McFadden Family Adventures

Travel Adventures with Tom & Vonda

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  • The Journey Continues

    Dearest Loved Ones,

    The journey continues to the east. The travel was treacherous today. We reached 11,821 feet up the mountain and even saw snow in Copper. Karen, our guide, gave us directions that seemed to add many hours to our travels. We talked with our other guide, Google, and were given alternate directions that cut our time considerably. But as we embarked on this new direction, we soon realized that perhaps Karen may have had the better idea. The travel so far up the mountain meant we must also traverse down it. There were many signs telling us not to be fooled and we weren’t down yet.

    The animals were restless when we were forced to travel through tunnels. It was very distressful for them to be enclosed, not only in our vehicle but also under the mountain. They all jumped to the front and appeared to be seeking to escape their confines. Their singing became very loud and we feared for their safety.

    Many others stopped very quickly in front of us and we were forced to stop quickly. There was discussion of engine troubles and the possibility of throwing a rod. I know, that sounds terrible, right? I do not know where the rod would be thrown but thankfully that didn’t happen.

    As we continued with Google’s directions, our park sign appeared one mile before the supposed turn. We decided perhaps that the park sign knew more than Google and took the road.

    Thankfully, my loved ones, we are safe in site 3 and resting from our daily travels. We will soon see the Colorado Rockies in action, the baseball team, not the mountains.

    Safe journeys to you and yours.

  • Colorado

    Colorado

    We had a cat circus in the truck today. It seems as if they think whatever is outside the cab of the truck is so much better than being with us. They try to escape at every opportunity. We removed the the barrier again since it isn’t working anyway. Penny and Samantha fight over the console and Helen wants in on the fun but has no where to go. She walked the tightrope that was the armrest. At one point Samantha was laying on top of Penny because she was taking up all the space. We also enjoyed the cat choir. They were “singing” their displeasure at being held captive. I especially enjoy when we slow down or stop. Even sneezing brings about a round of the chorus.

    We had wonderful views traveling from Monument Valley to Silt, Colorado. The temperatures were reasonable and the stops were few. We saw Mexican Hat (the last picture) and many other formations. The scenery went from red rocks to sandy soil and finally trees. We thought we might see some rain but it was just sprinkles. The picture with the flag was at our fuel stop.

    We are safely in Silt for the night. This week is a hard week. We have several one night stops and those are always difficult because of all the work to get ready to go down the road. Tom assures me after this week things will get better. I’m not so sure. But I’ll hold out hope.

    Tomorrow is a short drive, only 4 hours, and a game at the end of the day. Then we’ll be heading towards Nebraska.

    Our circus adventure is finished for today. Helen, Samantha and Penny are happily sleeping in the bedroom and we’ll be joining them soon. I hope your adventure today was a good one.

  • Take the Tour

    Take the Tour

    This morning we headed a few miles down the road to Monument Valley. We had debated on whether to take the tour or not. It’s in an open truck, sort of like the Kilimanjaro Ride at Animal Kingdom. Actually the whole drive is a lot like that, minus the animals. The roads are dirt and rock. When I say rock, I mean big chunks of rock that tosses you around. The speed limit is 15 mph but at times we were going 5 mph. The road is 15 miles according to the brochure and 14 1/2 miles are rough. So, we should have taken the tour.

    Three Sisters
    The Thumb

    But even though the rode was rough it is a beautiful part of the country. We loved all the formations. There are Native Americans living in the park and I’m a little envious of being able to wake up to that every day.

    There are people here from all over the country. We’ve seen folks from Alaska, New York, Colorado, and Florida just in our campground. Tomorrow we’ll be in Silt, Colorado for a quick stop on the way to Denver and a ballgame.

    Our adventure today was a good one and I’m blessed to be on this journey at all. I hope your journey today was a good one.

  • Monument Valley

    Monument Valley

    We left hot Phoenix this morning at 7:45. It was already 94 degrees and rising fast. I was glad to be out of there. It’s a great place to visit in the winter!

    We headed north towards Monument Valley. The drive was uneventful. We did meet a lovely couple from New York at our gas stop as the husband was talking to Tom about our scooter. The weather changed quickly and we even had a couple of short rain showers. The first rain we have seen since leaving Washington State.

