The Adventures of the Bray Family......

Travels During 2006
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1/1/06: Another Year.... "On the Road Again.... Still..."!

Sunday, 1-1-05; 75 and Sunny: Chores, Chores and more Chores—preparing to go to Atlanta

Happy New Year! Today was a very quiet day in the life on the road. We made it through last night without a scratch and went to bed around 1:00 am. Since we have no TV we just listened to our Chronicles of Narnia CD’s. We listened to A Horse and His Boy until well after midnight. We stopped to give one another a toast just at midnight when the crazy Floridians shot off tons of fireworks. They sell them everywhere here just as they do in Indiana before the 4 th of July.

We slept in late today and got up with the full intent of doing nothing outside the bus. We had breakfast and commenced doing our chores. Thomas and I climbed atop the bus to check the satellite dish to try to figure out why it wasn’t working. Unfortunately we could not determine what was wrong, but we were able to check all of the stuff on the roof to make sure all was well. It was, and Thomas and I climbed down. There was a peculiar sign we saw that I just had to take a picture of. I’ll let you make your own decision about the nature of the sign. It made me question the intelligence of both the sign maker and the people who visit this camp ground. It also made me want to leave for Atlanta as soon as possible.

After that we did laundry, went grocery shopping, ate lunch and dinner and kept up tabs on the Colts game. We were glad to see the Colts win again, even without the first string starters. The evening was spent listening to another Chronicles CD, this time the book called Prince Caspian. If you have ever read the books, we highly recommend you purchase the Reader’s Theatre series on Amazon. It’s the next best thing to seeing the movies. We sincerely hope they make the other six books into movies now that the first one was so successful at the box office. For now, we’ll be satisfied listening to the CD’s.

We did everything we need to do to prepare for our long journey to Atlanta tomorrow. We plan on driving the entire 6-7 hours in one shot, being that it is not a work day. It should be the longest drive we will make until June when we start our return trip from Montana back east to Minnesota. We were very fortunate to find diesel fuel in the station close to our current camp ground for $2.39 per gallon. This is the lowest price since the early days of the trip. We only need ¼ of a tank, but at this price, we’ll purchase as much as we can.

The evening was spent reading and typing, once we finished the Caspian CD. We hope we can get our satellite system working, but for now, we are doing without. That’s life! Especially life on the road! Happy New Year everyone. We all hope 2006 brings you much peace and abundance.

Monday, 1-2-06; 76 and Sunny: Daniel’s Biggest Goof, Drive Half Way to Atlanta

Yes, I said “Daniel’s Biggest Goof” of the trip thus far. As Stephen Covey says: “Let’s Start with the End in Mind”. We pulled into a wonderful Sam’s Club/Wal Mart combo parking lot in Valdosta, GA at about 9:00 PM. Not since we were “desperately seeking Streetsboro” at the beginning of the trip (when we were just pups) have we been so very happy to spy a clean, well lit, crowded with RV’s, Wal Mart parking lot than we were this night. We waved to all of our RV buddies, set up camp, closed all of the blinds, and went shopping if only to calm our stressed out minds a bit before bedtime. Never did the inside of a Wal Mart seem so inviting and “like home” as this one did. We were blessed by capitalism this night. We were glad, even nostalgic, about the sound that the parking lot cleaning machine made around our humble abode this night. We read a bit before turning in, and we slept like babies well into the morning. That was how the day ended.

Here’s how the day started. As every travel day, we were scurrying around the bus to batten down the hatches prior to departure from this very nice campground in Tampa, FL. The weather was perfect, the breeze was blowing, and my mind was crowded with about ten things I needed to do before pulling up stakes. One of the important maintenance items (according to a technician in Myrtle Beach, SC) was to check my diesel engine’s “fuel/water separator” mechanism on the back of the bus, at least once per month. Well, it’s the beginning of the month, and since we spent SO much time in Disney, I decided today was the day I would do it. I had all of my gear ready, and I turned the little screw thingy the way he told me to and emptied the contents of the device into my gallon jug as he instructed me.

Well, the little screw thingy is just a little different than most screw thingies. Normally screws are “righty-tighty, lefty-loosey”, as the saying goes, and that’s my mantra, being that I am not the most mechanically oriented telecommunications sales guy in the world. I’ve done my share of auto-repair early in my life (when I was 16 and my dad sat and watched me screw everything up to help me learn a lesson on my ’79 VW Rabbit) so this RV maintenance thing is a piece of cake, right? Well, not this time. This particular screw thingy is “lefty-tighty, righty-loosey”. How was I supposed to know this? I’ve got a million (actually about ten) things running through my mind, and in my imagination, I’m half-way to Atlanta by now. Well, due to the unusual nature of this screw-thingy, I left it wide-open after finishing what I thought was my small maintenance job for the day.

Needless to say, I was happy that I followed the Myrtle Beach’s guy’s directions to a T, and went and started the bus in preparation for leaving lovely Tampa Bay, Florida. Well, poor Bessy didn’t know what was wrong, and after about two or three minutes of happy idling, she died. She died, as in dead as a doornail. Traci just happened to be looking in the particular direction of the screw-thingy when Bessy died, and she pointed out that diesel fuel was spewing out all over the grass under the bus. I thought, “hey, I turned the screw-thingy the wrong way”, so I closed it up, and went back to start her up again (not knowing how stupid I actually was). That’s when the REAL fun started.

She was still dead, as in doornail. I was still stupid, as in, well, ignorant. I called Emerald Coast RV for some advice, and they were closed. In sincere desperation, I called Tom Raper RV, where we purchased the bus. The service guy groaned as he realized it was me on the other end of the phone. He immediately summoned a technician from the shop, because he didn’t want to talk to me any longer than he absolutely had to. After describing my stupidity to the technician he simply said “you need to call a professional”. He said “you can’t fix your bus”. Being that today was a legal “work” holiday, and that we were in Tampa, and not Orlando, I realized what this meant: smart money bet that we weren’t going to Atlanta today. Just as I was hanging up from my conversation, a nice lady walked over and started talking to Traci.

Once I went back in the bus to inform Traci that we were not leaving Tampa today, she said that the nice lady had a friend who wanted to help, but was afraid of offending me! I howled at that one and immediately went over to the 5 th wheel next door and asked for help. One of the guys said that we had “starved” our diesel engine of fuel. I explained what I had done, and after groaning for a bit he said “I’ll see what I can do”. To make a VERY long story short, his name was Robert and he offered to help. Four hours later, Bessy started up and we left Tampa. During those four hours, this poor man helped me tear our bus apart (I now know where our engine compartment is.), take part of the engine apart, refill the screw-thingy tank with diesel, and bleed air out of the lines until the engine started. I have to say, that I helped him do all of this, because, as you remember, I am stupid. He did all of the work, I just helped when he told me what to do. By the time he went back to his bus, he was covered in grease and diesel fuel, including the amount he actually got in his mouth trying to feed fuel back into the lines one drop at a time. We were all exhausted by the time we were done, and we thanked him profusely and offered to pay him money for his time and trouble. He refused, and was a perfect gentlemen, especially when I left to go purchase more diesel for the operation.

After the fact I learned that he was a retired engineer from Detroit and he lives in Tampa now and has a $750,000 Prevost Motor Coach a couple of slots down. This is his fifth bus and he has taught himself how to work on diesel engines. I had no idea when this started who I was inviting into my RV to be alone with my wife and child while the operation was going on. I had no choice but to trust him, and the Lord was certainly watching over us this day. For that I am very thankful, and to Robert, whoever he is, we thank him too.

After we got Bessy started we rolled out of Tampa and drove up I75 north as long as we could against a huge storm that was hovering over Gainesville. We stopped at a rest area for about 45 minutes hoping it would blow over. We ventured out again, hoping not to arrive in Valdosta, GA too late. Well, we left just a bit too early and hit a strong cell of the storm just north of Gainesville. We had to drive in very low visibility areas for about 30 minutes, but once we passed the area it was smooth sailing. This is where the story started above. We continued north on I75 to Valdosta, where a clean and inviting Wal Mart/Sam’s Club combo awaited us.

Tuesday, 1-3-06; 70 and Sunny: Work, Drive to Atlanta, Work

I got up early today to make sure I was caught up with work prior to leaving Valdosta. By the time the family got up it was getting warm outside, which is our cue to leave. Fortunately this Sam’s Club parking lot was much bigger than the one in Tampa, so we were not surrounded by shoppers. We ate brunch in the bus and prepared to leave. We didn’t get out until about 12:30, which worried me slightly.

We continued up I75, and all of those stories of terrible Atlanta traffic were running through my head. I pushed Bessy a bit faster than I normally do all the way to Atlanta hoping to miss rush hour. Our campground was on the north west side of the city, and we were coming from the south, which meant we had to drive through down town to get there. Fortunately we made it in time, which was a huge relief. After our adventure yesterday, I didn’t want to spend a couple hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic today. We arrived to a clean camp ground, with a friendly staff and temps forecast to be in the lower 30’s tonight.

Once we arrived I caught up on work again and made sure everything was done before I shut off my laptop. During the drive last night and today, we listened to another Narnia book called The Silver Chair and we finished it as we were having dinner tonight. We caught up on Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters and had a wonderful night of peace and quiet in the bus.

Wednesday, 1-4-06; 65 and Sunny: Work and Family Time

Today was a very important day in the life of BrayTel. I got up early and prepared for a cut for one of my largest customers in South Bend. Overall things went very well, and we had very few problems with porting his numbers over from SBC. Traci and Thomas went to the new Atlanta Aquarium today and had a great time. I stayed at my laptop the entire day and caught up on emails and lent what ever assistance I could to the efforts of eGix employees in Indy. Business is just now ramping up after the holidays and the phone rang more. Although December was a banner month, January looks very promising, since many of the projects I had expected to close in December pushed to ’06. I’m working on helping those along, as well as starting new adventures for this year. I am really enjoying my job now, almost as much as I did when I first started at Moorehead in 2001. This time around I am working for my family, not the success of my boss’ family. I am excited that 2006 will be the best year of my career. That is a really good thing!

After work and the arrival of my family, we simply chilled out. We did some grocery shopping and ate dinner at Subway. It’s amazing how, even though we are in Atlanta, that doing the mundane things in life make any place we go feel like home. With the exception of weather and the accents of the people around us, there isn’t much difference between Indy and Bangor and Tampa and Atlanta. That is a comforting feeling.

Thursday, 1-5-06; 55 and Sunny: Work, World of Coca Cola and Winter

I got up early today and knocked out some work while Traci and Thomas slept. My mind is now waking me up earlier than it had been, and I’ve been getting on the old laptop earlier than I have in a long time. I don’t know if it is that I’m just enjoying my work more, or that I have finally caught up on my sleep deficit, but regardless of the reason, it’s a good thing. I usually have one or two hours of quiet time before Traci and Thomas wake up, and today was no exception.

I worked out some bugs from yesterday’s cut, and I’m sure we will get the issues resolved, and I am 99% sure it’s in the customer’s equipment. There aren’t a lot of variables with the service he purchased, so problems are usually traced back to the equipment. In the mean time, we’ll work it until everything is solved.

After work we left the bus and went down town to the World of Coca Cola. The place was really cool, especially if you are a big Coke fan. We watched two movies, one of which was the history of the company, and the other a 12 minute commercial shot in 1990. The whole time I was watching it I was thinking of college because of the clothes and hair styles. They had a replica of an early bottling machine (see picture 1) and a room where you could taste sodas from around the world (see picture 2). All in all, it was just OK for me, I’m a Dr. Pepper fanatic, but I like to study success, and since Coke is the #1 recognized brand in the world, it’s not a bad example to study. However, Thomas was a like a kid, well, in a soda store, and it was “all you can drink”. He had a blast, and got a stomach ache to prove it.

After Coke and walking around the “Underground” shopping area, we ate dinner at Johnny Rockets and went back to the bus. We watched TV and read our books and went to bed. Oh, by the way, in case you are keeping score, Winter has arrived in Atlanta. It’s supposed to be 35 tonight! We pulled our water hoses inside the bus and ran off of our tanks. We don’t want anything to freeze!

Friday, 1-6-06; 45 and Sunny: Work, Drive to Birmingham, AL

I again got up early and worked prior to shoving off from Atlanta. Work is going well, and I expect January to be a very good month. Some good things are happening, and some even better things could very well come to fruition this month. We left Atlanta at about 11:30 and pointed Bessy west.

Well, we can tell that we are now officially “off-off-off-off season” for RV’ing in this part of the country. Our camp sight in Atlanta was about $40 per night, which wasn’t bad considering what we paid in Key West and Tampa. However, when we called ahead for our slip in Birmingham, the rate was only $20 per night! We drove the 2.5 hours over from Atlanta and also enjoyed seeing the signs advertising diesel fuel for around $2.35 per gallon. I honestly can’t remember the last time I paid that low of an amount for diesel fuel!

It is very cold here now, so I don’t feel so bad about missing winter this year. It was 38 degrees around 4:00 PM. It’s supposed to get below freezing tonight, so we’ll have to run our faucet to keep the hoses from freezing! Fortunately, this could be our only night of freezing temperatures on the trip. Tomorrow it’s supposed to hit the high 50’s and Sunday it’s supposed to be in the 60’s and get warmer after that. As we head south and west we expect this trend to continue. One week of winter is enough for us this year!

We made it here OK with no issues. The campground is beautiful, except for the fact that it’s winter. Our slip is right on a beautiful lake lined with gigantic homes and marinas. However, it is January, so we decided to do a little shopping and retreat to the bus. We spent the evening reading and watching a little TV and doing chores. One of those chores was planning the next couple of weeks for the trip. We are staying in Meridian, Mississippi next, and on to Vicksburg. The camp sight fee in Meridian will be $14 per night, and the site at an RV Resort and Casino in Vicksburg will only be $17 per night! I like those prices. Since we are here in Birmingham all weekend, we’ll try to find something fun to do. So far, nothing has come to our attention. We will have to go out and find it.

Saturday, 1-7-06; 51 and Cloudy: Birmingham, AL R&R

Yup. It was cold last night. I think it got to the mid-30’s. People in Indiana don’t think the mid-30’s in January is cold, but try doing that in a bus with very little insulation. Our water supply is provided by a garden hose. It’s something we have to think about.

This afternoon wasn’t much warmer. The place we are in is very beautiful, but again, it’s winter, so it doesn’t have that summer luster. We’re glad to be here, but without much to do, we stuck around the bus most of the day. We did do some grocery shopping, and did some more research on the ‘net to find out what there is to do in Birmingham. We got Chinese take-out for dinner, and I’ll have to say, it was excellent. I’m certainly thankful for all of the Asian people who have immigrated to the US to start restaurants. No matter where we go, we love to get Chinese take-out. Thomas is now on board 100% on Chinese food. He especially loves the egg-drop soup. We relaxed and had a quite evening of reading and TV. We do have a game plan for tomorrow. They have a science museum in Birmingham and I think there may be a mall there too. Traci can smell one a mile away!

Sunday, 1-8-06; 69 and Sunny: ScienceMuseum and IMAX Movie, Galleria

Today was the highlight of our stay in Birmingham. We got up early and drove the 45 minutes to Birmingham to visit their McWane Science Museum. We arrived just as they opened, and were thrilled to hear that the Cosi membership we purchased in Columbus, OH entitled us to free admission. We did, however, have to pay for parking and we also purchased three tickets to the IMAX movie called Adrenaline Rush. More about that later.

The museum was on par with the other ones we have visited around the country, with a couple of highlights to report. As usual, Thomas zinged around from one exhibit to another, having a blast. He still hasn’t figured out that he is actually learning stuff along the way. He can’t help but learn after seeing some of the same exhibits five or six times over the past seven months. Each time it is explained, it makes its way to his long term memory a bit stronger. We did find a great way to keep him from rolling around in his bed at night. Would you want any of your children to have this bed?

One highlight of the museum was an interactive display that allowed Thomas and I to “play” one of four sports in front of the blue screen, and the results would show up on the overhead video monitor. We had to watch the small monitor to know when to hit the ball, or whatever the point of the game was. Traci was watching on the side lines, and I thought she was going to lose it. She was laughing so hard. She tried to take pictures, but it was a lost cause since the place was dimly lit.

My favorite game was called Shark Bait. Thomas and I were bait, and our job was to collect floating stars while sharks and electric eels swam around trying to eat or shock us. It was very hard, being that the only way to guide us was to move in the general direction of what we were trying to do. As we “swam” around, betting eaten by sharks and shocked by eels, Traci almost fell off of her chair with laughter. By the time we were done playing, we were exhausted and sweaty. It was time for a movie.

We got in line for our showing of Adrenaline Rush, in the attached IMAX theatre. The movie was about a group of base jumpers and parachutists who love what they do. They were fascinating. As an avid rollercoaster fanatic, I could just barely understand what they were all about. During the movie I decided that when we return to Indy I am going to do a tandem jump somewhere in Indiana. I can’t wait. I don’t think I will ever base jump, but I could see myself skydiving some day.

The group of parachutists also uncovered a theory by DaVinci on a rudimentary parachute, which had never been tested. He theorized this over 500 years before anyone would think to jump out of a plane. They assembled the parachute exactly how he designed it, down to the type of cloth they would use for the ropes and the parachute itself. They put everything together and attached it to a hot air balloon. Once they got to 10,000 feet they let it go, and it worked! It was incredible to see this primitive square parachute weighing 200 pounds floating through the sky, all on a bigger than life IMAX screen.

After the movie, we decided to bug out and find the nearby Galleria mall. It didn’t take us long—the museum had printed directions—and we were pulling up the parking garage. I got my hair cut and Traci and Thomas did some shopping. We don’t have room to buy lots of stuff, but sometimes we enjoy walking around civilization for a while. We had lunch in the food court and then went to Barnes and Noble.

After our return to Bessy we did our chores and prepared to leave in the morning. We know our way around this area, so it’s time to go!

Monday, 1-9-06; 76 and Sunny: Work, Drive to Meridian, MS

Today was a light travel day. I got up early as usual, and got caught up on work and ate breakfast. We prepped the bus for departure, and (since I didn’t try to do any extra maintenance work) we left on time. The drive was only a couple of hours, and we found a really nice camp ground for only $14 per night! We actually got lost on the way in, and had to make a U turn (not easy in Bessy) and pretty much stumbled into the place by accident. Thank Goodness for those little blue camping signs! They are kind of like the blue H signs indicating a hospital nearby. One gal I worked with at MCI said she never got lost because all she had to do was look for the blue H sign. (She was the medical vertical sales rep.)

Tuesday, 1-10-06; 70 and Raining: Work, School, and Quiet Time

The title pretty much sums it up. Today was one of work, school and quiet time. Not all days on the road are exciting, and especially in this part of the country at this time of year. We expect as we hit the west coast and do all of the national parks in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Utah and Colorado, we’ll have lots of fun things to talk about and a lot more pictures. For now, we are just making our way from Atlanta to Dallas. We just fit in like the locals. We work, do school, do laundry, go grocery shopping and generally live life. Everyone is doing well. We all had just a touch of a cold, but it is now past. Thomas only had it for about two days, Traci for one and one for me. Back home with the more hectic schedules, colds would last 7-10 days. I guess the extra sleep we are all getting has improved our constitutions. We did catch the season premere of Dirty Jobs. It was gross and funny as usual. We highly recommend it.

Wednesday, 1-11-06; 64 and Sunny: Work, School, Prepare to Leave

Not much to say for today. I worked all day. School was in session for Traci and Thomas and things are going very well on that front. Thomas has shaken off the rust from his month off and they are rolling once again.

We did the normal stuff that we do the night before leaving for a new city. We also caught up on our favorite Wednesday show, the Mythbusters. They started a new season this week and it is better than ever. They spent most of the show showing that a prisoner could actually build a crossbow out of paper and underwear elastic. The weapon shot a bolt made out of either a whittled down plastic knife, or a piece of plastic food tray in the shape of a dart. It was incredible. We just love that show. I think somehow it counts as science class for home schoolers! We highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in urban legends and/or science.

My parents gave us a gift card for O’Charley’s and we actually ate there twice this week because this is the first time we have seen one since Christmas. When we sat down and ordered, the young server asked if we wanted “sweet or un-sweet” tea. Traci and I both responded “un-sweet” because I like the pink stuff and Traci likes the yellow stuff in our iced tea. He looked at us for a moment and said “You must not be from around here”. We laughed and told him we were from Indy. He didn’t know this because of our accent or our clothing, but by the kind of iced tea we ordered. We thought that was a hoot.

Thursday, 1-12-06; 67 and Sunny: Work, Drive to Vicksburg, MS

 I got up early to get ahead on work prior to leaving for Vicksburg. The drive is only about 2.5 hours, so I didn’t miss much today. The drive was easy—we are driving across several states following I20—and Vicksburg is on the very western edge of the state, at exit 1C. The roads in this part of the state were good about 65% of the time, but the other 35% reminded me of Indiana in the winter. They were very bumpy, and at times I had to drop back to 60 MPH in a 70 MPH zone just to keep Bessy from bucking and jumping up and down.

We finally made it in, and were pleased to find the Isle of Capri RV Resort was very easy to find, and since I promised I was going to the casino, they gave me an additional discount, down to $14 per night! For a full hookup that can’t be beat! We got set up quickly, and found all to be in good order. The park is small, but clean, and has everything we need. It’s the next best thing to boon docking at Camp Wal Mart!

Work is going very well this month. I was able to close a good piece of business in the first week of the month, which is a bit of a shock to some people, and I’m working on more. Thanks again to everyone in Indiana who is helping to make this possible.

After work we went exploring, just to see what we could find. I felt like I was back in Ellettsville. Most of the town is simply in bad shape. Even the area around the casinos is kind of dumpy. They have a “ Scenic Drive” that they promote with literature and signs, so we decided to follow it. I guess their idea of scenic is a bit different than ours! We couldn’t even find a grocery store, so we went back to the bus, ate dinner, read and watched TV before bedtime.

I have to take a moment to brag on Thomas. We have implemented a program where I pay him anywhere from $1 to $6 to read new books. For all of you who have children, especially boys, you know how challenging it is to ignite the love of reading for your kids. One of my friends told me about the idea that he implemented with his children when they were Thomas’ age. He said it cost him a bit of cash, but it was the best investment he has ever made. Thomas has taken the bull by the horns and has been reading up a storm! Since we started this, he has read the first four Harry Potter books, totaling over 2000 pages. He has made some cash along the way, but he has also realized he loves to read, and fortunately he takes after his Mom in the speed department. I just finished reading my George Washington book and have now started on Ben Franklin. It’s taken me 7 months to read four large books. Thomas, 3 weeks. That’s the way I want it.

Friday, 1-13-06; 65 and Sunny: Work, Work, Work, Isle of Capri Casino

What a day! Early this morning Traci and I were awoken several times by a severe thunderstorm. The weather man said we could have hail! He said there was even a chance of a tornado. This is certainly the first time we have heard the T word on a weather forecast on this trip. We were on guard when we went to bed, and each new wave of rain that came in woke us up again. I even got up at once point to make sure we hadn’t sprung a leak. It was very violent, but fortunately there was no damage done.

Traci and Thomas are back in the swing of school. Thomas actually woke up early, and wanted me to help him do his math assignment before Traci got up, so he could surprise her. For some reason he gives her the most grief during math, so this little gift would certainly make Traci happy. I had to re-learn “annexing of 0’s” but I picked it up quickly and we got through it rather well. He even did his two story problems without much trouble.

On the work front, one of my customers installed some new services and one of my carriers has been working on the customer’s quality problems for an entire week. Today was pretty much spent occupying my time with other details and emails while I await word on the corrections to his problems.

I absolutely hate it when one of my customers is having trouble, and this one is particularly sensitive. I have been uneasy for the entire week waiting for good news from the engineers. Little did I know that the carrier actually had three engineers working on it all day Thursday and Friday. I finally took a break from working and grabbed a shower late in the day and tried to relax. While I was in the shower, I realized that I needed to get outside help on this one. There was just no explainable reason why this customer’s circuit wasn’t working correctly. I called a friend and got the number of his friend who is an expert in the type of phone system that this particular customer purchased to facilitate these new services. After 16 years in this business in Indianapolis, I know someone I know knows someone who knows what I need to know. Say that 5 times fast!

The third party listened carefully to the symptoms of the problem, and he said there is one of two things wrong. Both had to do with the phone system. I was relieved! He gave me advice to give to the customer, and the customer thanked me profusely for my assistance. I ended the day knowing I had done everything I could to help in this situation, and I was ready for a relaxing weekend!

So, after work I Googled a grocery store in Vicksburg, and discovered that they do in fact have a Kroger on the other side of town. We finally did some grocery shopping, which was long overdue. After we finished putting everything away, I did something I have never done before: I went to a casino! I have played poker at friends’ houses about a dozen times since moving to Noblesville, but I had never been to an actual casino. I was in for a treat! Well, I thought I was. I set a limit on how much I was willing to lose (It happened to be $90) and I took along my license and my Amex card for safety’s sake. I had gotten extensive advice from my father-in-law, who is one of the most successful slot-machine gamblers I know, and I was ready to roll—well, to do what ever it takes to activate a slot machine these days.

I have two words to describe this casino. Are they bright and shiny? Are they fun and exciting? How about big money? Nope. They are: ash tray. I don’t remember how long I was actually in the place, but I was gagging so badly on the cigarette smoke of all of those people sitting around me puffing and pushing buttons that I could not take it any more. I ended up losing $44 in about an hour, along with about 2 years off of my life from all of the 2 nd hand smoke! I was actually happy to finally finish off the cash so I didn’t have to go up to the counter to get my cash back. I brought home my cash out slip as a souvenir and to remind me of something I never want to do again!

After I got back we relaxed in the bus and Thomas and I played one of his video games until bedtime.

Saturday, 1-14-06; 60 and Sunny: Exploring Vicksburg, BattlefieldNational Park

Today was a beautiful day in Vicksburg, MS. Since we determined that there really isn’t much to do here, we did the only thing we had left on our list: we hit Battlefield National Park. Since this is our forth driving tour of a major battlefield (2 Revolutionary War, 2 Civil War), we pretty much knew the drill (so to speak). We hit the visitor center and watched the obligatory 20 minute film on Vicksburg and the importance of the battle in the civil war. We purchased the driving tour tape and hat pin and hit the road.

It was amazing to us as we drove around this town how difficult it must have been to take this place by force. The entire town is perched on a huge bank south of the Mississippi (I didn’t need spell check for that one!). Being that the defenders on high ground always have the advantage over the attackers on low ground, the victory was certainly a testament to the sheer will and talent of US Grant and his men. I read about this battle in his memoirs but until you see the place, it just isn’t the same. Fortunately the tape of the driving tour was much better than Gettysburg, so were not at all annoyed. It took about an hour to drive through the place, and to get out and take pictures of the stuff we thought looked important. This tour was not dramatized, but it gave a thorough review of the events. In our book, the highlight of the tour was the recovery of a huge gunboat that was sunk in December of 1862. They brought it back to the surface in 1964, and it is now enshrined under a huge tent in the middle of the battlefield. (See Pictures 4 and 5) By the time the tour was over, we pretty much had enough of monuments and cannons for the day, so we went to one last overlook to take a couple of pictures of the Mississippi river. (See picture 6).

I must take this time to make an observation about the roads in this part of Mississippi. I have no clue who designed them, nor how long it took to do so, but so far, in our trek across this state, (we are one exit away from Louisiana) they have been extremely confusing. Any time we left I20, and tried to find something normal, like a grocery store, Wal Mart or gas station, we had to work very hard not to get lost. Very few of the roads are straight, and they have U Turn lanes all over the place, so I guess I’m not the only one who feels this way. It seemed like when the Feds came in and built I 20, all of the rest of the roads were whipped like a snake and they all landed in a random pattern in all different directions.

On one occasion in Meridian and one in Vicksburg, one road would literally split into four different directions. You had to know exactly which lane you needed to be in ahead of time, or you were sent way out of your way, needing to make a U turn to go back and try what was behind door #2. They have strange one way areas here, and if you want to go back you have to make a U turn around I20. It’s all or nothing in most places, and for folks who don’t know, it can be very intimidating. I read in Men’s Health on more than one occasion that it’s good for your brain to take new ways to your every day destination, because the more ways you know to get some where, the more pathways are built in the brain. I figure by the time we get back, my brain will have twice as many pathways as when we started!

After we had our fill of history, we went back to the bus for a quiet evening of games and TV. Tomorrow we are leaving for Shreveport, LA on our way to Dallas. We had some very interesting experiences in Vicksburg, some of which we will probably never have again. We are glad we came, but as usual, we know our way around town pretty well, we have seen what we wanted to see, and it’s time to leave.

Sunday, 1-15-06; 65 and Sunny: Arrival in Shreveport, Chores

We slept in and ate breakfast in the bus, preparing to leave to go to Shreveport. We packed everything up, unhooked and hit the road. The drive was smooth, but the wind was very strong. If there is one thing Bessy doesn’t like, its crosswind. Some day I would like to study the physics of air and wind to see why she reacts like she does when big 18 wheelers fly by. It’s predictable, but confusing.

We arrived at the Isle of Capri RV “Resort” in Shreveport early in the afternoon. I like to drive on weekend days because I don’t have to worry about what is going on back home with my customers. Today’s drive was smooth and eventless—just the way I like it! The RV park was nothing more than a parking lot with electric and water. The casino was in a rough part of the city, which made us a bit uncomfortable.

We set up camp, and hit Wal Mart and Blockbuster and simply did chores and lived life. By now I feel like “home is where you are”. Shreveport felt more like a big city than the last three places we stopped. People drove like maniacs and everyone seemed to be in a hurry. We fit right in and went about our business.

Monday, 1-16-06; 64 and Rainy: Work and Movies

I don’t know if there is an official link between campgrounds and train tracks, but in 90% of the places we have stayed, we have been visited by our historic friends. It is something we actually look forward to. The sound of a far away train whistle has become part of the trip, and we welcome them as part of the ambience of being on the road. Well, this time we have had way too much of a good thing. The RV park has a train track no more than 100 yards away from the bus. There must be a train yard somewhere close to here, because the trains go by very slowly, and often times we can hear the train cars slamming into one another. You haven’t lived until you have been jolted by the sound of a “wave” of train cars slamming into each other as if there are fifteen car accidents happening in succession outside of your vehicle. It was quite the experience.

After waking up groggy from a rough night of train demolition derby, I managed to get some work done without telling everyone I talked to about last night’s experience. It rained all day, so Traci and Thomas stayed in the bus with me and did school. Work is going really well right now, but I’m in a bit of a quiet spot, so I am going through all of my old email directories to revisit customers with which I have done business in the past. It worked very well, being that I re-discovered several contracts that are going to expire this year. That’s a good thing.

After work we hung around the bus and watched movies. What better thing to do when the weather is yucky?

Tuesday, 1-17-06; 56 and Sunny: Work, Getting Lost Driving to Texas Roadhouse

Yup, today was another day of living. I worked the entire day, and Traci and Thomas went shopping. They were out to purchase clothes for Thomas, the first such trip planned in the next week. He is growing up so quickly! I’m sure all of you parents feel that way about your kids. He is ten now, and I have to say I could not be more proud of him. He may spend a bit too much time playing video games, but he has a heart of gold, and he is really embracing this trip for all it’s worth. We have had some really awesome father-son talks lately. There is nothing like being together 24/7 to strengthen an already great bond! He actually participated in picking out his clothes this time, and Traci was thrilled. He went into the dressing room to try on a pair of jeans, and he didn’t realize that Traci couldn’t open the door from the outside. When she told him to show her how they looked, he hit the floor and stuck his legs out under the door. It was a magic moment. She helped him get out so she could see him standing up. What a great kid!

After they returned, and I finished working, we enthusiastically went out to find a Texas Roadhouse restaurant that we had seen just off of I20 on the way to the camp ground. We knew exactly where it was, so how hard could it be to find? Well, for two people who are rather adept at finding their way in strange places, our overconfidence got the best of us! We started out at the exit near the restaurant and drove in the correct direction. Somehow we missed it, and decided to get back on the highway and hit it from the other side. That didn’t work either, as we arrived back at the first exit. Needless to say, we drove around for 45 minutes and were no further than ½ mile from it the whole time! I finally stopped to ask for directions, and a very nice lady at the 7-11 told me I had to take a back road and turn on an unmarked alley and go through a parking lot to get there. There wasn’t a single sign to point the way. I was amazed. We hadn’t been that lost in a LONG time, and we were just trying to find a stinking restaurant!

The food was as good here as it is in Indy, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We have been eating on the cheap lately, mainly because there hasn’t been anywhere nice to eat. So, after stuffing ourselves, we took boxes back to the bus and got ready for bed. Tomorrow we leave to drive toward Dallas, although we don’t know how far we will get.

Wednesday, 1-18-06; 74 and Sunny: Work, Drive to Tyler TX, on to Arlington, Abuelos Restaurant.

What a beautiful day! We were actually hot in the bus! We had to put shorts back on, which was a welcome change to the past couple of weeks. Winter sure isn’t lasting long for the Bray bushold this year. We expect as we go south and west that it will continue to warm up. It was awesome!

I got up early and got caught up on work. One of my small carriers (affecting three of my customers) had a massive outage today, due to the irresponsible actions of an upstream provider. One of my large long distance customers is down hard, with no inbound or outbound long distance. It was a disaster for them. Fortunately the problem was not with eGix, or I would have had to be hospitalized. I helped push the issue the entire day, and that activity sort of dominated everything that happened today. My customer knows it is not my fault, but it still doesn’t make it any better. I hope they get it fixed tomorrow!

After working part of the morning we hit the road and drove to a Tyler, TX Wal Mart Supercenter. The place was newly completed, and it was hopping. There were diesel trucks everywhere, and the parking lot was not level. We put down the jacks so we could level out a bit and I went back to work and ate lunch in the bus. We spent a few hours in the parking lot, and after much soul searching, we decided to move on to Arlington, TX where we had a camp ground reserved for Thursday night. There was a Super Target near the campground, and that was good enough for us.

We drove into the night, with Traci navigating the entire time. She is so good at that! As we pulled into the greater Dallas area, we saw diesel fuel on sale at a station nearby for $2.30 a gallon!!! I can’t remember the last time when we paid that amount for fuel. I think it must have been in the first month of the trip. Needless to say, the place was packed, and we had to wait in line. The joker in front of us pulled up after fueling and left his rig parked right there. I thought no problem, he’ll be back by the time I finish…NOT! We waited a good 15 minutes after fueling to pull out. After that we quickly found our Target and set up camp. We went shopping to stock up on household goods and came back to the bus. While checking on the car and tow equipment, it appeared that someone in the previous few days attempted to steal Thomas’ bike off of the back of the bus. The bike rack performed flawlessly, preventing the theft. They must have wrenched his bike up and down, because the bracket was bent and the bike was scratched. I got the keys and tightened the bracket down again. Later on when the weather gets warm I’ll have to take it apart and straighten it out a bit. I wish people would leave our bikes alone!!!

We have been looking forward to some killer Mexican food for weeks now. With each leg of the journey, we just know we’re getting closer to our favorite type of food. We saw tons of restaurants on the drive here tonight, all lit up like Las Vegas. Our favorites are within a couple of blocks of here, as well as some places to which we’ve never been. We were so geared up after shopping that we threw caution to the wind and went and had dinner at Abuelos restaurant at 9:30 PM! That’s 10:30 Indiana time! We NEVER eat that late, but we just felt like celebrating. We have spent days and days driving through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana just to get here, and now we’re here!

The place still had some patrons in it, so we were not alone. We had never heard of it before, but the prices looked reasonable, so we went in. We were our server’s only customers and he took very good care of us. The food was awesome! I tried a Santa Fe Enchilada, complete with two eggs over medium right on top. I wanted to eat that meal until I exploded! Everything was excellent. Traci and Thomas both loved theirs as well. I tipped him big and we took a huge doggie bag home with us. It was a great celebration dinner, and we look forward to eating many more such meals while in the south west.

Thursday, 1-19-06; 74 and Sunny: Treetops RV Resort, Work, Shopping

I don’t think we’ll be doing any more boon docking for a while. The temperature at night has been dipping down into the 30’s and 40’s, and the bus just isn’t insulated enough to handle that. We all slept in our jammies last night, and were still cold. The only alternative would be to run the generator all night, which would have been more expensive than a camp site. We are learning every day!

I got up early and hit the laptop while Thomas and Traci slept. My one carrier is still down today, and that’s causing quite a fuss for my customer. I pushed all I could, to no avail. They expect to have it fixed tomorrow. I hope so!

Other than that, work is going really well. Several new projects popped up this week, and I am frantically putting together quotes and proposals. Three of them include phone equipment, which is not normal for me, and I promised to get them back by week’s end. I would much rather have too much to do than not enough, and it seems I’m in that boat right now.

At around noon, we decided to depart from our temporary home at Target and move Bessy over to the campground, only two blocks away. I don’t know how much this land cost and how long they have had it, but I could only imagine what it would be worth if they sold it. It is right in the heart of Arlington, TX. Its two blocks from a gigantic mall, and retail thrives all around it. I would imagine it won’t be hard for the owners to retire when they get sick of the campground business, that’s for sure.

I finished up work, and we went and did some overdue shopping. We’re flying back to Indy next week, and I need some clothes for the meetings I’m attending while we are there. Camp ground clothing is just not cutting it any more. Traci has been at me to dump some of my older clothes for some time, and she is finally getting her wish. There is a Goodwill donation box near by, and I think we’re going to make some deposits before we leave this Mecca of retail.

Friday, 1-20-06; 76 and Sunny: Work, Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall, Hoodwinked

Did you catch that temperature? Yup! 76 and Sunny. What a beautiful day in the Lone Star State! I got up and worked while the family slept in. I’m finally getting all of my projects lined up and putting final numbers together. I hope next week will be a strong finish to the month. That would be icing on the cake after such a strong December.

Traci and Thomas did school while I worked and we ate lunch in the bus. I finally got all of my quotes out the door, and I look forward to working them to fruition next week. At the very end of the work day, my wayward carrier finally got my three customers back in service. It was a huge relief when I got the last phone call right at 5 giving the all clear. Wow! What an unfortunate and crazy situation. I’m glad it’s over.

Traci had found a HUGE outlet mall about 30 minutes away from the bus called Grapevine Mills. It’s a lot like Gurnee Mills outside of Chicago, and may actually be bigger. The purpose of our trip was to find a couple of light coats for Traci and I and to go see a movie Thomas has wanted to see called Hoodwinked. It was made by the same folks who made Shrek. We hit the Levi’s store and found exactly what we needed. Everything was on sale, which is always a good thing! After that we grabbed dinner in the food court and hit the movie theatre. Well, the only thing I have to say about Hoodwinked is that I was so by being sucked into seeing this film. It was terrible. I don’t know what happened to the Shrek people, but they were off of their game on this one. Had my chair leaned back, I would have taken a nap. Please don’t let your kids talk you into paying good money to see this movie.

After that, we began the drive back to the bus. Now for the drive to the mall earlier, the directions Traci got off of Mapquest were very confusing. The roads in the directions continually took us INTO the airport parking lot. We knew that couldn’t be right, so we just kept navigating around the airport until we found the correct road to the mall. Well, on the way back, we were not quite as good at “driving improv” in the dark so we ended up—you guessed it—at the airport. We quickly found that in order to get in the airport, you have to pay a $2 toll. We figured as long as we had to pay a toll, we would get some advice as to how to get back. The gal at the window said (like, duh) “yes, go through the airport and you can get back to Arlington”. We were perplexed, but we drove on. Yes, we had to decide which terminal to go to, and ended up choosing B for no other reason than it wasn’t the first nor the last. We chose the “airport exit” sign just as we approached Terminal B and tried to hightail it out of there. We drove around and around, trying to find out where we should go. I stopped to ask another gate attendant and she directed us to our correct exit highway. It turns out that the airport in Dallas is actually a hub of the Interstate system in the area. People go there ON PURPOSE, not to go to the airport, but to get to other places! We were shocked. I actually called one of my friends who lived in Dallas, and he confirmed it. From a National Security standpoint, that just can’t be a good idea. We finally made it back to the bus and hit the sack.

Saturday, 1-21-06; 58 and Sunny: BSANationalMuseum, Papacitos Restaurant and Lunar Golf

We slept in until 11:30 today! Traci wasn’t feeling well, and being that we are an hour behind Indiana, I haven’t been getting as much sleep as usual since we drove into the Central time zone. We were very refreshed when we woke up, so we bound out of bed, got ready and went in search of some fine Mexican food for breakfast—er—lunch.

My Dallas friend had recommended Papacitos Restaurant, a locally owned chain of stores. Traci knew the general area where the restaurant was, so we ventured out without exact directions. It is near the huge (Bray Family Favorite) Six Flags over Texas. We had come here a couple of years ago for Fall Break, and we really loved the park. Thomas wasn’t yet 54 inches tall, so he had to sit out the largest coasters. Traci and I rode most of them, and we sincerely look forward to coming back. They closed a few weeks ago, to our chagrin.

I stopped to get gas near the park and asked the other patrons how to get to the restaurant. They all told me—in stereo—and we were there in no time. The food was wonderful—I had fish tacos and Traci had their famous fajitas—and we were well stuffened by the time we left. We were unfortunately not headed back to the bus, so we could not bring the leftovers (there were a lot of them) home with us. We had to say adios to the food and we were off to the Boy Scouts of America National Museum. As you may or may not know, I was Thomas’ Cub Master for Pack 190 back in Indy prior to leaving on the trip. I am officially an Assistant in the pack now, and will be until Thomas officially crosses into Boy Scouts next year. The museum was half history and half fun. They had lots of talking mannequins describing different parts of the Scout experience. They also had a Pine Wood Derby track set up, which was Thomas’ favorite. They had a laser shooting gallery (my favorite) and a virtual reality ATV game. Along with the fun stuff they also had lots of pictures of famous scouts and lots of old uniforms from around the world on display. Traci’s favorite part was the Norman Rockwell gallery they had, with a score of original paintings that have become part of our national identity. (Traci said it is the largest in the country.) Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera along, so I have no pictures for you, but I highly recommend you visit this place if you are in Dallas. It was outstanding.

After that we went back to Grapevine Mills and Thomas and I played glow-in-the-dark mini-golf while Traci attempted to shop for herself. Of all of the courses we have played on this trip, I would say this was the most unique. I would also say it’s a gold mine for who ever came up with the idea. They charge $8 per person, for up to 54 holes of golf. The two courses are all built with 2X4’s and metal tubing. The only ongoing cost is rent, electricity (for all of the black lights) and $6 an hour to pay the teenager at the front desk. The place was packed. Thomas actually got through 36 holes of golf, which was truly a first for him. He usually quits after about 13 out of 18 holes, but he made it through with a good attitude. I was thrilled.

We rejoined Traci, who had struck out in her attempt to shop, and we came back to the bus. This time she was prepared, and we made it back very quickly without going through the airport. We ate dinner in the bus and rested. She was still not feeling well, so she hit the sack early. I stayed up and answered emails while Thomas slept. It was a very quiet night.

Sunday, 1-22-06; 45 and Raining: Glory Road and Shopping

Yuck! What a miserable day. I have said many times that I would rather it be 28 and snowing than 45 and raining! We slept in again today—a very good thing—and got ready and had breakfast at the bus. We ventured out to the nearby mall where Thomas and I saw the movie Glory Road while Traci shopped. It’s not that she didn’t want to see this movie, but she wanted to shop more. Thomas didn’t want any snacks, so we just hit the theatre and got ready for goose bump city.

Needless to say, it was a Disney movie, so there was no bad language, and just a little kissing. They were able to go through time and re-create the environment from the 1960’s when a small NCAA school from El Paso, TX won the National Championship. Thomas was confused by all of the issues the folks had about a coach starting five black players on a basketball team. I was able to explain to him that this was long before the days of Michael Jordan and Jermaine O’Neal. This coach and these players opened the field for black players in both the NCAA and in professional basketball as well. It was an incredible story, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes sports stories. Disney did it again!

We hooked back up with Traci after the movie, and well, I’ll have to say, she succeeded in her quest for nicer clothes! I won’t go into all of the details, but she certainly won’t look like she lives in a bus, that’s for sure. She even got a very nice pair of brown cowgirl boots. She was thrilled, and so was I. She even did me a huge favor by buying her birthday present for this year. That’s one thing I don’t have to think about come February 20 th. She is the nicest wife!

After leaving the mall several bags heavier, we retired to the bus for dinner and video games. We look forward to the next few days here and the good food. We are flying back to Indy on Wednesday and returning to Dallas on Sunday. This time Traci and Thomas are coming too. I just couldn’t stand leaving them behind again. Some of my friends’ reactions to this trip were something like “I couldn’t stand to be with my wife and kids 24/7 for an entire year. I’d go crazy.” After seven months on the road, I feel just the opposite. Even for four days.

