From Las Cruces to Quartzsite

Today we drove from Las Cruces, NM to Quartzsite, AZ. We were surprised how much traffic was on the road on Thanksgiving Day - but certainly less than yesterday.

The most momentous thing today is that I DROVE the Big Beast. I drove from rest area to rest areas - handed off before we hit Phoenix - but I drove. Michael commented I never went over the fog line - which is due to the fact that I hugged the center line.  The speed limit was 75 mph and many go way faster. This made it easier for me. I went 65 mph (as high as we want to go with this) and most passed me. I only had to switch lanes once to pass.  I will continue to practice and get more comfortable with it - but we're on our way. We are also looking into an RV driving course.... This is my, "I don't like Semis passing," look.  It feels like we are going to smack each other. Michael tells me the lanes are not smaller - "it's all in illusion." Sure.

 Air brakes, exhaust brakes and so many gadgets to monitor....but Michael said I did well. 

We had thought there would be an Iron Skillet or Denny's at our stop for the nigh - but there wasn't. There was Wendy's....so we ate at Wendy's for Thanksgiving Dinner. LOL Actually, I got a bowl of minestrone from the Flying J market and took it into Wendy's.

San Antonio - Las Cruces

 Yesterday, Michael's trucking past kicked in and we drove like truckers. I didn't feel well - but have a bathroom. We could drive without stopping; so we did.  We were both worn out by the time we hit San Antonio. Michael was sore, achy and tremoring quite a bit.

Today, we decided to take more breaks. We got up early in San Antonio, made it through that madness and continued down I 10. My BFF from San Angelo, had emailed and asked if she could meet us along I 10. She drove 2 1/2 hours ONE WAY, to meet in the DQ parking lot so we could visit.  The day before THANKSGIVING - she took at least 6 hours out of her day to visit. I sure love this gal. We arrived before they opened, had a quick time to catch up. She brought two mugs, lemon tea, honey, and Emergen C with her! She's amazing that way. We'll be back in TX for Jamin's graduation in May. I am praying and hoping we can make it a leisurely trip....go to San Angelo for a bit, Abilene for a bit, San Antonio and Houston....maybe see the Grand Canyon on the way back....we shall see.

Deja and De'Etta Two Shoeless girls who Gelled

We drove for a few more hours and Michael was really tired. We found a rest area and he went in the back and took an hour long nap. My mission was to spend at least 20 minutes in the "cock pit" and get familiar with it all.  This I did. Then I pulled out some wipes and detailed the cockpit so it was bright and shiny when Michael woke up.

I had a lot of questions, which we discussed. I now understand how to start up a diesel, how to stop the beast etc. I know many are dying for the day I take to the road - but here's the thing - THIS IS HUGE! It's 38 feet long. My dad and husband both have driven semis, school buses and have their CDLs. My friends have husbands who drive semi-trucks. They go to TRAINING to drive trucks and they often have annual safety trainings. Why do we think a person should just be able to jump in one of these things and intuitively KNOW all the different safety risks, turning radius' etc?????? So - Michael is fine with taking his time and teaching me....and our insurance has said I can drive without a driving school certificate or CDL, but our insurance will be significantly lower if I do either of these things. We are going to look into a RV driving course somewhere - though I'll drive before then.

We headed down the road again and stopped one more time to take a walk.....and for me to do a bit of driving - a tiny bit. I also pulled it away from the pump to a "parking" spot in our last truck stop. Small steps. The traffic was really busy  - it's the day before Thanksgiving.  My plan is to do more of the driving tomorrow - with less traffic on the highways. These are TOTALLY staged - Michael was sitting on the floor beside me pointing out gauges, checking mirrors and such when I was moving the monster.

These wind shades are one of my favorite things about the RV - we get a LOT of bugs 

We stopped at a truck stop in Los Cruces - filled up, bought SOFT Kleenex and some meds - quickly realized we did NOT want to sleep here. We went and found an RV park with a 5 star rating. It was nice to put the slides out, hook up to shore power and SLEEP - without trucks running next to us and highway noise. We are refreshed and have 1800 miles to go! 

We're Done In

It caught up with us.

We worked hard right up to the 11th.

The 11th we drove ourselves and Mom G to OR, got the kids settled, packed and had a VA appointment.

The 12th we left Mom and Dad T's house in OR at 0430 and didn't go to bed until midnight in Houston.

The  cruise was wildly relaxing.....

Saturday was an 18 hour travel day  - it began in Galveston, TX and ended in Melborne, FL.

