certificate again on Monday and
then head directly south into solid sunshine on Tuesday morning! The
dogs certificates of health are only valid for 72 hours, so we had
them done at home with their vet and will get them re-certified in
California.

Thats me for tonight. Frank is already in dreamland, trying to stay
warm there...... We had a good Frank-made dinner with the last of
Ken's awesome bread and the last of the eggs and a fruit salad made
with as much fruit as we could use........ the State of California
will confiscate the rest when we get there tomorrow - ah well.

love and light
Annie
http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

Ice Roads.........

This was the road that we spend hours and hours and hours on today! Solid ice and trucks.

b - Ice Run into Oklahoma..

The bed is different from the one at home, the sheets and blankets
slide off, its about a foot shorter than a normal bed and about 10
bricks harder........ So neither of us slept well, but I was woken up
with an evil little voice asking me if I wanted pics of the snow
before it all melted.... I have to admit that I had hoped that we had
left the white stuff behind us, but noooooo. So I went and took a few
pictures, more out of duty to my camera than anything else...

By now Allie had realized that we were on the move again, so she
started hyperventilating........sigh. Sophie was all over the place
wanting to know what was happening. The slide out froze in the out
position and we had to have both of us pulling on it to help the motor
to pull it in again. We could hear the ice scrunching on the top of
it and later during the day, felt the melt water dribble down the
walls......another sigh. It was cold today! We had icicles hanging
from the part of the RV that hangs over the front - and I watched as
these grew during the next good many hours...... yes grew.

There were huge flocks of geese filling the skies - all headed north
and away from this cold........yes, North!

And so we headed off back to the interstate smugly thinking that we
would get 'way past' Oklahoma City by days end and out of the cold
white stuff..... suuuuure thing! The trees and shrubs on the side of
the road got prettier and prettier with the dusting of snow and the
camera jumped and performed and caught some lovely ice photos and
frozen trees and then we saw a little slush in the road........and
then, well, and then the day got pretty much ruined. From one minute
to the next the road disappeared and an ice road appeared. We drove
for about 5 hours on solid ice about 2 inches thick, most of it
breaking up and terribly uneven so that our maximum speed was around 7
miles per hour - for hours and hours and hours. The noise was
indescribable and the microwave bounced loose from his screws, not
falling out, but having to be reseated.

I don't quite know how to describe those hours of 'driving'. Some
people thought it was just great fun and screamed past us at high
speed (15mph) throwing slush, sand and salt all over the windshield.
The road was reduced to one lane at the best of times and much of the
time it was just a free for all, wherever-you-can-drive-and-make-the-
least-noise-and-bumps piece of ribbon through an endless white scenery
with trucks backed up front and behind us, over the hills and into
other counties. We were nearly smashed into by one idiot with a
trailer and three cars on that - it was really close and Frank got rid
of some frustration by leaning heavily on the horn.....not a funny
moment at all.

The ice on the trees broke many branches and created an awesome and
ethereal scenery to keep me and the camera occupied and eyes away from
the road. After about 2 hours of this, the beauty became secondary to
just trying to stay on the road and hoping something on the rv would
not break. The exit ramps were simply not accessible at all, so we
could not stop, could not get off and just had to keep going... I
know hell is supposed to be hot, but this was the cold version..... If
anyone ever asks me when my 'hot sweats' started - the answer to that
is "about 100 miles east of Oklahoma City!".

Allie stayed in her 'cave' all snug and warm and Sofie came and acted
like a little blanket on my lap - she really is becoming a soppy
little doglet :)

Many of the trees had started budding already and they had a pink
tinge underneath the ice that had thoroughly coated them - quite
pretty. We saw more wrecks today than we had seen in all of our other
trips combined. At least 5 trucks ended up on their sides, many many
cars skidded off the road, one poor family was moving their stuff in a
little UHaul trailer and it turned over and spread all its contents
over the interstate.... One accident had three 53foot tractor
trailers involved - one a double-doozie! We were really very lucky -
there were many close calls with us and trucks and others just pushing
it too fast, but Frank pushed and pulled and dragged Skilpad through
it all. Fortunately the noise disguised most of my squeaks and not-so-
silent plea's for an end to the horror so he did not have to deal with
that too often.