Monday, 1-23-06; 59 and Sunny: Working in the United RV Dealership Parking Lot

 We had been waiting for this day for some time. We were FINALLY getting Bessy worked on. We made reservations a few weeks ago to have her evaluated today, and if necessary, would leave her here while we travel to Indy later in the week. The deal Traci and I made was that we would split up (something we NEVER like to do) and she would take Thomas to Barnes and Noble for school and then shopping while I took the bus to the dealership.

I pulled up at my allotted time of 9:30 am, ready to have technicians tramping through the bus while I worked. I was prepared for that, simply because this was to be THE time to get the bus fixed, and Traci would be happy. That would be a great thing. Well, I checked in with the service guy and told them I would be working in the bus while they worked on the bus. He looked at me with tired eyes (remember, it was only 9:30) and was taken aback about the fact that I was going to wait. I asked what was wrong, and he pointed to a downtrodden looking couple in the “waiting” area (which consisted of lawn furniture around a wicker table next to a Coke machine) and said “they have been waiting since Friday”. I thought wow! They slept here? Oh, well. What did THEY have to do with me? I had an APPOINTMENT. Fleetwood made that appointment. I confirmed it when we arrived in town. I’m not just coming in off the street. This was planned in ADVANCE. Doesn’t that mean something? Well, I was about to find out…not.

The guy said they would not be out to look at the coach for a while. I grilled him on what that meant. He avoided the question, so I suggested a time frame. I said how about three hours? He looked deliriously at me and said “that sounds good. Three hours”. So with all of the optimism I could muster I turned around and returned to the bus and began working. For the first three hours I worked like a busy little bee and paid very little attention to the clock. Work was going well, and time was flying. At about 1:30 PM another bus just like Bessy pulled up and a guy hopped out. Since we have seen only a half dozen Fleetwood Expeditions like ours on the road in seven months, I had to get out and have a chat with him. It turns out his bus is a lemon. He bought it right around the same time I did and he has literally not been able to use it since. For all of you out there considering the purchase of a motor home, do NOT buy a Fleetwood. Run as far and as fast as you can from a Fleetwood dealership. It turns out he has had massive electrical problems among other things, and he has not even been able to take it out for a peaceful week of camping for almost a year. He has brought it to the dealership seven times for the same issue. His problems certainly made mine look tiny in comparison. However, I have had electrical problems, so I joined him and we marched in to demand justice! Well, this guy also knows the owners of the dealership and since the head mechanic was “on his way out to look at my bus” this guy took my spot, and I was left in the parking lot for another hour. 2:30 rolled around and I went back in to find out when the dude was coming out to look at Bessy since the other guy had pulled out 15 minutes earlier and he actually came up to me and said I was next.

The guy at the service desk mumbled something and I said I at least needed the new handle to our screen door that had broken, and that I would do my best to put it on. He found one and handed it to me and said good luck. I did my best to take the existing broken latch apart and replace it with this one. It turned out that what seemed like a four screw operation ended up being a major headache, and when Traci arrived the screen door was in about 20 pieces and the new latch was sitting on the floor of the bus. For those of you who know my wife, you know that she is very impatient, especially when she feels like an injustice had been committed, as in this case. She asked me a few questions, grabbed the new latch and quickly made her way to the counter. She asked for my service guy, and it turns out he was having lunch, and he would be back in 10. She decided to wait. When he arrived, they pointed him out, and with a smile and a look up and down he said “hey little lady, what can I do for you?” She gave him the “death look” and that pretty much wilted his enthusiasm for having met her. She introduced herself as my wife and asked him why he just gave me this part and expected me to install it for him. He stammered and really didn’t have an answer. He gave lots of excuses while she was drilling into him. She finally got so frustrated that she said she at least wanted the screen door to be fixed and that we were done with this dealership. She proceeded to lambaste him in front of about eight guys who were standing at the counter and told him that they were no better than the other twenty dealerships we had been to around the country. We have a new Bray Bushold joke: how many RV dealerships does it take to fix a Fleetwood motorhome? We don’t know yet. If it ever gets fixed, we’ll let you know!

We pulled out around 3:30 and went back to the camp site. We set Bessy back up in her slip and went out to On the Border for dinner. We just can’t seem to get enough Mexican food at this point in the trip. We love it! After dinner Thomas and I played video games while Traci wrote her book. More good stories to tell!

 Tuesday, 1-24-06; 69 and Sunny: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Preparing to go to Indy

I worked in the morning hours today and then we left to do a very “touristy” thing. We drove out to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth, TX. This time I was determined to bring my camera, so ya’ll could see some pictures of the place and I could add some pizzazz to my blog. Well, the first thing you hear when you get there is a message blared over the loudspeakers saying that we could not bring in any cameras or cell phones. Dang! Oh, well, maybe next time.

After checking in and going through metal detectors, we hopped the shuttle bus covered in a huge $20 bill. I would have loved to take a picture of that bus! The gal in the building told me that they had printed a special group of $50 bills that were not cut (called a 12 character sheet) with half “old” $50’s and half “new” colorful $50’s. She said only 500 were made, and that there was a huge waiting list in DC for them, but they had ONE left here in Fort Worth. I don’t know if she was compensated for telling me this, but it sure got my mind to thinking about eBay and how I may be able to recoup my $1200 investment! Yes, you read that right! The face value of the sheet was $600, but the cost of it was $1200. How does that happen? Supply and demand makes that happen. Collectors love those uncut sheets, so they snap them up like crazy. I pondered my decision for about a half an hour and decided I would make the investment, since they had such a HUGE waiting list in DC.

As we checked in, the guy at the front desk was going through his drone of rules and regulations and what to do and when---blah, blah, blah is all I heard. As soon as I could get a word in I asked where the bank—er, the gift shop was. He pointed the way, and I left Traci to handle the details while I bee-lined it to the counter. Once I entered the shop I dropped to a slow jog, trying not to look desperate. I played a bit dumb, and mentioned something about the gal in the other building and $50 bills. As soon as I started, the guy smiled really big and said “sorry sir, we sold the last one ten minutes ago”. I almost cried, because in my greed, I had already decided to buy and sell that sheet in a matter of hours to maybe double my money on eBay. Sold out? What? No way!

Needless to say, that brought me back down to earth so I could enjoy the rest of the visit. They showed us a film on how money is made, and it was very informative; so informative in fact that the actual tour was kind of lame. The movie was close-up, and the tour was looking down from the second floor—about 20 feet away. The cool thing was that they were printing off the first group of new Alexander Hamilton $10 bills. They will be red, orange, yellow and green. They will be the most colorful of the group. Each bill gets updated about every seven to ten years. They are making them progressively more colorful and intricate to try to stop counterfeiters around the world. It was a fascinating thing to see, especially since my profession has always been to find the best thing to sell to generate as much of their product as possible.

A huge portrait of Bill Gates hangs in the lobby so everyone visiting the place will know where most of the money is headed after it is printed. Not really, but I just had to say that. Any time you look at your bills and find a little FW that means it was printed in Fort Worth, TX. No FW? It was printed in DC.

After the trip to the house of money, we went back to the bus and caught up on work. After dinner we did chores and packed for our trip to Indy.

Wednesday, 1-25-06; 69 and Sunny/38 and Cloudy: Drop off bus, fly to Indy

Some of the feedback I’ve gotten from friends and family regarding my blog is that they love to hear about the frustrating parts of the trip. Whether they admit it or not, they love it. Most of the time they think the trip is an exciting adventure, and that with my upbeat personality, I think that it is a perfect life and that nothing goes wrong. Well, the last time you got a taste of it we had a strange man in our bedroom feeding diesel fuel into a hole with a straw. Fortunately this was nothing like that, but it was still an interesting goof on my part…well, sort of.

When I arranged for the storage unit to house Bessy during the five days we were going to be in Indy, the first thing she asked was how long our rig was. The manual says 38 feet, and that’s what I told her. She said great. That will fit just fine. We agreed on a time and a price and the deal was done. We showed up just on time and we were pumped. The unit was second to the end, and when we inspected it, the place looked HUGE! I thought it would be NO problem. Well, I had never actually parked Bessy in an enclosed building before. At first glance, since it was so close to the end, I thought “hey, I’ll just pull it in straight since we have a plane to catch”. Traci agreed, and we were on our way.

Unfortunately, Bessy didn’t agree. No matter how many times I tried to straighten her up, I could not get the bus lined up enough to pull her in. The proximity alarms in my head kept going off and I lost my nerve and froze. Traci was at this point ready to scream at me, because we were going to miss our flight. She told me to bag it and pull out and back the bus in. I did that, and with just a few minor modifications, I was able to pull her in with no problem (huge lesson learned). Traci did a fantastic job guiding me in, and it worked like a charm, or so we thought. As the bus closed in toward the back wall, Traci quickly realized that the bike rack hung too far off the back and that we would have to take the bikes off to complete the operation. I quickly got out and disassembled the bike rack and rolled the bikes to either side of the bus. That worked well enough and I was back in the cab and in reverse. As the bus approached the back of the unit again, Traci yelled stop just as the bus was within an inch of the back wall.

Again I got out of the bus to survey the situation. The main cab of the bus was in the building, but the right front mirror was still sticking out of the unit by more than a foot! I called the dealership and they said I needed special tools to swing the mirror in to fit snug against the bus. I said the heck with it, let’s leave it the way it is. At least it will be out of the rain. Traci concurred until she realized the unit to the left of us would not be able to open their door because they were hung vertically and slid left to right on tracks. If our neighbor had to get in their unit they would be unable to do so.

I was furious by this point and I went to visit the nice lady at the office. She said I could just pull the bus up along side the building wall and park it outside. We agreed on that, and we locked the three bikes and the bike rack in the 40’ X 14’ X 20’ storage unit. Once we got in the car and on the way to the airport, we realized we had used up way too much time on the bus and were only 1.5 hours from take off, and the airport was about 30 minutes away. Needless to say, we were stressed. I hit Speedy and we were making our way down to I20 to the airport. After about ten minutes of nail biting stress I realized that both the clock in the car and my watch were set for Indiana time, which was an hour AHEAD of Texas time. We had over two hours to spare. Whew!

The rest of the trip to the airport, parking, shuttle service and check-in were eventless, thank Goodness. We settled down in the food court to have some Chinese take-out, and as we were digging in, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that our flight had been changed—to another terminal! Suddenly we were in another hurry and we had to wolf down our food and hightail it to the tram and over to a different gate. We had about 30 minutes of leeway by the time we settled at the new gate. I would hate to really be late to that flight!

The flight was almost full, but really quiet thanks to about 40 kids from the Indiana School for the Deaf. If I knew sign language I could “listen” in on their conversations, but I don’t, so it was just quiet and peaceful. We all read and the flight was smooth and quick. Once we arrived in Indy we took the shuttle to the Enterprise building and were treated to the fastest and easiest rental car check-in in our lives. We were there no more than three minutes and we were in the truck and on our way. We were shocked with delight as we hit the Airport Expressway and through down town Indy.

We next went and picked up Traci’s car at her folks’ house and went to the home of our previous neighbors who were hosting us for the weekend. We had dinner and lively conversation, and just relaxed.

Thursday, 1-26-06; 42 and Cloudy: Meetings, Meetings, Meetings!

There isn’t much more to say, but that I had six back-to-back meetings with customers, prospects and future partners. Everything was positive, and I expect several contracts to come out of them in the next month. It was a very nice change, and I enjoyed seeing everyone and talking live instead of on the phone. The only piece that bugged me was that several people had bad colds, and I was afraid I would get sick.

After my appointments, Traci and I had dinner with the folks who are hosting us this week. The wife is a wonderful cook, and her cooking was as awesome as ever. After that we just chatted until bedtime.

Friday, 1-27-06; 50 and Sunny: Meetings and Pacers Game

Today’s schedule was not nearly as hectic as yesterday, but I was able to get a few good meetings in before the quarterly eGix meeting. The eGix meeting went well, and I was thrilled with their latest developments on the telecommunications front. After the meeting, I had another appointment on the east side on the way down town. That meeting again went really well, and it has already produced a contract.

After that meeting I hit Conseco Fieldhouse to see the Pacers play and to chat with different eGix employees and distributors. I was a very good boy and didn’t drink a drop, so I was able to get home and rejoin my family after the game with no problems! It was late, and we were exhausted after a very busy week.

Saturday, 1-28-06; 58 and Sunny: Hanging Out with Neighbors

Today was mainly spent hanging with the folks who hosted us in their home on this trip. They are Brad and Deb Rusk. They are the kind of neighbors everyone wish they had. They are fun, smart and very successful. They welcome us into their home like family and they feed us as much food as we want! I’m not telling you anything more about them, because there will be a rush on homes in the area, and I don’t want that to happen! We may move back to the neighborhood when we come back to Indy.

Sunday, 1-29-06; 58 and Raining/74 and Sunny: Time with Family, Flight back to Dallas

 We slept in today to try to catch up. Spending lots of time with friends and co-workers shortchanged our sleep this week. After breakfast we picked Thomas up and drove to the east side of Indy to Traci’s parents’ house. We spent the afternoon celebrating multiple pending birthdays, new babies and the like with her family. Her nephew is in the Army in Iraq, so we made a video for him to watch over the net. We enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up.

Once we left the house we ran a couple of errands and went back to the airport. The back end of the car rental experience was stress-free. Great job Enterprise! As we were sitting in the airport waiting to board, we reflected on our few days back in Indy. The family consensus was that we enjoyed our time with friends and family, but we were still excited and glad to be going back to Part II of the Bray Family Adventure! We really enjoy our life, and each other’s company. That’s the way it should be.

The flight was flawless and we found both Speedy and Bessy just where we found them and unharmed. However, Bessy was not happy that we left her so long. There was some item in the bus that took a drag on the primary battery array, even with the solar panel on the roof designed to counter this drag. When we arrived in the bus, the lights hardly lit at all. Fortunately the engine batteries are on a separate system, so Bessy started in a snap! This situation changed our plans a bit. We had originally planned to stay at the local Camp Wal Mart for the evening, but we decided to venture on to Waco, TX in order to recharge the batteries while driving.

By the time we arrived I was a bit tired, and it showed. I attempted to try to find my way to the Sam’s Club that was clearly visible from the highway. I took the appropriate exit and headed in what I thought was the correct direction. At the last second we realized the twisty roads of Texas had fooled us again. Needless to say, I had to make a last minute turn through a parking lot in search of our sleeping spot. Being that it was midnight, we had no traffic patterns to guide us. If you combine those factors together, you can probably guess what I did next: went the wrong way on a one way street! Once we realized it, we really could not correct our mistake, so we just continued down the street until we were able to turn into the parking lot. It was worth a good laugh as we were collapsing into bed.

Monday, 1-30-06; 65 and Sunny: Work and Nanny McPhee

It’s the Monday before the end of the month. Things were pretty quiet today, mainly due to the fact that I don’t want to lean on my customers who are due to sign some contracts today or tomorrow. We’ll see!

When we were in Indy Traci took delivery of her new “Vicariously Yours” laptop, so while I worked I also loaded tons of software on to her new machine. I had to figure out how to move her email information from my laptop to hers, as well as re-load our financial and other software. It took forever to get it done, but I was able to do so. She is excited to be able to write even when I am on my machine. It should aid in her ability to finish her book without interference from my work. Well, I went through the entire day and no one signed a contract. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

After work we hit the road in search of a gigantic 16 theatre mega-plex that was showing Nanny McPhee. The directions that came out of Mapquest gave us a fifteen step process to find the theatre. I guess Mapquest is confused by the roads here too. The real directions were “take a right and drive until you see the theatre and turn into the parking lot”. That did it, and we ascended into the theatre # 10 to find that we were the only ones there. The movie just came out last weekend and we were alone! Before the movie started two others joined us to remind us that it wasn’t a huge movie rental.

Fortunately, the movie was indeed a 41/2 stars out of five on the Bray family scale. If you like Marry Poppins, this movie is for you. If you like Emma Thompson, this movie is for you. If you have children, this movie is for you. If you are thinking about having children, this movie is for you. If you are breathing, this film is for you. As you can tell, we loved it. We highly recommend it. We are still confused as to why the theatre was empty, considering it was the #1 movie at the box office over the weekend.

After the movie, we went to a new grocery store called HEB. What does that mean? We found out that it means “Here Everything is Better”. Original, hugh? We were impressed. The store was nice, and was packed to the gills with Hispanic people. In all of our travels in the south, we haven’t seen many Hispanics. This was the highest concentration we had seen in almost 8 months. We had to come all the way to South Texas to see them. I said hola to as many as I could. Just kidding.

After grocery shopping, we retired to the bus and watched Mythbusters on DVD. Yes, I purchased the entire first season of Mythbusters since we didn’t watch during that time and have seen few reruns. We are having a ball watching it. We recommend it to everyone who has school age children.

Tuesday, 1-31-06; 70 and Sunny: Work and Dinner at Taco Xpress

Yup. It’s the end of the month. If you don’t already know what that means for a sales guy, you will now! This month has been fraught with tussles between my carriers and equipment vendors, and I have been smack in the middle. I’ve handled threatened disconnects and billing claims. I’ve signed new business, and defended existing business. It has been a rough month. Well, today was the last day of the month, --kind of. We may end up “encouraging” my customers who sign contracts tomorrow to date them for today. Shhhhhh. I won’t tell if you don’t!

Overall, it was a productive month, but not exactly what I had in mind. I initiated several projects, some of which I expected to close by now. Hopefully they will continue and end up closing tomorrow and later in February. We are going on our 8 th month of this trip! So far, the trip has been a huge success. The appointments I had with customers in Indianapolis this past week were very productive. I look forward to helping them all to install the best telecommunications services they can buy!

Today a huge opportunity came on to the radar, about which I am very excited—I’m sure that’s a big surprise! However, it will be a lot of work, but I’m up to it! We need to bring our “A” game that day, that’s for sure!

After work and school, the Bray family headed out to take advantage of Rachel Ray’s advice. Traci has her book called Best Eats In Town for $40 a Day. She gave two thumbs up to a local joint called Taco Xpress. We found the place—after much confusion—and we were rewarded greatly for our confidence and sense of adventure.

May I take a minute here to tell you about the roads of Texas? Oh, thanks! I appreciate it. You are so kind! Well, the best way I can describe the roads of Texas is: Italian. Italian? Yes. Can you say spaghetti? The only serious spaghetti bowl in Indiana is down town Indianapolis. From any direction, you have a maximum of four choices, if that many. Well, here in Texas, even in smaller town, everything is a spaghetti bowl! Even in smaller towns, the highway choices include huge arches of roadway going ten stories in the air just to get to the next area. We have logged lots of miles on this trip, covering no less than 20 states, but we have never seen this kind of construction. It’s like Texas has pinned their state ego on the size of their roads. Needless to say, in Speedy, it’s a blast—powering through those curves at 55+ MPH. However, thanks to what seem to be natural occurrences in Texas, the cross-winds of Texas cause large amounts of stress while traversing these 20 story loops around even the smallest town. I’ve managed it well, but would much prefer NOT to endure these in the bus for very long. We’ll see.

Back to dinner at Taco Xpress. We navigated through the maze of roads in Austin and finally made our way to the restaurant. Although the large statue of a gal named Maria was missing from the roof, we did find the restaurant. If you don’t know who Rachel Ray is, please look her up on the Food Network. She is a very famous and personable cook who has multiple gigs on the network as well as a half dozen books to her name. She highly recommended Taxo Xpress in one of her books as a must-see in Austin. We were NOT disappointed. The tacos were all of $1.75 apiece. Traci and I decided to try to the Mexi Taco, which consisted of eggs, tomatoes, jalapenos and onions. Yes, it was dinner time, but they served the “breakfast” tacos all day. Thomas ordered two “beef” tacos, but they also included potatoes mixed in, which completely failed the “Thomas” test. I even tried them, and I would not have eaten them either. So we pitched them and got him a sandwich from Subway. Oh, well. The tacos Traci and I had were phenomenal. Rachel was right. The place is NOT to be missed in Austin. The entire meal, including a XX beer for Traci and soft drinks for Thomas and me, was $19. By far, a record for a non-fast-food joint on the trip. We were thrilled.

After that we headed back to the bus after stopping to do a few errands. The evening was spent watching American Idol, Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters. It was a wonderful and relaxing evening.

Wednesday, 2-1-06; 67 and Rain: Work, Planning and Dinner at the Taco Cabana

Rain, rain, go away! Actually, don’t, for the Texans’ sake. They need the rain! We hung around the bus the entire day while I worked and Traci and Thomas did school. After that Traci and I sat down and planned out the next month of the trip—the next month! Can you believe it? Rosemarie would be so proud! We didn’t make reservations for everything, but we now know where we will be until we depart LAX for Honolulu on 2/28. We ran short on time so we have to skip Big Bend National Park, and I’m bummed about that. Oh, well. We have to get Bessy fixed, and that’s the first priority, and that is what set the schedule between now and February 20 th.

We also found out that Fleetwood Headquarters is just outside of LA. That’s exciting, because if our bus doesn’t get fixed, I’m going to drive it to their HQ and swap it for a new one! Look for me on the national news late in February. I’ll be the one slamming a 40 foot RV into the side of Fleetwood’s headquarters!

After exhausting ourselves pouring over the atlas and Mapquest, we decided to recharge our batteries at the Taco Cabana. Oh, Barry Manilow would be so proud! Were his songs translated into Spanish? Now this was sort of Mexican fast food, sort of not. They did have a drive-through, but it wasn’t very busy. I would say the food wasn’t that hot. We’ve eaten lots of Mexican this past couple of weeks, and this was probably on the low end of the “food chain”.

After dinner we retreated back to the bus to watch TV and play games. Tomorrow we leave to go to San Antonio, one of the most anticipated cities of 2006.

Thursday, 2-2-06; 78 and Sunny: Breakfast at the RV Park, Drive to San Antonio, Work, The Alamo and Dinner at The Riverwalk

Yes, you read that right. Since this park is gated and Thomas was still asleep, Traci and I stole away for a short date: a free pancake breakfast at the camp ground. We are always weary of free breakfasts. We have only had a few positive experiences with “free” breakfast, even at some high-end hotels in which we have stayed. Considering that the gal heavily promoted the breakfast upon check-in, we decided we needed to do it at least once. She made it a point to say that the pancakes were free, as well as the coffee, but everything else was a la carte. I don’t know if we had a funny look on our faces, or what, but she added with enthusiasm “the pancakes are good, and 9 times out of 10 they’ll fill you up”. We were puzzled by that, because we rarely ever eat all of the pancakes we order no matter where we are eating. What does that say about the 1 out of 10 that is still hungry? She might have said “Unless you are real pigs you won’t have to buy anything”. In any case, the food was worth the price we paid, but we were certainly full!

We came back to the bus and went through our pre-flight checklist, and prepared for take-off. This RV park had been in business since 1968, and the width of the sites and of the roads harken back to a simpler time of not-so-big-rigs. It was a sincere challenge to get the bus out while towing the Infiniti. Thanks to Traci’s expert guidance, we made it out without a scratch.

We bee lined it down I35 and were in San Antonio in about 90 minutes. Mapquest gave us some “interesting” directions to our new home of three days, and at one time I thought I was going to plow into a guy at an intersection. Taking right turns in Bessy normally requires two lanes, and this time I only had one, plus a little bit of sidewalk with which to work. After launching all of our personal effects left to right and then right to left, I made it back on to the road with no damage. Once we got to the campground, we were happy to see that there were no train tracks within sight of the place.

We quickly set up camp and I got to work. A couple of contracts came in today, which made my carrier friends very happy. Hopefully February will be a little less nerve wracking than January was. It ended up strong, but not until the last possible minute.

After work, we got in Speedy and drove down town, which is only about 10 minutes away. It was very easy, and we really got a feel for the place. We parked quickly and hit the River Walk. Here are two pictures I took from the very bridge where JLo sat in the movie Selina. I haven’t seen the movie, but it’s pretty famous in these parts.

We then went to visit the Alamo—see pictures—of the outside! They would not let us take pictures of the inside, even without the flash. I don’t know why, but hey, I didn’t want to get thrown out. These Texans love their Alamo! The place was much smaller than it looks in pictures, movies, etc. They actually have a mock Alamo outside of town for films, etc. It was very historic, and they made a really big deal out of Davie (here they call him David) Crockett and Jim Bowie—although we couldn’t determine why the “ Bowie” knife was so special. It didn’t much help him when ten Mexican soldiers were charging him with bayonets!

Seeing all of that history made us hungry for Mexican, so we strolled back to the Riverwalk and hit one of the Mexican joints right on the water. The food was pretty good—not the best—but we enjoyed it. We are certainly getting our fill of Mexican on this trip! I wonder when I’ll start dreaming in Spanish!

After dinner we grabbed Speedy and came back to the bus for a Mythbusters marathon and bed.

Friday, 2-3-06; 77 and Sunny: Work, the Alamo Movie, and Boat Tour of the Riverwalk

Yes, the weather was beautiful today. I wish I could have just blown off work and lay in the sun all day, but that wasn’t in the cards today. I’m already working on new stuff for February, which at this point appears to be shaping up to be another great month.

We did the super-touristy thing and fell prey to the repeated recommendations to see the movie about the Alamo. It’s called The Price of Freedom. There are posters everywhere down town, and any time you talk to a local about what to do, they always recommend the movie. Traci and I think they some how track this behavior and send out commission checks to the people who finally break your will and convince you to go see it.

I don’t want to slam this movie. It is, after all, a reenactment, and San Antonio certainly ain’t Hollywood. The story is very impactful, and it says a lot about the bravery and sacrifice early Americans made in defense of our country. However, after watching such films as Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and The Patriot, this film leaves a LOT to be desired. Suffice to say, the acting was really cheesy and the story line made no sense to those of us who have ever seen another “war” movie. Even Thomas asked me why they didn’t do a better job defending their fort. Kids are so desensitized to violence these days!

They showed it on an ancient IMAX screen, supposedly the “third largest in the country”. Well, Traci and I have seen movies on two other IMAX screens (Indy and Birmingham, AL) and unless there is no other like those two in the entire country, San Antonio has done lost their bragging rights! This screen was IMAX all right, but it was about twice the size of a normal movie screen, and the sound system was standard movie equipment. Not much compared to the others we have seen.

After the movie we ate pizza in the mall and hopped aboard a tour boat that took us around the entire river walk. The driver was very funny, and he pointed out lots of historical and sociological aspects of the community. We were thrilled with the growth and prosperity they are enjoying in this city. It was beautiful and being that it was a Friday night, the place was hopping.

We retired to the bus to play a little and go to bed.

Saturday, 2-4-06; 76 and Sunny: Shopping, Dinner at Los Barrios, Max Lucado’s Church

We decided to have Sunday on Saturday this week. Tomorrow we are doing a marathon drive from San Antonio to Fort Stockton, TX. It’s over 4 hours, and we plan to take it all in one shot. Fort Stockton is near Carlsbad, NM where we are going on Monday. There is a Camp Wal Mart in Fort Stockton, and that’s where we plan to stay tomorrow after the drive. The weather is picture perfect here, (see above) but it’s supposed to cool slightly as we get into next week.

We slept in this morning, and ate brunch in the bus. We scoped out the directions and time for church at Max Lucado’s church here in San Antonio. If you don’t recognize the name, check Amazon. He is a very prolific Christian writer, and one of our favorites. Unfortunately he isn’t in town this week, so his Singles Minister is speaking.

We have only been down town here, so we decided to find the church first, and then spread out from there. It never ceases to amaze us how big the roads are here. They aren’t particularly wide, but they are all tall. As I said last week, everything is a spaghetti bowl. North San Antonio is no exception. It would be like taking US 31 through Carmel and making it all elevated roadways. Bridges of all heights spin off in all directions. There are no simple traffic patterns here…everything is a project.

Once we located the church, we decided to do some last minute Target shopping for non-perishables. We scoped one out beside the highway, so we took the appropriate exit. Once we got off the highway, there was gridlock everywhere. It’s like everyone in town was concentrated in this small area of mega-strip malls. I got in the wrong lane to turn left, and casually decided to go right so I could do a U and come back. Well, 4 left turns and multiple traffic signals later, I was finally going in the right direction. By the time we got to the parking lot we were exhausted. We hit Barnes and Noble first and then went to Target.

On the way there, Traci found a local Mexican restaurant chain in a promo magazine and suggested we try it. She had actually seen it profiled on the Food Network (It was also on the Travel Channel), so we considered it our duty to review it for all of our friends. It was called Los Barrios, and it was named after the family who started the chain. I finally had the fish tacos for which I had searched since we arrived in Texas! The food was excellent and was very reasonable. The restaurant was in a scary part of town, but we didn’t feel like we were in danger. The only drawback to the restaurant was it was decorated in an ultra-cheesy Mexican motif. It made Acapulco Joe’s look like Morton’s Steak House. All in all, the Bray Bushold gave it two thumbs up. Could the Travel Channel be wrong?

After dinner we found out way back to the church, with plenty of time to spare. They had an entire parking lot reserved just for “Newcomers”. At our largish church in Indy they have about 8 spaces for such folks. I guess Max brings visitors in from all over. The sermon was touching and down to earth, which was a great thing for our family. Thomas even said it was inspiring. That was a big improvement over past visits to unfamiliar churches!

After church we came home and did chores and prepared to make the big drive tomorrow. We can’t wait to see Carlsbad Caverns!

Sunday, 2-5-06; 79 and Sunny: Marathon Drive to Fort Stockton, TX Night at Comanche RV Park

Today was Super Drive Sunday (For the rest of the world it was Super Bowl Sunday, but since the Colts were out of the playoffs, we didn’t bother watching.) We drove from San Antonio to Fort Stockton, TX. It was a five hour drive through the desert! Fortunately we tanked up prior to leaving SA, so we had no problem with fuel. We did have problems with the wind though! We had a headwind most of the way, and that really cut into our mileage. It was so windy where we were that there were dozens of gigantic wind turbines dotting the hilltops. It was very cool to see them, right in Big Oil country. There were scores of oil wells too. Don’t forget those!

There was another issue that seemed strange to us, and we nicknamed the road “ Carnage Highway”. We must have seen 75 dead deer just on our side of the road! We thought the sight along I20 in Louisiana was amazing. This was out of control! The other strange thing was that by the appearance of some of the “victims”, the Texas DOT hadn’t been through this area in quite some time! There were many deer in the final stages of decomposition, and we were indeed glad we didn’t have to stop!

Along the way, we saw a sign for the David Crockett monument in Crockett County, TX. We’re not sure why this monument is there, because he died at the Alamo, and he was born in Tennessee. There was nothing in the biographical information we read in San Antonio that indicated that he found himself out here in the middle of nowhere, but the folks in Crockett County decided he was their man. Here is a picture of his monument; not very spectacular, but hey, why look a gift monument in the mouth?

We also enjoyed our first drive through sheer nothingness. We drove mile after mile and saw nothing but short shrubs, cacti and small trees. It was very peaceful and very beautiful. Speaking of nothingness, we finally arrived at our destination: Fort Stockton, TX for a good night’s sleep. We originally expected to boon dock at Camp Wal Mart in Fort Stockton (I called ahead to confirm our reservation—er, that they allowed overnight parking, and they did.), but as we were taking the exit off the highway, we spied a sign for the Comanche RV Park for $10 per night for full hookup! We could not resist a cheap full hookup. We arrived and the place was already closed, but they had a night drop and since we were taking a 50 amp site, the rate was $13!

We gladly deposited our cash, and set up camp in about 10 minutes. It was getting cold, and we really didn’t feel like boon docking. We did hit the Wal Mart for some groceries, and lo and behold, the parking lot area designated for RV’s was packed! We would have had a hard time fitting in, and I know Traci would have been uncomfortable doing so. It was a win/win for everyone that night and we slept like babies. Just to show you the vast nothingness in this area, please see the following pictures. (pictures 2 and 3)

Monday, 2-6-06; 55 and Sunny: Drive to Carlsbad, New Mexico, Grocery Shopping

I did some work in the morning and we rolled out of the arrow-ridden Comanche RV Park around noon and took a right. Highway 285 North was literally a straight shot all the way to Carlsbad. The KOA to which we were driving was off of the same highway. The speed limit was 70, but since I can’t go that fast comfortably in Bessy, I set the cruise at 65 and rolled on down the highway. It was a very relaxing drive. We rolled through small town after small town, or what was left of them. I have a bit of advice. When you look at the atlas, and you see big white spaces on the map, there is nothing there. I mean NOTHING. We drove for three hours seeing nothing but cacti and yucca plants. As we went north, the landscape changed a bit, but not much. We rolled across a few big ranges of hills, and on to Carlsbad. The Roadrunner is the New Mexico state bird, and we indeed saw three of them today, and they are quick. Fortunately for the roadrunners, we saw Wiley Coyote dead on the road a few miles back.

We arrived at the most excellent KOA campground late in the afternoon. It was literally an oasis in the desert, and we were glad to be there. We hooked up, I caught up on work, and we went grocery shopping. It was a very relaxing day.

Tuesday, 2-7-06; 70 and Sunny: Work, Carlsbad Caverns, Walk Through the Desert

I got up early and worked while the family slept. For some reason, my cell phone alarm didn’t go off when it was supposed to, and I was very concerned! It turns out that we drove into Mountain Time yesterday and we didn’t know it, so local time is actually an hour behind Texas. That gave me another hour to work prior to leaving, but it freaked us out a bit. I got caught up on my active projects and paperwork, and got prepared to go to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. If you have never been there, it is a spelunking paradise. We began the 1.5 hour tour by going 850 feet below the surface in an elevator. The place was HUGE on the inside. It was an enjoyable tour, very similar to Merrimac Caverns in Missouri. Unfortunately, this place is in the middle of a 12 year drought, so the cave is not “living”, or growing since there is no water seeping through from the surface. It was kind of sad. After we finished the tour, we ate lunch in the restaurant on premise. The food was actually a bit better than we expected, and we can say we ate there. I also got a new pin for the board.

On the way out of the park, we stopped to take in the incredible scenes on top of the mountains. We walked the trails around the desert and just soaked up the silence and the scenery. Please enjoy the pictures I took of the area. It was beautiful!

We returned to the bus and I caught up on work. While I was on the phone with one of my customers (from Canada), a beautiful roadrunner ran right up to the bus. I was stunned, and actually interrupted the conversation to alert my family and give him the play-by-play. Fortunately, my camera was close at hand, and I snapped this great shot of him. It was so cool. Traci wrote while I played video games with Thomas and prepared to leave tomorrow. We were so glad to be here, but we are looking forward to moving on to El Paso.

Wednesday, 2-8-06; 69 and Sunny: Work, Drive to El Paso, Work and Dinner at Cattleman Steak House

I got up and caught up on work prior to leaving for El Paso. It turns out that the drive to El Paso took us right past the Caverns and straight south. It looked like a ribbon against the landscape as far as the eye could see. We actually drove through the Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the officially named Texas Mountain Trail. It was one of the most beautiful drives we have made on this trip. Only our drive through the mountains of Vermont topped this. They were both spectacular, but with different ecosystems. Fortunately no wild animals gave their lives under Bessy’s tires, which was a relief to the entire family.

About half way to El Paso we stopped at a roadside “picnic area” in a place called Salt Flats, TX. We had never heard of such a thing, but decided to check it out. It was worth the stop. It is a huge lakebed covered in white salt in the middle of a brown desert. As you can see by the pictures, it is surrounded by the mountains. It was very cool, and somewhere we will never forget. Please see pictures. They are worth a look.

We moved on to El Paso, and finally made our way to the campground. I caught up on work, and Traci found a famous steakhouse in town in the Frommers guide called the Cattleman Steak House. When Frommers says to go there, we go. We went. Unfortunately I forgot the camera. However, it’s off-season, so all of the normal zoo-like attractions were not active. The place is legendary for the locals and in-season travelers. We highly recommend it if you’re ever in El Paso. The food was a 10 on a 10 scale, if you like steak. It’s pricey, but Thomas again agreed to split a Porterhouse called the “Cowgirl”—a 24 ounce steak(!), so the bill wasn’t too high. Everything they put on the table that night was world-class, even the cole slaw! We took a ton of food home for leftovers. We were all stuffed and happy. It was a great welcome to El Paso!

Thursday, 2-9-06; 69 and Sunny: Work, Vamos a Mexico!

We are exhausted! I got up early ( 6:30 local time) and worked until Noon ( 2:00 pm Indiana time) and got a ton of stuff done. February is roaring along and lots of great things are happening. I am very bullish about this shortest month of the year! I fulfilled all of my commitments and let everyone know I would be out for the latter half of the afternoon. We jumped in Speedy and went to down town El Paso and crossed the border into Juarez, Mexico! Yes, the white bread, born-Hoosier Bray family went south of the border to check out the other side!

All in all, it was pretty much what we expected it would be. There were very few Americans on that side of the Rio Grande, and the only folks who spoke Ingles’ were the salespeople and the server from the restaurant. Suffice to say, if you have seen the movie Man on Fire, you may know how I felt today. My proximity alarm was blaring all day as Mexican men would swing in and around us on the sidewalk. I was ready for a fight pretty much at every moment. The thing that was most amazing to both Traci and me was the incredible number of men standing around doing nothing. I don’t know if they had jobs, but if they did, they must work the night shift. There were hundreds and hundreds of people just standing or sitting around at 2:00 PM on a weekday. Here are a couple of pictures from the small park in front of the Guadalupe Mission Church.

After going to the mission, we strolled around down town just taking it all in. It was very overwhelming. The place is all a huge dump. There were very few buildings in good shape, and most were open even though they looked like they weren’t. We were not able to find the huge “marketa” Traci saw in the magazine we were given at the campground, so we stopped to ask a policeman. As I approached, I asked in very broken Spanish if he spoke English. He said “si” and never once spoke a word of English. I asked him where the marketa was, and he pointed us north and acted like it would be about two blocks up and to the left. As we wandered around by his directions, growing more uncomfortable by the minute, we happened across the restaurant we passed when we first arrived in the country. The guy outside hawking the food spoke very good English, and suddenly Thomas was hungry. See Picture.

We stopped for “lunch”, although we already ate lunch at the bus before we left. It turns out that the guy on the street corner was actually a server going out to net his next customer. Yes, we were the only customer in the place! Yes, all of the stories about eating and drinking the water in Mexico were screaming in the back of my head—very loudly! Thomas ordered beef tacos and Traci and I split a Mexican Platter. Thomas got an orange soda and Traci got a XX beer, (what else!) and I asked if they had bottled water. He replied yes, and I expected him to bring out a bottle of Dasani (since they had Coke products) or at least an AquaFina. Well, I was wrong! He brought out some bottle of water that was in Spanish. I examined it closely while he was away from the table it it was bottled in Mexico! What’s the point? Traci suggested that the name of it might as well be El Tapo water, because the odds are vastly against a clean water source being found in Mexico. One of my extremely successful customers in Indy who sells water purification systems is opening an office in Mexico for that very reason! I could have used you today Mike!

Well, the water tasted OK and the food was actually very good, so we ate lunch and asked the server where the “marketa” was, and he gave us directions, reluctantly. We were a bit puzzled by this, and he actually offered to escort us to the place. We of course refused the offer, and bid him farewell and headed on down the street. His apparent concern for our safety only magnified my paranoia about our safety. We found the place after walking for about 15 minutes, and were a bit relieved to be inside a huge retail establishment. However, our relief was short-lived. We were “out of the frying pan and into the fire”! If you have never been in a Mexican “open” market, get ready! There were hundreds of booths, packed full of cheesy Mexican stuff, and all of them complete with a very pesky and persistent Mexican insisting that we look at and buy their stuff.

Traci picked out a necklace, and the gal wanted $5 for it. Traci claims she is terrible at haggling for prices. Phooey! She was as cold as ice, and she drove this lady crazy. Traci said she liked it, (she did) and that it had her colors (it did), but that she would think about it for a while. Finally, out of extreme frustration, the lady turned to me and offered it to me for $2! I snapped it up, and we laughed all the way around the place (very quietly, of course). She had purchased a similar necklace in Key West for $4, and I ALMOST purchased one in the Bahamas for $28. I was certainly glad I didn’t!

After that episode, we tried to walk around the place, because Traci was having fun and she needed to find a decorative box for one of our neighbors back home. Unfortunately no one had the right color, and the hawkers were all over us. They would NOT leave us alone. We finally had to get out of there, because we were all ready to scream. Fortunately I got a shot of Thomas in an authentic Mexican (probably made in China) Sombrero. See Picture.

After that we were ready to get back to the US and civilization. Unfortunately no one told us that they don’t give change at the border going back into the US. I only had a $20, and I really didn’t want to exchange it for 200 pesos. The gal at the gate pointed me to a hole in the wall that offered change, and the guy inside reluctantly gave me change for a $20 including 4 quarters. Unfortunately the passage cost was $.30, and although I inserted $1.00 for Traci and Thomas, they wouldn’t let me though until I deposited another $.30. I was stupefied, and out of frustration I turned around with hat in hand to get another four quarters. The guy at the gate thought that was the funniest thing today, and I could hear him laughing out loud as I was going across the street. I thought of several mean things to say to him, but I kept my mouth shut as I went through. The last thing I wanted was to get tangled up with the border patrol and spend a night in a Mexican jail over $.30!

We quickly made our way back across the border and through customs and back to Speedy. As you may realize after reading about my life for the last eight months, I really like my car. It borders on one of the family. I can remember very few times in the past six years when I was more glad to see my wonderful 2000 Infiniti I30t with all of its 115,000 miles on it. All of my cares washed away as I slid into the leather seats and cranked the air and the 3.0 liter V6 and got the heck out of there! He responded in kind, briskly escorting me away from the border and back to civilization! Before we knew it, we were going 60 MPH on I10 back to the RV. We were SO glad to be “home”.

After we rested a bit, we ventured back out to Wal Mart (it was the closest store, really) to get some groceries and stuff for Traci. The trip was burdensome and long. Traci literally read an entire Cosmopolitan magazine while we were standing in line. It was topped off by a very white trash man in the parking lot screaming at and cussing out his wife and children. He actually shut the hatch to his crappy minivan and grazed his infant daughter on the forehead! Neither he nor his wife noticed, but I reacted with a giant gasp, and everyone looked at me and the baby started wailing. Traci asked me what happened, and I said very loudly that the man hit his daughter with the hatch! He cussed at his wife for not getting her out of the way. I was stunned. I wanted to call the police, but against my better judgment, I refrained.

Exhausted, we returned to the bus and collapsed after putting the groceries away. Tomorrow is going to be a magical day. I can’t wait to tell you about it!

Friday, 2-10-06; 55 and Sunny: Work, Sledding at WhiteSandsNational Monument

Yes, you read that right. I worked almost a full day today, and thanks to the time difference between Mountain Time and Eastern Time, I was able to book out late in the afternoon and go sledding at White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo, NM.

Some people ask where we get our ideas for things to do. Some people who know Traci think she has everything planned out well in advance, just like she did as a meeting planner for Eli Lilly. NOT! That could not be further from the truth. In her writing, she says we plan “2 ½ inches at a time”. That means we measure about 2.5 inches out on the national map, and that’s where we go next. It’s nothing scientific, it’s more anecdotal. We have found that 2.5 inches is about a three hour drive in the bus. That is generally all we like to do in one run. As you have read, and you will read later, we do have jaunts longer than that, but our preferred distance is about 2 ½ inches.

Normally when we land in a new place, the campground gives us a stack of brochures and literature promoting the local stuff. Traci reads every page of it. She devours it. She distills it, and we go over what she learned as a couple and decide what we are going to tell Thomas. He is game for anything, so we don’t let him confuse the conversation too much. He buys what ever we’re selling!

Today’s activity was actually my idea. If anyone out there wants to get on a really cool mailing list and receive a DVD promoting the RV lifestyle, Google “Go RV” and you’ll come across the trade association whose job it is to promote our (temporary) way of life. We got the DVD about a year ago, and it certainly whetted our whistle to get on the road. More importantly though, we receive a monthly newsletter telling us about cool stuff to do in an RV. About 6 month ago I received an email about White Sands National Monument. I dug it up when I knew we were in the area and read it to Traci. She was on board in a heartbeat. We plotted the route to Alamogordo, NM and hit the road, well sort of.