Sunday we bought an RV and traveled 6 hours - a late night - all in FL.

Monday we spent the a.m. at the shop and  traveled 6 or 7 hours - FL - MS. It was a great day - but late.

Nameless wonder at a Texas Rest Stop 

Today was a 12 hour travel day. We began in MS and are now in TX.  We had hoped to go a bit further - but we're done!

We still have at least 3- 12 hour traveling days -  2200 miles.   There is simply NO way I see us making OR by Thanksgiving. We may kill ourselves if we keep trying.

In addition, we've caught some bug. I got a cold in FL. I have some sort of GI upset. I was fairly sure I caught a dreaded Caribbean virus, but Michael is just as sure it's simply strange water and exhaustion - mixed with a FL cold. 😵 Michael is feeling ragged himself.

We have stopped. This is our view tonight - every other truck stop has had RV spots. This one doesn't, so I imagine irate truckers sending us packing - but we had to stop.

G'nite!

Refreshing Friend Day on the Road

Our first travel day with the motor home.

We began the day at Walmart. I didn't say a word, but Michael knew I'd appreciate picking up some sheets and such.....He knows me well. He loves me well.

First Walmart stop with the RV

We were at Ring Power a bit before they opened at 0800. The inspector had told us we needed to replace the generator and engine coolant before our long trip. He also suggested flushing out the transmission fluid "in the near future."  Ring was able to do all three today. It took longer than we expected...but the time was well spent.

Steve was Michael's best man. He drove to Tallahassee and spent the morning with us. It always refreshes the heart to spend time with dear friends and today was EXHAUSTING but REFRESHING.

Michael and Steve - still our best man

Bugs are attracted to our wide windshield. 

Michael pumped his first diesel for the RV

We drove up the road and stopped for dinner....and look who met us at the Cracker Barrel off I 10! So fun to see dear friends from Japan in Florida. I hadn't seen Barb for 3 years and Twyla and Joey for 5 years (or maybe 4 1/2). 

Barb, me and Twyla

Twyla and Joey

 We stopped for the night - but not before Michael washed the windshield again and filled the tank. We have a 100 gal tank and are getting a bit over 10 mpg - that's better than we got with the van and trailer.  Having a longer leash will make trips easier.

Good night!

Picking up the Damon

It is always a blessing to catch up with former colleagues and friends. We knew Tim and Jill at Goodfellow AFB. Tim was the PAC (Parish Advisory Council) president and Jill was the R.E. (Religious Ed) Coordinator; Michael was the Sr. Protestant Chaplain. We could have spent days talking. I LOVE their home....as I mentioned before. Here's a shot Elizabeth, their daughter, took of us.

We are in Florida to pick up our new-to-us Damon Astoria 3776. It's a 2008 38 foot Class A Diesel Pusher. It had one owner for 7 years and then John and Laura purchased it a year ago. They put it on the market in June or July, I believe. Michael began communicating with them in July. At that point, we felt our finances were a known - we were simply waiting for the VA disability retro pay so we would have a down payment and feel more comfortable with the purchase.

Michael, De'Etta, Laura, John 

Many know we are a Dave Ramsey family. After much prayer, shopping and discussion, we took out a loan. We did this as

1. The Class A's we could get for the cash we had did not seem dependable 
2. This is our house payment for the current season - a cheap one at that 
3. Michael  Our dream has been to travel America and visit sites and friends
4. The doctor's say to go chase our dreams NOW and that I need to be able to drive our rig
5. We'll put extra principal payments down as we can and pay it off early. We did the same with the Caboose. 

Having decided to take out a loan we still wanted a GOOD deal which would allow for a small payment, reserves for repairs and the ability to sell for what we owe in a few years if need be.  John and Laura's lifestyle had changed, they were ready to sell and it didn't sell through the summer as we waited and waited for the VA payment we expected in July.  They had reupholstered the driver/passenger seats, installed a turbo charger on the engine, and upgraded with  four flat screen TV's. It has bunks, storage, the engine Michael was looking for and we bought it for 15K below blue book....

We had the Damon inspected, qualified for a loan, put down $ for a purchase option and today we picked it up and met John and Laura in person. We all signed a Bill of Sale. This is not strictly needed, but as we are making a cross-country trip before the Title arrives, USAA recommended it...John and Laura showed us the ropes and transferred keys.

Before we blinked Michael was behind the wheel and we were heading off to drive back to Oregon to show the Gherkins their new home on wheels.