We are now in a KOA Campground about 20 miles east of Oklahoma City -
yup - still this side...... but happy to be stopped and not stopped on
the interstate in the dark and ice. The campground is totally white
with snow and getting out of here tomorrow morning is going to be
interesting, to say the least. Funny how quickly trees grow into
obstacles rather than just trees.........and there are many of them
here!

On a happier note, Mo Crow hooked up with us again today! Mo Crow is
a big black crow that seems to follow us on all our trips, whether its
to the Carolina Coast or Alaska - he and his family keep dropping down
on the side of the highway to see how we are doing. Nuts, yes. But
its amazing to see just how often these crows are everywhere one goes.

I am trying to get photos up onto the photobucket website, but the
connection here is in slow-mo..... The link is below each email -
hopefully I will have some pics soon.

Love and light
Annie
http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

a - On the Road Again!

It felt totally natural driving down the road this morning in the
RV. There was no major excitement, no whooo hooo or yippeee's - just
a bleary eyed natural-ness about it all. Any time before it gets
light should be illegal - I just don't function worth squat before the
light arrives.... Frank wakes up when he has slept enough with a kind
of "hello world!" attitude no matter what the time, while I try to
burrow deeper under the covers..... and so it was this morning. I
woke to the sounds of coffee percolating, last minute things being
packed up and carried out to the RV that was right outside the front
door. There is only so long one can lie there and listen to this
without feeling like a total b*tch. So up I got and put on the mood
- boy did it feel right.

After waving goodbye to Steven who was on his way to work, we pulled
out just before 8am, grinning meanly in the direction of the computer
shop that is all tightly shut until we get back. It felt so good!
Katie - kind of like that hypnosis tape---"it felt so good to feel so
good! LOL. Slowly I woke up, sipping coffee and getting used to the
sounds of everything in the RV again. Allie had burrowed under her
bed again, so I flipped it over making her a cave to hang out in while
she hated us as we drove. Sophie looked at us in horror and barked
loudly at everything for the first minute or two - then she calmed
down and was fine for the rest of the day. She yips at us when she
needs to go out and then holds it in until we find a pull over place -
wonderful! We think they are in cahoots - Allie just wanting this
wheelie house to stop at all cost and Sophie knowing just how to get
us to stop!

We first planned to head north on the I24, through Nashville, Memphis
into Arkansas on the I40, but looking at the weather we changed our
plan to take the 72W which is a smaller road and further south. Oh
boy am I glad we did that. After joining up with the I40 in Memphis,
we saw so much ice being flung from the trucks and cars coming from
the northern roads! I would not have enjoyed that at all.

Blondie the GPS did well today. A few times I changed my mind on
roads to take after giving her directions, and she calmly re-adjusted
herself without any yelling whatsoever, to the new route. And she did
a perfect job through Memphis. After that it went downhill, and I
turned her sound off. Evidently she does not like the I40 and
constantly wants us to 'turn around and turn around again...." I
swear she gets more insistent each time. Maybe she is pms-ing? again?
Kay (in the form of a shell) is perched on Blondie's shoulder and
hopefully will talk to her rather sternly tonight!

Driving on the lower road and through small little towns is
interesting in many ways... I love seeing what different people do
with their yards, how they decorate or dress up their houses according
to their likes and dislikes and characters. Some houses are obviously
loved and cared for, much time being taken in the pruning and
trimming, planting and enhancing of the gardens and others - well, you
can see that they are just places to live in. It's interesting to see
the ideas people come up with for their mailboxes - from 1960's
child's pram to a John Deer tractor - all brightly perched on a pole,
telling so much about those that live there. I like seeing all these
differing personalities being shown.

The little towns are all pretty much the same too - well, they have
the same kind of stores along the main through road.... McD's, Vet,
thrift store, Wally World, etc etc..... most often with the biggest
church slap in the middle of town. Some of the old buildings are just
beautiful, calling for a camera to catch them before they fall or are
taken down. That old red brick has so much character and the stairs
winding their way up on the outside of the buildings.........so many
stories.

