A small RV or...

 

... a really big cat tree?

How'd the first night out go?  Thanks for asking.  Nobody got much sleep.  Different bed, different noises.  Murphy couldn't find his place, though it wasn't from lack of trying - he paced, jumped, and climbed most of the night.  At one point, I picked him up and put him on my chest - he does not like that the way all our other cats have appreciated that close contact.  I talked softly to him, pet him, and... he started purring.  Something I don't often hear from him.

We were all up early.  Cleaned up, had some breakfast.  I took a walk around the RV park, just to stretch out a bit.  It's a decent park; a bit overpriced from my perspective, but I think there are seasonal people in here, to get away from the heat in most of the rest of the state.

There is a running joke on the Roadtrek Group, where people seem to wind up parked by the dumpster.  We can participate in that photo exchange...

A close up of that sign...

 

I tried to get Murphy to join me for a walk, but he wasn't ready.  Maybe before we head out.

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Murph didn't get that walk in, but not for lack of trying on our part.  We unhooked utilities and hit the road.  Didn't get far before we ran into road construction...

 The crew...

 Between Flagstaff and Page, there is a lot of bleak looking landscape...

 As you get closer to Page/Lake Powell, things pick up...

 We stopped for an early lunch in Page, then headed across the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (the dam, Lake Powell, and surrounding lands)...

 We've been to Lake Powell several times with Wild Blue - it is a spectacular place!

And then, into Utah...

 The scenery changes again in Utah.  Our travels today took us near Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.  We have done both before, so didn't plan stops there this trip; but you could easily spend weeks exploring the National Parks and recreation areas in Utah.

As we drove further north, we could see smoke rising behind the mountains...

 This is the France Canyon fire - it is west of Bryce Canyon NP, 0% contained, over 4,700 acres, and burning in the Dixie National Forest.  Windy and dry today - this is not good.  Fortunately for us, our routing took us west of the fire, but we could see planes and helicopters heading towards it.

When we drove through the town of Junction, Utah, I had to turn around: did I see what I thought I saw??

 Now, those are "motor homes" - wood houses built on old truck chassis.  No, I don't know the story behind them.  In that same yard, this caught my eye...

 An old VW bus - I still have a fondness in my heart for those.  We had one that same color, but ours had the pop-top camper conversion.  Ah, the good ol' days.

We are down for the night in a Love's RV Stop - this one is much better than the one we tried in New Mexico: the sites are mostly level, the RV park is gated so people from the truck stop won't be driving through, good utilities, and we could reserve (after we checked out some sites), pay, and check in all on-line.  Easy.

 Warm(ish) today, but nothing like the Phoenix area.  We saw temps in the 90s at lower elevations, but it should get down to 55º overnight here.

 

 

Close...

 

The van is 92% loaded.  Once the fridge is loaded, we are close.  Toiletries and personal items will go in at the end.  One of us is kinda worked up about the whole process.  Not me.  Not Joan.  Yes, Murphy is a bit unsettled.  We have each taken him outside in the courtyard for a walkabout. 

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We finished loading, showered, unplugged the van, carried Murphy in, and hit the road.  10:30 am, and already pushing 100º...

 My mistake - that says 102º on the screen.  Yeah, it's hot.  With the dash air and the coach air running, it is comfortably cool as we go down the road.  A couple views out the windshield...

 

We stopped to top off fuel along the way at a Love's.  This place has 2 RV lanes, and there were about 8 RVs waiting in line to fuel.  We pulled right into an open pump in the car lanes, gassed up, cleaned the windshield, went inside to get some lunch, then back out to the van... all in less than 20 minutes.  None of the large motorhomes waiting for fuel had moved.  We have convenience, they have lots of room.  ;-) 

Today will be an easy day (knock on wood) - we're only going as far as Flagstaff.  The plan: dump the now sanitized fresh water tank, dump the gray and black tanks, top off the fresh water tank, and take it relatively easy.

Murphy didn't make a fuss in the van; rode in his carrier on this stretch.

We pulled into the RV park (a 55+ park), got parked and started our water handling process.  We are good to go on fresh water and empty holding tanks when we pull out of here tomorrow.  Murphy isn't his usual curious self - that is his back end hanging out from underneath a blanket...

If he can't see you, you can't see him.  ;-)  He did eventually come out...

 

 

Home sweet home - for the night...

 

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Murphy got his groove back.  And his appetite.  After supper, he was checking out the view from one of the windows...

 

 

Happy Father's Day...

 

Yes, I helped make a kid.  Considering that Steph's birthday is in March, that moment may have happened on Father's Day all those years ago.  TMI?  It's what I do. 

Some thoughts on being a Dad: best achievement of my life.  We didn't just make a person, we made a good person.  We nurtured her through those early years.  Encouraged her through childhood and adolescence.  Protected her.  Probably more than she knows.  No doubt was a big ol' pain in her ass; often. 