Jill is one of the sweetest women I know. She thinks of EVERYTHING and gave me some white roses for our new home on wheels. They have made me smile every time I see them.

Thoughts on our Dream Carnival Cruise

I decided the thanks need to be at the start of this long post. WE HAD A GREAT TIME. At one point, Michael asked, "Why did we wait so long to do this?" There are a lot of reasons. We planned to do most this stuff in our 70's.  We are making plans now to do as many cruises as we can in the upcoming years.  Thank you so much to the Gherkins for buying the tickets, for the one who sent extra money for spending, the gifts in the stateroom, rides from the airport, and BreZaak and Mom and Dad, Krista and CoRielle for keeping, or entertaining,  the younger Gherkins.  This trip was a dream come true.  JaRissa noted  it was fun to see us RELAXING - that has not been our norm. There was no option BUT RELAX on the ship and it was PERFECT!!!!! Thank you, all! Thank you is so small, but it contains our heart.  This was also the first time we've been away from our kids for any length of time - together! Our oldest is 31.

We cruised for seven nights and eight days, on Carnival Freedom.  The Freedom is  110,000 tons, has 2900 passengers and 1300 crew. We went from Galveston to Cozumel, Belize and Mahogany bay and then back to Galveston. This was our first cruise. I was NERVOUS due to  my history with motion sickness. We were a bit unsure of several parts of the process. Here are some observations from our experience.

Motion Sickness - there was only one day when the seas got rough and I needed to take Dramamine. The other days I was fine with motion sickness oil from Wal-Mart or sea bands from Rite Aid. The first day the vibrating and motion bothered me. Michael observed this is what he feels all the time. That perspective helped me to cope, rather than let it grow as an irritant.

Via Google Images

Staterooms - our stateroom would seem small to some - but it was clean and comfortable. We compared it to a Japanese Hotel room - with a King Size bed. ::snort::  Some told us they take interior rooms with no windows to keep down on cost.  They spend most their time out of the room. Most seem to opt for staterooms with windows. I had seen a friend comment on how much she enjoyed a balcony stateroom. We opted for that. We are HAPPY we did. Michael thinks being able to sit outside and see the horizon helped me avoid extreme motion sickness (which is my norm). We also enjoyed being able to gaze at the waves and stars alone - having a private spot to retreat.  We did learn to CAREFULLY look at the maps when booking a balcony room. Ours was directly above the bandstand in the casino. The sound went up and in to our room. We had driving music most nights until 2300 or midnight. In the future if we are on deck 6 - we would move fore or aft or go up a few decks.  No one had mentioned this - hope the tip helps someone. CHECK THE MAP and make sure you are not above clubs and casinos!  A funny about our room - it squeaked, whistled and rattled....and we noted paper stuck in cracks here and there  along the ceiling trim, as others had evidently experienced the same. This shifting sound would be normal on a moving ship, I expect. Much like the random noises when driving in an RV.  We adapted and hardly noticed by the end of the cruise. If you are a light sleeper ear plugs for these and neighbor noises would be a good thing to pack. I didn't. ::snort::

Beautiful setting each night at the Posh Dining Room

Elegant Dinners - Michael and I have spent the past 20 years attending elegant dinners. We really weren't looking forward to dressing up and eating nice on our vacation. We didn't have to. There are plenty of food options. Some DO go all out; most settle for a dress for the gal and a dress shirt and slacks for the man. We planned to go to the elegant dinner on Michael's birthday, but that was the day I was having trouble with motion sickness.

Food Options - I'm a nutritarian/vegan. I found plenty of food options. There is ALWAYS a nice salad bar at the buffet. The Posh Dining room, however, had some GREAT vegetarian meals. I asked them to hold the cheese and did fine most nights with appetizers and entrees. One night I did make do with three or four sides as I didn't care for the spiciness of the nightly Indian Vegetarian option and the other options were full of cheese.  Michael loved the seafood and steak. The desserts were sumptuous. There is pizza, ice cream and room service available 24 hours a day.  Michael tried snails, frog legs et al. My favorite meal was the Portobello Mushrooms - I need to figure out how to make these.  The food was EXCELLENT! There are ALSO  meals you can PAY for - we didn't do those. We were busy trying to try all the free food. LOL 

Michael's Escargot

Yum, yum yum - via Google Images

Pirate Pete's Pizza - 24 hours a day - via google images

Our favorite dessert - after the 2nd night they brought Michael extra ice cream 

Guys Burgers - via google images 

 Crisply bread Portobello Mushrooms filled with spinach, butternut squash, and pepper confit (what IS that), sitting on a swirl of Parmesan cream (I skipped that on mine).