    We had catapalooza in the front seat of the truck today. At one point we had all three up there and Helen got on the dash. That’s a new one. I told Tom it’s always an experience with them. I should set up the video camera in the truck when we stop because I’m grabbing cats, stretching across the console and hoping no one escapes. We’re jumping in the doors like we’re stepping on hot coals and have to get off the ground. It’s definitely an adventure.

    We are in a lovely campground with awesome views and much cooler temperatures. The one air conditioner had to be turned off and all the food is back in the fridge. We have a tree next to us that will shade the fridge area and the temps are a lot cooler than Phoenix. While I was walking over to get a good picture I saw the lovely couple from New York. They are camping here for two days too and head to Zion on Monday. Here are some views from the campground.

    We decided to have dinner at the Stagecoach Restaurant and while there we checked out the John Wayne Cabin. His movie “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” was filmed here. The cabin was actually the Goulding’s potato cellar but the outside was filmed as the quarters for his character Nathan Brittles.

    While Monument Valley isn’t a National Park, it looks to be a wonderful drive through the Navajo Indian Reservation. We are excited for tomorrow and what we will see. It’s 17 miles of red rock.

    Our journey is complete for today. New adventures await tomorrow. Remember don’t think about the what if’s. Just enjoy the adventure of this life. It’s the only one you’ve got.

  • Diamondbacks

    We arrived in Phoenix on Thursday, July 17. It was so hot. 112 degrees at one point. Our air conditioners can’t keep up with that kind of temperature and it was 90 degrees in the 5th wheel. The poor cats were sleeping on the floor trying to get cool. Our refrigerator can’t keep temp either so we bought ice and put the perishables in the ice chest for the day.

    Chase Field, where the Diamondbacks play ball is air conditioned. They keep it at 78 degrees. I had air blowing on me during the game. It was amazing after being in the hot 5th wheel all day. It is my favorite stadium so far, but sadly my STL Cardinals got hammered.

    Thankfully when the sun went down even though it was still in the 90’s we were much cooler. But two days was enough for me.

    We are in Utah now and I will write a different post about that part of the trip. I am ever so thankful to be out of the Phoenix heat, because it got cooler pretty quickly after leaving the desert. It’s good to be in a cooler place.

  • Arizona

    Arizona

    I forgot how hot Arizona can be. I lived in Phoenix/Maricopa about 36 years ago when Heather (my daughter) was little. We didn’t have air conditioning, we had a swamp cooler, the air is cooled by water. It works well, (mostly) in arid climates without humidity. But I can tell you having an air conditioner today is a blessing I won’t take for granted.

    It was a long travel day, longer than I like. But thankfully we had no issues. Tom moved the Vespa to the front of the truck, which helped a lot. The people that put our hitch on the back of the trailer attached it to the bumper and not the frame. It’s not very sturdy and we’ve almost lost the Vespa three times.

    It started turning hot just a few miles out of San Diego and by 50 miles we were well into the 90’s. We saw a lot of flat open areas except for these rocks. I told Tom it looked like a quarry. Here’s also a picture of a lone cactus. And we saw this very large baby right before getting into Phoenix. A friend said it was a family farm.

    There were also a lot of named ditches right before we left California. I’m not sure why there is a need to name ditches. They had names like Hatch Ditch and Plate Ditch. They didn’t really look like ditches to me either. They also named gulches.

    We’re thankful to be settled for the night with clean clothes, (I did laundry). We’re also thankful that the trailer is cooling down and we’ll be sleeping well tonight. I hope you’re day was a good one.

  • There Be Whales

    There Be Whales

    Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Jellyfish, Turtles, Sharks and so much more. We had an amazing day at SeaWorld San Diego. I had purchased tickets to have an encounter with Sea Lions. It was wonderful.

    But nothing compared to the Beluga Whale Encounter. I loved them so much. Their heads are squishy, they are so intelligent and we were awed by their vocal noises. I highly recommend this encounter if you are ever at Sea World. We fed them fish and squid and enjoyed their playfulness.

    We love their noises.

    The Dolphins were just as fun as always.

    Last but not least we dined with the orcas. We were oh so close and enjoyed great food and a wonderful show by three of the Killer Whales.

    The Penguins were in darkness because of the time of year but we did see a few outside. There were two swimming and I told Tom they swim like ducks. We enjoyed the turtles and Manta Rays too.