And now we have come full circle: from raising her in our home, to her going off to college, to moving back home, then getting married and moving away.  And, she gave us a son in her husband, Dan.  And now we are together (somewhat) in a bit of that compound she had imagined.  Truly, the only reason we would move to the desert.

In spite of what many say, I enjoyed those adolescent years - not just watching her become a real person, but seeing that personality and moral sense develop.

So, on this one day of the year, my part in all of this is acknowledged.  Celebrated.  But, I celebrate it in my own way every day.  And right beside me in this journey is that pretty Blonde that played a far bigger part in this fatherhood thing.

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We put off loading and prepping the Roadtrek until today because of the heat.  Yes, we knew today was going to be the hottest day this week (supposed to get to 114º), but the two previous days were hot, as well.  While the lithium batteries can run the air conditioning, with this kind of heat, that van is still a "metal box"... we off loaded and prepped things (fresh water tanks are being sanitized), and will load it up after the sun goes down.  This will be our longest trip to date with this conveyance.

We thought nothing of going out for months in our previous RVs - this Class B has far less storage inside, no exterior storage compartments.  No, this is not a surprise to us; our other RVs have always been acquired for "a purpose," and we used them accordingly.  The purpose for this one is: sightseeing along the way; fitting almost anywhere there's a normal parking space; off-grid use (even though I expect we will still use campgrounds and RV parks most of the time); and the van being comfortable for Murphy (mostly in terms of climate control) when we aren't in there with him.

We have insulated window covers all around.  That said, no RV is at its best when the weather gets extremely hot or cold.  We tried leaving the a/c running while plugged into a 20 amp circuit in the garage... it popped the circuit (nothing else on that one).  It really needs a 30 amp circuit to handle the heat and the length of that electrical cable run.

Checking weather for the next 10 days along our route, it is going to be warm until we get to higher elevation in Wyoming.  A week from today, the high there is only supposed to be 58º, with a low of 32º.  Most of the rest of the time, the highs will be in the upper 70s to low 80s, lows in the 40s.  Won't be much need for air conditioning there... which means our batteries won't get a workout.  But, pretty much all the way there and back, we'll be dealing with the summer heat.  Our tentative plan is to overnight at higher elevations along the way, if that works out for our convenience.  No reservations along the way, so we'll wing it.  Considering our size and the comfortable driving, we can cover as many miles as we choose to on any particular day.  Previously, when towing or double-towing, we went easy on the miles per day.

Today, coming up on noon, it is already 108º.

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Last night, Murphy and Dicha sharing some patio space...

 Dicha is now about twice the size (weight) as Murphy.  I wouldn't call it a "best buddies" situation, but they can be in the same space without Murphy getting hissy or Dicha jumping with excitement.

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And back to today.  Well, this morning.  Dan is home from his trip to Mexico; the 4 of us went out for breakfast.  It gave us the chance to hear about Dan's trip and have a meal together on Father's Day.  I was involved in the "where" decision - nothing says special occasion like Waffle House.  There is a very nice one about 25 minutes east of us (Steph likes to say, "Everything is a half hour away - just different directions").  Laveen is still developing - more retail and restaurants are coming.

What makes a Waffle House nice?  Thanks for asking.  This one is pretty new.  Very clean.  A bit bigger than most we've been in, so the staff has room to move around at the grill and behind the counter.  The staff is all friendly - they seemed to know a lot of the patrons coming in this morning.  The food was good.  The waitress very attentive.  And when we left, three of the employees said, "Thanks for coming in!" and one of them said, "See you tomorrow!"  Good business.

 

Here it comes...

 

If you said, "A line from the Rolling Stones song 19th Nervous Breakdown, 1966," you get 15 bonus points.   If you said, "The first time the temperature in Phoenix is going to reach 110º," you are right, but no bonus points.  They don't even blink about 100º here... just another day in the desert.

We will be getting the van out to load it, but it will probably be early tomorrow... before the heat of the day (supposed to get to 114º tomorrow).  There isn't that much storage in it, so it shouldn't take long.

In the meantime, we deal with the heat.  One way of doing that is to stay in the shade.  You can see in this photo that Murph knows how to do that, too...

 The sunny side of those pavers would burn his paw pads; it's bearable in the shade.  Besides the pergola, we use patio umbrellas to keep shade where we want (need) it...

 It makes a difference.

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Joan asked about making a trip to Camping World to check out some levelers for the van.  Not the type that use jacks and are automated (the van chassis isn't made for that), but the type you roll up on with your tires.  We have the blocks that we have used in the past, but I am thinking the type that are like an arch that you drive up on would be faster and easier.  I've looked at them on-line, but haven't seen any in-person.