 Via Google Images - I must make this at home! 

 Lentils, basmati rice, papadam and raita. Really good, but spicy. 

Via Google Images

Service - I have NEVER received better wait staff service - and we've eaten in some fancy places. These men excel. They remember names, likes, dislikes....They serve with a smile.  Our stewards were WONDERFUL as well. Anything we thought of needing (extension cord, ice) showed up quickly with a smile.  This service was seen throughout the process from the terminal to board, guest services etc.  Personally, I enjoyed interaction with Filipinos and Indonesians again. They can SAY my name with no prompting...and the accent took me back to a happy time in life.

ALL KINDS - Well - you meet all kinds of staff from a variety of countries. Your fellow-passengers are also of all types....I enjoyed this - though I did NOT enjoy having to walk through a smoke filled casino to get to dinner each night (migraines). We are not into crass shows, gambling,  or drinking parties. It was impossible not to notice many began drinking at the pool early in the day, went ashore and drank all day at "bar tours" and stayed up until 2 a.m. drinking.  HOWEVER - it can be avoided.

Ship Activities- so there are shows and drinking. It took us a day to figure out what worked for us. When others were engaged in those activities - the decks were clear and quiet...great for visiting and star gazing. Mini-golf was a hit. The ship has a library and we each checked out books -  I read,  Best State Ever: Florida by  Dave Barry, The magnolia Story by  Chip and Joanna Gaines and Small Great Things by - Jodi Picolout? Michael read Ghost Ship by Clive Cussler. There were also some fun movies to watch at the "Dive In" under the stars. We did that once. Reading, visiting....

One more thing - we did have a couple of smokers next door. This is unfortunate, as I get migraines from smoke.  No one is supposed to smoke in their staterooms or balcony. We noted they liked to smoke on their balcony early in the a.m. and late at night.  The butts and wrappers flew over to our side, as did the smell. I'm not sure what one could do to avoid this. We did talk to guest services, as I was concerned about a fire since they had mentioned that at the safety briefing. They were concerned and their answer was for us to call them each time we smelled it. This was silly. It turned us into their policing force. They did take a day and do balcony cleanings one day...but if you tell someone when you are scheduling to be on their balcony, they won't be smoking. I'm not sure what else we could have done about this. We did as they asked and we avoided the balcony when they were out. It really wasn't hard as we are EARLY risers and were at breakfast before they were up most days....and they came in later at night most evenings.

Tips we heard from frequent cruisers to make this affordable: Note if you are a frequent cruiser - please add your tips in the comments.

•          Book a year out and put money towards it each month
•          Inside rooms are cheaper
•          Watch for specials
•          Plan your own excursions (Not 100% sold on that one)
•          Tip your steward well the first night and you'll have amazing service the rest of the cruise     (we did)
•          Paying pre-gratuities and bubbles up (free drinks) cuts down on unexpected costs
• Book a group (how big?) and the organizer goes free or discounted
• 
  

Day 8 - Debarking - Florida

Sunrise in Galveston, TX......some day we are coming back here and spending a day or two to explore.

Breakfast View

They made the debarking process sound smooth, orderly and painless. In reality - it was pretty painful. 😰 It may have been complicated by the man removed at port in handcuffs....We met where we were told to meet if we had an early flight - with our bags in tow. Eventually, they began debarking deck by deck...but the purser made a mistake and called two decks at once, the elevators and stairways were at a standstill, the terminal backed upped and we waited on a stair case for a LONG time. Eventually, the line began moving again. We noted they thoroughly check the checked baggage. They didn't even SCAN or look into the bags of those of us who carried our own. Odd. In the terminal, the gentlemen sent us to the wrong line. I told him we had passports - he sent us to the wrong line anyway. We weren't moving. I got out of line and asked another lady and she moved us IMMEDIATELY to a short line for those with passports....and we made our bus to the Houston airport and to our gate with time to spare!

We scored an Emergency Exit seat on our first flight. Lots of leg room - we were happy. We discovered we much prefer Delta to United as far as COMFORT and leg space. 

We arrived in Melborne, FL shortly after 11 p.m. Tim and Jill, friends and colleagues from Goodfellow AFB, met us at the airport.  Seeing them again was priceless. Their guest room is like a bed and breakfast and we enjoyed catching up. We stayed up pretty late visiting - but sometimes you have to do these things.