So here we sit - in an Arkansas campground somewhere, about 50 miles
West of Memphis - in this homely tin can with the rain and sleet
pounding the world outside. It's a beautiful sound to go to sleep
with and Frank is already there :) Sophie is curled up at my feet and
Allie is next to the heater in the room. It's dark outside and it's
rather like sitting in my own little world right now. I can faintly
hear the traffic on the interstate and there are muted lights all over
the campground No internet connection tonight which is probably good
as I am also tired and being able to get online would just keep me up.

We are hoping for some sunshine tomorrow - it rained all day today and
made it very difficult for my camera to function at all. I must say
that even at the mention of possible snow tonight and tomorrow
morning, by camera is lurking in a dark corner, not at all keen to go
and play in the white stuff.

Off to sleep with me now too. We gained an hour along the way but we
really don't know the correct time. Our cell phones tell one time,
the clock another and Blondie - well she is hours out from anything
else... But its dark, cold and it was a really great day. Neither of
us wear a watch either.....

We are really very, very fortunate and blessed to be able to do yet
another trip like this, and we carry that thought with us every mile
of the way.

love and light
Annie

http://bajabaggs.blogspot.com

Packing..

Today Frank brought Skilpad around to the front of the house to make packing easier.  Allie took one look and ran for the furtherest bedroom in the house, Sophie just stood barking at it....

We packed and sorted all day long - and still have a long way to go.  I don't want to put my camera or computer stuff in there until we leave, but we have most of the food in now and our clothes will go in tomorrow morning and then all the little odds and ends that seem endless.

Tuesdays morning is the time we have picked to leave....early morning and will probably get to Memphis or thereabouts by the evening.  

It's real - its going to happen!  Sunshine, warmth, beaches.......did I say sunshine?

Why??

This is why!  Snow........  These are photos of some of the snowflakes that graced us with their presence the other day.  Since then, its been cold enough for it to snow - but no more, well, none that were formed into pretty flakes.  

Yesterday we had quite a lot of white stuff falling and I quickly grabbed my camera in hope of capturing some more of these incredible designs......... but nooooo. The snow was made up of little straight crystals all bundles together - no rhyme or form or prettiness at all. What a disappointment, even though it was really pretty. 

It's cold here, and then I read about the amazing, warm and wonderful days down in Baja and I want to keep packing and sorting and getting ready to roll!

Today we bought the bike rack for the bicycles.  We were hoping to get a scooter or two to take along, but all they are all so big and bulky and we just don't want to rush into getting something we wont want or use later. Maybe for the next trip down - maybe then we will be more organized.

We have had the doglets injected, nails trimmed, faces trimmed and primed for the trip.  We have extra deworming mootie and flea and tick stuff too...  Their official 'healthy letters' from the vet will come in next week after a final check on them both and then we should all be all set and really ready to get rolling!

The dining room is filled with bags and boxes and plastic containers all ready to get loaded into the RV.  Normally we would have put quite a bit of it in there already, but it just too blasted cold to go out more than absolutely necessary!  So a few days before we head out, Frank will bring the RV around to the front, hook up the heat and then we can load and stay half warm at the same time. 

I would love to have Steven's test results before we leave, but am determined to not be freaky even if I have to wait for them.  It would be lovely to leave with that peaceful feeling though.  

Anyway - the computer is cleaned up, we even have a spare one.  The cameras batteries are all charged up and ready, the lenses all cleaned and the extra hard drives ready to get loaded with the thousands of photos I just know I will be taking. Today I tested the High Definition movie mode in the new camera and it is fantastic!  

Tomorrow morning I must put the signs up on the shop, warning people that we are leaving....

Ten days........... only ten days more.....

Annie

Translations...

Just a little background and translations too :)

We get to see all these wonders around this continent from the comfy base of our 29 foot Class C Motor Home (RV).  We have two pullouts which make for a great amount of extra space and almost taking us out of the 'camping' heading. There really is no roughing it in Skilpad at all.  She is our home away from home. Well, apart from the really cruddy little shower that is now a storage place :)

Skilpad is the name of our RV - it means "Tortoise" in Afrikaans, a language of South Africa where I come from.  The Tortoise gets there eventually - slow and sure, chomping at the juicy grasses along the way, looking left and right and plodding right along.  Skilpad.