One of the things I really like about this part of the country is that the speed limit is “more of a guideline” to quote a favorite line out of Pirates of the Caribbean. In the remote areas, the speed limit actually rises to 75, which means 84 for those of us who like (make that love) to drive our cars fast. So we headed up Highway 54 out of El Paso toward White Sands. Well, the fine folks of El Paso decided to make an end to Highway 54 and not tell people from out of town. I followed the detour signs as best I could, and I kept seeing something called White Sands, so I continued down the highway at a very fine rate of speed. Have you heard the term “We’re lost, but we’re making good time!”? Well, that was us. It turns out, with further scrutiny, we were driving directly on to the White Sands MISSILE BASE. The only thing these two destinations have in common are the words White Sands. As we were driving down this remote highway in the middle of New Mexico, I kept seeing these signs for the missile base, and I was hoping beyond hope there was a turn I could make just BEFORE the base to get to the White Sands for which I was looking. NOT! Shortly after we passed a bunch of missile launchers and some strange green smoke in the distance, we came up to what looked like a shanty town with a sign painted in Arabic in front of it. This did not give us the warm and fuzzies. The next thing we saw was a large military base with no guard shack in front of it. I hoped I could stop and ask for directions. Really, I did.

I turned the bend (my only choice other than going onto the actual base) and lo and behold, there was a huge sign warning us that we were entering a restricted area, and that it was dangerous. Have you ever seen an Infiniti I30t go 50 MPH in reverse? There was a REAL guard tower near by, and we could see the soldiers looking our direction. I could just tell they didn’t have an interest in giving us directions. I slammed it in reverse and whipped around and got the heck out of there. We found a sign that lead us to I10, which is an “alternate” route we could use to get to our destination. We took it, and fast.

After our hearts returned to their normal BPM, we relaxed and enjoyed the drive AROUND the huge missile base (coincidentally that’s where they tested the ATOMIC bomb in the 40’s). There were a couple of sizable mountains we needed to cross, and since the speed limit was still 75, Speedy had quite a time with it. Hey, it’s been a while since he has been able to get in some cardio! I expect that any carbon that was built up on his heads by being towed around by a lumbering bus was burned clean that day!

In no time we were pulling into the White Sands National Monument. This is a 300 square mile gem in the middle of the desert that is piled high by a billion tons of fine powder gypsum. We hit the visitors’ center and rented our sleds, got a squished penny and I got the most beautiful pin of the whole trip. We ventured out to find the biggest hill we could climb. We ended up at the back of the park where they have a bunch of picnic tables set up around a large circle surrounded by banks of “snow”. We chose the largest hill we could find, and went with all enthusiasm to the top to try out our new sleds. We found that the lighter you are, the easier it is. Needless to say, Thomas had an easy time after the first run. Like being in snow, the more you sled down a particular track, the better the sledding. Fortunately for us, it wasn’t cold, nor was it wet. It was incredible. Even driving in was eerie, because, for those of us from Indiana, the mind thinks there is snow on the road. In this case it was white sand, but the 23 years of conditioning by driving in Indiana snow could not overcome the perception in such a short amount of time. It was incredible. I found myself braking when I didn’t need to because my automatic defense mechanisms kicked in.

So, after a few runs even fat old Dad could get some speed down the hill. We all felt like kids, except for the fact that our hands weren’t cold and our butts weren’t wet. It wasn’t quite as fast as packed snow, but it was a ride of a lifetime. We had a blast, and we also realized how out of shape we were! Trudging up those hills and sledding down really took it out of us. After a while we were worn out and all of us were ready to go. It was a day not to be forgotten. Please enjoy these pictures!

After White Sands, we came back to the bus to prepare for our drive to Tucson. We have a LONG drive ahead of us, but it will go a long way to getting us to the second half of our adventure.

Saturday, 2-11-06; 72 and Sunny: Drive from El Paso, TX to Tucson, AZ

Today was an unusual day for the Bray bushold. We normally don’t drive on Saturdays, for what ever reason. We don’t plan very far ahead, but normally Saturdays are spent sightseeing somewhere, and we don’t do much driving. Today was a marathon drive from El Paso, TX to Tucson, AZ. For those of you rusty on your geography, that is about 350 miles. In a bus, that’s a LONG way.

Two points of interest on the drive were the huge dairy farms near Las Cruces and the gigantic, I mean gigantic, pecan farms all along the way. As for the dairy farms, there must have been 10,000 dairy cattle in several large fields along I10 around Las Cruces. We could smell the poo for miles! I thought I had seen big farms in Indiana. This dwarfed anything I had ever seen by several times. They kept their hay in gigantic barns with no sides, one after the other all the way down the highway. It was incredible.

The pecan farms were very similar. There must have been 20,000 trees in several huge tree farms on the trip. We always thought that pecans were grown in the south east where all of the pecan treats are made. This place MUST be the pecan capital of the world. Who knew?

Outside of that, the drive was BORING. We ran through all of the CD’s in our dashboard changer, we stopped a few times to rest and take pictures, but nothing could break up the incredible boredom that was this drive. The landscape changed very little, and the highway was straight and relatively flat. One really good thing was that we had a strong tail wind, which allowed us to get excellent mileage and drive the bus faster than we normally do. I usually refuse to pull Bessy above 65 MPH due to cross-wind risk, but today, especially toward the end of the trip, I was going 75 in a 75 MPH zone and still getting over 12 MPG. That was indeed incredible!

We finally arrived in Tucson, AZ to find that we had the last slip in the campground. There were several events going on in the area that drew people like moths to a flame, and fortunately we had reservations, so they had to put us up. We were given what equated to a needle, and we were the thread. A nice man from Quebec guided us in, and thank Goodness he had no slides on his RV. I snuggled Bessy in just right so we could deploy our slides but not our main awning. (It’s broken anyway, so that did not matter.) I hope no one pulls in later who has slides, because they won’t be able to use them.

We set up camp, did some grocery shopping, and purchased take-out from a wonderful local joint called Pollo Feliz. That means “happy chicken” in Spanish. I think they should call it “Hombre Feliz”, which would mean Happy Daniel. The food was wonderful and cheap, and I was starving. For those of you who know me well, starving does not bring out the best in me. My belly was full, and we settled in for the night.

Sunday, 2-12-06; 76 and Sunny: Tombstone, AZ

What do you want on your Tombstone? I don’t know why they named a line of pizzas after the Old West town of Tombstone, but hey, I’m in sales, not marketing. We ate breakfast at the bus and jumped in Speedy to take the one hour drive (over windy roads, yahoo!) out to Tombstone, AZ. It is a real place. When we told Thomas we were going there, he was skeptical, until we told him about the gun fights. He immediately snapped up and said “with real guns?” We quickly corrected him and said that they were RE-ENACTMENTS, and he immediately slumped in his chair. He wanted to see people get shot! We almost fell on the floor laughing. He didn’t think it was as funny as we did. Tombstone was once a thriving silver mining town. At any time the 600 mining tunnels below the place could collapse, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our day in the wild west! We parked the car and walked to the main stretch of town and immediately became engrossed in the scene. There were trick horse riders, stagecoaches, hangings and fashion shows. Yes, I said hangings, for a fee, for pictures of course!

We walked around for a while just to get our bearings. We found out that the re-enactment of the shootout at the OK Corral was set for 2:00 that afternoon. We were pumped. We went and purchased our tickets, which also got us into some other tourist-trap things, and we continued on, pictures snapping away. Before the show, we had time to take a stagecoach ride around town. We could not pass it up. As the guy drove around he told us stories about the place in his best John Wayne (more like John Lovitz) accent. It didn’t last long, but hey, the town is pretty small. All in all it was a blast, and we really enjoyed being in such a legendary place.

At 2:00 PM, we made our way to the OK Corral where the re-enactment took place. It turns out that Virgil Earp was the town Marshall and he deputized Wyatt, Morgan and Doc Holliday (the good guys) to protect the bank’s property in the area. The bad guys were part of the Clanton and McLaury gangs in the area who had been stealing stuff. Tensions mounted for a few months, and finally (contrary to the Sheriff’s wishes), there was a gunfight. What amazed us most is that the guys were literally at arms’ length when the firefight started. Three bad guys died, and a couple of good guys were wounded, but survived. It was the first such fight of its kind in that part of the country, so it became legend. It set the stage for many more over the ensuing years as more and more riches were found out west.

We ate lunch at a local joint (which is for sale if anyone is interested) and did some window shopping. I got a funny pin for the board and we headed back to the bus. Thomas wrote an essay about Wyatt Earp for school, and that made the trip even more valuable in my eyes. We had a great time and highly recommend it to anyone in the Tucson area. On the way back we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant (I know, again?). We had a great meal and headed back home for a relaxing night of reading and games.

Monday, 2-13-06; 78 and Sunny: Work, Hiking in SaguaroNational Park

 Today was one of those perfect days of balance between work and family. I got up early to tackle quite a few projects and fortunately those projects came together and I was able to get lots of proposals out the door and satisfy all of my demands. Once I was done with work, we jumped into the Infiniti and drove only about 15 minutes to Saguaro National Park. This was where the big cacti reside. This was God’s country. We parked the car at a small overlook parking lot and started walking…well, more like climbing. Thomas got into it very quickly, and we hiked and hiked and hiked and hiked. We topped hill after hill. We kept quoting a line from the Chronicles of Narnia: further up and further in! We had a blast. We loved it. We went as far up as we dared, to the second highest peak in the area. As we were sitting on top of the peak, we looked out over the huge expanse of mountains and cacti, and just soaked it all up. Thomas mentioned that his friends would never believe him, so I took a picture of him standing by the edge. We probably should have had more safety gear, but lots of reminding and careful steps (and the Lord’s blessing) kept us safe all the way up, and back again. As we returned to the car, Thomas apologized for “making” us take that hike. Traci and smiled at one another and told him not to apologize. It was glorious. Aside from climbing the rocks at Bar Harbor, ME all day and watching the tide, this was the best single day of just pure outdoor adventure we have had on the trip. I can’t say enough about how fun it was. Thomas mentioned after we returned to the bus that he wished we would do that more often. I told him about all of the National Parks we plan to visit on the second half of the trip, and he literally squealed with pleasure. That was indeed a good thing. I can’t say much more about it, other that I did remember my camera. On the last picture, we climbed to the top of the middle hump of the three on the right. It was amazing. Please enjoy the pictures!

Tuesday, 2-14-06; 78 and Sunny: Work, Drive to Phoenix, Work and Pink Panther

 I got up early to work this morning, and once caught up, we pulled up camp and hit I10 West to Phoenix. The drive was smooth and uneventful. It was too short to get too boring. I didn’t have as much of a tail wind on this trip, so our mileage was back to normal…bummer. We stopped as we entered Phoenix at a Camping World store so we could pick up new sewer hose supplies. Unfortunately the gigantic Camping World sign was up, but the store itself wasn’t. We pulled into the parking lot and just found a trailer. The guy in the trailer said they haven’t started building yet, but that the sign was up. How stupid was that?

We arrived in Phoenix and had a bit of trouble finding the camp ground. The directions we got were a bit confusing, and there was a ton of construction almost the entire way. It turns out that they are building a light rail system to down town, so the roads are getting torn up all around us. We finally found the site, and set up camp.

I finished work, and we finally found a movie theatre at which we could see the Pink Panther. We have been waiting to see it since it came out, and we could finally do so. Cartoon Network has had a Pink Panther marathon showing, and Thomas was ready to roll! We are all big Steve Martin fans, and none of us had ever seen the old movies, so we enjoyed it thoroughly. We now have more ‘inside jokes’ to add to our collection based on the movie. We have heard lots of criticisms about it, but we didn’t care. We liked it and we recommend it highly.

Wednesday, 2-15-06; 70 and Sunny: Work, Trip to Pueblo Grande

I worked a full day today, and Traci and Thomas did school. We had a hard time finding something fun to do, but Traci finally found an ancient Native American ruin nearby called Pueblo Grande. Well, this wasn’t exactly what we expected. It was a bunch of rock and dirt walls built on top of a hill that were around 1,000 years old. It was interesting for us parents, but Thomas was bored to death. Oh, well. We tried.

After that, we headed back to the mall and had dinner and I got some clothes for warmer weather. My favorite shorts from last summer died an ugly death, and enough time had passed for me to mourn and I got some new ones. With that being done, we returned to the bus for American Idol and Mythbusters.

Thursday, 2-16-06; 68 and Sunny: Work, Visit to Glendale, AZ, Statistics

I worked a full day today trying to mop up a project where one of my carriers is assuming a network from one of my customers, and it’s up to me to help everyone make the transition. I think it’s going to end up sound. There are just lots of moving parts to the project. February looks like it’s going to be a great month, as long as a few people do what they say they are going to do!

Traci and Thomas conducted school like old pro’s today. Thomas is rocking along in his 5 th grade studies, and we are so proud of him. We are applying for a slot at Heritage Christian school for when we get back, and I think that is where he will be attending 6 th grade. After school, Traci went shopping at Arizona Mills again for some cute clothes for California and beyond. She enjoys doing some “girl” stuff now and then without us boring boys around!

One freaky thing happened to Traci today that I have to mention. The first step of this happened as we were setting up camp on Tuesday afternoon. We have gotten into the habit of allowing the bus to idle while we set up camp, because the very last things we need to do are put out the slides and put down the jacks. Both of those activities require the engine to be running. So, rather than shutting it off and starting it up after all of the rest of the preparations are done, we just leave it idling, because it uses an extremely small amount of fuel sitting idle. Just as I was starting the last step, our neighbor walks up to my window and asks if I will shut off my engine. Duh! No, I’m just going to let it run all day! I told him I was almost done and he snorted and walked away.

Today, Traci left the bus with a load full of laundry to go put it in the washer next door. Just as she stepped out of the bus, an old lady approaches her and starts snapping at her. She accused us of staying past our check-out time. Traci insisted that we were here for another day, and the lady vehemently insisted that Traci (along with the load of laundry) come into the office to settle the issue. I would have told her to hold her breath and that I would be back after I put my laundry in. But Traci, completely flummoxed as to why this was happening, agreed to go to the office with the laundry in hand and see what was wrong. The lady grabbed some index card off the table and showed it to the gal working behind the counter, and they both started in on her about us staying late. In their fit of psychosis they went on to explain to Traci that we had been here the full week and it was time to go, or pay for another day. Traci emphatically said we had only been here two days! They argued and said we pulled in on the 9 th. We were in El Paso on the 9 th! Just as Traci was about to open a can of you-know-what on them, the lady said “you’re in slip 14 aren’t you?” Traci said “no, we’re in 12!”. They said “oh, we thought you were in 14.” They just went about their business and ignored the fact that she was standing there, ticked off with a load of laundry. Guess who was in 14? Yup! The grouchy old man who told me I was too loud for him! Needless to say, this camp ground won’t get a good rating from the Bray’s!

Just to add insult to injury, Traci had found a promotional website for a suburb of Phoenix called Glendale. The website promoted somewhat interesting things, and for the most part made something out of nothing. Since we really haven’t found much for the whole family here, we decided to check it out. We took off around 4:00 local time, which, to our dismay, was headlong into rush hour traffic. It took us for ever to get there. Even the HOV lanes were backed up! We finally pulled into town, parked and got out. It turns out the main attraction was now closed, and the rest of it was just shopping at antique (mostly crap) stores and a few cheesy restaurants. They heavily promoted the Subway restaurant, like that’s a big deal! We grabbed dinner at a burger joint, and were somewhat underwhelmed. Thomas’ milk shake was very good, and that made him happy. After dinner we walked around just to make sure there was nothing to see, and we came back to the bus, still in the latter part of rush hour.

In our humble opinion, if you want to go golfing or shopping, Phoenix is your place. If you are over 55 and want to go do just about anything, Phoenix is your place. If you have young children and you just want to have fun, spend more days in Tucson and skip Phoenix all together.

OK folks, for all of you wondering (if anyone is actually still reading this blog), here are our statistics for the June 3-December 31 part of the trip.

Miles traveled in the bus: around 11,000.

Tolls paid along the way $226.05.

Diesel Fuel purchased along the way: $2989.92.

Camp Ground Fees Paid along the way: $6919.77.

7 Month Total: $10,135

I’ll bet you thought it would be more. I certainly did!

Friday, 2-17-06; 64 and Sunny: Work, Drive from Phoenix, AZ to Indio, CA

One of the crazy things about being on Mountain Time is that I can get up before the family, work for a while and still get stuff done on this end. Today we passed into Pacific Time, which will stretch that capability out to three hours. Yes, it will require that we get to bed at a decent time each night, but I think it will be a huge blessing for this leg of the trip, because we’ll kind of have the best of both worlds. I got up and worked this morning like always and got a lot done prior to jumping behind the wheel to drive to Indio, CA. You’re probably thinking Indio? Where the heck is that? Get out your atlas! It’s the site of the National Date Festival, that’s where! I guess dates are a big crop around here because it just so happens they have a date festival here and it starts tomorrow!

We made our way from Phoenix to Indio, which took about 3.5 hours. We were exhausted by the time we arrived. It turns out that the camp ground I called in Indio that was booked took our reservation for this one, called Palm Springs Oasis (Yes, it is close to the real Palm Springs, CA.). As we pulled in, we noticed elderly people walking all around the place, but didn’t really think about it; after all, we’re in Arizona in winter. I went up to the front desk while Traci unhooked the car and the first thing I noticed was a huge sign stating “55+ RV Park”. Do I sound 55 years old on the phone? Why did they book us in this site? She never asked my age, and I never thought to ask. For those of you who know me, I think you’ll agree that I don’t (yet) sound like a Senior Citizen!

I broke the bad news to the gals in the office, and explained that we had a ten-year-old with us. I told her I booked it through the other camp ground and that they didn’t inform me that it was 55+. The ladies winced and groaned and looked at each other for about two minutes until one got up and went outside to talk to the “boss”. She came back in all cheerful and said it was NO problem! As long as Thomas didn’t ride his bike around the park they would let us stay. I assured her that it not be a problem. Traci and I laughed all evening at the stupidity of the place.

Once we got hooked up, I caught up on work and we ordered a pizza for dinner. We relaxed, wrote and watched TV all evening.

Saturday, 2-18-06; 64 and Sunny: National Date Festival and JoshuaTreeNational Park

Today was one of those magic days on the trip. We got up and ate breakfast in the bus and got directions to the National Date Festival in a nearby town. The drive took longer than we expected, so we ended up arriving about 15 minutes late for what we expected to be one of the highlights of the day: the animal races! Traci read in our Frommers book that if you’re in the area, you must go to the festival to see the races. We arrived just after the pig race finished, which was not a big loss for those of us from Indiana. We have seen many pig races in our time, so we were not disappointed.

However, they also had ostrich, llama and camel races. The ostrich we had seen race at Dixie Stampede, but the other two species were new and we really wanted to see them. We sat down just as the ostrich race began, and I whipped out my camera and started shooting. The ostriches were big, powerful and stupid creatures that didn’t want to be ridden. The goal of the riders was to stay on and win, and the goal of the ostriches was to free themselves of their riders no matter what. One rider was thrown clear, which is not a small distance, and was fortunately OK (can you say Christopher Reeves?). The other two stayed on their birds and eventually made it across the finish line. The second ostrich race involved pulling home made chariots containing the riders. This time one of the ostriches broke free of his chariot, and as the chariot’s leads ground into the dirt the rider found himself flying over the front of the chariot and landed head-first on the track, ouch! (Can you say Lance Armstrong?) Again, he was OK and everyone laughed. The llamas were up next, and they were also pulling the chariots, sort of. One of them made it out of the gate and ran around quickly. The second one was named “Tony Lama” and he meandered around the track until he finally found his way back home. The third one was named Speedy Gonzolas, and he was actually an alpaca. He looked like a huge poodle and he acted like one too. He spent most of the time chasing his tail along with his rider. They all finally made it back in and we all had a good laugh. The camels were up next, and they were hauling butt! The guys actually had to hold on for dear life, because these animals are tall and they are fast! One guy’s saddle started to roll, so he literally had to hold on to the camel’s hump for fear of a long fall and trampling by two huge camels. They made it around the track in no time, and the guys were finally allowed off safely. Suddenly Thomas really wanted to ride the calm camel behind the grandstands, and Traci fortunately agreed to do it with him. Please enjoy these pictures.

Shortly thereafter we got our fair food lunch and strolled around the place. Outside of the animal races, the Date Festival was like every county or state fair we’ve ever been to. They had tons of vendors and a large petting zoo, which we enthusiastically visited. I don’t know how many of you out there in Internet Land have ever had a cow lick your hand, but it was certainly a new experience for me. I had some grain in my palm and one of the cows licked my hand from top to bottom. It was slightly creepy and tickled a bit but was enjoyable none the less!

After Thomas got bored with the festival we rolled out to the parking lot and rejoined Speedy for the trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Have you ever heard of this place? I hadn’t either, before this trip. I have mentioned the Go RV’ing website before, and it comes into play here. Back in November I received an email from these folks giving lots of information about this national park, and I tucked it away for safe keeping. When Traci suggested we check it out, I whipped out the email and read it out loud. We all agreed that we would visit, and now there we were, pulling into the park at the southern entrance, just off of I10. This was what we call a “driving park”. Each national park is different in both its specialty as well as its scope and size. This was a biggie—558,000 acres big! The big-ness of it necessitated something you know I love: driving up and down hills and around sharp turns in my Infiniti. I was having a ball. All the while the landscape changed from one desert ecosystem to another, thus the vegetation and rock formations were changing as well. We arrived at the southern visitors center (where I got my pin) and we check in and got a map and advice. They drew out where we should go, considering our limited time. They didn’t know how quickly we go through one of these parkss!

We got back in the car and headed out, (almost) obeying posted speed limit signs. After about 13 miles we arrived at our first destination, the cholla cactus garden. It was incredible—please enjoy these pictures—I could not do them justice.

We moved on again—another ten miles—this was MY kind of park—and arrived at a place called Arch Rock. As you can imagine from the name, the rocks here were GIGANTIC! It’s like God just decided to pile up some giant granite boulders for our enjoyment. Some of them were lined up like a giant toddler would do with pebbles and some were just thrown around like a game of toss by some giants. It was incredible, and Thomas had a blast climbing everything in sight. Please enjoy these pictures! (pictures 12, 13 and 14)

The last stop on the trip was to Keys View. Gee, do I WISH I had a wide angle lens for my camera! By this time it was in the high 30’s and the wind was blowing about 30 MPH. My hands were cold and I was starting to freeze up. We hadn’t planned for these temperatures, so we knew we had to make it quick. I grabbed my tripod and we sprinted up the ramp to the pinnacle, and our breath was literally taken away. The sun had started to go down, and the clouds were getting thick. Sun beams were shooting down through the clouds and illuminating different patches of land in and among the mountains. It was glorious! The sign said we could see Mexico from here. I believed it. I hope these pictures look as good to you as they do to me. It was a delight for as long as it last. We regretted not bringing warmer clothing—it was a lesson learned!

The one thing I haven’t mentioned was—the Joshua Trees. Have you ever seen one in person? We hadn’t. Would you recognize it if you saw a picture of one? We would not have. Does the name bring up a mental picture? We were clueless. Well, now we know. The Joshua tree ONLY grows in this part of the country. It grows no where else in the world. The best way I can describe it is a real life Truffula tree from Dr. Seuss’ book The Lorax. I don’t know if he got his inspiration from here, but I would bet money on it. If you’ve never read that book to your children, I highly recommend it. This is the place of the Truffula trees. Fortunately they have been protected by Congress, so they haven’t suffered the same fate as their fictional pink, green and yellow kin, but these are just as precious to me. Please enjoy my pictures of these marvelous creations. They were just as impressive as the Saguaro cacti in Tucson, AZ.

After our mountain top experience, we returned to our warm comfortable car and made the hour drive back to the campground and Bessy. The day had been one of those true highlights of the trip. We were so very glad we checked it out, and Thomas liked it as much as we did. Between the Joshua Trees, the Arch Rock, the cholla cacti and Keys View, we were thoroughly awed by this place. Please take the time (and warm clothing) if you are in the area and spend a day here. You’ll be glad you did.

Sunday, 2-19-06; 67 and Sunny: Drive from Indio, CA to Orange, CA

Transportation day! Today we got up, ate breakfast, and pulled up camp from our 55 and over campground in lovely Palm Springs. We got out on I10 and pointed the bus west. We first drove past about 1000 wind turbines in a gigantic valley between two mountains. They were an amazing piece of earth-friendly technology snuggled along a beautiful natural valley. I loved it. This country needs more of these turbines so we can stop using so much natural gas to generate electricity!

After we finished our drive through the natural wind-tunnel, we just drove and drove, further west toward San Diego. We ventured off on what we thought was the right exit on CA 60, and promptly got lost. Eventually we recovered our position, thanks to Traci’s awesome navigation, and eventually made our way to Orange, CA. We have navigated over 11,000 miles of unfamiliar roads in this country, and we have to say that our first day in California prompted us to award this beautiful state the most difficult. Their roads are very confusing, and their signage is terrible.

We did make it to the camp ground, got set up and went to get my car washed. I then found my way to my favorite burger joint in the country called In and Out. I made the mistake of eating there three years ago when we were here with SBC, and I have been looking forward to it ever since. They didn’t disappoint me this time either. I must eat there again before we leave town.

Once we settled down, we realized that our appointment with the new dealership was at 8:30 tomorrow morning. We consulted with the gal at the office to see how long it would take to get there from here during early morning rush. She said about two hours. Two hours? No way! We made an executive decision to leave our comfy little campground slip and make the drive tonight rather than tomorrow morning. It’s better to make the drive during the evening non-rush hour than try it at 6:00 am local time! So we packed up, pulled up the moorings and headed north, and…you guessed it, got lost!

We planned to boon dock at a Wal Mart right around the corner from the dealership. Little did we know that it was in the heart of the barrio! We decided not to hook up the car, so we drove both vehicles to the Wal Mart. I called the Wal Mart for extra-detailed directions once we realized we were headed for San Francisco. The gal on the phone gave me better directions than the Wal Mart website, and eventually we got there.

As we pulled in, everyone in the parking lot stopped to stare as the bus and Infiniti rolled by. When were we planning to install that cloaking device? Traci and I were trying to be strong and confidant in front of Thomas, so we kept a straight face, even though we were scared to death. The weather forecast for that night was 34 degrees, which is indeed VERY cold for this area. We hoped the gangs would stay home and keep warm this night. After many fervent prayers we set up, put out the slides and jacks, and went to bed. We kept one eye open as we slept, but we did sleep, which was amazing.

Monday, 2-20-06; 68 and Sunny: Work, RV Dealer, MalibuBeach,
BackboneState Park

Today was my dear Traci’s birthday. I won’t tell you which birthday it was. When you talk to her you can ask her yourself. I got up early and got some work done while the family slept. Considering how freaked out I was about our surroundings, it wasn’t hard for me to get up. I immediately did a walk around in my pajamas to make sure we didn’t have any graffiti on the car or bus. Fortunately we didn’t! Thank the Lord. We had an appointment at 8:30 am around the corner to take the RV to the dealership. We pulled into the parking lot right on time. I did a great job of holding my anger—after all, this is an entirely new dealership—and we were able to get the entire list of things to fix on their agenda. We told them that we would leave and got to breakfast, but that we would be back in three hours.

Traci really didn’t want to start her birthday sitting at an RV dealership, and it was very good for them that we were out in 30 minutes flat. We asked where a great breakfast could be found, and the guy stammered a bit, and said “Not around here. This used to be a nice neighborhood years ago, but not now.” He suggested that we drive somewhere else to eat. That we did. We got lost trying to find that somewhere else. We thought everyone in California ate out all the time. Well, not in this part of California. It took us many wrong turns and exits trying to find breakfast! We finally found a Manhattan Bagel shop and it was a little slice of utopia. We got breakfast and inhaled it in the car. Once we were finished eating, we were ready to get on with the day. Traci decided she wanted to go do some hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains so we promptly got lost. We finally found our way to the correct road, and to our delight there was a sign for Malibu down the way from the mountains.

Traci directed me to continue down the road so we could spend some time on the beach prior to hiking. I will only say this once. Yes, I forgot the camera in the bus back at the dealership. I have no pictures for you. Sorry about that! The beach was not breathtaking, but it was just cool being in Malibu. We enjoyed looking at the huge multi-million dollar homes lining the mountains above the bay. It was very cool! Thomas, as usual, loved just sitting on the rocks watching the tide come in. He had to share the area with a bunch of seagulls, so he had to avoid sitting in poop.

Unfortunately one of my customers had some trouble inside of his network, and I spent some of the beach time on the phone trying to help him get it fixed. Those calls continued up the coast as we moved on to the next event for the day, hiking in the mountains. We found a trail head for (break your) Backbone Trail in a California State Park. We were very pleased, and we paid the fee and hit the trail. We chose the trail going up—little did we know HOW FAR up we would go. By the time we pooped out we were about 2.5 miles up the mountain. We talked to a fellow hiker and he told us we had another mile to the top. We decided to head back down and find the car. We were exhausted by the time we arrived.

We came back to the bus and decided to take Traci out to Chili’s for her birthday. Happy birthday baby!

Tuesday, 2-21-06; 68 and Sunny: Work, Disneyland

I got up at 6:00 am local time and got right to work. I’ve got a lot of work to do this week since I will be “on vacation” all next week. Yes, you read that right, I’m actually taking a vacation! There are many friends who think I’ve been on vacation since June, but I beg to differ! We are flying out to Oahu, Hawaii a week from today. I am NOT bringing my laptop!

Today was pretty much a boilerplate of what I envision the next three to four months to be like. I started working at 9:00 am ( Indiana time) and worked through lunch and knocked off at about 4:30 pm. We ate a quick lunch and went to Disneyland. Being that LA it is three hours behind Indiana, we had enough time to stay at Disney until we were done. It was the best of both worlds! At about 5:30 Indiana time I was standing in line for the Astro Blaster and I got a call from a new customer saying they want to sign their contract! I had to move away from the building because of reception problems, and just as I did so, a voice came over the loud speaker telling everyone that the Astro Orbiter was now landing! For me, this call mean the Eagle was landing once again! It was a hoot.

We walked around the park and marveled about how small it was! It’s been a few years since the Bray family visited Disneyland, and after spending seven weeks in Disney World, it was a bit of culture shock. The geography of the two parks is very similar, but Disneyland is physically much smaller. We did the Astro Blaster (like Buzz Lightyear) and rode the Matterhorn roller coaster. We found a couple of great pins for Thomas and enjoyed just strolling around this historic park.

After Disney, we came back to the bus and had dinner and watched American Idol. We’ve got to get to bed early tonight!

Wednesday, 2-22-06; 67 and Sunny: A Glamorous Day

Today was one of those days in the life when you gotta’ do what you gotta’ do. My opportunities with work are escalating quickly, and after getting up at 6:00 am local time, I worked straight through to about 5:00 pm local time. I spent the day doing proposals and emailing out contracts. We had planned on leaving to do something in the afternoon, but it just wasn’t in the cards today. Traci and Thomas didn’t feel like leaving anyway, so it worked out well. I look forward to closing up all of that business over the next two days so we can leave for Hawaii next week and not worry about everything. Wish me luck! After work we watched Mythbusters and American Idol and went to bed.

Monday, 2-27-06; 75 and Sunny: Work Like Crazy, Drive to Neil’s, Airport Hotel

Zig Ziglar says if we all worked every day like we do the day before vacation that we would all be much more successful in our careers. I beg to differ. I love Zig, and have listened to his material for my entire adult life, but I think he over-simplifies things. If I worked every day like the day before THIS vacation, I would have had a heart-attack by now, and my family would HATE me! I got up extra-early today and literally focused as hard as I could and worked my tail off the entire morning. I did service work and sent out proposals people hadn’t even asked for just to make sure I didn’t forget anything prior to leaving. I sent one of my guys THREE revisions to a single document because I kept remembering details I had left out. I’m sure I filled up his email box.

At approximately 3:00 PM Indiana time, we pulled up camp and moved out for the drive to Neil’s Motorhomes. This is where our beloved Bessy would spend the week while we were in Hawaii. The drive was smooth in the middle of the day, and we arrived there in no time. They checked us in and we were on our way—to where? To a hotel at the airport. It was actually an excuse for a hotel—more like an old-time motel. The room was crappy, but it was only for one night, so we explored the area, and fortunately we found a great area about a mile away where we could stock up on stuff for our trip and eat dinner. We retired to the room, watched TV and went to bed early. We had to get up around 4:30 to make it to the airport with time left for security, so it was early to bed tonight!

Tuesday, 2-28-06 to Tuesday, 3-07-06: Trip to Oahu, Hawaii

I usually give an account of how the weather is in our particular part of the country. This week I’m going to summarize everything, including the weather. It has been one of the wettest months in recent Hawaiian memory. Some of the islands got 33 inches in just a few days of rain. As you can imagine, that caused extensive flooding, even on an island. From a personal standpoint, the weather was usually in the high 70’s to low 80’s during the day and high 60’s to low 70’s at night. It rained on us the first four days we were there, but not too heavily. I was mainly concerned about my camera, which ended up undamaged thanks to the camera case I purchased with it. Eventually we just got used to betting rained on, and we just ignored it like everyone else. I did purchase ponchos for all of us while at the USS Arizona monument, but by the time we got out of the movie, it had stopped raining. Oh, well. The last three days were beautiful, with very little rain and lots of skin burning sunshine. We arrived in LA on the 6 th to rain, but the 7 th it was in the low 60’s and beautiful sunshine.

OK, here goes with the high points. We decided to take a break from our 14 month RV trip and go to Hawaii, mainly because Thomas had never been there, and we wanted him to see it. Early in the RV trip we asked Thomas if he wanted to go there, and he declined due to the 5-6 hour flight from the west coast. We were slightly disappointed but we pushed on and forgot about it.

I think I’ve mentioned this in the past, but it is worth repeating. One of my friends back in Indy said that he rewarded (bribed) his kids to read challenging books when they were young. He paid them cash for every book they read, and he kept paying them until they had a huge appetite for reading. He said with out a doubt that it was the best investment he made in his children’s future, bar none. Well, Traci and I decided to pursue this line of thought with Thomas once we started on the trip. Well, he has sincerely pursued his reading with vim and vigor! He has earned lots of bucks on this trip through the probably 25 books he has read—in nine months. It is hard sometimes to keep him stocked with books! We have to make regular stops at Barnes and Noble to keep him occupied. He reads all the time. We could not be more thrilled about it, nor could he.

I risk repeating this because it has changed the concept of time in the Bray Bushold. We no longer hear “are we there yet?”, nor “when are we going to get there?” because Thomas is constantly reading. Especially when we are in the car going someplace, he has his book and his only challenge is not getting car sick. As this situation developed, his reluctance to spend 5-6 hours on an airplane evaporated. He was actually enthusiastic about it because he could READ! So, the trip was back on. I found flights to Oahu for a mere $300 apiece, and a hotel right off the beach for $100 per night on Hotels.com. Considering we would have to pay at least $40 for a campground for each of those nights, the hotel netted out at $60 per night! It was indeed a bargain, and the hotel actually had a kitchen so we could go grocery shopping and eat like we were in the bus, well almost. The hotel was a bit more ragged than we expected, but it had a phenomenal location. Two minutes out the front door and we were on Waikiki Beach. Had we gotten any closer, we would have spent at least twice or three times as much.

The weather was actually a bit wet by Hawaii standards. The temperature hovered around 80 during the day and 70 at night, which is paradise by anyone’s measure. The locals told us it hasn’t rained that much in Oahu in recent memory. They kept apologizing for that, but we didn’t lose any sleep over it, that’s for sure! However, it took us a few days to get used to just simply getting rained on—many times per day! The first day, as we were making the six mile trek up to Diamond Head, it was the first time my new camera (case) was rained on. I didn’t know just how waterproof my new case was, so I was a bit stressed out until we could find some cover and I could examine the equipment. Fortunately for my attitude, the camera was safe and sound and I had nothing to worry about. Traci was glad most of the other women on the island had straight hair and little make up, which made her feel like one of the island girls. It rained for the first four days and the sun came out with a vengeance for the last three. I had the sunburn to prove it!

OK, enough with the weather report rain man! What did we do? Hmmm, let me see. We opened the week with a tour of famous Waikiki beach. It was very pretty, but not much better than other Florida beaches we have seen. It turns out that we were in the “kiddy pool” area of the beach, which was protected by a gigantic sea wall that prevented waves from rolling in. This particular detail is important for an event later in the week. Please keep that in mind!

Our first big event was the hike to and up Diamond Head. If you’re not familiar with Diamond Head, it is the big mountain you see in all of the pictures just behind Waikiki beach. The guy at the front desk told us it was within walking distance, so we took advantage of the situation and headed out. (This was the rain event I described above.) The walk was about 2 miles up the road past the zoo and into the crater. Since this was our first time, we really didn’t know what that meant. It looked like we were certainly climbing a mountain as we got closer, but nah, it was just a hill. We went through a tunnel which took us to the floor of the crater. Diamond Head was named by early explorers who thought the crystals they found along the windward side were diamonds. They weren’t, but the name stuck.

Once we made it to the crater, the one mile hike to the top had just began. There were many beautiful birds, flowers and fauna to be seen, and we really enjoyed the hike. That is, until we hit the 300 foot tunnel. Traci doesn’t like tunnels. We got through it quickly and were rewarded by a beautiful view of the crater. Please enjoy these pictures . We were tired, but excited, so we pondered the meaning of life for about 30 seconds, took a bunch of pictures, and started the easier and faster trek down the mountain. By the time we got back we had gone about six miles and were well worn out.

Our next event was the trip to Pearl Harbor. Being a big war buff, I had been looking forward to this for a long time. We actually got up at 6:00 am local time to jump in the rental car to head over to the memorial. Unfortunately, it was—you guessed it—raining again. This time the volume was quite a bit higher, and due to their rules against bringing in camera CASES, I was toast. I could not risk the safety of the camera to get pictures of the place. I did go in and purchase ponchos so I could protect my camera, but I didn’t have time to go back to the car by the time we had to board the boat, so the pictures in my minds’ eye is all I have.

The memorial is everything I thought it would be. It was solemn, quiet and calm. The thing that amazed me the most is that oil is still seeping out of the USS Arizona after 65 years at the bottom of the harbor! I don’t know how much is still down there, but after seeing the footage of the explosion and sinking, I was amazed it had any oil left in it at all. We read that many of the crewmen who recently died had their urns full of ashes interred here with their fallen ship mates. That was very touching. As a man I have no affiliations outside of my immediate family that would motivate me to make that kind of a choice. I don’t know if that is good or bad.

The monument is a long white structure on its own supports that runs from the port to the starboard side of the ship. They only removed the superstructure on the top of the ship for safety reasons. Since they could not save her when she went down, they just left her where she was as a burial place for over 1,100 men. Amazingly enough, the vast majority of the ships that were sunk that day were eventually repaired and returned to service! That was truly an amazing fact. It’s heart warming for me to see so many Japanese-Americans living on Oahu. Thank goodness our leaders at the time had the vision to implement the Marshall Plan, which turned a bitter enemy into a valuable ally. I just hope the people of the Middle East eventually follow suit with the Japanese, and stop killing people as an excuse for their “religious beliefs”. Please enjoy these far-away pictures. They were the best I could do!

Our next big adventure was a ride on a real submarine (and no, it wasn’t yellow!). Yes, a real live tourist submarine called the Atlantis. We boarded a trolley at the hotel that took us to a boat in the harbor that took us to a spot off of Waikiki where a submarine just popped out of the water! Here is the shot I took of it. (Picture 6) We boarded the vessel and prepared to dive, dive, dive! It wasn’t quite that exciting, but we did go down to 100’ below sea level. Think of it as being the world’s biggest aquarium, where they don’t have to feed the fish! This company has, over the past 20 years, actually purchased a discarded ship, airplane and a few gigantic artificial reefs and sunk them in the water, just for the purpose of the trip. For those of us from Indiana, who have never seen a real scuba tank, this was a blast! I finally figured out to get my camera to shoot in such low light conditions, and I was pumped!

The trip itself was very cool—how many times does one get the chance to go on a real submarine while NOT in the Navy? The stuff they sunk in the ocean made it all that much better! Who said fish don’t like human stuff? Since the “artificial reefs” have been down there for quite a few years, they are now attracting quite a bit of coral and other aquatic life. There were fish galore, as well as other stationary sea creatures. The highlights of the show were the giant sea turtles just lounging around the “reefs”. The other side of the boat saw a shark, but I wasn’t able to see it, so therefore no picture. The trip lasted about an hour, and was a highlight of the trip. Thomas and Traci both loved it. I think it was her favorite part of the trip. She claims to NEVER want to scuba dive, so this was the ultimate under-water trip for her. I’m leaving my options open. If Thomas wants to do it later in life, I’m all for it. I snorkeled with him in the Bahamas, and I’m up for scuba, if we get certified. It was a bit pricey, but worth every penny. I highly recommend it if you are ever in an area where Atlantis has boats. Please enjoy these underwater pictures.

Our next big event was a hike to Kaena Point on the westernmost tip of the Island of Oahu. It said in the travel guide that this was a “moderate” hike. They didn’t mention anything about the “dark side” of Oahu, so we drove out there without a care in the world. The directions said take HI1 ( Oahu’s quasi-interstate highway) until it ends and follow the path west. Now I have to stop here for a moment and ask “why does Oahu have Interstate highways?” How can that be? The concept of an Interstate Highway is that it goes INTER-STATE. It’s impossible to go Inter-State from Hawaii! I figured it was a way for them to get Federal dollars to pay for any number of things if they pretended to have an interstate highway.

The part of Oahu they should really mention in the “hiking” section of the travel guide is the area we refer to as “low income housing”, or the “ghetto” of Oahu. One of the locals told us this is where the electric generating plant, the sewage treatment plant, the pig farm and cow farms are located. This is the part of Oahu we weren’t supposed to see. Along with the aforementioned industrial landmarks, there are also scores if not hundreds of squatters living on this side of the island! It looked like a scene from Mel Gibson’s Road Warrior! We were stunned to see cars, vans and trucks all lined up on the beach covered in tarps and tents, with people LIVING in them! There were giant heaps of trash lining the road, along with piles of tires (tires!) and junk cars on blocks! I felt like I was back in rural Indiana, except with sand and water! The local told us that the police don’t clear out the beaches on THAT side of the island, because these people were mainly indigenous to the islands and they weren’t “civilized”. What ever that means. To us, the people there looked like mainland rejects who flew to Oahu on their last dime and they were just living “the dream” on the beach and ate anything they could catch.

Once we arrived at the beautiful Kaena Point  State Park we forgot all about the drive there, and hurried to grab our bottles of water and camera to make the hike, if you can call it that. It was actually a turn of the century railroad track turned rutty dirt road that took you on a wonderful meandering journey along the mountain range that ended at the very western tip of the island. So many people had driven out there over the course of time that there were gigantic potholes (small ponds) that literally had trails created around them for about 2.5 miles. The scenery was straight off the postcard rack! There were huge volcanic rocks lining the ocean, with once-in-a-lifetime picture opportunities everywhere! I literally took about 150 pictures that day with my new digital camera. It was awesome!

We eventually made our way to a dead-end. After passing miles of beautiful shore lines, three rusted-out vehicles and lots of mud, we arrived at a sign that read: Danger. Trail out ahead. Do not enter. Hmmm. We had to make a decision. We did. We turned back. Fortunately there was a family right behind us, who, once we turned back, ignored our warnings about the upcoming signs. That made us pause, so we went back up the trail to see what they did. They made their way AROUND the danger sign and continued on down the trail. We had another decision to make. What should we do? We decided to ask Thomas what HE wanted to do. He said let’s go on, so we did. Hmmm. Is that a wise thing for a Dad to do? Let’s put the safety of our family in the hands of our ten-year-old? That’s what we did. Fortunately, it was a GREAT decision.

It turns out that someone had put a wooden plank across the part of the trail that had collapsed, so as long as you were careful, you could do a little horizontal rock climbing, and make it to the other side. This we did with ease, and we were on our way. We were rewarded handsomely for our sense of adventure. It turns out that just past the break in the trail there was an albatross nesting area! Just as we entered, a giant albatross literally buzzed us to keep us “in line”. I had read about albatross in stories, but had never seen one in person before. There was one nest that was so close to the trail that we could have snatched an egg if we wanted an exciting Easter present! We pressed on to the end of the trail, and found a spectacular beach area complete with a watch tower and a gigantic monk seal lying on the beach waiting to have its picture taken. I shot that and everything else in the area and we rested a bit before our trip back down the path. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but not the end of the adventure—yet. Please enjoy these pictures.