"And, since we're going that way, do you want to take the van?  Make sure everything is working on it, and go out for lunch?"  It's Father's Day weekend - of course I am in for all of that.  ;-)

I like driving the van.  Yeah, I've said that before.  Nice to be out in it.  Camping World has a couple of the type of levelers we are considering, but I liked the look and specs of some we checked out on-line.  There was some discussion of where to have lunch... there is a Portillo's nearby and I mentioned that they have cheese fries.  Before making the turn to Portillo's, Joan asked, "Would you rather have the Schnitz (that's Weinerschnitzel for those not in the know)?"

"Don't tease me, woman!"  I got out of that turn lane and we headed north.  Devine intervention: the Schnitz has a "Chili-Cheese special" with 2 chili-cheese dogs and chili-cheese fries for $6.  That is a hot deal and exactly what I would order.  I am a cheap date.  Joan got the same special, too.

Back home, we investigated electrical circuits: the van electrical system does not like being plugged into a GFCI protected circuit.  Yes, the Roadtrek has the whiz-bang lithium batteries and can run the a/c on that... but it is going to be hotter than the Gates of Hell tomorrow (it is only as hot as the Highway to Hell today) - we will need the air conditioning to get the van loaded.  I figured out that there is one outlet in the garage that is the only thing on that circuit; it is made to plug in a freezer, and we don't have one.  It has a GFCI outlet on it, but the circuit is not GFCI protected.  I ran into the same issue with the Aspect last year when we were loading up; we wound up running the generator in the ungodly heat.

This should work.  Besides, it is a 20 amp circuit, where all the rest of the outlets in the garages are 15 amp.  We'll find out tomorrow.

Murphy wanted to go out when we came in the house.  A glance at our weather station...

 "I don't think so, Buddy."  We had put down umbrellas before we went out.  Time to get those back up.  And just a glance at other places in the house...

 76º and 40% humidity in the music room; the wood guitars appreciate that.  The carbon fiber guitars laugh at the wood ones.  But, I digress.

Oh, and the leveling ramps: Joan ordered a set of two that are nicer than what they had at Camping World, and less $$.  They'll be here tomorrow.  First thing in the morning.

 

The Royalties Keep Rolling In...

 

Music today with my local friends.  This is easy for me: less than 5 minutes from our house to Allan's (where we get together); and Allan has amps, drums, keyboards, mics, and a PA set up and ready to go.  I can walk in with my guitar, plug in, and I'm ready to go.

This is a social gathering - I don't see this group playing out.  As much of a jam as anything else.  Allan makes lunch for the 6 of us, and we make some music.  Traveling even lighter today, I took the new small Traveler guitar... these guys play loud, and that guitar plugged into a Marshall amp kicks.  I even got to play drums on a couple songs.

What about the "royalties," Jim?  Thanks for asking.  This afternoon, while going through e-mail, there was one from the company that bought out the distributor that handled the e-book sales of "Cat On A Leash."  Yep, sold a book.

The book sold better than I expected... back when it was first released (years ago).  As you'd expect, the sales dwindled after the first year, but I still got quarterly royalties for the next couple years.  Then, once in a while, there'd be a sale.  It still makes me smile when a sale comes in.  Almost as much as the occasional e-mail from someone who read the book.  No, I wouldn't say "rolling in"... more like a very slow drip.

For anyone new here, the book was about our travels with Molly (the boat cat).  My heart was crushed when her time came way too soon, but she taught us how our lives are more full with a fur baby in them.  And, each of the cats since then (Izzy, Rufus, and now Murphy) have traveled with us.

Steph offered to "keep Murphy" while we go on this upcoming trip.  Not gonna happen - Murph goes where we go.  And with the proceeds from this recent sale, we can afford to buy Murphy another can of his "special" food.  ;-)

 

FOMO...

 

Not to be confused with MoFo.  If you said, "Fear Of Missing Out," you get one bonus point.

Here we are almost to mid-June, and no "escape from the heat" plans.  Before we lived in Phoenix, we got out of the heat for some period of time every summer when we lived in Texas.  Usually, it was for months at a time.  I was beginning to think this summer was going to get away from us - we have made commitments during the next couple of months, keeping us close to home.

Since getting the van, the plan has always been: more trips, shorter duration.  It has been a few trips of short duration and quite a few "day trips."  And now, we are into the heat - any direction we want to go means dealing with heat along the way.  Doing an AI search on places in the US west and southwest... the only place it could come up with was San Diego.  I like San Diego.

RV park prices and availability in San Diego this time of year are: high and tight.  I decided to widen the search area.  Joan asked me, "Where do you really want to go?"

Since we worked two summers there, I have wanted to go back to the Tetons.  I think it is one of the prettiest places in the contiguous United States.  And, we haven't been back since we last worked there.  And, it is a pretty sure bet that it will be cool.

Joan challenged me to "find us a place - I don't want to go there without some idea of where we'll stay."