The bakkie is not coming along for the ride this time.  "Bakkie" is another Afrikaans word, meaning 'pickup'.  She has been only on most of our other adventures, but this time we are going it alone.  Well, apart from the bicycles.

Our travel companions are Allie and Sophie, otherwise jointly known as 'doglets'.  They are mini yorkies and not yappers at all.  Allie, who is two and a half years old, hates traveling in the RV.  I mean she REALLY hates it.  

I have now learned to turn her bed upside down and turn it into a cave where she hides for every mile we drive.  When we stop, she is just fine again, every time - until Frank moves towards the drivers seat ....  then she starts with her shaking and runs and hides in her cave.  It drives me nuts.

Sophie, only 11 months old, really does not give a hoot where she is as long as there is food to eat and a squeaky mouse to chew on.  She occasionally takes pieces of food to Allie to try to entice her out of her cave, but so far with no success.  It's pitiful to see.  Sophie has learned to entertain herself very well, which in turn keeps us well stocked up with laughs.

Blondie is our GPS system.  I am not sure how much I should talk about her and maybe I will change her into a him for this trip.  No, no - it's just a voice change - nothing dramatic!  Last time she misled us badly some times, tried to derail us totally at other times and had us laughing when she repeatedly and without reason, would demand that we 'turn around, and turn around again' at the oddest of places that had absolutely no possible turnaround points, or any reason to do so.   Think a lecture would help her before we leave?

We really do live in a little town called Soddy Daisy, and our house really is painted (by choice) a bright canary yellow.  We don't travel with any time schedule or reservations anywhere at all - pretty much tootling down the road for as many hours as we are comfortable with.

This Baja adventure is going to be a new way of travel to us.  Before - we pretty much screamed up the Alcan Hwy, or across Canada sometimes driving 12 hours a day - our record is 14 hours and thats because there was so much light at that time of year and it was just lovely around each corner.  Once we reach Baja, we will slow down dramatically....we are going to learn how to just hang out slowly, stay in one place for more than a few days maybe and ............of course, fill up on photos.  Plenty walks, bicycle rides, whale watches and other things.... 

I welcome any questions or comments on the blog.  Till later

Annie

Planning for Baja

Oh wow - I have not been this excited about an adventure since our first road trip to Alaska in 2003....... This trip will be all new roads, apart from the run from here to Tijuana at the Mexican border, but then we get to see my youngest sproglet, Joleen,  who is a gorgeous blue eyed, freckle faced United States Marine based in Twentynine Palms, CA.   This will make those known roads, and the interstate, more bearable.

The information I have found and been given from people on the "Baja boards" has been wonderful and so incredibly helpful - I think I have half a ton of printed stuff that I just know I will probably forget about as soon as the camera jumps up at the first sight of the ocean and the adventure unfolds.

Our dining room is filled with bags of stuff to be packed in the RV and the doglets (mini yorkies) know something is happening.  Allie does not like travel, Sophie does not care at all and is rather a joker.  Blondie, the GPS, is slowly waking up...... maybe we should dye her hair before setting out on this trip?  She gave us some serious headaches on the last trip to see the Aurora Borellis - trying her damdest to get us to drive off the top of the Icefield Parkway in Canada!  Maybe she has had an attitude adjustment while hanging around in that dark drawer for a while?  I hope so.....

Tomorrow I will put the sign up on the marquee telling everyone that we are closing the shop in the last week of January until we get back.  When are we going to be back?   Probably around the first week in March, but to be sure, lets just say - the minute the wheels stop turning in front of this little yellow house again :)  I know - it drives people nuts when we do this, but they love looking at the photos I print out and staple to the shop walls after each trip while we fix there virus ridden or sick computers.   It's quite a job picking out which ones go up as I only have place for about 200 pics - without using the ceiling!  The problem is that I take thousands of photos on each trip.  I looked at it the other day and on the trips of 13000 miles, I took around 13000 pics.  The last trip to Alaska was 'only' 11000 miles and yes............ 11000 photos! Sorting is hell, but wonderful too....... so many memories, so many smiles.

Ok - so not much will be posted until the day we leave and hopefully we will have semi-regular internet so that I can update from along the way.

I am so incredibly excited!