    Oh, I talked to Tom into riding Manta, one of the rollercoasters. I absolutely loved it but he said it was intense. I was standing in line at the Sky Ride after that and a little boy talking to his mom said, “Manta was good but it doesn’t have anything on Incredicoaster (Disney).” I told him I completely agreed! But Tom has a smile on his face, so it couldn’t have been too bad. I tried to get him to go again though, but he refused.

    It was an amazing journey today! I hope you had an amazing day too.

  • Ants

    Ants

    When Tom chose our current campground, the reviews mentioned issues with ants. We should have taken them seriously. We awoke this morning to a road of ants. I don’t know if you can see them in the picture well but they are there. Hundreds of them.

    Remember the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding?”

    Well I pulled out the Windex and went to work. It was a busy morning. Tom was very upset. He remembered when we went to Yosemite there was a tree that touched our roof and brought in ants and more ants. He was ready to pull out the big guns. So, we headed to Wal-Mart and spent a small fortune to kill ants. We have spent the majority spraying, laying traps and killing ants. We are close but there’s a stray ant here and there. We’ll see what the morning brings.

    Our journey today was filled with little critters that are annoying. But in the scheme of things, it wasn’t such a bad day. The weather is still lovely. The campground is quiet and we’re enjoying our time not on the road.

    Hoping you had no annoying critters today.

  • Little Italy Market/Padres Stadium

    Little Italy Market/Padres Stadium

    This morning we headed to Little Italy for their Saturday Market. It was teeming with people. I heard one little boy, say there are so many people. He wasn’t wrong. We had another “discussion” about parking, but managed to find something not too far away.

    I enjoyed a wonderful strawberry cannoli but I still think Modern Pastry in Boston has the best I’ve ever tasted. I plan to take Tom there when we are in Boston next month. We also saw many people singing and playing instruments. I couldn’t resist taking a few seconds of video of this amazing 8 year old.

    As far as the Padres Stadium, it is one of a kind. After entering the park, it feels like you are still in the downtown area. It’s all enclosed though and filled with places for children to play, a grassy area for people to watch the game on a big screen, and plenty of good food. The seats are positioned slightly off from the one next to it and facing toward the field. It’s a great stadium. But, I will say that the Phillies’ fans were not enjoyable to be around. They are worse than Cubs fans and it wasn’t even their ballpark. I thought there was going to be a fight. At one point, a Padres fan yelled this is Petco Park not Citizen’s Bank Park. Goodness!

    It was Irish Heritage Night and we had special tickets to get the bucket hat. I think we make a handsome pair in these hats.

    It’s been a good day. The weather is beautiful. We haven’t had to use the air conditioner since we arrived here and I am more than thrilled about that.

    Our journey for today is winding down. I hope you’ve had a good day too!

  • We definitely do not have our act together!

    We definitely do not have our act together!

    Today was supposed to be a short day of travel. It was definitely NOT. We were over an hour and a half later than we had planned.

    As we prepared to leave the Hollywood RV Park, Tom discovered the strap holding the back of the Vespa on the VersaHaul was broken. So, he spent a little while fixing that. We got going down the road and of course we got into LA traffic and it was over an hour before we could check it. When we did the back tire was off the VersaHaul, again. Tom fixed it again. We hadn’t gotten very far down the road and a car pulled up and told us it was off again. It was really off. It took both of us to get it back on. We finally made it to the campground with it still attached. The cats did not cooperate either. Penny and Samantha both got through the barrier to get in the front seat. They are trouble to be sure. It was not a good travel day.

    We’ve been at this a week and a half and RV Travel App is annoying. Tom has our route downloaded to his tablet. Karen (yes I named her Karen) acts like we can’t follow the road. She must think we’re idiots because she tells us three times how to join the highway. She tells us to join the highway in 200 feet, then just join the highway, then just to be sure, follow the highway. I’m fairly certain we can follow the highway or else we’d be in the ditch. Not a good place for a travel trailer. So, if I don’t throw the tablet to get Karen to stop talking, it will be a miracle.

    Our campground, Sweetwater Summit Regional Park is very nice as you can see from the first picture. The weather is cooler than LA. All the windows are open and there’s a nice breeze. We will be here six nights.

    Tomorrow we have plans to go to The Little Italy Farmers Market and in the evening is the Padres game.

    I am beyond thankful that even though it was a long stressful day, we arrived safely and all of our belongings are mostly okay. I hope your journey today has ended safely too.