I'm on it.  At first glance, reservations in the park are tough.  I checked The Virginian, an RV park in Jackson co-located with a motel.  Sites there are $200/night!  And, nothing special.  Part of the reason we picked out this particular van is the lithium batteries, solar, and UHG (Under the Hood Generator) that will allow us to be off the grid, but still have what we're used to for amenities (read: electricity).  We can be flexible in where (our size) and how (being easily self-contained) we'll stay.

I started digging into campsites that don't have hook-ups.  I had to reserve a different campsite each night to get 4 nights in the Tetons.  Three have no hook-ups.  As long as we can add fresh water and dump our holding tanks, we can stay out indefinitely.  I looked for Forest Service sites - available, but not reserveable.  Boondocking on Forest Service land that is "dispersed camping" (not an actual campsite).  And, having our "Geezer Card" gets us half price on camping sites in government facilities.

We can do this.  Booked.  No reservations to or from - we'll wing it.  Checking weather next week to see where we can overnight that it won't be hot.  Yep, we can make that work, too.  Should be pretty scenery along the way.

 

These itchy feet may get some relief.  Short term, loose planning.  I'm ready!

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Steph had asked me what I wanted or wanted to do for Father's Day.  I am happy just to have time with my girl.  Today, she took me out for lunch.  She drove, she bought - but the best part was getting the one-on-one time with her.  But, the food (Italian) was good, too!  ;-)

 

Strawberry Moon...

 

That name has nothing to do with the color of the moon... The full Moon names used by The Old Farmer’s Almanac (my go-to source for full moon info) come from many places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Historically, names for the full or new Moons were used to track the seasons. Today, we think of Moon names as “nicknames” for the Moon. 

This “Strawberry Moon” name has been used by Native American Algonquian tribes that live in the northeastern United States as well as the Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples to mark the ripening of “June-bearing” strawberries that are ready to be gathered. The Haida term Berries Ripen Moon reflects this as well. As flowers bloom and early fruit ripens, June is a time of great abundance for many.

The color hue of the moon in the photos below are due to it being low in the sky - you (and the camera lens) are looking through more of the atmosphere at this low angle, which gives the moon that tint of color.

The full moon...

 Just before this, I got this photo of the moon peeking over South Mountain...

 How it looked to your eyes, as the moon topped the mountain...

 The camera sensor can't handle the contrast - the difference between the black of the mountain and the bright moon.  So, in order to see even the silhouette of the mountain, I expose for "the scene."  Which means the moon will be over-exposed and not have the detail in it like the first two images, shot in Manual Exposure.

The peak of the full moon was at 12:43am... real early this morning.  It appears full earlier than that and will still look full tonight, if Mother Nature was cooperative giving you a clear view of the sky.

 

Green, Green, As Green They Say...

 

... as the far side of the hill.

If you said, "From the song Green, Green, by the New Christy Minstrals, 1963," you get 20 bonus points.

Green in the desert?  You mean the golf courses?  I was surprised by how green the flora on the mountain was this morning.  The area received over  1/3" of rain last week - and it was enough to make a difference.  The ocotillos were a bright green (they looked brown before the rain), the ground cover was green.  Even the saguaro cacti looked brighter... and the white flowers at the top that had dried out were now replaced by an occasional red bloom...

 

Yes, I got out on the motorcycle this morning - out before 7:30, back before 9:00... and already 90º at 9:00.  Still, it was a nice ride.  I was up early anyway: got Steph's cats fed for her to give her a few minutes extra to get her morning going.  Took the car for gas.  Since, I'm up and reasonably awake, I might as well go for a ride.  Nice way to start the day.

Joan was already baking this morning: sugar free chocolate muffins for my "morning routine" (we freeze them and I take out a few at a time), and a bonus: corn muffins!  Then working with her plants.  She, too, needs to get out early, before the heat of the day.

I have music with Mark and the guys this afternoon.  Then, looking forward to the Strawberry Full Moon this evening.  The "peak" of the full moon will be after midnight here, so it will look full tonight and tomorrow night.

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While waiting for the moon to come up, we sat outside with Murphy.  I took a few photos of him because... I had a camera in my hands, and look at that handsome boy:

 Music with the guys today was a good time.  A bit more "free flowing" with song suggestions.  We wound up doing a couple Doobie Brothers songs that were new to our repertoire.  It was my turn to bring the pizza (our usual lunch), so my choice was Oregano's - no down side to that.  Plus, a large is plenty enough for 5 guys.

I mentioned the full moon earlier - traffic was crazy on the way to and from Mark's.  Not overly busy, just people making stupid, abrupt lane changes.  At highway speeds.  An accident just ahead of me on the way home cut a portion of that 4 lane (in each direction) highway down to 1 lane.  I got there just after the firetrucks and an ambulance.  No photos.

And now, I wait for the full moon.