We made our way back to the beautiful trailhead beach and so longed to jump in the water. Ironically, today, we only got rained on at the beginning of the trail. By the time we made it back, we were begging for rain, which did not come. The beach looked like an oasis to us, since we were hot, muddy and tired. The crystal clear aqua colored water was beaconing to us in long, soothing voices. We quickly changed into our swimwear and speed-walked to the beach. We threw our stuff down and Thomas and I immediately dove into the surf. It was glorious. It was beautiful, the water was clear and cool, and we were happy, for a minute. For a short time we felt like we were in the gigantic wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon. However, we quickly realized, me first, that this was no swimming pool. God’s wave pool was much more powerful, thus dangerous, than Disney’s. We made it for about 6 or 7 good sized waves, laughing and frolicking in the sand. Then a big one came and flattened us on our faces. My swimsuit was literally packed with sand. I felt like a toddler running around with a full diaper. Thomas was a bit punched out by the wave as well, but he stayed in the water while I tried to clear out my suit. There was a young teen-looking girl who had obviously spent a lot of time at the beach, just jumping and playing in the surf with no apparent concern. This made me think it was OK for me to continue my swim, so I headed back in to join Thomas. Another gigantic wave, and we were flat on the beach, but this time, the water was dragging us back INTO the ocean. The word riptide came to my mind, as I struggled to see through my sunglasses to find Thomas. He made his way near me, and we both decided to head up the sand a bit to stay out of harm’s way, so we thought. The next wave was the biggie. It reached all the way up to the top of the sand and literally dragged Thomas down the hill and tried to pull me as well. I still had my sandals on, so I dug them and my knees deep into the sand while trying to open my eyes full of salt water. I spied Thomas hurtling down the hill toward me, so I grabbed him and held on for all I was worth. Once the water receded backward far enough for Thomas to go, I told him to RUN! He did so, and I literally had to crawl up the hill on hands and knees to keep my sunburned butt from getting dragged back in. Needless to say, there was a REASON why we were the only ones swimming there that day. That was a HUGE lesson learned! Obviously there were no pictures from this area. Had I foolishly tried to take my camera into the surf for a few pictures, I would have lost it. I’m glad I didn’t. We were lucky to leave without medical help that day!

The next event was Thomas and my first parasailing experience! If you have never done it, we enthusiastically recommend that you try it! The best way I can describe it as a low-level commitment to going on a hot air balloon ride. They took us out on a diesel-powered speed boat, hooked up the parachute, strapped on our harnesses and we were ready to go. They essentially put us in a swing-like contraption with a seatbelt, complete with D hooks to the parachute. Once it was our turn, we snapped in, and waited to be released. The wind that day was very strong, so we literally extended out like a giant kite on a 500 foot string. Once we left the back of the rocking boat, it was like we were suspended on a cloud. The noise died down, and the wind seemed to stand still. After a couple of minutes, all fear left Thomas and he put up his hands like we were on a roller-coaster. It was quiet. We could talk to each other and hear with no problem. We had a couple of gusts that blew us from side to side, but it was serene. We loved it. We would certainly do it again, and probably will. If my ten-year-old can do it, so can you! I couldn’t take my camera ON the trip up in the sky, but Traci stayed behind to record the event. Please enjoy these pictures. In one of the pictures you can see where Thomas let go of the harness. What a brave kid!

If you can believe it, we were ready to leave beautiful Hawaii. We really missed our bus, our work, our long-distance friends and our “normal” life on the road. We loved our time in Oahu, and we will cherish the memories and photographs for a lifetime, but we were ready to leave. It’s amazing how the word “normal” changes with perspective. To most people, our life is anything but normal. One week we are in a rainforest, the next week we will be in Death Valley National Park. But this is our life for the next five months or so, and we couldn’t wait to get back. Hopefully our bus will be finished and we can leave Los Angeles. Even if it isn’t, it’s not a bad place to be “stuck”. Until the next time we are blessed by a kiss of Hawaiian air, aloha!

Wednesday, 3-8-06; 65 and Sunny: Focused Day of Work and a Relaxing Evening

I know you can’t believe it, but it’s true: I worked today and we didn’t do anything in the evening! You might say Daniel and Traci “You’re right down the street from Hollywood! How could you miss going to the site of the Oscars?!”. We couldn’t not go there fast enough! We enjoyed the beautiful weather as the breeze blew through the bus. I spent the day on email and the phone while Traci and Thomas caught up on school.

We spent the evening watching Mythbusters and American Idol and wrote our blogs.

Thursday, 3-9-06; 60 and Cloudy: Ditto of Yesterday

Yup. This isn’t very exciting to read about, but I worked a full day and we hung around the bus all evening. We did learn that the parts have arrived at the dealership, so we will drop Bessy off on Monday morning to complete the last repairs, hopefully. Our water heater began leaking today. Not a good thing.

Friday, 3-10-06; 60 and Partly Sunny: Focused Day of Work, Shaggy Dog and Olive Garden

Aren’t you proud of me? I’ve been getting up at 6:30 am local time all week to get to work so I can stay ahead of the curve after vacation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. You get up that early every day! I can honestly say I’m NOT a morning person, and neither are Traci and Thomas. Thomas has to suffer through my phone calls and light fixture before he gets up, but it usually isn’t a problem for the little man. He snoozes on until 9:00 even when I’m on the phone.

I had some great conversations today, and one of my prospects agreed to sign their contract on Monday, after another one said the same thing yesterday. We’ll see if they actually follow-through with their promises. Outside of that, many positive things happened in the world of BrayTel today. I also worked on getting my tax information organized and put into a giant spreadsheet for my CPA. It will be a fun one this year!

After work we ventured out to see the new Disney flick Shaggy Dog. I have to say that if you have kids, this movie is safe for them to see! If you don’t mind totally suspending reality, if you like slapstick comedy, if you like Tim Allen, or don’t like Robert Downey Jr., this flick is safe for YOU to see. Traci thought it was totally cheesy, but I thoroughly enjoyed it—mainly because it was told from the Dad’s perspective. Thomas thought it was OK. It is certainly harmless, and a lot of fun as long as you don’t take it too seriously. Along the way I thought about how many times he would have been thrown in jail for his antics, but that didn’t stop me from laughing!

After the movie we had dinner at Olive Garden, and it was as good as ever. We did a little shopping afterward, getting Thomas a bunch of books and actually going to Wal Mart on purpose! They had a particular product that was no where else in town, so we had no choice. After that we came back to the bus for games and TV time. TGIF!

Saturday, 3-11-06; 49 and Rainy:  Drive to Northridge, California Pizza Kitchen

We decided to check out of Orangeland today so we could get to a camp ground near the dealership where Bessy will be fixed on Monday.  We decided NOT to boon dock at Wal Mart again, so this was the next best thing.  We arrived, got set up and decided to go explore the area we saw on the drive in.  Remember, this place was only about 3 miles away from the neighborhood containing the dealership and the Wal Mart.  It was a retail mecca.  There was every kind of store and restaurant one could want within a mile of the place.  It was a world away from where we spent the night three weeks before. 

We enjoyed an extremely wonderful dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen before returning to the bus.  We had the Thai Chicken Pizza and a Chinese Chicken Salad.  It was the best meal we had had in a long time.  After dinner we returned to the bus and went to bed. 

Sunday, 3-12-06; 51 and Rainy:  Relaxed Day in the Bus

Today was a quiet, lazy day in the bus.  It rained on and off all day so we just decided to hang out and watch movies and play games.  It was a very wonderful day of rest.  TGIS.

Monday, 3-13-06; 59 and Sunny:  Neil’s RV, Killing Time, Drive to Barstow, CA

We got up early and took Bessy over to Neil’s for her final trip to the shop—we hope!  We arrived on time and it turned out that our regular service guy was not in today, so we had to deal with another guy, who didn’t have nearly the people skills as Dave.  We told him what we expected (like we had done with Dave) and he just shook his head and said “see you this afternoon”.  We went to a nearby Borders book store so we could kill time, Thomas could play on his computer and I could work.  Traci went shopping and got her nails done.  We had lunch, and meandered around a bit, just waiting for 3:00 PM.  We arrived back at Neil’s around 2:30 and the guy told us it would be at least 4:30 before everything would be done.  It turns out that Fleetwood had messed up again and caused a delay.  I had to call my gal to have her intervene so we could get it done.  Fleetwood just stinks!

Traci was furious that it was going to take so long.  As you could imagine, this was a very long road, and we really wanted to get it done.  After all, we had to drive to Barstow, CA when we left there, and we didn’t want to get caught in the infamous Los Angeles rush hour.  Well, the 90 minutes flew by and it looked like NOTHING was happening.  After Traci just ripped the guy for not having any concern for our time, she just collapsed in the car, convinced that they could not care any less.

I decided to walk over to the bus, smile, and ask questions.  It turns out that they didn’t have a clue as to how to fix our bus!  They literally brought all of the technicians out to the bus for a collaborative discussion.  There was a guy who reminded me so much of Dan Akroyd, who finally figured it out.  It still took him 30 minutes to get it right once he had the answer, but at about 6:00 PM it was a wrap.  Fortunately they couldn’t go home until we were done, so they were highly motivated to make it so.

We pulled out of the dealership onto the parking lot also know as Interstate 5 and patiently waited for our turn to go.  It actually wasn’t as bad as we feared, because the highway we took to Barstow really didn’t draw much traffic, so we were soon up to a comfortable cruising speed.  The roads were still crazy, confusing California roads, and we were driving at night, but we did OK and pulled into Barstow about 2.5 hours later.  The rush hour only extended our trip by about 30 minutes. 

We checked in and just plugged in the big power cord, ate dinner and collapsed into bed.  We were very glad for our pull-through slip at the Barstow KOA.

Tuesday, 3-14-06; 71 and Sunny:  Work and a Visit to Calico Ghost Town

I worked a full day today and Traci and Thomas did school.  We decided to take in the local attraction—the Calico Ghost Town.  Considering that we are in the southwest in the off-off-off season, this place was a ghost town in all ways.  There was no one there!  Fortunately the gal at the campground gave us a free family pass, because if had we spent $20 to get in the place, we would have been irritated. 

We walked along the main drag for a while, and decided we wanted to take in the tour of the silver mine as well as the mine train.  When we arrived in the tour area, the guy guarding the entrance was reading a book, and looked extremely irritated that we had interrupted the story.  He reluctantly run up our $3 worth of entrance fees and seemed to actually struggle with the math.  We toured the silver mine in about 5 minutes for two reasons:  it was short and boring, and Traci is not comfortable in tunnels.  We shot out the other end like a rocket and made our way back around to jump on the train.

The train.  Thomas was very reluctant to go on the train, mainly because he doesn’t like to go through—tunnels!  We forced him to join us, and it turned out that the tunnel was only about 15 feet long, so he enjoyed himself.  We were given the history of the mine and the people who lived there.  It was actually fun, and I got a few good shots. 

After that we went to the saloon to enjoy a sarsaparilla and made our way back to the car.  I don’t expect that we will go out of our way to visit a ghost town again on this trip.  We have found that we like the regular kind much better.  We went and got groceries and spent a quiet evening in the bus.

Wednesday, 3-15-06; 64 and Sunny:  Work and a Little Stroll in Rainbow Basin

I worked a full day today, to the chagrin of my family.  I needed to get a lot of things done, and sometimes it takes longer than I expect it to.  We were able to get out of the bus at around 2:00 PM local time, so I went to the office to inquire about where visitors should go for a hike.  They told me Rainbow Basin was a great place to hike.  I got a map and directions, and we grabbed our water bottles and jumped in Speedy for a 15 mile drive, or so we thought!

Do you remember the day when the Bray family drove right on to the White Sands Missile Base by accident?  Have you ever heard the term “history repeats itself”?  Well, today we drove onto Fort Irwin, which is a tank training facility in the middle of the desert.  How did we know we were driving onto a tank training facility?  Well, this sign sort of clued us into the fact that we had taken a wrong turn! 

The map we had was WRONG!  It made no distinction between Fort Irwin Rd and Irwin Rd.  We needed Irwin Rd.  Fortunately, after turning around and making tracks out of our second military installation, we found our way to Irwin Rd and on to Rainbow Basin.  When was the last time you drove your car on a dirt road?  I can’t remember the last time I drove my Infiniti on a dirt road.  Have you ever driven your car on a dirt road in the middle of the desert?  Me neither.  You’ve seen the scenes of the Sahara desert, where the wind whips ripples in the sand as it blows by, haven’t you?  Have you ever driven on said ripples?  Me neither.  Well, as you can imagine, once I found the right place, and saw nothing but a few miles of straight, flat dirt road in front of me, I just punched it…for about 100 yards.  Once I hit those ripples, it was like I was driving Speedy on a cobblestone road.  The entire car vibrated violently until I slowed down to about 5-10 MPH!  I was miserable.

We kept saying to ourselves:  the harder the journey, the better the result!  So, I kept my horses in check and slowly creeped along the road for about 4 miles at 10 MPH—yes, I drove like this for a half an hour!  Remember that for future use in this story.  After many turns and much discussion like:  “Are we going the right way?  Could this really be it?  They have got to be kidding me!” we finally found our way to a campground that lies WITHIN the canyon.  Does anyone actually camp here?  We felt like we went to the middle of no where and then on over the ridge to absolutely no where.  We spied two trucks pulling trailers, and we felt for them.  We could NOT imagine bringing Bessy out here at 10 MPH over those sand ripples for miles.  The weird part was that the people were no where to be seen.  Their vehicles were there, but no people.  That was a bit creepy, but we decided to push on.  We grabbed our bottles of water and camera, and hit the trail.  We were thrilled to be on the trail working hard and seeing things we hadn’t seen before. The trail appeared to be a dry creek bed that ran off into the desert between two gigantic ridges of foothills.  We started off on a sandy bed, but quickly found ourselves climbing boulders on our trip up the creek.  Later on we would find the old saying “up a creek” to be somewhat appropriate.

The sign at the trail head, which happened to be the ONLY sign we would see all day, simply pointed to the trail and said 2 miles.  We thought “great, that’s about how long we have to hike”.  The long drive out there had cut our daylight a bit short, so we were right on time.  We hiked and hiked.  As we went on, the trail got more challenging.  We found ourselves needing to act as a team, hoisting each other up and sometimes assisting each other down ledges as the dry waterway wound its way through the canyon.  All the time we continued to see the footprints in the sand of others who went before us, so we felt comfortable in knowing we were going the right way.  Suddenly, as we came around a bend, our hearts jumped into our throats because we saw a coyote in the trail ahead!  He appeared to be asleep, but he as actually dead.  This immediately sent alarm bells going off in Traci’s and my head, but we didn’t say anything out loud.  We were just wondering what killed that coyote.  It had been there quite a while, but the environment allowed it to just sort of flatten out without rotting or smelling badly.  I doubt any houseflies found there way all the way out there—beyond no where. 

We continued hiking, and hiking and hiking, expecting to see a sign around the next bend telling us that we had reached the end, or where to turn, or whatever.  We checked our watches, and realized we had been gone for some time now, and that the sun was starting to set in the west.  We were at a loss for what to do, because the trail sign made no indications as to the nature of the trail—be it a straight line out, or a circular trail around the foothills back to the parking lot.

We had literally not seen another human being the entire time we were out there…only footprints.  We decided to take a right turn at what looked like another trail coming off a mountain—hoping to circle back to the car.  However, this trail went a short way and immediately started up very high and looked like it just ended.  We were at a loss as to what to do.  We looked around, and decided to climb a small hill to our right to try to get a look at the surroundings and determine our position.  This would have been a GREAT time to whip out a GPS device!

We spied what looked like a somewhat easy path up the hill, and we started up.  Well, it LOOKED easy.  It turns out that it was an absolute bear!  We had to zig zag up the hill so we did not lose our footing.  There were several times when we actually started a small rock slide down from our position.  We made it about ¾ up the hill when we realized that we were REALLY far up, and the hill was much steeper than it appeared.  We kind of crouched down under a gigantic boulder as we contemplated our next move.  It was about another 15 feet to the top, and the entire area was populated with loose rocks and small vegetation.  Traci and Thomas refused to let me go alone, so we had to make a decision.  We decided to skip the view and head back as quickly as we could the way we came. 

This was easier said than done.  We started down the hill and found that it was easier to climb up than down.  We ended up taking half of the surrounding rocks down with us, and Thomas actually slid down on his belly part of the time because of a rock slide.  We finally made it down to the point from which we started, and literally hopped and jogged back to the main trail.  Traci reminded us that it was getting dark, and that we really didn’t want to be out in the desert ecosystem after dark.  Not only would it get very cold very quickly, but the resident wildlife would venture out after dark in search of prey (ie:  whatever killed the coyote).  We whooped it up along the way to warn any local residents of our presence in the area.  We kicked it in and jogged almost half the way back, stopping only to climb up or down boulders or ledges depending on the need.  No one complained, no one wanted a break.  It was crunch time, and we made it back just as the sun was going down.  Boy, were we glad to see Speedy! 

We hopped in and rolled back down the dirt road quickly as he would take us.  We soon found ourselves on the main road, and the 220 horses under the hood went to work!  We were out of there.  We told Thomas all about the real danger we were in, an warned him not to make such a stupid mistake of starting a hike like that so late in the day when HE was in charge!  We rolled into the camp ground about 20 minutes later and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and recovering from our adventure.

Thursday, 3-16-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Recovery and a 2nd Ghost Town

I worked a full day today and after yesterday’s antics I was relieved to do something that was not dangerous to one’s health!  We ventured out after work to do a bit of shopping and didn’t realize we were headed for Barstow’s second not-so-famous ghost town!  As we drove north on I15 on the previous Monday, we scoped lots of advertisements and signs for what looked like a huge outlet mall on the south side of town.  Traci decided it was high time I stopped wearing the same pair of jeans every day, so we pinpointed the Levi’s outlet as our destination.  As we pulled into the parking lot, we found it difficult to locate the Levi’s outlet because all of the signs said “outlet mall”.  This puzzled us for a few minutes, until we realized that the place was virtually empty!  There were 25 buildings that made up the mall, and there were no more than 20-30 tenants in the entire place!  We were shocked.  It was like we were in Calico all over again!  However this time someone who owned the place wished they could disappear.  Someone is losing gigantic bucks on this place!  This was no small failure. 

We were able to find the Levi’s outlet, and were able to find the jeans we were looking for.  We ventured out across the street to the OTHER, populated outlet mall and spent a little time in another store, and returned to the bus considering it a successful shopping trip.  We spent the night doing chores and laundry.  Tomorrow we are rolling on down the road and we need to get ready for it.

Friday, 3-17-06; 65 and Sunny:  Viva Las Vegas!

Wow!  What a day.  We are exhausted but happy as can be.  I got up and conducted a conference call for one of my Strategic Partners and the call ended up on a very high note with lots of good things happening in that particular account.  After the call I spent most of the morning getting caught up on other projects and commitments.  Once I did that, I jumped in the car and rolled out to the USPS to ship off my tax documents to my CPA.  Needless to say, I’m not the most detail-oriented guy in the world, and I really got lazy with my bookkeeping after we left on the trip, so I spent lots of time over the last week re-creating what I should have done all along.  Oh, well.  I’m now set up to be more efficient going forward. 

After the USPS run, we prepared to pull up camp and get out of Dodge.  I caught up on email one more time and we woke Bessy up and rolled north on I15 to Las Vegas!  Our decision to include Las Vegas in our plans was mainly based on weather.  Neither of us had been there, but we had both heard good and bad things about Sin City.  My friends (you know who you are!) told me we MUST include it in the trip, but Traci wasn’t too excited about it.  For better or worse, Mother Nature decided it was Las Vegas or going back to Anaheim.  Going back to Anaheim was the LAST thing Traci wanted to do, so it was off to the City of Lights!

Los Angeles did something to us.  After spending two weeks there and one in Oahu, we longed for the wide open spaces of our nomadic RV lifestyle.  We could NOT wait to be in the middle of no where.  We have decided we could never live in a city bigger than Indianapolis, and for those of you new to my blog, Indy is actually a much bigger city than you think, compared to other cities around the country.  It just doesn’t FEEL like a big city.  LA (and most of Southern California) feels like one HUGE metropolis.  We needed to get OUT.  And, as you already know, Barstow really wasn’t a place to spend TWO weeks, and it was too cold to go to Lone Pine like we had planned, so Las Vegas was the only logical destination!

We pulled into town in mid-afternoon and quickly found the RV park.  It was technically an over-55 park, but they don’t enforce it for short-term campers.  We rolled into our pull-through camp site and set up camp in no time.  Traci and Thomas started on school and I caught up on an afternoon of work.  I can’t go into it in detail, but there are many opportunities bubbling to the surface in Indy that could literally change the scope of what I thought this business could be.  When I think about it too much, I start to vibrate.  First things first.  We need to finish the trip!

After work, school and a bite to eat we jumped in Speedy and headed to the Las Vegas Strip, not knowing at all what we were doing, or where to go.  Traci had read about the “Stratosphere”,  a CN Tower-like landmark right on the strip that offered a trip up an 866’ tower as well as theme-park type rides ON TOP OF THE TOWER!  We quickly found the place (it wasn’t hard to miss) and hit the free parking garage.  Who ever heard of a free parking garage at a huge tourist attraction in the heart of a big city?  Not us. 

We hit the tower and since Traci and Thomas were NOT up for riding rides, I decided not to go solo, so we chose the basic tower package.  It was fantastic!  They had the world’s highest Starbucks at the top of it (108 stories) so Traci had to get something to drink.  We took lots of pictures and really enjoyed ourselves.  We stayed about an hour but decided it was time to walk down to the strip and see the sights.  Please enjoy these pictures of the view and rides at the top of the tower. 

The walk to the heart of Las Vegas was enlightening for two reasons.  The first was the distance from the Stratosphere to the rest of the casinos was further than we expected, and the second was that the place was smaller than we imagined.  We have been to lots of places in the past few years (not to mention the last nine months) but there is no where like Las Vegas!  We walked down the strip, taking pictures and enjoying the sights.  There were a few peddlers of “adult rated” stuff, but for the most part, this part of town was clean and security personnel were present.  I don’t know what I expected, but it was worse than reality, that’s for sure. 

We walked down to look at Circus Circus (we almost stayed at their RV Park) and continued down the strip to Treasure Island.  Traci and I laughed about a Rugrats movie we saw when Thomas was little where they took a trip to Vegas.  We finally made it to Treasure Island and we took note of when the next laser light show took place.  We had about an hour, so we walked back up the side walk to a very huge mall that had an extensive food court.  One of Traci’s friends told her about this mall, so we were ready.  We grabbed a bite to eat and went back down for the laser show.  Unfortunately it was too windy for the show, so they cancelled it.  We hurried back to the car, since it was getting VERY cold, and were there in no time.  We hit the grocery store on the way back and arrived back at our beloved Bessy safe and sound.  Our first day in Las Vegas was a success and we are ready for more!

Saturday, 3-18-06; 59 and Sunny, Rainy and Snow:  Hiking in Red Rock Canyon

We slept in today and ate a hearty breakfast.  We decided to skip the traditional Las Vegas stuff today and head out to Red Rock Canyon.  In case you didn’t know, Red Rock Canyon is part of the National Parks System but hasn’t been chosen by a President to qualify for National Park status, thus it is a lowly “recreation area”.  However, to us it was as exciting as any national park we have been in.  We left the bus around noon so we could have PLENTY of time to get out and really work our bodies in the beautiful surroundings.  We brought our coats JUST IN CASE, but didn’t expect to use them.  We got our directions and headed out, but unfortunately we took a wrong turn on the road out to the canyon and ended up driving about an hour out of our way!  The direction we went led us up to some beautiful mountains, but they were the wrong ones!  We corrected our mistake and drove as fast as traffic would allow all the way across Las Vegas and out to Red Rock. 

We arrived at the visitors’ center, paid our fee and got our maps.  By the time we arrived it was about 2:30 so we knew we didn’t have enough time to hit the big trail we wanted to hike today.  We decided to hit our plan “B” trail called Icebox Canyon, so we got directions and started out.  We had to drive 8 miles to the trailhead, and we were glad we did.  I stopped all along the way to snap pictures of this incredibly beautiful area.  As we ascended the main mountain, it actually started to SNOW!  Yes, it was snowing on us in the Las Vegas desert two days before spring!  I stopped to snap Thomas’ picture in the snow—boy were we glad we brought our coats! 

We finally made it to our trail head and parked.  We grabbed our coats (Traci and Thomas had gloves too.) and I grabbed the camera and we bounded down the trail in search of beautiful sights and hard work.  At first the trail was somewhat boring, although the view was spectacular! 

We hiked for about 30 minutes on relatively smooth terrain littered with largish rocks.  We came across a couple who said the best was yet to come, and that we weren’t yet at the half way point.  We were thrilled, and moved on in the face of very strong wind and some snow.  Unfortunately I didn’t bring gloves, nor did I have a warm hat, so I was quite cold, and got a little grumpy.  Once we got down into the heavy cover of trees and boulders, it got much warmer, and we were very comfortable.

After climbing up onto and down off of giant boulders, across water features, under low hanging limbs of trees, and across sandy and rocky paths for over an hour, we finally made it to the waterfall at the heart of the canyon.  It was well worth the hike!  This waterfall is only present from December to March each year!  We were here at the perfect time.  Both Thomas and Traci really rocked today.  Thomas is really improving his physical fitness, and all of us are acting more like a team with every hike!  Traci is also being reminded just how good of shape she is in.  We haven’t lost all of our fitness on this crazy RV trip.  We watched as two teenage boys attempted to climb to the top of the waterfall, but failed.  They came sliding back down the rock face, giving us all a bit of panic.  Here are some pictures I shot of the area.  Please enjoy! 

After reveling in our achievement for a few chilly moments, we all decided it was time to head back.  This was a bit easier said than done!  We began by tracing our steps back toward the opening of the canyon, and always continued in the proper general direction.  However, not being familiar with the area, we were not alert enough to take every turn and step we had taken in, so we did not go back the way we came.  We tended to continue down hill, and we tended to stay along the water path where the giant boulders were piled up one after the other.  We liked the boulders because they were relatively easy to climb on, and they were the most fun.  There were a few places when we would have to hoist one another up or down to continue on the trail, but that was part of the fun.  However, after about 45 minutes of going down, down, down and over boulder after boulder, we thought to ourselves that this was NOT the way we came in!  So, in our Bray Family fashion, we decided to climb a mountain!  Again!

Traci scaled this rather large slope to our left to get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding terrain.  It turns out that she found the original trail we had taken into the area!  Thomas and I quickly followed, this time with MUCH better results, and we were the top in no time.  This is the picture that I had taken on the way in of that exact spot where Traci climbed up to look around.  Remember, this is from the top looking down. 

We were back on the trail, hungry, tired and cold.  If we could have jogged down the trail, we would have done it!  We quickly made our way back down the trail and back to the car.  We were SO relieved to see the car.  We quickly shed our coats and hats, jumped in the car and cranked up the heat.  The people who developed this park were very wise, in that they made the thirteen mile road going through the park a two lane, one way street.  I quickly found myself staying in the left lane, sticking right at the maximum speed limit, and passing all of the cars full of people stopping to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.  I was done with scenery.  I was done with hiking for the day.  I was HUNGRY.  As soon as we got back to civilization, we stopped at Burger King for Thomas and Del Taco for my favorite fish burritos. 

We retired to the bus for a quiet evening of watching TV, playing on computer, writing, and generally nursing our aching bodies.  Until tomorrow, good night Las Vegas!

Sunday, 3-19-06; 55 and Cloudy:  Hoover Dam and Surprise!

We decided to venture out and see the not-so-glitzy side of Vegas—the Hoover Dam.  The drive out there was supposed to take 30 minutes, but since everyone else in Vegas decided to leave the craps tables and see Hoover today, we were in a line about 5-10 miles bumper-to-bumper over to the dam.  By the time we got there we really hoped the drive would be worth it. 

I am surprised the Hoover Dam hasn’t sold naming rights to some multi-national company for millions of dollars.  Haven’t they learned lessons from sports arenas around the country?  Who cares about tradition?  Maybe then they wouldn’t have to charge and arm and a leg to see the darned thing!  They tell you (AFTER you’ve paid your money) that the dam is self-sufficient, because the Feds have made SO MUCH MONEY off of the sale of electricity from the thing, that they have paid off the mortgage and can more than pay for the upkeep and overhead.  That certainly didn’t stop them from charging us quite a bit of money to tour the place.  But, being the loyal citizens and curious RV’ers that we are, we ponied up the cash and took the tour.  Was it impressive?  You bet.  Was it gigantic?  Absolutely.  Would we do it again?  No.  We recommend paying the $7 to park in the garage and just do the walking tour.  The entrance fee just pays for a short film about the making of the dam (assuredly available on the web somewhere), and the honor of getting stuffed into an elevator with 30 other people—major invasion of personal space here—for a ride to the generator room.  If you are REALLY into electricity-generating turbines, you may think it’s worth it.  If not, we doubt it.  If you are just curious, here is a picture I took of them for your enjoyment. 

Fortunately the drive back to Vegas was much shorter than the drive to Hoover.  The thing that amazed us was that the line going toward the dam was now nearing 15-20 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic.  When I say b-t-b, I mean stop, and go 5 feet and stop again.  The bottleneck is a poor park ranger who has to “check” every car coming over the dam to determine if that vehicle is carrying a bomb.  Yeah, right.  (I guess we looked honest enough, so he just waved us in.)  We were VERY glad we were coming out instead of going in! 

Upon our arrival back into Vegas, we ate dinner, gussied up, and went out for a surprise—well, a surprise to you, not us.  On the way to Hoover we stopped at a famous bakery to pick up a few pieces of cake.  Hmmm.  What would we be doing with cake in Vegas?  We needed it for our second wedding!  Traci and I renewed our vows in a drive-through wedding chapel!  We’ve been married almost thirteen years, and we thought—hey, we’re in Vegas, let’s get hooked—again!

We pulled up to the drive-through, and Thomas was appointed the official wedding photographer.  Since we were already married, we didn’t have to mess with a license or anything like that, so we filled out the paperwork while Thomas photographed everything in the place.  Eventually he returned to the car in time for the Minister to come do the ceremony.  She was a really cool lady.  She liked the fact that we had been married so long and were still happy.  She complimented Thomas and that’s always a good thing.  She prayed with us and started the actual vows.  Just as I finished my vow, the back door opened and we were startled by the dome light coming on!  Thomas had made a get-away!  We all burst out laughing and it took a while for it to stop.  The Minister said “he just couldn’t take it any more!”.  Thomas was trying to be smooth, so he didn’t slam the back door after he got out, but it didn’t shut all the way, so the light kept coming on and off while he attempted to get the door latch to catch.  We laughed so much we were in tears by the time Traci got done with her vow.  It wasn’t much different than our first wedding, with the exception of the dome light.  I forgot my lines, and that led to a church-wide laughing fit that last what seemed for ever.

We eventually made it through, and she wished us luck, and she opened the gigantic gate in front of us and we rolled out with waves and congratulations.  It was a very Vegas moment, and a very Bray moment as well.  No one can say that we don’t have fun on this trip!  Here are the pictures that Thomas took of the ceremony and surroundings.  We parked at a mall parking lot right on the strip and ate our “wedding” cake, and Rachel Ray was right—it was top shelf stuff! 

After we finished our cake (and Daniel spilled a big piece in the car) we hopped out and went walking on the strip, taking in the sights and sounds.  We made it down to the Bellagio for the famous gray-water fountain display, and it was awesome as usual.  We walked through a couple of the hotels and just soaked it all in.  We decided we are certainly coming back to this place!  Only in Vegas do you have a McDonald’s with a flashing sign.  Here are some pictures I thought you would enjoy. 

We returned to the bus, married, happy and exhausted.

Monday, 3-20-06; 60 and Sunny:  Work, School and Nursing Colds

It was such a crazy, enjoyable weekend that we needed to rest and recoup today.  To make things a bit more complicated, Traci came down with a nasty cold.  This was the first such event in the almost ten months of this trip.  It won’t be long before Thomas and I follow suit.  Lots of Vitamin C for everyone!

I worked a full day, and I have to say March looks promising.  Fortunately the magic of working like I do is that I was able to go have some long-overdue work done on the Infiniti while I continued to work.  Speedy needed an oil change, transmission fluid change, and a tire rotation.  Unfortunately the last guy who put my new tires on in Indy cross-threaded one of my lug nuts so it broke off and had to be replaced.  Not a pleasant surprise!

With Speedy all ready for another four months on the road—I’m actually driving him about half as much as when in Indy—I returned to the bus.  I finished up work and we had dinner in the bus.  Traci needs to write her email about Barstow, and sometimes that takes several hours.  The book is certainly coming along nicely!  We also have a goofy family tradition of watching American Idol each week, and tonight was a two hour special, so that pretty much took care of the whole evening.

Tuesday, 3-21-06; 52 and Rainy:  Work, Chores, Preparing to Leave Vegas

Yes, today was a glamorous day in beautiful Las Vegas, NV.  We worked, did school, laundry, dishes and everything else we usually do the day before leaving for a new city.  I have to take a moment out and say something profound:  I LOVE dish washing machines!  As part of our chore-sharing plan in the bus, my main task is keeping the dishes washed.  I have worked in many restaurants in my life, most of which included some kind of dish washing task.  I’m past that point in my life.  One of the main things I look forward to upon our return to Indy will be a top-of-the-line dish washer.  No matter which house we buy, if the dish washer is junk, I’m yanking it out for a new Kenmore immediately!

Wednesday, 3-22-06; 75 and Sunny:  Drive to Needles, CA

I got up early today to get a jump on work prior to driving to Needles, CA today.  Work is going extremely well this month.  I did some data mining in my old email directories and actually came up with some very cool opportunities to start working on for April.  One of them could be HUGE!

Once the family woke up, we got ready, pulled up camp and bid farewell to Las Vegas.  Although it was our first time there, we know it won’t be our last.  We were very glad we made our way though this area.  It was a hoot.

We drove our 2.5 inches in about 3 hours and arrived at quiet Needles, CA.  We caught up on email and work, school and the like.  We did some grocery shopping and had dinner in the bus.  This part of the trip is an interesting exercise in burning time while finding cool things to do.  It’s just not warm enough to go to the National Parks in CA, UT, MT and CO, so we have to bide our time wandering around Arizona and Southern California.  What a tough life!  Fortunately I’m still working and making money along the way, so no time is wasted.  That is the true blessing of this trip.  When things are exciting, it’s really great.  When they’re not, that’s OK too.

We ate dinner in the bus and watched TV and went to bed.

Thursday, 3-23-06; 50 and Sunny:  Drive to Williams, AZ

We got up early and rolled out of beautiful Needles, CA to continue our trek east.  For the unfortunate people who live in Needles, they may argue with me on this point.  At least the campground was one of the most beautiful we have stayed at.  The people at the campground said one family owns the whole town, and they have no interest in “progress”, so the town hasn’t changed for decades.  It appeared to be a very quiet, dead-end town.  They have one pizza joint and one grocery store in the whole town and every gas station had their prices above $3 per gallon for regular!  We were thrilled that we had just filled up prior in Vegas.

We did notice that the landscape changed quite a bit on the drive.  Gone were the little bitty scrub bushes and grasses, and they were replaced by much larger bushes, and eventually big pine trees.  It was a welcome change!  There were warning signs everywhere about icy roads, but it was completely clear and dry and smooth sailing.  Aside from the occasional mountain, the drive was easy, and we did our 2.5 inches in a couple of hours. 

We arrived at Williams, AZ and after checking in and catching up on work, we went to get our tickets for the train ride to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.  The folks who run this place are certainly looking to corner the tourist market in town.  They already have a large hotel on premise, and the RV Park we stayed in had just been completed about a month before—sort of.  Our water, sewer and AC were connected, but for the most part the park was still under construction.  Most of the common areas hadn’t been landscaped yet, the doors didn’t have handles on them, and the gigantic RV sized gas station across the street wasn’t finished.  They even had built a gigantic steak house in the same parking lot, but it wasn’t open either.  I guess these folks are expanding on their successful railroad empire to cover the rest of the gambit.  2-3 years from now this place will be beautiful—if you’re pulling up in a 40 foot motorcoach that is.

Did I mention it was getting cold?  We had to run a thin stream of water so we wouldn’t freeze the hoses last night, and we expect to have to do that for a few nights.  In Needles it’s supposed to be 88 tomorrow.  Why did we leave?  Oh, yeah.  For that big whole in the ground, that’s why!

Friday, 3-24-06; 59 and Sunny:  All Aboard!

I got up extra early today so I could get some work done prior to boarding the train to the Grand Canyon.  This train line was abandoned for many years before a retired couple purchased it in 1989 and restored passenger train service from Williams to the Grand Canyon.  They have done an excellent job of restoring this once dominant mode of transportation back to its former glory.  I honestly felt like I had gone back in time.  I think above all other factors, I love the sounds a train makes while going down the track.  I had the luxury of a window seat, and being that I was still hammered by my cold, I simply opened the window a bit, leaned my head against the glass, and relaxed.  They had a guy who came through playing a guitar and harmonica, the train was whistling, and the train made its familiar sound as it rolled down the tracks.  The combination of sounds almost made me forget that I work in a high-tech industry that has no need for railroads…almost. 

The two hour ride up to the Grand Canyon was actually a bit tedious.  After a while excitement of the train ride wore off and we just got bored.  We didn’t bring any reading materials, because we were not sure if we could leave our stuff on the train while in the park.  After a while two children a couple of seats up started wrestling, and since they had very “flexible” parents, the show went on for what seemed to be for ever.  Even Thomas was irritated with the noise.  The other factor was there really wasn’t much to look at.  We have enjoyed many hours rolling across the countryside in the RV looking at practically the same scene from outside of LA all the way to Texas.  At least in the bus we have music to listen to, but here, it was just boring.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but it just got old.  The one surprise we had yet to see on this trip was the substantial amount of snow on the ground.  For a while we felt like we were back in Indiana, not in the middle of the desert!

We eventually pulled into the Grand Canyon Railroad yard, turned around and got off the train.  Since we weren’t staying the night, we only had about 3.5 hours during which to have lunch and get our hiking in.  Remember that I had a bad cold.  I’m not a very nice person when I am sick.  It’s a growth issue for me, yes, but I can only grow so quickly, you know?  We ate at the Arizona Room in the Village, because it was highly recommended by the gal who was in charge of our car on the train.  We went with high hopes, and quickly decided what to eat.  The bottom line evaluation:  was NOT worth the money.  Yes, the view of the canyon from the restaurant was nice, but that was about it.  None of the three of us really liked our food, and was a rarity.  We choked down as much as we could and hit the rim trail.  We decided to go east along the rim to see what we could see.  We certainly saw a lot!  If you’ve been there, you know what I mean.  If you haven’t, I can’t explain it in words.  These pictures do so little justice.  However, I have to throw them in.  Please enjoy. 

We hiked as far as the path would take us, because the Yavapai Overlook was closed.  It was certainly enough to get lots of pictures, pet a nice dog, and spend a little while just soaking in the enormity of the canyon.  After our hike, we went back to the Village and got some really great ice cream, got a pin for the board, and got Thomas his own genuine walking stick.  He has wanted one for some time.  We have lots of National Parks and long hikes in the next four months, so we felt like it was a good investment.

We re-boarded the train back to Williams.  After the hike and the ice cream, I was totally wiped out.  I did the open window trick again and actually fell asleep, which is unusual for me.  I even missed an Elk sighting!  We certainly want to return to the area for another go of it.  We plan to do that tomorrow if possible.

We arrived back at the bus and relaxed, caught up on email, watched TV and went to bed.  We’ve got to shake these colds!

Saturday, 3-25-06; 57 and Cloudy:  Bedrock and the Grand Canyon, Pt 2

We slept in late hoping to feel a bit better today.  We got ready and decided to trace our train-track path back up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Traci had read about this small nostalgic ‘attraction’ called Bedrock, as in Fred Flintstone.  They actually had an RV park/campground attached, so we thought we would stop in for a look.  It turns out the place was built in 1972 and it appeared that they had not invested another penny in it since.  It was funny, in a sad kind of way.  All of your favorites were there, and they even had a giant brontosaurus with a slide going down its back so you could yell “yabba dabba doo” as you slid down.  It wasn’t as nearly as funny to Thomas as it was to Traci and I, who spent many of our impressionable years learning how NOT to be married from good old Fred.  Maybe that’s why we have been happily married for 13 years!

The place was run down and cheesy, but we were glad we went.  There were two other families there besides us, so we didn’t feel like we were the only ones who flushed $12 today.  Here is a picture of the dinosaur.  It was a can’t miss event!

After waving goodbye to the Flintstones, we pointed speedy straight for the big dip.  It was a MUCH faster drive than it was a train ride, by over 1 hour, thanks to my wonderful Infiniti.  We arrived at the visitors center and decided to stop and get the goods and see the National Geographic movie made about the canyon.  We were going to take a helicopter ride, but they were all about $150 per person for 30 minutes!  We were shocked at the pricing, and decided we had better things to do with $450 than do that.  So we did the next best thing:  IMAX.  The movie was good, but not great.  It was a narrative about the first guy who took a boat through the whole canyon and lived to tell the story.  It was cool, but there were a few parts that made no sense to us.  Oh, well, on to the canyon for more hiking.

As we said earlier, this area had a ton of snow recently, and lots of it was left.  It was actually strange driving in 60 degree weather with snow everywhere.  We made it up to the place where the train had come in on Friday and we parked and went for a walk.  We decided to go the opposite direction, which was left of the Canyon Village.  The view was spectacular, as you could imagine.  This side of the rim trail led us to the trailhead where the donkeys ride out to go to the canyon floor.  We skipped that option of the substantial mud that had accumulated on the trail, and continued on the rim.  We hit a couple of awesome view points, and just loved it.  We reached the end of the ‘easy’ part of the trail, which was really all we had time for, and descended a flight of stairs, to come up on two wild mountain goats just hanging out on the side of the mountain!  We were shocked, and I took lots of pictures.  It was a magical moment of the trip.  The only wildlife we had seen to date were a couple of tame squirrels begging for food by the restaurant. 

We soaked in the smell of the fir trees, the sound of the wind blowing in our faces, and the incredible view of the canyon as long as we dared.  We were getting a bit cold, and time was pressing on, so we slowly made our way back to the Village to get ice cream and get back to the bus.   Our second trip to the Canyon was successful, and we were glad we did it.  We may check on the pricing and availability of the donkey tour when we come back this way to go to Lone Pine in a week or so.  It takes a whole day, and you have to be in good health (NO COLDS) and you have to pack everything in and out, so it will take more planning than a couple bottles of water, a camera and cash.

Once we arrived back at the bus, we did our standard chores before departure, ate dinner and went to bed early.  More Nyquil for us!

Sunday, 3-26-06; 70 and Sunny:  Drive to Holbrook, AZ, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

Traci and I slept in this morning, trying to shake these stinking colds.  Thomas had gone to bed early last night, but he also got up early this morning, so he spent the first part of the morning alone watching cartoons.  That’s not our preference, but we needed the rest!

Once we got up, we had to get at it because check-out was 11:00 am.  We made it out at about 10:30 and hit I40.  We started off with a half tank of diesel, because I refused to pay the $3.09 and $3.39 we had seen in the two small towns along the way.  We paid $3.29 at the peak of last year’s fuel “crisis”, and I refuse to pay anything close to that while winter is still here and no hurricanes have hit the Gulf Coast!  Fortunately, for all of you out there who like Jackson Brown, I was driving by a corner in Winslow, Arizona, what a fine site to see, a Flying J Truck Stop with Diesel for $2.57 per gallon looks great to me!  There was no girl in a flat bed Ford looking at me, but I was looking at saving about $30 on a tank of diesel!  The place was packed, but we waited patiently and filled it to the brim.

After that, the rest of the drive to Holbrook, AZ was a breeze.  I even caught a tail wind part of the way, which is always a nice gift.  We rolled off of I40 and quickly found the KOA and settled in.  Normally on drive days, we either arrive at our new campground too late, or we are too tired to go do anything.  Today was an exception to the rule!  We still have colds, but we were up for some hiking.  We decided to go hit the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park, which was only about 30 miles away.  Speedy made quick work of the drive and we pulled in with plenty of time to spare. 
Why did we drive an extra 4-5 hours and eat up an extra week to come here?  If any of you have been there, you may be wondering.  Well, I have to say, I was here when I was about five years old with my family, and like everything else in life, it just looked bigger and better than it does now.  We don’t know if the effect of acid rain has muted the color pallet of the Painted Desert, but it looks more like the muddy desert now.  Yes, there a few flashes of beautiful terra cotta and red, but it was nothing like the picture I had in my mind.  The Petrified Forest part was pretty cool, but how many different rock-like logs can you see and still say aaaaaahhh? 

I got some very nice pictures, but there wasn’t a whole lot to get excited about.  Traci and I surmised that we may be a bit jaded at this point in the trip, because after all, Rainbow Basin was much more dangerous (a big plus for Thomas), and it had some incredible colors, as well as Red Rock Canyon, was, well, very red.  The Green Mountains of Vermont were very, very green, and the blue waters of the Bahamas were bright blue!  I think the last sunburn we got was more colorful than this place.  Here are my best shots of the desert as well as the wood.  You be the judge. 

