Lolo, Montana (Our home for a month)

We finally arrived at our Montana destination, the Square Dance Center and Campground in Lolo. No, we do not square dance ! The center has a nice campground and Lolo is just six miles from Missoula and fourteen miles from Stevensville where we have friends. We have been advised the campground is visited by bears and just a few days ago a mountain lion was in the campground area. The only wildlife we have seen thus far in the campground has been a wild turkey with some young. We love it here; 45-50 degrees at night and in the 70s during the day...perfect weather !

Stranded Atop a Mountain With Brake Issues

Just outside Challis, Idaho on Highway 93 is Willow Creek Summit. Here, we had a warning light on the air brake system. We spent the evening diagnosing the problem and concluded it was an electronic issue of some type rather than a serious brake issue. The next morning, I unhooked the Jeep and made the decent down the mountain carefully using the exhaust brake and driving slowly. We had no other brake issues. Spending the night in the pull-out atop Willow Creek Summit was pleasant and cool !

Cactus Pete's Casino, Jackpot, Nevada

We spent one night in the RV park of Cactus Pete's Casino in Jackpot, Nevada. It was a great site. The casino has done a great job for RV travelers. We had a double site at no extra charge and the price was right at $24. You can park in smaller sites for less. It was very clean and the staff are friendly. I highly recommend this as a stop. On Wednesday evening, the casino buffet is "two for one" so a buffet dinner was $7.00 each ! It was the standard casino buffet, well worth the price even at full price. We then proceeded to lose our standard gambling money in the slots and turned in for the night. Again, I recommend Cactus Pete's as a good casino RV stop.

Dry Camp Along Highway 50 Near Nevada Border

On the way from Bryce Canyon, we decided to take a less traveled road through Utah and avoid Salt Lake City. We traveled Highway 50 west toward Ely, Nevada. Along the way, we found a great spot along the road that offered a good dry camping spot. It was just four miles from here to the Nevada border. It was a peaceful night. We slept great and headed toward Jackpot, Nevada early the next morniing.

Zion National Park, Bryce National Park, Kodachrome Basin

 Utah is GREAT !  We visited Zion and Bryce National Parks and the Kodachrome Basin. Zion was congested with holiday visitors and hikers. Bryce was much less congested. Bryce was my favorite. It was visitor friendly, clean and very cool due to the high altitude. We enjoyed them all.

Grand Canyon, South Rim and Williams, AZ.

We spent two days parked in Williams, Arizona visiting the South Rim of Grand Canyon. Carmel and Leah were impressed. I had seen it once before and frankly, it's not a giant deal to me. I must be missing something. Williams, Arizona is an old stop on old Route 66 and has all the cafes, diners, and etc. to prove it. We parked at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park. It's basically a paved parking lot within walking distance to the main drag in Williams. It's OK. But, we would not stay there again as they have not one blade of grass for pets. The "pet walking area" is a rocked pathway around the inside perimeter of the park. I could tell the rocks were hurting our dog's feet.  The park is not pet friendly in our opinion, so we'll opt for a different park if we ever return to Williams.

Carlsbad-First Day

We arrived in Carlsbad in late afternoon, Saturday, May 19. We were planning on a trip the the Caverns here but that may be delayed while we deal with a coach leveling system problem. The coach's auto leveling system manufactured by HWH Corp. in Moscow, Idaho is acting up and the jacks (after lowering initially) will not retract to position the coach in a good level position. So, some work to do on the HWH system.

So, we took a break and visited the Living Desert Zoo and State Park just north of Carlsbad. It was just outstanding. At this facility, they take in native animals who have been injured or otherwise need a home. What a great, well managed, spotless facility. The animals which we found most interesting are some Mexican Wolves (all brothers), two mountain lions, bald eagle, sea eagle, and some native hawks. The bear was resting in it's cave early in the morning, and we missed it. If you're ever in the area, it is well worth the stop. They also have a temperature controlled house filled with cactus and plants from New Mexico. We saw cactus we had never heard of or seen.

Well, we finally departed Corpus Christi on 18 May, around 10:30 A.M. after a short morning battle with the electrical hook-ups from the Dutch Star to the Jeep.  We skirted around San Antonio on Highway 1604 and it was a pleasant alternative to Interstate 10 through San Antonio, which seems to always have construction in progress with narrow lanes restricted by the concrete barriers. We love San Antonio, but not I-10 through the city with our coach and Jeep.

We stopped at a I-10 picnic area near Junction, Texas late in the afternoon on the 18th, and after relaxing there, just decided to spend the night. We were all alone until around midnight when a few 18 wheelers pulled in. Even with the company, it was quiet and we rested well. There were no blinding parking lot lights and no restrooms to attract stop and go traffic, so it was a great overnight parking spot.

Finally Departing Next Week

Since returning from a job in Africa, Jim has been in the hospital twice for tests. We finally have the green light from all the doctors and plan on departing on the 18th for the northwest. Sure looking forward to the mountain air.  We are lucky to have a couple who will be staying in our home and taking care of it. That sure provides some peace of mind. Our trip this year will include Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce in Utah, a long stay in Montana, a long visit to the Glacier Park area, Yellowstone Park, Red Lodge, Montana, Cody Wyoming, Rocky Mountain Park, visiting family in Missouri, then visiting friends in Oklahoma on our return south. Naturally, we will enjoy all the interesting spots along the way and especially enjoy the time together.  We'll try to do a better job keeping up the blog.

A Week in Merida

We decided to head to the Yucatan for a week to visit Merida and some surrounding Mayan sites and small villages.  We were there during carnival which was OK...but not our reason for going.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to Uxmal.

 At Celestun, the largest flocks of flamingos in North America. 

Izamal is a small magical village in the heart of the state of Yucatan. Well worth a visit. Take a bus from Merida or hire a driver and car for the day.

Don't miss the Museum of Anthropology and History, Palacio Canton, Merida.

Update from Corpus Christi

Finally, the little Sayre family is once again united and at home in Corpus Christi. I returned from Africa on December 4th in time for a great Christmas (thanks to Carmel who gets into the real spirit and meaning of Christmas more than I).  It was really great visiting with Carmel's family and renewing friendships.

I have been playing catch up performing maintenance and clean up on the Dutch Star. I have really missed my coach and it's great to have her docked in my back yard. I loved the full time life but Carmel has made us a great home here in Corpus Christi and we plan on traveling maybe six months out of the year from here. I can't wait to point the Dutch Star west in April or May. But, until then we'll be working on keeping her "new".

We finally spent a day on the U.S.S. Lexington (docked on the Corpus Christi bayfront) and it was well worth it. I'll let you in on a secret.... The best hamburger in the city is served on the Lexington !  It's an old fashioned burger (artery clogging fried on a grill, toasted bun...the works).  Plan on spending several hours on the Lex to really get a feel for her history. Carmel was at her battle station but we saw no enemy planes !