After leaving the desert we headed back to town to do a little grocery shopping and we stumbled across one of only two remaining “Wig Wam Motels” in the country.  When you get your “room” it is actually a stand-alone tee pee looking structure.  Although Thomas wanted to rent one, we decided to come back to Bessy. 

In case you don’t know, Route 66 goes through Holbrook, and there are still many folks trying to hang on to the nostalgia that is Route 66.  One of the cowboys on the train Friday sang that song, and it was the first time I had actually listened to the words.  I just hope these folks are able to make a living, because this town is dead.  They have one grocery store.  How’s that for competition?  They knew darn well you had to buy their stuff, so it had plenty of margin in it.

We ate dinner in the bus and settled in for another good night sleep.

Monday, 3-27-06; 60 and Rainy:  Quiet Day in the Bus

I was able to get to bed at a decent time last night, and still feel better when I got up early this morning.  Thank Goodness!  I think this cold may be defeated tomorrow.  High fives all around!  I’m sure my customers and my carriers will be happy too!

Today was a very sleepy day in Arizona.  It actually rained on and off all day today, and we decided not to venture out.  Thomas and Traci did school while I worked.  In case you’re wondering, March has turned out to be an excellent month business wise.  I got a bunch of requests just today for contracts on new service.  That rarely ever happens this late in the month!  The rest of the month will be fun.  I wish it was like this way EVERY month!  Traci and I are trying to figure out where we want to live when we return to Indy.  We keep bouncing back and forth, as I’m sure most couples do when they are setting up the next decade or so of their lives.

We spent the evening writing and watching TV.  We hope tomorrow is a tissue-free-day in the Bray bushold.

Tuesday, 3-28-06; 62 and Sunny:  Work, Trek down Route 66

I’m on the home stretch with work this week.  Traci lovingly refers to the last week of the month as “salesmen’s PMS”.  We have been married over 163 months, and with some exceptions, the last week of every month has been a continual challenge in the life of this career salesman.  You see, most people don’t study “sales” in college.  More often than not, if you ask, most salespeople started their career in something else, anything else.  They were either convinced by someone else in their life that they should “go into sales”, or they chose sales as a “last resort” before getting in the unemployment line.

I, on the other hand, actually studied sales in college.  I went to IU for their school of Telecommunications.  Don’t be too impressed yet, IU’s program at that time consisted entirely of Radio and Television, not telephone stuff.  I started IU just when the Reagan Administration broke up ATT into the long distance and local telephone divisions.  Little did he know that not more than 22 years later that most of it would be reunited.  I took every sales class I could get my hands on, and planned to go into the television business.  My first interview at IU was with MCI, which at that time was a scrappy start up company trying to challenge ATT for long distance customers.  They made me an offer before I interviewed with anyone else, and I accepted.  After graduation, it was off to Chicago for a six month training program. 

After training, I was at MCI in Indianapolis, which is where I met my beautiful bride Traci.  I still thank her old boss for hiring her when I see him, because thanks to him Traci and I met and married.  Traci has been with me for most of my career, and she is very familiar with the ebb and flow of corporate telecommunications sales.  Fortunately, BrayTel is NOT corporate sales.  I’m happy to report that I’ve been on my own for almost two years!  April of 2004 is when I resigned my last full-time sales position for another company.

I say all of this because after being on my own for two years, that PMS has all but disappeared.  I honestly thought it would take longer than this.  With wonderful blessings from the Lord and focused diligence, we have made it over the hump.  Unless something really strange happens, I doubt I’ll ever be an employee of another company again. 

Back to the day.  March has already been a great success.  The business that comes in over the next week will be icing on the cake.  I like icing!  Especially the whipped cream kind.  Today was another great day.  It’s always good for the carriers to end the quarter on a strong note.

After work we decided to go for a drive on the historic and nostalgic Route 66.  We really didn’t know what to expect, but we struck out in search of adventure and quirky stuff.  If you remember, we went to a grocery store earlier which was on Route 66 and we took pictures of the Wig Wam Motel.  I noticed upon further observation that they had actually parked cars from the 60’s near each of the tee pees to make it look more nostalgic.  Only the modern ones are the patrons’ vehicles.  The others in the picture were for show. 

Since the campground is at the point where Route 66 blends back into I40, we expected to drive for up to an hour the other direction to where it hits I40 again.  We took off and just soaked in all of the stores selling petrified wood, Indian artifacts, Route 66 memorabilia and food.  We drove all of about three miles and reached I40 on the other side of town.  That was it?  Yup, that was it.  I was under the impression that Route 66 was still in tact, just running parallel to I40 in this part of the country.  Nope, not so.  Route 66 is gone, with these small spurs coming on and off the highway in these small towns struggling to hold on to what once was.

We saw a steakhouse on the way that boasted in very large letters “The best steaks on Route 66 since 1929”.  Our sense of adventure compelled us to try this place, although we are not particularly fond of going to one-off places for a large meal.  It was called the Butterfield Stage Coach Steak House.  The restaurant was touted as being an off shoot of the original Butterfield Stage Coach company that served the south west for years during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  They had all kinds of funny and vintage signs everywhere, and lots of saddles, horns and the like.  Our server was a very odd bird.  I’ve worked at many restaurants in my life, and have patronized many hundreds over the years.  This guy had to take the cake as one of the top three odd birds in my memory bank.  The guy sounded like Michael Jackson and Thomas kept asking why he had a girl’s voice.  He seemed really stressed, although we were of only a few in the restaurant.  He looked like a very tall Oriental man with long hair and the voice of a 12 year old girl.  The service wasn’t all that great, which was puzzling.  However, the service was better than the food.  The prices were high, which (along with all of the advertising) set the expectation that this was going to be a great meal.  It wasn’t.  The steak Thomas and I decided to split was seared so much that it tasted like we were eating charcoal.  Traci had salmon and it was OK, but overall the meal wasn’t that great.  As we left the restaurant, I asked out loud “so if this is the best steak on Route 66?”  Thomas quickly shot back “then the rest of the steaks on Route 66 are terrible!”.  We had a good laugh about that and we headed back to the bus.  Our trip down Route 66 and our steak dinner was very disappointing.  Oh, well.  We’re leaving for Sedona, AZ tomorrow and we can’t wait to go.

Wednesday, 3-29-06; 52 and Rainy:  Bizarre Drive to Sedona, Work

I got up early to catch up on work prior to pushing off south and west to Sedona, AZ.  Our trip to Holbrook was as far east as we plan to go prior to heading home in July.  We mainly went to kill time and see the Painted Desert.  Now that we have seen Sedona, I think they should rename the Painted Desert to something less descriptive.  Sedona is the real painted desert!  This place is absolutely beautiful.  More on that later. 

We drove out of Holbrook before 11 with concern on our minds.  Two of the biggest threats to happiness in an RV are high winds and snow.  As we were preparing to leave, the wind kicked up and was really rocking the boat.  We took off and started down the highway to find our fears were real.  The wind must have been gusting 40-50 MPH from left to right.  Big rigs were pulled off to the side of the road at every over pass, and the truck traffic in the right lane was limited to about 65 in a 75 MPH zone.  Cars were buzzing by us in the left lane like crazy.  I started out with the cruise set to 60, which is a bit slower than I like to go, but I was being cautious.  It wasn’t long before the wind raked the side of the bus.  It sounded like it the awning was being ripped off!  I had to slow down to between 50 and 55.  About 45 minutes into the trip, we encountered a gigantic wall of blue and gray clouds and some pretty aggressive rain.  Fortunately the wind died down once we got there, and Bessy got a nice bath. 

We turned on to I17 South to go past Flagstaff and on to Sedona.  About 5 miles down the road we saw an electric sign that said “Winter Driving Conditions:  Drive with Care” just before we saw a couple of cars off in the ditch on the side of the road.  Hmmm, one of the things I NEVER wanted to do was drive Bessy in the snow.  Well, today was that day.  It started sleeting very aggressively and switched off between sleet and snow for about 15 minutes.  To add to the stress we were driving down gigantic mountains and around steep curves.  Not a great time to practice snow maneuvers!  The big rigs were flying by us like nothing was happening, but it was all white knuckles in the bus.

As we got to lower elevations, the precipitation turned back to rain and slacked off.  When we arrived in the campground, it was just drizzling so we were able to get set up quickly. 

I got caught up on work and we did our normal preparations for camp.  The area is breathtaking in its beauty and we could not wait to get out and hike.  Today was another great work day.  My carriers were somewhat perplexed how I could close so much business while driving a bus.  I’m glad to report that additional business may close by the end of the month. 

Thursday, 3-30-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Hiking on a Red Mountain

Wow!  Work was crazy today.  I had a customer call me and work out details on two new sales in a matter of 30 minutes.  I have already surpassed my cell phone minutes for the month, so my bill’s going to be HUGE!  The rest of my projects are moving forward as well, so it’s going to be a crazy finish to the month.  I am extremely thankful for the carriers and customers who trust me with their business.  Thanks folks!

After work and school, we put on the hiking gear and hit one of the trails that began just ½ mile from the campground.  Since we didn’t drive to the trailhead, we didn’t have to purchase a park pass, which is always a good thing.  We decided to take the 3 mile “moderate” hike from the trail head to the place where the trail intersects with a stream and a large vehicle bridge 50 feet above.  Here is a picture near the beginning of the trail. 

Now you can see how incredible the views were.  These gigantic red mountains surrounded us on all sides.  The contrast of the red, the brown and green of the prolific plant life, and the bright blue sky was almost overwhelming!  Talk about a “painted desert”!  I could just imagine how beautiful it is when the cacti are blooming!  Keep in mind, we were hiking at around 6,000 feet in elevation, which certainly added to the challenge of the hike.  Traci is going to do research on how many more calories you burn at this elevation.  Needless to say, we were exhausted!  However, like life, the harder the hike, the bigger the benefit at the end.  The stream was just gorgeous, with towering cliffs to the right and the other side of the gorge holding up the bridge.  We paused for a while to decide if we dared cross the stream and simply to rest.  Here is the picture of this area.

We realized we had to turn around and repeat the 3.5 miles back to the bus in order to get a drink.  Lesson #1:  bring more than one bottle of water on a hike!  Lesson #2:  bring more than 6 Kleenex when three people have runny noses!  So, we retraced our steps back up the rigorous trail and made our way to the point where I took this picture.  The color didn’t quite come out because the sun was shining directly into the camera, but believe me, it was a wonderful view.
(Picture 3)
We eventually made it back to the trail head and walked the ½ mile on the road back to the bus.  We were exhausted, thirsty and needed more tissues!  We stayed in the bus for a few minutes to get caught up on the essentials and decided to go do some grocery shopping.  I want to take a moment and tell everyone back in Indianapolis that you are EXTREMELY SPOILED BY THE PRICE AND SELECTION OF YOUR GROCERIES!  YOU PAY SO MUCH LESS FOR SO MUCH MORE THAN MOST OF THE REST OF THE COUNTRY THAT IT’S NOT FUNNY!  We have shopped in a majority of the states in the union and no where compares to Indianapolis in this area.  It’s amazing.

One of the things we saw while on the road was a terra cotta McDonalds with a green arch!  I’ve never seen one like this before.  We’ll have to get a picture of it for posterity.

Friday, 3-31-06; 60 and Cloudy:  Work, Work, Work, Out to Dinner

Yes, today was wall-to-wall work.  By the time the day was over, I was exhausted.  One of my customers wanted some service before it was made available by the carrier, and there was a huge blow-out today.  It was very stressful, but it ended up being OK—for now.

After work and school, we ventured out to stroll around the town and we ate dinner at a really nice restaurant called Wildflower Bread Co.  It was kind of like Panera, but they had a larger selection of dinner choices.  It was excellent food, and very reasonable.  We loved it, and highly recommend it.  After dinner we did our normal chores of laundry and dishes and watched TV until bedtime.  Tomorrow we move on to a week in Phoenix of rest and relaxation.  We are waiting for the weather up north to warm up, so we head south.  It’s supposed to be in the high 70’s to high 80’s and mostly sunny next week.  Half of Hamilton County is headed to Florida for Spring Break this week, so we will be doing our share here in Arizona!  I’ll still be working, but I expect it to be quiet due to Spring Break in Indiana.

Saturday, 4-1-06 through Friday, 4-7-06; High 70’s to High 80’s and Sunny:  Spring Break for the Bray Bushold

I’m going to summarize this week because it was much like the week that most of Hamilton County had:  it was Spring Break.  The weather was like that which most Spring Breakers wish they had.  It was in the high 70’s to high 80’s the entire time in Phoenix.  It was beautiful.  The little bit of rain we got was at night, and all of the flowering bushes were giving off their wonderful aromas.  Some times we ran the air, some times the heat, and other times we had the windows open.  I did work the entire week, just not as much as usual.  I got up each day at 7:00 am local time, which is 10:00 am Indiana time.  By the time lunch time rolled around, I was caught up. 

I worked until 4 or 5, and then went to lay by the pool.  The pool at the campground was extremely clean, and heated.  It was like bath water.  Traci and I worked on our tans and Thomas either played in the water or stayed in the bus.  It was like Spring Break, with a Bray twist.  I closed most of my business for the month in the first few days.  Most of my existing customers were installed this week, or will be next week.  Things progressed very smoothly.  I can hear you all gagging all the way from Arizona!

I’ll hit you with a few highlights.  The drive down from Sedona to Phoenix was one of the most beautiful of the trip.  As we left the red rocks of Sedona we were rewarded by moving into the northern desert area which extends all the way down to Tucson, AZ.  We saw lots of Saguaro cacti mixed with Cholla cacti, which we had previously only seen in Joshua Tree National Park.  The mountains weren’t huge, so the drive was smooth. 

Other than working on our tans and going shopping in the extremely nice and extensive shopping areas around our camp ground, we did one Bray family outing to a hunk of rock called Camel Back Mountain.  Just in case you don’t know, this is a 1200’ mountain in the middle of Phoenix.  You are probably wondering why they call it that.  If you are driving around the loop in Phoenix, look to the west while on the east side of the city.  It looks like there is a giant camel sitting down against the horizon.  That’s it!  We found it even though we really didn’t know where we were going.  The web site said it was “difficult and strenuous”.  It was for “experienced hikers ONLY”.  We figured since we had been on many such trails, that we were ready for the big one. 

We were lucky to find a parking spot at the trail head, being that it was a Thursday afternoon.  We parked Speedy, grabbed our water and camera, and set out up the trail.  Here is the first rock we encountered.  As you can imagine, having that size of welcome mat set a pretty good stage.  We traversed some huge steps made out of railroad ties, and eventually made our way to what I would consider as a “natural escalator”.  The only problem was that the escalator was ALL manual! 

Once we grunted our way to the top we continued on, hoping that was the last such climb we would have to make on our way up.  Boy, were we wrong!  There were many climbs which seemed to be vertical, but had just a slight angle to them.  I took as many pictures as I dared, but none really captured the scope of the trail.  The part of the experience that amazed us the most was that this mountain appeared to be the Monon Trail of Phoenix!!!  We saw scores of people who were literally running up and down this mountain!  We started to question people as we went along, asking who was new and who was experienced.  The vast majority of the people responded “this is my first time TODAY” to our questions!  There were perhaps ten people who went up and down the mountain more than once while we were climbing.  These weren’t the normal people we have seen on other hikes.  They weren’t granola people with their wide brimmed hats, shorts with dark socks and hiking poles.  NO, these were svelt young people (of both genders) hauling what was left of their butts up and down this mountain.  I felt like an old fat guy huffing and puffing up and down this beautiful piece of scenery!  We even saw young couples appearing to be on dates hiking up and down the Camel.  It was truly a unique experience.  The people in Phoenix take their fitness seriously!  The web site said that the chance of finding a parking place on the weekend was slim to none.  They recommended parking miles away and walking in.  After spending a day there during the week, I believe them! 

Thomas had a blast on the climb.  He did not complain once.  He has fallen in love with climbing and rock scrambling.  I believe this activity will now become a regular part of the trip.  I have to take a moment now to say that one of my dreams for this trip was that we would, as a family, enjoy the great outdoors.  I’m happy and grateful to report that this has officially happened.  That is a very good thing.  Back to the hike.  Traci and I held our own pretty well, considering that we had water bottles and my gigantic camera to haul.  We even packed out some other peoples’ trash on the way back because we couldn’t stand to see that beautiful place marred by empty water bottles.  The view from the top was the most impressive yet.  It was even better than the view of Vegas from the top of the Stratosphere.  The plant life on the mountain was in full glory.  The trails were so rough that it was difficult to tell where the path was at times.  The cacti had started to bloom, and it was just beautiful.  There were the normal ground cacti as well as our favorite Saguaro.  I was able to take a bunch of pictures, and I hope you enjoy them.  We will treasure them for a lifetime. 

I celebrated my birthday this week with little fanfare and lots of sunshine.  We actually LOOK like we’ve been on Spring Break.  We also crossed another milestone this week.  We have officially been on the trip for ten months.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the trip is winding down.  We have lots to see and do in the next 90 days, but alas, there are only 90 left.  One quarter.  A lot can happen in a quarter, but quarters usually fly by like the wind.  We are looking at homes in Indianapolis, and we are making decisions about how and when to return to “regular” life.  I’m sure some of the folks supporting us on a daily basis in Indy will be glad when we get home.  We are actually getting a bit home sick.  Yes, we have seen some beautiful places, but there truly is no place like home.  We wondered as we ventured off whether we would find somewhere we would rather live, and to our surprise and delight, we haven’t.  Our roots run deeper than we had realized, and we miss our friends and family too much not to return.  We have thought about coming home early, but that would really mess up the book.  There’s not a lot to write about driving around I465 all day.  Traci does, however, look forward to finishing the book, and getting it published.  She has a lot to say, and I honestly think it will sell.  My business is calling me home, although it will be a different business when I get back.  I’ve learned lots of things on the road that many business people could never learn sitting in their offices.  It’s good to get a different perspective.  I expected to find some great new idea while rolling around the country that could create a bridge to my next career when telecommunications gets too boring or unprofitable to pursue.  I haven’t yet, but I certainly have some ideas that have been tested daily that will make this career all that much more enjoyable while it does last.  I have even learned what to do with some of this telecommunications money so it will last a lifetime.  I don’t know if that would have happened had I stayed in Indianapolis.  We are glad we made the trip, but we are looking forward to going home.  I guess that’s the best of both worlds, isn’t it?  It is for us.  We’ll see you in July!

Saturday, 4-8-06; 86 and Sunny:  Breakfast, Long Drive to Indio, CA

We realized we couldn’t leave Phoenix until the office opened at 11:00 because they charged us a deposit on our laundry room key!  The campground office had the strangest hours.  They were open only from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm Monday through Friday, Saturday 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and closed on Sundays!  How is THAT for bankers’ hours!?  What a great gig!  The place was packed, and their labor cost was next to nothing.  However, it put a crimp in our plans, because we wanted to be out early due to the long drive back to Indio, CA. 

We took the extra time to have breakfast at our favorite restaurant:  Cracker Barrel.  Yes, that familiar look, smell and sound.  They’re exactly the same all around the country, and when most of your life involves unfamiliar places, a Cracker Barrel hits the spot.  We had our normal, and the food was great, as usual.  Once we got done with breakfast, we returned to the campground, returned our key and got out of Dodge.  The drive to Indio, CA was boring as boring could be.  We didn’t mind though.  It’s better than excitement.  Boring means no deer, no big traffic jams or accidents, and no flat tires. 

We drove for about 4.5 hours to Indio which included bathroom and lunch breaks.  Unfortunately diesel fuel is creeping back up in this part of the country, and is now north of $2.75 per gallon.  That stinks big-time.  At least we only have 90 days left on our trip.  I certainly wouldn’t want to be a professional truck driver, that’s for sure!  I put the pedal down and drove faster than usual, partly because of little wind resistance, and I just wanted to get there! 

We pulled in late afternoon, set up camp in no time, and jumped back into Speedy and continued west.  Yes, we were FINALLY going to the one place Traci wanted to go to most in this part of the country:  Ta Da!!!  the Brighton Outlet Store.  Yes, ladies and Gentlemen, Brighton only has ONE outlet store, and it’s about a half hour west of Indio, CA.  I guarantee 90% of you guys have no clue what I’m talking about.  I’m sure 90% of you women know exactly what I’m talking about.  Guys, if you don’t know, go to Keystone at the Crossing in Indy and find the Brighton store.  It’s a guaranteed home run for any gift you need to give your wife/significant other.  Their stuff is classy, timeless, and not that expensive.  They specialize in purses, but they have lots of other stuff that is moderately priced.  If you haven’t been there, go.  Put it in your wallet for reference, and the next time a birthday, anniversary, or big screw up happens, go there.  You’ll be glad you did.  This time I got to spring for stuff for Traci for between 40% and 75% off!  Talk about a win/win!  Everybody left there happy except for Thomas.  Aunt Annie’s was out of pretzel sticks and he was bummed.  Oh, to be a child again.

Back to the bus for a little TV and reading.  We were very tired, and hit the sack early.  We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. 

Sunday, 4-9-06; 80 and Sunny:  Back to Joshua Tree, Rest

Today was an awesome day for the Bray’s.  We slept in, ate breakfast in the bus and rolled out to one of our favorite places:  Joshua Tree National Park.  Since we already knew our way around the park, we didn’t waste any time getting to the trail.  As you may remember, this was the site of the gigantic Cholla cactus garden that took our breath away last time we visited.  You may also remember that it was stinking cold there, and we barely made it through without freezing our toes off!  Today was another story altogether.  We quickly stopped in to scan our national park pass and pick up a map.  Thomas decided between the two trails we had before us.  He decided on the tough one rather than the long one.  The long one was about 8 miles, and it descended down into two oases along the trail, and was supposed to be beautiful. 

Since Thomas was a veteran of Camel Back Mountain and all of the glory that went with it, he decided he didn’t want a boring trail.  He wanted to climb mountains!  At least the biggest mountain they had in the park, which was about 1000 feet up and about a mile and a half in length.  We were ready to roll.  The drive through the gigantic park would take us past Scull Rock, so we had to stop and get some pictures.  Here is one of Thomas and me inside the right eye socket of the “scull” along with a young lady who was very experienced with this particular rock.  She had to help us both get up, and also had to help Thomas get down.  Since it would have taken some “interpersonal contact” for her to help me down, Traci came to the rescue. 

Once we were rescued from Scull Rock (scary) we rolled on to the Ryan Mountain Trail Head.  As we approached, it looked like a pretty big mountain, so we were ready to rock ;-) and roll!  The first part of the trail was mainly made up of giant steps created by imbedding rocks in the dirt at different levels, providing an easy way for us to scale the mountain.  Thomas was annoyed by this.  He seriously wanted some Camel Back rocks to climb!  Eventually we made it to the top after spying lots of pretty plants, flowers and a few small lizards.  The top of the mountain was everything you would expect:  cool winds, silence and great vistas.  Please enjoy these pictures from the top. 

The trip became unusual on the way back down because that’s when we had our first injury.  We were making good time, and due to our vast experience in this area, we were going just a bit too fast for our own good.  Thomas made a mis-step and went down hard on all fours.  He got up quickly but then started bleeding from both knees.  He took it pretty well, but it looked bad.  After only a couple minutes of remorse, we continued our trek down.  Since Thomas was trying to keep his shorts from hitting his wounds, everyone walking up the path offered their condolences.  Here are the wounds, in living color! 

We made it back to Speedy, complete with Boy Scout First Aid kit and two extra bottles of water.  I cleaned him up, applied anti-bacterial ointment, and bandaged his wounds.  After Dr. Dad finished his work, we made our second trip up to Key’s View.  In case you don’t remember, this was the area with the highest mountain and the best views (all the way to Mexico, they say).  Last time we were there it was cloudy and raining, and the pictures were actually better then.  Today was kind of boring with clear skies and just a little humidity in the air.  I actually liked the pictures I took of Traci more then the view.  You be the judge. 

We got back in Speedy and made our way back 37 miles out of the park and back to Indio.  I ate at Del Taco again (I think I’ve had my fill) and Thomas got chicken tenders and a frozen coke to nurse his wounds.  Traci opted for bus food and we all returned home.  Thomas immediately took a shower and was happy again, and Traci and I went for a walk around the RV park.  Evening brought computer time and writing.  It was a wonderful day in southern California!

Monday, 4-10-06; 85 and Sunny:  Work, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

I got up and worked a full day today while Traci and Thomas did their thing.  We had seen signs for a place called the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway when we were here before as well as this stay.  We decided it was high time to check it out.  After work we dressed in light coats and jeans (in 80 degree weather) for the trip up to the top of Mount San Jacinto.  The top was at about 8000+ feet in elevation, making it cooler than 80 degrees up there, so we thought we were prepared. 

We drove Speedy up the base of the mountain to the tramway office.  We must have been there in their off-off season because we passed a bunch of empty parking lots on our way up.  We finally made it to the office (Speedy smelled very hot.), parked the car and walked the rest of the way to the office.  The first thing we saw was a big sign that said “Temperature at the top of the mountain is 32 degrees.  Please dress appropriately.”  I asked the lady if the sign was correct, and she confirmed it!  I guess we wouldn’t be doing any hiking at the top of this mountain!  We were dressed for 45-50 degree weather, not 32.  As we boarded the “world’s largest rotating tram car”, we spied lots of other tourists dressed in shorts and t-shirts, so we didn’t feel so bad!

We got on the tram and took off like a big bird up the side of the mountain.  It was breath-taking and a bit scary to see the ground fall away so quickly.  As we headed up the mountain, the plain around Palm Springs spread out before us and we had quite a view.  We actually passed through five different ecosystems on the way up, the fifth being called “Alpine”.  I don’t think I had ever experienced an Alpine ecosystem personally.  The only Alpine I had encountered in Indiana was a stereo system!

Sure enough, it was frigid at the top, and the teenagers on the car were tearing around outside throwing snowballs at one another in their shorts and sandals.  I noticed the parents had made a beeline for the bar and were already drinking by the time I had taken a few pictures.  I thought that was a hoot!  We were a bit hungry, so we decided to check out the restaurant offerings.  When I purchased the tickets for the tram, I had the option of also purchasing what sounded like scrumptious dinners for $10 per head.  I thought “why not?”  Most tourist traps charge two or three times that amount for a full dinner.  I inquired with my very intuitive better half, and she said “no, let’s check it out first before committing”. 

Once we go there, we scoped out the two restaurants.  One was a full-menu restaurant for no less than $25 per menu item—I figured at least a C note for dinner, so we skipped that one.  We then went on to the casual restaurant to see what our $10 would have purchased for dinner.

Well, Traci was RIGHT, once again!  The food was not quite how they described it on the website.  Although they did indeed have five different offerings, it all looked kind of similar sitting in the pans, and none looked the least bit appealing.  Even the mixed vegetables looked gray under those hot lights.  I noticed as I walked by the tables, the one item that was not eaten on the plates were those vegetables.  We just didn’t have a good feeling about it, so we opted for two small bowls of “vegetable” soup and some rolls.  Traci and I ate the soup, which we lovingly referred to as “gruel” and Thomas ate the rolls and butter.  Along with two drinks, the bill came to $15.  Talk about “tramway robbery”!  As we found a table, the next tram load of tourists came up the stairs, this one including about 8 very well-to-do older folks, who looked very much out of place.  One of them said in a loudish voice (so everyone could hear her) “I thought there was an exclusive restaurant up here!  I just don’t see it.”  Traci got the attention of one of her friends, and pointed the way to the restaurant “on the other side of the Tram track”.  That person alerted the “leader” and they all shuffled over like they were going to miss their chance to get a table before the “rush”.  As they sauntered away, Thomas pulled his sweatshirt over his head and said “alms for the poor, ma’ lady, alms for the poor”.  We cracked up laughing.  Just as I dove into my bland, muted soup, a recorded message came over the loud speaker announcing that the tram was headed back down the mountain in 5 minutes!  I was ready in no time!  We were done with this experience.  It was beautiful, but the “twilight meal” left a lot to be desired!

We stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way back to the bus to get wine and trail mix.  The rest of the evening was spent laughing about the trip and looking forward to San Diego.  Please enjoy these pictures! 

Tuesday, 4-11-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Chula Vista, CA

We continued on our loop around the southwest motivated by cold weather in northern California.  I got up early and worked while the family slept.  Once they got up, we ate breakfast, pulled up camp, and headed south west to Chula Vista, CA.  The reason why we chose Chula Vista was that it was near San Diego, and the camp ground had space at a good price.  We had never heard of Chula Vista, but it’s the last town before Tijuana, Mexico on I5.  One of my buddies drove down this way, and before he knew it, he was on I5 south of here, and was forced to drive his car into Mexico.  I’m glad I didn’t make that mistake!

We pulled into the camp ground after about three hours of driving through the desert which turned into lush southern California flora and fauna.  It was beautiful!  We know we’ll be back in the desert when we leave here, but it was a nice green break, plus we are on the bay of San Diego.  We love the ocean, although it is a bit too cool to swim.  Oh, well. 

Once we landed I finished work and Traci and Thomas did their school work.  The evening was spent walking along the beach and soaking up the salt smell and the views around the camp ground.  I don’t know if we will do much while we are here because work is very hectic right now, and we didn’t come up with an itinerary.  Oh, well.  It was a great place to take a break!

Wednesday, 4-12-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Lunch at the Marina, Offer on House in Indy

I worked a full day today while Traci and Thomas had school.  Traci and I took a mid-day break to have lunch at the marina restaurant near the campground.  She had fish and chips and I had fish tacos and the food was wonderful.  Our table neighbor’s four-year-old choked on something he was eating and vomited all over himself, the table and the floor all around us.  Fortunately for me I only heard the commotion.  I didn’t dare look, nor did I smell the offending liquid.  You have to know a little background here.  I can’t take vomit.  When someone else vomits, I have to leave the room or I join them.  Traci can handle it, no problem.  It doesn’t bother her at all.  It could have ruined the lunch, but the wait staff immediately pounced on him and removed him from the scene.  His parents and family quickly followed.  I felt sorry for them, but I didn’t dare look in their direction. 

The lunch was wonderful, and the restaurant was beautiful.  The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We returned to the bus for the rest of work and discussions with our realtor in Indy.  We are trying to negotiate on a “rehab” house in Westfield and we are trying to figure out what we should offer on the house.  After work we drove out to a fantastic shopping area about 8 miles away and stocked up on consumables and groceries.  The place was beautiful, like everything else here.  They know how to do it up right!  This time, however, we skipped the Cold Stone Creamery.

Thursday, 4-13-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Stroll at the Marina, Chores

It was a quiet day in the Bray bushold today.  I worked a full day, and we put an offer in on a home in Westfield.  We don’t know how it will come out, but we’ll see.  After work Traci and I took a long stroll by the marina.  We love the smell of the ocean and we love to look at all of the boats bobbing by the docks.  We don’t want a boat, but we like other peoples’ boats.  Tomorrow is another drive day, and we did our normal before departure chores.  We really planned on doing more touristy stuff in San Diego, but we got distracted by home stuff and needing to receive and send offers via email and fax.

Friday, 4-14-06; 70 and Rain:  Work, LONG Drive to Barstow, CA

We got up this morning in the usual way.  I worked as Traci and Thomas slept in.  This middle part of April has been a bit quiet, so I haven’t spent the entire week on the phone like last month.  We have been spoiled by beautiful San Diego weather, walking along the marina, and eating fish tacos.  I really didn’t think much about this morning, because this early we keep the shades down so as not to disturb the family.  Traci got up a while later, with Thomas following.  She pulled one of the shades, and gasped in awe.  It turns out that a gigantic front was coming in off the water, and we needed to move NOW if we were going to get out of Dodge unscathed! 

I quickly got dressed and we went into tear down mode.  Unfortunately the park wasn’t big enough for us to hook the car up where we were parked, so we had to drive out of the campground and on to a nearby road to complete the task.  As we were doing all of the slide pulling, hose disconnecting and the like, the clouds were closing in on us quickly.  A large drop of rain would splat down on us every once in a while.  We finally got done and pulled out onto the frontage road to hook up.  Each minute that went by threatened us with lightning and pummeling rain.  Traci and I worked quickly and efficiently to hook up the car and get going.  Just as Traci entered the bus, the rain started with a vengeance.  It started raining in Chula Vista and didn’t stop until we reached Barstow. 

What should have been a three hour drive became more than a five hour drive!  We battled not only heavy down pours and gusty winds, but we also battled unbelievable traffic!  Why would there be heavy traffic on an Interstate Highway in the middle of the day on Good Friday?  We were dismayed.  We sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an hour around Riverside, CA.  It seemed like everyone was off of work early, and everyone decided to come visit us on the highway.  It was extremely frustrating!  I had work I needed to do, and unfortunately none of it got done until after 5:00 PM.  I couldn’t even stop at a rest area to pull email and make a few calls.  The rest areas were all closed, and traffic was jammed.  We actually stopped to get diesel and the stupid gas station ONLY TOOK CASH!  Can you believe that?  The only card we could use was our debit card, and they actually charged a cash advance fee against the debit card!  It was the only station that had diesel, so we had no choice.  I didn’t fill up, but we got enough to get to Barstow any way.  I needed a big glass of wine when we pulled into that place!

Traci had what I would consider to be an emotional breakdown today.  I felt so sorry for her.  With the rain, the traffic, the stupid California roads and several things that have broken on the bus in the past few days, she had had enough.  She just wanted to go home.  I realized this was beyond anything I could assist with, and I just offered to chuck the whole thing now and return home.  We could cancel our reservations in Lone Pine and just head east tomorrow.  I left it up to her, and just said a little prayer for peace.  It was a defining moment on the trip, and I’m sure it will be one in the book.  I’m sure there were lots of people who, although they smiled and waved goodbye in June, thought we would NEVER make it for a whole year.  I’m sure they thought when we came back in September that we had chucked the whole idea and would stay in Indiana.  They were wrong.  Although it looked dark for a while, we decided to finish what we had started.

The evening was spent chilling out and watching movies.  When we drive north out of Barstow tomorrow, we will be starting the forth quarter of this trip.

Saturday, 4-15-06; 73 and Sunny:  Drive to Lone Pine, Hiking in “Alabama Hills”

We got up early and got out of Barstow so we might have some time in Lone Pine to do something before sundown.  Traci decided it was best to finish what we started, so we went north instead of east.  The drive up CA 395 was smooth, and there were many signs warning of high winds.  Fortunately the signs were wrong today, and we had an enjoyable and boring drive to Lone Pine. 

We arrived in mid-afternoon, and once we set up camp, we went to the office to see what there was to do.  The lady immediately said to go hiking in the Alabama Hills.  We’re not sure why they are named that, but we said OK.  We drove Speedy up to a set of rock piles that had been used to shoot westerns and set off to find a semi-famous “arch rock”.  The map said to identify a rock affectionately known as the “nipple”.  We identified this rock formation immediately and went in that direction.  The hike was actually a bit difficult, which was a surprise to us hiking veterans.  We had to do some decent rock scrambling, but we constantly kept our objective and our directions in mind.  We eventually arrived at the nipple and looked around.  No arches were in sight.  We thought maybe they were behind the “nipple”.  Nope.  We walked around back and still no arches.  We decided it was time to head back, and we did our best to identify an easier route than the one we brought from the car.  We were able to, which made Thomas very happy.  He loves to hike, but when he’s tired, he’s done.  Traci and I can go on when we are tired, so we’re trying to help him build his endurance.

On the way back to the car, Traci looked over to our left, and she found the arch!  We were confused, and thrilled, and we immediately went over to it.  Traci and Thomas found their energy and decided to climb it for a picture.  It’s simply the BEST picture I have seen of that arch in the area.  Postcards and calendars don’t hold a candle to this one!   We made our way back to Speedy and hit the road back to the campground.  We had dinner and explored the town a bit.  The milk at the grocery store in town was $5 per gallon!  Wow.

Sunday, 4-16-06; 68 with Extreme Winds:  Exploring Lone Pine, Watched Movies

Yes, today was Easter Sunday.  Easter has always been that one Sunday in the year that it was non-negotiable regarding church attendance.  Every year as a kid, I was dragged kicking and screaming to Easter Sunday, regardless of my work commitments as a teenager.  As adults, Traci and I look forward to the services, the message, and the candy at Traci’s Mom’s house.  Thomas likes our church in Indy, so it’s a done deal.  However, this year, we just didn’t make it.  We were uncomfortable going into a small church (that’s the only type they have here) to stick out like sore thumbs.  We actually caught an Easter service on the “Church Channel” on satellite, and prayed that it was enough.

Once we got up and watched church, I ventured out to the Visitors’ Center for Death Valley National Park.  We had planned on investing most of the day going to the park, and were very excited about it.  We didn’t yet have much information, so it was my job to go see the friendly rangers to say hi.  Well, the first thing she said when I mentioned Death Valley was “you’re not going today, are you?”  I replied that we had PLANNED to, but considering the look on her face, it probably wasn’t going to happen.  She said “don’t you feel them 40-50 MPH winds out there?”  I replied that I had not thought about it.  She vehemently advised NOT to go hiking, and gave me some alternative ideas for INDOOR activities which Traci promptly deposited in the garbage can.

I guess Death Valley is the last place you want to be in a wind storm.  A weather maker had swept up the Sierra valley with nothing but extremely strong winds and lots of dust.  I even took a picture of the dust cloud we would have enjoyed had we decided to do the hike.  Here you go! 

So, we opted for exploring some of the small hills nearby in an area called Movie Road.  Something we didn’t know about Lone Pine was that this was where most of the westerns (both movies and TV shows) have been made over the years.  The people of Lone Pine are very proud of that fact!  All of the restaurants in town have pictures and autographs of the stars all over their walls.  People like Kirk Douglas (Along the Great Divide), Cary Grant (Gunga Din), Humphrey Bogart (High Sierra) and more recently Mel Gibson and Jim Garner (Maverick) have all spent lots of time in this tiny little town during filming. 

We drove out into the “Alabama Hills” where these and many more movies (that we haven’t seen) were filmed, and we were able to take lots of pix and do some serious rock climbing without being choked by the wind.  I guess the general landscape shielded this area from the dust storm down south.

Monday, 4-17-06; 59 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Bishop, Quiet Evening

Well, Mother Nature decided to be harsh on us again today.  Winds were in the 30 MPH range, and the Park Ranger said Death Valley was not the place to be in high winds.  We hope we’ll be able to go there on Wednesday.  So, today was a full day of school and work.  We didn’t have anything else to do but that and eat dust.  So, we decided to drive 50 miles to the nearest medium-sized town and do some shopping.

One of my friends commented that we probably go grocery shopping every other day due to the lack of space in the bus.  They were right!  That is one area of the trip I had just not expected.  We only have four smallish cabinets for groceries, plus something we call “the overflow”, which is a linen closet in the bathroom that we use for bigger stuff like pop and cereal.  While we have been in big towns with lots of shopping, it really hasn’t been an issue.  Unfortunately Lone Pine, CA is an exception to that rule!  This is a lot like Needles, CA, but smaller.  The one grocery store is a lot like the IGA in Ellettsville, IN where I grew up. Low selection and High Prices, that was their motto! We decided the store was only for quick items and tourists.  Again, a gallon of milk was $5.00!

Someone mentioned that there was a Von’s grocery store in Bishop, CA about an hour drive from here.  Von’s is the Marsh of the southwest.  We like Vons.  They have the stuff we buy.  We went.  We first stopped to eat at Quizno’s and actually considered seeing a movie.  I had to park and walk around the building to see what was playing on BOTH screens that day (high living in Bishop), and I discovered that there were NO matinee shows, and the first one started after 7:00 PM for $7 per person!  Wow!  That a corner on the market!  They also owned the only video store in town.  They were “media tycoons”!  Considering it was about 3:00 local time, we skipped the movie and went straight to the store.  We got our stuff, and returned to the bus, a bit lighter in the wallet and hoping the wind won’t be so bad tomorrow.

Tuesday, 4-18-06; 65 and Sunny:  Work, Climb up Mount Whitney, New Home Plans

Are you tired of me telling you that I work every day?  I write that down every day because lots of my friends in Indianapolis think I’m on a year-long vacation—NOT!  At this point in my life I wouldn’t WANT to be on a year-long vacation.  The progress I’ve made in my career over the past year has been just as miraculous as our ability to drive a 38 foot motorhome around the country without crashing into things!  I have read books and heard stories about other families who have made similar trips who actually took a year off of their careers to do so.  Looking back, I guarantee that we would have had a better time in some areas of the country had I not been pestered by my cell phone ringing at all times of the day.  I can remember a time on top of a mountain in Malibu when it just wouldn’t quit. 

However, I can also say that the experience of juggling work and recreation on a trip like this has been an extremely rewarding experience.  Not only has it been necessary to fund the trip, but it has given me a totally different outlook on my career in general.  For the previous 16 years, I struggled on a daily basis to always set appointments.  I was taught that going on an appointment was the only way to close business.  I have learned that closing for the appointment just made me look desperate.  I fully intend to continue building my business as though I’m on the trip when I get back.  I look forward to continuing this very profitable and low-stress way to work.

Back to the trip!  Once work was finished, we rolled out in Speedy up to a little nearby hill called Mount Whitney.  Mount Whitney is the largest mountain in the lower 48 states, and it’s in Lone Pine!  If you want to hike the entire 12,000 feet, you better be in great shape, and you better have lots of gear and time.  There are two options for the hike, a one day, 17 hour marathon, or a two day trip where you spend the night at a campground at 8000 feet.  A buddy of mine from Indy said he did the one day hike.  We didn’t.

We actually intended to drive Speedy up to the 8000 feet mark, park and hike the three miles, or as much of the three miles we could, to the peak.  We expected snow and cold temps so we wore all of the cold weather gear we had.  We were a bit worried about the car, because Speedy is made to go fast on flat ground, not to go up mountains.  As we headed up the initial slope of the mountain, we saw this sign. 

  Hmmm.  Traci got nervous.  I kept driving.  Up we went for a couple thousand feet, and we came upon this sign. 

  Hmmm.  Well, I guess we’re not taking the car up any further.  Our hopes of trudging through the snow were dashed—well, because of snow, or so they SAID.

We parked the car next to another one that was already there, got out, and took lots of pix.  We were at a loss as to what to do.  We could go back to the bus, and miss all of the hiking opportunities, or we could walk up the road instead of drive.  We decided that despite the “beware of bears” sign, we would see what we found up the road.  Well, we didn’t find any snow.  We actually found multiple massive rock slides for as far as we walked.  It was as if the park rangers closed the road for snow a few years back, discovered that rockslides had littered the mountain side, and they just left it closed.  Had we attempted to take Speedy up, we would probably have regretted it.  I could just imagine having him break down, or get a flat tire in that environment.  Just trying to explain to AAA where we were to come tow us out of there would have been embarrassing. 

So, we walked.  We walked about a mile, and I would say probably up 1,500 feet.  We worked hard.  Our glutes, hams and calves were burning.  We kept picking a new destination to stop once the road did a switchback across the face of the mountain, hoping to keep Thomas walking as long as possible.  With the trip up, a brief discussion with a Park Ranger, and the walk down, we were gone about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Not a bad walk.  We were indeed bummed that we couldn’t go any further.  We would have to rent a 4X4 to make that trek.  Maybe next time!

After our very fast coast back down the mountain we retired to the bus for dinner and TV.  We believe we have settled on a home in Indianapolis.  Our trusted real estate advisor and Realtor went to see it today, and I believe we are going to make an offer tomorrow.  The seller is very motivated, and I think we will be able to have some equity in the property the minute we move in.  That is indeed a wonderful thing!

Wednesday, 4-19-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Tour through Death Valley National Park

I got up early to work today because I knew we were going to spend the second half of the day at Death Valley National Park.  Work is going reasonably well this month, but I am hoping for a bang-up last week to finish strong.  With the end of the trip in sight, every penny counts!

I’ve always wondered what Death Valley looked like.  I had this picture in my mind of miles and miles of desolate salt flats and sand as far as the eye could see.  They say it’s the hottest place on the planet, and I expected to see something like the Sahara Desert.  Well, I could not have been more wrong.  The National Park Service should get a new advertising agency!  We saw more life in that park than we saw the entire drive between El Paso, TX and Tucson, AZ!  It was absolutely beautiful!  It put the Painted Desert to shame.  It was mountainous, and along with the salt flats, were snow capped mountains.  The store in the middle of the park had T-shirts that said “Hike or Die” and “Got Water?” but in our book, they were making fun of themselves more than they were taking it seriously.  The weather was supposed to be in the 90’s but it didn’t top 70 degrees all day.  We don’t know what was up with that!

There is some information you need to know if you are going to explore Death Valley National Park.  I think you can see by my opinion that it is a great place to go.  It’s everything one would want to see in a desert ecosystem.  However, in order to make the best of it, please do us a favor and don’t repeat some mistakes we made.  First, decide the day BEFORE what you really want to do in the park.  If you plan to stay at the hotel in the park, that’s great, but if you are going to drive in and out the same day, plan it well.  Go to one of the surrounding visitors’ centers and decide what you want to do and where before you leave.  Unlike most of the other places we have been, the website doesn’t give any information about hiking, which as you well know, is our favorite pastime in these instances.  We didn’t decide exactly what we wanted to do until we got to the store for extra drinks, snacks and a map.  We discovered that there were two hiking trails back to back about 30 miles from where we were.  Remember, we drove over 200 miles in one day exploring this park.  Tank up before you go in!  Make sure your radiator is working properly!  The second thing is don’t go into the park in a 4 door luxury sedan built for going 100 MPH in high style.  If you happen to be towing a beautiful vehicle that you don’t want to damage, please rent a 4X4 before going in.  We didn’t, and we wished we had.  It turns out that when the two people we met on Mt. Whitney told us to go to Telescope Peak in Death Valley, they left out some important details.  Firstly, the road leading up to Telescope Peak required a 4X4 to traverse the gravel/dirt/rocky road!  Secondly, the hiking trail up to the peak was over 7 miles each way!  They didn’t happen to mention these two facts, although they seemed to have made this hike themselves.  So, as we approached the area in Speedy, I eased him up the dirt road for about 3 of the 5 miles and we parked at a place where a bunch of Chinese workers had built charcoal kilns in the 1800’s.  They were so remote they were only used for about three years, thus they have been sitting for over 100 years and look like they’ve hardly been touched.  They are now a curiosity in the middle of no where for people like us to see. 

We discovered the first trail near by, but not knowing anything, we passed it up because it was over four miles each way, and we didn’t have that kind of time.  We attempted to drive Speedy the rest of the way up the hill to the trail head for Telescope Peak, but gave up after about a mile for two reasons:  a sign read “Limited Access, 4X4’s Only”, and we discovered that the sign was right.  For fear of breaking down over 100 miles from any type of civilization, we turned around and went back to the charcoal kilns.  We wanted to hunt those ladies down and teach them how to advise RV people from Indiana about hiking in Death Valley!

We returned to the first trail head and started off, knowing full well that we didn’t have time to reach the peak and back before dark.  We went up for about an hour, and Thomas had enough.  We returned to the car in about half that time and eventually came back to the bus.  The sights we saw and the vistas we encountered will be scenes we remember for life.  It was breath-taking and beautiful.  We recommend changing the name to Life Valley.  It was that beautiful.  I hope you enjoy these pictures from our hike. 

We returned to the bus for dinner and TV before bed.  We slept like babies after all of the exercise we had today.  Tomorrow we leave Lone Pine and start our trip to San Francisco.  Neither Traci nor I have ever been there, so it should be a magical time.

Thursday, 4-20-06; 85 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Bakersfield, CA, Work, “The Wild”

Today was one of those “Road Warrior” days.  We had about a 3.5 hour drive from Lone Pine, CA over to Bakersfield, CA.  We officially traveled out of “southern” to “central” California.  Overall the drive was smooth and the landscape changed dramatically from the desert ecosystem to a very Indiana-looking layout.  There were farms everywhere, and rolling hills.  Do you remember seeing those commercials talking about happy cows from California?  Well, this is where those cows live!  And believe me, if those cows like nice weather and beautiful scenery, they are happy indeed.  The place was beautiful.  It was like a breath of fresh air to finally leave the desert for a blanket of green plants, grass and trees.

We arrived in Bakersfield, CA in early afternoon, which is late afternoon Indiana time.  I had to be at my desk to assist in a big cut that was happening at 5:30 Eastern, so we left earlier than we usually do and I kept the cruise control set around 70 MPH the whole way, just to be sure!  We planned to boon dock for the evening at Wal Mart in town, but when we pulled in, the parking lot was jammed.  We decided to find another big lot to hold us until Wal Mart died down.  We did find a store, so we pulled in and I finished work.  The cut went well, and the customer is happy for now.  We’ll know more tomorrow once his phone system fills up with calls! 

The other piece of news we got today was that the offer we submitted on the third home yesterday came back a dead deal.  It turns out that the homeowners won’t budge on their price, and they actually falsified their MLS listing!  They have water leaks and damage, but they never disclosed it!  We were shocked, so we cancelled our offer.  Those people are STUCK with that home until they fix the roof. 

After work and home stuff we went out to catch the latest Disney movie called The Wild.  Our expectations were very high after seeing the dismal Doogle recently.  Doogle was such a disaster that we just knew the Disney flick had to be ten times better.  Unfortunately we were wrong.  I don’t know why Disney continued to work on The Wild once Madagascar came out, but they did.  Madagascar had a very similar story line and was oh, so much better than this.  Even the ever dependable father-son relationship theme wasn’t enough to save this one.  Disney should have saved their money and not released this bomb.

After the movie we had dinner at the mall food court and went to Target and Wal Mart looking for RV supplies.  Unfortunately all we found were paper towels and a book for Traci.  After spending some time in the Wal Mart we decided to stay at the grocery store we had found, and after doing a bit of shopping, the manager said it would not be a problem.  We could tell we were very rusty at boon docking after not doing it for a few months!

Friday, 4-21-06; 85 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Chowchilla, CA, Work, Golf

Not only was there a first class gated RV resort complete with every amenity that we have seen on our trip (all for $30 per night!), but they also threw in two rounds of golf for each night at the RV park!  Thomas and I enthusiastically took advantage of that offer once we set up camp.  This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill small town golf course.  This was as nice as the Doral I played in Miami with SBC.  The course was spectacular!  It wasn’t too difficult—the front nine was mainly straight with lots of obstacles, but it was in perfect shape.  The grass was just beautiful, and the water hazards were so pristine that you could see the to bottom (which allowed me to fish out one of my golf balls).  The golf carts had the popular GPS systems built-in, so you could tell how many yards you were from the hole on every shot. 

Along with a five-star golf course came a very high-end golf-course neighborhood.  These homes were all desert style, with muted tones and terra cotta ceramic roof tiles.  They were stunning!  The only drawbacks to the homes were these:  people leaving their yappy dogs on their back porches to bark at the golfers trying to putt, and the construction guys with the loud saws cutting right next to a tee box.  Other than that, it was perfect!  The weather was beautiful (until the 9th hole), the breeze was blowing and the sun was shining.  Thomas and I had our best game together, ever.  We had a blast, and we each only lost one ball.  That in itself was a miracle.  As we were approaching the green on the 9th hole, the clouds gathered up and started threatening us.  I quickly finished the hole and we were out of there. 

After golf, we returned to our loving wife and mother and had dinner and watched TV.  Tomorrow we complete our journey to our last California destination:  San Francisco.  It will be as far west as we’ll be the rest of the trip.  From here on out we’ll be making our way back to Indiana.

Saturday, 4-22-06; 70 and Sunny:  Drive to Novato, CA, Visit to Fishermen’s Warf

We awoke from our wonderful night’s sleep in our little oasis in the desert to hear the pitter patter of rain on the roof of our bus.  If you hadn’t figured it out by now, tearing down camp in the rain is one of the things we try to avoid.  So, rather than hurrying, we had a leisurely breakfast, and marveled at how nice of a place this was.  We really think someone should open an RV park in Carmel and fashion it after this one.  Someone at some point decided that this little piece of desert in Chowchilla, CA was worth a fortune.  They had a vision that I would never have seen.  On all four sides there were grape vineyards.  There was a rural highway that sat to the west of the place.  There really wasn’t anything there except for that highway and lots of grapes.  We drove through Chowchilla by accident and we didn’t see much more.  It was a sleepy little town between Fresno and Madera, CA.  However, that person had that vision.  I liken him or her to Walt Disney.  They took this piece of land that nobody wanted, and they created something that was not previously there. 

The rain died off and we decided it was time to hit the road.  We bid farewell and continued up CA 99 to Novato, CA.  We highly recommend the Chowchilla resort to anyone passing that way.  The drive was smooth, except for the roads.  Being that it was a Saturday, we really weren’t in a hurry, and with fuel topping $3 per gallon already, we were up for conserving as much fuel as possible.  Unfortunately we were bitten by the terrible roads that typify our experience in California.  One of the stretches was so bad, we had to slow way down and just endure it.  I thought Bessy was going to shake apart.  Fortunately it only last about 12 miles and we were on to better pavement.  We eventually made it into the area with no incident and quickly found our new RV park for the week.  It was tiny, but there were lots of big rigs, and coincidentally, one just like Bessy. 

Since we landed in town relatively early, we decided to jump in the car and go find something to do.  We really didn’t know what, so we just drove.  We just kept driving until we reached San Francisco.  We actually found ourselves driving across the Golden Gate Bridge!  It was a bit surreal because this place is such an icon around the world, and here, we were finally going across it.  These adventurers from Indiana had gone as far west as possible, and as far north as we would go in California.  We pulled into town, not knowing much, but Traci’s Dad mentioned Fishermen’s Wharf.  We saw a sign for it, and ventured in.  Unfortunately we could not find parking in the public lots, so we had to opt for the $3 per hour kind right on the Wharf.  We got out and just started walking.  We walked all the way down to Ghirardelli’s Square, which is one of the “book ends” of the wharf.  We had to stop and get pictures and have some famous Ghirardelli chocolate.  We shared two sundaes and just loved it.  Here is a picture of my loved ones in front of the fountain.  They made wishes and threw their coins to the mermaids. 

After our ice cream, we reversed direction and walked the entire length of the wharf, past all of the restaurants, souvenir shops, and marina.  In case you didn’t know, they have a large audience for local performers and artists to do their stuff.  We finally made our way down to the place where hundreds of sea lions come up and socialize on giant floating docks.  If you haven’t seen it, it was well worth the trip! 

  We were amazed.  They started showing up in 1990, and haven’t left.  You’re not able to feed them, but they are close enough for lots of picture and video taking.

We started getting hungry for hearty food, so we decided to stop at the famous bakery on the wharf for some sour dough bread and headed back to the bus.  We had a wonderful time in this very famous place, and we know we will be back before we leave.  Fortunately we were able to find another place to park for next time so we won’t have to pay an arm and a leg.  Upon returning, we relaxed, watched TV and hit the sack.

Sunday, 4-23-06; 70 and Partly Sunny:  Six Flags Marine World, Writing

Traci and I have several things we want to do this week.  Those things include San Francisco, going to Wine Country, going to Muir Woods, going to the Golden Gate Park, visiting Alcatraz and going to Six Flags.  Yes, it will be a whirlwind week, and we will be exhausted when we leave.  After being in very calm surroundings for quite a while, we decided to mix it up today and go to Six Flags Marine World in nearly Vallejo, CA.  Thomas has been enduring lots of not-so-kid-friendly events over the past few weeks, and it was high time for a fun day at the park. 

We slept in today and had breakfast and took Speedy east on CA37 over to Vallejo.  It was a beautiful drive—everything you would expect in “wine country”.  Vallejo is near Napa Valley, which is the world famous place where the best California wines are produced.  We will visit there later this week.  The drive was short, and Six Flags was easy to find.  It has been some time since we hit the coasters—Tampa, FL on New Years’ Eve to be exact.  We figured almost four months was enough of a rest between doing battle with the metal monsters.  Thomas was a bit rusty today, so he was a hesitant to do the big rigs.  We both rode a smallish coaster similar to Face Off at King’s Island, but it was rough and made me feel a bit sick.  I needed some food and drink before hitting the next one.  The park was almost empty, so we had our run of the rides all day.  This was the last day of their “Spring Break Celebration”, thus they would have lots of live bands and music throughout the park all day.  I feel sorry for their event planner, because in spite of all of the hype, the crowds were simply scared away by the forecast of rain, which never materialized.

We strolled leisurely around the park, taking in the sights, including the animals.  This Six Flags has a zoo section.  Due to our available time and the small crowds, we really took it easy.  We ate lunch at the Papa John’s they have on premise, and we ended the day with a trip to Ben and Jerry’s.  One of the attractions we really liked was the Xtreme Ski show where guys and gals performed water skiing and jet skiing tricks.  What surprised me was that most of the performers were from the upper Midwest.  Thomas finally rode the big Medusa ride, and that capped the day.  We rode all of the coasters we wanted to, saw everything that appealed to us, and we left.  We had a great time and were satisfied when we left.  We found a Trader Joe’s on the way home and got some more trail mix.  We just love that store.  The evening was spent watching TV, playing games and writing. 

Monday, 4-24-06; 57 and Partly Sunny:  Work, Extreme Pizza for Dinner

Today was a pretty boring day to read about.  I worked all day while Traci and Thomas went shopping for books and such.  Thomas has read over 20 books while on this trip, one of which he read in a single day.  He’s rolling through so many books that we needed to empty out his cubby in the bus and ship all of his hardbacks back to Indianapolis.  Fortunately friends of ours have lots of space in their basement for our extra stuff! 

Once they got back and I finished work, we had dinner at an awesome local pizza joint called Extreme Pizza.  If you know anyone who wants to bring a new pizza joint to Indianapolis, give them a call!  The food was top notch.  The ambiance was similar to that of Quiznos, and the pizza was as good as California Pizza kitchen.  What is it about California that breeds great pizza joints?  I don’t know, but I love it!  After dinner we chilled and did some chores and wrote.

Tuesday, 4-25-06; 57 and Partly Sunny:  Work, Trip to Napa Valley

Yes folks, it’s true.  A home grown, redneck kid from Ellettsville can grow up to jump in a bus, drive all the way across the country (Traci has yet to get behind the wheel!), and land in good old San Francisco!  That same kid jumped in his race car and drove north with his family to the land of grapes, Napa Valley, CA.  For anyone who likes wine, THIS is the place to be!  We drove slowly up CA 29 and our jaws dropped as we passed winery after winery.  Napa Valley is the best place in the country to grow wine grapes.  Can you think of a California winery?  Mondavi?  Cake Bread?  Sutter Home?  They’re all there.  We actually stopped at Mondavi and purchased four bottles of wine.  We have enjoyed Mondavi wine for years, and it was almost surreal to walk around the grounds and take pictures of their place.  Here is a close-up of a grape arbor and some neighboring poppy flowers.  Please enjoy!  If you want to see a picture of the building, look at a bottle of their wine. 

After filling up at Mondavi, we ventured further north to go to Cakebread Cellars.  If you’re not familiar with Cake Bread, it is a very small winery, and their wines are among the best in the world.  It’s very expensive, especially in Indianapolis, and if you like wine, it’s wow!  When we left Indianapolis last June, one of our neighbors procured a bottle of Cakebread to celebrate our adventure.  I still remember how much I liked it.  We drove all the way through Napa Valley and into the next town and still didn’t find it.  We came back south with our eyes peeled and still didn’t find it.  I finally stopped and asked someone for directions, and they gave us the address and phone number.  Guess where it was.  Wrong.  It was right across the street from Mondavi!!!  The only “sign” is the lettering on their tiny little mail box on the street.  The place was not very big and actually looked like a largish vintage 1970’s home.  We were both thrilled and frustrated.  Fortunately there was 30 minutes left before they closed, so we snatched up two bottles of Chardonnay and hit the road.  You may be wondering why we didn’t spend more time there or take any tours.  We had planned to do that, but since I had to work later than expected, we didn’t have as much time as we wanted.  We also found that Thomas could not go on the tours with us, so we scrapped any thought of going on them.  Oh well, we’ll come back on our next trip when Thomas is in college.  We got back to the bus about an hour later and planned out the rest of the week.  There is no way for us to even scratch the surface this week.

Wednesday, 4-26-06; 63 and Sunny:  Work, Trip to Muir Woods

Yes, I worked a full day today.  I’m trying to close up some projects this week and some of my customers are not cooperating!  I will NOT push them, but I’ll nudge them along if possible.  If not, I’ll get them next month.

After work we drove out toward San Fran to a wonderful piece of heaven called Muir Woods.  Once upon a time Traci and I were trying to plan out the final months of the trip and we had to make a decision.  We had at one time decided to extend the trip by another month, so we would return to Indianapolis at the beginning of August.  (We even considered staying out for two years, but Thomas nixed that idea.)  We pushed it out a month due to a miss-calculation of spring temperatures in the national parks.  It stayed colder longer than we expected, and the idea of driving Bessy in the snow still didn’t appeal to us.  The reason why I brought that up was that one of my goals for this trip was a stop in Redwood National Forest five-six hours north of our present position.  Well, now we are planning to return home before the end of June due to a combination of home sickness, business urgency and our desire to enroll Thomas in Heritage Christian School.  How were we going to do both?  The answer was Muir Woods, that wonderful slice of the Redwood Forest right here in San Francisco!

For those of us who are “tree huggers”, this is quite the place.  The trees here are actually too big to hug!!!  Check out this picture of Thomas in front of one of the residents of this forest.  (Picture 3).  That is the trunk of ONE TREE.  We hiked for about three hours up and down a largish hill while immersed in the forest.  It smelled wonderful.  I could have stayed there all day.  Unfortunately one of the trails was closed due to the recent rains so we were limited to one round trip.  It may not have been as spectacular as the national park, but the drive was only about 45 minutes, including getting lost twice, and we didn’t have to extend the trip an extra month to go there.  If you love nature and find yourself near San Fran, please do yourself a favor and spend some time with the Redwoods!  Please enjoy these pictures. 

Thursday, 4-27-06; 70 and Partly Sunny:  Work, Exploratorium, and Walkabout on the Golden Gate Bridge

I worked almost a full day today, but boogied out a bit early after receiving a pretty large contract over the e-fax.  We decided to head out to San Fran’s children’s museum called the Exploratorium.  It resides in what looks like an ancient factory or distribution center down by the waterfront.  The place was gigantic, and very cool.  It had two floors of stuff, and my what stuff they had!  Thomas was his normal ricochet rabbit, running from exhibit to exhibit, trying to figure it out in record time.  This one had a large concentration of electro-mechanical contraptions that taught a lot about electricity, wiring, circuits and such.  It’s amazing how many times we have used that COSI membership we purchased in Columbus, OH at the beginning of the trip.  Like the National Park Pass, it has paid itself off many times over.  Thomas loved it. 

After the museum, we grabbed a meter and walked around Fishermen’s Warf.  (If you think the parking meters in Indy are expensive, try 4 minutes per $.25, with a one hour maximum!)  We decided since we were coming back down for the trip to Alcatraz tomorrow, we would drive out and park next to the Golden Gate Bridge for a look see.  The meters out there weren’t as salty, but I had to get more change because the downtown job took all of my ashtray money!

The walk across the bridge was spectacular.  The weather was perfect and the wind was blowing strong across the bay.  We saw something we had never seen before:  wind surfers.  These guys hooked small parachutes to surf boards and were literally surfing around San Francisco Bay on these contraptions.  Each time a big boat would go by they would follow it like packs of Sea Gulls jumping the wake for a few moments of Big Air.  It was a blast to watch, and I took a picture of two of them together.  Take a look.  (Picture 7).  As we traversed the bridge, we saw some very peculiar signs.  The first and most obvious was “No U TURN”.  Duh!  I wonder if some idiot tried it once and got caught, and up came the signs.  Another sign said “No Trespassing” and it was placed ON TOP of the giant cable holding the bridge together.  Duh again!  Another one said “throwing of any missiles from bridge is a misdemeanor”.  Is that all?  I’m not sure what they meant by missile, but I would think it would at least be a felony if not automatic trip to Guantanamo Bay!  There were sad signs pointing to an emergency “grief counseling” phones with a small sign below it that said “The Consequences of Jumping From This Bridge Would Be Fatal and Tragic”.  Who came up with that one?  Fatal and Tragic?  Oh, gosh, I didn’t think about the “tragic” part.  I better pick up the phone and talk to some one!  I don’t know if those signs have saved any lives, but they were very humorous to us bridge-loving Bray’s.  Thomas invented a new game to celebrate the event by “jumping” the shadows of busses speeding by.  By the time we returned to Speedy, he was worn out!  We retired to the bus, looking forward to our last full day in the big city, and also looking forward to our long trek to Salt Lake City.

Friday, 4-28-06; 68 and Sunny:  Work, and TEMPORARY Visit to Alcatraz

Freedom.  That’s what this trip was all about.  Two years ago I quit my full time job and started my own business.  Freedom.  Just prior to leaving Indianapolis I quit my job selling IT services because of a boss who wanted to control my life.  Freedom.  We have driven from Bangor, Maine to Key West Florida to San Diego California and now to San Francisco.  Freedom.  One of the things we really wanted to do while in San Fran was to take a trip to the ultimate symbol of captivity, Alcatraz!  Alcatraz is ironically now a haven for all things feathered, but it still holds a huge allure for people like us who want to see what it was like in the Big House.  The Prison within the Federal Prison System. They called it a “Super Max”.   Home of Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly.  The worst of the worst.  From the 30’s to the 60’s if you were a really BAD guy, you spent time on The Rock.  We toured the place, listened to an audio program recorded by ex-inmates and imagined what it was like to spend time in that cage.  Over and over, the inmates said the worst thing about Alcatraz was the fact that they could see, hear and even smell what Freedom was like.  San Fran was only a mile away by water.  There were many windows facing the city where guys could look and long for the sight of good food, good times and women.  It ate at them like a cancer.  There were many escape attempts, and I believe one of them succeeded.  Only the guys who did it know for sure because they were never found.  We stood in the cells, sat in the mess hall, and saw the holes the escapees dug out of their cells.  It was chilling and thrilling at the same time.  It certainly reminded me how much I love my Freedom and the God who endowed it and the men and women who have died defending it.  This trip is to you, all of you who helped, either directly or indirectly, to make it happen.  One day I will thank all who I know, and I pray to God that he bless the folks I don’t know who contributed to this opportunity.  It took a trip to a place with no Freedom to help me fully appreciate the Freedom that my family and I have. 

Saturday, 4-29-06; 61 and Partly Sunny:  Drive to Winnemucca, NV

This is a boring day, so feel free to skip to Monday if you want to.  We got up early and pulled up camp and rolled out on the way to Winnemucca, NV.  Ever heard of it?  Where is Winnemucca you ask?  Why stop in Winnemucca?  Good questions, all of them.  Winnemucca is the half way point between San Francisco and Salt Lake City.  That’s pretty much all there is to it.  Ironically the folks running the camp ground were from Indianapolis, so we had lots to talk about, but outside of that, it was just a spot in the dust for us to hook up for the night.  Since the night temps are still in the 40’s, we’re not crazy about boon docking any more.  The drive was about six hours of desert ecosystem with three large mountains.  I consider them large when I have to use more than one break system on the way back down the other side!

Sunday, 4-30-06; 51 and Sunny:  Drive to Salt Lake City

Skip this one too if you want.  It was a carbon copy of yesterday.   (Do you ever wonder why we still use that phrase?  Young adults use it—especially in email—but have most likely never even seen the real stuff, let alone use it in a typewriter!)  We (I) drove about six hours through desert terrain and up two or three big mountains.  We did stop at a rest area at the top of a mountain that had about 5 feet of snow on the sides of the road, but the road itself was (Thank God) clear.  We also stopped at the place where they set the land speed records back in the 70’s on the salt flats.  That was briefly cool.  We drove on, straining to get to Salt Lake before we all died of boredom. 

Once we got settled in Traci and I really got to work on deciding on a house.  There is one particular house we have been looking at since January, and the price has fortunately dropped methodically since then.  All of the houses in Fishers have dropped by the way side, because the people want too much money for their houses and we weren’t willing to overpay just because it was fishers.  There was one house in the Westfield school system that we really liked, but Thomas is going to go to Heritage Christian, about 30 minutes away.  Yes, I would like to think we would drive Thomas to and from Heritage every day, but I know us.  It was a sincere challenge.  I mentioned Westfield to the gal from the Heritage transportation department, and she off-handedly mentioned a bus stop at 151st and Carey Rd.  I didn’t know where that was, so I tucked it away and didn’t pay attention.  We had prayed and prayed that God would tell us where He wanted us to live.  Once we really got heavy into the discussion, I decided to Google that intersection.  I kid you not it was directly behind the neighborhood we wanted to live in!  It was incredible.

The house we really had our heart set on was on Wentz Drive.  While driving through the boring desert the entire weekend, Traci looked at a huge yellow billboard on the side of the road and all it said was WENTZ.  She didn’t mention it until I Googled that address and we both got goose bumps.  It was like one of those black billboards that decorate this country with words from God on them.  We decided this was our house and we decided to make an offer.  Wow.  What a weekend!

Monday, 5-1-06; 64 and Sunny:  Work, Offer on a House, and the Movie RV

Yes, I worked all day, and yes, we contacted our realtor and made an offer on the Wentz house.  Our realtor and our mortgage guy went to see the house today and they recommended we buy it for no more than $X.  We put in an offer for $5K less than X and crossed our fingers.  By the time we got all of the paperwork emailed, printed and faxed from the camp ground office, it was after business hours in Indy.  We would have to wait until no later than 8:00 PM the next day.

To pass the time and have a few laughs, we located and saw the movie RV with Robin Williams.  We had seen the trailers throughout the last couple of months, and we were very excited about seeing it.  I have to say that the movie was exaggerated in parts, impossible in others, and somewhat predictable, but it was a BLAST!  We highly recommend it to anyone who likes Robin Williams or has any interest in traveling in an RV.  We laughed at parts that no one else laughed at, because they were so accurate, and even the not-so-accurate stuff was stressful and funny.  All is well that ends well, except for the insurance claim on the rental bus he used (they didn’t go into that part).  It was very funny, and somewhat touching.  We especially liked the part about the sewage tank explosion.  Everyone should do this once in their lives.  Really, you should.  Put together a plan, and rent our bus when we get back.  Let me know when you need it and I’ll put it on the calendar.  Buy the DVD when it comes out and watch it on the surround sound stereo system in our bus.  I’ll even buy the DVD.  Just give me some lead time.

Tuesday, 5-2-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Antelope Island/Great Salt Lake

Do you want to see pictures of Bison, Antelope and salty water?  Well, you’re in the right place!  We had made a couple of counter offers on the house today and hadn’t heard back on the final number, so after work, we set out to explore Antelope Island, in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.  Mapquest said it would be about 30 minutes away, so we had plenty of time before sundown to go do some hiking and exploring.  We drove up I15 in light traffic and took the turn on the 7 mile road that would take us to the causeway to the island.  Those 7 miles took us no less than 40 minutes!  It was like driving west on Rockville Road toward Avon in rush hour without the four lanes at the beginning.  I was about to honk the horn and run down the shoulder the whole way.  I kept my cool as my gas gauge headed toward empty and still no call from the realtor. 

We finally made it to the island, paid our $9 entrance fee and zipped down the causeway at the highest speed I thought would not produce a ticket.  We chose the visitor’s center because they had modern bathrooms, maps and a pin for the board.  At this point in the trip I can look at my pin board and trace our trail all the way back to Lake Placid, New York.  It is very cool.  At the visitor’s center, the ranger told me a family who just came in saw a herd of Bison and Antelope near the road to the Ranch (what ever that is).  We saddled up Speedy and took off in that direction.  Well, the Bison part was right, and we got lots of pictures of them actually crossing the road.  Here is one doing the old Buffalo Nickel pose for the camera.   We came upon the large herd a short time later, and here is another picture of one saying cheese while crossing the road.  You can’t see the one with the crossing guard sign.  He was off camera. 

With that, the gas situation, and failing sunlight, we turned around right in front of the herd and took off for the beach.  At one point we did see one Antelope (the first of the trip) off the road a bit, which would be REALLY hard to see here, so I’m not going to bother to post it for you.  It was cute from 100 yards, but hey, it could have been Bambi for all I could see.  Traci wanted to wade in the Great Salt Lake once before we left, but I was concerned because it was past 7:00 PM and still no call from the realtor.  You see, my phone didn’t have coverage at the beach, because it was on the far side of the island from the cell towers across the water on I15.

We ventured out anyway and Traci and Thomas went barefoot across the sand and into the water.  For some reason I was creeped out, so I kept my hiking shoes on and acted as dry-land photographer.  Here is a picture of Traci and Thomas in the Great Salt Lake. 

  They had their fill, so we slowly made our way back to the car, and since the foot bath was still closed due to it being early May, they had to tough it out with salty feet in the car.  I was doubly glad I didn’t go in the lake!  Just as we rounded the mountain toward the causeway, my phone buzzed because there was a message waiting for us.  It was from our realtor.  They accepted our final offer, and the deal was done.  We now have a home to go back to in Indiana.  Woo Hoo!  We got back to the bus, signed the paper, faxed it back, and started a discussion that will go on for six more weeks:  what to do in the new house.  Our hearts have seemed to run ahead of us back to Indianapolis.  Some will say that our hearts left Indianapolis long before June 3, 2005, the day this adventure began.  Tomorrow will be the 11 month anniversary of our departure from our neighborhood in Fishers.  In six short weeks we will begin anew in Setters Run in Carmel.  It’s only about 15 minutes from our friends in Fishers.  It’s only about 10 minutes from my primary carrier’s corporate office in Carmel.  Living there will cut 30 minutes off of my drive to and from South Bend for appointments.  Thomas will get on a bus at the back of the neighborhood to go to school.  The house is the perfect size and we paid exactly what we wanted to pay.  Our mortgage payment will be less than what we have paid each month of this trip for diesel fuel and campground fees.  God answered our prayers.  All we had to do was wait.  See you in six weeks!

Wednesday, 5-3-06; 70 and Sunny:  Oh, what a Day!!!

OH MY GOSH!  Can you say CRAZY?  I got up this morning with the expectation of a calm day of working and taking Bessy in for an oil change and a bath.  How could I be so far from reality?  If you have any ideas, please send them to me, OK?

By the way, today is the 11 month anniversary of our departure from Indianapolis!  How is that for amazing?  The time has flown by, and we are now preparing ourselves mentally and emotionally to return home (since we now HAVE a home) in late June.  I got up and started working, and things were going well.  I got a phone call from my parents, and I was busy telling them about the fact that we bought a house today.  I was telling my parents about the home when I heard Traci scream DANIEL!!!  You must understand, my loyal readers, that my better half does NOT yell in public, ever.  I told my parents to hold, threw down my headset and ran outside.  She then yelled:  THE SEWER IS SPEWING POOP EVERYWHERE!!!  I quickly returned to the phone and told my parents I would call them back. 

I ran out to rescue my loving wife from a fountain of poo and found that the sewer had backed up and blew the donut and sewer pipe out of the ground and poo had spread out all over the concrete pad into which the sewer pipe had previously been plugged.  You must understand that Traci HATES poo.  We have divided the household nasty business between us, and I got the poo.  Thanks to the dogs I had growing up, I have been desensitized to poo, so I took that chore, in all of its glory.  I quickly grabbed my Kevlar poo-proof gloves and a hose and did my best to clean up the area.  Traci was on the verge of vomiting the entire time, and I thought it was funny but I didn’t laugh much, for obvious reasons.  We finished the process of emptying the tanks and flushing the lines, but I knew something was wrong with the sewer.  It just wasn’t acting the same as the other eleven months worth of sewer connections acted.  We stuck to the task until it was done, and Traci was convinced there was a problem with the bus.  I knew it was the park.  I called the front desk and they knew exactly what happened (hmmm) and they sent someone right over. 

This wonderful woman got the envious task of cleaning up our poo and using a snake to fix what ever the problem was in the system.  Did I ever say that I didn’t want to own an RV park?  This would be one of the reasons.  She got it done just in time for us to pack up, unhook and take Bessy to Camping World to get an oil change.  Did I say I had an appointment?  Do appointments matter in the RV business?  Nope.  Traci and Thomas went to run house-purchase-related errands and I went to Camping World.  When I checked in BEFORE my 1:00 PM appointment, the guy said it would take about an hour, and that it would be done before 5:00 PM.  5:00 PM?  How does one hour turn into four?  That’s the time warp you encounter when you walk into any RV dealership, service center or supplies store.  Everything slows down-to-a-snail’s-pace.   I decided not to blow my stack and just agreed and gave him the keys. 

While I was wandering around the store, Traci called and said they were on their way, and that we would pass the time going to eat lunch.  We ate at Panda Express and had a little celebratory Cold Stone Creamery for dessert.  Ya’ gotta’ celebrate when you buy a house, right?  It was all yummy and we returned to Camping World, and would you believe it?  The bus was done by 3:00 PM!!!  It wasn’t an hour late, it was two hours early!  How is that for marketing!?  I wish I could employ the same psychology in my business, that’s for sure!

We then started on our next adventure, which was actually giving Bessy a real bath for the first time on the trip!  It’s like your dog, you give her a bath once per year whether she needs it or not!  Just kidding.  We haven’t encountered as much rain in the past month as we used to, so Bessy was looking a little dirty, so we pulled her into a jumbo sized truck wash armed with a jug full of quarters.  We had never done this before, so we really didn’t know what we were doing (big surprise there), so we just started.  Thanks to Mike’s Car Wash in Indy, we really have had little experience washing our cars in the past ten years, let alone washing a Big Brown Bess.  We discovered that our beloved Bessy was too long to fit in the bay properly, so we had to wash her in two halves.  We started with a good soaking, followed with power suds, and ended with a power rinse.  We shut everything down, and pulled the other half of the bus into the bay.  By the time we started the process on the second half, we took a good look at the first half, and realized that although we did indeed get a lot of dirt off, you couldn’t tell by looking at it. 

So, we had to use the conveniently placed foamy suds brush.  Thank Goodness we had a choice.  We fired it up, and I gave Bessy a full coat of white, yellow and pink foam.  I wish we had thought ahead and taken pictures of her covered in foam.  We worked on her for about an hour with mixed results.  We were glad to finally clean her up, but we noticed once we returned to the campground that we missed quite a bit of dirt.  Oh, well.  I think I’ll go out and finish it up tomorrow.

We arrived back to the bus with plenty of time to watch Mythbusters, American Idol, eat dinner and write our respective blogs.  All in all, it ended up being a great day, poo and all!

Thursday, 5-4-06; 70 and Raining:  Work, Infiniti, Temple Square and Mormon Tabernacle Choir Rehearsal

Yesterday while we were driving around, the dash light in the Infiniti came on telling me that my engine needed service.  Well, considering that we’re in SALT LAKE CITY and we won’t be home for another six weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to find a dealership and have it checked out.  I got up and drove to the dealership and checked in.  The shuttle was about to leave, so I was the last on, but unfortunately the first guy on needed to be taken about 40 minutes north, where I was only about 10 minutes south.  It would have been nice to take me back to the bus first, but this guy was adamant.  So, I enjoyed looking at the SLC countryside while answering my cell phone.

Once I got back to the bus, I caught up on work and stayed at it all day.  It turns out that the Nissan guy transposed my number wrong, so I had to call him back to check on Speedy.  He told me that one of my sensors was out of whack and they needed to download some software into the car to make the light go off.  I had them take me back to pick it up, and after dropping a C Note I had my car back, good as new.

Once I got done with work, we ventured out in a downpour to visit Temple Square, which is where the Mormon Church is headquartered.  The complex literally takes up a full city block at the heart of SLC.  This night there were scores of “ambassadors” waiting around getting soaked, hoping for the opportunity to provide tours to visitors of the church and grounds.  Our goal was to reach the place where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsed.  We eventually found the place without assistance, and shook ourselves off as we entered the gigantic auditorium.  We felt like we were going to an Amway meeting, because there were scores of fully suited men and women looking at us with wonder in their eyes and huge smiles on their faces.  They were so eager to help us find a place to sit and give us their literature.  I have to say the sound of the choir and the visual inside the place was something I’ll never forget.  Traci read that you could comfortably park a 747 jet inside the auditorium.  It seats over 21,000 people in high style.  I know very little about the Mormon religion but they certainly have an opulent HQ!

Once Traci and I had enough choir practice, we made our way back out to the rain and quickly hurried back to the car.  We weren’t able to take pictures of the thousands of tulips blooming all around the complex (because of the rain), but it will be something we will never forget.

Friday, 5-5-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Olympic Park

OK, do you want to see something cool?  How about something warm that is normally cold?  Do you remember when we went to Lake Placid at the beginning of the trip and rode the bobsled?  Today after an abbreviated work day, we jumped in the car and drove to Park City to the Olympic Park, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics.  It was everything I could have imagined; except for…no one was there.  We caught them right between the winter and summer training schedules!  They are dormant only two times of the year, and we were there for one of them!

The bad news is that we didn’t get a chance to see anyone jump off of the big 120 or the almost big 90 jump, but we did get one thing out of it:  undivided attention from the guide.  There were only seven of us on this tour, where there are normally over 50.  It took us no time to load and unload the van and get to the sites.  We were able to ask every question imaginable, and to get more in dept explanations as to the operation of the park.  It was fascinating.  We loved it.  We learned so much that it would be hard for me to repeat it.  The one thing I found incredible was that there is a year-round high school on premise just for the athletes.  They go to school to learn the core subjects and spend the rest of their time training.  One of the gold medalists from the recent Winter Olympics, Ted Ligety, was a graduate of this school.  The guide said that fact alone would skyrocket the enrollment in the coming years.

The other benefit of being in a small group was our access to the facilities and the ability to take pictures.  Here are the pictures I took while we were there.   One of the amazing things we learned that I will mention is the fact that some parents actually come here with their young (7, 8 and 9 year-old) children and allow them to go down the 120 meter ski jump!  There were gasps of amazement in the group of seven when this was mentioned.

We inquired about the bobsled run (since we actually did it in Lake Placid) and they said it was a mere $200 per person to go down their regulation, modern bobsled run.  Although it would have been cool, we really didn’t feel like shelling out $600 to take a 90 second trip down the mountain.  So, I saved $600 by taking pictures of three other people going down. 

We wrapped up the trip by going on a tour of the Olympic museum.  We were actually overwhelmed by the display.  I was able to zoom in and take pictures of the medals on display.  It was much cooler than I ever imagined.  Please see picture.  Outside of the medals they had different items important to the games on display, including suits, skates, gloves, and various other pieces of gear. 

Please do yourself a favor and go see this place.  It was the highlight of our trip to Salt Lake City!

Saturday, 5-6-06; 70 and Sunny:  Drive from Salt Lake City, UT to Cedar City, UT, visit to Kolob Canyon

Today was my day to drive a bus for a living.  We got up, ate breakfast and left Mormontown bound for Cedar City, UT.  Cedar City is close to both Bryce and Zion National Parks, and the center of activity for that part of the state.  The drive south from Salt Lake was somewhat scenic, but really wasn’t all that.  We drove for about 3.5 hours, found our KOA and set up camp.  Bryce was about 2 hours away and Zion about an hour, but a park called Kolob Canyon, sort of a “Zion Lite” was only about 30 minutes away.  Itching for some hiking, we decided to hit the road to Kolob.  We arrived at the visitors’ center, purchased a pin, scanned our NPS card, got the map, and took off again up the mountain. 

The park is not much more than a beautiful drive of about 20 miles and a handful of hikes.  The shortest of which was about a mile.  Being that the other two choices were four and eight hour hikes, we decided to opt for the quickie.  We really hadn’t prepared much, and outside of bringing my camera, we were short on supplies.  We drove around and took a bunch of pictures of the surrounding mountains and found the trail head for our little trail.  It was short, but it was a bit steep, so we didn’t feel lazy.  The vista from the end made the trip well worth the time and effort.  Please enjoy these shots I took. 

After we finished our hike, we went back to the bus for dinner and reading.  We are glad to finally be here!

Sunday, 5-7-06; 85 and Sunny:  Big Hike in Zion National Park, Campfire

Boy, do I have some pictures for you today!!!  We got up, ate breakfast and hopped in the car for our trip to Zion National Park.  It’s amazing how many people just ranted and raved about this park.  Each time we would mention that we were going there, they would groan and tell us how wonderful it was.  Well, they were right!  If you EVER get the chance to come this way, please do yourself the favor of seeing this park.  It was fantastic! 

We made it a point to go to the park early so we would have PLENTY of time to see what we wanted to see.  There have been a few times on this trip when we just simply left too late because of work to see everything.  Not today!  We started out the day with a short trail covering the lower, middle and upper pools of a stream that fed into the Virgin River, the canyon’s main carving mechanism.  We began with the “middle” pool, and decided to walk to the “upper” pool next.  The hike to the “middle” pool was two miles, and the trip to the “upper” was about 1/2 mile.  Once we came around the bend, we were treated to a phenomenal shaded and secluded pool about 30 feet in diameter.  Since it was already hot, we were refreshed to see the little body of water beckoning to us.  Thomas decided he was going to wade in, so he quickly shed his shoes and socks and stepped in with a howl!  The water feeding the pool was from melting mountain snow, so it was very refreshing!

Traci chided me a bit for not getting in, so I likewise shed my shoes and socks and went after my son.  I actually carried him to a little island in the middle where we posed for pictures.   Soon after we got in, other families followed, until the pool was full of people.  Some even jumped from one of the big rocks directly into the water.  They were much more brave (stupid) than I was!

We got dried off and left the area to explore the “lower” pool and Thomas was sure to tell folks along the trail how close they were to the pool.  We eventually arrived at the lower pool, which was much more of a water fall than a pool.  The pool itself was out of reach, but the water falling from the “middle” pool rained down on our heads.  We walked through the area and on to finish the loop that ended at the park’s restaurant.  It was at this point when I witnessed a new phenomenon:  hiking in bikinis.  We have spent many a day at theme and water parks across this great country.  Not once had we seen teenaged girls in hiking boots, shorts and bikini tops.  I can’t say that I would let my daughter do that, but I guess it’s an effective way to stay cool and get a tan. 

We ate a reasonably good lunch at the restaurant in the park, got my trading pin, got the squished penny and another bottle of water.  We were then ready for our big hike of the day.  It was a two mile hike straight up the canyon to a place called Hidden Canyon.  Did I say it was a two mile “strenuous” hike?  We are pretty much at the point now where if it isn’t strenuous, Thomas isn’t interested.  He asked the Ranger if there was any rock scrambling to do, and she said just a little, and he was disappointed.  We commenced on the hike any way, and were seriously huffing and puffing as we climbed up the canyon on switchback after switchback.  Along the way we kept seeing these beautiful big yellow and black butterflies, but none would get close enough to take its picture. 

We hiked for about an hour in 85 degree temps until we reached the mouth of the “hidden canyon”.  It was there where the temperature dropped a good 20 degrees.  Refreshed and cool, we pushed on.  This was where the rock scrambling was necessary, and Thomas was having a blast.  We went on for about another half an hour, until we realized the canyon really didn’t end, and we were about to start losing daylight.  So, reluctantly, we turned around and headed back down the mountain.  As we got back out into the daylight and the warmer temperatures, one of the yellow butterflies swooped down and landed on a flower right next to us.  Here is the picture I was able to take.  It’s real, I promise. 

  With that victory, we high stepped down the trail and just as my right knee was starting to hurt, we had a choice to make.  Should we leave, or should we make one more stop at the “Weeping Rock”?  We chose option “B”.  The weeping rock is a place where spring water escapes that has been filtering down through thousands of feet of stone for literally a thousand years, or so they say.    I can say the water was wonderfully refreshing, and it was beautiful as well.

We made our way down to the tram to go back to the car.  We had hiked over seven miles in Zion and had a fabulous time.  For once “they” were right:  Zion National Park is NOT to be missed!  Here are some more pix I took in the park.  Please enjoy! . 

When we got back to the bus we had our first campfire since Lone Pine, CA.  Unfortunately someone dumped some boards off at the campfire site and I decided to burn them with the wood we brought from Lone Pine.  There must have been something in that wood because the fire smoked and stunk all evening.  It was still relaxing after a hard day of hiking, but I regretted burning that wood!

Monday, 5-8-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Rest, Campfire

Today was our official day of rest after our gigantic hike in Zion yesterday.  I worked a full day today and really enjoyed it.  I got my first sale of the month, and I’m thankful for it.  Each month that goes by my work gets less and less stressful.  I don’t know how many other people feel that way, but I certainly feel blessed because of it.

We ate dinner in the bus and had our second campfire in as many days.  This time the wood was clean, and it was 100% enjoyable.  We sat well into the evening talking about Zion and looking forward to our visit to its sister park, Bryce Canyon later in the week.  This trip is nearing its end, and each time we get the privilege of sitting in front of a campfire, we savor that time.

Tuesday, 5-9-06; 70 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to St. George, UT for Dinner

I put in a full day of work today, and by the time 3:00 PM local came around, Traci was itching to leave the bus.  She was getting a bit stir crazy, so we ventured out to the closest shopping center in St. George, UT.  St. George is to Cedar City what Bloomington is to Bedford.  St. George is more affluent, larger and has much more shopping.  Unfortunately we didn’t find much there, but it was an opportunity to get out and stretch our legs.  We ate dinner at Outback Steakhouse, which is always a treat.  We like Longhorn better now, but this was our only choice.  The boy wanted steak!  After dinner we returned to the bus for AI.

Wednesday, 5-10-06; 66 and Sunny:  ½ Day Work, Big Hike in Bryce Canyon

As we were planning out this part of the trip, I hoped we could be able to fit a visit to both Zion and Bryce Canyons into the schedule.  As this week unfolded, it looked like the family might want to skip the longer drive to Bryce Canyon.  I stuck to my guns, and after offering to take a ½ day off of work, they agreed to go to Bryce.  I’m glad we did.  I wish I could sit and show you all 150 pictures I took in the park.  The place was like another planet.  It was incredible!  It is kind of an opposite to Zion in that you arrive at the top of the canyon and hike down first and back up at the end.  We chose a combination of the Peekabo, Navajo and Queen’s Garden loops for our hike.  We did the first two first, ate a snack and finished with Queen’s Garden. 

The book Traci checks each time we stop somewhere advised that we wait until we are fully acclimated to the altitude before doing any strenuous hiking in the canyon.  Did we wait?  Nah.  Waiting is for sissies!  Fortunately we must have picked it up without knowing it, because outside of being beat at the end of the seven mile hike, we suffered no altitude sickness. 

The canyon was breathtaking, in a whole new way.  The water had not just exposed beautiful canyon walls of white beige and red, but as it carved out the canyon, spires remained behind to amaze young and old alike.  They were in all different shapes, sizes, and colors.  Some are more famous than others.  Here are pictures of Thor’s Hammer and The Queen.  I hope you like them. 

We ended up hiking about 7 miles all together, and I’ll tell you, this was a hike.  By the time we arrived back to the end of our 5.5 mile hike, I was literally out of energy.  I could hardly muster any more juice to get back up the hill.  It’s a lot easier to start out going up and end going down.  We didn’t have that option here.  Not only was Thomas complaining, but I could not disagree with him, although I kept my mouth shut.  Traci, as always, was just hauling up the trail, not seeming to mind the work.  There are many instances where I am just totally impressed with my wife and this was one of them!  She had been hiking just as long as we had, and she was showing no sign of fatigue what so ever! 

We grabbed a snack at the park store, and I added a Power Bar to the meal, and it was amazing how much more energy I had after eating.  We hit the last 1.5 mile Queen’s Garden trail, and that’s where we saw our first serious wild life.  We could not believe it!  Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture, but hopefully I’ll be able to explain it well enough.  Traci and Thomas were up ahead of me about ten paces, when we saw them.  It was a pair—well, actually two pair—of wild dogs!  I think they are better known as “puppies” but it really doesn’t matter, they were there, and they were loose!  It was a sight to see all right, and once we passed them, Traci and I threw each other knowing glances.  What happened was that two very obese women decided to hike the Queen’s Garden trail—maybe since it was touted as being the “easiest hike into the canyon” in the park literature.  Well, we had to admit that it wasn’t exactly easy, but it wasn’t as hard as the hike we took earlier.  I guess these two gals had lost all sense of modesty (if there had been any to start with) and when they got too hot on the return hike back up the canyon, they decided just to strip off their outer garments and expose their brassieres to everyone hiking down the canyon trail.  We didn’t make a big deal out of it in front of Thomas but we had a great laugh about it when we were alone. 

Once that hike was done, we decided we had enough of Bryce Canyon and we headed back to the bus.  We did see a prairie dog in the park, but he didn’t pose like the one in the Sonoran Desert Zoo did for my camera.  We returned to the bus for normal chores and preparations for driving.  What a wonderful day this was!

Thursday, 5-11-06; 75 and Sunny:  Drive from Cedar City, UT to Richfield, UT

Since the beginning of this drive was to start during the week, we split it up into three sections and made the weekday sections short.  I got up to get some work done and then we tore down and got on the road.  The drive was only about 1 ½ hours, which didn’t interrupt BrayTel operations very much.  We landed in Richfield and set up camp.  Nothing exciting to report.  We ate dinner in the bus and read.

Friday, 5-12-06; 86 and Sunny:  Drive from Richfield, UT to Green River, UT and Arches National Park

You could say that by the time we return to Indiana in June, we will have seen our share of National Parks!  We purchased an annual pass at the beginning of the trip, and it has paid for itself many times over.  The best part about it is that we have more than a month left on this trip and our entrance to several more parks will be free!

Today I got up and worked and prepared to break down and drive the 2 hours to our next camp ground in Green River, UT.  Green River is situated near Arches National Park, which is a place I have heard about but never seen.  Who can resist seeing over 2000 distinct arches in one national park?  Not us!  We arrived in early afternoon and got set up.  I worked for a while longer and wrapped up stuff for the week.

Once work was done, we jumped in Speedy and rolled on down the highway to Moab, UT.  Moab reminded us of Sedona, AZ in that it was a funky little town surrounded by beautiful red rock.  They kept most of the buildings in town the same color and texture to “blend” into the landscape.  There was one building that kept its “native” charm called La Hacienda, but I’ll tell you more about that later.

The one thing we thought as we pulled through the toll booth to get in was that we were certainly glad we didn’t bring Bessy to Moab.  The drive down was challenging even in my car.  Once we got in the park, we had to drive up and down mountains (again) and Bessy would not have liked the trip, and neither would I.  We decided to find the most famous of all Arches (outside of St. Louis) called the “Delicate Arch”.  We discovered the trail head and ventured off on a three mile “strenuous” hike.  We had mastered seven mile strenuous hikes in both Bryce and Zion, so we were ready.  Well, Traci and I were ready.  Thomas was not in the mood for a hike in 85 degree weather.  It was hot.  Darned hot.  We brought three bottles of water, but it wasn’t enough.  We have been blessed with cool temperatures for most of our hikes thus far, but not today.  We were hot, thirsty and on an unforgiving trail in the desert.  There was no “Upper Pool” to wade into today, just rocks, rocks, rocks and one Delicate Arch.  We did find a small snake along the way, and thanks to Eagle Eye Traci, I was able to get a picture of the little guy.  Just as I was snapping my second close-up, this silly lady came up and tried to grab him out of the bush.  He quickly got the heck out of there and I wanted to yell at her.  I didn’t. 

The trail itself was marked at first, but soon it gave way to a sheer rock face lined with rock stacks made by some very nice people to show us the way.  The hike seemed longer than 1.5 miles each way, but if that is what the newsletter says…  Traci and I were soaking in the heat, the sun and the landscape, and Thomas was complaining the entire time.  He was miserable.  He didn’t want to hike.  He had no choice.  We went there to see this rock formation and he was going to finish the hike!  It wasn’t quite that bad, but he was not happy, and he made sure to let us both know about it.

Finally, we rounded this tall cliff that was shaded by the sun, and voila!  There she was.  The Delicate Arch.  Please enjoy this picture. 

We walked up to it, took more pictures and enjoyed her shade.  It was actually very cool, and it was a tough hike.  I have to admit I was very thirsty by the time we finished, and it was more of a challenge than I had expected.  We saw many people who thought the hike would be delicate and they gave up before reaching the prize.  We’re glad we stuck it out.  Due to our short time schedule and growing hunger, we decided to do a driving tour and then go to dinner.

We chose La Hacienda for dinner because we were in the mood for Mexican, and due to the fact that their parking lot was packed.  We were not disappointed.  We all loved our food, and drank lots of water and iced tea.  We were tired, but happy that we had stopped into see the arches.  If you’re ever driving by it, you should stop.  It’s worth the trip.

Saturday, 5-13-06; 85 and Sunny:  Drive from Green River, UT to Glenwood Springs, CO

I chose to use today as the first of two long driving days to Denver since it is obviously a weekend.  The drive was long and boring—until we got there.  We pulled in to see a sign near the camp ground entrance that said “Big Rigs”.  That is usually a good sign!  We pulled up, registered and unhooked the car.  As we were driving in, the place looked pretty narrow, but my confidence told me not to worry.  I’m good at this, right?  The first complication was that the campground was on a steep hill, with the slips along side the road.  The second thing was there was a nasty speed bump just uphill from our site.  With Traci directing, I approached the slip with three sides of the bus covered visually.  Did I say three?  Can you say crunch?  Yes, crunch!  I crunched the right front façade on a big rock that was just outside of our field of view.  Yes, it was the same place the deer took out back in Maine.  Needless to say I was not happy. 

Let me begin the next part by saying it was my fault.  I was driving.  The rock did not jump in front of me like the deer did.  I should have been more careful.  I have come to grips with that and I can admit that.  However, for some stupid reason the camp ground owner came out and told me the sites were not designed for buses our size (remember the sign that said “big rigs”?) and that the gal who checked me in should have given me better directions on how to get into the slip.  It turns out I should have left the campground all together and turned around at a rest area near by and come back in and backed up the hill instead of down the hill into my slip.  With that I snapped and cussed at him.  I jumped in the bus and did what he told me, and while I was pulling the bus around he was blowing my beautiful wife a ration of garbage.  He didn’t have the guts to say it to my face, so he took it out on my wife.  I wish I had known that.  Traci didn’t tell me until much later.  He was a coward and a jerk.  I was a jerk, but I wasn’t a coward.  The slip was very narrow and we finally got it in without further damage.  We cranked the air and jumped in the car to go to the grocery store.  Groceries in Glenwood Springs were almost as expensive as Oahu!  Remember that if you ever go there, but please, don’t stay at that campground.  The one little piece of justice in this one is that there is an RV website where people rate campgrounds around the country.  I was the first person to ever rate that camp ground!  I gave him what for!  The jerk didn’t even offer to refund any part of our $46 we paid to stay at that hole in the wall!

Sunday, 5-14-06; 55-70 and Snowing to Sunny:  Finally!  We arrived in Denver, CO

Happy Mother’s Day!  What exotic thing did the Bray Bushold do on this celebration of all things Mom?  We spent most of it driving from Glenwood Springs, CO to Denver, CO.  We started out the day much better than we ended yesterday, that’s for sure!  We got up early, brushed our teeth, and got the heck out of Glenwood Springs.  I was so tempted to drive out blaring my diesel horns all the way up the hill, but that would not have been nice.  I drove out very slowly and easily.

Once we got back on I70, the excitement started!  The two drives that have been the most memorable for me on this trip were today, being the 2nd most difficult, and the drive from DC back to Indy in September via I68, which was the worst.  Today’s drive took us to 10,000 feet on more than one occasion.  We went through sun, rain and snow.  Yes, I said snow!  We were driving through Vail, CO and it started snowing.  Snow, wind and going down mountains don’t make for an enjoyable trip!  We made it through all right, and finally made it to Denver, CO.  I’m flying back to Indy tomorrow, and the KOA we chose is about 30 minutes from the Denver International Airport.

Once we got set up and did laundry (another Mother’s Day favorite!), we shot out in Speedy to find the ESPN Zone down town Denver for a treat for Mom!  We found it no problem and had an excellent dinner and even better dessert.  Afterward I used the ESPN card I purchased in Baltimore, MD for ever ago to play lots of games with Traci and Thomas.  Yes, Traci did participate this time!  I was a BAD husband and just barely beat her at air hockey.  She and Thomas tied.  After fun and games, we strolled around down town a bit and returned to the bus for a quiet evening of preparation for my trip and writing.  What an exhausting weekend!

Monday-Friday, 5-15 to 5-19-06; Preparations and Trip to and from Indianapolis

Today felt like the day before a big vacation.  I got up early and worked diligently all morning and into the early afternoon.  I knew I had to get caught up on work prior to getting on the airplane this afternoon.  I did all of the normal stuff one does prior to traveling.  I’m now reading the Da Vinci code so Traci and I can go see it next weekend when it hits the theatres.  She read it two years ago and didn’t make it an option. 

Traci and Thomas drove me to the airport after everything was done.  As usual, we left a bit early, just in case.  I arrived with over two hours to spare, which is PAR for the course in this family.  I kissed them goodbye for the last time on this trip and ventured into the airport.  The Denver airport is rather confusing, but I finally made my way around to the ticketing area.  I had quite a bit of time to read, and I did so while I waited for my plane.  The flight was smooth and quick, and my parents-in-law were patiently waiting for me when I arrived in Indy.  I’m sure they had been there for quite a while—just in case—you now know where Traci gets that attribute!

I spent a few nights with our former neighbors and one with my in-laws.  I sincerely thank everyone who helped me out that week.  It was smooth and easy, and I was finally able to get my drivers’ license renewed!  They charge a $5 fee for being late, and the gal told me 95% of the renewals are late.  I was shocked.

Tuesday was spent on appointments the entire day down town.  I literally walked from one meeting to the next with not much time in between.  I’m actually getting good at scheduling and knowing my propensity to talk.  I had lunch with a client and two guys from eGix and it went extremely well.  As soon as my meetings were done, I tried to high-tail it up to Fishers so I could renew my license.  Living in a bus for 11 months made me forget how bad traffic is coming out of down town at 4:00 PM.  I did make it in time, got my new license in all of ten minutes, and then met my Realtor and in-laws at our new house.  I was thrilled!  The house was everything I hoped it would be and more.  We got a great house in what appeared to be a great neighborhood for an awesome price.  Thanks to those who helped us make that a reality! 

On Wednesday I spent the entire day meeting with new prospective strategic partners.  Now that my business volume is where I need it to be to pay the bills, I need to “duplicate” myself  by paying other people to bring me new opportunities, and Wednesday was my day to do that.  I met with three different companies, and all three of them agreed to join forces with me.  I was thrilled with the response, and I look forward to adding many more in the months to come, since I will be returning home in late June.  Actually we will return home to Indy one month from today.  It’s amazing that this trip is almost over.  It seems like yesterday that we pulled out, green and clueless.  One month left.  Wow!

Thursday was the day to go to the dentist (it’s been over a year!) and go to my quarterly business meeting at eGix.  This time we sat in a room and listened to the upcoming changes and refinements to the program and then we played golf—in the rain!  It didn’t rain the whole time, but it did keep raining on and off and the sun would come out in between showers.  It was very strange May weather, even for Indiana!  We had a great time and I bailed a bit early to have dinner with my in-laws.  After dinner we returned to their home, read and went to bed.  Working this hard is tough!  I normally get at least 8 hours of sleep per night, and this week it averaged about 6 ½.  I’ll be glad to get back to the bus!

Friday was all travel.  Traci’s folks dropped me at the airport early, where I was able to catch up on some email and return a few urgent calls.  The flight was late, late and late again.  I was supposed to land in Denver just past 10:00 am and I didn’t arrive until 12:30 pm.  It was frustrating, but it did allow me the time to finish my book.  I think overall, I have read almost a book a month since the trip started.  That is indeed a record for Mr. Turtle Reader here.  I’m going back to the Revolutionary War generation again.  My next book is about Aaron Burr.  Traci and Thomas picked me up at the airport and we headed over to the Denver Six Flags for a few hours.  We decided to go ahead and purchase the annual pass this time, since we plan to stop at the park in Chicago in June and most likely the one in Louisville later in the summer.  The park was OK—about the same as the one in Louisville.  However, they did have two rides we had never ridden before.  One was called The Half Pipe.  It was a spinning wheel of people riding a gigantic skate board back and forth on a track that took you about 50 feet straight up on each side.  The spinning motion guaranteed that you didn’t know which way was up, and it was actually quite frightening.  Yes, Mr. Rollercoaster was kind of freaked out on the Half Pipe.  The other one of interest was also at the King’s Island in Canada but it was closed that day.  It mimicked the motion of hang-gliding, but it was very fast and did barrel rolls.  We were strapped into a big cage, so you could not fall out.  Unlike the last ride, this one was thrilling and we all loved it.  If you tensed up during the roll, you could actually keep yourself in your controlled position, so it was a good workout too!

By the time we were done with that, I had a headache and everyone was ready to go.  What a crazy week!

Saturday, 5-20-06; 70-85 and Sunny:  Drive from Denver, CO to Rock Springs, WY

Can you say NOTHING?  OK, everyone together now:  NOTHING.  NADA.  Zip.  Zilch.  You get my drift?  This morning we pulled out of our KOA in Denver, CO to begin our journey to Jackson, WY.  Once we got out of Denver and on our way to Cheyenne to hit I80, we discovered a new ecosystem:  moon.  I can NOT imagine living in this part of the country.  Why anyone does, I can not fathom.  It was even more desolate than the desert!  For five hours, we drove past nothing but small rolling hills adorned with grass and small scrub bushes.  We are seasoned western travelers.  We’ve driven from Carlsbad, NM to El Paso, TX.  We thought THAT was the middle of no where.  That was a desert oasis compared to today’s drive.  There was simply nothing out there.  That white space on the map is where we drove today.  It was boring, and windy.  Very windy.  The only saving grace was that there was only one mountain, and it wasn’t very tall.  The rest of the drive was just like driving on a treadmill in front of a movie screen showing every square foot of the moon’s surface.

After seven hours of driving and stopping for fuel and food, we finally arrived in Rock Springs, WY.  We met two of the nicest KOA ladies so far on the trip, set up camp and just chilled.  Tomorrow we depart for Jackson, WY, which is supposed to be a very cool place.  I can’t wait. 

Sunday, 5-21-06; 70-85 and Sunny:  Drive from Rock Springs, WY to Jackson Hole, WY

If I had to sum up today in one phrase it would be this:  RV Commercial.  Fleetwood could have sold 1000 new buses if they had followed us with a camera crew today.  Today’s drive made up for every hour we have ever spent bored behind the wheel.  Little did we know what was in store when we woke up in Rock Springs and rolled out on the highway. 

The day started out with the boring rolling hills of southern Wyoming.  They were the same boring hills as yesterday.  However, today the wind was at our back and we made the three hour trip on only about 3/8 of a tank of gas.  Yesterday it took a whole tank to go just a bit further.  That was impressive in itself.  As we literally sailed north, we came upon two rather large weather systems, on either side of us.  The wind picked up and Bessy got a small bath.  The wind was almost as bad as our approach to Flagstaff, AZ a few months ago.  The awning on the drivers’ side only banged a few times.  Once we got past the weather system, we were treated to the most beautiful drive of the trip.  Those ugly rolling hills gave way to the Rocky Mountains.  The only difference here was that we didn’t drive over them, we drove among them.  I usually drive at least 65 MPH and usually 70 to get to the next campground.  Not today!  I slowed to about 50 and sometimes 35 so we could literally soak in the scenery.  We were fortunate enough to follow the Hoback and Snake Rivers for a lot of the trip.  It was breathtaking!  It felt like walking into Disney for the first time.  We just could not process the information quickly enough.  We kept having to pull over to let less patient people pass us.

We decided to pull over at a gravel spot on the side of the road for lunch.  We had plenty of room, so we just sat and relaxed with the sound of the Hoback River serenading us.  We could have stayed there all day.  I don’t think turkey sandwiches and raw veggies ever tasted so good!  It was a little slice of heaven.  Here are two pictures I took from our little lunch spot.  I hope you enjoy them! 

We continued on to Jackson Hole and were in awe of the beautiful scenery all around us.  Even the Kmart looked like a log cabin!  We pulled in and got set up, and inquired about a car wash since Speedy was so dirty from the bit of rain we got.  They said there wasn’t one, but that we could was our vehicles—bus and all—at the campsite.  That was a first for us!  We jumped in the car and went to explore the area.  Jackson Hole seems to be the best of the West combined with the best of California shopping!  We will certainly have to go back and spend some time wandering around before we move on.  We ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

We needed to do some grocery shopping, so we hit the local Albertson’s and stocked up.  Once we got back to the bus, it was washing time!  We put the groceries away and I unhooked the hoses from the bus and went to work washing Speedy.  I bought some cheap laundry detergent so I wouldn’t hurt the finish.  Speedy hasn’t looked that good in a LONG time!  I was able to use a little TLC and get some of the grime from the last 11 months off, and he is sparkling clean!  I then turned my attention toward Bessy.  She has a propensity to get dirty on her bottom half, so Traci and I teamed up to wash her all the way around.  We paid special attention to the bugs on the front and now she looks good as new!  Traci even dressed the tires and I cleaned the chrome wheels.  After that we thoroughly cleaned the bikes, since there is an incredible bike trail nearby.  We will certainly be hitting that trail this week!  That was the most fun we have had washing anything in a long time.

With the entire place spic and span, we built a campfire.  As you may remember from previous entries, we LOVE campfires.  Tonight was no exception.  We had purchased wood at the store and Thomas and I spent some time chopping it up, and we just sat and watched the fire burn for about 2 ½ hours.  As the sun went down, the frogs started cheeping and the smell of the pine trees and burning wood seduced us into a trance.  We spent that time talking about all of the places we have been and where we want to return.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.  We will sleep like babies tonight.  Tomorrow will be work, school, chores and a trip to the Grand Teton National Park.  When you get a chance, look up Teton in the French dictionary.  It’ll give you a chuckle. 

Monday, 5-22-06; 65 and Rainy:  Back to Work and the DaVinci  Code

Today’s plans to go to the Grand Tetons got rained out.  So, I put in a full day of work, trying to get caught up on commitments from last week.  I learned another lesson from my travels last week in that when I return to Indy I can’t go more than one full day of appointments.  Things get so crazy when I don’t have time to answer email, voice mail and fulfill commitments that it’s too much of a good thing.  I will be very careful upon my return to Indy how I schedule my time.  I think my customers will benefit from my renewed sense of time management!  Work went very well.  The month is starting to take shape, and I have several opportunities that have been verbally committed which will produce very profitable results.  I could not have a better team of people supporting me, and I’m sure you get tired of hearing me say that.

After work, we headed out to see The DaVinci Code.  I spent any free time I had over the last week reading the book at Traci’s request.  The book was a very exciting thriller, but was bewildering in its theology.  The movie version softened the “absolute” tone of the book substantially, and it came across as much more of a search for facts among theories, rumors and hearsay than the book did.  The book was written as if the theories they explored in the book existed, and it was just us dumb humans who didn’t yet believe it.  However, the author has not presented this book as fact, just as a work of fiction and its up to the reader to decide for themselves.  The movie was more flexible than the book.  In the end, I think the goal of the “secret society” in the book was achieved, because 40,000,000 books have been sold and a blockbuster movie has been produced to tell the story the antagonist was so desperately trying to tell.  People will be discussing it for months as the buzz from the movie dies down.  If you haven’t read the book, the movie will be very suspenseful.  If you have, the movie doesn’t let you down.  The story line is intact, but some things are altered for what reasons I could not tell.  It was good none the less.  If you are a Christian, this will give you something to talk about in Sunday School this weekend!

After the movie we returned to the bus for dinner, dishes and writing.

Tuesday, 5-23-06; 65 and Sunny:  Work and a Memorable Trip to the Grand Tetons

I got up early today and knocked out a bunch of work.  The month is heating up, and I’m entering the last week footrace.  I have a lot of business pending where folks have given me verbal commitments to sign their contracts.  I look forward to them panning out, but for now I’m working toward that place and helping where I can.

After work we jumped in Speedy and headed out toward Teton Village.  Teton Village is the small town at the base of one of the mountains tailored to skiers and their stuff.  There was a gigantic ski lift to the top of the mountain that was not running.  We drove past the village and into the Grand Teton National park.  We eventually found our parking spot and got ready for our hike.  The temperature was only around 60-65 degrees today, which was a huge improvement over past hikes.  I thought for a time that I would actually be too cold while hiking!  We set off toward the first of two destinations:  Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.  This was the first hike where we actually hiked through standing snow!  It obviously wasn’t snowing while we were there, but there was a foot of snow on the ground in places.

The hike was not as strenuous as past hikes, but we still worked hard to get to Inspiration Point.  The hike started around the perimeter of Jenny Lake.  I think I have seen pictures of this lake in magazines.  Traci read that even amateur photographers can shoot “Ansel Adams” quality pictures here.  I agree with that article.  Most of the time we hiked through Aspen Pine Forest and at times found ourselves standing in the middle of a field of fallen rock.  We had lots of opportunities to take pictures of beavers, chipmunks and some other animal whose name I forgot.  I’ll put all of the pictures at the end for your enjoyment.  We eventually arrived at the Hidden Falls, and the entire day was worth the view of this rather largish river roaring down the hill in front of us.  It was incredible.  We loved it. 

Once we paused long enough to soak in the sights and sounds, we proceeded up to Inspiration Point.  This was the most difficult part of the hike.  We ascended up probably 500 feet to reach the top of one of the small mountains overlooking Jenny Lake and the mountain range beyond.  It was, well, inspiring.  At that point we were over 3 miles into the park and we decided it was time to turn around.  As usual, the hike back was faster (mainly due to very little picture taking) than the hike in, so we got back to Speedy in about an hour.  In all we enjoyed three full hours of hiking in this little slice of heaven and have lots of pictures to show for it!  Please put this place on your list of places to go.  It was incredible!

Upon our return to the bus we watched TV, wrote and read.  We are exhausted!  Here are the pictures I promised.  I hope you enjoy looking at them half as much as I enjoyed taking them! 

Wednesday, 5-24-06; 65 and Sunny:  Work and Riding Bikes along the Grand Tetons

Yes, it’s that time of the month again…for me, that is!  I’m suffering from a small bout of Salesman’s EMS.  That’s End of the Month Syndrome.  The pressure is heating up, and having Memorial Day near the end of the month complicates things a bit.  Customers have promised me to sign contracts, but so far not all of them have, and my carriers are looking to me to deliver.  So, I worked a whole day Indianapolis time today and inched everyone forward without being a jerk.

After work we ate lunch/dinner and hit the road for a bike ride along the Grand Teton mountain range.  The bike path was one of the best we have ridden.  It was wide and essentially flat.  The ride was spectacular!  We so enjoyed ourselves that we decided to ride the whole five miles one way to take it all in.  The path went all the way into Jackson (the other direction) but we didn’t have time to do that.  We stopped for a quick rest and a drink at Teton Village, which is a community at the base of the mountains where the skiers stay.  We rode the five miles back and paused to enjoy a small river that feeds off of the Snake River for irrigation purposes.  It was very relaxing just to watch the water roll by and throw small sticks in to see how fast they moved.

We eventually made it all the way back with Thomas lagging behind to eat dinner and watch the season finale of AI.  Keep in mind that we were still around 7000 feet in elevation, so our cardio development has been spectacular.  Thomas’ attitude when tired hasn’t developed as quickly, but we are confident when we get back to Indiana, he will be in MUCH better shape than when we left.  We watched AI in all of its quirkiness, ate dinner, read and went to bed.  Tomorrow we leave to drive to Yellowstone, and we are all pumped!

Thursday, 5-25-06; 65 and Sunny:  Work, Driving to Yellowstone, Dinner and a Campfire

Wow!  What a day.  I went from highly frustrated (no, I didn’t hit anything) to very relaxed and happy at bedtime.  I got up and did some quick work stuff before breaking camp.  We drove the approximately 150 miles from Jackson to West Yellowstone, MT with just a short break for lunch.  Usually 150 miles isn’t far, but today it took us about four hours—yes on a work day no less—because of the slow speed limit around and through the park. 

One of the unusual events that happened today occurred while we were driving through the park.  We came upon an entire bison herd using the road as their migratory path through the park.  They didn’t seem to care one bit about the passenger vehicles lined up waiting for them to decide where they were going to walk.  However, when they saw our Big Brown Bess, they picked up their hooves and got the heck out of the way.  I assume Bessy is just as intimidating to them as she is to everyone who comes nose-to-nose with our 38 foot motor coach!  I was fortunate enough to have my camera at hand, so I snapped about 20 pictures of them walking by.  Please check these out! 

By the time we got in and set up, the work day in Indy was almost over and I had to hurry to get some stuff out the door.  It appears that I’ll end with a strong month, although it’s still up in the air in some respects.  I did what was needed, and we were all in the mood for a break, so we went to a local restaurant for dinner.  The food wasn’t spectacular, so I won’t go into great detail.  We returned to the bus for a very relaxing camp fire and a glass of wine.  We were able to chill out 100% just in time for bedtime.

Friday, 5-26-06; 65 and Sunny:  Work, Yellowstone National Park, and Pizza at the Bus
Since today was the last work day before the holiday weekend, most of my normal routine would be unnecessary because most people were preparing to leave early.  So, outside of doing everything I possibly could to get a ton of documents faxed—yes, faxed—to one of my customers for signature, there really wasn’t much else to do.  Once I completed that, I knocked off at about 2:00 PM Indy time and we drove the 6 miles to Yellowstone National Park. 

We entered Yellowstone at the West Entrance and drove down toward the southern part of the park where we came in yesterday.  Our eventual goal was Old Faithful, a cone type geyser famous the world over for shooting thousands of gallons of water over 100 feet in the air.  More about that later.  We stopped at a few of the famous geo-thermal geysers, mud pots and hot springs for which the park is also famous.  These features continually spit, bubble and steam water and different noxious chemicals out of the ground—thanks to the molten hot core of the planet—24 hours per day.  We toured them on the wooden footpath the park has provided to 1.) prevent us from hurting ourselves and 2.) prevent us from hurting the park.  People used to swim in these in the old days, but they discovered that it damaged the formations—can I hear a collective “duh!”? 

The pools varied in color from a muddy cream to a bright orange to a bright blue, depending on the temperature of the water and the type of bacteria that lived in the pond.  It was very smelly—most of the time like rotten eggs, and sometimes hot.  Thomas was enthralled every step of the way and kept thinking of things he would like to throw in the water and constantly asked me what affect it would have.  Since I’m not a geologist, most of my answers consisted of “I don’t know, what do you think?”.  I took lots of pictures and we moved on to the “Main Event”, or so we thought, for the day, Old Faithful.  Here are a few pix I took in the area.  Please enjoy! 

We had our share of stinky geysers, so we wanted to see a famous one.  Old Faithful has been spewing its watery rooster tail for hundreds of years, and was named by a guy back in the late 1800’s.  The geyser doesn’t erupt as often as he used to—about every 90 minutes, give or take ten—and he doesn’t shoot the water as high in the air—about 100-180 feet, as he used to, but it isn’t for man-made reasons.  Each time a minor earthquake hits the region, and it does rather often, it changes the way Old Faithful’s plumbing works, therefore altering the personality of the geyser.  I’m afraid to say we were a bit under whelmed in person when he did erupt.  We thought it would be bigger and longer (no puns intended) than it was.  I did get almost a slow-motion video of it with my Nikon by using the three per second shot option, so it actually came out in pictures better than it looked in person.  I’ll give you three of them for comparison. 

Once it was over, everyone said something like:  “that was it?”  Once we were all convinced that was it, we stood up, and an amazing number of people made a beeline for the nearby restrooms.  Who says the power of suggestion isn’t real?  As we stood up, I said out loud “OK, now that we’ve seen this, I want to get pictures of an elk, a bear and a moose”.  Everyone around us laughed, because they too had a similar “to-do list” for the park.  We made our way over to have pizza and get Traci’s Mom her birthday gift at the Old Faithful store.  I got a pin and we got a couple of squished pennies and headed back to the car.  We really didn’t know what to do next, other than drive toward the area that offers horseback rides.  We have promised ourselves the entire trip that we would go on a horseback ride.  We decided at Zion that we would for sure do it at Yellowstone.  That was our destination.  Once we passed the road that went to the west entrance, we were in new territory.  We kept our eyes peeled at every turn to see more elk or bison. 

We have to admit, since our “close encounter” with the bison herd yesterday, our awe of the huge creatures has waned a bit.  However, we still have elk, bear and moose on our list of “must pictures” for this trip, or we just won’t have seen it all.  So, as we drove, we were on the lookout for any of these creatures.  We have learned that when there are many cars parked in a particular spot on the road, there is something to look at.  The other 99% of the park is literally deserted.  As we came around a bend in the road, there were cars stacked up on both sides of the road, so (like good rubber neckers from Indiana) we slowed to see what the commotion was.  Get a load of this! 

Yes, folks, them are wolves!  A pair of wolves, no less, and they were eating a dead bison!!!  We were astounded that they were so stinking close to the road!  Some of the idiots around us actually got out of their vehicles and walked CLOSER to them to get a better picture!  Do they think this is a petting zoo?  How stupid!  I’m sure that wolf was thinking that the obese woman in the short shorts was much easier to eat than this furry beast!  We stayed in our car and shot out the window.  We could just imagine the headlines:  stupid business owner from Indiana eaten by wolves in Yellowstone.

After the shock and awe wore off, we reluctantly moved on, but continued talking about the awesome wolves and stupid people.  We moved on toward our destination and came upon herd after herd of elk.  Here are a couple pictures of the residents we snapped a picture of today. 

It’s funny, because the novelty of seeing lots of elk has joined the novelty of seeing lots of bison in the Bray family archives.  We even made jokes like “Hey look, oh, it’s just a herd of bison and elk.  Don’t bother.”  We had bigger and more mighty creatures on our list:  bear and moose!

We finally got to our destination:  Mammoth Hot Springs.  This is the only part of the park with active horseback rides.  We arrived to find the visitors’ center closed, but a very nice park ranger directed us to the hotel near by for information.  We made our way over and got the information we were looking for, and Traci got some post cards for the folks back home.  Unlike Indianapolis, the weather here over the weekend is supposed to be in the mid-40’s and raining.  So, we’ll have to carefully plan our time and our activities.  Fortunately today was loaded with outdoor stuff and it was perfect weather for it.  The weather today was actually like July weather here.  We could never live here!

I thought it would be a good idea to head out of the north entrance to the park, since we were only five miles away, and find our way back to the campground that way.  Little did I know it would take us about 1.5 hours OUT of our way if we did so, but we didn’t determine that until we left the park.  So, out of good sense and a desire to conserve gasoline, we turned around and went back the way we came.  Fortunately, we were rewarded right away by a sighting of mountain goats climbing a hill nearby.  Here are two pictures of them.   We did not have mountain goats on our to-do list, so these were extra credit for our trip today.

As we continued back down the road toward the campground, we spied another conspicuous gathering of vehicles on the road.  What was it?  Could it be?  YES!  It was a moose!  I whipped the Infiniti to the side of the road, grabbed my new super zoom lens, and fired away!  Here is my best picture of the majestic animal, just relaxing in the late afternoon sun. 

OK, now all we have left is the bear.  We made plans to come back to the park at 8:00 am tomorrow—even in the rain—to catch the animals while they are out roaming before all of the people get in the park.  The locals tell us that the best time is dawn and dusk.  The park doesn’t open until 8, so I’m off the hook for dawn, but we’ll be out driving around the park looking for animals (other than bison or elk) to photograph.  It should be fun!

After our venture into the park, we got pizza take out from Wild West Pizza.  We highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area.  A guy from New Jersey moved here and started a pizza joint, and it’s the best around.  Try the bar-b-q pizza.  It has baked beans on it!  It was the first for us, and it was wonderful.

Saturday, 5-27-06; 45 and Raining:  Yellowstone National Park, Take 2

Today’s trip into Yellowstone was a sincere test in patience and endurance.  No, we didn’t ride our bikes into the park, but we did decide to drive from the west entrance to the north east entrance to the park.  There is a “bald eagle management area” right inside the west entrance and the big yellow sign says:  no stopping, standing or walking in the area.  As we approached this area, we couldn’t help but notice about a half dozen cars parked on either side of the road with people out of their cars looking up.  The nest we had seen on our way in now had a huge bald eagle perched above it!  I couldn’t help but jump out for a few pictures with my new zoom lens!  This experience taught me that today’s trip into the park would be much different than yesterday.  Not only was it cold and raining, but since we were now in the weekend blitz time, yesterday’s relaxed attitude was out the door.

About half way there we decided to have breakfast (that ended up being lunch) at one of the lodges in the middle of the park.  The food was OK but a bit expensive, which was to be expected.  We continued on our journey, mainly because a couple we met yesterday told us they saw a black bear and her cubs up by the northeast entrance.  The bear is the only animal on our “list” we haven’t been able to shoot, from a photography standpoint, of course!  Our bald eagle picture was “extra credit” on the list because it was unexpected.  My neck is sore for some reason right now, so Traci took the wheel today, to her sincere chagrin!  We left the lodge and drove and drove and drove.  We were amazed to see how many looney people were parked on the side of the road when ever an elk or a bison so much as mooned them.  We knew now that we would most likely not be the first to see a particular wildlife appearance, so other than just admiring the beautiful country side, we simply looked out for cars and decided whether we wanted to join them or not!

The dark side of this phenomenon was that the ‘weekend warriors’ would simply slam on their brakes at the appearance of anything on four legs, thereby endangering the lives of all of us on two.  As we approached the north east entrance, we realized we had been sent on a wild goose chase.  We saw geese, but no bears!  However, we did get one ‘consolation’ prize, which was a close-up of a mother coyote and her three cubs.  As I approached the scene, lots of people were going out of their mind!  They were actually climbing down off the road and into the gully to get closer to the coyote!  I just wondered how many people would be attacked by mama coyote in defense of her cubs!  In case you don’t know what a coyote looks like, please enjoy this picture.   I did get a shot of one of the pups but it’s really hard to pick out of the background, so I won’t waste the time.

After the coyote encounter, we remembered that one of the locals told us to go on a particular drive across an area called Dunraven Pass to look for bears.  It turns out that the entrance to Dunraven was somewhat close to the north east entrance.  I guess it would have been a good idea to ask the bear spotters for more information!  After blowing about an hour driving out to the north east entrance, we hit Dunraven and hoped for the best.  The weather events we drove through varied from sunny to raining to foggy to snowing.  It was unique to say the least!

As we progressed toward Dunraven Pass, we saw the ‘mother lode’ of cars, pedestrian and Park Rangers milling about on the side of the road.  I figured we had finally found our bear family!  I had Traci drop me off before the crowd, so she could continue on and park the car further up the road.  Sure enough, just as I got out of the car, I spied the back of the mother bear’s head.  I took a picture, and boy, was I glad I did.  As soon as I finished, she buried her head in her fur and looked like a big lump of black on the forest floor.  Her cubs were no where to be found.  I talked to the Ranger for a couple of minutes and he said mother bear had decided to take a nap, and that we would just have to wait.  There were several what I would call professionals there with their high-end telescope camera lenses and video cameras, all under tarps or camouflage plastic sheeting, hoping to get a good shot.  Considering the fact that we had already been driving for over four hours and that it was raining, I decided to take my picture back to the bus. 

At that point, we decided we had been in Yellowstone long enough.  We pointed Speedy back home and started driving.  Unfortunately there were many other people going along the same road, and it started snowing.  Lots of traffic plus inclement weather equals slow going.  The only bright spot on the way back was an opportunity to get a shot of a moose up close.  He was just standing on the side of the road eating.  He didn’t seem to mind us stopping to take his picture, so I took a few.  Please enjoy! 

The rest of the drive back was just tedious.  By the time we got back to the bus we had been gone seven hours!  We were exhausted and ready to stretch our legs.  Unfortunately the slip we had was badly uneven, and our jack system would not compensate.  We made a decision while out that we really had our fill of the park, and that we were ready to leave.  We wrapped up the evening chilling out in the bus and eating dinner.  This visit was not exactly what we had expected, that’s for sure!  We were so glad we came on Friday. 

Sunday, 5-28-06; 65 and Sunny:  Drive to Billings, MT

With new plans in mind, we got up and had breakfast with 40 degree temperature and snow.  Yes, while it was 90 degrees in Indianapolis, it was 40 in Yellowstone.  We had enough.  We hit the road, heading for Billings, MT.  We had originally planned to make this drive on Tuesday, and I was glad we did it on Sunday instead.  It was about a 3.5 hour drive, through mostly deserted territory in Montana. 

As the drive progressed, the Rocky Mountains gave way to foothills.  The landscape changed from mostly brown to all green.  The elk disappeared and tiny brown and white deer appeared.  The most curious part about this part of the country is that when deer are hit by vehicles, they don’t just sit and rot.  The coyotes come out at night and eat the road kill.  I think they need more coyotes outside of San Antonio where we saw the dozens and dozens of deer on the side of the road!

We arrived in Billings, which has the honor of being the first KOA in the country.  It was one of the most beautiful campgrounds we have ever seen.  We had two extensive flower gardens in our camp site!  We had a covered round picnic table and a swing built for two.  Unfortunately we only stayed one day.  Fortunately the weather warmed up and we ended it on a high note:  dinner at Texas Roadhouse!  We haven’t seen a Texas Roadhouse since Shreveport, LA.  It was a welcome sight, and we enjoyed every bite.

Monday, 5-29-06; 65 and Sunny:  Drive to Buffalo, MT

Yes, we had another carbon copy of yesterday.  We got up, ate breakfast and drove to Buffalo, MT.  The weather was warmer today, in celebration of Memorial Day.  We decided to stay here two days, which will make up one of the days we had planned on being in Yellowstone.  Tomorrow is a very important work day, so our plan is to hunker down and stay here so I can close as much May business as possible. 

We ended the day with a campfire by the bus.  It was very relaxing and a perfect way to end a holiday weekend.

Tuesday, 5-30-06; 63 and Sunny:  Work, Buffalo’s a Wrap

We decided to use one of our ‘snow’ days from Yellowstone to stay in Buffalo another day so I could finish my month without interruption from driving.  Fortunately today was just the day I hoped and prayed it would be.  Not everything happened like I hoped it would, but just enough happened that the month ended strong and everyone (including Traci) was happy. 

One of the unique things about being in Buffalo, WY, is well, the buffalo.  For you purists out there I should refer to them as bison, but I won’t for two reasons:  no one else does, and buffalo just sounds more cool.  Traci’s Dad mentioned to her that buffalo meat was $16 per pound in Indianapolis and that we should pick some up while in the area.  We checked around town and we learned that the one IGA was out because their buffalo guy had a heart attack and he was behind on his deliveries.  They told us to go to one of the “custom slaughter houses” outside of town—guess where!  Out by the campground.  You could say the local KOA was not in the “high rent” district!  We drove out, and stopped in to say hi to an old man inside the meat market.  We saw that the buffalo meat was only $8.50 per pound, so we decided to stock up.  We bought a bunch of New York Strip steaks, a dozen 1/3 pound burgers and two packages of buffalo jerky.  We were thrilled!  We loaded everything but one package of burgers and jerky into the freezer and called it a day. 

We did our normal chores and prepared to leave for Rapid City, SD. 

Wednesday, 5-31-06; 65 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Rapid City, SD, Over the Hedge

With my work being completed, we took it kind of easy today and made our way from Buffalo, WY to Rapid City, SD, which took about 3.5 hours.  This was the first time I had been in South Dakota in my adult life, so it really didn’t hold much meaning to me.  As a family, South Dakota is a big milestone in the trip.  Our arrival in SD signals the end of our “western leg” of the trip, and the beginning of our trip home.  After SD we drive into Minneapolis, then on to the Wisconsin Dells, Chicago and Indianapolis.  We’re almost home.  We can taste it.  It’s amazing how the bus seemed to get smaller today.  Traci, Thomas and I were bumping into one another like never before.  It’s like the walls were closing in on us.  I think that means that we’re ready for a house again.

We arrived in Rapid City in the late afternoon, with really not enough time to do any tourist stuff.  So, I finished up some work stuff, hopped in Speedy and made our way over to a decent sized mall nearby.  We ate dinner in the food court, did some shopping and went to see the movie Over the Hedge.  I have to say that I’m getting a bit tired of the computer generated, star studded cartoons that have been flooding the movie scene over the past year or so.  With that in mind, I was a bit reluctant to see yet another one, but we really didn’t have anything else to do, so we went.  Yes, the plot was predictable, and yes, everyone learned their lessons on right and wrong.  However, the part that cracked me up the most was the social commentary.  Bruce Willis’ character just went on and on about how us humans eat.  It took up about 15 minutes of the film, and it was priceless.  I laughed out loud during the entire monolog.  The writers also must have had some pretty nasty run-ins with their home owners’ associations.  The antagonist in the movie was in charge of her HOA and the way they characterized her was hysterical.  All in all, we gave it two thumbs up.

One of the things Traci and I realized independently while walking around this mall is that we are really sick of being in Podunk little malls in Podunk little towns.  They all look the same, and we always wonder how they stay in business.  They have the same stores and the same food, and the same people wandering around like they have nothing better to do.  Some times I want to scream at the top of my lungs:  GO DO SOMETHING!  GET OUT OF THIS MALL AND GO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE!  But, alas, I don’t, and so far I haven’t been arrested by any mall cops.  That’s a good thing.  We are indeed looking forward to getting home.  Indy is calling out to us, beckoning us home.  Saturday will be the one year anniversary of us leaving Indy.  We are amazed.

Thursday, 6-1-06; 80 and Sunny:  Trip to Mt. Rushmore, Horseback Riding, Mt. Rushmore, Part II

OK, are you ready for another RV commercial?  Are you ready for another patriotic appeal to go see the country?  Come on, say you are!  That’s it.  Admit it.  Just say it.  OK!  Now you’ve said it, I’ll tell you why:  Mount Rushmore.  Yup, the most famous “rock group” in the country:  Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt.  They’re all here, and they do a show all day and each night.  Today was no exception.

I got up early and got some work done.  In this part of the month during this part of the trip, my main goal is to keep everyone happy while we finish out the trek.  I don’t want anyone to have to wait long for anything they need, but I’m also not going to bust my butt to be the “magic” this month.  I’m going to work diligently, but not worry about what happens.  I want to enjoy these last couple of weeks, and today was the beginning of that process.  I worked until about 2:00 PM Indiana time and then we hit the road 30 miles south to Mt. Rushmore.

We arrived to find a town like a miniature version of Pigeon Forge in Tennessee.  There were shops, hotels, mini golf courses and restaurants all around.  However, the town was pretty small so it didn’t take an hour to drive through and on to the monument.  As we approached the mountain, we spied our four friends and were amazed at how small they actually were.  I know I had expected to see a gigantic display spread across a huge mountain.  It wasn’t exactly so.  It was more of a modest display across a small part of a medium sized mountain.  Regardless of the size, Traci and I were giddy as we got close to the entrance.  We had seen this place in pictures our entire lives, and today we were finally going to get to see it in person! 

We paid our $8 for our annual pass—a bargain—grabbed a spot in the garage—much easier than Hoover Dam, and headed in.  We were first met by row of state flags outside of the main viewing area.  Here is a good picture of what it looked like.

We continued in to a large semi-circle where every angle had an excellent view of the mountain.  Here it is up close. 

  Since we haven’t hiked since the Grand Tetons, we decided to do the “pre-packaged” hike around the monument, which took all of 15 minutes.  They claimed it was “strenuous” and we laughed.  It was a bunch of stairs.  We got different viewpoints of the monument and enjoyed reading the informational displays about the four presidents. 

We needed to leave because we had an appointment to go horse back riding in about a half an hour.  This is something I had wanted to do the entire trip, but obstacles seemed to constantly thwart our efforts…until today!  We arrived right on time, paid our cash—no credit cards here—and were assigned our steeds for the hour.  Thomas’ horse was Mirage, Traci’s Dollar and mine was CLC.  We don’t know what that stood for, but if I could make lazy, slow and sneaky out of CLC that would be it!

We spent the first 30 minutes of the ride convincing our horses that we weren’t idiots and the last 30 minutes keeping them in line as we threaded our way around the black hills of SD.  Once we got the hang of it, we did a good job of controlling our beasts of burden, and had a great time.  By the time we were finished, our butts and legs were hurting, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.  If you haven’t been horse back riding with your family, you MUST put it on your priority list the next time you go on vacation.  We’ll never forget it.

We needed to stretch our legs, so we went into down town Keystone to find some grub.  We had lunch at a tourist trap where the food was actually pretty good.  We then exercised our tourist tendencies and played a round of mini golf.  It had been some months since we picked up the rubber coated golf clubs and colorful golf balls.  Traci opted to keep score, which was an excellent idea, since it was less expensive and helped the game go faster.  We could tell Thomas was out of shape because he got bored and frustrated after about the third hole.  I have to say in his defense that the course was poorly designed and was extremely difficult.  It was built into the side of a hill, so every hole had a strong down-hill slant to it, and that made it even more frustrating.  What made it worse was that the rim of the cup was actually above the surface of the green.  Add to that the fact that some how static electricity would build up as you walked, and the metal cups would actually shock you as you picked up your ball and you look forward to being done.

We had a few hours to kill before our next commitment, so we went back to the bus to get warmer clothing and to eat dinner.  Traci fried up one of the packages of buffalo burgers for dinner, and I have to say without hesitation that it was one of the best burgers I have had in my entire life!  I loved it!  I am so excited that we have lots more in the freezer. 

We ventured out around 8:00 PM to go back to Mt. Rushmore for their 9:00 PM patriotic ceremony.  We really didn’t know what to expect, other than the fact that the mountain would be lit up at night, but we went with great anticipation.  On the way in and up from the car, we saw many more people streaming toward the mountain than we had seen earlier in the day.  The throngs of people intensified the anticipation, because we felt like we weren’t the only ones there.  Thomas and I even went ahead to make sure we got good seats before the show started.

Fortunately there were only about 1,000 people there and the place held 3,500.  We certainly benefited from being there “off-season” this time!  As the natural light faded and the artificial light took over, the Ranger came out with his microphone and told everyone what to expect for the evening.  Now that the country is on Daylight Savings Time and the sun is going down later, it is well past 9:00 pm by the time it’s dark.  I guess we’ll know just how late it gets in about two weeks when the first day of summer hits. 

OK.  I have a trivia test for you:  without looking, who are the four presidents on the face of Mt. Rushmore?  I’ll give you 15 seconds to think about it.  OK.  Time’s up.  Who are they?  Washington?  Right.  Lincoln?  Right.  Jefferson?  Right again.  Hmmm…who is the forth one?  Teddy Roosevelt.  Really?  Where does he fit in?  I mean you’ve got to have Washington, because he was the father of our country.  You have to add in Jefferson, because he sent out Lewis and Clark and presided over the expansion of the country.  I think we all agree that Lincoln earned that spot by keeping the country together during its darkest years.  Traci and I asked each other “why Roosevelt?”  The beginning of the Ranger’s talk focused on patriotism and personal sacrifice for one’s country.  It was a very moving talk, and honestly, it made me feel a bit lazy.  It made me feel like I should have already done something great with my life to warrant my place in this wonderful land of ours.  He then transitioned into Roosevelt’s life story.  Yes, Teddy was quite the guy, and he was an avid conservationist.  I believe he was the guy who set aside the land that is now Yellowstone for future generations. 

But did that put him in the top four?  We were still puzzled, even after the Ranger took 30 minutes of the program to sell us on Teddy’s accomplishments.  Well, Traci looked at a book in the Visitor’s Center about Rushmore that told the real story:  Teddy and the guy who designed and executed the Mt. Rushmore project, Borglum, were good friends.  Ahhhh, it’s not what do you, but who you know that gets you places! 

After his speech on Roosevelt, they played a movie made about the monument showing its inception, building and profiles on each of the presidents.  Once that was done, the Ranger had everyone who had served in our armed forces to come down to the stage.  While they took down the American Flag, they lit up the face of the mountain with huge flood lights.  Here is what it looked like.  (Picture 4)  It was very impressive, and a little spooky.  After they brought the flag down, they handed the flag across each of the 35 men who came out of the audience.  Each one of them said their name, branch of service and what theatre of operations in which they served.  It was very solemn and very touching.  There was one man there from WWII, and there were people representing every major era since WWII.  There were even a few servicemen currently serving in Iraq!  It was incredible, and I’ll never forget it.  They got a long standing ovation from the crowd and there were quite a few people wiping their eyes.  If you ever find yourself in Western South Dakota, please make it a point to go to Rushmore.  It’s not as big in size as you think from the pictures, but the story makes it a gigantic pillar in American history.  We returned to the bus and collapsed into bed. 

Friday, 6-2-06; 85 and Sunny:  Trip to Crazy Horse, Bear Country and Dinner in Hill City

I worked most of the business day today while Traci and Thomas relaxed.  Traci wanted to get out of the bus around three PM, and we made it right on the dot.  It was 5:00 PM in Indy, and that made me happy.  It was an enjoyable day for BrayTel.  I have decided since June marks the end of the trip, I am not driving myself to close everything in sight.  I’m just going to go with the flow and not work quite as hard this month, and just see what happens.  I used that philosophy today and I had a great time.  New opportunities are popping up, and I’m nurturing them along.  I know my July will be as hectic as probably any work month in my life, so I’m not going to stress out about June.

We drove back out toward Mt. Rushmore, but didn’t go there today.  We first stopped at Bear Country, a real drive-through zoo.  We had seen it the day before, but decided not to go at that time.  Yes, it’s not as legitimate as finding the animals in the wild or at Yellowstone, but we saved about 10 hours of driving and had a blast doing it, so it was worth it!  Today was the day, and the camera was charged and ready.  The place has the largest black bear population in captivity in the nation.  All of their bears are offspring of the original few they started with in 1972.  They also have elk (complete with antlers), arctic wolves, sheep, goats and some other animals whose names I forget.  We started off by driving around the elk, and to our surprise, we realized that one of the “moose” I had taken pictures of in Yellowstone was actually a large elk which had not yet lost its antlers.  What a hoot!  We got some great shots of the wolf and big horn sheep up close and personal.  Please enjoy.

We then entered the gates of “bear country”.  There were present about 75 of their 200 black bears, of all shapes, sizes and colors.  Did you know that black bears’ fur varies in shade just like humans?  Some are actually blond!  I thought they were small grizzlies.  We learn something every day!  These bears are domesticated, to a point.  They do NOT suggest you leave your windows open, and they forbid any feeding of the population.  We could open the windows briefly as long as the animals were far away, so we got some great shots.  The bears’ appearance did give off an air similar to the way they are portrayed in cartoons, but we knew there was incredible power behind that goofy face!  We just enjoyed the relative safety of being in our vehicles while surrounded by scores of bears.  It was indeed a unique experience, and we were very glad we went.  I do have one picture I have to share with you that has caused much laughter and discussion in the Bray Bushold. 

Yes, that bear is scratching his back on a tree and sticking his tongue out.  It was hysterical!

We then got out of the car at the small animal viewing area, and got our fill of baby animals, including wolves and bear cubs.  Here is one particular picture I had to share of the wolf cubs.  We just wanted to reach out and pet them! 

  And, one just as touching of two bear cubs playing together.

  The park is self-sufficient and doesn’t receive any government funding.  The bears have all been birthed in the park for decades, and the young are raised together similar to a primary school system.  It was very cool.  We highly recommend it as part of your family vacation to Rushmore.

After seeing da’ bears, we drove on to Crazy Horse, SD.  One of our dear friends told us we must go see this statue being carved out of a mountain.  The guy who started it did so shortly after Mt. Rushmore was finished in 1948.  He worked on it alone for many years, blasting and picking away at the granite face of the mountain.  The project is still underway, long after his death in 1982.  7 of his 10 children still work on the project along with his widow.  It has all been privately funded as a tribute to the spirit of the Native Americans.  Had it not been for that good friend, I don’t think I would have ventured the extra 20 miles and spent the dough to go see the place.  However, once I was there, it changed the way I feel about the word commitment.

Regardless of your level of respect for the plight of the American Indian, this place will teach you about commitment far beyond this man’s inspiration for a tribute like Mt. Rushmore.  The Indians had seen his work and asked him to create a tribute to Crazy Horse, one of the more famous Indian Warriors of the time.  He felt their pain and decided to commit his life and that of his family’s to this vision.  It’s been in progress for almost 60 years and they expect it has at least 20 more to go.  That is commitment.  They twice turned down government funding of $10 million dollars on the project.  That is commitment.  Before he died, he wrote up hundreds of pages of schematics, calculations and diagrams for its completion.  That is commitment.  When it is finished, the four busts in Mt. Rushmore would have fit in a small part of the Indian’s flowing hair.  That’s how big it is.  8 million tons of granite has been excavated thus far.  Many more tons of it will need to be removed before they will be finished.  That is commitment.  After the tribute is complete, they plan to develop the area in front of the monument which will include a Native American cultural center, including a small town and an Indian University.  I said earlier that I felt like I hadn’t yet done anything with my life up to now.  This experience has convinced me that I can do something significant.  This trip was the first step in that process. 

After we left Crazy Horse, we drove back down Highway 16 toward Hill City, which is the small town between Crazy Horse and Rapid City.  We looked for a restaurant at which to stop for dinner.  We used our normal measuring stick in unfamiliar areas:  which parking lot is the busiest.  We found a great little diner called Route 16 Diner and Pizzaria.  The place was packed.  When you make your family trip to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, do yourself a favor and stop there.  If you like pizza and diner food, you’ll not soon forget the place!  We ordered a Hawaiian pizza and Thomas got a hamburger, ketchup only, and a chocolate shake.  We were overwhelmed by the sight and smell of our wonderful ham and pineapple pizza being set before us.  It was not deep dish, but it was a bit thicker than normal hand tossed.  I immediately asked for a to-go box, because I knew we would not be able to consume the “small” pizza we had ordered.  It taste better than it smelled, and Traci and I really enjoyed the meal.  I was worried that Thomas wouldn’t eat his burger because they brought him the shake immediately and he had drunk most of it by the time the food arrived.  Fortunately the burger was so good that he ate the entire thing before he finished his shake!

We departed en route to the bus very full and very happy.  The food was reasonably priced, and of the best quality.  We highly recommend it.  Two thumbs up!  We had another late night tonight, but tomorrow is Saturday and a drive day, so we have no reason to get up any earlier than we want to.

Saturday, 6-3-06; 90 and Sunny:  One Year Anniversary of the Trip!  Drive to Interior, SD with a stop at Wall Drug

Yes, if you look back at the very beginning of this trip, it started on June 3rd, 2005.  We have now been on the road for one solid year!!!  What is funny is that we stayed up very late last night after a late night out, and didn’t end up getting to bed until around 1:00 am SD time, or 3:00 am Indiana time.  LAST YEAR, at exactly the same time, we stayed up until about 3:00 am Indiana time for a VERY different reason.  Last year we were packing up the house, throwing stuff away, and cleaning.  We were moving clothes, dishes and food from the house to the bus.  Thomas had gone to sleep hours before in the bus, but Traci and I burned the midnight oil to get everything done.  We were bidding farewell to the home in which we had lived for three years, and stepping out into our new home and the open road.  It was a stressful, emotional time, but one full of promise and adventure.  We didn’t know how we would pull it off, but we stepped out on faith and trusted that God would pull us through.

One year later we are different people.  Yeah, we still look pretty much the same, with the exception of my mid-section and Thomas’s entire body.  We still sound the same when we speak, but we say vastly different things than we did a year ago.  Traci is putting the finishing touches on what I expect to be a best-selling book, and she is preparing to dive into a new business venture that was born out of our experience buying a home on the road.

Thomas is twice the boy he was when we took him out of HSE last February.  He is growing, smart and healthy.  He has grown several inches and packed on over 25 pounds.  He has hiked more mountains in the past year than the average adult ever does in their lifetime.  He reads more in a week than most of us do in a year.  He misses his old friends, but is looking forward to making new ones.  He has stories to tell, but doesn’t overwhelm people with them.  We are very proud of our son, and we are confidant that he will succeed very well in his new environment.

I think I have changed the least of the three of us, except for my belly.  I have read much more in the past year than I ever did before, that’s for sure.  I have a different idea of the word challenge and the word commitment.  I think I underestimated what was possible in my old life.  I intend on using what I have learned on this trip to not only benefit my family, but my customers and business partners as well.  God helped me pull off what most people think is impossible.  It was impossible, until I did it.  God helped me do it, that’s for sure, and I know he’ll help me do bigger and better things in the future.  It’s just a matter of faith, and of action.  I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next year!  Our planned date of return to “normal” life in Indianapolis is June 16th, 2006.  That will be the last day I will post my blog.  It will be a relief, but it will also be a sad day for all of us.

OK, back to the show.  We left Rapid City this morning, with a sigh.  We loved the time we spent there, and there was MUCH more to do than we had imagined.  We felt like we did everything we wanted to do, and we were worn out doing it!  We hit the road (without our mail) around 11:00 am en route to Interior, SD.  Wall, SD with its famous Wall Drug Store was on the way, so we pulled in and walked around a bit.  The place is famous, and has been for some time.  I guess a very smart couple purchased the drug store decades ago and were frustrated by the lack of traffic coming off of Route 16.  So, they put a sign out advertising free ice water, and the next thing they knew they were famous.  They have grown to a full city block of Americana, featuring every type of department a store can offer to a full restaurant to a mechanical dinosaur.  Traci really enjoyed looking at the historical pictures, because she finally got to visualize some aspects of Christian historical fiction stories she has read on the trip.  It was very cool. 

Traci got a pair of sandals for which she had been searching, and I got a pin.  We re-boarded our private tour bus and continued the 30 miles east to Interior.  As we pulled off of I90, we noticed that Interior (population 67) was 15 miles south of the highway and that the Badlands National Park was only 5.  Hmmm, did that mean that the KOA was inside of the park?  Nope.  The park was much smaller than other National Parks we have been to, so we just drove through the park and out the south entrance into Interior.  The KOA was easy to find so we got in, paid for our three nights, and set up camp. 

Traci and I discovered that we needed a few grocery items so we got in Speedy and drove “up town” to the local grocery store.  I guess you could call it a grocery store.  Do you remember the story about Lone Pine, CA?  They had a tiny little grocery store with prices twice that of other stores?  This place made the Lone Pine store look like a Super Wal Mart!  If they had a gas pump, I would call it a convenience store, but they didn’t sell gas.  Their “business district” consisted of two stores, the grocery and an Indian Craft Outlet.  That alone made us laugh, because of the term “outlet”.  Was that opposed to the Indian Craft Retail Store?  And to make things worse, the Indian Craft Outlet was for sale!  Fortunately they had what we needed, so we stocked up (the prices were lower than in Lone Pine) and decided to take a drive around to see the sight(s).  What we discovered was that there weren’t any sights.  We drove all around town, and they didn’t even have a single stop sign, let alone a stop light! 

We decided to go see the park tomorrow, and to end it there.  Fortunately there is a town of 6,000 prairie dogs about 10 miles from here, and that is the one animal I have yet to get a good picture of on this trip (outside of a zoo that is).  I asked at the Visitors’ Center if I needed a powerful zoom lens to get good shots of them, and they laughed.  I guess there are so many you can get all of the pictures you want without the good camera gear.  So, our plan is to go there tomorrow morning before it gets warm, see the rest of the park by car (thus far not impressive compared to where we have been) and retire to the bus.  We went to the office tonight to shorten our stay by one day, so our plans are to leave here Monday morning instead of Tuesday, and to add that day on to our stop in Minneapolis.  That place seems like another planet from where we are now!

Sunday, 6-4-06; 90 and Sunny:  Badlands National Park

Yes, 90 degrees.  We got up early and ate breakfast so we could hit the road and do our hiking before it got too hot.  Once we hit the Visitors’ center and got our pin and map, we decided to start the day with a visit to a prairie dog town.  This place was home to 6,000 prairie dogs!  Who could pass that up?  As the lady was showing us where to fund the furry little creatures, she off-handedly mentioned a “short” dirt road.  In my enthusiasm, we snapped up the information and headed out.  It probably took us about 15-20 minutes to find our turn, and that’s when we hit the dirt road.  Do you remember my story of driving Speedy over a desert road in Barstow, CA?  This road was almost exactly like it, complete with the little wind-whipped ripples in the dirt that gave Speedy fits!  I had learned a bit about how best to drive on this terrain, but it still wasn’t easy.  We kept saying to each other that this would probably be the LAST dirt road for Speedy on this trip!

We found the town.  I guess if you were a prairie dog you would call it a town, but it was more like a field of small humps.  It was prairie dog heaven.  Once our eyes got adjusted, we could see movement all over the horizon as the little critters came out of their holes, stood up, looked around, chirped and dove back into their holes.  It was wonderful for a nature lover like me.  The one difficulty I had was getting a good close up of one of the little fur balls.  Well, this lady in a big pickup truck took care of that for me!  She pulled up to the left of us, rolled down the window and started throwing the dogs food!  We were appalled and could not believe someone was doing that in a national park!  However, I was able to get some good shots of the crime.  Please enjoy. 

With our fill of prairie dogs (and the last animal checked off of my list), we ventured out for some human activities.  We ventured out to a trailhead for Saddle Pass, a half mile “strenuous” trail.  We wondered how a trail of only 2,600 feet could be strenuous.  Hmm.  Could it be that the trail was almost entirely up hill?  Could it be that we gained 450 feet in elevation in 2,600 feet of trail?  We were actually beat by the time we reached the top.  My ego told me it was no problem, but my legs and lungs were begging to differ.  We finally made it up, and enjoyed the view, but did not enjoy the trip back down the hill.  Unfortunately the dry weather and loose dirt created somewhat of a “sand slide” back down the hill.  Water slides are fun, sand slides aren’t!  Thomas just squatted down and slid on his feet and butt most of the way down the hill.  Traci and I really could not duplicate that, so we did our best.  Traci almost biffed it a few times, but we made it down in one piece.

We had lunch at the famous Cedar Pass Lodge.  We didn’t know it was famous, but our research (reading the menu) revealed that the place opened in 1928 (the year of my Dad’s birth) and has been a big draw for almost 80 years.  The lodge actually pre-dates the road!  In the old days throngs of people actually walked there to dance in their huge dance hall.  They have pictures all over the place of people beating a path to their front door.  We went into the gift shop and found Fathers’ Day gifts for both Dads…what a relief!  We bid farewell to that historic place and ventured out to the Notch Trail.  This one was a “moderate” hike that promised uncompromising views of the Badlands.  As we walked, I kept stopping to take pictures of flowers, plants and birds.  My family is really tired of me doing that!  We climbed up sort of a ladder/stairway to reach the top of the canyon wall to continue the hike.  Once we turned the corner, Traci made a motion of something up ahead.  It was a full grown mountain goat!  He made a wide arc around us and took off running.    Once we got past him, we made it up to the big vista point.  I don’t know if this will be as impressive on the web site as it was to us, but here you go anyway. 

We made our way back to Speedy and decided to go back to the bus and chill.  The temps were climbing, and we were done.  We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and getting our chores done for the drive to Mitchell and out of the Badlands. 

Monday, 6-5-06; 85 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Mitchell, SD, Visit to the Corn Palace

Any time we mentioned South Dakota to anyone they told us two things:  Go to the Wall Drug store and go to the Corn Palace.  Well, we did the Wall Drug thing, and now it’s time for the Corn Palace.  Since I didn’t have cell coverage in Interior, we got up and got out pretty early.  Little did I know that I would be trading one technology for another!  When we got to Mitchell, I had no Internet!  The RV Park said they had it, but I couldn’t log on for anything.  So, what did we do?  We drove to Culver’s Restaurant (the custard and food place) and ate dinner and pulled email.  Their access was blazing fast, and it was free…until the lightening hit!

Yes, lightening!  As we were pulling into the RV Park, the owner met us at our bus (first time in a year) and the first thing out of his mouth was that we were under a tornado watch.  As we walked into the office, he gave us directions on where to go and what to do in the event of a tornado.  Wow!  We have been through two hurricanes on this trip, but no tornado.  At first I thought he was kidding, but he quickly corrected me.  We figured if the bus got destroyed but we were all safe, it would at least relieve us of the task of renting it out after the trip was complete.  We got set up and realized we were hungry, so the trip to Culver’s was not just for work.

As the cold front moved in, lightening bolts began falling all around us and one of them hit something that instantly took out the Internet connection just as I was sending my last email.  With that, I packed up and we finished dinner with a peanut butter “concrete” (like a blizzard) and a trip into the giant Super Wal Mart next door.  The store executives were standing outside looking at the oncoming storm, but they didn’t seem too concerned.  Once inside I heard on the radio that the watch had been changed to a warning and that a tornado had touched down north of our position but the storm was heading due east.  That meant we were OK. 

With our shopping finished, we peeked gingerly out the front doors of the store and were happy to see bright sunshine and not a cloud around us.  We were relieved as we packed up the car and went back to the campground.  Once we unpacked the groceries, we decided to go find the Corn Palace and see what the excitement was about.  The Corn Palace is a combination tourist attraction, basketball court, civic center and gigantic bird feeder.  They originally built it was a ploy to try to get the capitol of SD moved to Mitchell.  That didn’t work, so they now use it for everything else.  Each year they decorate the outside of the building with all kinds of farm products:  wheat, grass, corn, rye straw, and sour dock (what ever that is).  They start the process each June with the new grass harvest, and finish it in August with the corn harvest.  It is their claim to fame, and they are proud of it!  You have to be careful while standing in front of it, because the flocks of birds that use it as their dinner have pretty good aim!  Being that I grew up around farms and corn fields, the sight of the place impressed me because of the artistic beauty.  If I were a “city slicker’ I would be amazed what can be done with food!  Please enjoy these pictures. 

We purchased some popcorn—still on the ear—and popped it in the microwave in the bus, and all in all it came out just great.  It was the first time any of us had done that and I would say it was a successful try.  It taste like air popped popcorn since no oil was used.  We followed it up with a bag of the other kind and enjoyed it while playing cards.  Tomorrow we leave SD for this trip and hit our one stepping stone to Minneapolis.  One step closer to home!

Tuesday, 6-6-06; 85 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Jackson, MN, Campfire

What a quiet day!  There is nothing like having to TV what so ever to keep things chilled out.  We got up and drove from Mitchell, SD to Jackson, MN today—about a three hour drive.  My Sprint connection AND my cell phone work here, which is a great thing.  I don’t realize how dependent I am on the Internet until I can’t use it for a couple of days.

This afternoon and evening was occupied by work, email, writing, reading, eating and having a camp fire.  Tomorrow we head north east to Minneapolis and the famed Mall of America.  Traci is primed and ready, and Thomas and I don’t have a clue as to what we are going to do for four days.  I guess we’ll find out!  We have ten days left in the trip.  Amazing!

Wednesday, 6-7-06; 87 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Minneapolis, Preview of MOA

We got up and got out quickly today so we could maximize work and shopping time for Traci.  June is shaping up to be an excellent month.  The first week was quiet, but I’ve been busy digging up new opportunities.  I expect the last day of the month will be out of control with appointments and meetings.  We plan to close on the house that Tuesday, which will put even more pressure on the time line.  Oh, well.  We’ll be ready by the time we get there!

The three hour drive from Jackson to Minneapolis actually went very quickly.  One of the challenges of driving a big rig like this is that you never know what the roads are going to look like once you get there.  Even the Interstates aren’t always a guaranteed easy drive.  Some are worse than the norm, and that makes for a difficult day when driving this far.  We had to decide between taking what looked like rural highways and having a shorter drive, and taking I90 and having more miles.  We discussed it between us and decided to take the back roads.  Fortunately the highways we were on were very similar to IN37.  That was a huge relief, and we were able to make great time on our trip north.  We arrived in Minneapolis in mid-afternoon and set up camp quickly.  It was almost 90 degrees in Minnesota!  We couldn’t believe it.  We hope it’s not a repeat of last summer where that 90 degree monster kept following us everywhere we went!

I caught up on work and we were able to take a trial run at the Mall of America.  I doubt I have to explain what the MOA is, but just in case you don’t know, Simon (based in Indy) built the largest mall in the country in Minneapolis.  It has a small amusement park right in the middle of it.  They have about 30 rides and games in the large atrium area overlooked by multiple food courts on the upper level.  The mall has over 400 stores and employs over 12,000 people!  The first two floors of the gigantic structure are mainly clothes-related.  The third floor has more of a mixture of products from a huge book warehouse to more kids’ stuff and two giant food courts.  The forth floor used to be stocked with bars and restaurants, but they suffered the same fate as the ones on the forth floor of Circle Center Mall in Indy, helped out by a newly passed smoking ban.  The only business left on the forth floor, like Indy’s UA theatre, is a huge AMC movie theatre. 

We walked around the mall for a while, and Traci made her appointments for the upcoming days.  We did a little shopping and went back to the bus.  We only have nine days left!

Thursday, 6-8-06; 80 and Sunny:  Work, Traci’s Full Day at MOA

I worked a full day today while Thomas read one of his new books we got at the mall last night.  Traci enjoyed her first full day of retail therapy spending the entire day going around the first floor of the complex!

She got her hair done and she was extremely happy with the results.  That was indeed a relief!  She has grown her hair out for most of the trip, and this was the first time in about 9 months that anyone has touched it.  It looked awesome.  Her friends will be shocked when we get back. 

After work, Thomas and I joined her at the mall for dinner and some shopping.  I did a little damage at the Gap and Eddie Bauer to catch up on my school clothes too.  We have both come to the conclusion that campground clothes aren’t very impressive in the professional world. 

We retired back to the bus for TV and bedtime.  8 days left!

Friday, 6-9-06; 69 and Cloudy:  Work, 3nd Trip to MOA

I worked another full day today, which was a relief because a big deal came in and I have another one cued up for Monday.  June is picking up steam, and I am very excited and feel very blessed for being able to take this trip and grow my business alone the way. 

After work and more reading, Thomas and I joined Traci at the mall for dinner again.  She had completed her rounds on the 2nd floor and had all but finished her shopping.  She was extremely happy with what she accomplished, and I have to agree with her.  Fortunately they don’t charge any state sales tax at the MOA, so we saved a bit of cash.  I followed up on my shopping from Thursday and added some shoes to my collection.  Trace was very happy with my new kicks, and I like them too.  After wrapping up our marathon shopping trip to MOA, we relaxed in the bus.  One more week!

Saturday, 6-10-06; 65 and Raining:  MOA Wrap Up and Cars

We took one last trip to MOA as a family so we could ride some of the rides in the main area of the mall.  We all rode the larger of the two rollercoasters, and Traci and Thomas followed up with other rides while I went to the forth floor to purchase Cars tickets for the 2:15 pm show. 

2:15 rolled around and we were in our seats for one of the most anticipated films of the year.  Pixar and Disney started this movie years ago before the two companies ended their marketing relationship under the leadership of Michael Eisner.  Once Eisner was booted out, the new CEO reached out to Steve Jobs after the release of Chicken Little back in November.  Chicken Little’s success helped grease the skids, and eventually Pixar and Disney decided it would be best to merge.  As a stockholder and a parent, I could not be more thrilled about that decision.

Disney has been promoting Cars for at least a couple of years now in short little snips during the coming attractions at movie theatres.  Only this year did they start with the incredibly effective marketing machine that makes Disney the leader in their industry.  After seeing all of the hype and now seeing the movie, I have to say the hype really didn’t do it justice.  For some reason they all but left out the NASCAR tie-ins when advertising the movie.  They stuck to the relationship aspect of the star with the resident Porsche.  This movie is going to be a smash hit, not just because it’s a cartoon about cars, but because of what I call the “Shrek Factor”.  They spent years making this film, and the results speak for themselves.  There are hundreds of one liners in this movie, and they did a huge spoof of NASCAR.  The NASCAR fans will LOVE this movie.  There were tons of guest appearances of famous race car drivers and celebrities with car-related names.  It was like back when famous people would guest star on the Flintstones and their names would be changed.  Every single NASCAR fan with or without children will not only go see this one, but they’ll probably buy a copy for their kids.  It was that good.

We loved it, except for the fact that the theatre was populated with inconsiderate parents who thought it would be a good idea to bring their toddlers to the movie.  After about 25 minutes, they all started screaming and running around, which should be expected.  The movie was over two hours long.  It doesn’t matter that it’s a bright colorful cartoon.  No child under the age of five will sit still for anything for more than 30 minutes.  Fortunately I have the wonderful ability to tune out any crying child that isn’t my own but Traci and Thomas were thoroughly irritated and considered leaving before the film was over.  We’re all glad they didn’t.  I would have had to stand up and scream “shut up” if it meant keeping my family in the theatre!  No one knew us.  I would have done it.

Now, I need to tell you something about the end of the film.  Once the main film is over, do NOT get up and leave.  Please do yourself a favor and sit and watch the credits.  They are similar to Ferris Bueler’s Day Off where the story continues after the movie is over.  It was a scream.  We were very glad we stayed, and we look forward to many more Pixar/Disney films. 

After the movie we ate dinner at Bubba Gump’s and stuffed ourselves on shrimp.  Traci has coconut shrimp, Thomas had a burger (his new universal favorite—great news for Mom and Dad) and I devoured shrimp fajitas.  Everything was awesome and we waddled over to Cold Stone Creamery to put the finishing touch on our visit to the Mall of America.  Some had told us it was to die for, some had said it was just another mall.  We’ll have to put it somewhere in between.  We humbly offer our evaluation at an 8 on a scale of 10.  It’s worth going to, but we probably won’t drive the nine hours to go back, until our next RV trip around the country....

We returned to the bus through the police-infested MN 13 South—I almost got busted twice for speeding, but was spared, thanks be to God—and returned back to the bus.  The funny part about our haul is that we didn’t have room in our closet for all of the new clothes, so we had to pack our suitcases with stuff and put them back in the basement.  We won’t even see our new stuff until we move into the house, except for the shoes.  Tomorrow is a drive day—about four hours—so we did our last day chores and went to bed.  Six more days until Indy.

Sunday, 6-11-06; 65 and Cloudy:  Drive from Minneapolis to the Wisconsin Dells

Yes, we’re one more step closer to home.  We got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road before 11:00 am.  The drive from Minneapolis to Wisconsin Dells, WI took about four hours.  It wasn’t a bad drive.  I94 was rough in spots, and there were a couple of lane closures, but traffic was light, and we made good time.  We stopped for lunch along with the way and took advantage of a Wal Mart Supercenter with a Subway inside.  We must have caught them on a good day, because the sandwiches were awesome.

We arrived in Wisconsin around 4:00 PM and relaxed and wrote the entire evening.  This will be a hectic week, so this is a much needed respite!  Five more days in the trip.  I’m just shaking my head!

Monday, 6-12-06; 76 and Partly Cloudy:  Work and Wisconsin Dells:  Wizard Quest, and Duck Ride

I got up and worked for a few hours this morning.  I don’t expect June to be a big month for BrayTel, but I want to make sure I continue to take care of my customers so they don’t feel neglected.  Fortunately I was able to do that.  Once Thomas and Traci got up and got ready, we headed out to see what was in Wisconsin Dells, WI. 

Our best description of Wisconsin Dells is a tourist attraction, pure and simple.  There is shopping, yes, but the rest of it is all fun.  They have several water-related theme parks, and lots of wooden rollercoasters around town.  It was not quite hot enough to hit the water parks, and we know we’re going to Chicago next, so we didn’t have a big appetite for wooden coasters, so we did other, somewhat unusual things.

Once we scouted the place out, we decided to indulge Thomas on our first activity:  Wizard Quest.  You’re probably wondering what Wizard Quest is.  So was I, and the information on their website really didn’t describe it either.  So, I did the next best thing and called.  That didn’t help either.  They were very elusive, like they were trying not to divulge a secret.  Oh, well, Thomas was sold and on we went.  Traci opted out (good idea) and decided to do some window shopping instead.  The weather was perfect for that activity.

We entered the place and paid about $20 apiece to get our stuff.  We went through a short explanatory video put on by the Wizards who were captured and imprisoned in the place.  Once that was done we were set loose, with a 90 minute time limit.  It was essentially a two story Discovery Zone complete with tunnels, slides and towers which was great for the kids but rough on the parents.  The place was decorated in medieval scenery and buildings and each area (fire, ice, water and earth) had hidden in it a couple of dozen clues written on plaques, walls and inside of puzzles.  As we went go through the place we had to answer the questions on the card they gave us at the door.  When we had some answers, we logged on to computers in the main area and answered the questions.  We were awarded points for each correct answer, and once we built up 200-250 points, we could “release” a captured wizard.  The good news was when we released a wizard, we got 150 points, which took us almost back to where we were, which made it easier.  The bad news was we only found two of the four wizards!  They had the other two so cleverly hidden in the scenery that we never did locate them.  By the time 100 minutes (we got a 10 minute bonus) was up, I was exhausted, Thomas was mad and Traci was wondering where the heck we were!

So, we went out of the dark building into the blinding Wisconsin sun and formulated a plan for our next move.  We decided to try one of the Wisconsin Ducks after lunch at Culvers.  In case you don’t remember, we rode the Super Ducks in Philly last summer and learned lots of great information about the area, and we were looking forward to learning about this area.  Well, these weren’t Super Ducks!  The Duck picked us up in front of Wizard Quest and took us out to the Duck launching area.  We then rode around this Duck for an hour bored out of our sculls.  We were SO disappointed!  The driver was a young gal who knew a little about the history of the area, but mainly just told bad jokes.  Very bad jokes.  After about the 25th bad joke, we just wanted it to be over.  Yes, we learned a few tidbits along the way, but she was more excited about the two deer sightings than sharing the history of the area. 

We were very hungry and tired at that point and decided to go back to the bus and have dinner and relax. 

Tuesday, 6-13-06; 78 and Sunny:  Work, Horseback Riding, Pirates Cove Mini Golf, and Rick Wilcox Magic Show

I got up early and put out a few fires prior to pursuing our activities for the day.  Traci needed to get some chores done so Thomas and I decided to make our planned horse back ride a boys’ day out.  We drove out to the south side of town in search of the stable.  Unfortunately there was lots of construction in the area, including the access road to the stables.  I got lost for a few minutes but finally found my way to the place. 

To contrast the experience between Mt. Rushmore and Wisconsin Dells would be similar to the Ducks experience yesterday.  The facilities housing the horses here were beautiful.  The process of loading and unloading was extremely easy, and not at all a problem.  However, the trail guide appeared to be a college student on summer vacation who would much rather have been somewhere else.  Thomas’ horse was a gorgeous white quarter horse with brown spots all over his body.  It looked like he had run through a huge mud puddle early in life and the mud never washed off.  Mine was just a normal horse, although not nearly as lazy as the horse I had ridden at Rushmore.  The ride was boring.  We only had four people in our group, so we got only one guide.  He didn’t say much the entire hour with the exception of pointing out two deer in the woods.  Outside of the pure enjoyment of sitting atop a horse for an hour, this ride paled in comparison to the fun we had in Rushmore. 

We traded in our saddles for car keys and headed back to the bus where Traci was waiting with open arms.  She was done with her chores, so we ventured out in search of golf balls.  Mini-golf would be our next activity, and where better to golf than at Pirates Cove AAAAAARRRRRRG.  It was probably the 5th or 6th Pirates Cove of the trip, but that didn’t make it any less exciting!  Traci provided the scenery as Thomas and I duked it out on the links.  We had a good time, but as is PAR for the course (sorry, had to say that) Thomas got tired of it and started horsing around.  We made it through all right but were ready for dinner.  We ate at a nearby Cracker Barrel—always a good choice—and killed some time before the big magic show.

One of the wonderful things about being places either off-season or pre-season, which we were in Wisconsin in early June, was that many of the most popular attractions were not busy.  We decided to take in the big Rick Wilcox magic show in town because we chose not to go to one (actually Thomas nixed it) in Vegas.  No, Rick Wilcox is not Vegas material, but he was just what the Bray family needed in the Wisconsin Dells.  I ordered tickets on line hoping that the seats would be good.  They were.  We had third row center.  Rick Wilcox and his somewhat dramatic wife team up to astound audiences of all ages with their humor and “impossible” feats of illusion.  It had been probably 20 years since I had seen a live magic show and I have to say I was ready to “catch” him doing his stuff.  I could tell he was very experienced in his work, because he knew exactly what I was thinking and had built that skepticism into his show.  Each time I would think I figured out his illusion, the next step in the routine would be to prove me wrong.  I had to admit to myself (and my family) that I was 100% fooled.  I don’t know how he did any of those tricks, and that’s the way it should be.  We just love to see someone do their “thing”, what ever that is.  This was their thing, and they were very good at it.  It was extremely fun and Traci and Thomas had a blast too.  Thomas was in one of those moments when he forgot about himself and just laughed like a kid again.  It was awesome.  I’m glad I was there to see that.  Those moments are not quite as plentiful as they used to be.  We highly recommend the show to anyone visiting the area. 

We went back to the bus to prepare for our departure to Milwaukee on Wednesday.  This was our second to last stop on the trip. 

Wednesday, 6-14-06; 74 and Cloudy:  Work, Drive to Milwaukee, WI

Since the drive to Milwaukee was only two hours, I had plenty of time to work today to get caught up on some much needed stuff.  Our destination was the Wisconsin State Fairground RV Park in the heart of Milwaukee.  The site was cheap and clean, although it was not gated and it bordered on a questionable part of town.  Oh, well, it was only for one night.  Once we landed there, we set up camp and I got caught up on work.  After work, we headed down to the water front where we would meet my brother and sister-in-law after they got off work. 

The water front was not quite as impressive as Chicago’s Navy Pier nor any of the other ocean-side locations we’ve visited over the past year.  We walked about a mile and decided we were bored so we retreated to a very cool coffee shop nearby and had a chai while we waited for my brother.  They showed up shortly thereafter and we drove into the down town area to have dinner at a restaurant/brewpub.  We had a really nice time with my brother and his wife Peggy.  We got caught up on all of the different family comings and goings, which was a good precursor to our arrival back in Indy for Father’s Day. 

There is one thing I need to say about restaurants in Wisconsin that just shocked me.  My brother told me that if Thomas had ordered a beer, they would have served him, at 10 years old!  I don’t know if I have just been under a rock all of these years, but I had no idea Wisconsin doesn’t have a drinking age!  As long as a child is with their parents, they can order alcohol at a restaurant.  My brother said that it isn’t unusual to see families out on Sunday after church and everyone in the family is drinking beer!  He said almost every restaurant has its own brew house built-in because people drink so much!  He said there isn’t anything else to do during the long winters, so the alcohol flows.  I was just shocked.  I had no idea.  Just for the record, Thomas didn’t order a beer.  I think it would have been funny to order him one and take a picture, but I didn’t bring my camera.

After dinner we returned to the bus to prepare for the last stop on our trip, Six Flags in Chicago. 

Thursday, 6-15-06; 80 and Sunny:  Work, Drive to Gurnee, IL, Six Flags Great America, Shopping and Final Drive to Indianapolis!

We got up early and ate breakfast while I got caught up on work.  Construction around Milwaukee was the most difficult through which I drove the entire trip.  They had detour after detour, and almost every main artery was closed.  What should have taken 30 minutes in normal circumstances took at least an hour.  We finally shot south on I94 toward Illinois.  Fortunately Milwaukee and Gurnee, IL are only about an hour apart.  We arrived at the huge outlet mall and laid out a game plan. 

We decided to park the bus and car at Six Flags and go tame some coasters.  It was hot today, but we left a couple of windows open and hit the exhaust fan to keep the circulation going.  The last time we were at this park Thomas was too young to ride the big rides, so he tacked them with a vengeance.  We rode the Raging Bull, the Iron Wolf, and Batman but had to bag Superman’s Ultimate Flight because the ride broke down.  With eating at Papa Johns and the lines, we were there about 3-4 hours.  Since we had an annual pass and this visit was free, we didn’t feel bad about leaving without riding Superman.  We’ll be back!

We hit the mall and found some pretty cool stuff for me, although Traci didn’t find anything.  Thomas was bored, but fortunately he brought a book along.  We ate dinner at Steak N Shake and started south.  We had originally planned to stop in Merrillville to boon dock at the Super Wal Mart there, but for some reason I just felt like driving.  I have made that drive probably a hundred times in my life, and I just wanted to get to Indy.  Fortunately the drive was eventless, and the oh, so familiar towns just clicked by.  We hit severe construction on the NW side of Indy, but traffic was light, so we made it through quickly.

Our new destination was the Wal Mart at I69 and 96th St.  We pulled into the well lit parking lot at about Midnight, and collapsed.  We checked the site carefully and put out the slides for some much needed rest.  When we attempted to put the drivers’ slide out it stopped.  We tried it a half dozen times and it refused to go out!!!  Can you believe that?  Bessy waited until we got to Indy before she gave us trouble.  Thomas got to sleep on the floor that night, and the next day we had to decide between moving out of the bus into a friend’s house and going to the camp ground.  We decided on the latter, and Friday morning we pulled into the White River Campground and the slide went out, NO PROBLEM!  It was very bizarre.  I think it was Bessy’s way to give us one last poke before the trip was over.  We stayed at the campground for just under a week and spent that time talking about “the last time we would do this and that”.  We enjoyed our little port in the storm but soon it was time to leave, just like any other camp ground.  It was time to go back to “reality” and live a “normal” life.  Yeah, right!  We may not live in a bus again for a while, but I doubt we will ever live a really normal life again.  God bless you all!

Final Thoughts:  Wow.  We’re back in Indy for good.  We closed on the house and we are in the process of moving in.  I have to admit, I have been on an emotional roller-coaster since Friday the 16th.  I seem to be getting better each day, but I can’t express how much this past year has meant to me.  Yes, the adventure has been a blast, but far and away the time I’ve been able to spend bonding with my Traci and Thomas has been the best part.  We have a million fond memories of the past twelve months, and I will work hard to build on those memories for the future.  I will not waste the gift God has given us and squander it.  We will hit the road in the same or different RV during vacation times coming up, but we don’t plan to go back to full-time living until Thomas goes to college.  It’s in our blood.  We hope Thomas will do the same with his family when he has one.  We have a sneaking suspicion that he liked it even more than he admits.  Thanks for reading along with our trip.  Traci will be publishing a book in the next year, so please check back for updates.  I’ll post the important information on my site.